Telsius loved animals very much.
From a very young age, the little redhead had formed a strange connection with animals in nature, it was common for him to walk through the park and also be seen talking to butterflies, dogs or birds, some people called him crazy and some others childish, but he never cared much about those opinions.
Normally he was quite a lot compared to Pyrrha, even at just 9 years old, Pyrrha Nikos had shown to have a lot of talent for combat, agility accompanied by a generational intelligence had been the interest of all Mistral during Pyrrha's time in Sanctum, so it was not so surprising that Pythias decided to educate her son in that way.
Although it clearly hadn't turned out the way she thought.
"Can you believe it, Max? I have to go to another training session with another Huntsman specialized in agility… I could barely rest" The boy groaned in pain, looking expectantly at the animal at his side.
A wolf, one that was easily as tall as him.
"I assume Pythias wishes to improve your physical condition so that your semblance is not a real problem" the wolf replied, lying down on the ground and closing his eyes "Talking to animals is not very useful, Telsius"
Telsius Nikos had a certainly strange ability, being able to talk to animals sounded like an incredible semblance for a child, and perhaps somewhat curious for a Huntsman, so the boy's training usually focused merely on the use of the spear and his physical qualities, after all, he was not always going to have his faithful companion at his side.
"Still, I wish I could spend more time at school and not in a filthy, dirty cabin… at least the rats have interesting stories" Telsius laughed lightly, causing a slight smile to appear in the wolf's jaws, who stood up upon hearing footsteps on the first floor.
"That must be your father" Max said, stretching for a moment before shaking his head vigorously "I'll go with you, let's go"
Telsius smiled excitedly, starting to run towards the stairs in a carefree manner, seeing his father always put him in a good mood and removed any kind of doubt from his mind.
Gallus Coeranus was a tall and strong man, he usually wore somewhat heavy armor that fit his body well, made of a unique alloy from the tundras of current Atlas, his blond hair was quite different from his son's tomato red hair, his green eyes had a darker tone than Telsius's, so claiming that they were related could be somewhat confusing.
Gallus was not exactly famous, but Telsius still admired him a lot, the man had an incredible ability to find the good side of deplorable situations, for Gallus, being a Huntsman was more than just having money, it was about wanting to protect others with your own life, which Telsius deeply admired.
Most people thought that Telsius wanted to be a Huntsman so he could continue the legacy of Pyrrha Nikos, who perished defending Beacon, but the reality was that he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, and one day be as good as him.
"Look who we have here… Telsius" Gallus smiled with fatherly love, picking up his son with extreme ease and spinning him in the air a few times, eliciting adorable giggles from the little boy "Max, have you been looking after this kid?"
"Of course" Max bowed his head in respect, making the man laugh "I wanted to see if it was possible for me to accompany you to the outskirts of Argus"
"I have to talk to Telsius about something, stay here or go out if you want" Gallus opened the door of the house calmly, Max let out a disappointed snort but simply obeyed, leaving there and trotting to the backyard.
Father and son were left alone, now beginning their own journey out of Argus, the coastal city had not changed much over the years, the proximity of Atlas continued to be obvious due to the presence of the Atlesian militia, in addition to multiple coastal camps with the purpose of protecting the city from any type of attack, having a mecha hidden in a mountain was no longer an economically viable option.
The city had also expanded a bit into the woods, now having multiple houses located close enough to the military base to not have any kind of problem, Sanctum Academy continued to be as imposing as ever, Argus had only grown over time, which spoke volumes of the reconstruction done during the war against Salem.
"Are we there yet?" Telsius asked, lifting his legs exaggeratedly with each step, holding his father's hand firmly "This forest scares me a little"
"Don't worry, I'll protect you" Gallus tightened his grip on his son, continuing along the cobbled path until they reached a somewhat gloomy-looking cabin, the incredibly dark wood contrasted with the snow surrounding the trees and part of the ground, Telsius gulped loudly at the cabin's somewhat terrifying appearance.
"The cabin doesn't actually belong to anyone, it's just an abandoned place used by travelers, in this case, a Huntsman from Vale is here" Gallus knelt down beside his son, patting him on the shoulder in a friendly manner "The Huntsman inside is someone who knew Pyrrha, so he can teach you more about her and how to get around, yes?"
"I wanted to learn from you…but I guess it does the trick" Telsius shrugged, watching intently as his father stood up "Where are you going?"
"There is a mission in some mountains far from here, Schnee Corp is a somewhat strange company and needs help from Huntsmen like me to make sure their research centers are in perfect condition, I will return in a few days" Gallus was attacked by his son, who hugged his father's legs tightly, the man simply smiled and stroked the boy's head, both remaining silent for a few minutes.
Telsius finally broke away from his father and simply walked away from him, approaching the cabin and slowly climbing the stairs, listening to the wood groan under the weight of the child, with a sigh of fear, he tried to lean on the door so he could knock, to his surprise, the door simply opened, revealing its dark and almost empty interior.
Telsius turned around, noticing that his father had moved away a bit, but was still watching him from afar, Telsius searched for some kind of light source in the cabin, finding a switch next to the door, with a somewhat strong jump, he managed to press the switch and a somewhat old light bulb finally illuminated the interior of the cabin, giving the boy a good view of what was inside.
A sleeping bag on the ground, a can of beans and several bottles of water, as well as a man with long dark hair and pink eyes, his clothes seemed to be originally from Mistral due to how elegant and ornamental they were, causing Telsius to look at him for a few seconds confused, as he was meditating.
The boy turned around once more, finding that his father was no longer there, as he looked back at the unknown man, he noticed that he was now staring at him, with a somewhat small smile on his face.
"Telsius, it's a pleasure to finally meet you" the man said in a soft tone, slightly surprising the boy, he was expecting him to be a little ruder "My name is Lie Ren, a professor at Beacon and also Pyrrha's teammate in the past, do you want to chat for a while?"
...
Telsius raised Arondite in front of him, the spear taking a direct hit from a transparent blue-colored sword, Harbinger, while Waylon thrust his own weapon forward, destabilizing the red-haired boy.
Multiple students activated their Neo-Scrolls and began recording the fight, both Waylon and Telsius were having a relatively arduous fight, receiving blows from time to time, although it was much more noticeable on the side of the Arondite bearer, who usually ended up on the ground multiple times unlike Waylon, who remained standing longer.
Telsius gasped as he felt his arms being forcefully pulled towards the ground, he quickly searched for the source of the sudden attraction, coming across two glyphs infused with gravity Dust.
Waylon threw Harbinger to the ground, grabbing Ex Requiem from his back and activating the weapon's engine-like mechanism, the sword emitted a blinding glow as Waylon pulled the trigger repeatedly, Telsius sent all his strength possible to his arms, trying to break free from the painful grip that kept him on the ground.
Waylon raised the sword and pulled the trigger one last time, firing a wave of pure energy into Telsius' body, the impact caused a blinding flash throughout the classroom, preventing anyone from seeing the outcome of the fight, after a few seconds, the eyes of those present adjusted once again to the lighting, seeing in real time how Telsius' aura cracked into pieces.
"Telsius Nikos is out of combat, Waylon Branwen of team WBRN has won the match" Nora's voice gave way to applause from the spectators, the red-eyed invoked a glyph and introduced his hand into the circle, materializing a spear perfectly identical to Arondite, inspecting the exact replica a little, the boy simply made it disappear, approaching Telsius and holding out his hand.
" At least it was fun, though you're still far from my level" Waylon's arrogant words were muffled by his friendly tone, lifting Telsius off the ground "I'll use your spear good, don't worry"
"The rumors are true… you are very strong, as strong as Pyrrha was" Telsius commented, laughing lightly as he grabbed his ribs "I'm sorry if I disappointed you, a lot of people think I'm some kind of prodigy because of my last name, I'm pretty normal"
"You being here shows that you try to be better" Waylon commented, looking away for a second towards the stands, noticing the students leaning towards each other and whispering in each other's ears, the red-eyed felt a sensation of pressure in his chest, so he finally let go of Telsius's hand.
"It seems they started talking," the redhead mentioned, returning his spear to its most compact and easy-to-carry form, the boy's Neo-Scroll emitted a sound indicating a message notification, upon checking it, he smiled excitedly and moved the device away from his face "I have to go, See you later!"
Telsius tried to run towards the stairs to leave the room, unfortunately for him, Nora stood in front of him and stopped him with her hand.
"Calm down buddy, don't you want to talk for a while before you disappear?" Nora asked with a friendly smile "We haven't been able to talk since you entered Beacon, are you handling it okay?"
Telsius remained silent for a second, his stay in Beacon had not been so different from Sanctum, the murmurs among the students were rumors that he had heard many times in the past, all relating him directly to Pyrrha.
Apparently, after WBRN, all eyes were on him and his performance, it must have been quite a surprise to discover that he was actually someone quite normal, he doesn't exactly stand out in any area like the rest, that doesn't mean he's useless, not at all, he's still quite capable when it comes to fighting an average student, but with others at Waylon's level, he doesn't have much to do.
In Sanctum it was similar, many expectations at the beginning, which seemed to fall apart as the days went by.
"It was nice" Telsius replied with a crooked smile, noticing the frown that formed on his aunt's face "Eh… you don't believe me, do you?"
"These past few years, Beacon has become the most bizarre hotbed of rumors I've ever seen… only Shade was similar" Nora said, remembering how hostile Vacuo Academy was "It seems to be the consequences of you being the generation that must protect the world after… well, the generation that defeated Salem and saved the world"
"I'm used to it now" Telsius shrugged, dismissing it, though Nora still had a suspicious expression on her face "Sanctum has already taught me how to deal with expectations"
"Expectations can give you a goal, but they can also isolate you…would you believe me if I told you that no one wanted to ask Pyrrha to the dance?" Nora remembered with nostalgia the dance that had been held at Beacon many years ago, and how Jaune was dressed in a ridiculous manner "…If you need to talk, I'm here for you, I'm your aunt, remember?"
"Of course" Telsius rushed to hug the woman, who responded to the gesture with devastating force, once the boy was released, she rushed to the entrance of the classroom, retreating quickly.
Almethia Harrow watched the redhead retreat with a neutral expression, her emerald green eyes sharpened for a moment, returning her attention to the rest of her team, a doubt having settled in her mind.
"It's a Nikos" Almethia murmured, beginning to chew a piece of gum she had been holding in her mouth for a while "Hawk, do you know anything about him?"
Hawk raised his head, giving his teammate a single glance "He's Pyrrha Nikos' nephew, he studied in Sanctum when he was in Mistral, but I don't know much, I'm not interested"
"I should, man, look at this!" Rybol Cauldfield let out a stifled laugh, extending his Neo-Scroll in Almethia's direction, the screen showing a video taking place on a television set, a boy who couldn't be more than 10 years old was dressed in a huge tomato costume, the redhead couldn't keep his weight and crashed headfirst into the ground, causing the presenter to try to help him and the audience to burst out laughing.
"Is that Telsius?" Monica asked, peering over Rybol's shoulder, who seemed to be in a fit of giggles "…Why is he dressed like a tomato?"
"It seems like she was trying to promote a brand of tomatoes, Tomato Jack" Hawk muttered, reading through the comments on the video, quite a few of which were offensive and a few more sympathetic "Pumpkin Pete's gave Pyrrha Nikos a chance in the past, Telsius wasn't as lucky"
"It's still so damn funny, just look at it! It's ridiculous" Rybol dropped his hand, the watch-like device turning off from the movement "To think that the supposed promise of this generation is so weak…"
"It makes him a total failure" Almethia said in a cold tone, forming a sphere with her gum and popping it easily "Hawk, can I have some fun with him? I won't get into as much trouble as Team STRM and TINY"
"Do as you please, the strong will always defeat the weak" Hawk said calmly, receiving a nod of understanding from Almethia, some slow footsteps were heard in the direction of the HARM team, so they turned to identify the intruder.
"Hey" Bryan Xiao Long raised his hand and waved in greeting, the gesture only being returned by Monica, causing the boy to laugh nervously "Monica, I was thinking that maybe we could do Professor Neil's homework together, Neithan and Roy will do it together, and Waylon is…reluctant to cooperate if it's not necessary, then if your team is okay with it…"
"Fine by me" Rybol shrugged.
"Maybe you can learn some new moves" Almethia had a somewhat strange tone, causing a slight blush to appear on Monica's cheeks.
"Come back before dark" Hawk didn't continue the conversation, he simply took his things and left the classroom with his team, leaving Monica and Bryan completely alone.
The blonde looked around, feeling strangely comfortable with how quiet the environment was, without waiting much longer, he firmly took Monica's right hand, securing his grip to perfection.
"You really enjoy touch" Monica commented, feeling the warmth that the cat faunus' hand transmitted.
"They usually say that, come on!" Bryan dragged the girl to the cafeteria, Monica felt a small need to complain, although this was severely overshadowed by a strange desire to have a little fun.
...
Telsius entered the security code for his room, pushing the door open once access was granted, the sight of his teammates in their respective beds made him feel a little calmer, getting into trouble now was not a good idea.
"I can't believe Professor Xiao Long grounded the entire team for 2 whole weeks…we barely have today to rest" Riana complained, tossing and turning in her bed as she squirmed.
"Waylon won't escape anywhere, you can still see him, stop exaggerating" Myrian rubbed her forehead, showing that she was also somewhat tired.
"At least this way we soften your punishment, Myrian" Samuel stated, receiving a somewhat sad look from his teammate.
The entire STRM team had been unlucky enough to receive the punishment so that Myrian would not have to do it alone, the TINY team had suffered the same fate, both teams decided to keep their interactions minimal, although Myrian and Ivonne spoke from time to time in a friendly manner.
Telsius felt deeply happy for his friend, although she had scolded him at first for asking for help for her, Myrian completely understood the red-haired boy's concerns, so she simply thanked him, further strengthening the bond they were forming.
"So…" Riana turned around, lying face down on her bed "What's with the huge dog kennel?"
The girl pointed to a kennel, which was almost half the height of Telsius, the bars that blocked the interior were the only thing visible, as darkness predominated inside the cage.
"I asked Headmaster Oscar to give me permission to bring my… friend, something like a fifth member for the team" Telsius explained, approaching the kennel and beginning to open each of the locks, which were quite a few.
"You put your friend in a kennel?" Riana asked confused.
"He means his pet" Myrian got up from the bed, standing next to the red-haired boy and looking curiously at the cage.
"He's not a pet, he's my friend" Telsius corrected.
"Let me help you with that" Samuel knelt in front of the cage and began to open the missing bolts on the right side, both he and Telsius managed to separate the barred door from the rest of the kennel, causing it to fall flat on the ground, the interior was still very dark, which was strange to Samuel, he was a faunus, he was supposed to see what was inside.
"My eyes aren't working" Samuel stated, his eyelids fluttering open as a rather large figure began to emerge from the kennel, forcing him to stand up and move away a bit, placing his arm in front of Myrian to protect her out of instinct.
"OOOOH, IT'S A WOLF!" Riana screamed, jumping nimbly and landing on top of the animal, hugging it tightly "Look! It's friendly!"
"Telsius! Why the hell is there a wolf in our room?!" Samuel asked, somewhat scared of how imposing the animal looked "Riana! Stop touching it so much!"
"I should have warned you guys, I'm sorry, this is Max, he's my friend" Telsius made a gesture with his arms open, pointing at the wolf "Could you do me a favor and introduce yourself?"
"Greetings, I'm Max, the wolf of Telsius" The wolf's words caused total confusion in Samuel and Myrian, who moved away a little further, while Riana opened her eyes exaggeratedly and hugged the animal even tighter.
"HE CAN TALK!" She screamed, burying her face in the animal's fur.
"Thanks to my Semblance, I can talk to animals, as well as form a mental link so that certain people can hear what they say" Telsius explained, watching with some amusement as Max walked away from Riana "It's great, don't you think?"
"The first reaction is usually confusion, by the way, your eyes do work, lion, I can turn invisible temporarily, that's all" Max lay down on the ground, closing his eyes.
Samuel sighed, somewhat confused but calmer, he finally released Myrian, who still seemed reluctant to interact with the talking wolf, even so, she simply lay back down on her bed, looking suspiciously at the wolf.
"Well then, let's have a chat for a while" Telsius sat down next to his wolf, inviting his teammates to join him, after all, they would need a longer conversation to stop them from fearing him.
...
Doing nothing was certainly strange, but not exactly boring.
Ruby already become almost completely accustomed to always being on the move, the fights that had been her daily breakfast had become somewhat distant lately, with Oscar more worried than ever, and with the fact that she had been losing part of her sight.
It was the perfect opportunity to live a more normal life away from Huntress' activities, luckily for her, today was certainly a special day for her and her sister, so it was the perfect opportunity to spend some quality time as sisters.
Today, many years ago, Summer Rose passed away.
The details of her death were certainly bitter for both women, Summer died trying to kill Salem using her silver eyes, she lacked enough information to know that it was a suicide attempt, as a result, she died.
Discovering the truth of her death in depth had been something strange, blaming Ozpin for not telling the truth sounded like the easiest and most acceptable option, however, both Yang and Ruby were aware that it had been Summer's decision, blaming someone else was taking the weight of responsibility off the already deceased woman.
With her attempted sparring match with Raven, Ruby was easily reminded of how special this day was to her.
"Hey, Mom, I wonder how you would feel if you knew that Ruby had to wear glasses?" Yang laughed, sitting down next to the grave "It would certainly be a funny sight…"
"I have the number of a very good eye doctor in town" Aphra stated, opening her purse to take out a small card with a number on it, unfortunately for her, the wind from the cliff blew the small card away "…I had"
"Don't worry, as long as I don't use them" Ruby took Aphra's shoulder, calming her slightly.
"It's even silly to use your eyes if there are no Grimm around, I mean, who does that?" Yang openly mocked her sister, though her voice was filled with something remotely resembling a scolding "Keep yourself busy for a while, okay? Maybe you should see Waylon after what happened in the city"
Ruby bit her lip for a second, her mind returning to that same rainy night, the woman punished herself for having abandoned the boy so quickly due to the impulses of her own body, so many years of experience and having saved the world had not finished exterminating her most naive side, Waylon suffered the consequences of it.
Ruby had read the newspaper a couple of times lately, the news about the teenager was the most reported and people seemed to believe they had the right to criticize him, to make it even more terrible, Winter Schnee had remained strangely silent about the attacks on her son, if Ruby had to guess, it was another twisted form of lesson for the young Branwen.
"I think I've lost my touch with children" Ruby admitted, standing up and getting on her knees, running her hand over the perfectly manicured, smooth material "Neithan has changed a lot over the years…have you felt your children becoming different people without knowing it?"
"Zack is an adorable little boy, he's 9 years old, so I don't really know how that feels yet" Aphra explained, feeling a little bad for not being able to help her best friend by giving her a valid opinion.
"Bryan is a curious boy, even if he is a Faunus, he is quite calm when one of his own is attacked… I guess you should already guess how Blake feels about it" Yang stated, her voice taking a slightly more serious tone "One time Bryan was beaten by a kid in Signal, Blake was called in because I was working at Beacon, she warned him not to get close to that boy again, his face was priceless when he invited that kid over to play video games"
"Neithan seems to have acquired a somewhat...strange character, he said that Waylon still considered him a useless and weak child...and he called him an idiot, I don't know why, but I think he sees himself that way" Ruby murmured, placing her closed hands on her mouth "I'm worried about him...what if he needs my help and doesn't want to admit it?"
Yang bit her lip, Neithan had a fight with Rybol some time ago, and from what she heard from several students, it seemed that the boy did not feel capable of continuing his mother's legacy.
"What would Mom have done in my position?" Ruby asked, snapping Yang out of her train of thought "Would she…have found a way to support Neithan? To see through that invisible shield?"
"Maybe you should think about what you can do in your position" Yang stood up from the ground, approaching her sister and giving her a friendly pat on the shoulder "Go talk to Neithan one of these days…although I recommend that you get some rest first"
"I recommend that we return to your house, Yang" Aphra looked at the sun setting on the horizon, rubbing her hands together vigorously as another gust of wind mercilessly lashed her back "…It's cold"
"Okay, let's walk so you two can stretch your legs" Ruby laughed as she heard the pained moans of both women "I can't use my semblance…it would slow down my recovery process"
"But you brought us here with that thing" Yang complained, starting to walk away from her mother's grave, feeling a deep desire in her chest to throw herself to the ground and just let the earth absorb her.
...
"It's been a while since I saw you, Max, you're huge" Telsius commented with a smile, running his fingers through his furry friend's head "How does it feel not to be able to talk for the past few years?"
"I got too used to it, I've learned to keep quiet" Max replied, feeling somewhat relieved to finally be able to communicate "Although I'm afraid they'll call you crazy, making a brain link with your teammates and now only they can hear me"
"What do you think of them? Do you like them?" Telsius asked, a little more expectant of the wolf's response than he was going to admit.
"They look nice, it's good to know that you finally have a real friend other than me" Max observed Telsius' offended expression with complete neutrality, turning his gaze towards the hallway "I must learn these hallways well…Mister Pine gave me the freedom to walk freely, as long as I don't meddle where I'm not wanted"
The reason for walking around the hallways of the first-year dorms was to keep Max familiar with the environment, plus they could talk a little about what happened since they last saw each other.
Telsius had left Mistral some time ago, however, he had not seen Max in some years because the wolf one day simply disappeared without a trace, fortunately for the boy, he received a message from his mother while he was in Sanctum, stating that Max had returned, bigger and stronger than before, but somewhat injured.
Because the minor Mistral tournaments were taking place, he couldn't go visit the animal, but his mother kept him informed of its health, and Max was able to communicate by writing letters in the yard with his paws, so he could at least answer some questions Telsius had for him.
Being back together ensured that Max could finally tell Telsius what happened over the past few years, and in that way-
"Pyrrha Nikos won multiple minor tournaments during her stay in Sanctum, she was considered in multiple studies and by the public itself as the strongest and most talented of her generation, until she died in the fall of Beacon, even so, her legacy continues to inspire hundreds of young people to this day" The synthetic voice of the AI Pyrrha interrupted Telsius's thoughts, who remained static upon recognizing the voice of the deceased girl.
"She was a beast in combat, as well as being a great strategist" A new voice joined in, Telsius recognized it with some difficulty, their green eyes collided in an instant "One would think that you would be just as talented, don't you think?"
"Who is she?" Max asked, tensing his paws a little, although he didn't make any aggressive gestures or anything like that.
"Almethia Harrow" Telsius murmured "I don't know what to tell you, Pyrrha and I are not the same person, I have my own rhythm to do things"
"But you're here, in Beacon, the very place where she wanted to succeed, why not just stay in Mistral and attend Haven? Did you want to finish what your aunt couldn't?" Almethia showed no real signs of aggression, instead, she simply spoke in a soft tone, chewing a pink piece of gum.
"My reasons for being a Huntsman are none of your concern" Telsius replied, feeling strange as he saw multiple students peering into the hallways quickly, there were several more than he wanted "We're drawing attention to ourselves, what do you think?"
"Your excuses are useless with me, you're not trying hard to be more, to be maybe equal or stronger than Pyrrha, you're just settling for mediocrity" Almethia hissed, forming a small bubble with her gum and popping it "You're not living up to expectations, you're not living up to Pyrrha, then what are you doing here? Being a burden to your team?"
Telsius didn't respond immediately, his eyes traveled to his companion and friend, Max, finding that the animal looked clearly uncomfortable, searching for a reason other than Almethia, he found that there was a crowd surrounding him and the pink-haired girl, almost as if it were some kind of underground fight.
It was already normal for him to be compared to Pyrrha, he had been compared to her throughout his life, even by his own mother, but even so, he had not put much importance on it, for him, shaping his path was more important than trying to follow Pyrrha's, however, he was not a real fan of being publicly humiliated either.
Tomato Jack's announcement was one thing, a lot of people tried to compare it to the one Pyrrha had made for Pumpkin Pete's, and as stupid as it sounded, Telsius felt it as definitive confirmation that he could never even be her shadow.
It was strange, at the same time, he ignored the expectations that were placed on him, but at the same time, he felt clearly inferior to her.
Jaune Arc was not a prodigy during his time at Beacon either, he was an aura tank, of course, but he didn't even have a semblance, and without that, he managed to reach considerably high, qualifying for the Vytal festival tournament.
Jaune Arc proved to be enough, so perhaps he should do the same.
"You know what? You're right" Telsius spoke again, silencing the crowd in an instant "Let's have a match scheduled for tomorrow, I'll defeat you and show you why I'm here"
"Telsius, what the hell?" The wolf whispered, his voice only audible to the boy.
"Perfect then, tomorrow will be the day" Almethia smiled weakly, turning around and making her way through the crowd, which began to disperse after Telsius stood there, static without saying a single word.
Max turned his head slightly, looking at his owner's expression, unable to really read it, the boy's face seemed to be transmitting multiple emotions, but they were all too jumbled together to be able to discern one that was predominant.
"I think the tour was enough for today" Max said, receiving a silent nod from the red-haired boy, both of them turned around and returned to the STRM team dormitory, with recent events still too engraved in their minds.
...
The Beacon library was certainly quiet, the people who usually came to study were few and even more so late at night, luckily for Telsius, this was one of those nights, where he could stay alone with his thoughts.
The multiple shelves full of books always fulfilled necessary and useful categories for students, it was impossible to find a sociology book for example, but it was extremely easy to find one about the weapon creation process or about team alignments depending on the type of semblance, which was quite useful for first year students.
Telsius flipped through the one in his hand, one completely dedicated to the use of bladed weapons, blades, swords, axes, scythes, and especially, the spear, his main weapon, Arondite had accompanied him since Sanctum, and had not made any real modifications to the weapon, yet it was just as reliable as the day he built it.
Even so, handling Arondite had taken him multiple years of trial and error, dropping a spear in a spinning maneuver was extremely easy if you did not have impeccable concentration at the beginning, with practice, it could become a part of you, allowing you to perform all kinds of movements with total freedom.
Telsius looked up for a moment, his eyes meeting the library window letting in all the moonlight, he quickly recognized the figure of Waylon Branwen outside, right on the first-year students' training ground.
The library and the training ground were right next door, a positioning decision merely recommended by Oscar Pine, so that the librarian wouldn't rack her brains trying to silence the students, it was decided to install noise-proof walls, in this way, the library was extremely quiet, and the events outside were impossible to hear.
Telsius opened the door that led from the library directly to the training field, allowing him to see more closely the practice movements Waylon was performing.
Waylon had in his hands his own exact replica of Arondite, moving it with enviable ease and impressive agility in the air, the blue weapon seemed to create air waves with the sheer force its wielder was employing, Telsius simply admired the movements, feeling somewhat curious at how easily the weapon seemed to be using.
The red-eyed suddenly stopped, lifting Arondite and firmly sticking the blade into the ground, the boy turned around with some curiosity, looking at Telsius in surprise.
"It's a little late for you to be in the library" Waylon stated, making Arondite disappear by simply dropping it, the gun vanishing into thin air with ease "Looking to spend some time alone?"
"You could say that" Telsius shrugged, taking his own weapon in hand "You… seem to be pretty good with Arondite, hell, you're faster and more agile than me, have you used spears before?"
Waylon nodded, summoning Harbinger and setting her down, then doing the same with Arondite "As long as I can remember, I've seen all kinds of content related to the use of swords, spears, axes, scythes, one-handed guns, two-handed guns…everything, and I've practiced a lot with wooden replicas…you could say I'm kind of an fan of these things, not at the level of Neithan or my cousin Ruby, of course, they're sick"
"That's amazing" Telsius murmured, genuinely impressed "Those movements…remind me of Pyrrha"
"I saw how he used the spear, it was good but, I have my own style" Waylon smiled with some pride, although his gaze remained more on Telsius's somewhat complicated face "Something's wrong, do you want to talk about what's got your tomato head worried?"
Telsius chuckled lightly at the joke, his eyes moving to his spear, giving it a couple of turns as he examined it "Almethia Harrow from Team HARM harassed me a bit in the hallways, I decided to challenge her to a friendly spar tomorrow, so I wanted to read up on spear techniques a bit…"
"Sounds a bit weird, aren't you supposed to have learned how to use that thing for as long as you can remember?" Waylon asked, if he remembered correctly, he read about Telsius once or twice on the net, and from what he knew, Arondite was almost a part of him.
"Yes, but I never put in the extra effort to create my own moves and so on… I wish I was as talented as you, you make it look so easy" Telsius said, clearly intending it as a compliment, yet Waylon couldn't help but look at the ground, staring at Harbinger's summon.
"…It's not that easy to exploit your talent, it helps you skip a few steps, yes, but you still need a manual" Waylon explained, making his summons disappear "Whether you know how to use your weapons or not doesn't matter if you don't know why you're fighting…"
Telsius nodded, it seemed that Waylon was still fighting his own demons, perhaps, for the moment, it would be better to leave him alone.
"Myrian was looking for you" Waylon mentioned, drawing the green-eyed man's attention "She asked me that if I ever saw you, I should let you know that she was in the EVLV team dormitory…or at least that's where she was"
"Thanks" Telsius turned around, walking quickly towards the library's outer door, he stopped suddenly, giving Waylon one last look "Hey…don't try so hard, your team is worried about you"
Waylon nodded, watching the other boy walk away "I know…that's why I do it"
...
Telsius met Myrian sooner than he wanted, simply by taking a turn or two to find the EVLV team's room, the purple-haired girl seemed to have expected his arrival, as her somewhat worried and beautiful face as always looked at him moments after he appeared.
Telsius thought this was some kind of scolding, after all, news in Beacon spreads like hotcakes, so it was no surprise that Myrian could end up finding out about his little fight scheduled for tomorrow, even if she had a clandestine one that was certainly dangerous, she still seemed to be worried about it.
Telsius didn't like that, that she worried about him, perhaps it wasn't a secret to any of his teammates the obvious attraction he feels towards her, how he looks at her from time to time in the hallways or how he is always attentive when she has something to say, even if it contributes absolutely nothing to the conversation.
"Dork!" Myrian stood up, walking furiously towards Telsius and pointing accusingly with her index finger "Will you explain to me what I've heard from the students? That you're going to fight Almethia tomorrow? Telsius, we're already starting to get a reputation for being troublemakers!"
"It's nothing serious, I swear" Telsius smiled affectionately, trying to calm his friend "I just want to…show what I'm made of, you know? Maybe I want to prove that I don't need to be linked to Pyrrha Nikos all the time"
"We can help you, weren't you with the rest of them telling me that we can share our problems with the team?" Myrian asked quietly, feeling satisfied when Telsius's calm expression faltered "There it is, there's something you need to say, tell me!"
Telsius sighed lightly, feeling strange having to reveal part of his past, however, Myrian opened up to STRM without much trouble, and now he had to do the same, perhaps it would turn out better than he thought.
"I don't want to be like Pyrrha Nikos, I admire her, of course I do, but it's not like I spend all my time thinking about how I can surpass her" Telsius began to explain "…I'm in Beacon because my mother told me in a very subtle way that it's nice to continue what my aunt left here, I didn't know how to say no…"
"It sounds harsh" Myrian muttered, taking the boy's hand with some doubt "But that's not so important, you met us, right?"
"…Yes" Telsius muttered, feeling a little more strange as he continued his explanation "I don't want to be like Pyrrha…I want to be like my father"
"Your father?" Myrian was confused, Telsius had hardly ever mentioned his father in the past, so finding out a little more about him sounded like something interesting and personal.
"Gallus Coeranus was a Huntsman, he married my mother a few years after he saved her from being crushed to death by a wall outside Argus…Whenever people talked to me about Pyrrha, I couldn't help but think about how great my father was" A genuine, nostalgic smile appeared on Telsius' lips.
"He always thought that being a Huntsman meant being a hero, money was the least of it, being able to save people and have the smiles of thousands depend on you, for him, was the best feeling of all" Telsius tightened his hold on Myrian even more, causing her to fear the worst "…One day, he went on a mission after leaving me in a cabin with Professor Ren…he never returned since then, and his death was made official when his body was simply never found"
"Telsius" Myrian took the boy's hand even tighter, being able to feel his sudden sadness "…I didn't know, sorry for making you remember something so horrible"
"It's okay, I trust you" Telsius replied, feeling an indescribable warmth in his chest from the closeness to his teammate "I'll fight Almethia tomorrow to prove to myself that I can be just as good as my father…I'm sorry if it sounds stupid or something, but I think it's the right thing to do"
"Don't worry, I'll find a way to dress like a cheerleader to support you" Myrian smiled sweetly, feeling cheerful when the boy's face turned a similar color to her hair "So…to lighten the mood, how about telling me about Tomato Jack's little announcement?"
"You heard about that? My God" Telsius laughed, starting to walk down the hall still with his hand intertwined with Myrian's, as the two began a pleasant conversation.
Unbeknownst to both of them, Verena Adel took hundreds of photos with her Neo-Scroll, creating copies of these same photos as she smiled with excitement "Mom will be fascinated…"
...
The day of the fight finally arrived, Telsius felt a little more nervous than he would have expected, scheduled fights were nothing unknown to him, in Sanctum some of his classmates challenged him in his first year to show what he was made of, the disappointment of several when seeing that he was not a big deal caused them to stop asking him for a friendly fight.
Today was different, Telsius was proving himself, he was showing that he was more than capable of continuing the legacy that his father left for him, not Pyrrha, showing Beacon what he was made of, staying in the shadows and simply letting himself be bossed around by everyone was a thing of the past, now, he was going to change that.
The locker room door suddenly opened, forcing Telsius to raise his face, easily recognizing Lie Ren, his uncle.
"Uncle Ren" Telsius stood up, perfectly adjusting the golden armor plate that surrounded his chest "Did you come to wish me luck?"
"I came to check on you, I honestly wasn't too happy when I heard you were going to fight Almethia over something about Pyrrha" Ren commented, staring at the boy "…Although I'm sure it has nothing to do with her, at least not entirely"
Telsius nodded "I want to prove myself, I want to be as good as my father"
"I expected it to be something like that" Ren replied with a small smile, sensing Telsius' determination "Even without using my Semblance, I can see your desire to win…however it ends, I want you to know that you write your own path, and you decide the greatness you will have, not Pyrrha's…not even your father's"
Telsius nodded, easily understanding his uncle's words, many people would think that he would get angry at the mention of his father, however, he knew perfectly well that Ren and Gallius had known each other for some time, and that his father would have wanted exactly the same thing.
But Telsius still wanted to know if he was on the same level as his father, so that he could focus more on writing his own path, just like Ren says.
"Your aunt Nora is quite excited, she always said that you hold back too much in battles, especially that you are very lazy" Ren laughed, extending his hand towards the boy "Go on, kid, show them what you are made of"
Telsius firmly took his spear, getting up from the bench and approaching the Cicrax combat area, an arena specially made for the scheduled fights requested by the students themselves, unlike the one located in Nora's classroom, this one was larger and the ground was made of yellowish dirt instead of perfectly smooth concrete.
In addition, the students now had the ability to stand in what could be considered stadium-like stands, the arena was sunken into the ground, allowing spectators to watch the fight more easily, as well as giving it a strangely more theatrical and aggressive feel.
"Welcome to a new, completely official and legal non-profit fight at Beacon Academy…" Nora Valkyrie's strangely low and eerie voice sounded from speakers placed on the sides of the arena, attracting the attention of the crowd "This time, our poor wretches are Telsius Nikos and Almethia Harrow… Please bet responsibly and considering your financial income"
Almethia closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the students' shouts towards her, her student uniform had been replaced by her combat outfit, a sleeveless shirt with dark colors, contrasting greatly with her hair, her baggy pants were held up by straps, which started from the girl's shoulders.
The outfit was quite simple, however, what was most interesting and impressive about the girl was her weapon, Titan Shears, a pair of enormous scissors that had a strange appearance, the edges of both halves were completely flat, while the usually smooth edge was serrated, giving her a certainly terrifying aura.
"The glory of the fight is indescribable" Almethia said, her voice audible enough for Telsius, a smile appearing on the girl's lips "It's one of the few things that makes me feel genuinely alive…"
Telsius didn't respond, he simply made a quick maneuver with Arondite, placing her in Almethia's direction.
"I want to see your true potential" Almethia's smile widened even more, making the boy a little more nervous, the girl took a small vial of blood that she had hidden in a small bag on her hip, drinking just a bit of the reddish liquid, her entire body transformed for a second, displaying the exact physical appearance of Waylon Branwen, before returning to her normal appearance.
"Begin!" Nora's voice was all the confirmation Almethia needed, Telsius could barely react as she surged forward, crossing the entire arena in a mere second and clashing her scissors with Arondite, pushing the boy back.
Telsius was barely able to recover when Almethia launched herself at him again, opening her scissors with impressive ease and closing them on Arondite, creating a series of sparks that worried the green-eyed boy, who raised his leg to be able to push the girl.
Arondite spun with momentum, directly crashing the spear into the scissors once again, this time, Telsius put all his strength into the upper part of the weapon, managing to push Titan Shears down, connecting a quick punch in Almethia's cheek.
Almethia laughed genuinely, letting the blow give her enough momentum to spin her scissors and cut directly across Telsius's face, knocking him back and forcing him to stab his spear into the ground to avoid crashing into the wall, the boy gasped loudly, it didn't look like the fight was going to be easy.
"Pyrrha Nikos was fast and her strikes were precise, it seems that you only resemble her physically" Almethia muttered, letting out a strange laugh and raising her scissors again, activating a mechanism and separating both blades "I'm going to teach you a lesson for failing your legacy"
Telsius growled in annoyance, activating his own spear's mechanism, the top of Arondite was replaced by two half-arrow-shaped blades, replacing the tip of the spear with both figures, the boy spun around, spinning the weapon multiple times, forcing Almethia to jump so as not to end up hurt.
Telsius quickly threw the spear towards the girl, Arondite hit the pink-haired girl's face full on, stunning her for a couple of seconds, with a more than clear advantage, Telsius launched himself towards her, recovering his weapon and beginning to harass her with lateral blows.
Almethia's growl wasn't out of anger, but rather some surprise, Telsius suddenly increased his attack speed, almost surreal considering how slow he looked when fighting Waylon today, now, he's pressing her with incredible speed.
The punch to her cheek ended up bringing Almethia back to reality, she grabbed her scissors with force and lifted them with a push from her knee, managing to catch Arondite between both blades, squeezing hard until the spear shot into the air, landing a few meters away from Telsius.
"It can't be…" Telsius muttered with some annoyance, receiving a powerful cut to his chest from the Titan Shears, the boy's mind began to work desperately, without his weapon, then his chances were lower than usual, defeat could not be a result now, not at the moment when he was finally going to demonstrate his determination.
Telsius looked up for a second, recognizing the faces of his teammates, including Max, they all seemed to be cheering him on, shouting compliments or words of encouragement, the noise of the other students' voices made it difficult to hear them, but he still managed to discern a little between so many words.
"You can do it!" Myrian shouted, Telsius raised his hands and grabbed the blades with thunderous force, managing to stop them, the boy felt the edge slowly penetrate his aura, even partially filtering through, causing him a small sensation of pain.
"Your semblance is copying the appearance of others, so you copied Waylon's, right? Then you also depend on your weapon, just like me" Telsius muttered, he was already aware that Almethia had a semblance poorly suited for real combat, and without thinking much more, he pulled both blades into the air, snatching them from the pink-haired girl.
Almethia gasped in surprise, not having the chance to react when Telsius raised both blades, her own weapon ending up hitting her multiple times in the abdomen, cracking her aura until it flickered several times.
"I am not Pyrrha Nikos, I never will be" Telsius muttered, dropping both blades, Almethia began to back away, stumbling and falling headlong onto the ground, forcing herself to crawl "…I am my own person, I am myself!"
Telsius raised his right fist and struck Almethia's jaw hard, throwing her back and causing the sand to raise some dust, the characteristic sound of the aura breaking finally calmed him for a moment, falling to the ground exhausted.
"Telsius Nikos wins the fight!" Nora shouted with unique happiness, grabbing her husband in the cockpit and shaking him tightly, Ren could barely look at his nephew because of the movement the orange-haired woman was exerting on him, even so, he couldn't help but smile with some pride.
Telsius rose from the ground, raising his arms in victory, the stands of the arena erupted in shouts, finally giving the boy the recognition that had been so denied to him in the past.
The green-eyed quickly searched for his team, meeting the satisfied and proud gaze of Myrian, the euphoric one of Riana, and the serene one of Samuel, Max looked calm, it seemed that he was not even surprised by Telsius' victory, but the nod he made in the direction of the boy finally confirmed that he had achieved his goal.
He managed to prove that he was more than worthy of being at Beacon.
...
The calm of the Branwen tribe's territory was more usual in recent years, the need to fight against other nomadic tribes or to send even more warriors to raid became scarce, now with much greater power than before, there were rare occasions when concern loomed over the bandits.
But today, they were nervous.
Felicia had been indirectly defeated by Waylon Branwen in Vale, and Raven Branwen, one of the three leaders of the tribe let Ruby Rose escape, the only person who could truly prevent the invasion of Beacon had been at the mercy of their leader, and she had simply let her go.
There was too much explaining to do, the invasion could not be delayed any longer, it had already been delayed for several decades after Qrow betrayed them and practically left them in ruin, without a leader.
Raven felt a little strange remembering her twin brother, her and Qrow's situation was so different that she could practically feel how destiny was openly insulting and mocking her, while he was retired, married and with a son, she was still in the tribe, in charge of looting small towns and putting into action the plan that both had to carry out sometime in the past.
When Qrow killed Scav Branwen, their father, she had been so upset that the possibility of killing her own brother had become a reality, and she had tried it, ending in her being defeated and humiliated, even more so when he chose mercy on her and left, to live a better life than he had in the tribe.
The hypocrisy was certainly noticeable, Raven blamed her brother for having betrayed them, the tribe was his home, it was his legacy, but that same group of people rejected him for his semblance, considering him a bad luck charm, nobody wanted to be near him, his father saw the enormous potential and power in that boy, and his sister too, but none of them were able to do as much as Summer Rose and Tai Xiao Long.
STRQ had also done a lot for her, having Ruby at her mercy had been a divine-like experience, she could have simply killed her and her plans would have become much easier, but no, she knew it wasn't up to her to kill her, and besides, she didn't really feel capable of doing it.
Insulting Summer's memory by killing her daughter seemed too difficult, almost unfair to her, a bandit being merciful on the daughter of her best friend who had already died? It sounded almost like a joke, but it was the truth.
"You've been quiet the past few days, and that's unbelievable, I was the one who was humiliated by a teenager" Felicia Torchwick let out a jocular laugh, approaching Raven and patting her on the back "Everything okay?"
"We must calm our people" Raven replied without hesitation, standing up and leaving her hut, seeing how all the bandits she has known all her life were clearly nervous and skeptical "Your failure is still detrimental to the tribe"
"It's not my fault that your nephew is so, so, well, so handsome and dangerous" Felicia commented quietly, feeling somewhat irritated by the mention of her defeat "Having him with us would be a very good addition…"
Raven considered her friend's words as she walked, Waylon had a potential similar to that of Qrow in his youth, he could even be greater, considering that his semblance was more than useful in combat and had multiple uses, even so, it was impossible to put him on the side of the tribe, his upbringing has practically made him a puppet for the kingdoms.
Raven stopped once she was in front of all her people, the noise ended when she raised her hand, managing to attract all the bandits' attention.
"You must be worried about Felicia's failure, and also about the mercy I showed towards one of our greatest enemies" Raven began to speak, firmly taking hold of the handle of her sword located at her hip "But you must not fear, Beacon will fall, Vale will fall, all we need is time"
"And I am more than capable of helping you take a shortcut" A new voice joined Raven's, Ivan Cox, the man dressed in an elegant suit did not seem to be nervous by the presence of bandits, no, his serene and even somewhat mocking face betrayed his ease in dealing with criminals "Unfortunately, I cannot provide you with my weapons, they are in Phimisal… and with the appearance of the Black Fang in Mistral, they are more nervous than ever, and taking a shipment full of weapons out of the kingdom may sound… suspicious, and would take a lot of time, it is the least of our resources"
"There is a Schnee Corporations facility, close to the kingdom's border, Laboratory 33.1, high caliber weapons, fully functional prototypes of swords, axes, scythes, whatever you can imagine, tons of Dust ready to be used… even biological weapons" Ivan sighed for a moment, smiling at the mere mental image of the chaos that a handful of bandits with such power could cause.
"People from the kingdoms are usually killed just by stepping into our territory, but Ivan is special, we have a common enemy, Beacon" Raven could feel the emotions like anger, contempt and disgust from her bandits, so she decided to explain herself to avoid giving way to problems "Laboratory 33.1 will be attacked in a month…and if things go well, then, not even Ruby Rose will be able to stop us"
Almost ironically, the bandits raised their arms and shouted for their leader, feeling elated by the promise of a future victory, the outskirts of Anima were practically theirs now, destroying Beacon was one thing, but bringing Vale to its knees was a distant dream, the words of their leader simply excited them more, Raven never took things lightly, so this had to be important.
If Ruby Rose can't stop them, then who can?
"Raven" Felicia approached the woman, taking her by the arm before she retreated to her personal cabin "Not that I doubt you or anything but…are you sure that whatever is in that place is enough to give us victory?"
"There are many more of us than the White Fang your father used, Felicia, don't worry" Raven smiled softly, slightly calming her friend's worries "…I prefer to worry about Waylon, I have a bad feeling that this won't be the last time you face him"
"Sure, I'll be ready" Felicia finally turned around and walked away, still with some doubts in her mind, but she trusted Raven enough to put those worries aside.
The only thing that still stirred her conscience was thinking about what the two remaining leaders of the tribe would say.