II
Sable and Eurig talked for what seemed like a lifetime. Even though Sable was still uneasy about getting to know Eurig, or letting him get to know her, she was slowly starting to loosen up with him. Eurig's family had moved from Vacuo recently, which would explain why he was wearing a Shade Academy shirt. He had explained to Sable that his father was a dock worker in Vale while his mother was an ambulance worker at a hospital.
"So your dad actually teaches at Beacon? That's actually pretty cool." Eurig said in response to finding out what Sable's father did for a living.
"I guess, but this is his first semester there. He worked as a Huntsman for a short time before meeting my mother. Once they got married he retired and they opened a small restaurant on Menagerie." Sable responded with a shrug.
"A restaurant? That's just as cool, honestly. What ever happened to it once they decided to come to Vale?" Eurig asked curiously.
"Oh they still have it. They just moved it here. My mom runs it. I worked there ever since I met them. Honestly, it's going to feel a bit odd not working there until we have breaks." Sable answered without thinking about what she was saying.
"Ever since you met them? What do you mean by that?" Eurig tilted his head as he thought about what Sable had said.
"Shit." Sable muttered under her breath. She had hoped to not spill that she was adopted so soon. "Yeah, I've only known my parents for about two years now. They adopted me when I was sixteen. My original family died when I was ten years old."
Eurig shrugged, not letting the confession bother him. With every minute that passed between Sable and Eurig, she felt like he was being fully honest with her. Yet at the same time she couldn't help but continue to want to keep her guard up around him. If he was fully genuine then he would be the first person besides Sable's parents to show concern for her.
"I mean at least you have a family now, right?" Eurig responded with that boyish smile of his.
Sable looked at her new friend with a stunned expression. Usually when she disclosed to someone that she was once an orphan, they would give her the typical pity filled response. However, this young man simply shrugged it off like it was no big deal. He didn't even bother to ask how her parents had died. She went to respond to him when a voice rang out over the PA system onboard the airship.
"Attention all passengers, we are making our final approach to Beacon Academy. Please wait until we have come to a complete stop before gathering your things. Once outside, you are to head straight to the main hall to begin your orientation. Thank you." The voice on the PA system said in a very monotone voice. Many of the students barely acted like they heard a word of what was said and just went back to chatting amongst themselves.
"Everyone seems so excited to be at Beacon." Sable muttered under her breathe before sadly looking out the window.
"What was that?" Eurig questioned her with another tilt of his head.
"Oh, nothing. Just said I guess everyone is excited to get to Beacon!" Sable nervously laughed and forced a smile to the surface.
"That's everyone except you, I take it?" Eurig gave Sable another boyish smile.
Sable's tail twitched at how easily her new friend could see through her. She nervously laughed again before gritting her teeth while thinking of a response. However, before she could think of one she felt her stomach lurch again as the airship began to descend.
"Oh, come on! I just got used to the flying. Now what is this giant pile of crap doing?" Sable whined as she glanced back out of the window.
"I'd assume we are landing." Eurig laughed at Sable's reaction before offering her another piece of gum. "Here, this should hold you over until we get done in the main hall." He continued, laughing even harder as Sable hesitantly took the piece of gum and started chewing it.
Not to long after the airship docked, Sable and Eurig were standing inside the main hall of Beacon with dozens of other students. It appeared that most the students arriving at the school were transfers from other academies. However, there appeared that a few of the students were late starting freshmen as well as transfers.
Sable let out a sigh as she thought about how she so easily could have just been considered a freshman. However, with her father being a new teacher at Beacon it didn't seem likely that they would go so easily on her. It would have been bad enough that she would have been a full year older than most of the freshman. Not to mention her natural talents she had to teach herself over the years, which she was sure her father told everyone he could while trying to get her into the school. Sable just shook her head as she thought about the image of her father going out of his way to boast about her.
After the new students entered the hall, the lights dimmed slightly as a tall figure with a cane walked out onto the stage that was in the middle of the room. With him was another figure, a blonde woman with glasses and a cape. The slender man cleared his throat before leaning in to speak into a microphone.
"Good morning, students. My name is Professor Ozpin. I am the headmaster here at Beacon and I would like to personally thank all of you for transferring to our academy. Now, because of your tight schedule over the next few days we will not be doing our typical test we use to form teams. However, each one of you will meet at the series of tables at the sides of the room and turn in your transfer paperwork. From here we will place your information into our system and you will be formed into teams based on your information. Be warned, however. Some of your teammates will not be the perfect match for you. This is intended because by the time you graduate here you will have learned to put aside your differences and form an ideal team. Good luck, and have a great semester." The man smiled gently before walking off the stage with the blonde woman and preceded to one of the tables.
"Hey, let's get in line before everyone tries to rush into place." Eurig whispered to Sable before grabbing her elbow and pulling her along to the table that Ozpin was sitting at.
By the time they had gotten into line, a few other students had already jumped into place ahead of them. As they waited they overheard many students who had transferred together chat amongst themselves. Some of the students openly expressed how they wished they would be teamed up together while others tried making friends with students in line with them. Sable silently waited behind Eurig as she searched her bag for her transfer paperwork. Her father had filled out all the paperwork for her because she was homeschooled.
After a few moments, she breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled the thin folder out of her bag. As she was about to open it to read over what her father had wrote in it she heard a harsh grunt. Startled, she looked up from the folder to see the blonde woman glaring at her from the table. Sable had gotten so distracted that she didn't notice that she was next in line.
"Your file?" The woman growled as she reached out for Sable's paperwork.
"Sorry, I guess I kind of zoned out." Sable replied with an embarrassed chuckle before surrendering her transfer papers to the woman.
"First day here and you're already lost? Maybe Beacon isn't right for you, child." The woman snarled in response before handing the folder to Ozpin. She seemed as if she was about to continue her insults when Ozpin raised his hand, silencing her.
"Now, Glynda. It's perfectly normal for a new student to be lost in thought on their big day at a new school. Try to remember that we were students once as well, yes?" He said calmly before smiling gently at Sable. "Now, it says here that your name is Sable. You wouldn't happen to be the daughter of our new professor, would you?" Ozpin questioned her, looking at her over his glasses.
Sable blushed deeply with embarrassment as students within hearing range heard that her father was a professor at Beacon. Whispering broke out between some of them while others just looked at her. She had been at this school only a few hours and she was already being judged based on something as trivial as who her father was.
"Y-yes, sir. My father is Professor Inari." Sable responded.
"I see. You know, your father had to pull a lot of strings to have you accepted here. He seems to have high standards for you. Hopefully you prove that his judgement wasn't misplaced. Sage is a good man and was a talented Huntsman so I'd imagine when he tells me that his daughter, whom has never had any official training, is extremely gifted then he must be giving me accurate information." Ozpin continued to read Sable's file and smiled as he reached a certain page. "Thank you, Sable. You may return to where the rest of the students are waiting." He finished before nodding to Sable.
Sable nervously walked from the table towards the growing crowd of students that had already turned in their paperwork. She stood alone for what felt like an eternity when a familiar voice spoke up behind her.
"Having fun yet?" The voice asked cheerfully.
Sable spun around and felt relief rise in her as she saw that Eurig had managed to find her in the crowd. Although the young man was strange and at times annoying to her, he was the only friend Sable had at the school and his cheerful attitude seemed to balance her own worries and insecurities away from her.
"No, I apparently pissed off that blonde teacher and Ozpin openly discussed my dad being a teacher here in front of everyone. I could feel at least a dozen other students glare into my soul from behind." Sable grunted with a frown.
"Jeez, that sounds rough. Today just isn't your day, is it?" Eurig replied with a loud chuckle before slapping Sable on the back, almost knocking her over from his immense strength. "Well cheer up, word is that they're going to announce the teams shortly." He continued.
"Teams?" Sable titled her head to the side in response.
"Oh, right. Forgot you're new to all this. Well, at the combat schools you mainly learn and train as a class or on an individual level. While here at Huntsman academies, you are placed into teams of four to train as small groups. It helps teach teamwork and comradery that we will need later in our careers." Eurig explained briefly. "Oh, it looks like Ozpin is about to take the stage again. Maybe it's time for him to announce the teams." He continued excitedly.
Ozpin walked slowly to the microphone stand that was still resting in the center of the large stage and took a sip from his mug before smiling at the crowd of students.
"Thank you for being patient, everyone. Now, normally with first year students we conduct a small test to determine how the teams are formed and led. However, with you all being transfer students, this isn't needed. All of you have given us the information we required to build the teams you will be training alongside for the rest of your time here at Beacon. We will announce them now." Ozpin announced as the lights in the hall grew dim and the large screen above him lit up with the first team and its members' names.
Several minutes passed as one team after another was announced. With every team being formed Sable could feel her stomach start to tighten as she thought about the idea of having to work with three other students for the next two years. She glanced to Eurig, who was still standing beside her, and secretly started to hope that he would be on the same team as her. He was the only person she knew at Beacon and she didn't think she could handle forming friendships with two other teammates without his help. She sighed deeply as she tried to calm herself when Ozpin got to another team.
"Next we have Team SLTE. A second-year team. Its members are Lilac Paris of Haven Academy, Teal Morna of Shade Academy, Eurig Nyarl of Shade Academy…" Ozpin read of the names of the team and suddenly Eurig started to stir next to Sable.
"No way, I'm on a team with Teal?" He beamed with excitement.
Sable felt her stomach tighten even worse as only one teammate slot was left on Eurig's team. He seemed to be very happy that he was placed on the same team as Teal, who seemed to have been at the same academy as Eurig before transferring to Beacon. Sable looked down at her feet in frustration while listening to the rest of the team's members being announced.
"The leader of Team SLTE will be Sable Kitsune, a non-affiliated student transferring into Beacon." Ozpin finished with a grin.
Sable's heart nearly stopped at the name he just spoke. The family name he announced was one that she had not heard in years. Suddenly a wave of emotions filled her and her body began to shake. There must have been a mistake, Ozpin calling her by her original family name. No way would her father put Kitsune down instead of Inari. She suddenly felt a knot form in her throat as she struggled to accept that the name that she had not been called since the death of her parents had just been said.
"Sable Kitsune? Who's that?" Eurig asked before noticing that Sable was shaking violently. "Whoa, you okay?" He gently placed a hand on Sable's shoulder as he bent down to check on her.
"I-I'm Sable Kitsune. Kitsune is the name of my original family." Sable stammered before pushing Eurig away and running through the crowd to escape outside where she preceded to vomit.
