After a few more minutes the airships began their decent toward Beacon, landing on the waiting docks and opening their doors so the new students could get free of them. As soon as these doors opened the blonde boy from inside the airship Cinder was in ran out and found the nearest trashcan, letting loose into it and making noises that almost didn't sound human. Cinder and Emerald walked past the puking boy along with the rest of the crowds, letting out sounds of awe and wonder as they looked at the massive buildings that made up the academy for future Hunters.
"Man this place makes Signal look like crap" Emerald said in a rather blunt tone, grinning from ear to ear as she looked at the massive building that would be her new home. "Don't cha think so too Cinder?" she looked over to her friend expecting a response.
Instead of responding or looking at the massive building with her friend Cinder was doing something else. She was looking at each and every student, struck in awe and wonder as she did. "Beautiful…" she said in almost a whisper. For as long as she could remember Cinder had a special ability that let her see people's Aura's in a way that no one else could. The bright and vibrant colors of a person's soul which normally remained hidden could be viewed easily when she put a bit of power into it and looked closely. Each of the students that passed all had a unique Aura, like a thumbprint that could tell you what kind of person they were. And as she looked around she saw that unlike the muted Aura's of normal civilians or even those trained at Signal the Aura's around her were all bright, like a beautiful cloud of light surrounding each of the people. Some were even so developed that they has special features, like wings, or claws, and in one case even a detailed set of armor.
Emerald sighed and tapped her fist on top of Cinder's head to get her attention. "You know starring at people is rude." She gave a smirk to Cinder.
"Coming from you that is rich" Cinder rubbed the top of her head and fixed her friend with a glare. "Aren't you the one that is constantly staring at the boys?"
"That's not fair, I actually talk to them after getting a good look" Emerald played at annoyance, but her joking tone was easy to hear.
Cinder rolled her eyes at that. "I can learn a lot about someone just by seeing their Aura, it speaks volumes to who they are and what they think. Honestly what is even the point of getting to know people when you can just figure out everything you need too with a look?"
"What happens when you end up on a team and can't talk to anyone through?" Emerald pointed at in a kind tone, honestly worried about her friends isolationist tendencies.
Cinder shuffled uncomfortably at that, not really having an answer. "I…um… I will just be on your team right?"
Emerald bit her lip and looked away, not really wanting to tell Cinder the next bit. "You are my best friend Cinder, but you need to learn to work with more people. You have seen the old war films, and you won't always have a conductor who can compensate for a lack of communication"
Cinder sighed in defeat, knowing that her friend was right but not really wanting to accept it. If only she could conduct herself, but sadly her Aura wasn't suited for it. Those with the ability to 'conduct the battlefield' could link their Aura's to others, creating an instant chain of free flowing thoughts and ideas. Conductors would send the flow of thoughts through the head of the leader, to the rest of the group, feed input from the team to the leader, and then pull off the maneuver. This all happened within seconds without a word needing to be spoken between people unless they wanted something to remain private. But people with that ability were rare enough as it was, and not all of them chose the Hunter life. "Well maybe we could still be partners and I can still try the whole branching out thing. Hey at least we get to hang out now right?" Cinder turned and noticed a curious lack of Emerald next to her. A quick scan revealed she was talking to a group of boys who already seemed to be slobbering all over her, something she would no doubt use to her advantage for a bit of fun.
Cinder pinched the bridge of her nose and walked forward, her mind filled with confusion and terror over the fact that for one of the first times in her life she would actually need to confront and try to connect with a human being that she hadn't known since the beginning of forever. She was awkward enough with just the one friend as it was, adding more was just asking for trouble and she knew it. She was so distracted by these thoughts that Cinder ran smack into a cart filled to the brim with box upon box of Dust, causing them to spill over and Cinder to fall among them.
"Are you an idiot!?" a rather pissed off sounding male voice asked her from above. "Do you have any idea what you are doing?"
Maybe if I just lay down he will think I am dead and I can sneak away. She thought to herself before cracking open one eye to look at the person who had called her an idiot.
The young man in question was a rather nicely dressed guy with orange hair covered by a bowler hat. He also walked with a cane in his right hand, although he didn't really seem to need it to assist him in walking. "Well are you going to sleep all day, or has Beacon lowered it standards and started to employ the mentally challenged into its number now? Seriously who walks into a cart full of Dust!?" the young man picked up one of the bottles, which was marked with a pair of eyes above a smiling face one might see carved into a pumpkin.
The insult stung Cinder and she pushed herself up, looking him straight in the eyes before taking a step back, not really sure what she was looking at in terms of the Aura that surrounded him. The color was the first thing that hit her, a dull grey surrounding a thin layer of white that covered his body. Normally with just a look she would be able to tell that the guy had problems, but that layer of white confused her to the point of not really being able to respond. "Sorry, what was that?" she asked, having realized that she had forgotten the situation she was in after seeing the man's strange Aura.
"Dust you idiot!" he began to wave around the bottle. "Fire, Ice, Electricity, the weapon that harms the Grimm?" as he waved the bottle around a thin layer of Dust began to form, which he must not have noticed in his ramblings.
Before Cinder could react however her body quickly absorbed the Dust in the air. "Oh no" she quickly pushed him back and tried to hold back what she knew was coming, but couldn't. Her energy exploded out and created a pillar of flames around herself, and kept burning until the Dust she had absorbed ran out and left her with just her natural energy.
"Are you a lunatic!?" Roman shouted as he pushed himself off the ground, dusting himself off and getting into her face. "You nearly blew a hole into the school"
"Sorry, it was an accident" Cinder wanted to lash out at the guy, but the fact she was in the wrong here was kind of plain to see.
"Sorry? I was mocking before but are you really mentally challenged?" Roman appeared to have let go of the mock and now spoke his words like potent venom.
"I said I was sorry," Cinder felt herself start to get angry at the man, not really wanting to be harassed at the moment for a mistake. "Who do you think you are to be talking to me like that, some kind of royal?" she spat the words at him, eyes running along the outfit he was wearing. It honestly looked more suited for a dinner party than a hunt.
"Heir, actually" a young man appeared from seemingly nowhere and handed Roman back the bottle of Burn Dust he had dropped when I pushed him over. The man was tall, standing at least a head taller than Roman or Cinder, and was built in a rather muscular way. His hair sat on his head and was silver, almost a bit grey. "Roman Torchwick, heir to the Torchwick Dust Corporation"
The recognition brought a smile to Roman's face. "Finally, someone among the ants who actually recognizes the face of greatness when they see it"
A smirk danced across the young man's face. "The same company that is being investigated for multiple counts of labor misconduct and paying bribes to anti-union groups to break up protests"
Cinder had to repress a laugh as Roman's face went a uniform color of red. "I…you…" his hands clenched into fists and for a moment it looked like he was going to strike, but he managed to hold himself back. "Whatever," he picked up his cane and walked away, leaving some hired help to pick up the burden for him.
"I really am sorry!" Cinder called after him. Sure he had been a jerk but she had also nearly turned him into ashes a few moments ago, so she could understand a bit of frustration. "So um… thanks for that…" she turned around to thank the person who had helped her but found that he was already walking away, seemingly not having heard her or just deciding that his time was better used elsewhere. "Damn it" she whispered under her breath, closing her eyes and forcing the tears building up in them to go back down. How could she ever expect to protect anyone when she couldn't even bring herself to just make one conversation work? Maybe she really was mentally challenged.
Before she could beat herself up anymore she felt a hand placed on her shoulder in a rather comforting fashion. It wasn't squeezing, or trying to move and invade her space, rather if just felt like someone reaching out to just be kind. "Hey are you okay?" the voice asked her, the tone matching the hand that had been placed on her shoulder, kind and without a hint of pity behind it.
Cinder opened her eyes and looked at the person who was offering this kindness to her and found herself both shocked and oddly amused that it was none other than the boy who had gotten sick on the airship before. She took a deep breath, trying to gather together words so maybe she could try and talk to someone and not mess it up. How hard could it be? "Aren't you the guy that was vomiting on the ship?" her entire brain froze as she realized what she had just said. She really was hopeless it seemed. No doubt the guy would just walk away or would get offended.
But despite her worst fears the young man actually laughed. "Yeah, and I am pretty sure you just exploded a few minutes ago, we all have problems" he turned around and waved his hand. "Come on, we should get moving before people start asking questions about the scorched ground"
The young huntress to be have a nod of her head and followed after him, utterly confused by the boy who had just shrugged off the rather insulting introduction. "I... Uh… Sorry about that" she said awkwardly, trying to keep conversation.
He waved his hand a bit at her apology. "Don't be, it may be a common problem but that doesn't mean it's not weird. Anyway the name is Jaune Arc, short, sweet, and the ladies love it" he gave her a playful wink, not the hitting on kind but the sharing a joke kind.
"Oh do they now?" Cinder crossed her arms and gave him a knowing look, deciding she could at least act normal for a bit. "By the way, my names Cinder"
Jaune scratched the back of his head and laughed. "Well uh… not yet, but they will. It's like my mom used to sa-" he blinked and quickly realized how nerdy that sounded. "Uh… Never mind"
Cinder gave a light chuckle which she quickly covered with her hand, not wanting to offend him but also not being able to hold it back. "Hm…" she moved in front of him, causing them both to stop. When they both were paused she opened up her Aura sight and looked at him. What she saw was strange to say the least. Unlike the other students around Beacon, Jaune's Aura was still locked behind the normal barriers, meaning that it had either been locked or never opened to begin with. But unlike a normal civilians soul there were actually cracks in the normal gray haze, showing pinpricks of white light breaking through. "Did you know your Aura is locked?"
He tilted his head to the side. "Aura?" the look on his face showed that he had no idea what she was talking about.
"The extension of your soul that allows us to effectively hunt down the monsters that plague our world" she couldn't believe the combat school he went too hadn't taught him about it. He must have been from some far and away country that didn't use it. "Here, I will unlock it for you" and with her decision she stepped forward and put a hand on his heart, and then the other on his cheek.
"Uh…" he blushed a bit, not really sure how to react to a girl he had just met getting this close to him.
Cinder closed her eyes and took a deep breath, speaking the words that came first to her mind. "From the ashes of this world rises a spark of life, and from that spark rages a fire that brings new life. Allow my soul to feed your flame, and allow that spark to grow." Her flame like Aura glowed around her, spreading over Jaune's body and feeding into his own. "And may your spark burn into an ever burning fire, fueling your strength to guide you down the path of transcendence" the energy that surrounded Jaune disappeared as his Aura exploded outward, forcing Cinder back a few steps. When she looked at him again she was amazed at what she saw. The sheer amount of energy radiating off Jaune was amazing to behold. A pure white light glowed off his body, forming the shape of armor over his skin. He radiated hope, strength, and honesty. She quickly closed her Aura sight just to prevent herself from looking into it too long, it was just that blinding.
"What?" Jaune looked down at his arms and noticed a quick flash of light run along them, something that made him both nervous and excited.
"Aura is the extension of your soul; it protects you and guides you down your path. All living creatures have it… through I don't think I have seen someone our age with that much of it" Cinder smiled a bit. "Hm… that sounds a bit complicated, how Qrow would put it…" she snapped her fingers. "Imagine it like a force field and radar for danger"
He nodded and looked down at himself again, however the light that had danced across his was gone. "Wow… that was awesome!"
Cinder laughed at that, nodding her head. "Yes, awesome is one word for it" she blinked and looked around. "So…where are we supposed to be going?"
He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "I don't know, I was following you."
"But…I was… Oh dear" she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Well great."
"Think there might be some landmarks around, maybe a cafeteria?" Jaune asked with humor in his voice, walking forward again.
Cinder chuckled and followed after Jaune, not really sure where she was going but not more than ready to get there. Maybe getting to know people wasn't as bad as she thought.
Chapter 2 up and going pretty well for me. Tell me what you think by dropping a review.
Also shout out to Shattered Spectre for his awesome editing work.