Cinder and Jaune finally managed to find their way past the large doors that lead into the main auditorium, having followed their wits, ingenuity, the stars, and of course the large group of other people that had been moving right toward it. Once inside, Cinder began to look around, trying to spot her wayward friend.
"Cinder!" Emerald waved to her from the crowd. "I saved a spot for you!"
She began to start forward before remembering that she had actually been walking with someone. "Do you have anyone to stand with?" Cinder asked in a kind voice. She didn't want him to feel that she was making assumptions.
The boy scratched the back of his head. "Nope, kind of new to the city."
Cinder nodded and waved for him to follow her, walking over toward Emerald. "Hey there, room for one more?" she asked with a smile on her face.
Emerald blinked and looked between them, seemingly confused for a few moments. The idea of Cinder having already made a friend that she wanted to invite over with them was beyond strange. Which wasn't to say that it didn't make her happy, it just made her wonder if Cinder had been replaced by a less socially awkward robot. "Totally fine…" she turned toward the person standing next to her, a large and muscular guy with burnt-orange hair. "Hey Cobo"
"It's Cardin," the boy replied, looking at Emerald. "What's up, babe?"
"Two quick things, first being that you need to go away so my friend and her friend can have spots next to me. Second, don't call me babe." She smiled darkly at Cardin. "Because yeah you have the whole dumb jock thing, but that kind of burns out quickly, and the only people allowed to call me babe are… well actually no one, no one is allowed to call me that."
"You b—" Cardin caught himself before he cursed at the girl in front of a room full of other women with weapons and guys who probably wouldn't be too keen on him doing it either. "Whatever," he walked past the ground, bumping into Jaune, who before this point had been laughing a bit at Emerald's speech. "What are you laughing about?" he said with a glare.
"Uh… funny joke, something about clowns," Jaune put on his best 'innocent' face, hoping to defuse a situation before it started up.
"Whatever," Cardin made a point of hitting Jaune with his body on the way out.
"Can't imagine that is going to end well," Jaune said under his breath, more than a bit annoyed at the fact that he had just been run into for something that wasn't really his fault. Before this annoyance could grow further though, he suddenly found himself face to face with a very attractive girl with one of the oddest colors of hair he had seen before.
"So… are you Cinder's boyfriend?" she asked with a playful smirk. Both Cinder and Jaune's faces lit up red. "Oh wait, no, I don't think you two have known each other that long…" Emerald snapped, as if she had just solved a great mystery. "You two are lovers, right?" If it were possible their faces fell into an even darker shade of crimson.
"Emerald, come on, that's not funny," Cinder crossed her arms and glared at her friend, thinking to herself how much easier it would be to deal with Emerald as a pile of ashes.
Emerald opened her mouth to speak again, but was cut off by a burst of static that instantly grabbed the attention of everyone inside of the room and drew their eyes up toward the stage in the front of the room.
Standing atop the stage were Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch, looking out over the students with eyes that seemed to lock on to everyone in the crowd. After a few moments of the intense gazing, Ozpin stepped toward the mike and began to speak. "I will keep this brief," he began in a loud and commanding voice. "There are those among you here that most likely believe that by being accepted into this school your status and ability are on full display, and that this is the first step toward your future," he paused to let his words sink in. "To this I must inform you that you are wrong, this isn't the first step toward your future, for the second you entered these doors the you that exited on the airship died. The person you were, the beliefs you held, the things you found important are no longer of any importance. Your life is now in service to the people of the world, to the battle against the darkness. Beacon is not a school that teaches warriors, we make them from the ground up." His eyes scanned along the crowd, eventually locking with Cinder's for a moment, giving the Huntress in training a second longer of a gaze before moving on. "Today all I see before me is the potential that is locked within each of your current corpses, and I promise that by the time you leave this school you will either unlock it and become a new you," he turned around. "Or you will leave as you entered this room." He walked away and Goodwitch stepped forward.
"You will all rest in the ballroom tonight, in the morning you will be given breakfast and then face initiation," Goodwitch turned and followed after Ozpin, leaving the students talking amongst themselves.
"Well…" Jaune scratched the back of his head, not really sure what to say after that speech. When he turned to see how Cinder and her friend reacted to it, he found that both of them had disappeared. "Wha… oh, come on," he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Where am I supposed to find another quirky girl to talk to?" he shook his head and walked forward, not really knowing where he was going. Before he got too far though, he ran into someone, falling back and groaning. "Sorry," he looked up at the person.
Said person was a rather tall young woman with long red hair, dressed in light armor and carrying a shield and spear on her back. "It's no problem, are you okay?" she offered her hand to Jaune and he took it, allowing himself to be pulled up.
"So uh… you from around here?" Jaune asked, a bit unsure what to do with himself. Despite his success at talking to Cinder he was still not the best when it came to just talking to people he had just met.
"No, but I have been to Vale a few times," the young woman gave him an odd look, almost as if she were expecting him to say or do something different. "Do you not know me?"
Jaune shook his head. "Nope, why? Did we meet before?" he looked at her again and couldn't help but feel a spark of recognition, but as soon as it came it was gone again.
A smile crept onto her face. "No, the name is Pyrrha, Pyrrha Nikos," she offered a hand to him and Jaune shook it.
"Mine is Jaune Arc, short, sweet, and uh…" he stopped himself from repeating the last part. "…really excited to meet you."
Emerald stopped in front of the stone fountain and turned to look at Cinder, letting go of her arm. "We need to talk Cinder."
The golden eyed huntress rubbed her arm and glared at Emerald, more than a bit unhappy at being dragged away from her new friend and being pulled by her arm. "Talk about what Emerald? If this is about meeting people…"
The green haired girl put up her hand to stop Cinder from continuing. "Last night, what happened?" the usually light hearted girl had suddenly become serious, and the look she gave Cinder was one she had never seen before.
"I was at a Dust shop and it was going to be robbed by a few thugs and a woman with some custom gear," Cinder shrugged. "I did what anyone would do in order to make sure that people didn't get hurt."
Emerald nodded at that. "Okay, I believe you," she looked at the figures put upon the statue. A group of humans standing over the Grimm, the demons that had hunted and killed humans since the dawn of time. If only that were the only threat humanity had to face. "Do you know who the woman was?"
"News said her name was Yang, why is that important?" Cinder had to admit her confusion at the questions coming from her friend.
Emerald paused, biting her lip and trying to form the words in her head before she spoke again. "Yang Xiao Long, the rampaging dragon. Second in command in the Bloody Rose crime family… second in command to Ruby Rose."
Cinder felt her entire world freeze as the name that had haunted her life since she had first heard it passed through her friend's lips. When she had been younger she had lost her family to a cruel and vicious murderess, a woman who wielded a scythe who had brutally killed her parents. That day she had been with Emerald, staying the night at her house while her family was killed. Cinder felt her body began to heat up, the anger at the memory and the idea that she had been so close to someone who aided the person who had murdered her family and hadn't been able to actually hurt them. "You're sure?" she asked, her voice cold.
"Yes," Emerald put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Listen, the fact you survived is amazing, that beast has been known to kill people for stepping in her way at the store. Vale's police force is working twice as hard to find them with them trying to knock over a Dust store, and Qrow…" she smiled a bit. "Well he is doing his thing."
Cinder felt herself calm down at the mention of Qrow. When her parents had died he had been there the second he had found out and had taken her in when she didn't have another person in the world. He had once been one of the top Hunters in the world, a triple S rank that went by the title The Grimm Reaper. He had thrown it away in a second in order to make sure that she wouldn't be alone. Her parents had been his best friends, in fact he was actually her Godfather, but insisted she call him Uncle. If he said he was on the case, then she would believe in him. "Let's go, I am starving," she began to walk forward but was stopped by Emerald, who wrapped her arms around Cinder from behind.
"You are still my best friend in the world Cinder," the words provided a comfort all their own.
"I know Emerald, thank you," Cinder let out a sigh and suddenly felt as if she were back in that horrible time, trapped in the memory of learning she would never see her parents again. "As soon as you enter the doors, your past self dies." Cinder looked up toward the sky, really wondering if she could leave that memory behind and move forward.
The rest of the night passed uneventfully for Cinder. She grabbed some dinner, moved into the ballroom and set up a sleeping bag she could use for the night. After a quick shower, she had changed into a loose shirt and long pajama pants. She laid down and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen.
"Making out a love note to that guy from earlier?" Emerald plopped down on the sleeping bag next to Cinder's with a playful smirk on her face. The sleepware Emerald wore wasn't quite as conservative as Cinder's. A pair of loose fitting shorts and a top that left a good bit of her midriff available for all to see, something that was just classic Emerald.
Cinder sighed and tossed a pillow at Emerald's face, hitting her directly. "No, it's a letter to Qrow, he said that he wanted me to write him when I could."
Emerald suppressed a giggle and looked around at the various people. "I probably shouldn't write mine, imagine my dad hearing that I was in a room full of guys in their pajamas," she pantomimed her head exploding and grinned. "Man I wouldn't want to be in the room when that information came into his mind."
The mere thought of it was enough to make Cinder smile. "Hey, I think I am going for a walk, want to join me?" she slowly stood up and brushed herself off.
"Naw, I think I will just enjoy the sights and try to get some shut eye," Emerald laid back and scanned around, clearly enjoying the view.
Cinder left her friend and grabbed a bottle of water from a table set up with a few night snacks and things for them to drink before heading out. The night sky was rather beautiful from this high up, and not a cloud in the sky obscuring the heavens and the full moon that seemed to stand in heavy contrast to the darkness of the sky. She began to walk around until a noise grabbed her attention, the sound of grunts of effort loud against the otherwise silent night. When she went to investigate she found the young man who had come to her rescue earlier today performing a series of kicks against an invisible enemy, practicing each move with such perfect flow that it could almost be described as dancing. When he finished Cinder gave a few claps. "That was very impressive."
The young man turned around and looked at her, a look of surprise playing across his face before vanishing and returning to a more neutral expression. "Thank you," he said, his words and tone measured and without inflection.
"Would you like some water?" Cinder offered the untouched plastic water bottle to him.
"Sure," he raised his hand and Cinder tossed it to him. He quickly tilted it back and drank every drop from it, lowering it only once every drop of liquid was gone.
"So, I wanted to thank you for earlier," Cinder crossed her arms over herself, only just realizing how cold it was outside.
A smirk came to the man's face. "It wasn't an issue." He looked up at the sky and seemed to fall into a relaxed state. "Tell me, have you ever heard about the legend of the moon?"
"Depends on which legend you are asking about." Cinder had often buried herself in books when she was younger, so she knew a great many of the old legends.
The young man looked up toward the sky at the full moon. "Where I come from, it is said that the moon was once a Huntress from long ago, back when there was only darkness once the sun set. The Huntress saw the people in pain and hunted in the dark, only protected by meager flames. So using all of her power she charged the infinite darkness in the sky and went to war with it, offering her light down. Of course the darkness fights her as well, breaking her power to pieces and at some points devouring her altogether. But the Huntress always strikes back and glows brighter than ever." He pointed at the sky toward all the various stars, "It's said that the stars in the sky are the wounds she has dealt upon the darkness during their endless war."
A round of clapping came from the darkness, causing both of them to turn and look at whoever was coming toward them. "Beautiful story, real touching," Roman walked toward the two, dressed in a button up silk shirt and comfortable looking pants. "But honestly, aren't you two a bit old for bedtime stories?"
Cinder clenched her fists, wanting to reach out and set fire to Roman's hair. "What do you want… jerk?"
Roman put a hand over his heart. "Oh, I am wounded deeply," he rolled his eyes and pulled out a pamphlet from his pants and handed it to Cinder. "Anyway, I figured if we are going to be in the same combat school it would be an annoyance to have you die." The pamphlet had the title of 'Dust for Dummies', and its intent was obvious. "You are welcome," he turned and began to walk away.
Cinder smirked and snapped her fingers, setting the back of his pajama pants on fire. As soon as he felt the heat the heir gave out a loud yelp and ran toward the water in the fountain, jumping in. "You should probably get some sleep you know."
The young man raised an eyebrow and smiled. "You should do the same," the two of them moved toward the doors. "The name is Mercury, just so you know."
"Mine is Cinder, pleasure to meet you," Cinder covered up a yawn and finally felt the claws of sleep pressing into her. The next day would be the first step toward her new life.
What could possibly go wrong?
Yang sighed and lit a fresh cigarette as she leaned against the metal door of one of the various warehouses nestled close to the docks. Honestly she didn't understand why Ruby needed her around to pick up this special 'cargo' from the Black Fang. Wasn't like she would be able to do anything about it, and it wasn't like they had to scare their leader into working for them. The leader of the Black Fang worked with them only because their end game was the same as theirs; the removal of humans from the top of the food chain. Of course they probably wouldn't have guessed that Ruby was antilife and not just antihuman, but that was a fact best left for a later date.
She let out a sign and dropped the half burned cigarette to the ground, putting it out with the toe of her boot and looking up at the sky. Despite everything else, at least there was a beautiful full moon out. After a few more minutes passed by, a sound alerted Yang to another person being out in the darkness. "About time you slow pokes showed up, you know it says bad things about the Black Fang if they can't even make a meeting, Blake."
Three figures stepped into the limited light offered by the lamp hanging off of the warehouse. Two of them were dressed in the same, pure black outfits with hoods and white masks with red symbols meant to look like the eyes of a Grimm. Standing in front of those two was a woman whose every step bled power and authority. The woman wore a long trench coat with small flame designs running along it, on the back stood the current symbol of the Black Fang, a wolf's head with two blades and pure, red eyes. On her back sat the woman's weapon of choice, a Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe, one of the more dangerous weapons ever thought up. Covering the woman's face was a full mask that was white with multiple black marks that ran along its sides, along with two small slits that allowed the woman to see. "We are right on time, you however are early," the woman stepped forward and Yang rolled her eyes, opening the door. "Will she being showing up tonight?"
Yang shrugged a bit. "The boss has a habit of coming out of nowhere, but I don't really know if she will be coming tonight." She followed them into the warehouse, closing the door behind them. Inside of the building were a number of mercenaries that wore the symbol of an ash colored snowflake, the mark that they worked for one of Ruby's more powerful friends. At the end of the room was a massive cage, easily reaching up toward the roof, and wide enough to show that the thing inside must have been massive. The warehouse itself was usually meant to stock large vehicles and boats, but now it was being used to carry much more dangerous cargo. "They say it took thirty people in order to capture this thing," her words where filled with admiration, not a hint of care that thirty people's lives had been ended by the creature inside of the cage.
"Pardon me if I don't pause to weep," she looked into the cage and crossed her arms. "So this is it?"
"Yep!" a voice from behind the four caused them to turn around, which was when the two others that had come in with the woman made a mistake. They pulled out their pistols and aimed them toward the noise that had surprised them. In a blur of movement one was quickly disarmed, his gun used to kill the other before having it turned on him and putting an end to his life. The person who performed the two kills was wearing a red and black dress, and carrying what appeared to be a large gun on her back. The smile on her face was in stiff contrast to the blood that had splashed on her from the shot. "Oh look at that," the woman tossed the gun on one of the corpses. "Casualties," the woman laughed a bit and adjusted a black crown with dark red jewels on it so that it was sitting correctly on her head.
Blake reached for her weapon but paused, knowing that she was at a disadvantage at the moment. "Ruby, here I thought you wouldn't be here," she looked down at the two corpses and sighed.
"Sup sis?" Yang walked over and hugged Ruby, obviously happy that she was able to see her sister, not showing a moment of thought to the two corpses that were bleeding out onto the floor.
"Not much, just figured…" before Ruby could finish the thing inside of the cage let out a massive roar, a sound that was near deafening. "One sec," Ruby walked toward the cage and raised her right hand, which held a black iron ring with a round black orb on top of it. "Obey," the word she spoke carried a dark power to it, and the beast fell silent at the command. "So, are we still clear for the plan?" she asked.
Blake sighed and nodded. "Yes, you will release the S-class Grimm."
"Mega-Oozaru," Ruby said with a childlike smile.
"Yes that, once you release it the danger will draw out the teachers to stop the slaughter it will be performing on the new recruits. While they are distracted the Black Fang will enter the school and located the sword," under the mask a smile formed on Blake's face. "And then every human on this planet will die like dogs."
Yang grinned darkly. "I love it when she gets passionate," she offered her arm to Ruby. "See? Goosebumps."
But Ruby wasn't listening; she was looking toward the cage that held the beast that would make all her dreams come true. "The Crown of Domination, the Ring of Chaos, and soon the Sword of Annihilation," the silver eyed woman laughed darkly. "Oh yeah, the end is coming, and when it does," she turned to look at her allies. "We will drown this world in darkness."
Hey guys! So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Leave a review with your thoughts and look forward to the next chapter!
Also edited by the amazing SunaT.U