Ch 1: Haven Academy

She had everything packed and ready to go. She had her weapon in it's travel case, clothing packed, all the information she needed to know about the academy studied on her scroll, and any other necessities packed away. If she needed anything else, she could more than likely find places in Mistral to buy them. Her parents were even getting along so they could bring her together. Though, she was a bit skeptical about how long that last point would stand true.

Either way she was happy to take what she could get about that. They often sqabled but if she really needed them to, they would do their best to be civil for her and that meant a lot to her. They were able to stay courteous to each other through her whole Signal graduation after all so this wasn't an impossible task for them. She pulled her duffle to her. It was a white bag with black straps and a red and blue emblem on it that looked like a dove made out of polygonal shapes that had a familiar snowflake shape cut out of the polygon for an eye in red. She pulled Reaper's case onto her back and glanced over her room to be sure before closing the door behind her.

Her room was always so plain and empty, having spent so little time in it for so many years but that never really bothered her. She wasn't much for collecting things or clutter and anything she ever wanted to read she could find on her scroll so having books just seemed a trivial waste of space to her even if her Aunt Weiss didn't agree. She had few hobbies that involved the ownership of many material items and the only thing that really ever seemed out of place was the stuffed, aged crow that lived on her bed when she was home. Though he was currently in her duffle, considered a necessity anywhere she went for long stretches of time.

Dove made her way down to the front of the home where her parents were waiting by the front door for her. Her father had been leaning back against a wall in a manner that clearly he thought looked cool which made his daughter roll her eyes with a small smile. In truth he was getting too old to still be acting like he was some hot young man but that was just how he was and she had grown to accept it in the few years she'd known him personally. She had to give it to her mother though. The more she got to know him, the more respect she had for Winter for never speaking ill of him when she would be sure to tell Dove about him growing up.

That could not have been easy for her mother but she was so glad her mother had done so. Dove could easily see how Qrow got to people but he really was a great dad to her and she really loved him. She was also just living proof some personality traits are just purely inherited whether you like it or not as she had a lot of his attributes as well as her mothers, even though she didn't really spend any time with him until she was fifteen.

Her mother was waiting closer to the door, trying to ignore her father and doing a mostly decent job hiding it. Dove gave her credit for the effort. It had to be really hard to have to swallow down some of the choices she had made with Dove over the years that might have backfired but no parent is perfect and winter did her best. It must have been even harder to look at Dove's father in her daughter's eye everyday knowing how her mother actually felt about dove's conception originally but her mother had never held any of it against her.

She loved her mother, truly she did. She had gotten over the childish anger at her mother for the choice to keep her from her father. Winter was just doing what she thought was best with what information she had. And really, her mother was a great mom to her. She told her mom almost everything and felt like her mother was the closest person anymore to knowing her true self besides… well. She didn't want to think about that.

New school, new year, new Dove. That's what she wanted to think about. She wanted to leave all that painful mess in the past and never think about any of it again. Qrow smirked at her, "Ready to spread those wings and soar kid?"

Dove pulled from her distracted mind and gave him a soft smile, staring at him with her only visible red eye that she had inherited from him, "Absolutely."

Winter turned the knob of the front door, "Do you have everything you need?"

Dove glanced around at her things, her icy blue orb from her mother hidden in her white half of her hair, "Yes I believe so. I have my card as well should I need something from town."

Winter gave a nod. She had been placing money away for Dove since the girl was born for this sort of thing and had Dove not chosen to be a Huntress, she would've given it to her when she became an adult and moved from home. But since she had, she was given access to it for anything she might need while on her journey away from home into her adulthood. Dove was incredibly responsible with her money so Winter wasn't concerned about her having access to such large sums at once.

They headed out to the car and made their way to the station. The trip was a bit long but not terrible. The airship ride was fast enough and they would make it there by morning. She would be in a private cabin with Winter while her father had his own accommodations. After the dinner was served, Dove, surprised that her parents were still managing to get through peacefully without a single spat, went for a walk along the ship for a bit. There were many other travelers on the same route as herself though not as many for the academy.

Most students generally chose the schools within their own continents. It wasn't required by any means but it did happen a lot. Dove assumed it probably was due to proximity and familiarity as well as just being difficult for most people to want to move so far from home at seventeen for school. Even she had to admit she was going to miss how easily she could see her family if she wanted to but the benefits of this move far outweighed the losses. Dove stopped by a window to watch the sun setting and sighed, resting her hand on the glass for a moment.

She was getting what she wanted. As far as she knew, none of those airheads and bimbos were following her to Haven. No one there would know anything about her. No one there would know… no. She wasn't going to bring that person up. She would scold herself as many times as it took to forget about her. "New school, new year, new me," she whispered to herself, the phrase becoming somewhat of a mantra to get through these moments.

Time has really helped of course. But sometimes things still gave her a dull ache deep inside. Like now, watching the orange vibrant colors of the fading sun that reminded her of those eyes that would pierce into her when they would… nope. Not again. She shook her head lightly and frowned, walking away, talking to herself as she folded her arms tightly around her center, "God I can't even enjoy a damn sunset anymore. This is so stupid."

"What is kid?" her father's voice cut in from a nearby doorway.

He was staying in a sort of public cabin with four beds. The kind where you had roommates but you didn't really get to pick them. That was probably fine for him, she figured. He was pretty used to all sorts of accommodations. She sighed and shrugged, "Nothing Dad. Don't worry about it okay? I'm fine."

He chuckled and she glared at him, his hands raising, "Hey now, put that Schnee look away. It's just us here remember? Anyway, it doesn't take a genius to notice you aren't fine. Me and your mother have been noticing but we really didn't want to bring the mood down by asking. But you are out here wandering around talking to yourself so I figure it's as good an invitation as any."

Dove's glare intensified at the knowledge that both her parents had been reading her so easily. Even more annoyed that they were probably getting along so well right now because they were tiptoeing around her mood. He raised a brow at her and she forced her face to relax, "Sorry. Reflex."

He just chuckled and closed his door, stepping out with her and tucking his hands in his pockets, nodding towards the hall, "mind if I join you on your walk?"

Dove shrugged and gestured onward for them both. They spent a while in silence before she finally glanced out the window again, "Did you ever have feelings for Mom?"

Qrow had stopped walking and Dove turned around to look back at his bewildered face, hand rubbing the back of his neck, "That really what got you so distracted kid?"

She crossed her arms, "Just answer the question Dad."

He sighed, "Maybe once. I thought maybe we had some sort of flirty thing going when I approached her that one night. Well you know the rest but yea I guess I once thought I don't know maybe she could've been someone that might have been worth trying for. But I never really got the chance to see where that would lead so I can't say I ever developed anything ya know?"

She nodded looking back out the window. He watched her carefully, "What's this about kid? You can tell me you know."

She closed her eyes, ' New school, new year, new Dove.'

"I'm fine. Just a bit nervous I think at starting over with all new people I think," she faked a smile, but even that well trained smile didn't work on him.

All the same, he knew when someone didn't want to discuss certain things and wasn't going to push her. He softened his expression and gave his own gentle smile, wishing her goodnight before heading back to bed. She hated lying to them but she still refused to tell anyone those promised secrets and besides she wanted to bury all that where it all belonged in her past. Plus her father was a well known lady killer, what would he know about these feelings?

She stopped herself and forced herself to think of anything else as she headed back to her room with Winter. Her mother was asleep already. The poor woman was exhausted after all. She had a ton of meetings that morning to get everything at her own academy ready so that she could make this trip, getting Weiss set up with everything until she could return. In fact Dove was arriving on special permissions a few days early so that winter could make it back in just in time to get to her academy's orientation.

Dove was really hoping for an academy experience where her lineage or her mother's profession didn't play any factors but she'd let this one slide if it meant her mom got to come with her for this. She leaned up to her mother's upper bunk and smiled gently kissing Winter's cheek and whispering, "Night Mom. I love you."

She climbed into her own bed, staring at her scroll for a bit. The only evidence that person from her past ever even existed was the one photo she didn't know Dove took of them, the faunus in the background on her bed in their dorm room, hunched over a bowl of noodles while trying to focus on school work, looking frustrated while you could see Dove in the bottom corner of the photo like a selfie, grinning with a wink and a stuck out tongue pointing at the girl in the background with one finger, a black heart sticker added to the photo in an edit that covered the faunus's face.

She curled into a tight ball under her blanket staring at it. The faunus had made her delete all the other photos because of promises of secrets. To be far, it was the only way they had been able to be happy at the time so Dove hadn't argued but she had loved this picture once. Now it was just painful. She hovered her thumb over the delete button and clicked it but when it asked if she was sure, she hesitated, nibbling on her lip. She clicked no then moved the photo to a hidden folder where she wouldn't so easily have access to it, "One day I'll delete it but I can't yet."

—-

The ship landed and they got off. Morning went by well enough, having woken to the station docking motions of the airship so it wasn't like much had really happened yet. Dove had woken up a bit exhausted, having had a rough time sleeping but she hid it well and the trip to the school was fine enough.

Though a bit unusual, the school went ahead and assigned her a room, planning to just move whatever team she ended up with into her dorm later. Haven had a unique dorm setup. The rooms were suite style. Partners would share a room and both rooms shared a bathroom. She entered the assigned door to three other doors within a small corridor. One in front of her was a bathroom, the doors to her left and right were bedrooms, and on the wall that held the entry door were small racks for shoes and hooks for things like coats.

Making it easy on herself, she just picked one of the rooms at random and went inside, getting her bag down so she could go bring her weapon to the assigned storage. Her parents went with her before wishing her luck and saying their farewells to head off for the next flight back. It would've been nice to have had time to explore the campus with them but she knew they were busy people, her mother especially.

Walking around campus, Dove noticed their orientation would be tomorrow afternoon so at least she wasn't too early. That was good. Dove wasn't sure what she was going to fill her time with if she was super early. After making herself familiar with the campus, she went back to her dorm, unpacked and sat in her bed, looking over the teachers and courses. It made her mind wonder if they taught anything about the tribes if you were a Shade student. Could she have learned more about… nope. She tossed the pamphlet and frowned, "We aren't doing that Dove. Stop it. It's been a year already, let it go. She clearly has. Get over it already."

She scolded herself a bit more before she leaned back in her bed, pulling her scroll out to try to see if she could find any information on how Haven decided its teams and partner systems. All the academies were pretty secretive on their processes but she wanted to try to get ahead if she could. She really needed her roommate situation to go better this time around. Maybe if she was super lucky some gay guy would be her roommate this time and everything would be totally fine with no worries of anything repeating itself. God she needed something to go right this time around so badly.

Before she knew it, it was dark out. She had long since given up on her search for answers and had been reading more of her dad's missions and simply lost track of time. Rubbing her tired eyes, she got things together and got a shower in before going to bed, staring at her scroll screen. She caught herself researching desert tribes with no real results on much before she frowned and closed everything, tossing her scroll to her nightstand, "God Dove… what is wrong with you?"

—-

She ended up sleeping into the afternoon after tossing and turning all night, dreams plagued with thoughts she was glad she forgot when she woke up. For the most part, today was a good day. Though she was starting it rather late, she wasn't distracted by anything and students were already arriving all over campus. She made her way to the grounds. The headmaster had asked her to stay with the other students for the full experience that night so she packed a tiny bag of the things she'd need and showered ahead of time.

While walking around with the other students towards the main hall for orientation, something caught her eye, or rather someone. Zooming through the swarm of students, shouting at people to move, a girl came racing in on a skateboard with a wicked grin. Dove turned just in time to see the pink eyes staring at her and hear the girl shouting at her before she was crashed into, thrown to the ground hard with this girl thrown over her.

Her eyes squeezed tight as pain shot through her rear end that had caught her fall, frown tight on her face. The girl who had knocked her over was leaned over here with the board toppled over to the side, wheels spinning, "Heh sorry! Gee you should really pay more attention!"

Dove's eyes shot open angrily and she stared at the girl, gritting her teeth, "Excuse me!? You ran into me!"

The girl chuckled and sat up, practically sitting in Dove's lap without even caring. People were either staring or ignoring them and walking around. Dove growled a bit, taking in this girl's appearance. Pink hair pulled back in a messy ponytail with bright pink eyes and skin that saw sun often, jean shorts and a black hoodie with the sleeves rolled up. The girl had a very cocky way of carrying herself and seemed very unaffected by the fall, "Yea well I tried to warn ya! It's not my fault you didn't move your ass out of my way!"

Dove was livid. She took in the people staring at them and her cheeks burned. This was not how she wanted her first day to go at all especially as she noticed how this girl was practically straddling her. She reached out, shoving the girl off, "Get off me you idiot! What the hell is wrong with you anyway!? Who just comes through a crowd on a skateboard and thinks it's everyone else's job to move for you!?"

The girl couldn't stop laughing at how upset Dove was as she stood and dusted herself off, offering a hand to Dove but it was slapped away, "Heh. Suit yourself. I just do what I want to and fuck anyone who tries to stop me. You gonna try to stop me Princess? Hmm… no wait, that's not right is it?"

Dove was letting out a frustrated grunt as she stood, people finally moving along as the girl circled her a bit with a hand on her own chin in thought, "Nah princess doesn't suit ya. But you are quite the Babe aren't ya?"

Dove growled at her which made her laugh, "Yea… that's more fitting. You're feisty aren't ya? I like that. I'm Loki, Loki Valkyrie. And you are Babe?"

Dove stared at the offered hand in greeting and rolled her eyes, picking up her bag and shoving her shoulder into Loki's as she walked away, annoyed and over the situation, "I'm not interested. And keep your pet names to yourself."

Loki just grinned, watching her leave, "Oh yea… feisty alright."

When they all got to orientation, Dove did her best not to stand out more than her two toned features already did and buried herself in the crowd to keep Loki from being able to find space to be around her. How dare that girl make her look foolish in front of their classmates. As the headmaster gave his speech, Dove did her best to focus but all she could do was fume over the annoying girl. That obnoxious self confident grin reminded her so much of someone she wanted to forget too.

She tuned back in enough at the end to hear the headmaster talk about how the partners had already been determined based on an analysis of the students' observational records from their previous schools and their semblances, setting up their partnerships with the best complimenting duos on both accounts. He stepped aside as Dove grew a bit nervous as she looked to the roosters on the screen to find her name, ' That might be bad… I was totally fake in school… oh well as long as it isn't that Loki girl I can make this…oh… god no… no no no no no!'

Dove groaned. She never hated the fact she pretended to be so good with people at Signal or the fact her semblance was super compatible with everything so much in her entire life. There on the screen, listed next to her name, was none other than Loki Valkyrie.