BLUE
Chapter 2
Initiations, Idiots, and Giant Battleaxes
"Wake up."
"Hrrhh…" Evan curled up into a ball, ignoring Blanc's look of disappointment as well as the mild bags under his eyes (they were normally like that anyways, and it would've been weirder to have seen Blanc without them).
"Morning, morning, morning, Evan! It's Initiation today!" Olivier adopted a sing-song voice, happily humming to herself as she dragged Evan right out of his sleeping bag.
"WHA-" Evan shook his head, looked at Olivier, and relaxed. "Oh, hey."
"Hey to you too! Guess what day it is~" Olivier had always been a morning person, and as such would be prone to loud outbursts upon opening her eyes.
"L-lemme guess, my birthday?" Evan, on the other hand, still hadn't processed anything besides the cold, and shivered a little.
"No, silly!" She slapped Evan (he yelped in a pitch that made a few students look around), and continued, "We're going to become Hunters!"
"In training, Olivier," Blanc had already changed, a skill he had developed being the ability to change in his sleeping bag at an incredible speed, "We still have four years to go before the title of Hunter is available for us." He grabbed his bag, and began walking. "It's 7 o' clock for reference, Evan. We're Group 5, meaning our Initiation starts at 3:30 in the evening."
"Wh- Then why'd you wake me up so early?!" Evan, still miffed about the loss of his sleep time, questioned Blanc.
"We'd give a bad impression if we go there looking like we just woke up, and we all know had we not woken you, you'd have slept until 4 and missed Initiation." Blanc used the opportunity to glare at Evan, who got the point and shook his head again.
"Alright, al-ru-igh-ta! I'm awake, I'm alive, I feel fantastic!" He grinned, and Blanc let a small smile grace his face.
"Glad to have you here. Now, let us go and prepare." And so, the three friends began walking, Blanc being mindful of the others, Olivier dodging all the bags with grace, and Evan bonking at least five people in the head…
"Ngh…"
"Oh hey, it's you!"
"W…whuh…- W-wh-wha?!" Including a formerly-fast asleep Alex, who woke up and immediately realized she was in the middle of a social interaction and promptly shut down.
"Aw, she's even more cute now!" Olivier ran up, or at least tried to, as Blanc held her back with Tactical Hold #7 from Plan F of Olivier Control.
"Eep-"
"Sorry, again." Blanc lightly honked Olivier in the head, who rubbed it and glared back without much heat.
"Eep." Alex, with her incredible vocabulary, responded with the most grandiose of sentences.
"Puzzle Gamer, right?" Evan shuddered from the memory, but remembered the concept of manners and kept his tone cordial. "Wanna join us? We're gonna go and get ready for Initiation today!"
"E-ee-eep-" In a moment of pure skill, Alex managed to stutter a stutter. "U-uh…"
"To be fair, there's no real reason to wake up right now." Blanc came to Alex's rescue, calmly stating some flaws in Evan's plan. "We just need to get ready before 3 PM."
"Th-three?" Alex managed to calm down briefly (perhaps Olivier being somewhat quiet helped), and continued. "T-that's right before Group-uh, Group 5, right?"
"Yu-p!" Olivier piped in, "You in that group?"
"Y-ye-yes!" Alex immediately stiffened, an action Blanc didn't fail to see.
"Olivier, calm down a little…" He thought for a moment. "Correction: focus your energy elsewhere. Would you like to join us then, Alex?" He looked back over at Alex, who shuddered just a little from the unusual amount of attention. "We're also in Group 5, and I believe it'd be beneficial to look through the Emerald Forest maps before we head out."
"Uh…" Alex considered for a moment, wincing a little, then raising her eyebrows, until finally-
"O-OK."
"Very well then. How much time will you require-"
"Until we can chat for a bit~?" Olivier butted in.
"H-h-hu-huh?!"
In the end, Alex took twelve minutes and fourty-three seconds to finish getting ready. While her clothes were the same colours as before (grey sweater, dark-blue jeans, brown (combat) boots), the brands differed. Not that it really mattered, though the sweater she was currently wearing seemed far lighter than the other had been yesterday, and the jeans seemed one size bigger than before. With that said, none of that really changed her awkward walk, each length she walked getting shorter and shorter, until she was practically not moving at all, nor her worried looks at the other three, who were busy chatting with one another.
"Damn, they buffed Grimm's Champion…" Evan was walking with a considerable slouch while looking at his phone, a combination most wouldn't dare try lest they run into people. Nevertheless, Evan's spacial awareness must've been incredible, as he avoided everyone walking down the hall as well as a few brutish thugs who had stuck their legs out, though they backed away after Olivier stared them down.
"That's the edgy one, right?" Olivier was now carrying her suitcase, deeming the floor to be much too rocky for her poor little baby (it was, in fact, perfectly flat, with narry a rock to be seen), and looking over Evan's shoulder while walking with a hearty bob.
"Yeah, the one with the blood-red katana…" The stressed words were pointed right at Blanc, with a smug grin to accompany it.
"I couldn't control the decal Rouge added on there, seeing as she was the one who had it specially ordered." Blanc continued his steady walk, only looking down to check the map of the school precisely twice. "And I wouldn't have had to get a new katana if you hadn't used it as a stirring rod, Evan." While there was still a bit of lingering annoyance, Blanc had clearly gotten over it as his mouth twitched just a little upwards.
"To be fair, the soup was really good!" Olivier began drooling a little as she remembered that breakfast was a meal that existed. "I wonder what's for dinner…"
"Sausages and-"
"S-sausa-" Alex and Blanc stopped at the same time, Blanc, Evan and Olivier all looking over at Alex.
"U-u-uh-uhh-" Alex shook in place, desperately looking anywhere but the trio.
"Go ahead, Alex." Blanc stood there, as did the other three. Staring, watching, waiting, it didn't help all that much with the anxiety.
"A-a-ah-ueh-" She kept stuttering, and began curling up just a little.
"...It's sausages and pancakes." Blanc turned back over, with Evan turning as well but Olivier's gaze lingering for a moment longer.
"Don't worry~" She grinned, and spun around, careful to ensure her jacket fluttered behind her in a not-neccesarily unattractive manner (as a matter of fact, quite a few people who were looking over at the group either turned around or didn't for the same reason).
Alex's face went about twenty-five thousand shades redder.
About five minutes later, the four had made their way to the lockers. Blanc and Olivier walked off to their end, while Alex followed Evan as the two's lockers were apparently only three numbers off (Alex's was Locker No. 120).
"So, what's up?" Evan slammed his Scroll onto his locker and took out his rifle, examining it closely for any faults.
"U-uh, nothing, re- is up…" Alex carefully tapped her own Scroll, and with some effort pulled her briefcase out, narrowly avoiding it from falling onto the ground. "..."
"Neato!" Evan spun his rifle and latched it onto his back (while he was wearing his blue shirt and white hoodie, alongside his blue sweatpants and white cap, there was now a belt strapped around his shoulder, adding a point where his rifle could be kept), and continued on. "Ya got social anxiety or somethin'?"
"U-u-uh-"
"Wait, don't tell me, lemme guess…" He looked Alex right at the eyes, almost like one would examine a rare specimen of Grimm.
"H-he-huh?!" Alex stumbled back, her briefcase hitting the floor with a loud thump as she began breathing a little heavily.
"Yeah, definitely anxiety." Being the absolute fool he was, Evan took his hand and outstretched it. "We gotta go find Blanc and Lav now, right?"
"...uh…" Alex looked at the hand warrily, but eventually, slowly and shakily, took it. "A-alright…"
Evan pulled Alex up, and she stumbled a little before quickly turning back and carefully picking the briefcase back up, looking at it carefully for any scuffs or scrapes. Happy by what she saw (or not happy, but rather satisfied or at least assured), she began following Evan again.
"Where ya from, anyways?" Though he didn't look back, Evan's voice was loud enough for Alex to hear clearly.
"U-uh, the outskirts…" Alex took a moment to scratch her head first, clearly not that comfortable with the current conversation.
"Oh, neat! Us three are all from Taedio. Studied at Nemgar Prep School, and passed!" Evan seemed unusually proud of that fact, even quickining his stride from the memory.
"Uh…"
"Say, what about you?" He looked over, clearly curious.
"Hu-"
"Evan, stop tormenting Alex." Luckily for her, Blanc showed up with Olivier behind, with Blanc's katana sheathed on a belt while Olivier's shotgun was already in her hand.
"Hey hey~" Olivier ran over and hooked an arm around Evan's neck, staring right into his soul. "You wouldn't have happened to have scared Alex, would you have?" While she was clearly attempting to pull a Yandere (Mistralian term, though it was coined by Chieftain Ghira Belladonna of Menagerie when someone asked him about his wife), Olivier's eyes were shining far too brightly.
"Eh heh heh… uh, depends on how you define 'scared'..." Playing along, Evan adopted a nervous position, his shoulders hunching down and a 'nervous' smile (it looked more like his usual smile, though) gracing his face. "Scared as in deeply traumatized, never to be the same again? No, not really."
"And the other definition~?"
"Uh, ha ha-" Evan ducked out of Olivier's arm, which immediately after closed in on where his neck used to be.
"While I appreciate some horsing around every so often," Blanc spun on his shoe to face the other three (Alex looking mildly disturbed by the series of events), "We have some training to attend to."
"Hai hai~"
"Alrighty!"
"U-uh, c-could I-" Alex stammered, looking anywhere but at Blanc's face. Nevertheless, he got the point.
"Yes, you can sit out if you so choose," he turned back around, facing a small fighting ring, and pulled out his Scroll. "Just watch us, then."
In the end, the three old friends fought for about thirty minutes ("...lest we get a cramp and fail miserably during our Initiation,"), with Alex simply watching carefully and possibly making mental notes. With the time being only 8:36 AM, Blanc, Evan and Olivier decided to visit the rest of the school, with Alex heading back to the main hall for her own reasons ("S-sorry…").
"I still shudder whenever I see you struggle with a map, Evan," Blanc was currently guiding the Dangerous DuoTM through the maze some would call Beacon Academy's first floor (there were three, excluding the large towers created to evoke the feeling of a castle from time immemorial), noting the various locations.
"Due to a major overhaul of the educational system, all civilian education is condensed into General Studies, which swaps with History every week," Blanc read out from his Scroll, though his ease made him sound more like a tour guide.
"What?! Do I still need to do Maths, then?" Evan groaned, his walk adopting an extra slouch and exaggerated sigh, "Damnit, I thought I finally escaped that!"
"Not that you did it in the first place…" Olivier let a little laugh out, before looking inside a room. "Wow, this place is huge!"
"Indeed. Sixty people need to fit there, after all." Blanc looked in as well and opened the food a little more, allowing Evan to see as well.
"Woah…" Evan simply stood still, shocked by the size.
"And we will be able to learn here soon…" Blanc's voice was quiet, his focus instead on the room and its grand architecture,
"Unless we eff this up." Evan's eyes, at last, shone with determination as the full extent of what was at stake with Initiation struck him.
"We won't, trust me." Olivier walked out, her shoes clicking on the marble floor, and checked her scroll. "We've got a few hours left. Why don't we first try to build some strategies on how we'll pass?"
"Alright!" Evan was the next to leave, stretching his arms and grinning from ear to ear. "The Grimm won't know what hit 'em!"
Blanc simply nodded, and walked out last.
The time was 3:25 PM.
A few birds flew overhead (mostly crows, though there were one or two ravens behind for some inane reason), with no sounds besides the occasional thwump and roar off in the distant Emerald Forest.
Besides that, however, there was no sound. It was actually… peaceful.
…
…
…
"Is this it, Blanc?"
"Yes, it is."
"Finally! HERE WE GOOOOOOO-"
For all of ten seconds. The Third Headmaster of Beacon, Professor Ozpin, had a vacant smile upon his face while watching the various students of Group 5 arrive. His eyes only somewhat recognized various weapon designs, including a sword that the user flashily transformed into a… bigger sword, roller skates that had blades attacked and dust canisters, and a briefcase.
The user of the briefcase seemed vaguely familiar, though Ozpin couldn't for the life of him remember why. Memories were aplenty in his case, after all, and the average person could only go through so many years in their mind.
He took another sip of coffee (while he normally would drink hot cocoa, the amount of children he had had to deal with made the kick more of a necessity than usual), and waited until fourteen of the sixteen students in the group had arrived.
The time was 3:29 PM, with ten seconds until the minute would change. Deciding whoever hadn't arrived was probably not worth it anyways, Headmaster Ozpin of the prestigious Beacon Academy began speaking.
"For decades, Hunters have hunted the creatures of shadow, carving a Beacon of safety for all life," he chuckled in his mind as a couple students sighed, the pun instantly lowering his reputation, "and today, you shall join the Hunters of old once you prove yourselves worthy of such a position."
He pointed to the Emerald Forest with his cane, "Your task will be to retrieve one of various Relics at a temple in the forest. Once you've landed, a flare will be shot up at the temple's location, and you'll be expected to make your way there as quickly as possible.
"You will be monitored and graded through the course of the initiation," and the bobbing of Ozpin's head made it clear this part was rehearsed countless times, "but our instructors will not intervene.
"Of course, there's the matter of teams. That will be decided," and he smiled somewhat disturbingly, "today."
Most of the students oohed and aahed, though the briefcase-wielder simply shuddered at the thought. Ozpin raised his eyebrow slightly, but continued. "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."
The students all clearly tensed at that, a blue-haired boy looking over at a dark-grey friend and shooting finger guns, with the grey one staring him down until the blue one yielded and looked back. It seemed the grey one had a head on his shoulders. Good, that meant at least one student would be passing this.
Now came the fun part, the part which would always have Ozpin feel just a little bit of sadistic glee, "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
As always, the reaction was beautiful. The shift in expressions from confused or focused to horrified and frightened looked like it had come right from a horror movie, and Ozpin, Headmaster of the greatest Hunter Academy on Remnant, loved every second of it.
"You will be launched in, and will be expected to use your own landing strategies," he said, glad his part in this was nearly over, "Move quick, or you will die. Good luck, and remember, we believe in you," he blatantly lied.
With that, he clicked the remote in his pocket, and the first of the group (the blue one) went flying.
Ozpin would be lying if he said that hadn't felt even remotely cathartic.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHH-" Evan screamed, flying into the air from the launcher pad behind him.
If he had looked behind, he would've seen Blanc launched right after him with a serene look on his face, but alas, Evan was not that observant and could only focus on the ever-decreasing distance between him and the ground.
"WUAHHHHHHHH-" He saw the trees rapidly approaching, and closed his eyes and hoped for the best.
SMASH
THUNK
"...ow…"
If Evan had been hoping for no broken bones, then he'd gotten his wish. Had he wished for minimal brain damage, then he was seventeen years too late. If he'd asked for no pain, then the Gods must've been having a rave for everything hurt. Joints, neck, legs, chest, head, if it was a body part, it hurt.
"AAAGHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh…" Evan used his verbose vocabulary to describe his pain in an adequate manner, rolling onto his back and screaming once more ("AAAGGGHHHhhhh…").
"Are you alright, Evan?" Blanc landed smoothly next to Evan (his Semblance allowed him to apply non-lethal force from any direction within a certain radius, thus allowing him to slow his descent), only a slightly raised eyebrow to show the concern he felt. "Need I help carry you to the destination?"
"AAAaaaa-aaa-n-OW-no…"
Blanc let out a sigh, combing his dark-grey hair with his hand. "...Let us go, we won't be able to see the flare if we stay here."
"OWWWWWW-A-OW-AlriiIIIII-"
"Sometimes I question my choice of companions…." Blanc kneeled down and hooked his arm around Evan, slowly pulling the blue-haired fool.
"ThaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"
"..." Blanc simply dragged Evan as he screamed in ways that may have constituted a sentence if he actually finished the words with something other than pain.
Olivier glided through the skies, wincing as she watched Evan crash right through a couple trees (though it seemed he clipped quite a few, so perhaps he'd get away with minimum injuries), and sighed in relief when she saw Blanc divert his trajectory towards Evan's crash site.
Looking back in front of her, she placed a Dust capsule in her shotgun and simply waited, the trees closing in faster and faster, until- BAM- she shot, the capsule exploding in a sudden burst and slowing her momentum instantly. She clicked a button underneath the gun's barrel, and it suddenly extended to a good meter and fifty centimeters and a blade popped out at the end.
She stabbed into the tree next to her, and slid down until her shoes hit the floor.
Taking a moment to brush her clothes, she cockily grinned, changing her spear back to the shotgun she so loved and hooked it to her side.
"Nice." She began traversing the path, looking for a tree that seemed hard to climb. The Emerald Forest truely lived up to its name, the grass nearly glowing in its vibrancy, the trees' leaves still not wilting despite the time of year, and the various flowers all having a little green tint on their petals.
With that said, the forest wasn't all pretty greenery, and this was an exam for Huntsmen and Huntresses.
As such, it was only expected that Grimm would show up.
"Growr…" A scant few birds flew off as two- no, three Beowolves (wolf-like creatures, second only to baby Nevermore) slowly closed in on Olivier.
She narrowed her eyes, slipping two shells into her shotgun.
The three Beowolves covered all points of exit, as their growls became hungrier and more frantic.
She pumped the gun, and pointed.
For a moment, all four were silent, the three Beowolves staring at Olivier while she assessed all methods of fighting, her finger ready on the trigger.
She heard one Beowolf growl behind her on her left, a leaf crinkle to her right, and saw the one at the front tense up.
Her hand tightened, her eyes narrowed further, and then, and then…
A Beowolf behind Olivier roared, and jumped right at her from behind. She jumped up, pointing down and pulling the trigger, causing an eruption of fire to engulf the poor thing. The one in front had jumped as well, and while it didn't die from the fire, it was heavily injured.
She clicked on her shotgun, and it split in two parts before clicking into a large staff, with a rhombus-shaped blade popping out at the top. Swinging down, she stabbed at the second one before focusing her Aura in her back, wincing just a little as the other beast behind her slashed.
Pulling out the spear (looked like she didn't hit a vital point, as the wounded Beowolf staggered but didn't fall), she spun around and slashed once at the beast behind her, with the blade getting a good but still shallow cut.
Now mildly worried, Olivier jumped back in a somersault (she berated herself in her mind, but it worked well enough) and stared down the other two. While she hadn't actually gotten very tired, the stress from Initiation had her in a nervous sweat, and she could feel the spear in her hands slipping just a little. One breath, two breaths, and she clenched the spear hard before reassessing the situation.
Noting the wounded Beowolf's slight limp, she slowly walked around in such a way where the beast would have to use its damaged leg to attack her. The same manoever also would give her an impromptu shield if the other jumped right at her.
The uninjured one turned to growl at her, but the first did not. Could not, for the injuries it had sustained, while not yet fatal, were still bad. As such, Olivier was able to change the situation from two Beowolves facing her to one Beowolf-shaped shield and a very pissed beast.
She grinned, brought one hand out, and beckoned.
The beast, not being very intelligent, spun and began running at her, letting out a ear-piercing roar, yet Olivier didn't wince in the slightest. Instead, she ran up to the injured one and kicked up, quite possibly killing it if the lack of a roar was to be trusted (it was).
The other Beowolf had jumped at that moment, and as such could not avoid the sudden obstacle in its path and crashed into it with a sickening crunch before momentum carried the mass of shadow right towards Olivier, who side-stepped and, for good measure, stabbed up with her spear one last time.
A final whine escaped the beast of shadow, and at last it began dissolving in sync with Olivier's shotgun-spear clicking back into its original shape.
"...not even close!" She took a moment to congratulate herself, for taking out three Beowolves with barely any Aura damage was neat. Walking through the forest, she began humming a jolly little tune to herself while looking up in search of the flare that would signal the Relics' location. It was a major tune, something she had made herself back when she was five at her aunt's place, and as such had never left her mind since.
"Any time now, right?" It had been a while, after all, and the flare had yet to appear. "Don't tell me I missed it while fighting…"
Right on cue, she saw a brief flash in the corner of her eye, which she quickly noted. "Alright, time to go-" and then she heard a crash.
Multiple, in fact. Coupled with a bunch of roars, growls, and yips. Raising an eyebrow, she decided to check the sound first. Maybe it was a bigger Grimm, but then again-
"Hah!" With a large swing, Alex Ulexite slammed her giant battleaxe right into an Ursa Major, slicing right through its skull before clicking a button which made the end of her weapon shoot a giant fireball right into the last Ursa Minor.
All around Alex were the bodies of Beowolves (about eight, though there may have been more), Ursa Minors (five just lying there, with perhaps a couple that had already dissolved) and the now-dead Ursa Major.
Alex only seemed mildly winded too, with a wide grin on her face and none of the anxious girl who had trouble carrying a single briefcase beforehand. She turned around, immediately stiffining as her eyes met Olivier's.
"U-u-uh-"
"...What." Olivier took a moment to process the image. She had killed 3 Beowolves and taken one hit, but here was Alex with a whole bloody pile around her. Yeah, sure, just show her up like that, why don't you?
"The FU-"
Author's Note:
Well, that took a while.
Not much to say this time, so I might as well thank a couple people.
Firstly, to Kevin Hernandez2 for following both me and the story, as well as favoriting BLUE. Congratulations! You get, uh, a cookie, I guess.
But really, thanks.
Secondly, to GreysonSkye for being the first reviewer! Uh, I guess you get my eternal gratitude. I would like to ask how the heck you can write over a hundred thousand words, as well as how you slow down time.
Finally, to the presumably four people who bothered to look at this story on AO3. Apologies for the rambling mess that was the first chapter.
Once more, feel free to critique any and everything here. One cannot improve without criticism, after all.
With regards,
Fails Salot
(Note: Still don't have a beta. I can only assume this chapter's even worse on the rambling front than the first.)
(Second Note: Also, the AO3 version and this one will probably have unique notes as I feel that just reposting the same thing twice kind of sucks.)