– Falling –

I was about halfway towards the ground when the gunfire started. Pain shot through my mind, turning the world into a haze of blurry motion as I was knocked out of the sky. Something in the back of my mind, a half forgotten instinct bubbling up to the surface, forced out a sound. Something wholly unnatural, a sound so inhuman that its echo alone would cause Rumpelstiltskin a shiver. Bullets whistled past me as I tried to keep my eyes open, really only able to recognise the dark shape hurtling towards me.

The darkness pulling at the edges of my vision was violently knocked away as I was met with a feeling like gravity had doubled. Drawing from the mad strength of adrenaline I pulled myself upward, and quickly realised what happened, bullets whipping past my head. I stared in disbelief at what had caught me. Its body held the texture of thick fur, pitch black and having a sheen like oil. Feathers extended out into large wings, radial lines and spiral markings glowing brightly in violet across each.

We kept surging upwards, the sound of the wind only just failing to mask the engines of our pursuers. I suddenly found myself upside down, my arms moving on their own to form a shield only just blocking a hail of death. As we made our rapid descent, my arms moved again, positioning the shield in front of us and acting as a battering ram as we slammed into a pursuing ship. The thing was torn in half as we ripped straight through, leaving an explosion echoing behind us. The creature suddenly spread out its wings, beating them repeatedly as it headed straight for the Vital Festival, or more specifically, the arena.

After a few short minutes we almost made it there, however I noticed a number of automaton guards by the entrance. "Hey, do you think you could land on the roof?" I asked the mount, receiving a chirp in response. With a single wingbeat we rose upwards, gently setting down on the roof of the arena.

I slid off onto the steel plating, running towards the edge of the opening. "Ah, that makes sense" I spoke aloud, my hands resting against the forcefield that allowed for such a massive skylight.

The stadium was mostly empty at the moment, the falling sun casting half the arena in shadow. A smile spread across my face as I turned to the creature now sitting beside me, "I wish I had my scroll, the guys would find this hilarious." I thought for a moment "Where do you think they are?" I asked, receiving a curious chirp in response. I sighed, getting up from my sitting position, "Yeah, you're right. Probably getting something to eat." I released a small laugh, "And knowing Leon probably giving some poor cook a heart attack."

I thought for a moment at the absurdity of my situation, then decided I might as well go with it. "So… you plan on helping me?" I asked, more just to confirm than anything else. The creature chirped in response, "Then I guess I should give you a proper name then…"

"Caw?" I proposed, the thing somehow giving me an incredulous look, "Ok… what about…" I watched as it waited for my next suggestion, her feathers ruffling with anticipation. "Amara?" She gave me a happy chirp, bringing a smile to my face as I confirmed, "Amara it is."

I climbed back onto Amara, "We need to be as high as possi-" Not halfway through my intended sentence, we shot straight upwards, eventually reaching just above the cloud layer. I pointed Amara in the vague direction of the academy, before long we were circling above the grounds only just visible through the cloud layer. "Yep, now we just need to land." I said, before finding myself dropping towards Beacon at an alarming pace.

I landed safely, if not a little shaken, just outside the main Beacon building in a small garden area. "Amara, go find somewhere to hide. Make sure no-one sees you ok?" I say, receiving an affirming squawk before she skyrocketed into the air, almost knocking me off my feet.

Getting into the dorm was alarmingly easy, however I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. In any case, I quickly found myself in front of my dorm just in time for the door to swing open. I stared at Griffith for several seconds before either of us made a sound. "Hi…" I said, "I'm back." My teammate didn't get much time to respond before a sudden and alarming amount of coughing was swiftly followed by a pained, "ONYX!?"

After practically dragging me inside and sitting me down on my bed, I was handed a roll of bandages by Leon, "Yewer bleedin' innit mun". After bandaging my more severe injuries, and changing into a pair of spare clothes, the inevitable question was asked, Griffith being the one to do it. "So, what happened? Where've you been?"

AN: One vaguely detailed account of events later

We sat in deafening silence, broken eventually by Griffith, "Ok, well… Onyx, you should get some rest. We can talk about this tomorrow, when we're not all tired." Almost as soon as the sentence finished I collapsed. Unable to withhold the assault from my bed's soft blankets.

The next morning, I woke up the next morning to my team already dressed and ready. "Mornin funnyman, we're about to head to the arena. Thought you'd want to sleep in." I nodded, before I remembered a thought from yesterday, "Does one of you have a spare scroll?" After handing me Jack's spare, they left. Letting me get some more sleep.

If only it were that easy.

The wave of negativity that radiated off the stadium was unlike anything I'd ever felt, and it only got worse as time went on, I could faintly hear a speech from the stadium speakers as I ran down the dormitory hallways. Deciding it wasn't fast enough I launched myself out of a window, on the third floor. I didn't have to worry about a landing strategy however, as I landed firmly on Amara's back.

"Thanks." I blurted out as I urged us forwards, the wind whipping past us faster and faster. We reached the stadium just in time to see a swarm of Griffons landing on the roof, one of them making their way towards a student. Urging forward, we broke into a dive. At the last second before impact, Amara brought her hindlegs up. We hid the opposing grimm with a thud, pinning it to the ground. Amara continued by tearing the thing to shreds as I jumped off her back.

I waved to my team, ignoring the confused and shocked expressions of the others as two professors walked in. They ordered us to leave, insisting even at Ruby's protest. Before following, I called "Amara, help the professors here then come find me!" She gave a loud cry in response.

When I caught up with the others, they all gave me either suspicious or questioning looks. "Don't ask me, I don't understand it either. It just does what I say." I shrugged, trying to put it forward in a way that wouldn't get me shot, even if it's not entirely true. Filtering to the back of the group, I tried to stay with my team.

We reached the bulkheads quickly, however that didn't quite alleviate any anxiety. The General stood, effortlessly dispatching a much stronger Beowulf. He turned towards us as our group approached. Thankfully, being much shorter than the rest of your team has its perks as I hid behind them.

To summarise his speech, the General told us that grimm were everywhere, the White Fang invaded the city, and someone took control of his ship. He gave us two options, fight or run. Looking at my teammates, it was clear the decision we would make.

Jaune led the way towards Beacon, using a bulkhead to get there. Soon after we arrived, the rest of my team burst into action. As they helped deal with most of the grimm nearby and with a distinct lack of a weapon, I found myself picking up a strange sensation. However, I didn't have time to think about it as an ursa decided to charge me.

As it rose on its hind legs to swipe at me, I created a shield between us before violently pushing it forward, knocking the ursa back several feet before its head was kindly removed by Jackl. "Since when could you do that?" He asked, whilst separating a creep into two halves. I simply shrugged in response, "Just kinda did. Didn't really think about it." Was my only answer to the question. The grimm kept coming. A strange sensation pricking at the edges of my senses was quickly pushed aside by the appearance of a larger grimm. It looked like it should have been a boatusk, except its tusks were shorter reaching barely out of its mouth, its armour extended out into large spikes. With a powerful stomp, it started spinning. "Jackl! A little help!?" I called, my voice more frantic than intended. Instead of my friend himself, I received the bottom end of Abyssal Black.

A sword roughly my arms length landed in my hand. From the base of its black blade extended a simple red wrapped handle, a small notch serving as its only form of a guard. Tightening my grip, I had just enough time to block the grimm's charge. My barrier barely stopped it before shattering, I swung at the only unarmoured place I could see, It's face. It reared back in pain, allowing entry to its unprotected belly. The sensation from before came back with fervour as the creature began to disintegrate, it was coming from the academy or rather Beacon's tower. The closer I got to the tower the more familiar it felt. Before I realised it I was standing on the steps leading up to the tower's doors, the feeling was almost identical to mana, except different. More refined. More focused. Words echoed in my mind from my first encounter with my mana, the book. My eyes drifted closed, everything other than myself and the strange mana fading into nothing. Then, I pulled.

AN: Thanks very much to my proofreader,

Samuel B. Jackson

(that is actually his name, sadly his parents did not take the L)