When heroes are formed, there is no way to know their origin, the purest person can become the most cynical beast, and the most despicable one can become the hero of humanity, that is not decided by the world or destiny. , if not, ourselves
Darkness can only be eradicated with the birth of light, turning into one, demonstrating the beauty of the human being, the constant capacity for change.
A white-haired man walked slowly at the foot of the castle entrance, his steps at a low but sure pace, each second proving to be heavier than the last, without really seeing himself able to support the burden that was consuming him right now.
A vile roar from a Grimm echoed throughout Beacon, the young man turned slightly to see him from the corner of his eye, revealing his crimson irises, his albino hair swaying slightly in the wind, before he began the fight against destiny
More beasts appeared around, Grimm, from the smallest to the biggest, feeling attracted by the presence of that human still standing, which did not take long to move.
A beowolf began to trot towards the white-haired man, the human raised his hand slightly, a circle made of white energy with a pattern, glyph, the man's hand entered the symbol, taking out a scythe made of white energy in its purest form . , he brandished the weapon, elegantly showing the upper blade and the smaller one at the other end.
The beowolf could not react when the human moved almost like a bullet, piercing him into pieces, which alerted the rest of the Grimms, who began to approach more aggressively.
The boy used another glyph, thrusting his hand in and pulling it out at incredible speed, revealing a metal sword with a red handle, the sword that once belonged to a hunter some time ago... Qrow Branwen
The white-haired man brandished the weapon with ease and began to move with skill, passing through the Grimm with ease, Nevermore, Death Stalker, they all fell with the same speed, the human's gaze was always the same, one of complete calm.
A trio of Ursas ran and roared at him, jumping and extending their arms upward to strike him mortally. The white-haired man looked at them in time, his sword quickly transformed into a scythe and as if it were paper, he cut the Grimm down half, making them fall and disappear
He looked at the rest of the beasts of all kinds, even Megoliaths were approaching him, the human shook slightly, turning around to start walking again to what had once been his academy, each step he climbed was another scream from the beasts. dark, which could not pass
The white-haired man created even more glyphs, which summoned all kinds of weapons, from the smallest to the heaviest, hammers...scythes, swords, all weapons were used as a shield behind his back, stopping the Grimm, like if it were a magic wall
The human finally entered, the silence completely embraced the place, the man walked until he was in front of a throne, made of marble and with a red blanket, which prevented him from looking at it any longer, although he quickly composed himself.
The white-haired man finally sat on the throne, looking at the enormous door that saw him pass and that was the connection between the Grimm and the abandoned academy, soon, everything would end.
...
The city of Vale was completely illuminated due to the sunlight, the citizens walked calmly through the streets, attending to their business and living their own lives.
In the distance, the Schnee Corporation building blocked sunlight easily, even in the middle of the day, the Schnee family symbol emblazoned on the top was able to illuminate and blind anyone who saw it for a long time.
But the most important thing was undoubtedly the overwhelming presence of the Beacon academy, its structure continued to be as impressive as it had been 25 years ago, giving a strange feeling to the young people who aspired to study there.
Waylon Branwen blurred his eyes and focused on his own reflection in the window of the back of his mother's car, Winter's Howl, the boy's hair continuing his trademark snow-like white, his eyes infused into a red iris that were able to show his emotions.
Waylon turned his head slightly forward, meeting the figure of his mother at the wheel, Winter Schnee had acquired an appearance certainly more mature and menacing than in her younger years, some wrinkles present on her face gave away her age, although many people would continue to claim that she was still incredibly attractive.
Winter wore a black corporate suit, her white hair tied in a ponytail, her face did not show any traces of makeup, which caused the dark bags under her eyes to be somewhat visible, although her son had already become accustomed to seeing her this way.
At least when they saw each other, which was not very often.
Winter broke the silence in her car, looking at her son in the rearview mirror.
"You're quiet" Winter broke the silence in her car, looking at her son in the rearview mirror "Are you planning the initiation?"
"The drop strategy, evaluate my future teammates, make sure I'm the leader" Waylon replied, as if reciting the shopping list "You were a team leader at my age, weren't you?"
"I was" Winter replied with a slight hint of nostalgia, though neutrality continued to dominate in her tone of voice "Remember our training, the combat strategies you can adapt to... I hope you apply what I teach you"
"Of course, mom" Waylon did not continue with the conversation, feeling slightly uncomfortable with his mother's words, for some reason he had expected her to give him some words of encouragement or similar, the disappointment on his face was something that Winter passed by.
Winter turned the steering wheel to the right, rocking the entire vehicle in that same direction and increasing speed once more, she calmly activated her car radio, waiting to hear the morning news.
Soon, the voice of an adult woman was present, Lisa Lavender spoke with her characteristic dry tone, one that she had not lost over the years:
Black Fang has started attacking small towns and villages under construction in the Mistrali territory, the authorities of the kingdom claim that the problem will be solved sooner rather than later, Ghira Belladonna decided not to give his opinion on this new pro-faunus movement in Mistral, apparently, he does not want to fully relate it to the White Fang, Black Fang has already taken a worrying percentage of the Mistrali territory, although it is still not a problem for Vale or any other kingdom at the moment.
Schnee Corporations has begun the production of weapons automated by artificial intelligence, the famous company created by Winter Schnee with the collaboration of the deceased Pietro Polendina has been known worldwide for its contributions to Atlas' military technology and in the advances of prostheses capable of acting as real limbs with ease, however, the controversies around the-
Winter turned off the device with a somewhat aggressive gesture, she intinately looked back at the rearview mirror, finding once again her son, who was holding a small white sword of the size of his index finger, the woman calmed down with a muffled sigh, continuing on the road while holding the steering wheel of the car.
Waylon looked at the small sword curiously, his glyphs had a particularity that no other Schnee possessed, his semblance had already evolved, but he could not summon the Grimms he defeated, instead, he could summon replicas of the weapons of the enemies he had defeated.
The rules seemed to be simple indeed, Waylon had to defeat his opponent and he had to be with his weapon in hand, once defeated, Waylon was able to summon an exact copy of the weapon that his opponent had been using when was defeated.
This change had affected him at a very young age, Winter Schnee seemed to be more than delighted with the semblance of her son, so she subjected him to arduous and demanding training in terms of energy, which had ended up exploiting the boy's talent.
It was the best that the Schnee family could have given, his potential could take him to very important places, his mother had made it clear to him.
Waylon was forced to defeat his own father, Qrow Branwen, as a way to test his training and to obtain a weapon more in line with his abilities, defeating the man was not an easy task, and the red-eye could claim that his father had largely restrained himself in their fight, but still, Winter had settled for the result, the boy's first real weapon in his arsenal would be the same miniature sword he holds right now, Harbinger.
Winter stopped the car suddenly, causing Waylon to look away from his small copy of Harbinger, the boy looked outside once more, noticing the port in front of the car, multiple Beacon aircraft parked firmly on the concrete floor, while dozens of students raised their arms trying to reach the aerial vehicles.
"Weiss called me a while ago, Roy is on his way" Winter spoke as she opened the driver's door, going outside while her son replicated that same action "Qrow told me that Bryan lives here in town, make sure you treat them with respect, the last thing I want is-"
"The last thing you want is more trouble, I know" Waylon replied with some irritation, quickly noticing the tone of voice he had used with his own mother, he decided to quickly retract "I'm sorry, mom, I promise to be... cooperative, with them"
"…Fine" Winter replied with a grimace, staring at the aircraft that was descending forcefully towards the harbor "I expect great things from you, son, I don't want you to disappoint me."
"I won't" Waylon lowered his head gently, arranging his jacket on his shoulders, began to walk towards the airship, being forced to push several young people in the process, it didn't take long for him to reach the platform into the vehicle, practically welcoming him to his new life.
Waylon looked back one last time, finding that his mother was already gone, the boy bit his lip in some despair, finally climbing into the airship as he wished he had told his mother more.
...
"BRYAN, THE AIRSHIPS ARE ALREADY LEAVING!" A feminine scream echoed throughout the Xiao Long/Belladonna residence, a blonde boy with cat ears jumped out of his bed due to his mother's sudden observation, Bryan Xiao Long opened his eyes with some heaviness, finding his room messy and dusty.
Bryan is a blonde boy with cat ears, the son of Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna, his eyes are a lilac color exactly like his blonde mother's, while his hair had a shape more similar to that of his faunus mother.
The door to his room was practically knocked to the ground due to Yang's sudden interruption, the woman still looked quite similar to how she looked in her youth, although her body was clearly more toned, apart from some certainly pronounced bags under her eyes.
Bryan opened his mouth, yawning somewhat tiredly "Good morning-"
"GOOD MORNING?! GOOD MORNING?! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR THE DAMN AIRSHIP, WINTER JUST CALLED ME, WAYLON'S ALREADY THERE!" Yang screamed in her son's ear, the boy gently moved away from his mother, feeling a somewhat persistent pain in his eardrum and taking a few seconds to process his mother's words.
"Waylon...Waylon? WAYLON!" Bryan felt a sudden surge of energy, in an agile movement like a cat, he dressed in his brown jacket and his yellow scarf, quickly left his room with his mother, going down the stairs to the first floor.
Blake Belladonna turned to see her wife and son begin to run around the house in an erratic and unsafe manner, the faunus woman returned her attention to her little daughter, Kirina Xiao Long, bringing a spoon with vegetables to the little girl's mouth.
"Kirinaaaa, open your mouth" Blake smiled as she hummed her daughter's name, the little baby with black hair and cat ears seemed to completely ignore her mother's attempt to feed her, preferring to watch her older brother and another mother argue.
"WHERE ARE THE GAUNTLETS AND THE BOOTS? IT WAS A GIFT FROM YOUR GRANDFATHER BRYAN, HOW THE HELL DID YOU LOSE THAT?" Yang grabbed her son by his shoulders, looking at him for answers, the boy didn't seem to find a way to order his words, so he responded, also raising his voice.
"IT'S NOT MY FAULT THAT WEAPONS ARE ALWAYS LOST IN THIS HOUSE, EVEN YOUR ARM HAS BEEN LOST BETWEEN THIS FURNITURE" The boy received a powerful blow to the face from his mother, sending him to the ground and leaving him on the brink of death, Blake shook her head, clearly disappointed and a little amused.
"Deathraze is here" Blake caught the attention of Bryan and Yang, the black-haired woman put her hand inside a small basket that was supposed to have fruits, taking out a pair of gold-colored gauntlets with the Taiyang symbol drawn on the back"I didn't know where else to put it, you always lock yourself in your room to do who knows what"
"I'm trying to stop Kirina from killing someone with those things, what if her semblance ends up being telekinesis and she uses my gauntlets?" Bryan seemed genuinely convinced of his hypothesis, Blake raised her eyebrows at her son, raising her hand and moving it back and forth.
"Yang, could you go to the supermarket and buy diapers and baby powder? Kirina is very demanding" Blake spoke to her wife calmly and slowly, Yang nodded aggressively, grabbing her son's gauntlets and throwing them on him, and then taking out the boots from the same basket, forcing his son to put them on.
Yang didn't take a second to approach Blake and plant a goodbye kiss on her lips, she took her son by the arm and led him to the entrance, grabbing a helmet with flame decals and roughly putting it on his head, while Bryan He repeated the same action with a yellow helmet with cat ears on top.
Mother and son left the house without looking back, they quickly fixed their gaze on Yang's motorcycle, Bumblebee, completely ready to be used and in perfect condition, the woman jumped over the fence of her yard and climbed on top of the vehicle, Bryan stood up, he sat behind his mother, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Yang started the motorcycle and accelerated in an instant, beginning to navigate the streets of the city with agility and technique, Bryan closed his eyes even if the helmet protected his face from the air, feeling somewhat afraid of how incredibly risky his mother was when it came to time to drive.
Even more so if he was going to be late for the initiation at Beacon.
Bryan also felt a deep emotion, partially because he would finally put Signal's training into practice and finish off Beowolves and Ursas like they were dry twigs.
Mostly, because he could finally be reunited with his cousins, Waylon Branwen and Roy Schnee.
It had been years since Bryan and Waylon had last played together, perhaps due to his sudden interest in training exhaustively until his bones ached, the blonde faunus was both upset and happy to be reunited with his cousin/uncle, he even wanted to rehearse a little what he would say to him when they met again.
Was it nice to leave me alone for 6 long years? How strong are you now? Do you have a girlfriend? Will you put me aside again as if I were a burden? There were many questions in Bryan's mind and the answers were certainly few, which made him feel considerably irritated.
He and Roy still maintained contact, even if the young Schnee was in the distant and cold Atlas, the Neo-Scroll and the CCT tower of Beacon did an exceptional job of creating stable communication between Vale and the rest of the kingdoms, Bryan and Roy had barely spoken yesterday, confessing how excited they would be to meet at the academy and how strange it would be to see Waylon after so many years since the three of them met.
Bryan screamed in shock when Bumblebee stopped suddenly, skidding hard on the cement and knocking the cat faunus towards the concrete and causing it to spin multiple times on the ground, staying face down while Yang simply screamed into the air when she realized that there were still airships leaving for Beacon.
"We did it, yes, we are the best" Yang gasped for air, moving erratically towards her son and lifting him forcefully by the arms, managing to get him to his feet.
Bryan exchanged his gaze between the airship and his mother, the woman quickly pointed to the enormous aerial vehicle and gave her son a quick kiss on the cheek, pushing him forcefully forward.
Bryan smiled with emotion, giving his mother one last look and climbing towards the aircraft about to take off, sitting on the ground while the vehicle took off into the air.
Here, his true story would begin.
...
Roy Schnee looked with some nervousness at the city of Vale from the personal airship of Weiss Schnee and Jaune Schnee, previously Arc, the enormous metropolis was clearly inferior in technology and size compared to that of Atlas, but it was an almost completely new world for the white-haired young man, it had been a long time since he visited Vale, and he only went to his cousin Waylon's house to spend time with him and Bryan, and sometimes Neithan also joined.
Roy turned from his seat with some hesitation, finding his mother's gaze fixed on him, along with a rather big smile on her face, which made him feel quite nervous from one moment to the next.
Roy tried to find something else to distract himself with, his nervous eyes ended up landing on his personalized rapier, which would be the main weapon he would use for the next 4 years in Beacon, the metal of the blade was certainly polished, the handle had a cylindrical shape and comfortable to be held easily by practically anyone, in the handle of the weapon there was also a fairly basic and simple Dust magazine, with just a capacity of 3 spaces for crystals of any type.
"Beacon, I really hoped you would go to Atlas Academy like your Aunt Winter did, but you decided to come here" Weiss Schnee addressed her son with emotion and joy, something that was relatively strange, since she almost always didn't let her feelings be "Your father could have studied in Haven, you know? It seems like Beacon has something to attract every Remnant dreamer..."
Roy swallowed with some difficulty, fixing his gaze on the somewhat long briefcase that his mother had in her lap "I guess the weather is a lot nicer than the one at home"
"You certainly don't freeze to death at night here, you should take care of the girls and boys in this place...believe me, the first thing your father did when he saw me was harass me" Weiss commented without any kind of shame, leaning back on "Waylon got there before Bryan, pretty interesting, don't you think?"
Roy felt his voice leave him for a second, the mention of his cousin almost always used to have that effect on him, Jaune and Weiss used to theorize that perhaps Waylon had made his priorities clear in his training to Roy several years ago, perhaps they had a somewhat ugly argument and that is why neither of them asks to see the other, although the real reason is somewhat more complex.
Roy looked at his own hands for a few seconds, even if his mother had been a tank of talent in his youth, and his father had been blessed with quite a bit of aura, he was much weaker than one would expect from someone with the Arc genes/Schnee in his body, his aura was certainly easy to break, his resistance when fighting was deplorable, in addition to his ability to use the rapier had some very important gaps, which caused his combat style to not be exactly excellent either.
Waylon was the complete opposite, being just a child he unlocked his glyphs and his aura, his skill with the sword was enviable for any aspiring hunter, his training was supervised and supported by Qrow Branwen, which made his constant growth even easier, Weiss had tried training with her son a couple of times, but being part of Atlas's council takes up a lot of time, perhaps more than she cares to admit.
Roy felt that Waylon saw him as a burden, they had not spoken for 6 long years, they were barely 10 at the time, Waylon had lost control and stated to Roy that perhaps his destiny was not to be a Huntsman, stating that it was better that he stopped being an obstacle in his way.
Waylon and Roy had barely trained a couple of times by then, the young Branwen was vastly superior in every way, even if they were too young children, the decision seemed to take even more strength in the coming years, now they were more mature teenagers, but neither had the courage to talk to the other to reconnect.
"Roy" Weiss called to her son, causing him to look up at him "I want to give you something that is important to me, but that will serve you more than me"
Weiss took the briefcase and lifted the locks with ease, the lid opened in an instant, revealing the legendary Myrtenaster placed upright on a red cotton mold, some Dust crystals located at its side to accompany it, the rapier looked in perfect condition, even if it had been used to defeat Salem itself 25 long years ago.
Roy opened his mouth in shock, without finding any vestige of his voice, Weiss only laughed, bringing the briefcase closer to her son and leaving it in his hands.
"I know that your skill with the rapier is not the best, and that I couldn't do the best job training you either" Weiss stated, her cheerful face becoming a more serious one, although that only lasted a few seconds "I would like you to use it during your stay at Beacon, it would make me very happy"
Roy felt a solitary tear leave his eye, he quickly wiped his cheek, trying not to let his mother see how incredibly deep his words reached him, Weiss didn't take another second to surround her son's body and hug him deeply with affection.
Roy reluctantly separated from his mother, taking a quick look at the new rapier he had in his hands, Myrtenaster was a complicated weapon to use that needed technique, his old rapier, to which he dedicated another analytical review, could not even compete with Myrtenaster's extraordinary resistance and versatility, it would be a miracle if he managed to completely master the weapon just as his mother had done in the past.
The airship stopped suddenly when it met the ground outside Beacon Academy, Roy crawled in his seat a couple of centimeters, quickly getting up to check the outside from the windows, finding himself with an entire crowd of students from Beacon of all sizes and all styles, there was nothing less to expect from the most popular academy in all of Remnant.
The door of the airship detached from the top, descending slowly until it hit the ground, Roy swallowed once again with difficulty, looking at his mother somewhat doubtfully, finding a feeling of determination in the woman's eyes. .
"I trust you, Roy Schnee, show them what you're made of"
...
February 5, 4115, The previous night
Felicia Torchwick walked through the streets of the city of Vale, the night gave a new and certainly more welcoming atmosphere to the place, the lamps next to the shattered moon were the only sources of light that illuminated the closed establishments, while those that even though they remained open, they managed to create their own light to make themselves seen by the world.
Felicia raised her magic wand while pointing to her two lackeys, a pair of bandits from the Branwen tribe who had been assigned to her very recently, she was not a big fan of working with novices, they ruined the show with their inexperience and lack of practice, but she had no choice but to endure them and guide them.
"We stole the Lien, we stole the Dust, and we left a little surprise on the counter for that girl" Felicia indicated, pointing towards the From Dust Till Dawn store, especially to the apparently young girl who was serving it.
Felicia looked at herself in the reflection of the glass of the store itself, her black hair with green lines looked as well-kept as always, her magician's hat gave her a mysterious touch, while her black cape on the outside and inside with a dark green completely complemented her mage-like appearance, which always made her smile.
She didn't wait another second and pushed the glass door framed with wood, the girl behind the counter stared at both 2 meter tall bandits and the female magician for a couple of seconds, certainly feeling uncomfortable by their sudden appearance, normally there was no one buying Dust-
"Do you know how difficult it is to find a Dust store open at this time?" Felicia said, almost as if she were reading the girl's mind, the black-haired woman took out a letter with a black hat drawn on it, placing it on the counter, the girl grabbed her brown hair nervously, trying to think of a valid answer.
"My grandfather used to run the store and keep it open at these hours, do you want to?-" The girl tried to sound friendly as she lowered her hand towards the panic button located under the counter, Felicia put her hand in the side of her cloak and taking out a fairly basic pistol, but one that would do the job, the brunette quickly raised her hands in the air, her face showing the sudden fear that now flooded her body.
"Do you want the Lien? The box is here" The brunette didn't take another second and pushed the cash register towards Felicia. The magician woman smiled pleased, staring at the badge that the girl had on her chest.
"Thank you for your cooperation, Sophie" Felicia used the name of the chestnut, pushing the letter that she had placed earlier on the wooden surface, suddenly the cardboard deformed in front of Sophie, transforming into a completely empty bag of potatoes.
Felicia just snapped her fingers, she repeated the same action as before, this time, she took out two cylinders to collect Dust, giving one to each bandit, and then pointed to the Dust tubes located on the side of the store "We don't have all night, boys, and you, Sophie, put the Lien in the bag, and crystals, why not?"
Felicia just leaned on the counter while Sophie made her demands, even if she was shaking very hard, one of the bandits finished filling the cylinder of Fire Dust, he looked at the now reddish object with some neutrality, removing it from his sight, he can see someone on the other side of the store.
He seemed to be young, somewhat short, he was wearing a black jacket with reddish details, especially a rose printed on the back, the bandit frowned, approaching the teenager at an annoying pace.
"Hey" He began by simply calling him, however, the boy did not seem to listen as he read some comics in his hand, the bandit noticed that his hair was black with some deep red strands, which became quite familiar to him, although he couldn't remember where I had seen someone like that.
It didn't take him long to realize that the black-haired boy was wearing a pair of small headphones, the bandit growled with irritation and simply ripped both devices out of the boy's ears, and he turned around in confusion.
"Something happens?" The boy asked, his silver eyes showing no apparent sign of annoyance, the bandit let out a humorless laugh, looking more offended than intimidating.
"We're robbing this store, kid, give me all the money you have and go home, or else..." The bandit lowered his hand to his hip, showing that he had a sheathed knife hanging from his pants, the silver-eyed nodded, understanding what was happening.
Felicia looked up when the window of the store was completely destroyed with force, she moved slowly to the side to see what it could have been, finding the bandit who accompanied her lying on the floor, his back unable to touch the ground, due to because the long blade of a scythe seemed to have previously hooked him.
Felicia was surprised to see a teenager with black hair with red tips and silver eyes, her mind quickly began to work, she definitely knew him, in the files she had read in the tribe...
"Neithan Rose!" Felicia said out loud, almost as if she was satisfied that she had managed to remember his name, the woman slapped the other bandit on the back, pointing ahead "This boy is more dangerous than he looks, Graves, do me a favor and teach him a lesson"
The bandit now known as Graves nodded at Felicia's orders, the bald man jumped outwards, feeling his boots shatter the pieces of glass on the ground even more, his gaze fixed on Neithan, who raised his scythe in the air.
Graves prepared for a frontal attack, however, his surprise was unwelcome when his clothes began to catch fire, the man began to scream high-pitched, running away from the sight of Felicia and Neithan in search of some way to put it out the flames
"...Well, that's disappointing" Felicia shrugged, brushing it off and firing her gun at the boy, the steel pellet ended up hitting the blade of the scythe, Neithan didn't seem to want to waste time, he pushed forward and tried to cut Felicia in half, the woman jumped at the right moment, stepping hard on the weapon while grunting from the effort.
"Do you want an animal made of balloons?" She asked, causing the boy to raise his eyebrow, Felicia took a handkerchief from her pants pocket, transforming it into a metal sphere with a red dot similar to a button, the woman pressed the mechanism with some force, throwing the ball towards Neithan, exploding in the air.
Felicia had to jump back when the gray edge of the boy's scythe crossed very close to her face. The woman took a couple of steps back, twirling her magician's wand a couple of times "Really, that bomb didn't make you nothing?"
Neithan did not respond, his frown was the only response Felicia received, the boy's aura flickered a few times, creating a smile on the woman's face, which created a staff in a matter of seconds.
"Your semblance is to create objects" Neithan finally spoke, Felicia felt somewhat surprised by how young he sounded, wasn't he supposed to study at Beacon? "Melodic Cudgel...are you Felicia Torchwick?"
"Bingo" Felicia responded, raising the baton in the air and activating a simple mechanism, a peephole appeared at the top of the elongated object, while the lid at the bottom opened in an instant, letting out a bullet in the direction of the boy.
Neithan again placed his scythe in front of him to block the attack, he imposed himself with his legs when he found a ground advantage over Felicia, he raised his weapon in the air and let it fall with force on the woman, the black-haired woman placed her cane in diagonal direction, repelling the attack and sending the scythe backwards in a somewhat strange way.
Felicia took a quick stride and hit the boy's leg hard, forcing him to kneel on the ground, the black-haired woman raised the cane a couple of centimeters above her head, impacting the incredibly strong material squarely on the boy's face, causing his aura to flicker alarmingly again.
"Okay...come here" Felicia walked up to Neithan's back and grabbed his hands quite tightly, the boy could hear a metallic jingling sound from the woman, he turned his head as best he could without breaking his neck in the process, finding his hands now cuffed with aura dampers.
"Hey!" Neithan screamed, certainly alarmed, trying to push the woman away from his back, Felicia delivered a precise blow to the teenager's lower back, causing him a sharp, stinging pain for a couple of seconds, the woman returned to her feet looking with some irritation at the bandit that Neithan himself had managed to knock out.
"You certainly know how to make a mess, red" Felicia winked at the boy, approaching her unconscious henchman and giving him a violent blow to the throat, the man woke up alarmed and completely dazed, beginning to choke on his own blood that was released from inside his body.
Neithan felt panic begin to flood his body, his hands moved strongly to the opposite sides, trying in some way to break the aura cushion that kept him on the ground, he stopped when he heard a somewhat loud bang coming from the direction of Felicia, forcing him to take a look.
A smile began to appear on the boy's lips, the glorious figure of Ruby Rose seemed to completely eclipse any light that tried to compare with the way the boy looked at his own mother at this moment, a kind of guardian angel that came to his rescue.
Ruby quickly made sure her son was okay with a simple glance at his happy face and the aura dampers on his wrists, a relieved sigh left the woman's lips, who had to move to the side to avoid a painful blow from Felicia.
"I don't really like surprises, the show must be planned in advance, Miss Rose" Felicia clutched her stomach with some pain, trying with all her might to calm the unbearable sensation she felt in her body due to the direct hit of the handle by Crescent Rose.
Ruby frowned, raising her scythe and pointing it at the other woman "I know you have no honor, Torchwick, but fighting a teenager? Really?"
"Mom! I'm still here!" Neithan could feel an uncomfortable heat rise to his cheeks, Ruby simply ignored the certainly offended tone of her son and focused fully on Felicia, waiting for a movement from the black-haired woman.
Felicia seemed to have a sudden outburst of anger, she raised the cane strongly and fired a series of bullets towards Ruby, the Huntress barely had to make an effort to be able to dodge the pellets without receiving any type of damage, Felicia quickly created a bag of marbles of glass, throwing the multiple objects towards Ruby's feet, forcing the latter to use her semblance to avoid slipping.
Ruby materialized again in front of Felicia, delivering a powerful punch to her face and completely destabilizing her, Crescent Rose slammed into the ground hard, destroying the cement of the street as if it were butter, Ruby pulled hard on the handle of her weapon and tried to cut the magician in half, Felicia managed to roll to her side, managing to save herself from the embarrassment of having a scar in more private parts.
Felicia looked at Neithan angrily, stood up somewhat clumsily and rushed towards the teenager, standing next to him and hovering over him, Melodic Cudgel rose into the air for an instant, descending forcefully towards the throat of the defenseless boy.
Felicia smiled when her staff met Crescent Rose's blade, the mage took advantage of Ruby's defensive position and created other aura buffers again, managing to handcuff the Huntress in an agile movement, throwing her to the ground forcefully next to her scythe.
Ruby grunted in pain as her face collided somewhat violently with the concrete, her silver eyes flitted angrily around the buildings, meeting Felicia once again, Ruby made an attempt to remove the handcuffs from her hands, finding herself faced with the fact that that there would only be an ugly mark left if she tried to do that.
Felicia's aura flickered a couple of times, the mage gasped for air while holding on to her staff, her eyes landed once again on Ruby, approaching her slowly, she simply kicked her head with little force, although, without aura, the Huntress felt the blow as something much more painful than it should have.
Felicia looked one last time at the bandit still lying on the ground, finding that he was still alive, the woman simply raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth "Slate, let's get out of here, Graves will arrive at the territory...I'm sure."
Ruby gasped loudly as she listened to Slate and Felicia's footsteps, indicating their retreat from the scene, the Huntress managed to stand up with some effort, approaching her son with difficulty and falling to her knees next to him, grabbing his hands and trying to do something about the shock absorbers that tied him down.
"Are you angry?" Neithan asked quietly, the growl Ruby gave in response simply confirmed his suspicions "I thought you were in Vacuo...did your mission end earlier than expected?"
"I finished my mission so I could come see you and your father for a few days before finding a new mission" Ruby complained as she worked on the bolt on the shock absorbers, moaning loudly as she found herself unable to do anything "Damn it...this thing doesn't open!"
"Call the police" Neithan suggested, receiving a firm squeeze on the wrist from his mother, silencing him immediately.
"I swear I wasn't even that stupid at your age" Ruby sounded incredibly upset, even if she usually had a happy and even somewhat distracted personality, when it came time to put her skills as a Huntress into practice she was an almost different person, the precision with which she worked was enviable, she was practically the best of her entire generation, watching her kill Grimm was a delight and an art, so Neithan was more than aware of how careful he had to be if his mother was of a somewhat temperamental nature.
"...I'll call your father" Ruby let go of the boy's hands with one last growl, crawling closer to her son and grabbing his wrist, the small square-shaped watch emitting a display of light as Ruby pressed a simple button, the woman navigated the interface until she reached her husband's contact.
Oscar Pine.
...
"Do you know how incredibly dangerous it could have been if she fought you, seriously, Neith? The only reason you're not dead is because the girl at the store issued an alert nearby" Ruby Rose scolded her son with a strong and somewhat disappointed tone, even if her voice was somewhat squeaky, it was still somewhat terrifying when she was upset.
"I couldn't let them hurt that poor girl" Neithan responded a little slowly, trying not to upset his mother "Aren't I supposed to be at Signal to learn how to be a hunter?"
"You're 14, Neithan, 14 YEARS OLD" Ruby commented, tapping her palm with her finger to emphasize her point. "...If you mention that I did the same thing with Roman Torchwick when I was your age, you'll be grounded for one month"
Neithan closed her mouth at that precise moment, Ruby was an incredibly capable mother even with all the tasks she put on her hands, the last time she had gone months without taking missions was when she became pregnant with him, the huntress was always doing something, taking on high-risk missions throughout Remnant or helping her husband with the odd extracurricular activity, Neithan was always trying to be like his mother, so these kinds of outbursts where he put herself in danger weren't exactly something new.
Felicia Torchwick was one of the most important missions that Ruby had on hand, basically, catching her would be more than enough to obtain two juicy rewards in the woman's eyes, a lot of Lien, and a well-deserved vacation from her profession, perhaps a couple of months, or even a whole year, she was definitely very tired.
There was something behind that woman that made Ruby lose her mind at times, perhaps because, apparently, her father was the same Roman Torchwick that she saw being devoured by a Griffon, and it would make sense, apparently, because the talent to cause evil it was practically the same.
Multiple Dust stores had been robbed in the last few months, Felicia Torchwick was always seen at crime scenes, normal Huntsmen were not able to stand up to a criminal with the power to create anything, she was incredibly powerful and dangerous in equal measure, that's why Ruby took it upon herself to catch her and put her behind bars.
Maybe she wouldn't end up dead like Roman.
The door opened suddenly, Neithan and Ruby stopped to see who had interrupted the silent mother and son talk, finding Oscar Pine, quite calm.
"Ruby, I didn't expect to see you back so soon" Oscar smiled softly as he came across the beautiful image of his wife, in his eyes, clearly, Ruby had her hair completely ruined due to sweat, some cuts visible on her face and a look of irritation and worry that could take away anyone's will to live, although it only made him fall in love even more "Did Neithan get in trouble again?"
"A big trouble" Ruby clarified, standing next to her son sitting in front of the metal chair, pointing at him accusingly "I fought alone against Felicia Torchwick, he didn't call absolutely anyone! Not Yang, not Blake, even his uncle Qrow could have come flying if he wanted to"
"They were robbing that store, I couldn't just stand by, you would have done the same thing as me!" Neithan responded in a certainly apprehensive and unfriendly tone, Ruby resisted with her best efforts the urge to scold her son again, beginning to walk in circles once again.
"Tomorrow the Beacon initiation tests begin, I already received confirmation that Waylon, Bryan and Roy will be there" Oscar commented, ignoring for a moment his wife's clear bad mood "...Ruby, I wanted to discuss something with you in Neo-Scroll, but now that you're here..."
Ruby raised an eyebrow, finally stopping and looking at her husband suspiciously "...Do you want me to be a teacher?"
"No, no" Oscar shook his head, drawing a sigh of relief from Ruby "I thought Neithan could skip his two missing years at Signal and show up at Beacon tomorrow"
"WHAT?!?" Mother and son seemed to be equally surprised by the man's proposal, Ruby grabbed a part of her hair tightly, while Neithan's eyes turned into luminous stars, completely giving away her position in this.
"I'll keep an eye on him during the initiation, although I won't make any attempt to intervene if an Ursa ends up eating you" Oscar smiled a little gloomily for his son, Neithan began to jump in his chair in excitement "What do you think?"
"I'd love to! I can finally join Bryan and Roy at Beacon!" Neithan squealed as if he were an excited little child, Oscar smiled proudly and patted his son on the head, then looked at his wife expectantly.
Any trace of anger had left the woman's face, now it was pure doubt with even a hint of fear, she was aware that Ozpin had made precisely the same proposal, moving her forward 2 whole years so that she could begin her training to be a professional Huntress, though of course, she had definitely acquired a new way of thinking since giving birth to her little son.
Ruby was not fully prepared to go to Beacon when she was barely 14 years old, as much as Ozpin saw enormous talent and potential within her, she was still a child with certainly half-made training, even if she had trained with Qrow during her early childhood, she had not yet finished his studies at Signal, which was a great detail that she was able to reflect on years later.
Preparation was incredibly important when a Huntsman or Huntress was being trained, Ruby had experienced firsthand the consequences of her lack of training and perspective on her journey across all of Remnant, the mistakes she made had fatal consequences, and she definitely did not want her son to suffer the same as her.
But she didn't see it as a very bad idea either, after all, now she was a professional Huntress with more than enough experiences, she could protect her son without real difficulty (even if she was defeated for trying to protect him a couple of hours ago) and with barely effort, even, with Ren as a teacher at the academy and Nora as Headmistress, Neithan could be safe, at least to the naked eye.
"Okay" Ruby lowered her shoulders in surrender, being completely attacked the next second by her son, who buried his face in the woman's neck.
"I swear I will be the greatest Huntsman ever!" The boy spoke with unusual speed, Ruby patted her son on the back a couple of times, certainly feeling proud of the determination that her son has inherited from her.
Neithan was brutally punished by Ruby and Oscar, he wouldn't play BlazBlue for a whole month.
...
Waylon wrinkled his nose as he smelled a whole variety of different aromas coming from the stupid amount of teenagers that were in the entire airship, the weapons they had were quite interesting and complex, although a large portion of the people in the vehicle only carried a sword and a fairly simple shield, there were some very interesting weapons at first glance, blades that seemed to have the edge split in half while they were connected to a complex Dust system, firearms with unique and striking designs, in addition to a number of enormous details, he would probably have to defeat some to achieve his dream.
Waylon felt the need in his mind to summon Harbinger into his hand, remaining completely still while keeping his sword firm on the metal ground, he continued analyzing his possible opponents for long minutes, trying to devise landing and combat strategies that could be useful for the hostile environment that was the emerald forest.
Waylon felt a human weight place itself behind him, it was not strong enough to destabilize him, but to bother him, the white-haired boy turned around abruptly, causing the other person to fall flat against the ground, revealing himself to Waylon.
It was a boy, he seemed to be his age, his hair was as red as a tomato, while his blurred eyes had a greenish iris, his clothing was a partial copper-colored armor with yellowish details that stood out from the base layer, giving him a rather rough appearance, although his expression did not give the same expression.
"...Help me..." The redhead groaned with pain in his voice, Waylon rolled his eyes and extended his arm towards the boy, managing to lift him up with little effort.
"Who are you supposed to be?" Waylon asked, feeling that this boy seemed strangely familiar to him. "...Hellooo? Are you deaf man?"
It took the redhead a couple of seconds to focus his attention on Waylon, more specifically on his annoyed expression, the boy tried to stay standing and not fall to the ground, from the way his throat seemed to be working too hard, it could be telling himself from miles away that he wanted to vomit.
"It's your first time on an airship, tough luck" Waylon stated without any shame "You're not from Vale too"
"Mistral, I'm from Mistral" The redhead responded, resting his hands on his knees and making an effort to stabilize himself a little more before speaking again "Telsius Nikos, that's my name-"
Telsius didn't seem to be able to stand another second and let out everything he had eaten the day before, the boy took his time to expel all the food that his stomach was capable of keeping stored, the seconds seemed to turn into minutes in a short time, the redhead finally lifted his head, feeling his body become lighter.
He had thrown up all over Waylon.
Waylon looked at all the vomit smeared on his jacket, his ears throbbed as he heard the laughter of the people nearby (and they began to move away from him) while he created a glyph above his head, his free hand took a small Dust crystal from water from his pocket, in an instant, a gust of water fell on top of the white-haired boy, largely cleaning all the waste that Telsius had released from his body.
"Nikos, that's interesting" Waylon whispered, anger was practically the only thing his voice radiated "You wouldn't be related to Pyrrha Nikos, by any chance?"
"Y-Yes, she's my aunt" Telsius responded as he looked with some fear at Waylon's terrifying expression, his hands raised so he could quickly apologize "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I didn't expect getting on this thing would be so stressful"
"I didn't expect to meet a damn little girl either" Waylon murmured quietly enough so that Telsius couldn't hear him, then raised his voice "Just don't look for me in the forest, I don't want to be your teammate"
Telsius nodded quickly, although he did not move even an centimeter to be away from Waylon, the red-eyed simply grunted and created a copy of Harbinger again, beginning to turn it with his hand, he wanted at least a couple of people to see it, maybe that would make him feel better.
Suddenly a sound similar to the screech of a cricket was heard throughout the aircraft, a long series of hard light screens became present a little higher than the walls of the vehicle, Waylon turned back to find even more screens in the air, it should be the presentation that the academy gave to new students.
A woman with orange hair and pale skin appeared on the screen, although rather than appearing she seemed to have been pushed forcefully into the students' range of vision, Waylon quickly recognized the woman as Nora Valkyrie, who was smiling somewhat nervously towards the screen.
"Is this live? Yes, yes it is" Nora asked to the side of her, where the range of the camera did not capture whoever was being addressed, she adjusted the formal suit she was wearing, clearly uncomfortable "Well, good afternoon to all of you! I suppose you are very excited to finally join us in Beacon? I was too when I was your age, and therefore, I must give you a couple of instructions before you arrive at the academy"
The camera's viewing range became considerably wider, allowing Nora to walk back into a very obvious green screen, behind her, was a complete image of the emerald forest "I must warn you that you are on your own in the emerald forest, no Beacon authority is responsible if a fearsome Grimm tears your bodies into small pieces...well, leaving that aside!"
"The initiation will be tomorrow, so you will have to stay in a special building that is only used for aspiring first-year students like you, you will sleep like babies and recover all the energy you have lost due to the terrible trip that you must suffered on the way here, Mistral, Vacuo, Atlas, if you live outside the city they surely had to drive hooooooours and hoooooours to get to the port, and of course Phimisal and Ishaiba, every student from the most recent kingdoms of Remnant is more than welcome to Beacon!" Nora extended her arms towards the camera as if she wanted to hug someone, realizing that she was the only one making a fool of herself, she simply put a firm position and continued with the instructions.
The hours passed with some tranquility, Waylon dedicated himself to looking outside, noticing how the night began to appear on the horizon of Remnant, a small seed of egocentrism began to settle in his chest when the airship finally ended up descending over the por. of Beacon's own airships, the metal door fell squarely against the concrete, giving the students enough space to begin the overflow.
Waylon had to push aside some people to get out of the vehicle, being completely dazzled by the giant image of the main building of Beacon, and on top, the petrified corpse (or body) of the enormous Grimm Wyvern, a symbol of strength and perseverance that had been part of the academy for the last 20 years since it was completely restored.
The red-eyed looked with a serious face at the multiple students who were walking around the campus, the Beacon uniform had not changed at all, it still had that brown tone that was suffocating for men and friendly for women, the green areas were considerably larger than before, adding to how practically endless the buildings were, after all, there could be thousands of students in the academy.
Waylon jumped in shock when a full-body hologram of Pyrrha Nikos appeared next to him, smiling at him in a friendly and certainly genuine manner "Hello again! Welcome to Beacon, we ask all aspiring hunters to head to the building shaped like a half-moon located in sector F, the path to said sector has been completely marked by holograms of mine, just follow them and you will not get lost!"
Waylon clutched his chest tightly as he looked at the hologram of Pyrrha, it was no mystery to anyone that incredibly intelligent AIs had become an essential part of every existing academy on Remnant, the arduous task of ordering an unimaginable number of students and being able to distribute them throughout the field used to be a task that could take months of hard work from the part of the teachers, however, with AIs, it was simply a matter of giving the instructions in a fairly precise way and they could create an entire plan of indications in a matter of seconds.
Waylon traced the path that Pyrrha's holograms formed, his feet began to move to reach sector F, however, he stopped when he heard a scream in the distance.
"WAYLON!" Bryan Xiao Long appeared in the white-haired boy's vision, Waylon remained in place as he heard his cousin/nephew shout his name, the change was quite clear, the small faunus child with incredible strength was now a well-built and clearly older teenager, which made Waylon feel a little peculiar.
Before Waylon's lips could curl into a smile, the taste of iron filling his mouth as he received the impact of Bryan's gloved fist, sending him directly to the ground and rolling him on the grass a couple of times, Waylon gasped for air, rising in an instant due to the very welcome adrenaline that his own brain injected into his veins.
Waylon approached Bryan, ready to complain about his sudden action, the only thing he received was another direct blow to the nose, staggering back and now with a bleeding nose, Waylon opened his mouth to speak "Bryan...what the hell is wrong with you?" ?"
"What the hell is wrong with me?" Bryan asked again with a dry laugh, approaching his cousin and pushing him with some force "...You're Waylon, right?"
"Of course I'm Waylon!, you idiot" The red-eyed responded, showing his bloody teeth at the blonde "The white hair? The red eyes? The black jacket with a damn crow on the back?! Obviously it's me!"
Bryan gasped deeply, almost as if he had been told the most important revelation of his life, he quickly approached Waylon again and hugged him tightly, eliciting a groan of pain once again from the red-eyed, who took a few moments to return the hug.
"You are totally different!" Bryan commented, now smiling at the same guy he had knocked to the ground just a few seconds ago "I'm sorry about the punch, I just wanted to see if you were real, I mean, it would be pretty awkward if ended up hitting a random guy anyway, you know?"
"That's not enough of a reason to almost break my nose...damn!" Waylon cursed as he touched his nose and felt another sharp pain, his nostrils became clogged due to the inflammation from the blow, his aura activated non-visually to begin treating the wounds quickly "Shit... "It's good to see you, Bryan"
"Why haven't you called in so many years?" Bryan directly asked the biggest doubt that had consumed his mind for years, looking at Waylon with some resentment and happiness in equal measure "You really walked away from me and Roy to get good grades in Pharos? Are you serious?"
It took Waylon a couple of seconds to process his cousin's words, his sudden distance from his family was due in part to his dream of being a hunter, not just any one, but the greatest in all of history, the little Branwen had learned from anecdote how incredibly important it was to maintain an impeccable academic and combat profile; after all, Weiss Schnee is practically a living myth among the humans and faunus of Remnant, in part due to her ingenuity and skill with a rapier so sophisticated and perfected.
Waylon was a child who was still very immature and had little knowledge of life, he decided to focus completely on the aspects that could help him be an aspiring Huntsman with more foundations and knowledge, he was practically a genius when it came to the use of glyphs and the possibilities they could give him, both offensive and defensive, the most notable shortcomings he had, as his total dependence on his semblance he compensated with his more than enough ability to use all possible elements in a fight, 6 years of training had definitely paid off.
There was no better student than him in Pharos, absolutely no one, he had even had the honor and achievement of becoming one of the best students in said academy, Waylon could not remember precisely how many television programs he had been invited to, even if he had not attended none, his name was certainly known among those most dedicated to the history and future process of creating Huntsmen.
The reason why he did not attend any type of television program or give any interviews was because of his mother, Winter Schnee, the woman stated that although her son was a complete prodigy in almost every possible aspect, he had to keep a low profile due to his young age, that way he wouldn't become an arrogant piece of shit that was so repellent to everyone, even if he was already somewhat egocentric, his mother took care not to let that pride completely explode.
Waylon simply shook his head, patting his cousin on the shoulder a couple of times "Look...we have a lot to talk about...but let's do it in sector F, my nose hurts too much..."
"Y-You should go to the medic area to get checked out" Roy Schnee's soft and shy voice completely caught Waylon's attention, the red-eyed boy looked at his cousin with total perplexity, just like Bryan had changed a lot, that boy with determination in his eyes and enormous dreams he was now a teenager with clear shyness and some fear in his posture, Waylon frowned as he analyzed his cousin's appearance, almost as if he was judging him.
"Roy!" Bryan opened his arms in the air and hugged his foster cousin, punching him a couple of times on the shoulder "You bastard! You should have told me you were coming so late, is there air traffic in Atlas?"
"Yes...yes, I had to" Roy responded distractedly, still keeping his gaze fixed on Waylon, the atmosphere became clearly uncomfortable between both Schnee-Glyphs users, the tension could practically become visible if they continued like this.
It was not to be expected less, so many years separated from each other created a longing to see each other again, perhaps more hidden on Waylon's side and more desperate on Roy's side, at the end of the day they are still family and will always seek each other's support, at least that's what should have happened, since it was Waylon himself who set aside part of his family to be able to create the foundations of his legacy completely alone, even if it sounded kind of stupid to some extent.
They had become practically strangers.
"...I see you're taller, maybe you will be taller than Jaune soon, huh?" Waylon decided to break the silence with a somewhat strange comment, causing Roy to feel certainly uncomfortable "I'm sorry, I just don't know what to say"
"Me neither," Roy responded with complete honesty, giving a quick pleading look to Bryan, who simply shrugged "I'm so glad to see you both, the hologram of Pyrrha Nikos said to follow her copies all over campus...we should go together"
Waylon nodded, not wanting to prolong the uncomfortable moment any longer, he turned around while grabbing his already partially healed nose, however, another scream was heard through the air, forcing him to stop again, now somewhat irritated.
Neithan Rose ran towards the trio with some difficulty, his feet began to slow down as fatigue appeared in his body, his radiant smile made Waylon feel uncomfortable for a moment, the one he least cared about seeing was Neithan, he doesn't even remember if he was-
What is he doing at Beacon?
"NEITH!" Bryan called his biological cousin and gave him a big hug, grabbing him by the neck and starting to rub the back of his head, making him grunt a couple of times in pain "Did you come to see how your cousins kick the Grimm's ass?"
Neithan shook his head, pushing Bryan's arm away with some difficulty "I came to take the initiation ceremony! My father said to stay close to someone at all times, and my mother told me that if I not, she would extend my punishment for 10 years, so here I am!"
"The ceremony?" Roy murmured quietly, noticing the strange looks from Waylon and Bryan "They really put you two whole years ahead of you? You're not supposed to have finished your school year at Signal"
"Well, if you put it like that..." Neithan began to stutter some meaningless words, managing to compose himself after a couple of failed attempts "That doesn't matter Roy, we're really going to be together all year, understand?"
Roy nodded, still a little surprised that Neithan was here, the two had a fairly close relationship, it had only been months since he visited the black-haired boy's house in the middle of the forest, a pittance compared to the amount of time he hadn't seen Waylon.
"Well, it's getting very late now" Bryan commented, stealing his cousins' attention and pointing towards the broken moon already half visible "We should go to sector F, stay close to us Neithan"
"Yeah Yeah! Im not a baby Bryan!" Neithan squeaked in a somewhat adorable way in the eyes of Roy and Bryan, Waylon saw it as something quite strange and simply began to walk guided by Pyrrha's holograms, always making sure that her cousins were close to her.
It felt strange, to say the least.
...
Bryan was observing with great attention the entire group of girls that had piled up in a single area, he had already assumed that it was a strategy to stay safe from the boys' attempts at flirting, even though there could very well be a lesbian crowded around that was practically in heaven at this moment.
The blonde simply looked to his side, finding Waylon, the red-eyed was drawing in a small black notebook with the Schnee family symbol stamped completely on the cover, the graphite pencil passed with force over the yellowish paper, long strokes and their repetitions were the only movements that Waylon's hand made, Bryan raised his head to see whatever he was drawing, finding himself with a pretty good drawing of a Wyvern.
"I didn't know you were good at drawing" Bryan muttered, causing Waylon to stop the movement of the pencil in that second, he looked at Bryan with some doubt, seeming to be confused about what to answer.
"We've been apart for a long time, Bryan, some things change" Waylon murmured, closing the notebook and putting it aside "...That girl is seeing you a lot "
Bryan turned around at his cousin's comment, finding a girl with quite long black hair, the predominantly black makeup on her face gave the whole image that she was a goth, which created a smile on the blonde's face.
"She's cute" Bryan said, moving with some difficulty and sitting down "Does she want something with me?"
"Please" Waylon laughed lightly, making Bryan smile "she haven't even talked, you haven't changed anything"
"Maybe" Bryan brushed it off with a gesture, lying back down on the cold floor "Where are Roy and Neithan?"
The blonde looked completely at the building he was in, the crescent shape was clearly visible due to the curve in the walls, the multiple aspiring Huntsmen were positioned in different ways to take advantage of the space, some got in in tents to have some privacy, others simply slept on the floor or in sleeping bags, Bryan sighed somewhat irritated, he had to put his face on the cold concrete.
Bryan finally found Neithan with his gaze, the younger boy was next to Roy, both seemed to be talking calmly, Bryan smiled softly when he saw his cousins chatting, almost as if it were a scene he had never seen before.
That Waylon was here was something unique.
Bryan watched with interest as a shadow loomed over him completely, his eyes traveled along the dark outline until reaching the top, meeting once again with the gothic girl, who was staring at him without any emotion, Bryan stood up with a movement quick and simple, extending his hand towards the girl.
"Hey! My name is Bryan Xiao Long, I see that you caught me looking at you, I'm sorry, I can't help but appreciate a beauty as unique as yours" The blonde winked playfully, even with his hand fully extended towards the girl "What is your name?"
"Monica" The black-haired woman responded, looking at the boy with some curiosity "...I don't want you to see me again, ever"
Monica turned around and walked away enough for Bryan to lose sight of her, the blonde felt incredibly strange and humiliated at the same time, without finding any explanation for what had happened just a few seconds ago, he sat slowly on the floor, feeling Waylon's penetrating gaze.
"In Pharos, no one rejected me like that" Waylon commented, holding back his laughter as he looked at his cousin, Bryan frowned, somewhat offended, and simply lay down completely on the concrete and rolled himself up, just the same way in what cats did.
Tomorrow would be a long day, and very complicated.