Kebiin arrived to his room soon after his discussion with the Headmaster. It was a little dusty, but it was leagues better than sleeping next to a garbage can. He sighed, realizing how tired he was. But he still wanted to talk to Revan…
He sat down and took out the holocron from his pack, activating it. The familiar masked image of Revan appeared
"Hello, Kebiin." Revan said. "We haven't spoken in a while. You didn't get into any trouble that would've gotten your legs broken, have you?"
"No need to worry, it was just a few ribs." Kebiin said that playfully, but he wasn't joking.
"Hmph. I see." Revan folded his arms. "I see that we're not in our usual hiding spot."
"I actually wanted to talk to you about that. You see… I was invited to join Beacon Academy. I'm taking my test tomorrow."
Kebiin couldn't see Revan's face, but his body language indicated surprise.
"You mean that warrior academy? well, I think that'll suit you quite well. Just don't forget or neglect your Force training. I get the feeling that'll help you against your local competition."
"I didn't intend to neglect it at all. Actually, that's one of the reasons I wanted to speak with you. From what I can tell, I'll be dropped out of the sky into the forest. This will be the first time I've had to face Grimm since when we first crashed onto the planet. Any advice?"
Revan thought a moment.
"Your mother said in her message that this world is an old remnant that the ancient Jedi and Sith had some form of contact with. However, the Force as you and I know it seems to have little presence on this planet. You told me years ago that all living things here had "aura", which can shield them from harm, while the Grimm do not. I have thought about this for a while and I think I've come up with a possible theory as to why this is."
"And what might that be?" Kebiin asked.
"If the ancient Jedi and Sith were here at some point, this planet would have to have been connected to the Force. It is possible to sever connections to the Force with powerful Force techniques, both Light and Dark. I believe that a catastrophic event such as that took place here. What remained of the Lightside on this world eventually adapted into aura, guarding individual organisms instead of being a connected field. The Darkside that remained manifested itself in the form of the Grimm. This is why they do not have aura."
Kebiin was a little taken aback at how much Revan had deciphered. But again, it was just a theory.
"But I didn't sense the Darkside in the Grimm when we first crashed here years ago. Why couldn't I sense them?"
"Likely because you were delirious when you first felt how empty this planet was. Your body shut out anything you couldn't perceive with your natural physical senses in order to allow the Force within you to keep you alive. Now that your powers have been returning over the years, you can test my theory simply by seeing if you can sense the Grimm when you go to your trial. I could be wrong, but I'm confident that will be the case."
"But I could feel the aura in the organisms that weren't Grimm. If Grimm are a manifestation of the Darkside and aura is an altered version of the Light, why couldn't I feel them too?"
"When young Jedi first feel the Darkside, it is different for everybody. To some, it is like a calling flame, burning with passion and emotion. This was similar to what I had felt as Darth Revan. To others, it is almost like a cold and empty death-almost alien. The Grimm are not the Force in its true form the way it resides with you. There are bound to be some fundamental differences. Perhaps the Grimm do infact have a binding field, but you couldn't sense it because it had developed and changed so far from what you and I know."
Kebiin was confused. He was more in tune with the Lightside than the Dark, but he didn't sense the Darkside in the Grimm simply because it was "different" for everyone?
"Revan, could you sense it at all?"
"No. I'm not the physical Revan. I can't sense things through the Force the way he could. I may look and think like him, but I am only able to communicate and teach, not perform or interact."
"Right…" Kebiin sighed. He sometimes forgot his mentor was just a small hologram and AI.
"Well, I think I'm going to turn in for the night. Test and all that." He needed time to contemplate Revan's theory.
"Good idea. Talk to you later, Kebiin. Good luck. May the Force be with you." His image faded back into the holocron.
Kebiin placed Revan's holocron back in his pack and crawled under the sheets of one of the beds. He forgot how comfortable beds were… he quickly fell asleep, thinking about what Revan had said.
Kebiin woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. He followed the usual routine a normal person would for the first time in a long while. He showered, got into a new change of clothes, fixed up the room, grabbed his pack, and headed down to the cafeteria. Ruby waved at him and offered him a seat across from her and Weiss. Yang was chatting it up with the members of team JNPR, and Blake was engrossed in a book she was reading. He caught a glimpse of Cardin and his team, who quickly turned away. Jaune saw this and perked up just a tad bit.
"So how was your first night here at Beacon?" Ruby asked inquisitively.
"Way more comfortable than the alleys downtown." Kebiin replied.
"So you all prepped up for your exam?"
"All I know about the test is what you guys told me the other day. I think Blake said something about… checkers pieces?"
"Chess pieces" Blake corrected. "Those were the relics that we were supposed to collect. The people who gathered each of the four same kind of piece were all put on the same team."
"I thought Yang said it was "the first person you saw"? what if the first person you first ran into picked a different piece than you?"
Ruby and Weiss looked at eachother. "I… don't know…" they both said simultaneously.
"Huh. Odd. So uhh… what pieces did you guys choose?"
"I don't think I should say. It's best if you chose for yourself without any prior knowledge of who you'll end up with." Blake said.
"I know what you mean, but I just don't want to end up with a team like CRDL. And you guys are pretty much the only other people I know here so…"
"I think Blake is right" Weiss interjected. "We just met you and we're already an established team. It's best if you let the chips fall where they may. It's just that… well..."
"I see…" Kebiin bit into a piece of toast before continuing. He knew when people were being cautious around others. He could feel it coming from both Weiss and Blake. He had seen his clan refuse other Mandalorians from integrating into their group for various reasons. One of them being the disruption of an already established and effective system. He didn't really take offense to what Weiss was were hinting at, it was just another aspect of Mandalorian culture to him. She felt that they simply didn't need another member. Although Kebiin wouldn't be lying if he said he wasn't a little disappointed.
"Well I'm going to go check if I can get a weapon ordered in time for the exam." He stood up to leave and waved at Yang who waved back as he left the cafeteria.
Ruby turned to Weiss. "What was that all about? you probably made him feel like he's not wanted or something!"
"That's not what I tried to go for!" Weiss exclaimed. "I'm just saying that there's a reason we're put into teams of four at the very beginning of the year. We develop unity as a group. Throwing a stranger into the mix could complicate things. Besides, I still get weird vibes off of him."
"So you don't want him on the team because you think he's weird?"
"Thats not what I meant! I mean that-"
Blake listened to the two of them arguing back and forth. Truth was, she was also cautious of Kebiin. The difference between her and Weiss was that Weiss was operating on a gut feeling and being vocal about it. Blake knew what signs to look for, and Kebiin had them. She of all people should know. And her experience in the subject of deception was exactly why she defended him the night before. He had something to hide, she had something to hide. She wanted to respect that. But putting two liars in a single team together could cause complications for the both of them.
Kebiin stood on a metal platform on top of a cliff overlooking a forest. Ozpin stood in front of him pacing back and forth, while Glynda stood by his side holding a tablet. All of the team leaders including Ruby and Cardin stood a few yards behind him, holding similar tablets. He held an SMG-like weapon that he had ordered a few hours ago, but it didn't feel as solid as he would like. Perhaps he just needed to get used to it. Ozpin started to speak.
"You must navigate your way through the forest and find a relic that will decide the team you will be placed in for the rest of your time here at Beacon. But to get down there, you will need your own "landing strategy". You will be falling from the sky. Do not hesitate to annihilate anything that gets in your path. We will be observing your progress as you make your way to the relics. Good luck."
So then the metal platform he stood on was a launch pad? Shouldn't be difficult. He put his left foot in front of his right, bent his knees, and widened his stance, bracing himself. The launch strung up, and he was flung far into the air. The wind roared in his ears, but the feeling of the cool air beating against his face was exhilerating. He started to drop, and used the Force to soften his impact against the ground.
"Child's play" He thought to himself. He had no idea where he should go, but he headed deeper into the forest. Hopefully he'd come across something.
His trek through the forest was mind-numbingly uneventful and tiring. Is this really what the other students had to go through? He hadn't come across anything that would be a "relic", or any Grimm for that matter. He came across a small clearing that seemed rather peaceful and quiet. He decided to sit down and meditate. Maybe if he listened Force, he could figure out where he needed to go. He sat down, closed his eyes, and reached out with the Force. It had been a while since he attempted deep meditation like this. The lack of the binding field that made the Force unique was absent from this world, making it redundant to do this. Kebiin didn't think it would work, but he couldn't think of any other immediate options.
He felt the usual isolated aura, but there was something else… something familiar. He hadn't felt something like this since when he was on the ship he came to Remnant on. The field was there, but it was smaller than what he had experienced all those years ago. It wasn't very established or exceptionally powerful, but it was… growing. Something inside his head seemed to clear up the moment he felt the developing presence of the Force. He seemed to be losing tension in his muscles that he didn't even know were tense in the first place. Had this developing Force always been there? Why hadn't he detected it before?
His senses felt sharper now. He felt more relaxed and more aware now that he had finally felt the Force beyond his own body. And that's when he sensed them… the hatred, the rage, the cold. The creatures of Grimm had surrounded his clearing just behind the trees. Revan was right. There was no mistaking it. They were of the Darkside. And more were being drawn to his location. He raised his SMG, and the Grimm walked out of the brush into clear view. He pulled the trigger on his weapon, but it failed to fire. He looked at his weapon and inspected it more thoroughly. The clip and chamber had been sabotaged. Cardin was the first person to come to his mind when looking for someone to blame.
More and more Grimm approached him, but they kept their distance. What must have been at least a dozen Ursa and Beowolves total surrounded him, looking both bloodthirsty and curious. This was bad. Very bad. He threw the SMG onto the ground and unclipped his lightsaber, but didn't ignite it. He again reached out with the Force, but this time, it was directed right at the Grimm that were in his path. Could they feel this new field too? If they were of the Force like him, could they somehow communicate?
He stretched his arm out to them, and one of the Beowolves approached closer. He could sense their curiosity. He started to touch their minds with the Force, trying to calm their rage. The Beowolf closest to him shook its head and grabbed at its own face. It was resisting him. The others behind it were coming closer now. He outstretched both his arms, using the force to push them back ever so slightly. Now that he had formally tapped into the Force in his environment, he felt more powerful and confident. He reached out further, trying to hear the minds of all the Grimm around him.
His concentration was broken by the loud cry of a Nevermore circling above his head. The Grimm had broken free.
"This isn't the time to experiment. Not with this many Grimm around." Kebiin thought. He broke his connection to the beasts and instead focused his mind on any machinery in the area. More specifically, cameras. Ozpin said the others would be watching, and he didn't want that for what he was about to do. He detected the small and simplistic oscillations of synthetic energy around the environment, and shut them off. He killed any video feed that would be monitoring him. The Grimm around him charged as he ignited his lightsaber.
Ruby and the rest of the team leaders had been watching Kebiin's rather dull hike through the forest for at least two hours before they saw him sit down and apparently rest in the middle of a clearing. Grimm started to surround the clearing, and Kebiin discarded his weapon.
"What was he doing?" Ruby thought. "He was being circled by a hoard of monsters while he just… stood there!"
She saw him outstretch his arms and the Grimm seemed to… avoid him. They didn't attack like the would for anyone else. They looked confused, and were slowly backing away. It was almost like they were watching an animal trainer at the zoo.
"Well it seems he's making some new friends." Jaune joked. There was a certain uneasiness in his voice. He tried to lighten up the mood, but no one really knew what Kebiin was up to. They all held their breath waiting to see what would happen next.
They heard the loud screech of a Nevermore both through the speakers on their tablets and out in the distance beyond the forest. The Grimm regained their composure, and Kebiin looked like he had been slapped awake. The video they were all viewing was replaced by static the moment the Grimm charged.
The silent tension in the area was replaced by an eruption of voices and confusion. All the other leaders were asking each other what had happened, wondering if they had just seen the last of their new transfer student. While Ozpin wasn't being as vocal about this, he definitely had a look of concern on his face. He didn't plan this.
"Sir, we should send an airship to check on him. He's just one boy, and we have no idea what he's up against now." Prof. Goodwitch said.
"Patients Glynda. If he is as skilled as we believe, then we will make it out alive. He stated very clearly that he doesn't want to be treated specially, so we will wait and see how things play out."
Honestly, sometimes she just didn't understand the Headmaster at times. He was going to risk this boy's life just on a hunch?
"Have some faith Glynda" Ozpin reassured. He turned to the crowd to speak.
"Relax, all of you!". The cliff top fell silent again. "Kebiin is a skilled fighter. There is a reason he even has the opportunity to take the exam. The events that will happen will happen, regardless if we can see it or not."
The team leaders started to settle down a bit, but there was still audible chatter throughout the area.
"Jaune… you don't think that he's-"
He cut her off before Ruby could finished her question.
"No, of course not! It's just like Professor Ozpin said. He's tough. He's got this…" Jaune looked out beyond the cliff onto the forest, as if reassuring himself of what he just said.
"Right. He's not facing anything any of us couldn't handle…" But Ruby knew there was a difference between their test and this. She had everyone else helping eachother to fight off anything that would've outclassed them, not to mention that they were actually armed. Kebiin was alone, disarmed, and hopelessly outnumbered. They could hear the sounds of roaring echoing throughout the forest.