Yeah, there's nothing to really touch on here.
(Although I should probably not mention this before I begin, I feel like doing it anyway. I saw a comment that was posted a few fours ago talking about the potential direction of this story. I'd like to state that this is not the direction I'm going with for Selena, or anyone else in the cast for that matter. It would be a little ridiculous for Selena to try and bring the Imperial Cult when she's one fucking person dealing with a bunch of people who have no idea who the Emperor is and who are either already religious and thus unwilling to change religions or atheistic and materialistic. Even if these factors weren't at play, that's not the story I'm going for. The fact that I want this story to be somewhat light hearted at times plays into this as well.
Selena's still gonna be fuckin' racist, though. Whether or not that changes… well, you'll have to wait and see.
Selena: "I realise that my desire for the complete genocide of all abhumans is… somewhat despicable."
Blake: "I'm glad to see your more tolerant."
Selena: "That's right Blake, I'm a new woman, with a new policy. I say, from this point forward, that the Imperium should follow a new motto. SEGREGATION NOW, SEGREGATION TOMORROW, AND SEGREGATION FOREVER."
Blake: "...Oh, for fucks sake."
Sorry to disappoint, Ecclesiarchbros, but it's so fucking joever. The Imperium has fallen. Quintillions must die)
Her scroll was dead. In retrospect, it was probably her fault for not charging it before she got on the airship. The chocolate bar that she bought to eat on the flight was missing. It probably dropped out of her pocket… or it was stolen. Either way, her delicious treat was gone. The people around her were too busy talking to each other, meaning they wouldn't bother to have a conversation with her. And no, she wasn't about to strike up a conversation with vomit boy in the corner.
Yang was bored.
Yang was very, very bored.
She groaned, then decided to stretch her legs. Her body was practically begging to get out of the seat at that point, and Yang was more than happy to oblige. Standing up, she walked over to the windows and gazed out the window which overlooked the admittedly beautiful surroundings. Appreciating nature wasn't exactly her thing, but it was probably the only thing she could do.
Her thoughts drifted to her little sister. Ruby was probably having a panic attack in Signal without her. She had a couple of friends, sure, but she stuck around Yang whenever she had a chance. Maybe she'd do alright now that Yang wasn't hogging all the attention, maybe not. Either way, she was gonna miss her, at least until Ruby decided to visit Vale.
She sighed, then she turned to face away from the window. The people inside the airship chatted away as she leaned against the wall. She couldn't pick out anyone she recognised from Signal, nor could she recognise any old friends. She had no doubt in her mind that she could find some friends here. After all, she was Yang Xiao-Long, certified badass and all around bombshell.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone… interesting. A woman leaned against the wall in a similar fashion to Yang. She had short, white hair and purple eyes. Her eyes weren't a vibrant purple like her own, instead being more muted, but still noticeable. The main thing that was notable about her was the bulky suit of white power armour she wore, along with the red robes that lay underneath. Different emblems, all silver, lay across her armour. A sheathed sword lay by her hip, and she could see a gun strapped to the woman's back.
Yang had to admit that some huntsman had a peculiar sense of style. Vomit boy back there looked like a cheap cosplay of a knight, and that weird ginger haired girl she bumped into while getting onboard the airship had a garish looking pink miniskirt.
Yang thought her own outfit was completely a-okay, because she was Yang, for God's sake. She looked good no matter what, and nobody was going to tell her otherwise.
With nothing better to do, she thought it would be a good idea to approach the stranger.
Staying out of everyone's way was surprisingly easy, and most of the people onboard the airship stuck to their own little in-groups. Selena inspected her fellow passengers as she leaned on the wall. Most of the people here wore some outright garish outfits that offered next to no protection. Perhaps they made up for that lack of bodily protection with the 'aura' that Ozpin had mentioned.
The second he mentioned that aura was linked to the soul, Selena was outright furious at the possibility of someone she had little to no knowledge of messing with her very soul. This aura that he mentioned may be useful, but the possibility of it being some form of warp trickery made her reject the idea of unlocking it. She didn't feel anything odd emanate from him or his deputy, but it could merely be hidden in some way.
She tried her best to sense anything strange from the people onboard the airship, all of which should have their aura's unlocked. Nothing felt out of the ordinary, but it could be hidden as she thought before.
It was then that she noticed one of the students approaching her from the other end of the cabin they were in. The woman's purple eyes stuck out to Selena almost instantly. Purple eyes were a common mutation among the people of Cadia, and the fact that her own eyes were a mutation appalled Selena. Luckily, one of her superiors pulled her aside when she was young and told her that her eye colour didn't damn her in the eyes of the Emperor.
It was a good thing that she got that nugget of information, because she was planning to cut her eyes out because they were an insult to the human form. Young Selena was stupid. Very stupid.
"Sup'" Selena's train of thought was instantly derailed as the girl spoke. Selena stopped focusing on the purple eyes and instead took in the rest of her. Long, wavy, bright golden hair flowed down from her head. Her skin was fair, and she wore a smirk on her face. She had a tan jacket, left bare at the midriff, and a yellow crop top underneath. She wore a brown belt, and Selena looked to the-
"Ahem" The girl coughed into her hand. Selena snapped back to the girl's face, quickly trying to erase the skimpy choice of clothing beneath her midriff from memory.
"And you are?" Selena decided to speak. Getting this girl away from her as fast as possible was the best course of action.
"Name's Yang."
"Well, Yang, why are you disturbing my peaceful little corner of this miserable little ship?"
"Boredom." Yang grinned.
"Boredom?" Selena grimaced.
"Yep. I need someone to strike up a conversation with"
"And you picked me." Selena sighed, then put her palm to her forehead. "Can you not pester someone else?"
"...Nope."
Selena groaned, then turned around to look out the window. "So, what's your name?" Yang continued.
"I'm not saying."
"Awwww, come on! I gave you mine…"
"Yes, you did. And?"
"Now you've got to give yours."
"Ugh, fine. My name is Selena. That's all your getting."
"Niiice. So, you from around here?"
"Do you have nothing better to do than ask me random questions?"
"Nope. Also, you can't answer a question with a question."
"I just did."
"Nuh-uh."
"Don't nuh-uh me!"
Yang's grin only got wider. "Nuh-uh."
"If we weren't in a public place, I'd put a bolter round into your kneecap to shut you up. May the God Emperor smite you down!"
"Oh no, don't smite me, Mr God Emperor!" She paused, then smiled. "Oh, wait, I'm an atheist."
Selena gripped the hilt of her bolt pistol. "WHAT MANNER OF HERESY-"
"Attention all passengers, we are on the final approach towards Beacon Academy. Please sit down and put on your sit belts. I repeat-" Selena ignored the voice as she glared at Yang, who just had a smirk the whole time. A few people nearby noticed their conversation, but were too busy doing other things to really care.
"Welp, guess we have to have this conversation another time. Buh-bye." Yang did a mocking wave then walked away. Selena had to resist the urge to put a bolter round through the back of her skull. She sighed, then made her way back to her seat.
Stepping out onto the landing platform, Selena was greeted by the fresh afternoon air. Students walked by, venturing off towards the assembly hall where some speech was supposed to made. She did not care much for the speech, but getting any information she could on this place would be vital.
She began to walk down the path that led to the hall. She didn't see Yang as walked, and she said a silent prayer of thanks to the God Emperor for guiding her away from that bitch. She hoped that any contact with her could be kept to a minimum, because if she had to see that girl one more time then she could not resist the urge to put a bolter round through her skull.
She didn't want to waste any time hiding the body.
Selena moved a little quicker, her thoughts a whirlwind of insults aimed at basically anyone and anything remotely related to this place. Sure, this planet was beautiful. Great. It was a damn shame this world was also the homeworld of a uniquely insulting strain of abhuman, and it was also home to Yang. Yang, Yang, fucking Ya-
Selena didn't even notice the trolley cart full of briefcases in front of her. This lack of attention led to her tripping and falling face first into it. She immediately snapped out of her anger induced trance, before someone shouted at her.
"What are you doing!?" Selena's attention was immediately drawn to the young woman in front of her. The woman's white hair, white dress and pale skin stuck out to Selena. She looked almost… regal. Perhaps she was this planet's version of nobility. "Are you thick!? Do you know how much damage you could of done!?" Her regality did not stop her from shouting down at Selena, and in retrospect, she probably deserved it.
Selena stood up, and the woman checked one of the cases filled with jars. Selena noticed that the jars were full of different coloured powders, and it finally clicked. They contained dust, and judging by the amount of cases the woman brought along, she had a lot of it. Selena coughed into her hand, then spoke in a calm voice. "I'm sorry for the-"
The woman instantly turned her attention towards her. "Sorry? Do you think saying sorry is going to save you from a dust explosion?"
"Wait, Dust can explode?"
"Have you have been living under a rock your whole life? Here…" The woman pulled out a pamphlet titled 'Dust for Dummies' and then she read it out in a monotone voice. "Ahem. The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product. Although not mandatory, the Schnee Family highly encourages their customers to read and familiarize themselves with this easy-to-follow guide to Dust application and practice in the field." She handed it over to Selena. "Here you go. Read it, and never talk to me again."
She was taught at a young age to respect the nobility no matter what, and to do everything they asked, so long as it was not heretical. Selena sighed, and then pocketed the pamphlet in one of her pouches.
"I see. Well, I apologise, Miss…?"
"Weiss Schnee." It was not the woman, or Weiss as she was called, that spoke. Selena and Weiss turned their attention towards the newcomer. The girl who spoke had long, black hair and a strange bow on top of it. Her eyes were yellow, and her skin was somewhat pale. "Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company… infamous for it's controversial labour practices and questionable business partners."
"What!? How dare you!" Weiss shouted in response. She waved to her servant, a bald man with a moustache, before she walked off. Selena could briefly hear her say 'The nerve of some people' as she got further away. The girl next to her shrugged then wandered off.
Selena walked off in the hopes of finding the assembly hall, and she came to a pretty grim conclusion. She was lost. Utterly lost. The fact that there were no maps around certainly didn't help. She walked for a bit until she saw someone.
Thankfully, that someone was not Yang. Sadly, that someone was the failed knight cosplay she saw back on the airship. The blonde haired idiot noticed her and immediately approached. "So, uh, your lost too?"
"Sadly, yes." Selena looked around. "So, any ideas, vomit boy?"
"Vomit boy?" The boy looked confused, then he let out an obviously fake laugh. "Oh, heh, the names Jaune Arc, actually. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it."
"I don't"
"Most ladies love it."
"I highly doubt that, but… okay." The conversation stopped for a second.
Jaune rubbed the back of his head for a second, then came up with something to say. "So, wanna see my sword?" He pulled out a fairly simple sword from his sheathe. "Pretty cool, huh?"
"…Really pushing the knight angle, aren't you?"
"Wait till you see my shield!" He grabbed his sheathe, held it out, and before Selena's eyes it transformed into a shield. "Neat, huh?" He showed off his gear like a giddy child.
"...I mean, kinda…" Selena did have to admit that having a sheathe that could turn into a shield would be useful on the battlefield and when travelling. Having it as a surprise ace in the hole could come in handy. She looked around, and she saw another student walking off towards the main building. "Oh look, someone who knows the way." She decided that they were her best bet of getting to the hall… and getting out of this conversation.
It wasn't like he was completely annoying or anything. If she had to put him on a scale between 1 and Yang, 1 being good and Yang being… well, Yang, she'd put him somewhere around 'Tolerable moron'. She walked off towards the hall, and Jaune decided to follow suite.
Hopefully, Selena wouldn't have to talk with any other idiots when she got there.
Finding the hall was fairly easy, especially after she found someone who actually knew where they were going. Ozpin did his little speech, a rather simple one in all honesty, and everyone was sent off to get changed for what would perhaps be the hardest task in their lives.
Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration. It would be the hardest task in her life.
She had to get a wink of sleep in a hall full of rowdy, stupid, hormonal teens. Selena briefly wondered if this was actually some kind of personal hell for her.
Another problem tonight would be the fact that she wasn't wearing her armour any more. She couldn't exactly sleep in the damn thing, and she didn't want to bet on her chances tomorrow if she came to initiation with a grand total of zero hours of sleep. The man who ran the workshop, Harold Mulberry, promised to keep her armour safe and untouched, and Selena happened to believe he was capable of keeping it from being stolen, or as the man himself put it 'nicked'.
She was in a school full of extremely powerful individuals. She had the right to be a little bit paranoid. A suspicious mind is a healthy mind, after all.
She was now reduced to an olive green tank top and a pair of pants. Her boots and khaki trousers were in one of the lockers. As much as she would of liked to have the more comfortable robes she wore when off duty, lugging them around while in combat would be a bad idea, to say the least. The school provided everyone with a sleeping bag, and Selena carried hers in her arm.
As she tried to find a quite spot to lay down, she kept her eye out for Yang. If the only free spot in this entire hall was next to Yang, she'd either sleep outside or kill her. The latter option would be completely worth it.
It was then that she spotted a familiar face. Well, a familiar bow, at least. The only three students she bothered to remember the names of were Jaune, Weiss and Yang. The girl who argued with Weiss sat in a quiet corner of the hall, and Selena went right up to her. She was reading a book, but Selena didn't care to read it's title.
"Do you mind If I sleep here?" Selena asked politely. The girl turned her attention towards her.
"Sure… I guess."
"Thank you." Selena laid her sleeping bag on the floor, then sat down. "So, what's your name?'' Usually she wouldn't care for the names of her fellow students, which was a weird thing to think about in retrospect. Her, a proud warrior of the Emperor, going back to school. It was almost funny. Almost.
The girl that she spoke to seemed to be the silent type, and to be frank Selena would be glad to have that kind of person as a friend. Friend used very loosely here.
"...Blake, Blake Belladonna."
"Selena Lethyra. You've picked a nice spot."
"Exactly." Blake showed a small, but noticeable, smile. "It's peaceful, it's quiet, it's out of the way-"
"-And your not stuck in the middle of a bunch of rowdy morons."
Blake let out a little chuckle. "Yeah, that too." Selena had to admit, this girl was in a similar headspace to her. Not to disrespect Weiss, but she might have to change that scale she came up with to a scale of Yang to Blake. Selena slipped into her sleeping bag, then she looked back to Blake.
"Well, goodnight-"
"Well, what do we have here?" An outsider decided to join in on the conversation, and Selena instantly recognised that voice.
"Ugggghh." Selena groaned. She had hoped that the conversation with Yang on the airship would be their last. Fate had it out for her, so of course it wasn't. The blonde-haired tumor carried her sleeping bag with her.
Yang turned to Blake, and the girl looked up from her book with her eyebrow raised. "Say, mind if I sleep here?"
"No." Selena and Blake responded in unison.
"Aww, thank you!" Yang lay her sleeping bag on the floor, and Selena briefly wondered if she'd be able to kill the girl in her sleep. If Blake was as sane as she thought she was, then the girl would be wondering the same thing. "So, whatcha reading?"
"Just ignore her and she'll leave." Selena said, and Blake, taking the hint, returned to her book without saying a word to Yang.
"Sooooo, how are you doing?" Yang did a fake smile as she asked.
"Terribly. Now, let me go to sleep. If you don't, your going to wake up at the bottom of a cliff."
"Okie-dokie." Yang gave in way too easily, before slipping into her sleeping bag. "Sweet dreams."
Selena didn't bother to respond, nor did Blake. They both feel asleep soon after.
The day of initiation came, and everyone stood on a cliff that overlooked the Emerald Forest. Each contender was told to stand on a launch platform, and it didn't take too long for everyone to guess why.
Selena stood at the ready on her platform, her hand gripping the hilt of her sword, which still lay in it's sheathe. Her armour and weapons were untouched, and Selena felt a lot safer in them. To her right stood Jaune Arc, who looked a little bit uneasy, to say the least. Selena could not blame the man. Being launched off a cliff with no protection wouldn't bode well for either of them. She had her armour at least, and she was pretty sure that 'aura' thingy that Ozpin talked about would help everyone else safely land. It helped Glynda, after all.
And to her left stood the bane of her existence, Yang Xiao Long. She stood there with a cocky grin, and she exuded an aura of confidence, or as Selena thought it: overconfidence. She talked, as Blake liked to put it, big game, but whether or not her skills were as good as she claimed would be tested today.
Ozpin and Glynda briefly rattled off some information, mostly about the objectives in the forest and the assignment of teams. The first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years, and Selena was already making plans of who to team up with. Weiss and Blake were obviously in the top, and that red headed girl, Pyrrha, wouldn't be a bad choice either. Jaune seemed fine, but that was in comparison to the person she didn't want to be with.
Ozpin told them all to get ready, and everyone did so. Yang looked at Selena, winked, then put on a pair of sunglasses. Selena almost cringed, but she tried to ignore the display of stupidity. Soon, they were off, launching into the air and towards the Emerald Forest. She could hear one of the students, probably Jaune, screaming as he went. She ignored him as she had her own landing strategy to deal with.
The first step was to make sure she could land right next to a tree. Her plan was fairly simple: Use the leaves and branches on the tree to slow down her descent, then find something soft and then land on it. She made that plan up while on the launch pad, but no plan survives contact with the enemy.
She made sure she was falling feet first before she saw what she was heading into. A tree, one thick with leaves, lay ahead. Selena pulled out her sword, preparing herself for what was possibly the stupidest move of her life.
She braced herself as she descended into the treeline. The leaves and branches slowed her descent, and she readied her sword. On the ground, she saw something. A grimm, similar to the ones she fought on the train, was hunting in the forest. It didn't notice her as it walked, but it did notice her when she slammed right into it, feet first. It rolled over from the force of her armoured boots, and it slid right into a tree as Selena fell off it.
"...Owwww." Selena groaned in pain. That fucking hurt, but she was alive. The Grimm… not so much. It went straight off a small ledge, then fell right into a jagged rock. It struggled to get up, but Selena wasn't going to let it walk this off. She pulled out her bolt pistol and fired a round straight into the creatures head. It died instantly.
With her pistol in one hand and her power sword in the other, she set off in search of the ruins… and a decent partner. Blake and Weiss shouldn't be too far off, but finding them and the ruins was going to be a pain. She said a silent prayer to the Emperor as she walked, both of her hands gripping their respective weapons tight.
It was then that she heard a noise. It was the unmistakable sound of gunfire, and Selena rushed towards it. Through the treeline she could see bright flashes of yellow, and she could hear the death shrills of the Grimm. She dared to hope that the unknown combatant was Weiss or Blake.
Hope was the first step on the road to disappointment.
Selena rushed into the clearing where the battle was just ending. It was there, in that little clearing, that her day went from bad to worse. Blonde hair and purple eyes met her as she stopped dead in her tracks.
Yang looked to Selena. They both looked at each other for what felt like a minute, before the situation truly dawned on the sister of battle.
"Hi." Yang said with a cheerful voice and a shit eating grin.
"...FUUUUUUUUUUUUU-" Selena screamed.
A flock of birds darted out of the forest in reaction to a loud scream, which could be heard from the cliffs above the forest. Ozpin sipped on his coffee as he watched the encounter between Yang and Selena through one of the hidden cameras in the forest.
"Well, this is going to be interesting…"
And that's that. This chapter took me too fucking long to make. That's what happens when you procrastinate for too long (I've been playing too much Dark Crusade. The Word Bearers aren't going to lead themselves.) That's probably why I barely bothered to go that deep into descriptions. You watched the show, you know how their outfits look for fucks sake.
I hope I set up some of the early relationships well in this chapter. Selena hates Yang, Yang messes with Selena for the lulz. Selena tolerates Weiss and Blake because both have more than two braincells. You get the idea, and I hope I kept Selena consistent.
I should probably add a bit of reasoning as to why Selena hasn't decided to go berserk on these heretics. Basic pragmatism. She is out of contact with her entire force, and as far as she's concerned, certain impulses (Of the shooty-stabby variety) have to be quelled in pursuit of any survivors (Although if she can hide the body, then that's fair game). If it means dealing with a shady fuck like Ozpin, then so be it. If it means letting Yang insult the Emperor (Even if it's indirect), then that can be corrected when she brings the full brunt of the girls in to fuck them heretics up.
Anyway, expect the next chapter within the week. And if I don't write again (Or I get banned for that beginning tidbit. Holy shit, why the fuck did I make a segregation reference. What the fuck), then good afternoon, good evening and goodnight!