6: Matchmaking on arrival - [The One Path To Take]
Ichigo continued on his way, walking through the ankle-length grass and sparse trees until he reached the flatter dirt path to the bridge. Though blades of grass still sprouted sporadically through the packed earth, it wasn't anything like the tangled mats of greenery around it. He sealed Zangetsu as he walked, the ethereal bandage sheathe of his now-single sword flapping in his wake. The birds were settling down again by now, and their songs whistled through the forest air either side of the path. They remained wary of his footsteps, however; animals were after all marginally more naturally inclined to spiritual qualia than humans.
The colossal stone bridge, when he arrived at it, was even larger up close than he expected it to be from his viewpoint atop the Nevermore earlier. Intricately carved pillars, similar to the ones at the altar, lined either side and extended a ways above his horned head. Some were broken at the top, and others were intact. The surface of the bridge itself was made of smoothed grey rock, and the columns holding it up descended out of sight down into a misty gorge far below. Said mist rolled up from the bottomless chasm, embalming the expanse with the silvery haze of a light fog, catching the beams of the shining sun above. The walkway along it was slightly raised by a few stone steps above the ground, and ornate patterns were chiselled into the sides of the footpath by an unknown, long-lost hand.
As Ichigo walked along it, the Southwards cliffs loomed larger and larger in his vision. They stretched across the landscape, forming a lapidarian intermediary between the earth and the empty blue sky. Or, Remnant and the empty sky, Ichigo corrected internally. He wondered briefly what his fallback plan would be if this Ozpin guy couldn't help him out after all, considering the options at his disposal. Even if he couldn't help him, it wasn't as if he was on a timer or anything. He'd figure something out, eventually.
The bridge stretched on, but after a little while he could see the other side through the thin mist. It seemed that his hollow eye bestowed enhanced nightvision in the dark, but not through the obfuscating likes of smokescreens or fog. Sure, he could simply just casually shunpo his way there immediately, but he did tell the others that they could catch up if they wanted to. It gave him time to think, too.
A couple of figures cropped up in the distance, two boys in similar suits and gear to the initiates he'd met so far. They were walking along slowly, side by side at a pace where Ichigo would be crossing them shortly. On the right, was a light brunette teen with a tan plackart covering his chest, vambraces at his forearms, pauldrons on his shoulders and petal-shaped faulds at the sides of his hips, front and back. Sheathed horizontally at the back of his hips was a silver halstatt sword, the hilt sticking out to the right behind him.
To his left, was a taller young man, with hair a deep shade of burnt orange that gave Ichigo a run for his money. It was combed back, peaking at the front as he turned to nod at something his prospective partner said. He wore a set of silver plate metal armour, over a black fabric shirt trimmed with red, similar to his friend's, only the plates shone reflectively compared to the matte material of the one next to him. In addition to the gauntlets, pauldrons and breastplate he was equipped with like the other armoured individuals Ichigo had met so far, this teenager had donned brassarts over his biceps and cuisses over the sides of his thighs. All of the plates were edged with a pale gold trim, which frankly soured the outfit by looking a tad tacky. At his waist, hung a large, hollow mace on his right side, with a wine-red cut crystal embedded in the centre where the handle's aggressive jet-black flanges extended into the spherical head-shape.
The taller boy turned around when he noticed him, facing Ichigo as he approached the duo, revealing the broad golden-yellow crest of a bird embossed on his chest and on the metallic toes of his shoes. His brows furrowed over his violet eyes as he spoke irritatedly.
"Oh, piss off. You're not getting on our team. Get lost."
His partner seemed surprised at his hostility to the newcomer, but didn't speak up, watching on passively.
Ichigo, meanwhile, snarked back dismissively as he twitched a brow. "Did I ask? I was just walking behind you. There's only one bridge here, y'know."
"Then just jump off the cliff and climb back up the other side, mutt."
Ichigo glanced at the guy's still-silent partner. His blue eyes were narrow, like Gin's. "What crawled up his ass and died?"
All he got in response was a shrug, and a shake of the head. "Hey, I literally just met 'im today. Leave me out of this, it's not me doing anything." From the front, Ichigo noticed the decorative cast of a dove holding the olive branch of peace in its beak, on the partner's belt buckle. He wasn't living up to it.
"How helpful." Ichigo sarcastically jibed, before turning back to the ticked off mace-wielder.
"If you really want help, then lay your head flat and let me knock you out. I'll put you out of your misery." The armoured teen reached to his right side as he spoke, gripping the handle of his mace tightly in his left hand.
Ichigo blinked at him, as the other brandished his weapon. "Are you retarded? No wait... don't bother answering that, you just did." he tilted his head, with a shallow smirk. "You do realise this is a test, right? If they see you get whacked out by me it's not going to look good for you, even if you did get one of those relic things."
At that, the mace-wielder considered for a moment, before he snarled back, "See how? Do you see any cameras around here, idiot? I was about to just turn 'round and forget about you, but not any more. Thanks for the idea though, I think I'll chuck your relic off this bridge after I knock your bloody horned head off."
The impassive partner stepped back without a word as the taller boy squared up to Ichigo, hefting his mace onto his shoulder. "Go ahead, then. Draw your stinkin' sword, I want to curbstomp you at your best." Huh, looks like he at least held some sense of honour there, only it was more out of his own pride than anything else. Not that Ichigo was about to humour him, obviously.
"Nah, I think I'm good with just my hands. Go ahead, let's just get this over with already." Ichigo stood lax as he blasély replied.
"Oh really now? Fine then, it's your funeral." and with that, the first blow was thrown. It was also the only blow.
The mace was about to swing forward, at a forty-five degree angle aimed for Ichigo's right shoulder. A textbook bludgeoning strike, only it never met its target. Not because Ichigo dodged it, but rather because he reached up, with his right index finger curled behind his thumb, and lightly flicked it against the forehead of his assailant, all in the span of the raising of the mace.
The weapon was dropped to the cool stone floor, clinking sharply with a small spark from its titanium black flanges. Its wielder followed soon afterwards, toppling backwards without even a groan, as he was out cold before he even hit the hard ground. Even with his aura, he was laid out spread-eagled flat on his back.
Ichigo sighed as he relaxed his arm back to his side, meeting the stiff gaze of the other teen. The boy was frozen for a few moments, before he wordlessly made an internal decision and leaned over and grabbed the hollow mace off of the floor, then walked over to his unconscious partner, and crouched by his body to fasten it to the fallen boy's belt.
"Aren't you going to say anything...?" he gestured for the other teen to introduce himself.
The brunette paused, before gripping the straps on either side of the taller boy's polished breastplate to hitch him up onto his shoulder. "Dove." he didn't bother to ask for Ichigo's. "What is there to say?" his voice was even, and carried a bored tone; he didn't seem burdened at all by what was easily ninety kilograms of muscle and metal. "You both picked a fight with each other. He lost. I wasn't involved."
"But you're still carrying him." Ichigo pointed out.
"Looks like I am. Where else am I supposed to find a partner, anyway? You clearly aren't interested. Do you see anyone else here? He seems like the easy sort to follow, so sure of himself and everything. I wouldn't have to bother with much if Cardin's the one calling the shots. Of course, that was before you came along. I really can't tell what you did that pissed him off so quickly. Not that I really care, honestly."
"You don't sound very upset." Ichigo crossed his arms as he curiously replied.
"This didn't have anything to do with me. I just watched. What would I be mad about?" he began strolling away, carrying his partner on his shoulder. He didn't wave, nor bid goodbye. He just walked off into the distance along the misty stonework.
What a lazy bastard. Still, he's better than the other guy though. Ichigo peered backwards over his white-clad left shoulder, to see a much more colourful entourage approaching him. Looks like the others had caught up by now. He waited in his spot, halfway across the ancient carved bridge, until they called out to him.
"Hi Ichigo!" Ruby was the first to greet the soul reaper, waving her right arm over her head as she picked up into a light jog ahead of the rest. Looks like Jaune and Pyrrha had told everyone else his name.
He smiled at her enthusiasm. "Hey. Did you get those things you needed?"
"Of course! We all got those chess piece things. Since you already took care of the grimm, we had plenty of time to pick, so thanks a lot."
"It wasn't a problem." he brushed off before glancing at the others as they met them, all setting off together now.
"Whoa, I can see you now? You really weren't kidding." Jaune exclaimed. "What's with the horns?"
"See you now? What do you mean?" Pyrrha inquired.
Ichigo froze for a second, but managed a vague enough explanation that wasn't completely outlandish. "Jaune and I had a... misunderstanding earlier. We, uh, see... each other's points of view now, though, right?"
"That doesn't sound true, like, at all." Yang commented pointedly.
Jaune tilted his head. "What are you talking about? A misunderstanding? About what- oh." his eyes rolled in exasperation, "If it's about the curvature of Remnant, then no, I don't see your point of view, at all. The world is not flat."
Yang chuckled snidely, "You think Remnant is flat? People like that are real? Geez, I don't even know what to say to that."
Ichigo scowled, "I do not think this planet is flat." he jerked his hand at Jaune. "He's just a terrible listener."
"Well duh, how can something flat be hollow? Checkmate, Ichigo!" the ginger girl chirped brightly.
"Nora... what did I say about watching the scroll history channel after midnight?" her partner admonished. He was the boy with medium-length black hair, a long ponytail at the back with a contrasting magenta streak running down the left bang on the front. His eyes matched the streak, a vivid pink that focused on his partner as he spoke to her. He wore a dark forest-green páofú-styled coat. Like a tailcoat, it had flaps that fell down the sides of his legs and behind him, and the whole thing was trimmed with black fabric, including the collar. It was fastened to the right by Eastern-style golden buttons, matching the golden-yellow swirl patterns at the bottom of the coat. The robe stopped mid-forearm, with light cotton-pink rolled cuffs, from which black sleeves extended up to his wrists. Under his coat, his legs were covered by baggy silken white trousers with black shoes.
"What? But Ren, I learnt so much..." Nora whined as she hunched over. Her orange hair was wavy, the same shade as Ichigo's, and her eyes were an aqua-blue. She was dressed in a collared black sleeveless open jacket, over a white vest with a heart-shaped cut-out just above her chest. Her stomach area was covered by two gunmetal bands of armour. On each arm were detached white sleeves, ending in vibrant pink fingerless gloves, matching her florid pink thigh-length skirt, and the tops and soles of her otherwise snow-white boots. On the back of her waist, she sported a large, puffy, sky-blue bow that ruffled in the light Southward breeze as she walked along.
Ichigo switched his attention back to Jaune as they all walked together. "So, what happened? I see your arm is properly set now. You alright?" The knight's left arm was tied with a white cloth, bound against a flat stick in a temporary splint. He waved it up as he replied.
"Oh yeah, this thing? Pyrrha sorted it out for me. She had a first aid kit in one of her pouches, actually. She even unlocked my aura for me with a little poem or something. I actually had no idea you could do that." It was true; Ichigo had noticed Jaune's restructured reiryoku at a glance. It was especially concentrated over his broken arm, at the moment.
Ichigo was mildly interested. "You can just give someone aura on the spot like that? I'd have thought you'd have to be born with it, or train, or something."
"I'm not complaining. Apparently it'll help with my arm too, since I have a lot of it. Honestly I just feel dead tired though." he sounded it too; his voice lacked the projecting edge it had when they'd first met- he was drained from the pain and the day's exertion.
"I can't believe she genuinely had to awaken your aura in front of all of us in the initiation of a major academy!" Both boys turned their heads at Weiss's vexed interjection. "How on Remnant were you let in here? Who even trained you?"
"They uhh... liked the personal statement in my transcripts?" he sweated, "I'm good at persuasive writing?"
"Yeah, that's a load of bullcrap." Yang remarked, right hand on her chin, "He's gotta have something going for him though." she probed his trembling form up and down with her lilac eyes.
"Yang! You're being so rude!" Ruby interrupted.
She has a point, though, Ichigo mused. Jaune's lack of... everything had been apparent from the get-go. Though, just as he said, that was exactly what he was here for, wasn't he? -To learn.
"He did come up with the plan against the Deathstalker, though. That was a worthy showing in my opinion." Ren mediated coolly. Jaune smiled weakly at his praise.
"Yeah! That was pretty smart, Jauney!" Nora praised cheerfully, "Almost as great as Ichigo's giant laser beam!"
"Oh, right... that..." Pyrrha broached. "That was... something, wasn't it?" she wavily exhaled.
"Yes, that... how'd that work, exactly?" Blake tilted her head as she spoke up for the first time. "You just went ahead and grew an extra horn, and then killed the Deathstalker in one shot."
"That's..." Ichigo trailed off. He couldn't think of any explanation, so he just decided to settle for straight up nonsensical denial. "...private. And rude, actually. Asking that about my horns is like... asking you whether you shave your armpits."
Blake sputtered, taken aback, before Weiss stepped in. "Is that any way to talk to a lady? How crass, whether she shaves them or not."
"I do! Obviously! Don't make it sound ambiguous like that!" Blake cried, before cutting herself off as the silken bow on her crown stood up straight. She'd seen herself that certain antler faunus traits that would fall off and regrow annually, but never ones that would grow on the spot like that. Not to mention, she'd never heard of that analogy for it before.
Weiss continued inquisitively. "Horns aside, how is a beam of such calibre from such a small point even possible?" she mused, "What manner of dust technology are you carrying in that massive sword? And don't you dare claim magic again."
Ichigo snapped a finger at her. "What'd you say? What technology was I carrying?"
"Dust?" Weiss raised a brow over her vertically scarred left eye.
"Exactly. It was that. I used a lot of that. A lot." Ichigo stated flatly.
"If you're going to shamelessly lie to my face at least don't make it so blatant!" she yelled.
"Hey, if you don't believe me, then that's on you." Ichigo ran a hand though his horned hair as he shifted his gaze back to the front. They had finally reached the end of the lithic bridge, and the group stepped down three more stairs of carved stone to the other side. Beacon's cliffs loomed jaggedly overhead, close enough now that their vast height stretched up away into the open sky. Individual crags, rooted foliage and birds' nests were all clear to make out at this distance. Instead of just flattened dirt, the path now was made of white powdery gravel, edged with shorter grass and far sparser trees and shrubs compared to the opposite densely wooded Northern side of the foggy ravine.
They walked on for a few more minutes, chatting idly before Ichigo's eyes were drawn to an artificial clearing at the foot of the sheer cliff face. "Who's ride is that?"
In the centre of a large glade, covered in an acre-wide rough circle of gravel pebbles on the ground, sat a futuristic VTOL. The dark silver fuselage resembled that of a helicopter's, only with a higher up glass cockpit. It was held up by three hydraulic legs of landing gear. To the sides, angular wings jutted out, tipped with cylindrical grey jet engines oriented downwards with tall fins on the front. At the end of the long tail boom, instead of a miniature rotor, there were three small stabilising fins. It was almost as big as a small zeppelin, only made out of metal.
"Oh! We get to take a bullhead back! Sweet!" Ruby cheered as she scampered ahead towards it, past a red-painted sign addressing initiates to wait there in the landing area if there weren't any transports present yet.
"Man, am I glad we don't have to climb a cliff..." Jaune sighed tiredly in relief as he clutched his splinted arm.
As they all approached behind Ruby, a wide door in the side of the 'bullhead' opened, folding downwards into a metal rungless stairway leading up to the door a good few meters off the ground. Ichigo decided to just roll with it, seeing as how this helicopter-jet thing probably belonged to Beacon from everybody else's expectant reactions. The last in, he followed the other's motions as they climbed in and sat down on plush red fabric seats lining the sides, though in the middle hung some handles from the roof for people to stand and hold them. Neon blue lighting lined the floors, walls and ceiling, as well as a few hovering blue holograms planted between the sets of seats. Even with the nine of them there, it was easily big enough to hold a good deal more passengers. Ichigo was so caught up by the advanced interior of the vehicle that he was thrown off by the voice that broke in over an unseen intercom.
"Are all students seated properly? Congratulations on your successful initiation, we'll be dropping you off in the courtyard, rather than the landing bays. You are to report to the auditorium promptly, registering your pieces at the entrance before attending the assembly." the pilot announced, as Ichigo felt the bullhead take off under his feet. In a holo-display to his side, he saw the engines swivel forwards, the fins on them now on top and swept back, raising the aircraft over the forest.
"An assembly? Do you think they're grouping the teams already?" Pyrrha inferred, turning to the huntresses sat opposite of her. Seated to her side, were Jaune, Ichigo, Ren and Nora.
"Seeing how they chose our partners so quickly, I'd say yeah, why wouldn't they just throw us together willy-nilly?" Yang leaned her face in her upturned right palm as she replied, the arm resting on her leg.
"You'd think they'd put a little more thought into it..." Ren muttered.
"Relaaax Ren, we're already partners, no way they'd split us up." Nora stretched her arms out over her head as she reclined back into her chair, legs sliding forward below her.
"She's right, our partners will undoubtedly be our teammates... unfortunately." Weiss eyed Ruby shuffling to her left side as she spoke.
"Hmph, I caught that, y'know, I'm not an idiot, no matter how much you make me out to be." she huffed.
Weiss averted her eyes and grumbled under her breath in response. "Maybe I should have attended Atlas after all." Her fingers curled in her lap.
"Partners, huh... but there's a even number of us here... someone's going to be left out." Blake thought aloud.
"Ah, that's me. It's fine, I'm not taking the test." Ichigo waved a his left hand a little as he sat back, arms up on the heads of the chairs to his sides, sitting a seat away from the others on his side of the cabin. It gave him space to lay Zangetsu beside himself as he relaxed.
"You're not taking initiation? What're you doing here, then?" Ruby twisted to face him, confused. "How'd you end up in the Emerald Forest? Are you an upper-classman?"
"He said he ended up here on accident," Jaune answered for him, "and that he needed to speak to Ozpin."
"On accident? How does that even happen?" Yang remarked incredulously.
"An intruder! You're trespassing on academy grounds!" Weiss accused sharply, tensing in her seat.
Ichigo indifferently glanced back at her. "I'm an intruder?" Well, it wouldn't be the first time. "In that case, wouldn't bringing me to your headteacher be the proper thing to do?"
"Of course! A day in and I've already made an arrest! My career is off to an exceptional start!" Weiss proclaimed proudly, puffing her chest out with her hands on her hips. Ichigo rolled his eyes, and in doing so noticed Blake's amber-yellow orbs narrow reproachfully at the albino girl's boast. He didn't comment on it, and instead tuned out the rest of the small talk to look at one of the holographic displays. Like earlier, it seemed to act as viewport to the outside, seeing as how the sides of the bullhead didn't have any windows themselves. He leaned in, awestruck at the bird's-eye-view of what looked like an actual, real-life version of a fantasy castle.
A great, towering spire made up the centre of the citadel, made out of pale, off-white stone. It was pointed at the top and the section just below the cone was hollow in the centre, held up by columns in its sides exposing the azure, translucent floating orbs and vertical lines of energy in the space in the core. In diameter, it was more than large enough for many people to be able to stand in the space and on top of the spire, judging by the rails on the edges. A great dark glass clock face was built-in below the hollow section, facing the rest of the vast grounds, marked with Roman numerals.
"Oh! We're here!" Nora hollered gleefully, bouncing over Ichigo's shoulder to get a better look. So this is Beacon Academy... Ichigo beheld. Academy was understating it; this place looked just as impressive as the likes of Las Noches and the Seireitei. Actually... what with the state of both of them after the Blood War, this place looked better than Las Noches and the Court of Pure Souls right now.
It wasn't just the central tower; the rest of Beacon was nothing short of gargantuan. Complex, gothic and classical European-styled architecture made up the castle grounds, linked by what resembled Roman aqueducts acting as sheltered paths as well as ingenious elevated walkways. A large, colosseum-like glass roofed amphitheatre was surrounded by darker paving slabs, with pure-white tiles making up the path to its entrance. Huge red banners bearing the emblem of Beacon Academy hung down on either side of its entrance, waving lightly. The path to the amphitheatre led in from a wide open plaza, with small lights set in the paved stones at the sides of the footpaths leading out from the circular space. Tall trees were planted with dense foliage at their feet to either side of the colosseum-hall, in raised planting areas lined with alabaster stonework. Black-painted benches lined the outside of the plantbeds, seating some lax students, as well as the other metal cast benches set in circles in the free spaces of the courtyard. They matched the sable-black gas-lamp styled electric street-lights, interspersed around the steps of the plaza. Four small trapezoid ponds surrounded the gaps between the paths in the centre of the space, which was where the bullhead was pulling in to land. There were already many colourfully-dressed students there, but they scattered clear at the sight of the approaching aircraft.
As it touched down with a light jolt of its landing gear, Ichigo set his zanpakutō on his back and followed the others, joining them behind the flush door in the side of the bullhead. It opened out, leading downwards with a hydraulic hiss, giving Ichigo his first sight of Beacon from ground level.
"Thank you!" Ruby called back to the pilot's cabin as she rushed down the steps to the courtyard. Just as Ichigo hopped off the last metal step, the bullhead took off again, back in the direction of the Emerald Forest. Looks like there's more initiates still back there. His attention was pulled back to the campus by the massive intermittently spaced holographic screens hovering on the sides of the outside of the amphitheatre. They displayed instructions for the arriving students.
All first-years returning from initiation are to register their relics here in the auditorium, before waiting for the start of the assembly when all initiates have arrived.
From the packed lines building up near the entrance, it was evident that they were one of the last to turn up. Luckily, that meant they wouldn't have to wait as long then for the final batch of huntsmen trainees to show. At the entrance, in front of the high-arched slate-grey doors, was a booth at a wooden table manned by some staff members using holo-screens. The line was a veritable rainbow of hundreds of students, all dressed in their own unique colour schemes, which the substitute reflected on as he watched the crowd. It was a little strange to see so many colourful uniforms, since he was so used to everyone just wearing black or white. Even their myriad hair colours were outlandish enough that his own bright orange hair wasn't anything special. Ichigo didn't see a point in waiting in line, so he set off in the direction of the nearest benches. Before he could reach it though, Weiss called out to him.
"Halt! Where do you think you're going?" she harrumphed.
Ichigo looked over his shoulder and narrowed his black-set yellow eye frostily. "Why do I have to line up with you guys? They're telling everyone to wait here, anyway. I'll just go sit over there."
"You're not even meant to be here!" Weiss argued peevishly. "You said so yourself, that you are an intruder and so it is our civic duty as huntresses to apprehend and escort you."
Ichigo gestured out with his arms held wide at the teeming crowd of kaleidoscopic students, all armed with every manner of strange weapons as they flitted about around the courtyard. "You're covered. It's not as if I'm gonna try anything." She didn't need to know that, judging from their relatively minor reiatsu signatures, he'd be able to comfortably take on everybody here at once. When it comes to peace of mind, it's the thought that counts, isn't it?
Weiss seemed as though she was about to retort when Blake cut her off. "He already helped us out in the forest, and he told us he wasn't meant to be here. If he was going to try something, he wouldn't have done that. It won't hurt anyone to just let him wait here and speak to the Headmaster like he wants to."
Weiss opened her mouth, then hesitated and closed it with a huff. "Fine then, do what you will." Ichigo was already walking away; he didn't really care whether he got their approval or not anyway, though he'd tried to be polite about it. As the others moved to line up, another bullhead pulled in to the middle of the plaza to drop off more students. It was strange- he'd have thought the jets of an aircraft like that should've kicked up a lot more wind. Ichigo didn't know much about jet engines, but he was sure that the blowback draft from them wouldn't be so mellow that the four ponds at the corners of the landing area only rippled slightly as it came in. It was as if those jets weren't normal engines, and from the gist he sensed of them, they weren't. They felt as though they contained concentrated chambers of reishi.
Ichigo reached the benches to find a couple of (somewhat) familiar figures. Dove was sat there, his narrow gaze meeting Ichigo's heterochromatic one with an impassive look as he leaned forwards, his forearms resting on his thighs. The shinigami guessed that was about as good as he was going to get from the fainéant brunette. Still, it was a preferable greeting compared to the guy next to him.
"Oh great. It's you." his taller partner bristled. He had a light bandage wound around his forehead, just under his peaked burnt-orange hair. He sat up haughtily at the sight of Ichigo.
"Yup, it's me. Now scooch over, Carmen." Ichigo uncaringly nudged him along the black seat with his sable-sandled foot.
"Oi! Hey! What do you think you're doing, dickhead?" Nevertheless, even as he spoke, the armoured boy was shuffled along, much to his indignation. "And it's Cardin, not Carmen! That's a woman's name! Did Dove tell you that?"
Ichigo nonchalantly plonked himself down next to them, reclining back on the sun-warmed metal. It felt pleasant through his firm shihakushō. "Kinda, somebody had to introduce us after I knocked you out." he jerked a thumb at himself, after laying Zangetsu on the floor. "Ichigo Kurosaki."
Cardin positively oozed resentment at Ichigo's wry jab. But he refrained from striking out, as his forehead still smarted something terrible from the horned guy's flick. One finger, and he was out cold. One finger! Instead, he opted for some aid. "Dove! This savage is here to finish me off! Back me up here, will you?"
Dove lazily glanced at Cardin, before shifting his slack gaze back to the far more interesting grooves in the stonework floor. There was even a little woodlouse curled up there, in his shadow. It made for better company than Cardin had, thus far. Maybe if he'd actually been a leader, or he hadn't been forced to carry him for over a mile after watching him get one-tapped, he'd have just listened to the taller teen because it would've been the easiest thing to do- but as of right now, he just couldn't be bothered.
"If he wanted to finish you off, you'd already be dead." he muttered in a monotone voice.
Cardin's brow twitched over his irritated violet eyes. "Some partner you are." Second day at beacon and he'd already been betrayed over some random faunus thug. Story of his life, right there. Still, looks like he couldn't do anything about it, so he'd just do what he'd always had to up until now- make do. "Whatever, just don't talk to me." That didn't mean he had to be nice about it though.
"That's really not as bad sounding as you make it out to be." Ichigo deadpanned. "Hey, quick question, what month is it?"
"I thought I just told you not to talk to me!" Cardin growled. "...and who's the retard now? You really called me one before, when you seriously don't know it's September? We're obviously starting the school year in front of you, dumbass."
"September?" Ichigo ignored the rest. Damn, so this world's time is months off, too. Back on Earth, it was the middle of July, either a couple of months behind, or a good few months ahead. Then again, it should be expected that an alternate dimension's planet would be at a different point in its year. In fact, it was more surprising than anything that they even had the same naming system for months at all. What were the odds? Weren't July and August named after some Roman Emperors? Did they still have those?
A bell rung out, followed by a loud whistle. Cardin, Ichigo and Dove all sat up and twisted around in their seats to clock one of the staff at the holographic booth step out, an older woman with mousey brown hair in a plum-violet blouse under a grey blazer, calling out to the students after registering the last of the relics selected by the final initiate to return. Ichigo had to hand it to them; they'd astutely gone through hundreds of registrants in one sitting, and they were immediately moving on to setting up the assembly. Guess professionalism like that was why these huntsman academies were so renown. The lofty, slate-grey arched doors to the hall opened, and the students all began filing in.
Finally, Ichigo would get to meet this Headmaster guy now. Or at least see him, anyway. He idly wondered how strong he could be expected to be, seeing as how he was supposedly the leader of an entire academy dedicated to slaying monsters. Kinda like the Head Captain, only for a school rather than the entire afterlife. After picking up his massive bandaged blade, he fell into step behind Dove and Cardin, before walking ahead to link up with Jaune and the others. They'd been a lot more helpful to him till now.
"No, not John, it's Jaune, J-A-U-N-E Arc." The blonde spelled out his name as he hounded a staff member, probably a teacher, from the booth earlier. They were scrawling away the correction into a holographic glass tablet in their hand.
"And the chess piece you collected was...?" the man clarified. He was a moustached, dark-brown haired man a black suit, with a livid pink shirt.
"The rook. I already told you when you first saw me." Jaune restated to his annoyance.
"Yes, yes, I was just making sure. It's already written here. You did get that arm checked, didn't you?"
Jaune nodded, "Yeah. After you sent me away from the table the nurse lady re-set it, and she said it should be fine in a few days thanks to the amount of aura I have."
"That's good to hear then. You must have a lot, especially for a first-year. Well, go ahead and line up." with that said, the man walked off down the side of the amphitheatre.
"A few days? For a broken arm?" Ichigo inquired. Not bad. It wasn't instant-regeneration tier or anything, but for a completely broken arm to heal in a few days time was nothing to scoff at.
"He's right. That's pretty fast, Jaune. You should be proud." Pyrrha clapped him on his good arm's shoulder praisingly.
"T-thanks." he stumbled forwards a bit, before catching his balance. "Hey, Ichigo."
"Yo. So this is the assembly hall..." Ichigo took in the impressive circular space they stood in. The glass ceiling, held up by carved arches, allowed more than enough natural light in to illuminate the interior, but more lights, switched off, were set in the floors and walls for use in the later times of the day. The marble floor was adorned with a pattern of large concentric circles from the centre of the room, and a ways up over the walls were nine rows of green bleachers facing the middle. Along the walls were small arching patterns with Beacon's logo inside of them. Opposite the entrance, was a circular stage that rose off the ground just in front of a grand arched gothic feature, that stretched from floor to ceiling. It looked like a miniature church-front, with the emblem of Beacon Academy at its core- a circle with four more circles inside of it, each set in one of the four cardinal directions. White hologram displays were projected from the floor on either side of it.
With the ring of a bell, a blanket of silence settled over the auditorium. And it was then, that Ichigo felt it.
An Arrancar was walking up the stage.
Immediately, he pinpointed its location. A layered soul, of untold tens of thousands of lives, all distilled and folded into one. Ichigo's eyes widened as he took in the appearance of the man on the stage. He had tousled silver hair, on top of a sharp-featured head wearing dark, brass rimmed spectacles -spectacles, not glasses, he definitely seemed like the type of man who'd call them that- over earth-brown eyes. He wore a deep forest-green brass-buttoned vest over an even greener shirt and ascot, which was fastened by a purple-gemmed cross-shaped pin. Over it all, he wore a very, very dark green, borderline-black suit, with a brass belt-buckle at his waist, and black leather dress shoes. He walked with a curiously-designed mechanical cane, but from the swiftness of his gait, he clearly didn't need it.
This was the headmaster of Beacon academy? The man didn't even look forty! ...But then again, his spiritual pressure positively screamed immortal.
Ichigo tuned out the man's speech, and the pictures of four students at a time flashing up on the holograms to whoops and cheers. He was far too engrossed in analysing the man's reiryoku. The strangest was yet to be realised, as Ichigo clocked that, matching his very-much-normal appearance, he wasn't actually an Arrancar- the guy was alive. As in, flesh-and-blood alive. What the hell? He had the concentrated reiryoku of a high-tier menos-class hollow, but it was held down by a Quincy-like physiology. What was this guy?
Ichigo was jolted back to reality and out of his transfixion by the spiteful nudge of Cardin pushing past him to walk up to the stage, behind Dove. The two of them lined up, along with two others Ichigo didn't recognise. Oh, right, they were doing something. Organising teams, and in groups of four, it seemed. Looks like they didn't have to know each other, either. No way all of them just neatly met up in quartets in the forest.
"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark." A firm, grandfatherly tone listed to a smattering of applause.
"The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team DRCL, Driscoll, led by... Dove Bronzewing!"
The clapping reached a crescendo before dying down. Dove's countenance as he stepped down was shallowly sullen in the face of what would surely be a massive hassle for the rest of his school career.
The next set of faces that flashed up were more familiar.
"Jaune Arc. Pyrrha Nikos. Blake Belladonna. Yang Xiao-Long. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces, even in the face of outstanding injury." A cacophonous cheer from the crowd of students met their ascension to the stage.
"From this day forward, you will work together as Team PJYB, Plumb."
The applause swelled far greater than any team had received thus far. It only grew even louder as the Headmaster announced the leader. "Led by... Pyrrha Nikos!"
The auditorium roared with an intense ovation, hurrahs and cheers reverberating through the air at her name. Pyrrha herself paled slightly at her appointment as leader, before she curtseyed to the Headteacher and wiped her shallow frown off her face with a polite smile, as Jaune slapped her on her bronze shoulder playfully. Huh, Ichigo noted; another one who didn't want to be a leader, that made two in a row. Although, with Pyrrha, it was clearly not out of laziness as it was with Dove.
Jaune sidled back into place besides Ichigo, as the final team was announced. It was another quartet of known faces.
"And finally..." the man on stage began, "Lie Ren. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Nora Valkyrie."
The four of them made their way up to the stage, standing proudly beneath their projected visages, looking out at the whooping ovation from the rest of the first-years.
"The four of you bravely retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you shall work together as Team RWRN, Rowan. Led by... Ruby Rose!"
To thunderous applause, Ruby stood shocked at the appointment, before beaming in glee, as Nora glomped a smiling Ren in celebration. Weiss stood to the side, affronted and confused, and Ichigo couldn't blame her.
Wasn't Ruby an entire two years behind everyone else? To pile the responsibilities of a leader, on top of her need to catch up to everyone else in the curriculum was downright ridiculous. Judging by her overeagerness against the giant scorpion earlier that very day, she still had a lot to learn, even if she was a prodigy. Learning on the job was all well and good, but a leader right now would apparently already be expected to take their team on full field missions this year, according to Summer. Could she do it? Maybe.
Should she do it, was another question altogether.
Ichigo didn't like the idea of questioning someone else's strength and resolve, as to do so would truly disrespect what they stood for, but when it came to leading people into battle, and holding their lives in your hands... this was exactly what Mrs Rose had been fearful of. Why would the Headteacher think this was a good idea?
Was this to force her to get stronger? Could it be...?
She's got... a special ability, which not even she's aware of yet. I don't think she fully understands what she's getting into.
Ichigo warily watched the suited man onstage with the thousand-fold layered soul. Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy scanned through the crowd and met his suspicious bicoloured gaze, with a small, knowing tilt to the corners of his lips. He made his final announcement as he spoke into the hidden mic hooked onto his attire.
"Oh, whilst I am up here, may I request an audience with one Ichigo Kurosaki in my office? I must insist we have our meeting immediately, if you would be so kind."
NEXT: 7 -(UN)LIKE CLOCKWORK - [A Requiem]
Author notes:
So here it is, the first set of major changes to canon I've made. Because they had the time to choose whatever pieces they wished, as well as the fact that they all fought together in one big group, the teams and leaders got all mixed up. The cameras do pick up what pieces they grabbed and organise the teams in advance as they go, but the registration booth is just to make sure. I made all this up obviously, because you didn't get to see how they got back there in the actual series. Jaune breaking his arm in initiation, even if he did contribute a strategy, made it clear he wasn't ready to lead and would be better off focusing on improving himself full-time. His plan against the Deathstalker was a bait-and-switch, actually, to make you think he would still be leader. Although, if anything, the one who would benefit from the position just as much is his partner, who needs to learn to make peace with living in the spotlight. Here you go, guy who wanted a interaction-y dialogue-based chapter. If Ichigo seems more chill here, it's because he's a lot less panicked than earlier.
Also, about Cardin and Dove. They'll be minor side characters, not main ones, but I've got a slight idea of some things to do with them. Dove doesn't say a single word, so his personality is free space for me to do what I want, (as long as he would have still followed Cardin if he wasn't the leader), and this setup will let me just skip the entire Vol. 1 bullying story too, for something hopefully more interesting. Also according to the wiki, Dove is the most skilled member of CRDL, so that's the reason he's the leader. Turns out, there were cameras on the bridge, after all, that caught him carrying Cardin's unconscious body for a mile. I probably won't do much with the other two members, though.
Here's the concept art I found and used for the amphitheatre:
[64DOTmediaDOTtumblrDOTcom/41ee40b77cc77cdc4fe3b7cdbed20fbd/tumblr_mr33nk1jNG1qgseqbo3_1280DOTpng]
I've got even more coursework to do soon, so uh, the next chapter will come out at some point, next week-ish. I'm very thankful for the 520+ followers, 380+ favourites and 140+ reviews. This story hit 20,000 views recently, which is a huge amount of people to me, and I'll make sure to keep it up. The meeting is next chapter, btw. Yes, I know it's looked like it was gonna happen immediately, but I'm pretty busy and I needed to set it up, so I broke it into the next chapter. There'll be a big twist there, too.