Beacon was even more beautiful in daylight than it was at night, Jacen mused to himself.
As the airship finally docked, people began to file out the door. The poor blonde kid on the ship didn't have the stomach for air travel as he immediately ran to the nearest trash can and vomited again.
Despite Jacen's initial harshness, he couldn't help but feel sympathy for the poor kid.
He was too preoccupied with vomiting into the trash can, and someone bumped into him, Jacen winced, immediately sensing an air of annoyance.
"Get outta my way," a brash male voice with an accent not unlike what he heard from Dusky, however, it had a different lilt to it.
Jacen turned to see a man with long reddish orange hair tied into a tight braid, emerald green eyes, and wearing a deep bluish green combat suit with a green to blue plaid sash over his shoulder which fell into a small cape in the back and a matching belt over his waist which held a sheath for his sword on his left side.
The wolf tail marked him as a Faunus, but this wasn't his most profound trait.
He was a built fighter, complete with that air of pride that bordered on arrogance.
If Jacen wasn't already sympathetic toward the blonde kid, he was now as the Faunus proceeded to grab the kid by the collar and hoist him up with an incredible strength Jacen never thought was possible.
"I said get outta my way, you blonde idiot, or are you deaf?" The man wasn't as patient with the kid as Jacen had been earlier.
"Sorry, I didn't know you were coming," the blonde kid had time to say just as the taller man tossed him back down.
"If you can't even tell when someone is coming at you, then you'd better get back on that airship and go back home," the man showed a rather condescending smirk.
"You might live longer."
"That's enough," Jacen said, making the man turn his head, showing his contempt.
"Who the hell are you? This idiot's babysitter?" He said in his brash tone.
Calmly, Jacen reached out to the Force to exude a sense of rationality, "He didn't know; there are a lot more people coming, and you're just as in the way as he is," Jacen said.
The man had a warrior's pride because he wasn't about to back down, "You gotta death wish too?" He asked harshly.
Despite the man's fearsome aspect Jacen highly suspected he had some sense of honor, though he chose not to show it to those that struck him as inferior.
"I'm talking to you now, punk!" He yelled, making Jacen wince inwardly.
Punk, that was his impression?
Then again, he supposed his hair, plus his choice of clothing, probably made him look more like a dreg from the under levels of Coruscant rather than a humble Jedi.
"Just leave the kid alone, and we'll make sure to stay out of your way," Jacen said calmly, making the man give a gruff "feh" before leaving the airship, but he stopped short to address Jacen.
"You'd better hope you do, cause if we do meet again, Rowan Conall will be the last name you hear," with that, he left to join the crowd.
"Terrific," Jacen mainly said to himself.
"I think I just made a new friend on the first day," he said in a clearly sardonic voice.
Then he gave a hand to the unfortunate blonde kid.
"You alright?" He asked him, helping the kid onto his feet.
"Um yeah," he stopped as he recognized who he was talking to.
"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry for vomiting on your, um, what do you call that?" He asked, pointing at a still upset Skipper.
"This is my droid, Skipper," Jacen said, giving Skipper a gentle pat on the head.
"Hum, I've never seen a robot that looks like that," the kid said.
Jacen placed his arm over the kid's shoulder and got them down to the landing ground, making their way to the courtyard.
"So you have a name, so I don't call you vomit boy?" Jacen asked in a teasing voice.
"Hey, you have no idea how hard air travel is!" He said in a somewhat exaggerated manner.
Inwardly Jacen laughed, oh the stories he could tell of how he'd flown not just in the air but also in space just above a planet.
Then as though finally noticing his question, he gestured to himself, "Oh, and the names Jaune Arc," he said, trying to sound confident but coming off as awkward.
"Well, Jaune, I'm Jacen Horne," he said, shaking Jaune's hand.
Something about Jaune seemed to remind him of Ruby, if only in her awkward moments, which seemed brought up to ten with Jaune himself.
"So, um, where exactly do we go?" Jaune asked, sounding confused.
Was this kid for real? Jacen began to suspect that Jaune's apparent nonconformity wasn't limited to airsickness.
It seemed like he didn't quite fit in with the students that carried themselves with confidence likely the result of hard training and study.
However, there was an underlying current of worth, a passion underneath the surface that Jaune probably didn't even know existed within himself.
He'd definitely need assistance finding that, but Jacen wasn't the one to do so.
With a playful pat on Jaune's shoulder, he pointed toward where the crowd was heading, "I'm sure if you follow the crowd, you'll get where you need to."
"Oh, thank you so much," Jaune said with exaggerated gratitude, then ran off into the crowd, nearly tripping over, dank farrik, Jacen thought.
Did Jaune nearly trip over his own feet?
A note of condescension escaped from Skipper, which Jacen reluctantly had to agree on.
"He's got a long way to go," he said as he made his way toward the courtyard, though he had the impression that Rowan wouldn't be his only encounter this first day.
Rowan scoffed at the gathering crowd in the courtyard; here he was, finally attending one of Remnant's most prestigious academies, yet it seemed like all kinds of wannabes were let in, like that idiotic blonde kid who probably didn't even know his right foot from his left.
Then again, not everyone seemed as hopeless; he grinned when he saw the unmistakable sign of a girl with her red hair made up in its signature look and wearing her iconic armor.
Pyrrha Nikkos, the invincible girl herself, finally he had someone that would be worth his time.
Though something continued to eat away at him, that punk walking around with that mobile trash can-looking robot.
Even when Rowan had sized him up, the fact that the punk didn't back away irritated him.
Though, internally, he wondered if that punk, despite his outward appearance, was a well-trained warrior.
Just from the look Rowan saw in his eye, but if it turned out he was just another wannabe, he'd remind him that he had earned the right to be here.
He'd already made a name for himself in tournament battles, even facing some of Remnant's top contenders for the title; however, when he witnessed the tournament battle between Arslan Lionheart and Pyrrha, he knew that Pyrrha was the one he needed to beat.
As it stood, he currently held the number three title, but he knew defeating Pyrrha Nikkos would ensure his rise.
This wasn't to say that he didn't have respect for her as a fellow warrior; his Gae Bulg was closely inspired by her own Miló weapon, though he issued any firearms setting with a unique configuration when his weapon was in its spear form.
As a fighter and warrior, he only showed respect to those that demonstrated true worthiness, while anything else was simply beneath him.
Inwardly, he hoped he'd finally have the chance to fight her in a duel; he'd already honed his already prestigious skill and received a recommendation to attend this school.
At the same time, if that punk got in the way, he was ready to deliver on his promise.
Standing next to the statue he'd only seen in his books back home, Gray Tuman examined every portion while taking photos with his scroll.
He'd made it; the climate in Vale was much nicer than in Atlas; it wasn't covered in snow for what felt like 100 percent of the time.
He still couldn't believe it; at 16, he had finally come to Beacon, though some questioned why he didn't join the academy in Atlas.
He'd often say that he didn't feel that joining the Atlesian Military would give him the freedom he'd need for his eventual goal of exploring Remnant's history with his own eyes and discovering things that books often glanced over.
At 5'2 inches, with short dark gray hair with a bang that covered his right eye, both eyes an icy blue color, wearing a matching dark gray coat, a pair of black pants held by a belt that held his faithful twin weapons Enigma and Duality on his waist, and wearing a black button up shirt which had a gray neck-tie, he hardly looked like someone from Atlas who's color palette consisted of something that wasn't a shade above ice blue, or snow white.
Looking around, he saw a wide assortment of new students whom he'd be spending his next four years with.
Still, he felt overwhelmed; it was one thing to read about these things and another to experience them.
He saw quite a few Faunus students among the crowd too. Despite the misrepresentation in much of Atlas's articles regarding the Faunus, he never held the Faunus with any contempt, as was often the case when growing up in a spot where human society was at its highest, and the upper class looked down upon the lower class.
Which was literally the case for those who lived in Atlas City, which hovered just above Mantle.
Off to the side, he saw a man in all black clothing with a weapon he didn't immediately recognize walking around with, what ever that robot model is, he thought inwardly.
He'd seen demonstrations of the Atleasian knights, which frankly looked just as terrifying as the Grimm they're created to fight against, but this model didn't look anything like what he'd seen.
For starters, it supported itself on three motorized treads with a flattened head shaped like a trash can.
He also noticed it had what might have passed for an eye or a receptor of some kind.
The man seemed to adopt a look as if he knew he was being watched, and he turned his attention to Gray.
"Dang it," Gray said, more so to himself.
Despite his timidity, Gray was intrigued by this man, and he felt it was part of his job to learn that which was new; perhaps it would become something in a historical text that future huntsmen and huntresses could learn from.
Adjusting his coat, he made his way toward his discovery.
"No need to be so timid; I'm not a vicious beowolf," the man said in a teasing tone.
"Ah well," Gray started, trying to overcome his nervousness.
"I didn't mean to stare, but I couldn't help but notice your, well," he pointed to the robot beside him.
The robot issued a tone Gray didn't recognize with the typical frequency of Atlas's mechs.
The man showed a kind smile and gestured to the robot.
"This is R5-7K, or as I call him Skipper, he's an astromech droid," he said.
An astromech droid, Gray had a name for the type of machine it was with its serial number; he made sure to make an entry in his journal on his scroll.
The man seemed to look at him with curiosity, then shook his head and extended his hand, "I'm Jacen Horne," he said kindly.
Gray timidly took Jacen's hand and shook it, "Gray Tuman," he said with more confidence.
A sound seemed to attract Jacen's attention, and he turned to the sight of a girl in a red hood, apparently only a year younger than himself, who'd fallen over; oh no, Gray suddenly wished he were somewhere else.
The clumsy girl had just fallen into a luggage cart, and the emblem on the cases was none other than that belonging to the Schnee Dust company, which meant-
"What are you doing, you dolt!?" An indignant voice shouted.
Oh no, of all the people in Atlas that had to be attending Beacon the same year he was, didn't it just have to be the ice princess or rather the heiress of the Company Weiss Schnee herself.
Jacen was concerned with the ongoing development.
Inwardly, he wished Ruby had the same awareness he had, and now she was facing the wrath of a miffed princess who seemed to be as cold as Hoth and Ordo Plutonia combined.
"What are you doing, you complete dolt!?" She shouted.
Jacen quickly helped Ruby to her feet as she dusted herself off; speaking of which, he recognized the symbol on the cases for the Schnee Dust Company.
"She didn't mean any harm," Jacen started, only for the ice princess to aim her frosty glare at him.
"I wasn't talking to you!" She said in a huff.
Chaos take me, he thought, noting that she was eyeing him with disdain.
"Who decided that a delinquent and his sister, who barely looks old enough to be here, was a good idea?" She said with more self-righteous indignation.
By the Force, first punk and now delinquent?
Did he really give off the impression that he looked like something that crawled out of Coruscant's infamous 1313 underworld?
At the implication that Ruby was his sister, he sighed internally; why did everyone who saw him and Ruby think he was her brother? He understood that his hair had a similar color scheme to Ruby's, but still.
"Look, your highness," Jacen started in a sardonic tone, only for the princess to pick up her case, which held containers of dust, and a sickening feeling began to take hold as she shook it in Ruby's face.
"Do you have any idea what this is? Dust, fire, power," she barely finished her sentence when Jacen's danger senses went into screaming overload as Ruby was about to sneeze from the flowing red dust.
Oh kriff, he thought as he barely had time to get out of the blast as Ruby's sneeze ignited the dust resulting in a fiery explosion, luckily it wasn't anything overly damaging to a physical person, but it left a small crater right where Ruby had been standing.
Off to the side, he noticed Gray had the same idea just before the explosion.
"You idiot!" The princess yelled as though her temper had gotten worse.
"I'm so sorry," Ruby said, still recovering from her explosive sneeze.
"Hey princess," Jacen's voice had taken on a harsher pitch. Did this little pampered brat know when to shut her exhaust port?
"Actually, that's Heiress," a new female voice said off Jacen's side, holding a dropped container of dust.
It was the same girl in black Jacen had seen on the airship.
"Weiss Schnee, heir to the Schnee Dust Company," she said curtly.
"Finally, someone with sense," Weiss said, but her mood turned sour when the other girl added, "The same company known for its shady business practices and questionable business partners."
That had finally been enough to shut down the ice princess, who grabbed the container and stomped off in a huff, though not before turning a nasty glare at Gray; she left.
"Well, wasn't she just the sweetest person I've met today," Jacen said, adding every possible bit of sarcasm as he could before turning to see that the girl in black was walking off.
A solitary individual, he guessed though he sensed something under the surface that she was intent on keeping secret.
On the far side of the courtyard, Rouge Nightshade stopped as the sound of an explosion caught her attention.
She turned to see the cause, and her eyes fell on a small group that looked like they were in a tense situation.
She hoped that whoever was responsible for that explosion didn't get hurt.
Standing about 6'7 inches, she wore her raven black hair in a tight bun with a bang just above her left eye.
Her clothing definitely made her stand out as she often wore dresses that were more akin to funeral attire, meaning mostly black with fringes of white frills on the openings of the sleeves and around the collar tied up in an elaborate velvet red bow. She typically wore a blood-red jacket to add just enough color not to be overly morbid.
Across her back was a cross-like weapon with a handle that could alternate making the weapon into whatever she needed, whether a stake launcher to impale attacking Grimm, a shield to block oncoming attacks, a bludgeoning weapon, and, from the pumping mechanism on the other side, it could even be used as a shotgun.
Despite her outward appearance, she was very kind, which was perhaps one of the reasons she wanted to pursue a career in becoming a doctor through the connections she'd have as a huntress.
She'd already demonstrated her natural affinity for being a physician with a fair knowledge of anatomy, biology, and chemistry and a considerable understanding of quick first aid experience.
However, she knew that being a Faunus came with its setbacks.
Unlike most Faunus that had visible characteristics, she was one of the few that didn't have any discernible traits except for her retractable claws, elongating fangs, and additional unseen features stemming from her bat-like ancestry.
However, she didn't possess any bat-like wings as most bat Faunus tended to.
Due to this, she could almost pass as a regular human, though she often felt put out whenever other Faunus with the telltale traits received the brunt of most racial slurs.
She reached for a glass flask in a compartment holstered on her hip, holding a red liquid she drank though she tried to be discreet about it.
She might require blood for her semblance and occasional sustenance during extended periods without solid foods. Still, inwardly she knew that alone would give her more ridicule than just being a Faunus.
The term "Blood Sucker" definitely held up as the common slur for those that found out what her semblance was.
As soon as the ice princess stormed off and there were fewer people, she decided to see if anyone was hurt, though thankfully, she didn't pick up on the smell of any blood, just the effects of exploded dust.
Before she got to them, the man with black-to-red hair seemed to look in her direction before anyone else noticed.
His expression wasn't so much revulsion as it was mild curiosity.
With him was a young girl wearing a red hood, a boy who seemed to like dark gray and black colors, and a blonde boy who seemed like he didn't belong, and then her eyes fell on the robot if, in fact that's what it was, as opposed to a rolling trash can.
"Are any of you okay?" She asked curiously, and sure enough, everyone except the one in black attire gave just the reaction she'd come to expect from a first encounter.
"Ruby's just a little dusty," the man said, making a horrible pun.
"But otherwise, no one is hurt."
She tilted her head slightly at him, "You don't seem afraid," she said.
The man raised an eyebrow, "Should I be? I'm hoping that after a run-in with a brutish thug and a princess having a temper tantrum, I can at least meet someone who isn't antagonistic today," the man stopped to regard the one in gray, "Well technically you'd probably be the second person who wasn't giving me that impression."
She was stunned; typically, whenever people saw her, primarily those that had never seen someone with her style of dress, the typical reaction was to recoil or run away in fear.
Yet it seemed that this man was taking her appearance in stride.
"I'm Jacen Horne," he introduced himself, then gestured to those gathered.
"This is Gray Tuman, Ruby Rose, and Jaune Arc," he paused as the robot beside him issued a series of tones that nearly made her cover her ears from how the pitch reached an uncomfortable level.
"This is my astromech droid Skipper," he said, giving the robot a gentle pat on the head.
Returning the gesture, she adopted a tip of her hat, "I'm Rouge Nightshade, it's a pleasure to meet you."
She noticed Jacen was looking at the others with disappointment, "I don't know why you were backing away from her, she's not a Grimm," he said.
"Do you not see what she's wearing?" Jaune said, sounding like he'd seen a ghost or, more accurately, a body ready to be buried.
Her dress style and even skin color tended to give her the appearance of a walking corpse.
"That's not very polite," Gray said after gaining courage.
"Um, I'm sorry if I offended you with my ignorance," he said respectfully, though with an apparent timidity.
She showed just enough of a smile that didn't show her fangs.
However, she noticed Jacen was looking at her glass flask, "What do you have in that, wine?" He asked curiously.
"I never drink," she began, though she hesitated to say the following words.
"Wine."
The one called Ruby seemed to get over her initial reaction as she was eying her weapon.
"So what's your weapon do!?" She said with evident enthusiasm.
Humoring her enthusiasm, she wrapped her fingers around the handle and gave it a quick flourish before locking it in its gun configuration.
"This is Silver Crucifix, equal parts defense and offense," she said cheerfully.
Ruby's eyes widened, "That's so cool, the handle lets you switch up how it's used!"
She noticed Ruby looking at it when she had her weapon turned sideways, "Hm, my uncle Qrow wears something similar to how your weapon is shaped," she said thoughtfully.
Rouge nodded, "I see you know your weapons, though I have to note that you're probably the youngest person I've seen attending Beacon this year."
She noticed Ruby's face went sullen, "Only cause I got caught up in a dangerous chase with a wanted criminal," she wasn't trying to brag about it; it seemed like she didn't want to be deliberately signaled out as had probably been the case with the bitterness of Weiss Schnee.
Gray checked the time on his scroll and gasped, "Um, we're going to be late for the announcement in the assembly hall."
With a quick twist, Rouge placed her weapon back on its holster strap and then gave a curt gesture of her hat, "Then let's not wait any further," the rest of the group quickly made their way to the main assembly hall.
If it was packed when they first got there, Jacen felt like he was in close quarters.
He quickly spotted Yang and motioned for Ruby to join her while he found his spot though Jaune gave a lamentable sigh, "Where am I gonna find another nice quirky girl to talk to?"
As he walked off, Jacen couldn't help but notice a red-haired girl with her hair done in a long ponytail wearing a tiara-like headpiece and form-fitting armor, looking in Jaune's direction.
Then his attention was directed at his new acquaintances; Gray was awestruck by the hall's architecture while Rouge drank from her glass flask.
Her usage of the line, "I never drink wine," seemed to ring in his head.
Maybe it was some medicine she had to take often, though a nagging feeling he sensed was telling him it was probably best that he not know.
The entire room fell silent when the sound of Glynda tapping the microphone before Ozpin spoke.
When he did, Jacen felt that there was going to be some meaning in his words.
"I'll...keep this brief," Ozpin said, adjusting his glasses.
"You have traveled here today in search of knowledge--to hone your craft and acquire new skills," he continued.
"When you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people," his voice took on a stern and serious tone.
"But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction," he continued.
Jacen stood there to contemplate what he'd meant by wasted energy in need of purpose; inwardly, that philosophy seemed to reflect Daro's regarding the refinement of one's raw natural talent.
There was no doubt that everyone here intended to hone what skills they already had.
"You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far," Ozpin said, continuing his speech.
"It is up to you to take the first step," he lowered his head slightly, indicating that he'd finished his speech.
"He's more cryptic in person," Gray said, having just put his scroll away.
"More cryptic?" Jacen inquired.
Gray nodded, "I've heard it said that Professor Ozpin is perhaps one of the most enigmatic people that Beacon has had as a headmaster."
Inwardly, Jacen had to concede there was still a lot about Ozpin that he didn't know. While he was grateful for how Ozpin had allowed him to start over, that didn't mean he fully trusted him, especially not with the name Salem on his mind.
"I think your sister just reencountered the Schnee princess," Rouge said, pointing toward the spot where Ruby and Yang were.
Sure enough, it was that Schnee girl on another tantrum.
"This needs to stop," he said but stopped to address Rouge, "Ruby's not my sister," he said, pointing toward Yang, "She is, though."
Rouge looked from him to Yang, seeming confused, "I hardly see the resemblance," she admitted.
Could he blame her? Jacen had the same impression when he first met Yang and Ruby.
As he approached them, he saw Weiss give him a sidelong glance before turning it full on him.
"Oh, it's the punk ruffian again," she huffed.
"Do you always have such a cheery disposition?" He inquired, though he was fighting against his rising irritation.
She was one of those high-class people that looked down on anyone who wasn't well-connected or living in the same social class.
He watched the little princess place her hands on her hips, "People like you should learn to keep your mouth shut,"
That makes two of us princess, he thought inwardly.
"Um, Jacen, we should probably get going," Gray was trying to defuse the situation, only for Weiss to look down on him scornfully.
"They even let in this scruffy-looking low-class dweller," she said.
"You just crawled out from somewhere in Mantle?"
That was pushing it; Jacen could feel his irritation turning into anger toward this stuck-up princess.
Her attitude seemed to mirror those he'd seen from the officers who made up the Galactic Empire's upper class and how they looked down on everything that wasn't in the Core worlds.
He stopped when Yang's got between them.
"I think you need to back off, ice queen," she said, trying to defuse the tension herself.
"Just see to it you don't get in my way," Weiss said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"We aren't here to make friends; we're here to learn to fight monsters."
A lesser person might have bristled at Weiss's bluntness, but Jacen decided to take it in stride, even though he wanted to show this little princess what it meant to fight monsters.
Weiss eventually left, leaving Jacen in the company of Ruby, Gray, Rouge, Yang, and Skipper.
"So, who are your two new friends, Jacen?" Yang asked, noticing the pair with Jacen.
"That's Gray Tuman," he pointed at each when he introduced them, "And that's Rouge Nightshade."
Yang looked at Rouge and Gray, then employed her customary energetic way of speaking.
"Well, I'm Yang Xiao Long, any friend of Jacen is a friend of mine," she gave a friendly punch on the shoulder to both in greeting.
Jacen laughed inwardly at Gray's timidity at Yang's forthrightness.
He noticed that Rouge was slightly reserved but respectful.
"Forgive me for asking," Yang said, addressing Rouge.
"Do you ever get enough sunshine?"
Rouge shrugged, "I'm not typically a day person," she admitted.
"I typically prefer being out at night."
Jacen felt there was more to Rouge's preference for nightlife than daylight than she was admitting.
Night fell, and all the students were to sleep in the assembly hall to await the following day's events.
Jacen had exchanged his regular clothes for a pair of black robes which he'd styled in the fashion of his old Jedi robe though he sensed an enthusiastic interest as he changed his shirt showing his lith but well-built upper torso.
He turned to see Yang staring at the other shirtless lunks, though when her eyes caught sight of his shirtless chest, her face flushed visibly, and Jacen quickly put on his robe.
She'd probably just seen the fair number of scars he'd received during the war, not to mention the lightsaber wound he'd received after narrowly avoiding a death strike from General Grievous.
He forgot that as skilled as these students probably were, they lacked the raw experience of real-world combat, especially in the middle of an all-out war.
His mind returned to Glynda's comment on Remnant being in a time of relative peace, and a sickening feeling bubbled up.
Before the war broke out, the Republic had undergone over a thousand years of prosperity and peace after the destruction of the Brotherhood of Darkness, which marked the supposed extinction of the Sith.
During those thousand years, the Jedi had grown complacent, never thinking that their ancient enemies hadn't been destroyed, but had evolved into something new with Darth Bane's Rule of Two while the Jedi remained unchanged.
The Sith's return during the Naboo Crisis with the appearance of the Zabrak Sith warrior Maul which saw the death of Qui-gon Jinn, then followed up with Count Dooku's Fall leading up to the Clone Wars merely laid bear just how complacent the Jedi had become.
Perhaps, though he didn't want to think about it, Order 66 was a punishment.
He hoped to the Force that Remnant wouldn't have to experience something so horrific.
The sound of a throat clearing caught his attention, and he turned to see Gray in a grayish night robe.
"How did you get scars like that?" He asked in mild curiosity.
"Oh, I got them in a fight some years ago," Jacen said.
He noticed Gray look at him curiously, "I've never seen wounds like those, though I noticed your beowolf scar on your back."
Jacen was surprised; Gray had been able to identify what had left the scars on his back; then again, every scar had a story if one was observant enough.
"What made you come down here from Atlas?" Jacen asked with equal curiosity.
Gray seemed almost sullen, "You heard what Schnee said about me being a low-class citizen?"
Jacen winced, "I guess Atlas isn't the promised spot, I thought."
"It's different depending on where you are," Gray said.
"There's Atlas City, and then there's Mantle," he pointed up, then downward for his point.
Jacen had heard that Atlas City was held up in the sky, not unlike most raised cities on antigravity repulser platforms.
It was still a mystery as to how exactly that was being accomplished.
The official story was that the Schnee Dust Company, in cooperation with the Atlesian Military, had used gravity dust to accomplish this.
As for Mantle, he recalled during his initial research that it was virtually a bygone relic of its former glory, now housing various slums, and the conditions were especially difficult for the people living there.
Those who lived in Atlas City tended to be the high class and wealthy, while Mantle had the rest.
"Did you ever see Atlas City?" Jacen asked.
"I was when I was younger, but my father had a falling out, and we got booted to a slum in Mantle," Gray paused, and it seemed like he was wrestling with something Jacen couldn't make out.
"On a different matter," Jacen said, trying to change the subject.
"What made you want to become a huntsman in Vale?"
Jacen knew that Atlas ran differently than the other kingdoms.
The Atlas Academy, Council, and the military operated together, making Atlas a military-oriented state.
Looking at Gray, he couldn't see him wearing those crisp white uniforms he'd seen some Atlesian officers wear.
"I have a particular dream that I can't see performing with the Atleasian military," Gray answered.
"As a Huntsman, I plan to make it my goal to learn about the history of Remnant as it truly happened as opposed to how it's often written."
An aspiring historian, Jacen was intrigued by Gray's goal, though he also knew that history wasn't always kind to its subjects.
"Speaking of which," Gray began, perhaps remembering Jacen's lightsaber.
"I noticed you have a weapon I've never seen," he continued.
"What is it?"
Jacen humored Gray by explaining his weapon.
"It's known as a lightsaber, and it's been the traditional weapon of my clan for generations," he explained.
Gray seemed perplexed, "I've never read or heard anything about a lightsaber, let alone a clan of warriors that use them," a look of fascination crossed his face.
"You must be something completely new."
Inwardly, Jacen couldn't argue the point; as far as he knew, he was probably the first Jedi to arrive in Remnant, though his memory replayed the story that Ozpin mentioned regarding a pirate or smuggler ending up in Remnant with at least a partial knowledge of what Jedi were and what weapons they used.
He thought about asking Gray if he'd heard anything but remembered Ozpin stating that because the story wasn't written down, it was either widely forgotten or, given the long stretch of years, mired by wild superstition.
"There are so many different clans or groups throughout Remnant; the Branwen Tribe, among others, is perhaps the most noteworthy," Gray explained.
Branwen, unless Jacen was mistaken, was also the last name shared by Qrow and Raven, which would be a subject to learn about, but then Gray returned to his initial inquiry.
"You mentioned you're part of a clan that uses lightsabers as their weapons," Gray said.
"What exactly are they called?"
Jacen politely raised a hand, "I have a feeling that tomorrow you'll see for yourself; hopefully, I'll give you plenty to work with considering," Jacen's initial disposition turned to solemnity.
"That I'm probably the last of my kind."
Gray may have been young, but being the historical aspirant he was, he'd likely read about extinctions or final stands that painted a picture of heroism.
"If that's so, I hope we end up on the same team," Gray said.
The mention of teams suddenly triggered a question Jacen didn't have an answer for.
"Have you read or heard about how Beacon sorts people into teams?"
Gray paused momentarily before replying, "I've read a lot of supposed means, but I feel it's one thing to read about it and another to experience it."
Jacen couldn't argue the point, though Yang's joke about how her dad's team was "thrown" together returned to his mind.
"Will you shut up already!" Perhaps one of the second gruffest accented voices Jacen had heard since he'd arrived on Remnant aside from Dusky Jones.
Rowan was completely shirtless except for a pair of sleeping shorts, revealing just how well-developed his muscles were.
As he was on the airship, he was in a bad mood.
"You gotta be kidding me," Rowan exclaimed as soon as Jacen was in sight.
"Ah great, look what the kath hound dragged in," Jacen uttered sardonically.
"What'd you just call me!?" Rowan huffed in derision.
"Do you have to be such a bullhorn?" Rouge said, rounding the corner in a red pair of red silk pajamas, "You'll wake the dead with that shouting."
Rowan turned to glare at her, "Well, looks like it's a little late for that," he said rudely, gesturing to her.
"Some of us would prefer to get plenty of sleep before tomorrow," Rouge said, her voice having gone unexpectedly icy.
Jacen noticed that Rouge's eyes were turning from an oceanic aquamarine to blood red, and Jacen suddenly felt that Rouge's eyes changing color wasn't just an aesthetic.
He could also sense a building strength gathering.
"Why don't you crawl back into whatever grave you came from?" Rowan began, but in a flurry of motion that surprised even Jacen himself; Rouge had closed the distance between herself and Rowan, then, with a precise chopping motion of her hand, Rowan was knocked unconscious.
"Get yourself plenty of rest," she said, adding a bit of a snark.
Jacen couldn't believe it; to his eyes, she'd moved too fast, but seeing through the Force, he saw just how hard and strong her hit was.
"That was amazing," Gray's voice filled with exaltation.
Jacen couldn't hold back applause, which made Rouge calm as her eyes returned to normal.
"I've never seen someone move so quickly," Jacen said, not bothering to hide his fascination, then stopped when he noticed Rouge eying him curiously.
"You seem different from most people I've met," she said.
"For one thing, your heart is beating in a steady rhythm," she continued as though assessing Jacen's physical condition.
He gave a reflexive recoil when she came close enough to smell him, and he noticed two pairs of sharp fangs in her mouth.
She recoiled, too, as if she'd barely stopped herself from doing something she'd regret.
The sound of an all too familiar and annoying voice rang from the opposite side of the hall.
He looked to see, once again, the consistently icy princess throwing another tantrum at encountering Ruby and Yang.
He also noticed the other girl, clearly not wishing to be disrupted from reading her book, blew out a candle and then walked away.
"I can't take that little princess any longer," Jacen said, trying to overcome his rising annoyance.
Rouge put up a hand, "Save that energy for where it's needed; if you don't get enough sleep, you're going to burn out."
Jacen had to concede he was tired himself; the sound of Rowan on the floor made him grateful he didn't land on his bed roll.
With a curt nod, he laid his head down and fell asleep.
END