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Today was going good.
Her first few years in Atlas Academy had done well to prepare her for this day, but it was still tense; not just anyone could qualify for entry into the upper echelons of the school. The other kingdoms allowed for less qualified individuals, and as a result had far lower standards for graduation. The Huntsmen of Remnant were sorely lacking.
But not those from Atlas. They only accepted the best of the best here.
She had no issue with the written exam, nor with the interviews. None of the faculty here had any issue with her answers, nor with her… other concerns, and that was all well and good. Even General Black had greeted her personally, though her familial connections were likely the reason for such an honor. She was a Schnee, after all. That was kind of important.
However, this was where it mattered. Combat trials.
Her opponent stood almost as tall as herself, pale blonde hair shimmering in the light of the arena, twin prism daggers gleaming with incandescent light. Those sea-green eyes studied her carefully, ready for anything.
Sapphire Schnee, 17 years old, held her dual sabers in a steady but loose grip. She took a wide stance, putting her weight on the balls of the feet for mobility. She knew full well how agile a dual-wield fighter could be, so reaction timing was paramount to success. General Black himself had assured all of the applicants that victory or defeat did not guarantee a place in Atlas Academy. Only performance.
That didn't matter to Sapphire. She had to win. A loss now would disgrace the family name.
Her opponent (one 'Bianca' by the name plate) darted forward, blades swinging. Sapphire watched both weapons and parried each attack effortlessly, sending her own blades in to test her defenses. They danced for a few seconds, swinging and blocking, until Bianca darted back and smirked.
"Not bad for a Schnee," she said. "Though I must say I expected more."
"Do I disappoint you?" said Sapphire with a smirk of her own.
Bianca raised one dagger, "Only if you hold back."
Another flurry of blows followed, though now Sapphire had a good read on Bianca's movements and countered more easily than before. She got one lucky swing in close to her face, giving the blonde cause to growl and press the attack. One prismatic blade swung far too close, cutting a single strand of deep red hair. Sapphire watched it fall.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Schnee," said Bianca. "Or do you fancy yourself a possible Specialist?"
It was a taunt she'd endured many times before, so Sapphire did not rise to it this day. She knew where it would lead, and would not give her fellow applicant the satisfaction of getting under her skin. Not again.
Still, it was tempting; Sapphire flexed the fingers of one hand, resisting the urge to summon a Glyph. Using a Semblance during the trials was against the rules. Bianca noticed the motion and smirked again, readying herself for the next round-
BUZZ
All smiles fell away as the lights of the stadium came on in full. Both Sapphire and Bianca quickly stowed their respective weapons and stood at attention as the doors opened, neither one fully knowing what to expect. They hadn't finished the match yet, so…
It wasn't the General who sauntered out to meet them today. It was Qrow Branwen.
Sapphire blinked and tried to keep her jaw from falling open.
Everyone in Atlas knew Qrow, and arguably even down in the city of Mantle. He was the leader of the kingdom's Ace Operatives, said to be the best brawler on the continent, and second only to General Black when it came to holding his liquor. Very popular among both the common folk and the upper class of the city. Someone of his rank had no reason to include himself in the combat trail of new recruits to the Academy, so why…?
Qrow's uniform was always kept in a state of disarray, part of his signature look, along with his scruff black hair and blood red eyes. They weren't bloodshot today, which was nice to see. He grinned as he walked out onto the arena floor, turned to Bianca and gestured towards Sapphire, saying, "May I cut in, ladies?"
Sapphire and Bianca shared a look as the blonde backed up, stammering a little as she eventually made her way to the sidelines. The rest of this year's applicants were watching from the stands and murmuring as this new development unfolded.
Before Sapphire could ask what the problem was, Qrow pulled and unfolded his sword from his back and took a stance that could generously be called ready for battle. Sapphire raised one eyebrow, glancing at his weapon. He simply nodded. Sapphire took the hint and drew her blades once more, getting set for another fight. The murmuring from the stands increased tenfold.
Her heart pounded in her chest. Was this really happening?
Qrow struck like a lightning bolt; his blows were alarmingly fast, coming in wide and from all directions. Sapphire had to put all her effort into maintaining her footing just to keep up. High, low, low, side, wide and above, never aiming for the same place twice, Qrow and Sapphire danced fervently as their steel blades sang to the onlookers. The difference in skill between this man and Bianca was like night and day.
After several seconds of intense swordplay, the two combatants parted though only one was short of breath. "Good reactions," said Qrow. "You studied under Slate, didn't you? I'd know that footwork anywhere."
Sapphire tried not to stare in shock. "Y-Yes. She t-tutored me… from a young age…"
"Heh, thought so." Qrow suddenly stood up and put his sword away, dropping all hint of a guard. Sapphire hesitated a moment before doing the same. He motioned towards her dual sabers, "Can I see those a sec?"
Sapphire nodded, flipped the weapons around and held the handles out to her superior in each hand. Qrow took both and examined them closely. "You didn't make these yourself, did you?"
"N-No, sir."
Qrow nodded. He could tell that much on his own. "Not very well balanced. More like something to get you through a few weeks before you get your hands on something better. You got a preference, or do these suit you?"
The man's words were coming faster than Sapphire could keep up with. "I… um… I don't really… know?"
In truth, Sapphire hadn't had much opportunity to train outside of basic fencing with Ms Slate. She knew she wanted to join Atlas and become a Huntress, but nothing had really stuck for a combat style yet. She'd already gone through several variations in the few years at the Academy's primary education levels, but the dual sabers she was using today felt the closest to what she wanted to stick with.
Out of nowhere, Qrow drew his own sword once again and mirrored Sapphire's gesture, holding the handle out to the young applicant. The onlookers were audibly shocked.
"S-Sir?"
"Humor me. I wanna test something."
She awkwardly took hold of the wide handle and nearly dropped it when he let go; it was heavier than she expected, but not entirely unwieldy. Most of the mass was in the hilt, and upon closer inspection Sapphire noticed a complex transformation mechanism built into it. She'd only ever seen the weapon in its expanded form once, and that was on a TV report. It was some kind of two-handed scythe. Eventually she realized everyone was staring at her, Qrow made a gesture with his hand, and Sapphire gave the sword a test swing.
Somehow… this felt right. Far more natural than her sabers. She casually swung the wide blade in a few arcs, in awe of how well-balanced it felt.
"Shall we?" said Qrow.
He started out slow, using her sabers to attack in wide, easy to follow movements. It only took a few moments for Sapphire to get completely used to the feeling of Qrow's heavier sword in her grip, and in no time she had both hands in place, parrying and blocking with no effort.
Soon enough the man sped up his assault, once again moving into his usual attack pattern. The extra weapon on his end threw her off a little as she no longer had the luxury of blocking with a free hand, but he clearly had no intention of overwhelming her just yet. In fact, it looked like he was intentionally leaving himself open…
Sapphire grunted and darted forward before she had time to second guess herself, blade pointed directly forward. Qrow grinned and ducked back, sending her sabers up to intercept the strikes and counter with several of his own. They danced once again, this time at a pace that was close to blinding – how Sapphire managed to keep up with even half of the attacks was a mystery she had no chance of solving anytime soon.
Just as she slowed down from tiredness, Qrow darted in one last time, knocked her sword away with the larger saber and placed the shorter one up to her neck.
Defeated.
Qrow's blood red eyes held no trace of mocking or teasing, both emotions Sapphire had grown accustomed to seeing in her classmates over the years. He withdrew after a moment and held out a hand as the onlookers cheered and applauded. Sapphire accepted the handshake, trying to keep her bottom lip from quivering.
"Not bad, kid." The older man had the most genuine smile she'd ever seen on someone who wasn't Mother. "Not bad at all."
"Th-Thank you, s-sir… but-"
"You'll go far, kid," Qrow handed the sabers back – Sapphire almost dropped them in shock – then he stuck both hands in his pockets and sauntered back out the way he came in. Without taking his sword back. "I'll make sure of it," he said as he left.
Sapphire Schnee was left in utter shock, the larger weapon left behind in the grip of a novice who had no business being anywhere near it. By comparison, her dual sabers were little more than toothpicks. And yet it still felt… right. There was no other word for it.
A new voice spoke up from just behind her, "Well… that went better than expected, eh?"
Sapphire squeaked and almost dropped both sets of blades as she turned and fumbled to try and snap a salute to the General of the Atlas Military. She had to let something fall to do so – the sabers in this case – and winced as they clattered loudly to the floor.
General Mercury Black chuckled as he patted the young applicant on the shoulder, "At ease, Schnee. You have nothing to be afraid of. If Branwen likes you, then I have no problem admitting you to the advanced courses. In fact, I'd say you qualify to enter the Specialist Training. What do you say?"
Sapphire came very close to fainting on the spot.
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A lot happened today, but it could have been much worse, she decided. She could have failed, been sent home a disgrace, even kicked out of the family. Father had made it clear what such an occurrence would entail. Nothing Mother could say would save her from such a fate.
Sapphire unbuttoned her uniform top in a daze, barely even registering the fact that she was already back in her dorm room. Qrow Branwen's sword, the name of which she'd never actually learned, sat upon her bed; apparently he'd signed it over to her without saying anything right after their match, making the weapon legally her property now. There was no way something like this would go over well with her classmates, but there was nothing they could do about it now.
Not that she'd let them. The weapon was damn near the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. The segmented blade reminded her of an old-fashioned safety knife, but that was critical for the transformation sequence. Her top removed, Sapphire absently picked up the weapon again and flicked the trigger, smiling as it expanded into the scythe that would now be attributed to her… for better or worse.
She looked at her reflection in the polished metal of the blade. Silver eyes stared back at her.
As well as a small piece of mahogany wood around her neck.
Sapphire folded the weapon back up and stood it up in the corner, intending to get it to a weapons locker in the morning. She held up her keepsake and stared at it, a pastime she often took part in when nobody was around. The old wood was a deep, rich reddish-brown, sanded and polished to an almost mirror finish some time in the past, though the end opposite from the strap appeared to have been broken off a long time ago. It was the only clue to her past, according to Mother.
Engraved on the wood was the name 'Ruby Rose.'
Was that her real name? Or the name of her biological mother? Where did she even get such an item? If she wasn't a true-born Schnee, why did they adopt her? How could she use Glyphs? Why couldn't she remember anything before her earliest days in the manor?
So many questions, but now was not the time to pursue them. She had taken the first step towards her future, and if the gods were willing… the truth would lie at the end of that road.
All she could do was hope.
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Designation: Remnant-8843 (Random World)
Type 1 Common World
Class 4 Population – 80/20 HF (Human/Faunus) Ratio
Grimm Threat DETECTED
Environment: GREEN
Integrity: GREEN
Culture: GREEN
Dust/Aura: GREEN
Deviation from Standard: 12.8 %
Special Note: Now this is a strange one; most of the time when I find these new worlds, there are only a few people moved around from what I know, but this one goes way further. I don't think anybody is where they belong. And that's weird because we mortals aren't just a bag of chromosomes that grow into an organism, we're also the product of our upbringing and the environment around us. To have literally everybody developing in a new environment like this… I absolutely want to keep an eye on this world. Rain might have some thoughts as well.
Special Note [2]: Not really, no. Though I will say this Ruby is a bit unique even among the dozens we've already registered. Might be worth investigating.
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Author's Note: The world of Rose from chapter 10 was only shuffled teams, but here I took it all the way; I literally shuffled the entire cast for this one. And yes, before you ask, "Sapphire" was created to be a palette-swapped Winter – at least that was how she began her existence, but things got way more complicated as I developed her (and for the few of you who remember her twist from the original Paradigm run… shhhh~).
Also, as with Rose, I'll be putting out a stand-alone fic for Sapphire in the near future. Nothing too long or complex, I just want to give us a better look at this bizarre, randomized world of Remnant.
=^..^=