Chapter 6 – A New Home

"In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can." - Nikos Kazantzakis.

The entirety of the student body had gathered in the main hall, as Professor Ren stood on the stage, with his assistant at as side. There was a large holographic display above him, displaying the team's pictures and names, as he announced them. As he called each student's name, they walked up onto the stage, after calling all four members, the professor then gave them their team name, and elected a leader.

"Ezra Snow, Bekka Ecru, Razi Navajo, Nelim Huntington, you all chose the Jack of Clubs relics. Together you will form team, Eburnean (EBRN). Lead by, Ezra Snow." The crowd applauded, as the students walked off the stage.

"Xeek Neron, Alexis Cadman, Netes Cadman, Uluka Brunswick, you all chose the Queen of Hearts relics. Together you will form team, Xanadu (XANU). Lead by, Xeek Neron." Again the crowd gave applause as team XANU disembarked the stage, Xeek sporting a smile that rivalled Lia's, as he was elected team leader.

As soon as they were off the stage, Alexis wrapped her arms around him from behind; pressing herself into him, as she congratulated the young Faunus "Congrats partner!" Before turning to her sister and jumping up and down, unable to contain her joy, "I'm so happy, we're on the same team. This is going to be so much fun!" the team unable to do anything, but laugh with the young girl.

"Cole Carter, Rian Gray, Hexi Moorit, Lia Blunt, you all chose the King of Hearts relics. Together you will form team Charcoal (CHRL). Lead by, Cole Carter." All the blood rushed from Coles face, as he heard his name for a second time. The challenge of being leader a daunting one, one he wasn't expecting and one he didn't really want. With the applause of the crowd sounding like it was a million miles away, Cole followed the rest of his team off the stage. Lia clapped along with the crowd, with her usual big smile.

"Well, I guess that's that then." Hexi said, without her typical agitated tone. Seeming more disappointed than angry. Rian gave a light punch to Cole's arm as he responded, "Yeah it is. I can see us making a great team; after all, we've got this guy for a leader." Cole didn't share Rian's optimism and his face showed it.

The group moved away from the stage, toward the back of the room, where teachers were assigning the teams rooms. "Place your scroll on the desk." One of the teachers said, as he gestured toward the large interactive surface, while taking a sip from his coffee. He was a slim man, with a fairly grey complexion and black spikey hair. He wore a tight fitting, blue tailcoat, with black detailing. The tail was slightly longer on one side, but angled so that it flowed together nicely.

They all did as they were asked and placed their scrolls onto the desk, the teacher then tapped on touch screen surface and the scrolls registered an upload. "Room 221, just place your scrolls near the reader and the door will unlock." The teacher spoke with haste, the group was unsure if he was naturally that hyper, or if he was on his thousandth cup of coffee. They leant towards the latter, as he took another five sips, in the space of about three seconds.

"We should probably go find our room" Rian suggested. The group agreed, moving out of the hall. "Anyone know where room 221 is?"

"If you had checked your scroll, you'd have known that the uploaded included a map of the campus." Hexi agitated at her teammate's incompetence. Rian picked up on her tone, but chose to ignore it, "Lead the way then."

Hexi gave a Grunt and stormed ahead. The group followed in silence, each lost with their thoughts as they moved through the school. The hallways were brightly lit, with plenty of windows for letting in light during the day, but also bright white orbs that floated in the air, held in place by emitters on the walls, meant that you could see just as clearly at night. Just like in the main hall, the flooring was dark wooden panelling, which contrast well with the ivory marble walls with white wooden detailing. There were also matching white wooden benches, placed along the hallways, along with the occasional painting or holographic display board.

"I don't care who Ren made leader. He doesn't have the strength to lead. I'm not going to be dragged down by his, by their, incompetence. I'm going to be the best Huntress ever, and nothing is going to stand in my way."

"Woah… this place is big… ooh a painting, she's pretty… I wonder who she- Oh no they've walked on again. Don't get left behind. Just keep walking."

"I don't get what her problem is. I guess I could've checked my scroll, but how was I supposed to know a map would be included with the room key. Somehow I have to work on a team with her for four years, maybe we can swap teams… no, no we can't do that. I'll just have to find a way to get along with her. Going to be difficult, she seems immune to my usual charm. Challenge accepted."

"Yes I've been responsible for things in the past, but nothing like this. Err this is my own fault, all because I came up with that stupid plan in the forest. It wasn't even a good one, we were lucky it worked. I'm going to be an awful leader, I know it. I just hope I don't get someone hurt… or worse. Maybe I can ask the Professor if someone else can lead team CHRL."

The team made their way up a staircase. The stairs were wide, to allow for the flow of students, the steps were made from a light grey marble for the flooring, with wooden handrails. The individual steps themselves were deep and the mid-landings were large, to allow space for groups of students to pass one another. There were also holographic display boards on each landing; they all currently showed a picture of the Beacon logo. As the team reached the third floor, Hexi lead them out of the staircase and down the corridor.

Further down the corridor they could see team XANU, looking for their own room. Hexi stopped as she reached the door to their room, Lia, who wasn't paying attention, walked into the back of Cole as he stopped behind. "Oh sorry" Lia apologised. Hexi let out a Sigh as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Hey" Alexis called out as team XANU approached. "Hiya" Lia called back, excitedly. Rian and Uluka embraced in a hug, before Uluka asked "We got room 225, what about you guys?" Rian pointed toward the door behind him, as he answered, "221". Uluka took a step back and smiled, "That's great, we'll be close, but we should go unpack, meet up in the cafeteria later?" Uluka suggested. Rian nodded in response, as team XANU headed back toward their room.

Hexi waved her scroll over the reader panel, to the side of the door. There was a small click, before the door popped open, Hexi pushing it the rest of the way, to reveal the team's room, for the next four years. "Lead on. Leader" she said as she waved her hand toward the room, Cole stepped into the room, not catching the tone in Hexi's voice.

"It's bigger than I expected." Rian stated as he entered the room and looked around. The room was wider than it was deep. There were four wooden beds, evenly spaced with the headboards against the back wall, where there were two windows, with maroon curtains. The beds had a slightly lighter shade of red quilt covers, with white sheets and pillow cases. There was a small set of draws at the base of each bed, and two short bookcases beneath each window, which also served as bedside cabinets. Between the two centre beds, there was a small two seater sofa.

To the side of the room was a door, upon opening it Rian called out, "Found the bathroom" it was small, but had all the necessary facilities neatly packed inside. Along the wall outside the bathroom there were two desks, and another two to the side of the room's entrance. On the other side of the room there were four closets built into the wall, and a small kitchen area in the corner. The room wasn't cramped, and was clearly designed to be inhabited by four people, so long as those four people, didn't mind being close.

"Mind if I take the bed closest to the bathroom? It's just that I tend to get up a lot in the night, don't want to disturb you guys if I can help it." Rian asked. Hexi Grunted then walked over to the bed on the other side of the room, near the closets, and threw her bags down on the bed.

"No objections here." Cole stated, as Lia dived onto the bed next to Hexi's. Cole took the remaining bed. He placed his bag on the floor, and slid it under, before lying back on the bed and staring at the ceiling. "Guess this is home now."


"I want this one!" Alexis declared as she dived onto the bed on the far left. Team XANU's room was identical to CHRL's with one exception, they didn't have a sofa. Netes walked over to the bed on the far right and placed her bags down, eliciting a response from Alexis, "Aww don't you want to be near me sis?" She jested.

"I would rather be closer to the bathroom in the morning." She replied, with that Uluka quickly darted to the bed beside Netes, catching a look from Xeek he explained, "What? It takes time to look this good."

Xeek raised his hands as he chuckled, "Whatever princess". Earning him a glare from Uluka, ignoring it he placed his shield at the end of his bed, and began opening his bag. Looking over at the kitchen he asked, "Does anyone know how to cook?"

"I know a muffin recipe." Alexis, having a sweet tooth, had only ever learned her favourite recipe, for her mother's blueberry muffins. Uluka gave a small Sigh expecting another degrading comment from his leader, as he spoke, "I do." Uluka was as skilled with a chopping knife, as he was his Scimitar. He was pleasantly surprised by Xeek's response as they young Faunus replied, "Great, because I can't cook anything more complicated than toast, and even then it's touch and go."

"You know, they serve food in the cafeteria?" Netes said as she took her clothes from her bag and placed them on the bed.

"And I'm sure the food they serve is wonderful, but sometimes it's nice to have something… dorm made." Xeek explained. Uluka added, "I for one am glad, we have the facility to cook in here. I would hate for my cooking skills to suffer, because I had nowhere to cook from time to time."

Alexis' mind still stuck on muffins, as she continued unpacking, "I doubt they'll always have muffins in the cafeteria, at least this way, I'll be able to make as many as I want." Netes quick to stop her sisters obsession, before it got out of hand, "Fine, but you're not going to just eat muffins the whole time we're here."

Alexis irked by her sisters mothering, replied, "Of course not, there are plenty of other sweets for me to eat as well." with a cheeky smile, knowing her sister would be annoyed by the response.

"All this talk of food has me hungry, want to head down to the cafeteria?" Xeek asked. With the team in agreement, and their bags unpacked, they headed out the door.


The cafeteria was quite large, seating maybe a hundred or so, but had food for plenty more, so students could grab something to take away. As the team joined the queue, they could see through to the kitchen behind the counter, where there were dozens of chefs all working, on preparing food for that night's dinner.

They were all hungry, after their long day, so each filled their trays with a large helping. Alexis, unable to resist when she saw they had a selection of desserts, filled a plate with nothing but chocolate heavenly goodness, in the form of cookies, muffins and a few more things that she wasn't quite sure the names of, but they looked good. As they all took their seats Uluka took out his scroll, "I'll text Rian, to let him know we're here."

As they each tucked into their meals, team CHRL entered the cafeteria and joined the queue. Rian eyed the gammon, before opting for the mac 'n' cheese, knowing his boyfriend wouldn't be happy with him if he ate meat. Hexi grabbing herself steak and chips, while Lia stacked up on pancakes, before drowning them in syrup, Hexi stopping her before her plate overflowed. Cole, still mostly lost in thought, wasn't feeling particularly hungry, only grabbing an apple and a cup of coffee, so that he at least had something.

Team CHRL moved to join their friends, at their table. Rian taking the seat next to Uluka, as the other three sat opposite. Rian swiped a potato off of Uluka's plate, earning him a flick to the forehead, "You've got your own food, you dunce." Rian rubbing his forehead responded, "Well you're welcome to try some of mine." Uluka, picking up some of his salad onto his fork, replied "Cheese and Pasta, no thank you." Rian shrugged "Your loss."

They all sat in silence as they finished their food, hungry from their long day. Except Cole, who had placed his apple on the table, and just stared into his coffee, grasped between his hands. Alexis noticing his mood inquired, "What's up?" but before he could respond Lia answered for him. "He's just upset he didn't get to pick his bed." As she leant over towards him, resting her head on his shoulder, as she gently pushed into him.

Alexis was unsure why, but Lia's actions made her feel uncomfortable. "That's, that's not it." Cole corrected Lia. "Xeek, I have to say, you seem to be handling this whole team leader thing, really well." He continued. A moment of silence passed, as the grouped glanced at one another, while Cole continued to stare at his coffee. "Is, that what you're worried about? Being team leader?" Xeek asked, cautiously.

Cole closed his eyes, took a breath, then opening his eyes he raised his head, "I've been responsible for things, for someone, before, but it was nothing like this. I'm supposed to lead my team in to battle, into danger, where we'll face constant peril, and the persistent threat of death. I'm no more qualified to lead this team than anyone else, yet I was chosen. My fear is, is that someone will get hurt, and it will be my responsibility, and I don't mean responsibility as in I'm worried I'll get in trouble, I mean I'm worried I'm going to have to live with the burden, that my mistake cost someone, cost someone their life, for the rest of mine."

The group of students, shocked by the heartfelt statement, sat unsure how to respond, after a few moments of silence, Xeek let out a Sigh before speaking, "I know what you mean." Cole raised his eyebrow at the response, "You, you do?"

"Of course, I'm a team leader too now. I wouldn't be surprised, if everyone who was elected team leader today has had similar thoughts. But Cole, it's your first day. No one's expecting you to be the perfect leader, right away. We're here to learn, and part of that, will be about learning how to lead. And besides, I've seen you in action-"

"We all did." Alexis quickly interjected.

"-You've got nothing to be worried about, you'll be a great leader." Xeek continued.

Before Cole could thank Xeek, Hexi added "I thought Ren made a mistake." Shocking everyone as she continued, "Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. I thought I should have been team leader, part of me still does, but your biggest concern was the welfare of your team, something I hadn't even considered. I don't know if you'll be a good leader or not, but your hearts in the right place." She finished, as she got up and left the cafeteria.

Cole looked round at the group, "Thanks" before getting up and going after Hexi. "Hey, Hexi wait up!" Hexi not slowing down called back, "I don't have anything more to say!" Cole speeded up, as he caught up to her, he placed his hand on her shoulder, stopping her. "Then just listen."

Hexi stayed put, indicating she would hear what Cole had to say. "I just wanted to say, thank you, for being honest in there. It's what I needed, to know someone else had their doubts, that not everyone, was expecting me to do a great job. I was made team leader, for better or worse, and I'll do my best but, I could use your help though, so what do you say, team?"

Hexi stood there contemplating her response, "You've got it. Although I've still got my doubts, I'm going to do everything I can to ensure my, the team's success. We're going to be the best damn team, this school has ever seen."

Cole gave a smile, "I don't know about you, but I don't really want to go back in there. Want to go back to the dorm? I still need to unpack." With that Hexi gave a quick nod, and the two headed back to their room.


Alexis sat staring forward at Lia, Lia oblivious to this fact. "She's pretty; I wish I was that pretty. Ugh why did I have to be younger than everyone else? I've only managed to make friends, if you can even call us that, because we were all forced together. I just hating feeling like a child, everyone else looks, so much more grown up. Just look at Lia, I mean her outfit's a little revealing for my taste, but oh that's probably a good thing, I'm sure all the boys think so anyway. I just don't want to feel like I'm alone for the next four years."

Netes let out a yawn, distracting Alexis from her train of thought, "I think, I'm going to head back to the room, it'll be nice to sleep in a bed tonight."

"We should all, go get an early night. I don't think, the others are coming back anyways." Xeek added, as the group left the table and headed back to their rooms.