A tanned woman tapped her foot impatiently against the stone floor, checking her scroll once again, scowling at the message that simply told her to meet Father Abdullah for an update. The message had been sent over an hour ago and she had arrived less than ten minutes after it had been sent, only to arrive in the middle of a christening ceremony, something she was sure that bastard Azrael had planned on happening just to spite her. Despite the man's abilities, he was petulant and spiteful to the point that it made young Lavender seem mature in comparison, despite her own host of issues.
Henna sighed as the priest continued on, running her tongue along her hollow fangs out of habit as the man dipped two of his fingers into a chalice containing a thick black tar that bubbled and roiled despite being cold to the touch. The last of the initiates trembled as the boney and cold fingers of the priest painted the Goddess's symbol onto his face, the same symbol that was tattooed in black ink on her chest, the tar continuing to bubble even as it slowly dripped into the stubble on his chin. The priest noticed this, and gave the man on his knees a questioning look, something the others who had gone through before him noticed, whispering amongst themselves through their matching solid white masks. Yet, Abdullah did not reprimand or even frown at the man, rather, he stroked the man's face in an almost loving gesture, like a grandfather showing affection to the child on their lap.
"Be not afraid my child, this is merely the beginning of your new life, a better life, one serving our savior." He spoke calmly, his tired and raspy voice still maintaining its warmth as he finished tracing the symbol upon the initiate's face, the tar now starting to spread, black tendrils crawling along his face as his eyes turned a deep crimson shade. With a kind smile, the priest handed the man his mask, identical to those worn by his brothers and sisters. Wordlessly, the man placed it onto his face, no strap or fitting necessary as the tar seemed to act as an adhesive, holding it perfectly in place as the man joined his new siblings, becoming just another silhouette in the group as they were lead away by a man in black robes who's mask resembled an elongated human skull.
With the ceremony seemingly over, Henna stepped forward, trying not to cringe as she got a better look at the man, as despite being more than familiar with him, it didn't make his unsightly appearance any easier to digest. At a glance, he simply appeared to be bald, but closer inspection revealed his face was simply devoid of any hair, not even having eyelashes. His face was also sunken in quite a bit, clearly displaying the structure of his skull beneath his deathly pale, wrinkly, paper-thin skin.
"Father Abdullah." She bowed her head respectfully, a gesture that was returned in kind. "I believed you wanted to speak with me about the plans in Vale?"
The elderly man simply nodded, using the staff he carried like a cane, leaning onto it as he stepped closer, placing the chalice on a table where several other ceremonial instruments lay in wait, including a kris dagger wrapped in a rosary, and a branding iron in the shape of Salem's sigil.
"The operation was a failure, the initiates all survived." He spoke simply and without any emotion, simply stating it as though it was a fact that didn't affect him, and not a pillar of their plans going up in smoke.
"All of them? How is that possible?" she asked, reining in her voice not to yell at the man before her, as while she technically outranked him as a member of Her Grace's inner circle, that didn't override the reverence she held for the man whom her mentor had aided in rebuilding The Goddess's Shadows. Again, Abdullah easily noticed the discontent from his fellow devotee, but he decided not to comment on it, instead choosing to simply recount the facts as they had been told to him.
"It appears they were better equipped than we were led to believe. While they fought admirably, the Grimm were dealt with." The man paused, contemplating on whether it was better to keep the next part to himself, or share what he had learned. Ultimately his loyalty to the Goddess compelled him to be truthful, even if he knew his old acquaintance would be displeased. "And there were… unforeseen factors."
Henna raised an eyebrow at the wording as it could mean literally anything, a silver eyed warrior amongst them? One of the more intelligent Grimm taking command of the rest and acting prematurely? The exercise being moved elsewhere? It could have been one or all of these things, yet his phrasing told her frustratingly little.
"Father, with all due respect, please don't keep me in suspense. What factors?" the snake Faunus asked as she crossed her arms.
"The betrayer's spawn was amongst them, and by the time it was discovered, the die had already been cast."
The betray- He meant Cinder! Cinder and Adam's child was amongst them? Her breath became heavy at the revelation. Oh she'd been waiting for this for so many years! Retribution against that damned bull and the Goddess's fallen Maiden was in her hands!
"I see, and what are we doing about that?" Henna asked, unable to fully keep the excitement out of her voice, like a predator staring down its completely oblivious prey.
"Our brothers and sisters in Vale assure me they have the situation under control, you may tell the Goddess that things will proceed as planned." Abdullah responded calmly, speaking with the patience of a man who had lived far longer than his current state would suggest. That was it? They were just going about with business as usual?!
"Like how they had planned for the initiation?" she asked, unable to keep the snark out of her tone. She paused afterwards, realizing her mistake and looking away, almost like a child knowing that they were about to be scolded. The priest didn't respond, not properly at least, instead humming a brief note of acknowledgement. Yes, the initiation had been a failure, he couldn't deny that, and so, he simply watched the woman, giving her the chance to offer an alternative.
"This is an opportunity for Lavender to prove herself." In Henna's eyes, it was only right that her student be tested against Beacon's own. A reasonable challenge for the girl, one that would remedy the failure at Beacon, and… there was the personal connection that made it oh so poetic. The old man was less than convinced, he knew Lavender, and while he had a great deal of respect for her father, she lacked his conviction for their cause.
"Do you truly believe she's ready for such a task? The girl has yet to even spill blood."
"Against Adam's child, she'll be more than willing to change that."
Abdullah tilted his head, ah, so that's what this was truly about. He had suspected that Henna had an ulterior motive to nominating her apprentice for the mission, of course, but now there was proof to his suspicion. Henna realized it too, yet, unlike last time, she didn't wince at her mistake, if anything, she seemed emboldened by it, as if the connection was a point in her favor. Truth be told, he didn't disagree, perhaps this was the push the young woman needed. Regardless, it was Henna's call, and all he could do was advise her.
"If you are certain, just be sure that in your haste to avenge your mentor, you don't sacrifice your protege in the process." With that, he turned and walked out of the chamber, leaving Henna to contemplate his words.
Sparks flew across the room as a set of pincer-like blades clashed against the claymore, The Queen's Servants doing little more than scratching the vast blade of Gargernut. Their wielder used the curved blades to latch onto the weapon, the girl's small frame effortlessly climbing onto the massive weapon and snarling in the face of the much larger swordsman. The man in question laughed back, amused by the girl's anger and wild, dilated yellow eyes. He continued to laugh even as the girl sprouted a third arm, a light purple limb made of Aura that pulled back and struck him right in the mouth, quickly being joined by a second identical phantom limb that did the same. Yet, the man just continued to cackle, further infuriating the girl who used another limb to strike, this time stabbing directly at his throat with the venomous stinger of her tail. The man reacted smoothly, swinging his colossal blade with the girl still clinging to the weapon as if were made of cardboard, launching her from her perch and skittering along the ground back first, wherein she immediately rolled backwards into a handspring, pushing off the ground and coming to a halt on all fours, The Queen's Servants digging into the stone floor to slow her momentum. As she did so, her brown hair was set loose from the braid it had been pulled back into and now flung about, wild and free. The man smirked as his opponent, if she could even be called that, sat in a familiar hunched position, her scorpion tail curled back and ready to strike at a moment's notice.
"That's it? You must be in the clouds if that's all you can manage. Is it even me you're seeing, or are you too high to tell who you're fighting?" The man mocked her, his pitch black armor letting out a series of piercing ultrasonic screeches as the many metallic plates rubbed together, making the Faunus's ears ache with every movement he took.
"Fuck you!" She could have fired back with any number of rebuttals, but clearly not in the right state of mind for a battle of wits, merely growled profanity at the cocky bastard before kicking off her backfoot and beginning her relentless assault once more. The man smirked and raised his blade, swinging Gargernut in a horizontal arc the moment she got into range, The girl, despite her enraged and unfocused state, was more than fast enough to react, jumping and kicking off the blade as it passed underneath her, twirling in the air and forming several phantom limbs to confuse him, and, at the right moment, brought as many as she could down onto him. However, her opponent only watched one of them, and as soon as it was in range, he reached out and grabbed her tail, whipping her into the stone wall hard enough to crack it. Landing in a tangle of limbs, the girl's Aura started to flicker from the damage she'd just taken. The man marched forward, leering down at her with the massive blade effortlessly slung over his shoulder. At first the girl just glared up, and even with her glossy and clearly unnaturally wide eyes, her contempt was clear. Then she smirked at him, a change that confused him for just a moment before he felt the change, his claymore grew heavier, or more accurately, he grew weaker as his Aura started to weaken. Before he could react, something sharp and serrated pressed against his throat, wiping his face clean of the cocky grin he'd carried throughout the scuffle.
"Brother Azrael, would you like to explain exactly what it is that you're doing with my sworn sister?"
Henna's voice was ice cold as she pressed the blade harder against the soft flesh of his exposed neck, her threat wordlessly clear as she moved slowly so that she was in front of him.
"Sister Henna," the man responded through gritted teeth, he didn't even bother to hide how he eyed the outfit that clung to her figure snugly, a small part of him wishing the white robe that she had covered most of her figure was just a bit loser, and scowling as he saw the younger girl immediately move behind Henna's back, her now smug face peeking out from behind her mentor's back, stinger still at the ready. Yet, he wasn't willing to let the core issue of their little confrontation go just yet, not while the little brat's eyes were still dilated. "I'm just showing young Lavender the dangers that come with fighting when inebriated."
Lavender's eyes went wide as she was called out directly in front of Henna, quickly darting her gaze between the two and stumbling over her words to try and get out an excuse.
"He came out of nowhere while I was-"
"Enough." the tan woman snapped, already out of patience from the moment she had stumbled across the scene. She'd deal with what Azrael claimed in a moment, but first she had to deal with him. "Leave, and if you let me catch you around her again, I'll show you exactly what I'm capable of."
The large man tensed as though he was considering making a move against her but ultimately decided against it, muttering an excuse about "displeasing the father." She watched as he walked away, waiting for him to turn the corner before letting her guard down for a brief moment, said moment immediately coming to an end as she turned back to see Lavender rubbing her arm where she'd landed, wincing ever so slightly and looking up to the woman she called her big sister.
"Thank you." The scorpion Faunus breathed a sigh of relief, her raised tail relaxing and her weapons folding back into their inactive forms before freezing at the stern look Henna was giving her, her small form shrinking under the woman's gaze and subconsciously pulling on the left sleeve of her coat.
"Is what he said true?" Henna asked, her voice almost serenely calm despite her obvious anger at the idea.
"I-I wasn't…" The girl's hesitance was all her friend needed to confirm her suspicions. Then, without warning, she grabbed the sleeve that Lavender had pulled down, lifting it to see a fresh injection site, the veins in her arm contracting as the venom worked its way into her system. Lavender sputtered, ripping her arm back from Henna's grasp, pulling the sleeve back down as she did so before finally hiding it behind her back and trying to explain herself. "I had a rough day… I just needed a small dose this time, enough to take the edge off!"
"Lavender, I thought we were past this." Henna said, gently taking Lavender's hands into her own, watching as the girl's eyes followed her movements. Judging by how she was still coherent, and more importantly, not a bloody mess on the floor left by Azrael, the dose hadn't been enough to induce its hallucinogenic effects. They'd already had this talk so many times already, she honestly didn't know how else to tell her beloved apprentice that she was killing herself like this, that the temporary escape from her problems the visions gave her weren't worth the damage it did to her body.
"I'm sorry." It seemed her student agreed as she looked away, unable to face her reaction.
"Don't be sorry, be better. What would your father say if he saw you doing this to yourself?" That got the reaction she'd been hoping for as the girl flinched as though she'd been expecting to be hit. As much as she hated invoking Tyrian in such a way, sometimes it seemed as though it was the only way she could get through to her student, similar to how he had invoked Salem's name when he trained her, just on a more personal level. Still, she lowered herself to Lavender's eye-level and reached out, gently moving some stray hair out of her face to get a better look at her.
"You're not mad?" Lavender asked timidly, her demeanor a far cry from the furious mess of anger that Azrael had invoked mere minutes ago.
"Not mad, just disappointed." The words from her mentor stung, disappointed, she'd disappointed her "family" before, and that empty home in Vale and her pathetic excuse of a mother and her little golden child that she'd left behind could burn for all she cared. But Henna was her family, her real family, and disappointing her after everything she'd done for her hurt. "But you're still my sister, nothing will change that."
Lavender could have cried, burying her face into the warmth of the older woman's chest and wrapping her arms, as well as her tail, around her in a deep embrace.
"How much longer do we have to stay in Vacuo?" The younger girl asked, she'd had more than enough of Vacuo and the people they'd been working alongside within it. She liked it better when they were on the road, just the two of them. Almost like the adventures that had been read to her in stories as a child.
This was it, this was her chance to tell Lavender about Adam's child. A chance to finally show her the reality of their work, and against a target who she was more than justified in taking action against. It would be a good introduction to their role within Her followers, possibly the best, and a prime opportunity to teach her about why it wasn't just blood for blood, but service to their Goddess by punishing her betrayers in righteous vengeance.
"Just be sure that in your haste to avenge your mentor you don't sacrifice your protege."
But, was she really ready? She had taken a dose of her own venom for a "rough day"... Even if she would be willing to spill blood, what if she ran into a Huntsman? What if she hadn't trained her enough, or Goddess forbid, she tried going after Adam directly… No, she couldn't risk it, she knew where Cinder's spawn would be for the next four years, more than enough time to get Lavender ready, and show her the ways of the Goddess in a less… risky manner.
"There's still plenty of time to prepare here." Henna spoke calmly, gently stroking her fingers through Lavender's long brown hair as she calmed herself down. The teenager predictably groaned at being left in the dark once again, just as she had when they first arrived in the city.
"It would probably be faster if you told me what it is we're doing exactly." Lav muttered, only getting a chuckle from the older woman in response.
"In time, my little Lavender, in time."
"Lumi? Are you listening?" The girl in question immediately jumped in her seat as Jin's voice cut through the fog of her thoughts, nearly spilling the tray of food in front of her as she jolted upright, attracting stares from her team, as well as the neighboring team BGEL and a few assorted people nearby. She sheepishly rubbed the drowsiness from her eyes as she tried to pretend she wasn't on the verge of passing out just a moment ago. She wasn't even halfway through her first day at Beacon, and she was already faced with a scenario that was causing her to lose sleep. Worst of all though was that she couldn't say a word about it.
"Yes, just… tired, I didn't get much sleep last night, that's all." Lumi groaned, technically telling the truth, but conveniently creeping around the exact reason she hadn't gotten any sleep to begin with, mainly because she was trying to ignore it herself, putting faith in Beacon's headmistress that there was a justifiable reason for such a clear… oversight. Or at least she would have, provided that the aforementioned oversight wasn't sitting directly across from her, chewing on one of the hotdogs that were being served as brunch with her mouth open like some sort of slob.
"What, princess isn't used to sleeping without her several thousand dollar bed?" Scarlet teased, leaning in and not even bothering to swallow the half chewed food before speaking. Lumi just grimaced at her abject crudeness, doing her best to remain patient, if nothing else for her own safety and the safety of Jin. It was so tempting to shoot back something about her heritage, but in the end she knew better, it would've been the lack of sleep talking, not her. The smart call was to get through the day and talk with Father. He'd have a logical explanation for her, that or she'd be bringing their attention to what was clearly a severe oversight on behalf of whoever was in charge of the admission process. So for now, she'd keep her mouth shut and keep the peace, as after all, even if her suspicions were true, she doubted her "partner" was brazen enough to act where everyone could see them. As such, she'd just ignore the cow Faunus.
The cold response actually surprised Scarlet, she had thought her upbeat tone made it pretty clear she was just being playful, so when Lumi just rolled her eyes and disregarded her completely rather than firing back, it legitimately took her aback. What the hell was that about? She wasn't so tired that some light, friendly banter was all it took to get on her nerves, right? So she sighed, figuring she'd give the girl the benefit of the doubt that it wasn't her just being bitchy for the sake of it, shoving another bite of her hotdog into her mouth.
"So, what exactly were we talking about?" Lumi asked Jet, still ignoring her partner. The others of course noticed the display, but similarly took it as the blond woman just being tired and mutually deciding to just move on from the failed attempt at conversation.
"How you guys all know each other already, it's pretty weird honestly." Jet pointed out, thankfully swallowing before speaking unlike his crude friend.
"We don't all know each other, Belka didn't know me or Lao until yesterday." Jin spoke up, genuinely not seeing his green haired partner's point.
"Yeah, but Lumi alone knows you and is related to literally everyone in BGEL." Jet said, doing a sweeping motion of the other team with his left arm. The four teens in question suddenly looked up from their food as they were brought into the discussion once more. Liz simply shrugged, to her it felt like they were just pointing out the obvious, meanwhile Goose's chewing speed accelerated to comical degrees so she could contribute to the conversation.
"Lumi and I aren't related." Lao pointed out calmly, not really participating in the discussion so much as he was correcting the record.
"Okay but my point stands, you're like her cousin/family friend/whatever, and Jin's aunt is the Assistant Headmistress. You guys are weirdly connected already."
"Oh, and my Dad and Lumi's dad both work here! Not as teachers, but they work here!" Goose chimed in, giving Jet more ammo in his favor. Jin paused, because, well, when it was laid out one part at a time, it was kinda hard not to see that it was a very, very big coincidence.
"Yeah, he has a point, if I didn't go through the outright negligent initiation, I'd say the way our teams are set up utterly reeks of nepotism." Belka added, having actually set her own food down to contribute as she scooted closer.
"How did your family end up being so closely connected to the School?" Scarlet asked, resting her head on her wrist. As Goose began to excitedly explain the… unique dynamic of the Schnees and their various connections, the other students around them continued to eat in peace. One of these teams was JWEL, who sat only a row down from the perpetual conversation machine that was SJJL and BGEL. Juliet had already finished her meal, having scarfed down her brunch with as much beauty and grace as a rabid Beowolf.
"So I was thinking, after school we should go do something together as a team, like, properly get to know each other better y'know?" the tanned leader began as she stood up from the bench dramatically, resting an arm on Rosaria's shoulder which was calmly but immediately shrugged off. Elena and Luna both looked up at their leader and her friend, both noting that the pair seemed to be pretty close even in spite of the fact that Rosaria acted like she merely tolerated the girl's presence at best. The pair were clearly very comfortable with each other, even if they didn't look like it. After all, Rosaria wasn't so willing to completely dismiss anyone else like she was with Juliet.
"That could be fun. What did you wanna do?" Luna asked, getting visibly excited, something Juliet couldn't help but smile at.
"Hey, not to kill the mood but I was actually gonna train later, I have a regimen to keep up." Elena said apologetically as she awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. However, Juliet didn't seem fazed by this at all, in fact, she nodded along in understanding. Elena had figured she'd understand, the girl had muscles that almost looked to be sculpted from stone. If anything, she'd probably have to ask her leader for advice sometime, because whatever she was doing clearly worked wonders.
"That's fine, we could make it a thing, how about training and then dinner? My treat, there's this burger place in town that's reeeally good."
Elena opened her mouth to again turn down the offer, to try and explain that it was something she preferred to do in solitude, but paused when she saw the excitement on Luna's face and Rosaria nodding along to Juliet's suggestion, even though she was looking at the space behind her rather than directly at her partner.
"Well… I suppose that works." the redhead caved, not willing to cause a fuss over one afternoon, and she couldn't really deny that it was a good idea to try and get more familiar with the girls she'd be working with for the next four years. Juliet glanced over to the quiet girl to her side, Rosaria's green eyes looking off at another table of students. Giving her friend's ribs a light jab with her elbow, Juliet smiled once she managed to reclaim her eccentric friend's attention.
"What about you Roe? You got anything to add?"
"We're being watched." Rosaria said as simply as she breathed, nudging her head in the direction of the table she'd been looking at, Juliet's eyes following as her brow furrowed, her smile vanishing off of her face in an instant. Luna had to do a double take at her leader's reaction, Juliet didn't have a mean bone in her body, even when they'd been fighting the Grimm during initiation she had a cheesy grin plastered on her face, or a smile at the very least.
"What?"
It was Elena who broke the team's sudden bout of silence, similarly worried about the idea of being spied on, looking around for anyone who might be watching.
"That blue-haired girl in the animal fur hat, she's been eyeing all of us first years ever since she walked in the room." Rosaria explained, and now having pointed their observer out to them, the girl stood out pretty easily. A woman, with long, bright blue hair partially hidden under a coonskin cap, was looking over the first years like a hawk. She looked to be a year or two older than Luna, so it was safe to assume it was just her being curious about the incoming cohort. Nothing to worry about.
"Roe, you really gotta word that stuff better, you actually scared me for a sec." Juliet sighed, apparently sharing the same sentiment. Luna continued to watch the older students, now curious about them herself. The girl Rosaria pointed out was sitting with three other girls, who Luna assumed was her team, one she recognized as the super tanned girl from the airship, currently nose deep in a book. Another, the smallest of them, was a dog Faunus, happily yapping away to the girls as her fluffy pink tail wagged. The last was a freckled redhead with a bob cut, currently leaning back in her seat, laughing as she talked with a boy from the table behind her. Honestly, they seemed like a normal team to her, even with the girl in the cooncap's intense, almost predatory stare at the first years.
But, while Luna was happy to go back to her meal, something caught Rosaria's attention, a boy with black hair marching over, his fists clenched and his face red. Choosing to watch things unfold rather than eat, she wasn't surprised when the new boy pushed the one talking to the redhead. For a moment, it looked like a fight might break out between them, but the new boy, being bigger, tougher, and clearly angrier, scared off the other one, who slunk away in silence. Then he turned his attention to the girl, who just sighed as she turned to face him. This got the blue haired girl's attention, now watching her teammate and saying something that was waved off by the redhead. Yet, she didn't turn away from her friend's dismissal of assistance, watching with irritation as her teammate argued with the boy.
"What's that about?" Elena asked, leaning closer as if the extra few inches would somehow let her hear them more clearly.
"Trouble in paradise?" Juliet guessed, as from the way the other pair of girls within the senior team were whispering, it was clear that things were getting heated. And over something as simple as flirting? Yeah, that seemed to be the case.
"How could you? I thought you loved me!" he yelled, now having the whole room's attention. Yup, she was right. The redheaded woman just laughed in response, no longer caring about the volume as responding just as clearly.
"Look, Cyan, I had fun and all, but if you legitimately thought that I loved you, then you're an even bigger dumbass than I thought." The boy, named Cyan apparently, didn't take that well, at first sputtering in impotent rage before his anger got the better of him.
"You… stupid whore!" he cried at the top of his lungs, the pause in his response indicative that he was clearly still reeling from how easily the redhead had dismissed him, barely sounding confident in his insult, which was all but ignored by the freckled girl who just turned around and went back to eating. Her teammate didn't respond anywhere near as calmly, standing up from the bench and stepping right up to the boy, as it turned out Cooncap was tall, not quite as big as him, but just a few inches shy, probably around a solid six feet tall, give or take an inch or two. She might have said something, it was hard to tell with the angle, but if she did, she sure as hell didn't give him time to respond, pulling her arm back before slamming her fist right into his nose. Rosaria's eyes widened, viewing the escalation from petty insults to violence as far from necessary. Luna audibly gasped at the sudden strike while Juliet just cringed. Meanwhile, Elena gritted her teeth at the act of blatant barbarism from her fellow huntress in training.
Blood spilled across the black tiles almost immediately as the boy stumbled back, tripping over his own feet and clutching his face in pain. The students started to crowd around them, mostly to get a better look, but a scant few seemed to be egging them on. The blue-haired woman clearly wasn't done with him, kneeling over the poor boy and lifting him up to her eye level by his collar. Elena moved, unable to watch anymore. Juliet tried to stop her, reaching out to pull the girl back, but missing her window as the Mistralian hopped over the table and pushed through the crowd, eventually managing to squeeze her way into the inner circle. The woman was still hunched over Cyan, blood streaming out from his nose as she growled at him. Now clearly able to hear the woman, Elena could make out the thick Vacuoan accent that seemed to flow freely with her anger.
"An' if I ever catch you even lookin' at 'er again I-" she stopped as she noticed Elena storming up to her, shooting Cyan one last warning look before dropping the boy and standing up, looking down at Elena who stood ready to act. "Who the hell 're you 'posed to be? This ain't your business missy."
"What the hell is your problem!? What did this guy do to deserve that?" Elena asked, her outrage clear for all to see. The taller girl glanced past her to the crowd, smirking when she saw the other members of JWEL still on the other side, and about to be stuck behind the first years coming to get a look at the spat she'd caused.
"Big boy over here ran his mouth, I already warned him before about how he acted 'round Aethel. He just didn't wanna listen." The woman's accent seemed to subside a bit as she calmed herself, not even flinching as Elena got into her face, or at least tried, the height difference between them now apparent. Yet the archer persisted, not intimidated in the slightest by her towering figure.
In the back of the crowd, SJJL and BGEL reached the uninvolved members of JWEL, who were still struggling to break through the horde that surrounded their teammate. Scarlet, seeing the other team panicked and with no sign of their fourth member, reached out, grabbing Luna as Goose joined in on trying to squeeze through the crowd.
"What the hell's going on?" Scarlet asked, just a little harsher than she had intended, accidentally making Luna flinch. Something Scarlet failed to notice while Lumi picked up on it immediately, watching closely.
"Elena just… ran in!" Luna squeaked out, looking back to her partner in the circle worriedly, as Belka managed to slip in through the cracks.
"So because of that you attack him? What kind of thug are you!?" Elena barked while poking the bluenette in the sternum, only for the taller girl to react almost immediately, her rough and calloused hand grabbing her wrist and twisting it inward towards Elena's chest. The frog Faunus yelped in pain as she tried to fight the leverage, pulling back hard only for the taller girl to simply let go and let her fall back from the force of her own struggle.
"One who'll knock you on yer ass if you keep runnin' your mouth." the woman answered, not even trying to be subtle at this point, cracking her knuckles in a way that was clearly intended to intimidate her now downed objector.
"Um, 'laska?" The dog Faunus she'd been sitting with before called out, directing her friend's attention over to the crowd once more. She wasn't bothered by Goose or Juliet getting close to squeezing through the wall of people, not in the slightest, but the scroll in Belka's hand recording the whole interaction was a whole 'nother story. The girl just had to sit there and do nothing as Goose got in close, helping the redhead to her feet. Shifting her jaw, she turned on her heels and wandered back over to her team, sighing as she got a look from Aethelflad.
"I know, I know, he ain't even worth the trouble." she scoffed, taking one last look back at Elena. "Watch yourself girly, I ain't gonna forget this." With that, the team packed up, leaving the crowd, which dispersed almost immediately, most of the students going back to talk with their friends, while others tried to finish their meals. Cyan's team just helped the boy back to his feet, one member even helping to set his nose back into its proper place after they returned to their table.
"The heck was that about?" Goose asked Elena, who just shrugged in response. She really didn't have a clue why she had even caused the escalation in the first place, she just knew she had to try and stop it.
"Ugh, are you telling me that stupid 'drama' crap from Signal is gonna happen here too?" Scarlet groaned, this was the last thing she'd been hoping for at Beacon. Hopefully, this was as bad as it got.
"Good afternoon class, I'm Professor Fuchsia, your Grimm Studies teacher for your time here at Beacon." Touko introduced herself while standing up from her desk, sipping on what remained from her morning brew as her magenta eyes looked over the class as they steadily filed into their seats. Stepping around the desk, the woman did a brief headcount, the presence of a few familiar names and faces making the influx of new students a bit easier to memorize than previous cohorts. As she stepped out from behind her desk, the sound of footsteps far heavier than what her size would realistically produce caught the attention of the more observant students. Jet and Rosaria in particular watched the rigid way her legs moved in comparison to the rest of her body, and noted what appeared to be a series of "seams" framing the top half of the woman's face. Even if it wasn't obvious at a glance, anyone that paid attention could tell the woman was a cyborg, a heavily augmented one too if her single gloved hand was any further indication. Touko ignored the stares, more than used to them by now, and addressed her students as she had already done several times already with the other classes.
"Before we begin, does anyone have any questions?" a question which immediately caused a forest of raised hands to erupt from the class, accompanied by blatant stares at her prosthetic limbs, a mistake that she rectified almost immediately. "Does anyone have any questions that don't involve my cybernetics?" a small change that, as expected, instantly caused her student's hands to drop back to their desks. Rolling her eyes, Touko picked up the textbook from its place behind her and once more addressed her students.
"Good, now to start off, open your books to page eleven, we're going to be starting with a refresher on the basics of Grimm biology and their various classifications." immediately causing a soft groan to envelop the class. As with every year before them, the new students were far from excited to go over material they'd already learned in primary combat school, one boy even going as far as to speak out over it.
"Ma'am, why are we going over what we already learned? Professor Oobleck didn't have us going over basic history." The student's complaint was heard, but obviously not considered as the Professor's unamused eyes drifted over to the boy in question.
"And I'm sure his methods work just fine, but I'm not Oobleck." she began sternly, clearly establishing that there would be no further discussion on this.
"We're going over this because it's important to remember that the most common Grimm types you're going to be exterminating are the basics. Beowolves, Creeps, Boarbatusks, and the like" punctuating the name of each Grimm by pointing to a picture of the matching drawing of the creature's anatomy on her chalkboard. Not a single one of the beasts one the students would consider threatening. "These are the most common forms of Grimm here in Vale, but that doesn't mean you should get comfortable around them. Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer after all, and none of you are good enough to avoid losing to, getting maimed by, or even dying just because you underestimated a Grimm." She took a moment to breathe, as well as to let her words sink into her student's heads, the silence that followed telling the Professor that her warning was being taken seriously. The class was smart enough to tell that the woman spoke from experience.
While most of the class seemed to go along with the lesson from that point, some were still distracted, Lumi being one of them, too busy keeping an eye on a certain member of her team to re-learn something that she could, frankly, recount from memory since she was twelve. While she respected the Professor and understood she meant well, there just was too much on her mind currently. She tried to just ignore the Faunus next to her, it really shouldn't have annoyed her that Scarlet was slacking off, playing some game on her scroll under the desk while pretending to read, unlike herself, who had a perfectly valid reason for not paying attention. Of course another realization then immediately plagued the girl's thoughts, if Scarlet was who she suspected, then that also likely meant that Jet couldn't be trusted either. The green haired boy was seated two seats away from her, with Scarlet bent over the desk between them, reading his textbook, all while she took the occasional glance at him from the corner of her eye, examining him closer. He seemed nice enough, a bit quiet initially, but not unpleasant as far as first impressions had gone. No, her concerns centered in that he was far too close with her, the pair having apparently stuck together before meeting Jin. It was something she'd similarly have to ask Father about, just one more class and then she was free for the day. She'd go right up to Father's office and get this cleared up, and hopefully be able to actually pay attention to her studies rather than choosing to mull over her situation. Now was not that time though, as her partner nudged her in the ribs.
"Hey, think I could borrow your notes? I was… a little distracted." Scarlet whispered, a quick glance down at her textbook showing that she'd remained on the opening page for the whole lecture. Truthfully, Lumi wished she could say she was surprised.
"No, I'm not doing the work for you because you were fooling around on your scroll instead of actually paying attention." Lumi chided, quickly turning the page to hide the fact that she hadn't followed along either. In truth she simply hadn't taken any notes, but she wasn't going to spend any more time than absolutely necessary with the girl, not until she could actually get a conclusive answer as to her identity.
"Come on, don't leave a sister hanging." Scarlet pleaded under her breath, scooting closer to her partner and again nudging Lumi gently in a playful manner to try and get her to give in, an act that was returned by a sharp elbow to the ribs. Scarlet let out a hiss of pain and immediately scooted back, rubbing the spot that had just incurred Lumi's wrath. Confusion and anger spread across the redhead's face, something Lumi took no small amount of satisfaction from.
"I have nine sisters, Scarlet, and last time I checked, you weren't one of them." she responded whilst flipping to another page in her book, acting as though she could now just ignore the girl beside her.
Biting her tongue, Scarlet just barely managed to stop herself from just swearing at the blonde for that. What the hell was going on? She'd been willing to overlook the crankiness from earlier this morning that lasted across brunch and the early classes, mostly because she and Lumi had seemed just fine yesterday, friendly even! So what the hell was this about?
"Seriously? I thought we were cool. What's got your panties all in a twist?"
"Well you thought wrong!" Lumi snapped back, not bothering to answer the question, however she had been louder than she had intended, quite a bit louder in fact, her venomous tone clearly carrying throughout the room and attracting the stares of not just the students immediately around them, but the entire , this also included their teacher, who suddenly stopped mid lecture, and, recognising the voice of her friend's child, looked right up to Lumi, her tired stare making Lumi flinch before she'd even been properly reprimanded.
"Is there something you'd like to share with the class Miss Arc-Schnee?" Touko asked in a wholly unamused voice. Of all her students, she hadn't expected Lumi to be the first to cause a disruption. Honestly she was expecting it to be Goose, and still was in fact.
"N-no ma'am." Lumi said, her eyes cast downward in embarrassment. She was mortified, positively humiliated, a stain on her family's lineage. Mercifully, Touko decided to move on rather than continue to chastise the girl, picking her lecture right back where she had left off. After taking a moment to huff out her frustrations, she shot a sidewards glare at Scarlet, who similarly sat glaring down at her page in silent frustration. Well, at least she was paying attention now.
Whatever, let her stew, just one more class, she just had to make it through Combat Class and she could get her answers.
Ruby sighed as she sat down to relax, it was the last class of the day, and thankfully, one she'd simply be supervising. It was mostly a formality meant to help the students acclimate to the more direct training methods of Beacon, Koji was certainly skilled, but he could only do so much on his own. So, as was her duty as a teacher, a Huntress, and Vice Headmistress, she'd be helping out until the first year students got into the swing of things.
Up in the stands, Jin watched as the last of the professors he'd be meeting today walked out into the wide open space of the sparring arena. The old, grizzled looking man stood with his hand resting on the grip of his curved Mistrali sword, his black hair flecked with rivers of aged silver tied into a simple yet functional topknot and fully adorned in forest green armor, stylised like the Mistrali warriors of old. All of this, along with his hard, commanding stare, made him look like an old, no nonsense Shogun, his presence alone commanding the class into absolute silence. The monkey Faunus, being naturally curious, wasn't nearly as intimidated by the man, most of the staff were either his outright family or family friends at the least, so if anything, the old samurai was more intriguing than intimidating.
"Good afternoon children, my name is Koji Castleton, and it is my utmost pleasure to be your combat instructor!"
An awkward silence filled the room as no one really knew how to respond to that, the massive contrast of his kindly greeting with his intimidating appearance was striking and even off putting to a sizable chunk of the students. However, he didn't seem to notice as his stern, scarred face suddenly turned jovial and excited.
"In this class, I'll not only be instructing you on how to better combat the Creatures of Grimm, but also how to handle any nefarious characters you'll no doubt meet on your journey as Huntsmen!" the Professor's loud, booming voice traveling throughout the room with more energy and enthusiasm than he looked capable of mustering given his age.
"Is this guy for real?" Belka asked no one in particular in absolute disbelief, her thankfully brief experience with Atlesian veterans giving her the impression that he'd be a gruff and short tempered man of few words. She supposed this was a… pleasant surprise.
"He doesn't seem like he's joking." Lao said matter of factly, answering the rhetorical question without a hint of irony in his voice.
"Well, I guess I'm not upset that he's actually nice, but this is weird right?"
"I dunno, he seems fun." Goose said, looking at Elizabeth in hopes of getting the girl to agree, but her niece just stared down at the professor, seeming to agree with their leader, but unwilling to say as much out loud.
If Lumi felt any sort of way about the new teacher, she wasn't showing it, brows still furrowed as she stared off into space, thoughts plagued by her bovine teammate and the monster that spawned her. Shooting a glance over to Scarlet, the girl in question was sitting leaned back in her seat with a scowl, tapping her foot impatiently as she watched the Professor with everyone else, then her eye drifted over to Lumi, widening slightly as she saw her partner watching her from her spot with Jin and Jet between them, similarly still caught up on the events that transpired earlier. The Faunus's amber eyes narrowed at Lumi, she couldn't even be bothered to hide that she was annoyed by earlier, could she? Well, at least it wasn't outright hostile like she had feared. The blonde, in contrast, didn't bother thinking about her partner's petty response past that, simply rolling her eyes and readjusting her posture, she'd started to slouch too much.
"Hey, are you okay Lumi?" the deep yet gentle voice of Jin whispered, noticing his friend's irritated look. She hid it well enough, a stoic face and a calm, controlled pose would have fooled most, but Jin had known the girl since before either of their siblings had been born. He could spot the slight fidgeting and quiet huffs that passed over the heads of others.
"Perfectly fine Jin, why do you ask?" she said calmly, expertly masking the mixture of anxiety and irritation she felt, glancing over at the boy with a raised eyebrow. Again, Jin saw right through her act.
"Because you're acting mad about something," he said simply and with a slight hint of worry in his voice. "You'd tell me if something was up, right?"
Lumi's chest tightened with guilt seeing her friend concerned over her behavior, she wanted to tell him, truthfully she did as it affected him just as much as her, yet she knew she couldn't. She knew the big oaf would immediately ask Scarlet about it, possibly Jet if she told him to keep it to himself. No, it was better if she just kept it to herself until she knew for sure.
"I promise I'll tell you later, okay?", she said, turning back to the elder Professor down on the floor to once more try and distract herself.
"For the first week, Miss Rose and I will watch as you strapping young warriors take part in some basic sparring so that we may help you better grasp where you are as a fighter and what you need to work on. Now then, do we have any volunteers for our first match?" At Koji's behest, a good deal of students immediately raised their hands. He beamed at the eagerness of his class, he'd hoped the first years would be eager to show what they were capable of, and so far, they didn't disappoint. He scanned the crowd of students looking for someone with a suitable amount of fire, and very quickly found a student who looked to have it in spades.
"Yes, you, the young lady with the horns!"
Ruby already knew who he was talking about, but still had to look to sate her own curiosity, and sure enough, Scarlet stood tall. To her surprise, she could see that the girl looked less than thrilled, her teacher's intuition telling her something seemed to be bothering the young swordswoman. Lumi's head turned as well, that damned red blade all but in her face as it sat snugly in its scabbard, taunting her from just a few feet away.
"Would you like to have an opponent selected at random, or do you have someone you'd like to challenge?" Koji said as she rose from her seat, her brow raising at his additional question. She was surprised by the sudden opportunity, in truth she'd just wanted to blow off some steam, work off the anger from her partner's bitchy attitude, but she could actually pick who she was fighting? Oh, well that made the choice very simple.
"Yeah actually Mr Castleton, I got someone I wanna fight. Lumi."
"What?" the petite girl yelled as she got to her feet and stomped her foot in outrage, the whole class once again finding their attention drawn to her. Ruby couldn't help but chuckle at the all too familiar tone, as even 18 years later, she could still remember Weiss's shrill voice scolding her for goofing off, so she wasn't surprised at all to see the girl get into a dispute only a day after initiation. Honestly, she took after Weiss in so many ways that she would have been surprised if she didn't. She glanced over to Koji and nodded in silent approval.
"A duel between partners? Splendid! A perfect opportunity to test each other!" Lumi sighed, the Professor already seemed to be in favor of the idea, perhaps seeing it as a team building exercise, or he was simply blind to the clear animosity between the girls. Either way it mattered not, she knew protesting was pointless and thus she wordlessly made her way down to the arena.
She took her place across from Scarlet as the clear hardlight barrier raised around them, protecting the other students and signaling the start of the match. Her nerves were causing her muscles to feel all jittery, yet determined not to show weakness, she stared forward, her face flat and watching her partner draw her twin blades with an uninterested gaze, yet she found her eyes following Wilt, the crimson blade that took the arm of Jin's mother, that now lay in the hands of this brash and insufferable barbarian.
"Well, are you going to tell me what this little stunt of yours is about?" Lumi asked, drawing Crocea Mors and her parrying dagger while trying to maintain control of her voice.
"You tell me!" Scarlet's simple response was paired with her launching herself forward. Already on guard, Lumi reacted swiftly, similarly moving in and opting to take the faster route of thrusting her family blade at her partner's chest rather than trying to parry or block the overhead strike. While Scarlet's Aura kept the blade from even poking a hole in her shirt, the pain was all too real and she faltered in her swing, giving the smaller and faster girl the chance to sidestep and land a passing slash just under her ribs. Scarlet was unwilling to let up and spun around, swinging Bleed at Lumi's throat, and, on instinct, the blonde raised her dagger, successfully knocking the sword off its course, but failing to account for Wilt following its path and landing a strike across her face that would have blinded her if not for her Aura. Recoiling in pain, she failed to see Scarlet sheathe Wilt, and then, in the span of a mere second, Scarlet channeled her Semblance into the blade, the summoned blood boosting the speed and force of her strike as she launched it from its home. The blood boosted blade made its mark along her midsection, reaching up to her shoulder as it arced, a heavy blow that knocked Lumi halfway across the arena and took twenty percent off of her Aura, bringing her down to just over half of her total reserves.
The crowd of students watched eagerly, most simply excited to see some action after having their heads buried in textbooks and the dread of assignments in the hours since they'd woken up. Jin winced as his friends fought, watching Lumi prop herself up on her elbows and all but snarl at Scarlet. He'd known something was causing issues, and he felt stupid for not seeing it sooner. He'd just hoped that Lumi and Scarlet really were over their problems after this, whatever they may be. Jet similarly felt a sense of dread, Scarlet was aggressive for sure, but he knew from experience that she wasn't holding back, her strikes more than capable of killing her target if she was against a Grimm or someone with weaker Aura. What was she thinking? Was she even thinking? However, despite their mutual suspicions and concerns, the boys could only watch for now, and they'd need to wait for their answers.
Ruby, unlike the majority of her students, was less than thrilled, easily spotting that several of those blows had been aimed to maim. While her own education was… accelerated compared to the usual student, she knew that, by now, they should know that the amount of damage that Aura could reduce wouldn't change so long as their strike landed true. There was genuine anger driving these girls, had they gotten into a fight? A quick glance at their partners and the boys' confused faces told her if they had, it certainly wasn't public knowledge. She considered stopping the fight then and there, but another part of her wondered if it was simply nerves over Scarlet's heritage again. Gods, was she really still hung up on that? No, she'd let this play out.
Lumi got back to her feet, and the moment she was standing up again, her opponent closed the distance once more, bringing her twin swords down upon her and forcing Lumi to block, the pair locking their blades together and giving them a brief moment to mentally breathe. Scarlet's plan seemed to be to avoid giving Lumi any breathing room, and if nothing else, the blonde swordswoman had to commend her barbarous opponent for her strategy, she clearly watched how her glyphs worked in initiation. So, she was clever, if nothing else, yet she either didn't account for or underestimated the dagger she held in her free hand.
"What the hell is your problem? You've been a bitch all day!" Scarlet shouted, loud enough for the crowd to hear, and right in Lumi's face, flecks of spit flying out and landing on Lumi's cheek, infuriating her further.
"Excuse you!?" she yelled right back, absolutely furious at the blatant disrespect, a bitch!? Oh she'd show this brute that she didn't know the meaning of the word! Angling Crocea Mors back ever so slightly, Lumi was able to slip under the red and silver steel of her opponent, and with an upwards swing, carved the dagger into Scarlet's aura, then, using her glyphs along with some help from gravity dust, pushed Scarlet backwards. Her "leader" drove her blades into the stone to slow her momentum, coming to a stop not nearly as far away as Lumi would have liked.
"No! No more bullshit, what's your fucking problem!?" Scarlet demanded an answer, getting back to her feet and pulling the blades out effortlessly.
"As if you don't know."
"I don't!"
Oh, that was rich, she was playing dumb. That all but confirmed every suspicion she had about the girl, which meant there was no purpose in holding back anymore. Forming yet another gravity glyph under Scarlet's feet, Lumi took a page out of her so-called partner's playbook and closed the distance, the horned girl noticing too late that she was being weighed down too much to move out of the way. Lumi moved so smooth it almost looked like she was dancing, a slash across Scarlet's chest followed by her twirling on her toes and smoothly transitioning into a position to send several jabs into the ribs of her opponent, and, as it looked like Scarlet was finally getting ready to break free, Lumi simply disengaged the glyph and let Scarlet suddenly fall over from her own efforts. Lumi coldly stared the larger girl down, raising her family blade to be level with Scarlet's head.
"Adam Taurus!"
Ruby's eyes went wide as soon as she heard the names leave little Lumi's lips, how did she know about them? Oh Gods, had she told Jin? She knew this would come out eventually, but darn it why here, why now! It had been a day, a day! Looking over to her colleague, Koji similarly had a look of shock on his face, oh that was right, he didn't know either. The woman bit her lip, no longer as firm in her earlier decision.
"Oh shit!" Jet hissed, his eyes going wide with panic in a way Jin hadn't seen before from his partner, the rest of the students just seemed confused, whispers of confusion spreading around the room. A quick glance at BGEL told a different story though, as while Belka and Goose looked just as lost as the rest of their fellow students, Liz wore a look of horror at the accusation, and Lao's mouth went slack, losing his seemingly invincible composure for the first time since arriving at the school. That alone had Jin feeling uneasy, but when Jet stood up and started to make a break for the teachers he knew something was wrong, getting up and following the other boy with equal haste.
"Wha- the fuck are you talking about? What does some asshole with my last name have to do with this?" the Faunus asked, confusion briefly overtaking her anger.
"So you don't even have the level of integrity to admit it?" Lumi spat as she took a step closer, her blade leveled, its tip pointed at Scarlet's throat. Her eyes watched closely as the larger girl got to her feet, amber eyes alight once more with the flames of anger.
"Admit what?" Scarlet spat, only to be ignored. That was fine, she was already itching to smack down the uppity little shit, as for someone so obsessed with her own family, she sure as shit seemed ready to speak about hers freely when she clearly had no clue what the fuck she was talking about!
"Miss Arc-Schnee, stop your taunting at once!" Ruby shouted out, doing what she could to try and salvage the situation without physically separating the two.
"You knew? You knew and you still let her in? After what he did!? Did you just forget about Aunt Yang's arm!?" The hurt and betrayal on Lumi's face stung worse than wounds she'd taken in the past. She'd messed up, bad, and now she had to fix this. By now, several students had begun recording Lumi's outburst on their scrolls, crap, could this get any worse?
Jet finally made his way to the professor, this was bad, FUBAR even, Lumi didn't know what kind of bear she was poking, and just how badly she was poking it. Scarlet already wasn't going to take this well, but dragging this out in front of everyone was just making things worse for both parties.
"Sir, please, you have to stop the match!" the green haired boy pleaded to the combat instructor, but the man was in shock, he hadn't seen it before, but now it was obvious.
"I… I don't…"
"Professor!"
Back with the girls, the two had re-engaged in combat, Scarlet suddenly finding herself on the backfoot, her partner's sudden aggression taking her by surprise. As the fight increased in intensity, the ring of blades clashing filled the room over and over again as Scarlet met her partner blow for blow in a song of steel.
"Oh please, how stupid do you think I am? Like the spawn of one of Remnant's greatest terrorists wouldn't know about it!" the smaller girl taunted in between strikes, a confident smirk appearing on her face. Scarlet was clearly seeing red, she just needed the foolish girl to slip up once and she'd end this.
"LUMI! ENOUGH!" Ruby had seen enough, and, pulling up her scroll, she began to enter the barrier's annoyingly long override code, readying herself to Petal Burst in between them as soon as the veil of solid light dropped.
"You're a coward Scarlet, just like him, hiding like a rat instead of just facing the tru-"
Lumi had attempted to thrust Crocea Mors into Scarlet once more, only for her strike to suddenly be parried, redirecting her blade upwards with incredible force, and, unable to fully stop herself from the momentum of her lunge, Lumi found herself stumbling forwards and past her target. With her opponent's back exposed, Scarlet wasted no time and, once again using her Semblance to enhance her blades, struck Lumi across the back, Wilt's crimson blade cutting into her back with a flash of white and red.
Wait, into? Scarlet didn't realize what she had done until Lumi dropped her precious sword onto the ground, the flecks of blood that had splattered onto her face and dripped onto the floor almost didn't seem real. The blood from her Semblance dissipated almost immediately, right? N-no, wait, Lumi still had her Aura right? She should have been able to take that hit, r-right? Yet, what Scarlet thought didn't matter as her partner lay motionless, silence overtaking the room as a crimson tide pooled around Lumi's motionless body.