As Vesta laid there staring at the ceiling, she contemplated if maybe staying on the island would have been for the best after all. Luckily, someone came up to her. It was the scandalously dressed blonde haired girl, "Hey! View good down there?" She grinned down at her and Vesta just huffed in response. The girl held out her hand, "Vomit Boy over there got it on you too, huh? I guess that makes us sisters!"
Vesta accepted her hand but had to wonder what kind of logic that was, once she was standing, she furrowed her brow, "Sisters?" This girl talked in a way that was so similar and yet so strange, Vesta was worried that if she spoke too much she might out herself as being, well… Around five thousand years old.
The girl's grin remained, "Yep! We're uh… Vomit trauma sisters! We've formed a super-strong bond 'cause of the trauma of getting vomited on by Vomit Boy! My name's Yang, what's yours sister?" This girl talked as if she had flawless logic, as if it all made perfect sense.
It did not. At least, not to Vesta. Yet still, she smiled, "Vesta." She curtsied, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Yang." It was, in spite of the circumstances. She raised her hand and snapped her fingers, a brief flash of blue energy later and her clothes were all clean, "Uhm… tell me, where are we?"
Yang stared at her for a few moments before bursting out laughing, "Good one, new sis! Good one!" She wiped a fake tear from her eye, "Man, you talk super formal but you're already a barrel of laughs. Cool semblance, too. You can clean things?"
Vesta furrowed her brow, surely even if magic was limited to Salem and Ozma they would know what it was, right? "No, it's just… something I can do." She had heard of semblances before from her father, but she didn't know much about them. Vesta wasn't even sure if she could get one herself, given that semblances were just manifestations of a person's soul and, she theorized, a shred of what magic remained innate in every person. She knew that something happened to cause people to lose their magic, and that she was one of the only people left in the world who was 'whole' as Salem described it, but she didn't know much else about the circumstances.
Yang looked intrigued and confused, but she just shrugged, "Alright then, keep your secrets!" Whatever it was Yang was confused about, she clearly didn't deem it that important. However, before Vesta could ask her a question, a new person entered the conversation.
It was the black and red haired girl, "Yang! You just left me back there!" She looked younger than Yang, she certainly stood out on this strange vessel purely because of that alone. The girl crossed her arms and huffed at Yang before she looked at Vesta and smiled shyly, "H-Hi! I'm Ruby! Ruby Rose! Yang's my sister!" The newly named Ruby looked incredibly nervous, she clearly wasn't very well versed in people.
Luckily, Vesta knew a thing or two about dealing with people. She curtsied again, "A pleasure to meet you." These girls were strange, she could tell that just from looking at them. She still had no idea where they were, or where they were going, but luckily she didn't have to wonder for long.
Ruby sighed nervously, "I can't believe I'm gonna be going to Beacon! It… doesn't feel real, honestly." She frowned, "I miss Lunus, and everyone else…" She sounded forlorn, "Am I really ready?"
Yang patted her sister's back, "Don't worry, Ruby! You know Lunus got moved up early too, just to Haven on a scholarship instead of Beacon. You'll see him again! Besides, you can make new friends and have new adventures! Trust me, by the end of your first week, you'll be totally happy. We're all gonna be Hunters, just you wait!"
Beacon? Hunters?
She could deduce that Beacon had to be a place of learning of some kind. The way Yang used the term 'Hunter' made Vesta doubt they were talking about hunting animals for meat. After all, you didn't need a school to do that, she learned it almost entirely on her own! Granted, she had magic, but still!
The vessel they were on lurched to a stop and Vesta almost lost her footing just from that. Yet she caught herself and her face heated up as she heard people, Ruby and Yang included, giggling or finding humor in her almost falling. She huffed and squinted at the two girls, thankfully they wised up and pretended to have not found it funny at all.
The first person out of the ship was the blonde boy, who ran off to puke in the grass. He was followed by Ruby and Yang, while Vesta followed closely behind. Her eyes widened when she saw the absolute splendor of the academy. Tall spires, massive buildings, lots of nature, fountains, and lights… It was almost as beautiful as the castle she grew up in. Almost.
Yang and Ruby both hung back while the blonde girl grinned, "So, Vesta! Wanna come take a look around? Just you and me?"
Vesta furrowed her brow while Ruby huffed, "Yang, you're my only friend! Don't abandon me to hang out with someone new just because you think I should make new friends!"
Yang laughed, "Oh, sis, I would never!" Then, before Vesta could react, Yang grabbed her by the wrist and started to run, "Okay, bye Ruby! I'm gonna show the country girl around here!"
Vesta yelped as she got pulled away, "Wait! I didn't agree to this!" Yet, Yang just kept fleeing while Ruby yelled accusations of betrayal back towards the blonde. One question remained on Vesta's mind as she was taken towards what was supposed to be the mess hall.
Why was the future so weird?
Jaune
Pain.
So far, Jaune's first day at Beacon had been a total disaster. It hadn't even been an hour since he boarded the ship and things were already bad! First, he forgot his motion sickness medicine, then he missed his opportunity to try and talk to the cute girl with white hair, and then he crashed into another cute girl while he was running to the trash can! He was so sick he couldn't even go back and help her up like he wanted to!
Jaune resigned himself to having just ruined his first impression with a potential friend, several actually! He felt like such a doofus, maybe if that girl would even give him the time of day later he would apologize by giving her a gift of some kind. What gift? Well, he had no idea, but it was an idea! A good one, he thought. His father's claim that confidence was key to getting girls didn't really hold up when you were vomiting all over the place.
Especially when he was the first one out of the ship and everyone saw him vomiting in the grass. That was also no doubt not going to do him any favors. He didn't even want to flirt with anyone! At least, not yet, but he just wanted friends! Was it too much to ask for a cute quirky girl to talk to?
Then he heard the explosion.
Gathering himself and stumbling to his feet, Jaune whirled around to see the pretty white haired girl covered in soot and looking rather pissed. She walked away with her butler carting away her insane amount of bags. The knight took that as reason enough to go investigate the crater.
Inside of it he found one of the girls from the ship, alive and well but looking very downtrodden. So, Jaune did what he was raised to do, extend a hand out to someone in need, "Hey! Need a hand?"
The girl accepted his hand, "Thanks! My name is Ruby, Ruby Rose." They shared a smile before she tilted her head slightly, "Weren't you the guy who vomited on the ship?"
Jaune facepalmed, "Ah- Well- Okay, yes!" The newly named Ruby giggled while Jaune huffed, they started to walk and talk, "Look, motion sickness is a serious problem! I forgot my medicine in my suitcase so I didn't get to take any before we boarded the ship." Then, he cleared his throat, "Look, let's start over. Name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it!" He thought about it before huffing, "At least, they would have if I didn't vomit all over the place."
That just got Ruby giggling more, "I'm sure Vesta would love it." She teased, "That's the girl you knocked over."
Vesta?
That was a good name, Jaune felt, old-school, but cute. Still, there was no point thinking about that, he just cleared his throat, "W-Well, uhm… I don't think so." He deflated, "I don't think she'll want anything to do with me after that. I don't blame her. If only there was some way I could make it up to her…"
Ruby looked like she was thinking about something before she changed the topic, "So I've got this thing!" She pulled out a giant scythe and grinned, "Crescent Rose! She's my baby."
And so, the two dorks spent the next several minutes talking about weapons while Jaune's mind lingered back on Vesta, he really felt awful about what he did. So how was he to apologize? Jaune didn't know, after all, while he was decent at baking he doubted receiving cookies made by the guy who vomited on you was going to be very appealing to, well, anyone.
Eventually, however, Jaune and Ruby both realized they were completely lost. So, they ran off to try and get to the auditorium before the speech.
Luckily, they got there. Ruby abandoned him to go to her sister and thus, Jaune was alone again. He sighed and deflated, "Great… where am I supposed to find another cute and quirky girl to talk to now?" He walked further into the auditorium, deciding that maybe he'd finally introduce himself to the white haired girl.
He didn't notice the Witch-in-training watching him with her arms crossed in the background.
Vesta
Vesta watched as the blonde knight who had (temporarily) ruined her dress was abandoned by Ruby and decided to start making his way towards Weiss Schnee. Vesta had to ask around to find out what her name was, but apparently she was something of a celebrity. A famous singer and heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, which was some large 'corporation' (whatever that was) that refined dust into bullets, vials, and other forms for people both huntsman and not.
Yang had made fun of her for not knowing what the SDC was, saying she must have really been a country girl if she had never heard of them. Vesta took offense to that, she was not some farmer's daughter! She was the princess of Everday! A bonafide royal! Of course, she couldn't tell Yang that, because based on what she knew about this world, there were no kingdoms left anymore.
From what she could gather from listening to people talk and from the strange 'holo-screens' that broadcasted moving pictures that spoke of current events, while the kingdoms were still called kingdoms, they were actually 'republics' ruled by councils of representatives rather than a monarch. Vesta supposed that made the idea of anyone claiming to be a princess laughable, but she knew what she was!
Besides, people called this 'Weiss' girl a princess! So why couldn't she be called one as well? It wasn't like Weiss actually had any royal titles to her name, so why was she called princess?
Vesta realized she was going off on another mental tangent and shook her head. Instead, she went to join Ruby and Yang in waiting for the 'Headmaster' to speak. Vesta wasn't a student here, but she knew that acting like she was until she got her bearings might be worthwhile. If that meant playing the part until her father found her, then so be it! It wasn't like they had some way to tell she wasn't actually a student here, right?
Right?
When she reached the two other girls, Ruby smiled at her and was about to say something when suddenly Weiss was upon them. She pointed accusatively at Ruby, "You!' This prompted Ruby to yelp and jump into her sister's arms. What happened next was an exercise in pointlessness as Weiss proceeded to rattle off a bunch of 'safety procedures' and 'legalese' as Yang would call it later. Then, Weiss shoved a pamphlet into Ruby's hand and told her to leave her alone.
Once she left, Yang frowned, "What a jerk. People online call her 'Ice Queen' and now I think I know why." She set Ruby down and smirked as she saw Jaune try (and fail) to introduce himself to Weiss.
Vesta scoffed, "She's no queen! Not even a 'princess' as I heard her called!" Both Yang and Ruby seemed a bit surprised at the vitriol in the other girl's voice, "She's no princess! Such a title befits one of kindness and warmth, not anger and ice! She is naught but a cox-comb!"
Yang snickered, "Alright, Shakespeare. What village did you say you were from again?" Before Vesta could brush the question off, there was the sound of a microphone turning on that caused the whole auditorium to go silent. Vesta only went silent because she had absolutely no idea what it was and was marginally worried that it might be some preemptive noise of attack from a new beast.
Instead, it was just a blonde woman tapping the microphone and stepping away from it after introducing Professor Ozpin, the Headmaster, to the gathered students. The Headmaster was a man with white hair in a suit and carrying a cane who walked up to the microphone and began to speak, he gave a speech about how he saw the students as wasted energy in need of guidance and direction. It really was a brief speech, all things considered, although there was one oddity that stood out to Vesta.
Namely, as the Headmaster started to walk away while his assistant, Glynda Goodwitch (Vesta was sure she wasn't even a real witch), told them that they would be sleeping in the ballroom, Ozpin stopped and looked over the crowd…
…Then his gaze rested right on Vesta, whose eyes widened. She could tell he was looking at her, but it seemed nobody else did. After a few seconds, the Headmaster shook his head and walked off stage, reasoning to himself that it was just a coincidence. It had to be.
After all, Vesta died thousands of years ago. That a girl who looked like her was now amongst his student body was just a trick of the light, perhaps even mockery sent by the gods themselves for his failure. After all, if he had acted quicker, then the spell would have been successful. His daughter, the light of his life, wouldn't have been crushed under a chandelier.
"-So then he said 'Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it!'" Ruby giggled as she explained her interaction with Jaune to Yang and Vesta. As Ruby went on to detail how they talked about their weapons, Yang seemed amused while Vesta was only really listening because the three of them were sitting together in the ballroom. Thankfully, the school had extra sleeping bags for people who didn't own one, so she wasn't doomed to sleep on the bare ground.
Not that she couldn't do that. After spending a month living in a cave, she wondered if sleeping in a regular bed would feel the same. She had gotten so used to her bed of straw in the cave…
That was neither here nor there, though. Vesta was perhaps being a bit petty by feeling slighted by the wannabe knight who vomited on her dress. She could admit to that, but when her only impressions on the guy were from him vomiting on her and then going to flirt with the Schnee girl, she didn't exactly have a reason to think of him as anything more than a hapless fop.
Well, that was until Ruby eventually got to another part, "Uhm, Vesta." Ruby smiled awkwardly, "So… Jaune feels really really bad about what happened on the ship. He wants to make it up to you but he thinks you hate him!" Those might not have been the exact words Jaune used, but Ruby was certain that was what he thought.
Vesta furrowed her brow, "Does he?" That was surprising, from the way he had been trying to talk with the Schnee she assumed that he had just outright forgotten about her. Maybe she had been too quick to judge… "Well." She hummed and looked around, "I suppose someone should set the record straight."
Yang smirked, "Can't judge a Vomit Boy by his motion sickness, I guess." Then, she cast her gaze further out, "Although it looks like a certain Ice Queen has." That caused Vesta to turn her gaze to where Yang was looking, and sure enough she saw Jaune (who was in a bright blue onesie, Vesta had never seen such attire before) looking confused and apologetic while Weiss seemed to be tearing into him about one thing or another.
And that just made Vesta's blood boil. Not particularly because it was Jaune, she still wasn't sure what to think of him, but because it was Weiss that was berating him. She had already established in her mind that that faux-princess was not worth her time, and to see her acting like she owned the place just drove that home.
So, Vesta stood up from where she had been sitting, on her sleeping bag, and adjusted her hat before saying, "I'll be back." Then she walked towards the two, she heard Weiss berating him for something. It sounded like he had said something that set her off, although exactly what it was, Vesta wasn't sure.
She found that she didn't particularly care, either.
She cleared her throat as she stopped not too far from either of them, "Weiss Schnee!" Vesta glared at her, Weiss stopped talking and looked annoyed as she gazed at Vesta. The witch-in-training's frown deepened, "You picture yourself a princess, don't you? Acting so high and mighty, walking around and insulting people as you see fit! Were it so, then perhaps you'd know a thing or two about manners! Your attitude, your very mind-" she gestured to the side of her own head, "-is as lopsided and poor as your ponytail! Thine tiara is truly a jest to royalty, you puffed up merchant's daughter! Perhaps if you would stop to think of other people as more than just paupers groveling at your feet, you would learn what it truly means to behave as a kind ruler! Right now, I fear for your 'company', no doubt it will be driven into the ground by your arrogance!"
Something Vesta said had clearly struck some kind of nerve, because Weiss' eyes widened before she just growled, turned on her heels, and stormed away, muttering something about how it wasn't worth it to argue. Jaune looked absolutely dumbstruck, "Wha- I- Uhm-" He turned to look directly at Vesta, his eyes wide, "Y-You? L-Listen, I'm sorry that I-"
Vesta cut him off by raising her hand. Then, she lowered it, "Let's start over. My name is Vesta," she began to smirk, "short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Boys love it." Her smile grew as she turned on her heels, "Apology accepted." Then, she walked off.
She didn't see the look of awe that had struck Jaune Arc like lightning. Not only had this girl just stood up for him, no questions asked, but then she turned his introduction on him! She. Used. His. Intro! Jaune swallowed a lump in his throat before he averted his gaze from Vesta's retreating form.
Now that was an amazing girl. One, he reminded himself, he absolutely didn't have a chance with.
Meanwhile, Vesta returned to sit with Ruby and Yang. The two of them seemed to have been watching what she was doing, and both of them smiled at her. As she sat down, Yang grinned, "Damn, you've got claws! Me-ow!" She made a gesture with her hand as if it was a cat's paw, "Remind me not to piss you off."
Vesta sighed, "Honestly I may have gone a bit overboard." She took her hat off and looked at it, "I have been rather… stressed, this past month or so. I might have let it get the better of me."
Yang scoffed, "Nah! She deserved it. That jerk made Ruby upset, that's more than enough for me to not like her."
Ruby, in the meantime, nodded, "Although… I get what you mean." She frowned, "Sometimes when I say things I end up regretting it too."
Vesta at least took solace in the fact that the sentiment was shared. Maybe she needed to apologize. Although, that could wait. She still wasn't sure how she felt about Weiss and whether or not she deserved an apology. Instead, she got into her sleeping bag after taking off her boots and placed her hat over her face, "Well, I'm going to sleep."
Yang sounded amused, "In your huntress outfit? Man, now that's dedication."
Vesta hummed, "It's the only outfit I own." Not that she thought she needed a new one, when she could magically repair and clean this one that meant it was basically always going to be brand new. Although she still hadn't fixed her hair… She decided she'd do that some other time. She was already tired and didn't want to exert the energy needed to cast a spell that would straighten it out.
Neither of the other girls said anything about what Vesta said, it was kind of strange but she welcomed the silence. Sleep came easily, along with the start of a new tomorrow.
The next day everyone piled into one single room called a 'locker room' to put their equipment on. Not only was Vesta scandalized by the idea of changing around a bunch of strangers, she was appalled by the idea of seeing a bunch of strangers changing. It tormented her ancient sensibilities, thankfully she had no reason to go inside. She already had all of her 'gear' on, which was to say the clothes on her back, her staff, and her satchel.
Ruby and Yang both had trouble believing that her staff would be enough for initiation - whatever that was - but Vesta knew that it would be enough for whatever 'initiation' was. Vesta thought that maybe she should have just told the Headmaster about her situation, but what was she supposed to say? 'Hey, I'm a princess from a long dead kingdom and was locked out of time for around five thousand years, can you help me?' She doubted she would be believed.
So, while waiting for whatever it was that was going to happen outside of the locker room, she spotted two people she hadn't really noticed before. An orange haired girl and a boy with dark hair that had a single pink highlight on it. The guy was silent as he got out of his sleeping bag and packed it up, while the girl seemed to be talking a million miles a minute. Something about 'together' but not 'together-together', whatever that meant. It seemed like the more Vesta was forced to interact with the future, the less she understood about it.
Eventually, however, it seemed like the guy was done packing and started to walk off, with the girl following. They seemed to be heading for the locker-room that Vesta was standing near, and so it was only natural that she ended up in the sights of the orange haired girl, "Hey! You look cool, got a real magical girl vibe!" She grinned, "What's your opinion on pancakes?"
Vesta furrowed her brow. Not only was that an odd question, she had no idea what the girl was referring to, she might have heard the term amongst the common folk but she never knew what it was, or what it even looked like, Salem always said they were 'peasant food', "Uhm… What's that?"
The dark haired boy chuckled and dryly remarked, "You've made a mistake." He had the faintest ghost of a smile on his face before he walked into the locker room and left Vesta there with the orange haired girl…
…Who looked like Vesta had just bit her thumb at her, "You. Don't. Know?! We have to fix this!" Then, she reached out and grabbed Vesta's hand, "Right now!"
Vesta's eyes widened, "N-No, wait-" yet, she started to get pulled anyway, "-and here I go again." She remarked in defeat as the girl dragged her off towards what she assumed was the dining hall. Was this some kind of strange norm in the future? Did people just do this? Should she be doing this?
She didn't have time to think about what the answer might be as she got dragged off to parts unknown.
Jaune
The locker room was filled with conversation and the sound of students putting on their gear. Jaune had already done so and was currently waiting to see if Vesta would show up. After all, if he wanted a friend, he was going to need to talk to her first! Yet, he'd been waiting for ten minutes, and she hadn't shown up.
Thankfully, Ruby had, and he decided to approach her while she was looking over Crescent Rose, giving a wide berth to Weiss and the redhead that she was trying to get to be her partner as he did so. All he had done was tell Weiss that he liked her hair and she blew up on him! He believed that most people had good in them, and the fact that Weiss wanted to be a huntress clearly meant there was something there, so he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe she had just had a bad day. Everyone has bad days!
…Granted, most people don't take out their bad days on other people, but he could see that he was probably being annoying. First, he tried to talk and introduce himself to her at the auditorium, and then he tried to strike up a conversation with her at the ballroom. Jaune was not a socially adept guy, it took him a lot longer to understand social cues and he had absolutely no idea how to read a room, so he totally missed how upset she was right up until she detonated.
Luckily, he was not the only member of the Socially Challenged Elite in this room, so he waved and greeted, "Hey, Ruby!" He smiled as she looked up at him and returned the smile, "Uhm… how'd you sleep?"
Ruby maintained her smile even as she went back to tinkering with Crescent rose, "Good! I used to go camping with my uncle when I was younger so sleeping bags just remind me of that. How about you?"
Jaune chuckled nervously and scratched his wrist, "Okay, I went camping a lot too so it was basically the same for me." Although that had been a long time ago, "Uhm- So! Ruby, uhm… where's Vesta?"
That was when he heard Yang's voice, it caused him to wince as she came up to him and threw her arm around his shoulders, "Awwh! Noodle Boy's looking for his knight in shining dress!" She grinned, "What're you looking for her for? Gonna try and flirt with her? I saw how you had been looking at Weiss before that little bomb went off last night."
Jaune's face turned bright red as he rapidly shook his head, "W-What?! No! I just- I just wanna thank her, you know? For giving me a second chance to be her friend! I wouldn't want to ruin that by flirting with her…" He shook his head and pulled himself together. Come on, Jaune! Where's that Arc brand confidence? The Arc Charm?!
…Back on the ship, actually. He cleared his throat, "I thought I'd find her in the locker room but nope. Do you guys have any idea where she went?"
The mood of the two girls changed as Yang's grin dropped to a small frown before recovering to a smile, Jaune didn't notice the shift in mood until Yang explained with a worried tone, "She's… already wearing her gear, so she didn't need to change or anything. Apparently that's the only outfit she's got."
Ruby was a bit less restrained as she nodded furiously with a worried look in her eyes, "She's a homeless orphan! We know she is! Think about it!" She gestured to her head with her index fingers before dropping them, "She talks real old-timey and is clearly from some rural village, she's only got one outfit, and according to Yang she didn't even know what a scroll was until she showed her!"
Yang added, "And even then, she still didn't seem to get it." She sighed, "It just isn't right, y'know? I feel like maybe after initiation I should take her clothes shopping, even if we don't end up on the same team."
Ruby agreed, "Yeah! I'll come with you! She can't get by with just one outfit! I have like… six copies of this!" She gestured to her huntress gear.
Jaune was stunned by the news, his eyes widened. Was Vesta really a poor orphan who knew basically nothing about how society worked? That would explain her strangely formal language, but it also made him feel like he should be doing something to help her as well.
Unbeknownst to any of them, Lie Ren had caught their entire conversation while he was checking his equipment. Vesta, who he deduced was the girl that he saw tear into Weiss the night before and also the one that Nora kidnapped, was like him and Nora. He realized, then, that maybe it was their job as well to help. After all, it would come off as patronizing if a bunch of people who didn't know the struggle tried to help, but if he and Nora did it…
He thought about this even as he left, prompted by Professor Goodwitch coming on the intercom and requesting all initiates make their way to the starting area at the cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest for initiation to begin.
Shared Perspective
Not since her days eating dinner with Meghara had Vesta seen a girl eat as much as Nora did. Mountains upon mountains of the same dish, pancakes, which were like… pastries of a kind. Vesta found she liked them, but one would never catch her stuffing her face with them quite like Nora did. She had table manners, damn it! Clearly, she would have to teach those to the other girl, should the opportunity present itself.
Then it was time for 'initiation', and this was the part where Vesta wondered if her charade was going to blow up in her face. How could someone like her go through an 'initiation' she wasn't supposed to be at? Yet, there really was nothing for her to do but carry on and go with Nora to the cliff overlooking the 'Emerald Forest' as it was called.
There, she was made to stand with the rest of the initiates on a strange metal… pad? Of some kind. She had no idea what it was or what it was going to do, but she went along with it anyway. She found that Jaune was on her left and Nora had taken up a position on Vesta's right, followed by the person Nora had called Ren on her right.
Professor Goodnotawitch directed everyone to take a place on a 'pad' as it were while she explained, "Many of you have been asking questions about 'teams', well, allow us to put the rumors to rest. You will be assigned your teams today."
Ozpin picked up, "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years." That got people muttering worriedly amongst themselves, at least the ones that Vesta assumed probably already had people they wanted to work with.
The Headmaster continued, "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die." That felt a bit dramatic, even to Vesta, "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"
Jaune worriedly raised his hand, "Uhm, yeah, I've got a question." Ozpin directed everyone to take their positions while Jaune asked, "How are we going to get down? Is there like a ladder, o-or are you dropping us off?"
Ozpin amusedly shook his head, "No, you will be falling." He was smiling yet his gaze continued to linger on Vesta. She looked so similar, the memories were blurred and so, so old, but they were there. There was no way, though, right?
Meanwhile, Jaune was about to ask another question before he was launched into the air, screaming, several other people had already been launched before him. Meanwhile, Vesta watched as Jaune was launched into the forest and sighed, "Okay then." She muttered, and the second her launchpad shot her into the air she began to manipulate the wind around her to allow her to fly. In spite of herself, she began to smile as she sailed forth, adding a bit of flare as she performed a few somersaults and zig-zags.
Ozpin watched as the girl flew and then snatched Jaune Arc out of the air, looking down at his drink as he shook his head and sipped it. Glynda looked at him worriedly, yet he said nothing.
Meanwhile, Jaune was absolutely shocked by what just happened. One minute he was sailing through the air towards certain death, and the next he was grabbed out of the sky and being carried bridal style by the very girl he had been trying to talk to just earlier! She was grinning and sounded elated as she spoke, "Falling? Nay, I prefer flying." Then she went higher into the air! Higher! Jaune felt like he was going to be sick, but then he felt this warming energy pour into his body and suddenly he felt his sickness being pushed back as Vesta declared, "Not going to happen! You're not going to vomit on this dress again."
They breached the clouds and then began to descend as Vesta guided them down, "Father did always tell me I had my head in the clouds. So, I vowed to rule them!" She sounded amused and nostalgic as Vesta continued to bring them down and down at breakneck speeds until she slowed down once they reached the treetops. Afterward, she stayed upright as she guided them down. She didn't notice how Jaune looked up at her in absolute awe again, although it was tempered with embarrassment at having to be plucked out of the sky and saved by someone else.
…Even if he knew that since his aura wasn't unlocked he would have probably died or at least been seriously injured without the save. He had meant to ask Ruby to unlock his aura, but he never got around to it…
Vesta, meanwhile, set him down upright with a smile still plastered on her face. Flying through the sky brought back good memories of doing the same thing over Everday. Yet, she had to focus on the here and now, particularly as Jaune smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, "Uhm… th-thanks for the save, partner."
Vesta nodded, "I couldn't rightly let you splat on the ground, could I?" She hummed and looked around, "Now, we should head north…" Then, she heard the growl of a Grimm in the trees, so she grabbed her staff and extended it out, "Ah, but first… A warmup."
Meanwhile, back on the cliff, Ozpin was looking out at the forest contemplating what he had seen. A flying semblance was not impossible, so he could brush that off easily. What he couldn't brush off easily was what he saw next, when the sky seemed to open up and several small meteorites fell from the heavens, crashing into a localized area in the forest and causing the sound of those minor explosions to emanate through the whole area.
There was no more denying it, Ozpin's eyes widened and his mouth fell open before he held his mug out to Glynda, "Glynda, prepare to launch me." She looked at him in confusion and took his mug before he looked at her, "Yes, launch me." Then he ran over to one of the launch pads and braced himself, "Now, Glynda!"
Glynda didn't have time to ask what had gotten into Ozpin all of the sudden, she just looked down at her scroll and pressed the button on it that launched the Headmaster into the air.
Ozpin sailed through the air while trying to track down exactly where those meteors had landed. He even went as far as to form a green shield around him to break his fall as he closed into the ground.
Meanwhile, Vesta had just summoned down several small meteorites using a spell she had named Starfall in order to wipe out a small pack of Beowolves that had deigned them easy prey. To Vesta, it was simple, a spell like that done too many times would tire her out, but once? It was nothing. When she looked back at Jaune, she saw his eyes wide and his mouth agape as she raised an eyebrow, "What?" She asked as if she hadn't just commanded the skies to open and deliver hell onto a pack of Grimm.
Jaune stammered, "Wh-What was that?! Isn't your semblance flight? What- how- I- It's… That was… That was awesome!" His eyes lit up as he grinned and bounced on his heels, "You're like a superhero from my comic books!"
Vesta would be lying if she said she didn't find Jaune's excitability and behavior endearing and somewhat adorable, even if she had no idea what a 'superhero' or a 'comic book' was. Instead she smiled, "I'm capable of casting magic. I'm what people might call a Witch. Surely you know what that is, yes?" She raised an eyebrow as Jaune's look of amazement just grew, "No?"
Before Jaune could respond, however, something broke through the trees. Not a Grimm, but Ozpin in an emerald green bubble. When he crashed into the ground, the bubble dispersed as he landed in what some might call a 'superhero pose' with one fist on the ground as he knelt. Then, he stood up and removed his glasses, "Vesta!" He was clearly on the verge of tears, "It's you… isn't it?" Vesta stared at her wide eyed, for a brief moment she did not see Ozpin, it was Ozma who stepped forward and placed a hand on his heart, though when she blinked the illusion was banished, "It's me, it's your-"
Vesta cut him off as everything clicked into place in her mind, it was as if the Gods themselves had shown her the truth, and now she found him again, "Father!" She dropped her staff and raced over to him as he held out his waiting arms and embraced him. She couldn't help it, she already felt tears that she'd refused to let fall previously begin to burst through the dam she'd built. She whispered, "I missed you so much. Th-There was an island, and I… Then… They're dead." She knew he knew, but she still needed to reconcile it, she'd been too busy surviving before to truly do so, "Meghara, Persephone, Venus… They're dead."
The normally implacable Headmaster sniffled and felt his own tears begin to fall, "But not you. You're alive. You're… you're here. That's…what matters, Vesta. I thought… I thought I lost you." Ozpin wasn't Ozpin in that moment, through his thousands of years of experience, he had never truly felt like this since before that day. Though he was not the same man he once was, he had sailed the seven seas as an adventurer, led Vale to victory as a king, set Atlas aloft, and so much more. Yet, none of that mattered at that moment.
It was as if all else fell away, his other lives took a step back and, as he squeezed his eyes shut and held his sobbing daughter tightly against his chest, he was a father again. Ozma again. Just for that one moment, he felt five thousand years younger as he whispered, "It's okay… It's okay. We're together… Nothing is going to take you away from me again. I promise." Ozpin didn't like making promises anymore, but he wasn't going to give Vesta anything less. The fact that she was alive was a miracle, she was a miracle, "I missed you, Vesta… I love you."
Vesta sniffled, "I love you too, Father." She took a deep breath to calm herself down, "It's… it's been so hard. For a moment, I thought… I would never see you again." They broke their hug after holding it for almost a minute and she cleared her throat, remembering they weren't alone as she wiped her eyes and looked back at Jaune, who looked a mixture of confused, touched, and surprised, "Right… Father, this is Jaune Arc, my partner."
Jaune cleared his throat nervously as Ozpin regarded him with a smile. Even though the Headmaster's gaze was friendly, he still felt incredibly awkward. It was like he was meeting his girlfriend's father, except she wasn't his girlfriend, only just barely a friend, and his partner, "U-Uhm… Hi, uh… Sir. So… your daughter is a Witch! Did you know that? She's magic!" Jaune tried to focus on Vesta rather than himself, "She sent a bunch of meteorites at a pack of Grimm!" He gestured at the girl, who for once looked kind of sheepish as she smiled while looking between Oz and Jaune.
Ozpin, meanwhile, looked a mixture of shocked and worried, "You told him?" Oz looked at Vesta before realizing that his daughter would have had no reason to not show off her magic, she didn't know what things were like, "Well, I suppose that can't be helped." He fished out his glasses and put them back on as Oz returned to his normal faculties, "I think it would be wise to not tell people about your powers, Vesta, they might make you a target."
Vesta shook her head, "Father, are you trying to tell me people don't know about magic now?" As Oz nodded, she furrowed her brow, "Why not? We have it! It won't hurt anyone, me especially, if people knew I had the power that I do. Once upon a time, you showed it off to everyone in Everday!"
Ozpin frowned as he remembered that early stage of his life. It was a mistake, one he intended to never repeat. He shook his head, "Jealous hearts and minds will come for you regardless of whether or not they have something to gain. Besides, you know she will send people after you once she discovers you're still alive."
The fire in Vesta's eyes surprised Ozpin as she held her hand back towards her staff and used the wind to make it fly back into her hand, "Then let them come! Once I become a full-fledged Witch I will gladly dispatch anyone who stands in our way! She has to pay for what she did to Meghara. To all of my sisters!" Ozpin winced and averted his gaze as he thought back to what Salem had done.
Ozpin really didn't want to have this conversation in front of Jaune, so he cleared his throat, "...We can speak more on that later, then. For now, just… please keep the spells you use to the less… flashy side. I understand that you were only really trained to fight with magic, so you will need to use it while fighting the Grimm here, but until we can sort out what to do, please try to minimize the number of people that see your power."
Vesta would have argued more were she not still so happy to have her father back, so she sighed, "Fine, but first…" She reached into her satchel and held out the Everbloom she had kept, "Here, Father. A gift from the island I was on."
Ozpin was surprised but he still took the flower and smiled as he stuck it in his suit pocket, "Thank you, Vesta. I will be sure to incorporate it into my usual attire. For now, please continue through and complete initiation. You arriving in time for Beacon's initiation was serendipitous to say the least." Then he regarded Jaune, "And Vesta, please unlock Mr. Arc's aura." Then, without saying anything else, Ozpin walked away.
Vesta's eyes widened as she looked back at Jaune, "Your aura isn't unlocked?! Wha- Why?" She strided over to Jaune and glared up at him, "Do you understand how reckless that is? If I hadn't grabbed you, you could have been killed!"
Jaune rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "U-Uhm, yeah. My dad wasn't willing to unlock it for me, I thought that once I had run away to come here I might find someone who was willing but… I kind of forgot to ask." He looked away, "S-So uhm, you saved my life. Thanks."
Vesta decided she would chide him for his recklessness later, he was alive and that was what mattered at the moment, "Anyroad, please hold still." She collapsed her staff and attached it to her side before she stepped forward. She placed her left hand on his shoulder and reached the other one up to cup his cheek, "Close your eyes." Her aura began to flare up as she focused, her own eyes glowing blue before she closed them as well, "For it is through determination that we honor the past. Heroism creates a warsong against those who have done us wrong to reach the heavens. Follow me to the ends of Remnant that we might see evil tremble in our wake. I release your soul and with my hand, guide thee."
When they both opened their eyes, they both saw Jaune's aura glowing a pale yellow. Almost white, were it not for the tinges that looked the color of gold. Vesta felt a small amount of exhaustion wash over her but she was quick to shake it off, instead she focused on Jaune, "Your aura… You have a lot of it." She smiled, "Almost as much as I do, but not quite. Truly, you are gifted."
Jaune grinned as he looked at his hands, "Wow… this feels great! So this is what I've been missing this whole time?" Vesta nodded and he whistled, "Wow…" His aura retreated inside of him and he drew his sword and shield, "Let's get going. I'll lead the way, Princess." He caught himself and stammered, "U-Uhm, sorry, I didn't mean-"
Vesta just covered her mouth and giggled, "Don't feel embarrassed, that is my title after all." She gestured forward, "Lead the way, o' loyal guard of mine." Jaune had no idea if she was actually a princess or just participating in some complex form of roleplaying but he still relaxed and nodded. He was still internally very anxious about saying something that would screw up Vesta's opinion of him. Instead of worrying about that, however, he just decided to start going forward.
Meanwhile, Vesta herself drew her staff again and followed not far behind as Jaune led the way. Luckily, there wasn't much need to take the lead herself this time, and it made sense to have the wannabe-knight with the sword and shield out front while she hung back. She had seen how knights that served her kingdom had trained before, how they stood and fought, she could tell that he was unsteady. Maybe she could try and instruct him in the way of the knights she used to watch? Granted, her memory on their exact methods wasn't the best, but… maybe she could bug her father to give some instructional material to them.
The two of them reached a cave system, which was certainly not where Ozpin had said the relics were, yet Jaune wondered, "Hey, think he might have hidden something in here?" He sheathed his sword and shield and looked around before starting to gather what looked like the things he would need to make a torch, "It'd be worth checking out at least, right?"
Vesta hummed, "I suppose adventure rewards the curious traveler." She caused her staff to shorten in length until it looked more like a wand, "Let's give it a quick look, if nothing's there then we'll just keep going."
So, the pair made their way into the cave, side by side as Jaune used the torch to light the way. Vesta wasn't sure what, if anything, would be inside of it, but she figured it was worth exploring, right? After all, how often was she going to be in the Emerald Forest? Probably not very often.
Eventually, though, they reached a glowing… thing of some kind, that Jaune reacted to by saying, "This must be a relic!" He reached out, grabbed it, and tugged… Only for his torch to reveal that it was a Deathstalker, "This isn't a relic!"
If anyone had been outside the cave, they would have been greeted to the sight of the Witch-In-Training known as Vesta fleeing while being followed by a Deathstalker while Jaune shouted in a high-pitched and desperate tone, "Vesta! Heeeelp!" While dangling comically from the stinger. Vesta wanted desperately to just blow the thing up, but she was not only expressly told to avoid doing anything too flashy, she also didn't want to accidentally blow up Jaune as well. Even if he had his aura unlocked now, he didn't need to have it drained from tanking an explosion.
She had another idea, though. She just needed to line up the shot and wait for the right opportunity! All while chasing after the thing through the woods. For once she could say it was a good thing she spent so long in the wilderness, because dodging roots and other things that would trip her up on the forest floor was rather easy.
The opportunity for a clean strike came when they reached a clearing near the very temple they were supposed to be at. She extended out her staff, twirled it with a flourish, and then pointed the gem towards the tail of the beast, sending out a spear of ice that sailed through the air and cleaved through its stinger, sending Jaune flying through the air!
Vesta also saw that Weiss was falling through the air as well, apparently she had been hanging on to a Nevermore! At least Vesta could recognize some types of Grimm. She sighed and resigned herself to using two instances of the same spell as a purple aura surrounded both and caused them to lower to the ground harmlessly. Jaune looked gratefully back at Vesta while Weiss looked confused.
Exhaustion tugged at Vesta, she had enough energy in her for one more good spell for the day. After that, though, she knew she would be much too worn out to cast any more, hell, if it was a big enough spell she'd have trouble walking.
Vesta, Jaune, and Weiss all ran to the temple, where Ruby, Yang, some dark haired girl with a bow in her hair, Nora and Ren were preparing to fight. Once they got there, Weiss growled at Ruby, "How could you leave me?!" She huffed, "Whatever!" before drawing her rapier and turning towards the Deathstalker and the Nevermore, both of whom were preparing to engage.
Vesta looked back at where the chess pieces were and saw a white rook piece, so she extended out her free hand and beckoned the wind to bring it to her. Once it was in her hand, she put it in her satchel. She was glad that manipulating the wind in minor ways (or in the major way of letting her fly) didn't exhaust her, otherwise this would all be a lot more difficult.
Ruby made a suggestion, "Fighting here isn't a good idea! We should retreat!"
Jaune remarked, "Run and live. That sounds like a good plan." Thus the eight trainees broke away from the temple and began to run past it, deeper into the ruins that dotted the area while drawing closer to the cliff. The Nevermore flew overhead and flapped its wings, sending out several sharp giant feathers towards the ground where everyone was running. Thankfully everyone managed to dodge, in any other circumstance Vesta would have created a shield but that would have taken her out of the game way too early!
Ren yelled for Nora to distract the Nevermore, which she did by shooting her grenade launcher (All Vesta knew about it was that it made things explode) while everyone continued to move, the Deathstalker crashing through ruins not far behind them. They reached a bridge and while trying to cross it, the Nevermore crashed right into it! Vesta cursed, having fallen behind, she was left at the start of the bridge with Ren and the dark haired girl while Nora and Jaune were on the other side.
Vesta promised herself that she'd get an actual weapon to accompany her staff at some point, because when she was this low on spells, it made acting in a decisive manner difficult when all she could do was whack them with an iron stick. Ren and the girl both fired at the Deathstalker while Vesta tried to plan. If only Jaune and Nora were there!
…Of course, her prayer was answered when Nora proceeded to smash part of the bridge in a manner that sent both her and Jaune flying over. Jaune landed next to Vesta and scrambled to his feet while Nora smashed the Deathstalker on the head while cackling like a mad woman.
The Deathstalker responded by striking out with its tail towards the dark haired girl, who backed up and fell! Yet, before Vesta could move to go catch her, the girl used her weapon to catch the side of a building so she could swing her way to safety!
Vesta turned all her attention onto the Deathstalker and tried to think of what to do, she was trained to be a ruler not a tactician damn it! "Okay! Nora, Jaune, keep it back from up close. Ren, fire at it with your strange handheld cannon, I need all of you to cover me, if this works I can take it out, but when I say 'levin' I need you two to back up!" She said the last part while looking at Nora and Jaune, both of whom nodded and both moved to attack the Deathstalker. Jaune was clearly afraid, but he pushed forward anyway.
Vesta remembered hearing that that was a mark of true bravery, but she couldn't focus on that. Instead, she pointed the gem of her staff towards the Deathstalker and closed her eyes, she began to chant as her voice reverberated loud enough for the other three to hear, in spite of her not seeming to shout at all.
"From creation's beginning to world's end…"
Jaune and Nora reached the Deathstalker. Nora started out by swinging her hammer at the beast's right claw, causing it to screech in pain as the thing was almost bent backwards with a sickening CRACK and yet the claw just righted itself as it used the other one to smack away the girl.
"...Thou hast always been nature's true friend…"
Ren continued to fire at the Grimm, and he did not miss the sudden gathering of storm clouds up above. It was unnatural how quickly they gathered, almost as if they were at someone's beck and call. Meanwhile, Jaune swiped at one of the non-plated parts of the Deathstalker's claw while it tried to clamp it down on him, unfortunately the only thing that resulted from this was his sword being knocked out of his grip. Jaune barely had time to raise his shield to block another strike that almost sent him flying, had he not held his ground.
"...To my will bend and my call attend…"
The Deathstalker struck outward with its stinger once again, Jaune blocked with his shield, although he grunted in pain and skid back a couple feet, luckily not falling off the edge. The air around the four began to feel staticy in a way that made Nora excited. She raced forward and with a mighty roar smashed into one of the beast's claws, cracking its bone plating badly. It let out a shriek of pain but still managed to swipe outwards, forcing her to roll out of the way.
"...Beat your drums and roar your battlecry! In Levin's court, this beast we try!"
At the word, both Jaune and Nora backed up, although Nora switched to her grenade launcher and continued to fire at the thing to keep it in place. Vesta's voice grew even louder and boomed with power and authority as she decreed…
"Thou art guilty of burdening our existence! FEEL LEVIN'S WRATH!"
A powerful bolt of lightning shot from the sky and smashed into the beast with such strength and power that it split the Deathstalker's bone plating right through the middle and set it on fire, the ensuing explosion resonated with a loud BOOM as the force of the blast not only caused almost everyone to skid back towards the edge of the bridge, it caused the once whole beast to be split into several pieces, all burning bright! Although, the fire was soon quenched as it began to rain.
The other three were left with wide eyes, Jaune out of amazement, Ren out of shock, and Nora out of pure excitement as she cheered, "Woo! You can throw lightning! We're gonna work so well together, Vesta!"
As the three turned to look at the girl, however, she was face down on the ground and tiredly muttered, "...That's all my spells for today…" Sure, Ozpin had specifically said to not use flashy spells, but there was a big Grimm! Besides, not being flashy was, in Vesta's opinion, boring.
Jaune sheathed his weapons and hurried over, turning Vesta around and scooping her up bridal style with a grin, "Well! The turn tabled- I mean! The tables have turned! Or something!" He stammered and huffed, "Great, now I can't even look cool."
Vesta tiredly giggled while the four of them looked out to see how the other fight was going. Just in time to see that Ruby had reached the top of the cliff and, in the process, decapitated the Nevermore, allowing it to fall down the chasm below. Jaune smiled, "Wow, she's got the billowing cape and everything… Maybe I should get one of those."
Vesta found the energy to shake her head, "No, that might mess up your footwork… Mine's okay because it's only on my shoulders." Jaune pouted, although Vesta didn't see it because her eyes were closed. Jaune would have taken the time to appreciate her beautiful features were it not for the fact that he had two friends (he hoped he could call them friends, at least) at his side.
So, all of them made their way back up, and although Ozpin was visibly a bit worried when he saw Vesta, upon hearing the context of why she was not walking, he just chuckled and nodded his head before giving both teams an A for their evaluation. They were directed to another auditorium for team placement.
When they got there, Jaune finally set Vesta down, this place had dark blue theater chairs that needed to be held down before sitting in them. Jaune needed to get Ren's help in holding it down so he could get Vesta into a sitting position, but it ended up working out. Her eyes fluttered open, and in spite of really wanting to take a nap, she kept them open to watch the proceedings.
Several teams were named, not all of them worth mentioning. However, two stood out. One with the red haired girl and three boys, all four of them looked serious as Ozpin read their names, "Pyrrha Nikos, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, and Russel Thrush took the black bishop pieces, they will be known as Team Powder!" The letters 'PWDR' appeared on the giant screen that was above the stage. It also had their portraits on it with the letter going over each of their respective portraits, "Pyrrha Nikos will be the leader. Good luck to all of you!"
After they stepped off, next up were the four other combatants that fought alongside the soon-to-be team, "Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao-Long found the white knight pieces. They will be known as Team Ruby, led by… Ruby Rose!" The letters 'RWBY' appeared on the screen with their portraits the same as it did for the last team.
Next up, Vesta had to use her staff (which Ren had thankfully brought with him) to help her reach the stage while the others accompanied her. Their portraits appeared, although Vesta's was clearly taken straight from her time in the Emerald Forest, as it showed her looking off in some direction or another while she was surrounded by woods. It made for a nice portrait, Vesta thought, even if she had no idea how they painted it so fast (the others, of course, knew it was just a photo), "Vesta Ozpin, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, and Jaune Arc found the white rook pieces. They will be known as… Team Orange! Led by…" The letters 'ORNJ' appeared over their respective portraits as students murmured at discovering that apparently Vesta was Ozpin's daughter. Ozpin, meanwhile, declared the team leader to be...
"Vesta Ozpin!"
Author's Notes
If Vesta appears to be adjusting a bit too easily to the world, then worry not, she's going to have a lot of learning to do, amongst other hijinks. Other than that, thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed!