HELLO EVERYONE WELCOME BACK TO REMNANT LIGHT!
This is a slightly shorter than normal introduction chapter, but I am absolutely STOKED to get Volume 3 of Remnant Light started! This is gonna be a doozy, folks, so get yourself ready for some fun!
Enjoy the chapter!
The elevator up to Admiral Ozpin's office was quiet -almost silent, even- and the air conditioner was just a touch colder than the rest of Beacon was.
Pyrrha fidgeted in place as she glanced around the elevator, knowing that she only noticed such details because of how antsy she was. She couldn't remember at what point specifically, but during the dance, Professor Goodwitch had told her that Admiral Ozpin wanted to meet with her the following evening after classes were done.
She would admit that she was feeling fairly nervous about the meeting but was also fairly hopeful. She'd known since the start of the year that Professor Goodwitch seemed to be keeping a closer eye on her than the rest of the students.
Did she wish that the teachers wouldn't treat her like she was special, and just act as if she was any other student? Sure, she would love that. But while she was modest enough to want that, she was also not dense enough to not be able to acknowledge that she was the star student of her year… And just so happened to have a Semblance very similar to Professor Goodwitch's.
A small part of her is vibrating in excitement, wondering if this could maybe be about the potential 'apprenticeship' she had mentioned to Weiss a while ago. She wanted to have a bit more of a normal life at school, but… She was a fighter, and an incredibly competitive one.
Fewer rushes in the world could compare to improving her body and her skills… And there was nothing better than an apprenticeship under one of Beacon's finest Huntresses in generations that could push her to heights even her personal trainers could never bring her to.
Her musing was cut off as the elevator slowed to a stop, and the doors opened with a small 'ding!', the sight of Admiral Ozpin's office -and the man himself- being revealed to her as they did so.
Professor Goodwitch is also there, standing to the side of Admiral Ozpin with a clipboard tucked under her armpit and a polite smile on her face, even as she motions towards Pyrrha. "Miss Nikos, thank you for coming. Please, take a seat."
Pyrrha does as Professor Goodwitch says and enters the room, the elevator doors sliding shut behind her. "Admiral Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch, It's good to see you. Did you both have a pleasant night yesterday?"
While her politeness forced her to ask, she was genuinely curious about their answers, having not seen many teachers around, or at the very least had not seen them on the dance floor. But that made sense, as some very distracting and impressive dancing was happening there.
Professor Goodwitch nodded softly, her smile becoming a touch more genuine. "Indeed I did. I was not required to be a chaperone this year, and thus spent my time relaxing in my apartment with my cat."
Pyrrha had a flash of what would probably be a silly question rush through her head. Admiral Ozpin seemed to chuckle at that, somehow knowing what she was thinking, and speaking before Pyrrha could. "To answer the question that must be in your thoughts; Yes, it is a black cat. Monty is a lovely little creature."
Pyrrha let out a small giggle alongside Admiral Ozpin at that, even as Professor Goodwitch glared at the both of them without any real heat to it. After a moment, she let out a huff, shaking her head good-naturedly. "Shall we move on from talking about my home life, Admiral?"
Admiral Ozpin collected himself for a moment, nodding. "Yes, yes, of course, Glynda. Now, Miss Nikos. I'm sure that you're wondering why we might have called upon you."
Pyrrha couldn't help how her leg started bouncing as a small smile crept onto her face. "Well, I have a few ideas, but they might just be wishful thinking. Please, go ahead."
Silence reigned for a moment as Admiral Ozpin hummed to himself, a content look coming onto his face as he reached into his desk's top drawer, pulling out a small yellow folder with her name on the front.
As he opened it, she tried to lean forward slightly to take a peek at its contents, only to stop herself, wanting to not be rude. Admiral Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch seemed to notice, however, and the man smiled. "I don't mind, Miss Nikos. They are about you, anyway."
He turned the folder around and showed her the contents, which were a bunch of different notes on her spars during combat class, something that looked like an evaluation of her Semblance, and the results of that first mission that her Fireteam had gone on.
A small wince escaped her as she remembered the uncoordinated, incohesive mess that their Fireteam had been during that fight… It was a miracle that nobody's Ark had been damaged to the point of dysfunction.
'Not that we've been much better since then…'
A cough escaped Professor Goodwitch, drawing Pyrrha's attention back to the woman as she took a step forward, the folder being closed with the purple light of her Semblance and returned to Admiral Ozpin's top drawer.
"As you can likely tell -and have potentially guessed already- the staff of Beacon has been keeping a closer eye on you than most. I'm sure you can understand that we don't often get students with talent or preexisting skills like yours."
Pyrrha blushed slightly, her leg bouncing just a touch faster at the praise, even as she spoke up to rebuke it because of instincts drilled into her by her PR team. "Oh, please, there are plenty of talented students here at Beacon."
Admiral Ozpin chuckled softly at that, cutting himself off as Professor Goodwitch glared at him for a moment, continuing. "Even so, you are a cut above most of your peers. You also have a Semblance that will take you far in this world if used properly. To that end…"
She untucked the clipboard she had been holding onto since Pyrrha entered the room, the woman's semblance floating it over onto the desk in front of Pyrrha, and she only had to see the title of the document for her heart to start pounding even faster than her foot was bouncing.
[Huntsman Apprenticeship Application Form]
Pyrrha has to hold herself back from signing it right then and there, and from the sly smirk on Admiral Ozpin's face, she can tell that he can see it in her body language. Professor Goodwitch seems to have noticed as well, a soft smile forming on her face.
"The staff have decided to extend an offer of apprenticeship to you, Pyrrha Nikos. More specifically, an apprenticeship under myself, and after a period of time that I deem appropriate, you will be handed off to an active -and well-trusted- Huntress to shadow."
Pyrrha nodded slowly, smiling at the woman, who just stopped herself short of rolling her eyes in front of her. "I understand that this is exciting, but before you sign your life away, please allow me to explain."
Pyrrha nodded much faster that time, pulling her torso back into the back of the chair, having unconsciously leaned closer to the document as it sat on the desk. Professor Goodwitch smiled, motioning towards the paper.
"The program will require you to attend extra classes and training with me. You will likely also be sent on more missions than other Partnerships. In a way that is a small benefit for your partner, Miss Valkyrie, as well."
Taking another small step forward, her voice softened slightly. "This will reduce your free time at the end of the day, to almost nothing other than maybe an hour on either side of a proper sleep schedule."
Pyrrha couldn't help but smile at that, her eyes closing as her head tilted to the side slightly. "Oh, don't worry about that. My trainers for competitions were far worse. They eventually just commissioned a bed for me inside the training room so that I could collapse right there and wake up to start again the next day."
Both Admiral Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch stared at her for a second after that, with Pyrrha recognising it as the look people gave her when she said something odd. Blushing, she ducked her head slightly, her fingers drilling together. "It was just easier…"
Professor Goodwitch shook her head at that, getting herself out of her shocked state, and continued after clearing her throat. "In any case, it may also require you to leave Beacon Academy at some point even within this first year, if I deem you ready to accompany a Huntress that soon safely."
That was the first thing in this whole offer that caused Pyrrha to pause. She might not have the best relationship with her team -or at the very least most of them- but she didn't want to sabotage their time at Beacon by leaving them with a smaller team.
"What would happen to Nora and the others?"
Admiral Ozpin spoke up in response to her question this time, the smile on his face meant to stop her from assuming the worst. "They won't be expelled, or anything so terrible. The four boys on your team will likely be kept together, as they have formed quite the bond, it seems."
Pyrrha felt a flash of guilt rush through her as she realised she hadn't even noticed the four boys even becoming proper friends, even while the Professors seemingly had. Admiral Ozpin continued. "Miss Valkyrie, however, is a complication."
Pyrrha looked up with a bit of panic on her face, causing the Admiral the raise his hands to calm her. "I only mean that by the fact that she is your partner, and therefore the most affected by your eventual departure. Nothing more, I promise. Apologies for misspeaking."
She could see Professor Goodwitch giving him a deadpan stare, and Pyrrha couldn't help but feel the same. What terrible wording! The admiral had scared her, thinking that Nora would get kicked out or something because she was her partner!
Looking slightly sheepish, Admiral Ozpin continued. "Miss Valkyrie will be allowed to stay with the boys… Or if their relationship is truly unsalvageable, or neither party even wishes to foster and encourage teamwork… We will allow her to apply for a transfer to another existing Fireteam."
Professor Goodwitch started talking again now, a soothing smile on her face. "There are a small number of dropouts each year. And while this year has had very few of them, there are enough that she could be placed on a team to bump their numbers back up to six. Alternatively…"
She glanced at Admiral Ozpin and let out a small sigh, and Pyrrha could tell that whatever the alternative thing was required a bit more effort -and probably paperwork- to pull off. "Hmmm, alternatively, if a Fireteam with six members already were to accept her transfer, she could be attached as a seventh member. I believe that this will be the route Miss Valkyrie takes if it comes down to it."
A relieved smile forms on Pyrrha's face at that. Knowing that Nora wouldn't just be left to the wolves if she accepted the apprenticeship took a lot of weight off of her shoulders. Plus, she already knew of the Fireteam that Nora would probably apply to.
And if Weiss' stories of him were accurate, she was sure the Leader wouldn't have any issues welcoming Nora with open arms.
She could feel herself nodding as if her subconscious had already decided her conscious mind could formulate the thought. Standing up, he met both the Admiral's and the Professor's eyes, a confident smile forming on her face as she stuck her hand out to shake, Professor Goodwitch's coming down to grasp it.
"Then Admiral Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch… I would be honoured to accept your offer."
"Haaaaaaaaargh."
Yang yawned loudly, a hand coming up to cover her mouth as she and the rest of Fireteam JSBYRR walked to class. The only downside to Beacon so far had been the slightly earlier starting time than Signal had, which meant that she had been forced to adjust her entire sleep schedule.
Only by about half an hour to forty-five minutes maximum, but it still sucked, and was an adjustment, even about two months in. She blinked as something akin to an electric charge filled the air around her for a moment, glancing up and to her right.
As predicted, she saw one of the giant entrance doors to the Ark storage area opening in the plot of land next to where they were walking, and the rumbling started a few moments later as two Arks -neither of which she recognised- were brought to the surface
She reached up to the headphones on her head and pulled them off, the heavy metal music she was listening to leaking out of them as she lightly nudged Weiss -who was walking beside her- on the elbow.
Weiss glanced her way and then looked at the Arks setting off on their journey when Yang nodded her head in their direction. "Been a lot of those lately, huh?"
There was a moment of silence from Weiss as she put her thoughts in order, something Yang had noticed took a moment or two longer this early in the morning. Apparently, even Little-Miss "Perfect Sleep Schedule" still felt wiped in the morning, too.
Weiss put a hand on her hip, raising an eyebrow at her as they walked. "Admiral Ozpin did say that requests would get far more common this time of year. They are likely students from the upper years who got a mission earlier this morning."
Yang frowns at that, sticking out her tongue. "Well, yeah, I know that. I listen to the teachers, y'know? Still, it just feels like I've seen a bunch of them heading out recently, even taking Ozpin's words into account."
Weiss bumped her elbow right back, causing Yang a small jolt of surprise. Weiss wasn't usually that touchy-feeling, but Yang had been noticing her warming up to them all. She was glad for it, but it still hadn't sunk in yet.
"I'm sure it will be fine, Yang. We'll get our turn to go on a mission soon."
A bark of laughter escaped Yang at that, and her arms raised so that she could rest the back of her head in her hand as she leaned off to Weiss, smirking at her. "Hey, yeah! Must just be me itching to get out there and have a proper fight!"
"Are you implying that we don't give you a proper fight outside of an Ark?"
Yang's smirk turned evil as Weiss fell into her trap. "Oh? Weiss, Weiss, Weiss! Are you implying that you can? Cause I'd love to see you volunteer to get into the ring with me during Goodwitch's class today!"
Weiss froze slightly but rolled her eyes, glancing over at her. "Fine, but don't go crying to Ruby and the others when I beat you."
Yang couldn't help the good-natured grin that grew on her face as she raised a fist for Weiss to bump, getting a sigh from the white-haired girl in response… Followed by a soft tap with the girl's own fist.
"Oh, you are on!"
Weiss can't help but hum happily to herself as the bathroom door slid shut behind her.
Professor Goodwitch's class had been brutal that morning. For all her showboating, Yang was an incredibly tough opponent in or out of an Ark… Not that they sparred within Arks. That would be a wildly wasteful experience of both the time to enter and exit the machines, as well as the general material and ammunition lost during a spar.
Shaking her head, she allowed herself to relax a little more, letting the thoughts of her Maintenance Class homework they had been given that afternoon to the wayside slightly. Not completely, she wasn't an animal like Yang, but with it being Friday night, she was inclined to take the night to rest, and then come back to the homework on Saturday morning with fresh eyes.
Adjusting the fluffy, light-blue bathrobe she was wearing over a comfy set of pants and a shirt, she reached down and grabbed her slippers -which were shaped like little corgis- and slipped them on her feet.
With her comfort secured for the night, she looked around the room, seeing that the only people remaining in their dorm room were her, Ren, and Arc. Her brows furrowed, and she walked over to Arc, who was lying on his bed and watching the news that Ren had on the TV.
It was some story about rising Grimm levels, but she had gone over that with Yang this morning. Things would be fine. Tapping Arc on the leg, she smiled softly at the jump of shock he performed from the contact.
"Where are the other girls?"
Jaune let out a breath now that his shock had worn off and smiled at her. "Oh, yeah. Blake was still feeling hungry after dinner, so Yang and Ruby went with her to grab some dessert. I told them to grab you some ice cream, too."
Weiss nodded as she made a staircase out of her glyphs up to her bed in the top-right of the room, plopping her butt down on the bed once she reached it. "Thank you. May I ask what flavour?"
Arc paused for a moment to think, and Ren spoke up in his place. "Jaune said you liked the berry flavours, so we told them to get you Blueberry."
A smile grew on her face at that, and she looked down to meet Arc's eyes, nodding once. "Oh, how splendid. That's my favourite flavour."
Arc let out a 'woo!' and fell back onto his bed at that, and she couldn't stop herself from giggling at the sight of the small fist bump he did at the news. "Sweet!"
A small smirk appeared on her face as she laid back in her bed. "And a touch bitter, but it's a nice flavour. I'm done with the bathroom, by the way, if either of you need it."
She heard rustling and then a thud as it seemed that Arc launched himself at the bathroom doors with evil-sounding laughter escaping him. When she checked, Ren had not even bothered to move to contest the blonde's claim to it. Glancing at the TV, she can see that it has moved on from the story about the Grimm and onto something about the Vytal festival being held in a month or two from now.
Ren let out a small hum as he got to his feet, moving towards his bed as he clicked the TV off with the remote. "You know, Yang will be devastated to hear you made a pun while she wasn't here. She'd probably start a fight."
Weiss shuddered at the thought of fighting right before bedtime. She poked her head over the side of her fluffy bed and glared at him. "Well then… You tell her that I did so, and I'll be forced to freeze you in a block of ice."
Ren just nodded once, a small smirk on his face as he pulled the covers up over himself, clearly having not wanted any dessert if he was planning to go to sleep already.
"Noted."
"And so, with all the difficulties keeping it alive but neutered, scientists have been unable to identify exactly why some Grimm are capable of long-range, laser-like attacks! A conundrum for the ages, to be sure!"
Ruby knew that this was important stuff, but it still wasn't even noon yet and she was being forced to listen to Doctor Oobleck talk at lightning speed. Even while he technically 'read from the textbook' about the Grimm studies they were doing, it was nigh-impossible to follow along.
A bubble of saliva grew and burst and grew and burst on her lips as she stared out of the large windows of the classroom, spotting the far more interesting event of two Arks being sent out on a mission from her vantage point.
Her imagination ran wild as she examined the Arks with a sniper's eye, doing her best to pick them apart for their functions off looks alone. Unfortunately, due to the distance and the small viewpoint that the window gave her, they disappeared soon after, leaving her back in reality as Doctor Oobleck called out to Weiss to answer a question.
"One of the leading theories is that some Grimm manifest next to Dust deposits deep underground!"
"Correct! However, I find that to be rather unlikely, as Grimm have appeared in similar locations one after the other and been entirely different species, with almost no consistency on whether those are capable of firing off these blasts or not."
She saw Weiss scribbling down some notes after that, and followed suit, writing down whatever she could remember. Weiss was smart, so if she thought something was worth noting down, it probably was!
Ruby was no slouch herself, sure, but she was definitely more of a prodigy on the 'combat' side of things than the academics.
She zoned back out a little as the class drew on, leaving her more and more tired and less and less focused as they approached the end. By the end of the lesson, she had created a large collection of doodling in her notebook, accompanied by a smattering of notetaking.
She would have to go over it at some point and iron out all of what she actually needed so Weiss didn't get all grumpy with her again. The bell rang a few minutes later as she was sorting the information and she jumped to her feet, glancing around the room as the rest of Fireteam JSBYRR started to head down to the door.
She was halfway to the door when she felt a tingle down her spine. Stopping in place, she glanced around the classroom, an odd sense of foreboding and danger erupting through her. Her vision got slightly blurry as she drew her eyes across some of her classmates, a grey -almost silver- blur on the edge of her vision.
It was accompanied by a dull headache, so she shook her head and rubbed at her eyes to try and get rid of what was probably leftover sleep in her eyes. When she opened them, her classmates had all headed out of the room… And the blur was gone.
That was good. The headache was gone as well, something she was thankful for. Using her semblance to grab the rest of her stuff and catch up to her team was easy, and she quickly pushed the weird silvery blurriness in her sight to the back of her mind.
She did, however, hope that Cinder's team wouldn't be as mad at her for staring at them for a little while -while her eyes were at their blurriest- like they had gotten grumpy at Jaune that one time.
Hmm, maybe food would fix the odd feeling in her gut? Putting it out of her mind entirely now, she distracted herself by using her Semblance to jump up onto Jaune's shoulders, a finger pointed forward.
"Go forth, my steed! To the cafeteria!"
Thank you for reading!
Hope you enjoyed the chapter and are looking forward to reading more!
I cannot bloody wait to get to the meat of this Volume!
See you next week!