2"Clear the way!" "Excuse me, outta the way!" "Help me move this!" Combat boots pressed onto the wooden gangway, creaking under the weight. The seventeen year-old took a sharp breath of air in; his nose twitched to a strong aroma, as well as the scent of sea salt and the numerous people moving about under the light of the sun. He hummed, "Something smells: fishy."
The small insect perched on the teen's shoulder seemed to agree as it shifted restlessly, its eight legs tapping softly against his tunic. Noi gently scratched under its chin. "I know it can be overwhelming, Jorō, but we're almost there." He glanced up, his eyes locking onto the towering castle-like structure ahead. Bullheads soared through the sky, their engines humming as they descended toward the distant spires. A small smile tugged at his lips. "And just in time too."
The spider let out a tiny squeal and skittered across Noi's shoulder, he chuckled, "Excited?" Jorō gave him an enthusiastic nod, shifting in response. "Me too buddy, all that training and saving had better paid off. Let's go!" Noi laughed as he gained more speed, weaving through the crowd effortlessly.
Shoes tapped against the soft carpet, a young man clad in a blue suit, stood before a tall mirror, he tugged at his cuffs, 'Thank the gods someone patched this up just in time.' His head shook from left to right, his hair swaying because of it. The teen combed it back in place, a pirate hat–also blue in color with a dash of red–kept it from getting in his face. Aster Lachlan took one last look at himself in the mirror before heading out.
His eyes squinted beneath the sunlight invading his retinas, adjusting a second later. And not one step outside the hotel–where the teen resided for a week–someone almost crashed into him on the sidewalk. Aster's lips contorted into a frown, his eyebrows and eyes narrowed as the person kept running, cloak fluttering in the wind as well as their black hair. He could make out a travel bag and a bow much darker in color than their hair, sporting white streaks resembling cobwebs, strapped to their back.
Aster threw his hands to the side as they turned a corner, 'Really?' The water in his mask apparatus bubbled to mimic a huff before he also ran after them, baggage in tow, 'You better apologize for that when I catch up to you!' He sneered, rounding the same corner they took.
Out in one of the gates into Vale, two guards stood in their posts, eyes lazily scanning the dirt path ahead. "Looks like Beacon's havin' their fresh batch of students." One remarked, nodding toward the Bullheads in the clouds. "Yeah," the other replied, shoulders slack as he leaned against his spear. "Reminds me of the time I had there–chaotic, but fun."
Their heads turned to the sound of rustling bushes, eyes narrowed as both men prepared for the worst and drew out their weapons. Seconds–that felt like an eternity–ticked by, air thick with unease as the bushes kept shaking, this time more violent. Until the foliage parted to reveal an armored individual stumbling through, his chest rising and falling in a quick rhythm. The two loosened their shoulders, jaws nearly coming off from their faces because of how this person almost towered over them both.
Quickly composing themselves, the one on the right asked the near giant of a man, "Who are you?" The armored knight procured his scroll from the bag he held in one hand before his helmet came off, "Duncan Rosswell, sir." He introduced himself, the two guards expected someone older but this young man looks like he hadn't even hit his twenties yet.
The other hummed, "Seems like everything's in order," He smiled, handing back the scroll, "Gave us a scare back there. Say, why're ya here?" He glazed over the young man's armor that sported scratches, rust, grime, and the occasional leaf and twig.
"I'm a graduate of Shade, enrolled to Beacon a few weeks back as a matter of fact."
The guard raised a brow, "And you traveled here: On foot?" Duncan nodded, dusting himself off. The guard's eyes widened slightly, "I've seen people do that before, though they've ended up in a worse condition than you; I'm even surprised you're still walking, no offense."
"None taken sir." Rosswell waved the left guard off, putting his helmet back on. The other piped in, "Well, do be careful next time, Grimm activity has been spiking lately. Other than that, welcome to Vale Duncan."
The teen bowed his head slightly, "Glad to be here, thank you sir."
The engines roared, besting the hold of gravity as it rose up into the clouds. In the nick of time, two individuals jumped up on the ramp as it clamped shut. Their chests rose and fell, as their hearts raced a thousand miles.
"Ha, I can't believe I made it!" Noi exclaimed, the buddy on his shoulder trying his best to keep steady.
He then heard the sounds of bubbling water beside him, glancing to see someone as old as him with a mask full of water that reached down to his neck, connected to a medium-sized tank strapped to his back.
Somehow, someway, the teen spoke. "You…" He huffed, "you better apologize for nearly knocking me over back there, you almost broke this too," he motioned to the apparatus on his person.
As they recuperated, "Oh, I'm so sorry, my bad. It was an accident, I swear " Noi backed off a few steps, shoulders sinking slightly, "I'm Noi, Noi Orchard," He extended a hand for a shake.
"Aster Lachlan." Aster accepted the gesture, straightening his posture, "I know it was an accident, just wanted an apology." Noi breathed a sigh of relief.
Near one of the windows on a bench overlooking Vale, one can hear the clacking and twisting of a toy cube. Flynn narrowed his eyes, the second layer complete, he moved to the third and last. His ears picked up a pair of voices to his right–new ones, he surmised had been the last ones to board the Bullhead, and another pair to his left.
"Oh, wow! Look, you can see Signal from up here! I guess home isn't too far after all."
"Beacon's our home, now."
Lenard's eye twitched when another sound kicked in: someone about to empty out their breakfast, maybe lunch. He began zoning them out, once he finished the cube he immediately scrambled it again to solve. He felt the weight of the bench get heavier to his left, sparing a glance sideways; the stranger casted a shadow over Lenard, tilting his head upward, the stranger's helmet visor curved in a crescent, the overall shape: cylindrical. Running a finger against it the–
"Please, personal space?" Lenard jumped, causing him to skitter to the other end of the bench as he dropped the cube in his other hand. The toy slid across the smooth floor, bumping against the sole of a boot. The teens Lenard heard from a couple minutes ago approached the two, "Hey there, is this yours?" Asked the one with—is that a spider on his shoulder?
Lenard stood up straight from his seat and backed away, step by little quiet steps. 'They can have the cube, I'll just get it later.' Turning on his heel, Lenard disappeared from behind the pillar of the bench.
"Hey! You forgot your cube!" Noi called out to the young man, but to no avail. His head tilted to the side before turning to the others, "What's his deal?"
Aster sighed, rubbing his temple, "I don't know, I'd take a gander and say it's because of that spider on your shoulder," the mentioned arachnid leaned back, eyes wide before shrinking into the crook of its owner's neck and clothes.
"Oh! This is Jorō," Noi said, coaxing the little one from its hiding spot and into his hand, "Pet spider, made from my Aura. Say hi, buddy." Jorō raised one of its eight legs in a waving gesture, before stretching out its appendages one-by-one.
"That… doesn't feel right, no offense." Said the Knight in noticeably rusty armor, shifting in his seat and adjusting the bag sitting on his lap. The miniscule spider turned his way, shaking its head.
"None taken, it's fine." Noi replied. The knight removed his helmet and bowed his head, placing a hand to his chest. "I'm Duncan, Duncan Roswell. Pleasure to meet you both."
"I'm Noi Orchid, by the way, and this is–"
"Aster Lachlan," the teen interjected, tipping his hat. Noi settled on the bench, next to Roswell, "Yeah so, I'm curious about the armor: what's it made out of? How long have you been wearing it? Because this–" Noi gestured broadly over Duncan's armor, bearing Grimm claw marks and patches of rust, "–shouldn't be usable in its state, don't you have Aura?"
Duncan hummed, nodding his head as he put a hand under his chin. "I do. It's just that once I turn my Aura on, my Semblance takes effect."
"And your semblance would be?" They fell into brief silence, two sets of curious eyes upon Duncan as he took a deep breath in, and exhaled out.
"I call it Chiron's Crucible. When I activate my Aura, it automatically drains it in exchange for enhanced strength and regeneration. And it doesn't stop until my Aura is completely drained; that's why they felt the need to train me to fight without my Aura."
Noi cocked an eyebrow up at this, "They? More than one person trained you?" Duncan stiffened up, clenching his hand tight and casting his eyes downward. "I'd rather not talk about it," he muttered, his voice dropping to a near whisper, "Not yet anyway."
Aster and Noi perked up as the Bullhead began to slow, the engines hummed, steadily keeping the craft afloat. With a metallic hiss, the doors lowered, connecting to the cliffside. One by one, the other passengers spread out of the ship, one of them being a blonde young man keeling over at a trash can.
Noi's face scrunched up at the sight of the ill student and the sounds he made, "Looks like someone didn't have a pleasant flight."
The other two shared the same expression, a silent agreement passing between them. "Anyway, since we're still here, we might as well stick together, right?" Aster suggested with a nod toward the open doors. Duncan nodded as he rose from his seat and slung his bag behind him, his towering frame earning a low whistle from Noi. "Wow, you are tall."
Duncan chuckled, stretching until his joints popped with a satisfying crack. "I am, thanks," he replied with a grin. "Not sure if it's from my father's genes or all the milk I drank." His six-foot frame shook mirth, easing some of the tension.
"So, shall we?" Noi and Aster nodded, readying their own baggage. Once everyone is set, they tread onwards outside of the Bullhead.
The view is nothing short of spectacular: spires and towers nearly reaching the tip of the clouds, connected by arches and bridges of all sizes. The concrete avenue leading up to the fountain is dotted with trees and other types of greenery, alongside light poles draped in flags that bore Vale's emblem.
Aster leaned back slightly, turning to his companions, "This is supposed to be a school right? Not some–"
"Big-ass castle on the horizon? Yep," Noi finished the sentence, stars popped in his eyes the longer he kept staring, "I feel poor just looking at it."
Duncan's lip twitched, gesturing his hand in a nonchalant way, "It is a little grandiose for my taste, but definitely way more imposing than any old barracks from the Great War."
Aster turned towards him, then shrugged, "Figured you've seen one of those in person." Noi nodded, then he perked up, "Oh! We should go looking for one someday."
"We could, that is if we end up on the same team." Duncan replied, Aster nodding as the three began walking forwards, "Hopefully." He shifted the bag he carried on one shoulder, glancing towards the sky, "I heard the Initiation is going to be held out in the forest, though I'm not sure how the Headmaster is going about this."
He sighed, 'This is going to be a long four years. Thank the gods, I somehow became acquainted with two people.'
"ACHOO!"
The trio stopped in their tracks to the sounds of sneezing, bickering, and some strange popping noises? They turned to their left to see a teen wearing all white holding out a finger and shouting to another in red and black, Aster's eyes sharpened, brows furrowed in tandem.
Noi pointed a finger in their direction, "Hey, isn't that Weiss–"
"Schnee." The mere utterance of the name made Aster's mouth taste more disgusting than a piece of rotting meat, prompting him to clench his teeth as he went on ahead of them towards the school's ginormous doors.
The two shared looks, watching Aster's back disappear into a crowd of students. "Should we… you know?"
Duncan shook his head, "Not yet Noi, whatever it is that happened isn't our place to pry. For now, we should head to the amphitheater, lest we be late for the opening ceremony."
A few twists, turns, and rooms later, led astray by the few students that decided to tour the place before attending the ceremony, they arrived in time at the amphitheater. Inside, the room stretches and curves into a dome, sunlight streaming through the transparent ceiling. The raised bleachers are arranged in a circle around an elevated platform bearing a tall, ornate backdrop–its wooden carvings accented by blue lights. A mic situated at the very front, center stage absent of any Professors or the Headmaster.
"Good, looks like we're early," Duncan's eyes skimmed over the crowd, searching for a certain fish faunus.
"Do you see him?" Noi asked, popping up from behind him.
Roswell shook his head, "No, not yet." Noi glanced at his eight-legged companion. The next second, the spider is nowhere to be found.
In all honesty I don't like the Schnees too, specifically the head of the SDC; not the Heiress. That look Aster had, I could tell that seething gaze on his face went deeper, definitely personal.
It didn't take long to find him, thanks to Jorō. He is up at the front of the crowd, shoulders tense as he waited for the ceremony to begin. Duncan glanced my way the moment I tapped on his shoulder, "I found him, well, Jorō did." I pointed towards the stage as my little friend crawled back to me from the ceiling on a string of web, "He's over there, by the left side."
As we squeezed through the crowd—well, Duncan did—I couldn't help but feel bad for Aster. The thought of a loved one dying in those dangerous mines… it's something nobody should go through, Faunus or Human. It didn't matter.
"Excuse me," Duncan grumbled, sidestepping a small group of students, "sorry, coming through," as I followed behind him, easily weaving through the large mass of people in all kinds of clothing and armor. My body shook from laughter as a tick appeared on his forehead, eye twitching. "By the Goddess, can this day get any worse?–sorry, excuse me."
"Clearly being a giant wall isn't doing you any favors Ros." I couldn't stop the flow of low chuckling from my lips as he turned his face back to me, eyes glaring daggers into my own from underneath the helmet, and I still hadn't figured out how he could see out so clearly while his face stayed hidden, probably because of the design.
"There, I see him Dunc," through a small gap in the students ahead of us I can see the tank on Aster's back, water sloshing around inside as it travels to the mask clasped to his face. We both approached Aster tentatively. Then putting a hand on his shoulder, I asked, "Everything alright Lach?"
Feeling a hand grasp his shoulder, Aster turned around to see Noi, "Hmm? Uh, yeah," Aster held a thumb up, "everything's fine," yet Noi squinted his eyes at him, his grip on Aster softening.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Aster shrugged off his hand, his mask bubbling a huff, "There's nothing to talk about Noi, I'm fine." Eyes forward and hardened as he clenched his hand.
Noi opened his mouth to retort, but a loud ringing noise drew their attention to the stage, forcing him and Aster ti cover their ears. Behind the microphone stood a man in his late twenties: tousled silver hair on his head, thin brown eyes peering through small, circular glasses. He held a strange cane in one hand and a coffee mug in the other, dressed in a black suit over a dark green vest with a cross-shaped pin on his cowl.
Duncan hummed, "Headmaster Ozpin looks younger up close, no?" Asking no one in particular as Noi stepped back from the redheaded Faunus and turned his gaze to the stage. Beside Ozpin was a woman who drew every eye, particularly from the men in the audience. Judging by her posture and appearance she was in her late thirties, platinum-blonde hair pinned into a bun, one loose curl framing her face. Bright green eyes behind thin, oval glasses scanned the crowd with sharp precision.
She wore a white, pleated blouse, cuffs flaring at her wrists, and a high-waisted black skirt dotted with bronze buttons. Her black stockings and heeled boots gave her a fierce elegance, but it was her purple cape that stood out: tangled edges ending in flame and arrow designs, bronze beads across the back, and, just beneath them, an emblem of a tiara.
"That's Miss Glynda Goodwitch right?" Aster asked the other two, who nodded in response. Their chatter came to a stop as Headmaster Ozpin began to speak,
"I'll… keep this brief," pushing up his glasses, "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge—to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time in this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."
Most of the student body clamored amongst themselves, very few kept their gazes straight towards the stage including Aster and company. Duncan, however, narrowed his eyes towards the Headmaster; there is something off about the man, yet he couldn't exactly ascertain as to why he feels this way. It's as if he could sense a connection between the two of them. His suspicions proved to be correct as Ozpin's eyes settled on Duncan, more specifically the symbol he wore on his chestplate.
It bore similarities to his country's emblem, with slight differences: the background showed the unbroken side of the moon, a knight's helmet served as the centerpiece, as a sword crossed with a double-sided axe behind said helmet. Yet comparing this to the ones he had seen before, this version his student wears is in disarray: The weapons; chipped and uneven, the helmet showed scratch marks and rust, the background now broken and shattered.
His brown orbs widened slightly, 'What is a Lunar Knight doing in my school?' Ozpin's eyes hardened, 'Could he be a forward scout?' He mused, 'No, if that were the case he would be wearing something more discreet. Maybe a rogue? That does have some merit to it; I'll have to send him up to my office after initiation.' He backed off from the mic and let his assistant take over as he whispered into her ear.
Glynda nodded, turning to the students, "You will all gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." Her eyes flicked to Duncan for a split second, causing the young man to raise a slight eyebrow.
Noi yawned, stretching in a black t-shirt stitched with web designs and matching shorts before crawling inside of his sleeping bag.
"Man, what a first day." He thought out loud. Once Miss Glynda had them dismissed, the three explored the school in its entirety taking almost the whole day with few food breaks in between. They shared some small talk, but nothing too major.
In a sleeping bag of his own, Aster leaned on the wall, the tip of his hat covering his features. He wore a light blue shirt fading to purple, his pajamas bearing a fish scale design. "By the Gods, can these people pipe it down? Some of us are trying to sleep," He raised his hat a tad, eyes scanning his peripheral: Shirtless dudes giving each other noogies and some of the girls gawking at the sight of a few showing themselves off.
Aster scoffed, but as he pulled down the brim of his hat, the young fish faunus caught someone peculiar in one of the far corners of the ballroom. He almost couldn't notice the young woman despite him having excellent night vision, like any other faunus. His first impressions of her is of someone who wants to be left alone, someone more comfortable sitting in the dark unlike most. She wore a black, long-sleeved yukata, sporting white edges over a purple undershirt. A black obi wrapped around her waist, tied with a string of black and white. She could do without the bow, though, but it's hers so it doesn't matter much. In her hands it looked like a book, but he couldn't tell if it's a novel or a journal.
"See someone you like?" Noi grinned, nudging Aster's arm. He shook his head lightly, "No, just looking around." Noi squinted his eyes, gazing at Aster, "Hm, whatever you say," before shrugging and slinking back into his sleeping bag, "Well, goodnight, try not to stay awake for too long."
Aster glanced at his acquaintance as he slept soundly. He closed his eyes, scrunching up the next moment before opening once more. The young man frowned, eyebrows furrowing. He sighed before standing up, making his way outside of the ballroom.
Duncan knelt on one knee as he looked up to the moon, clasping his hands together. A minute of silence later he stood back up as he ran both hands down his face. 'What's the point? I'm a rogue anyway,' He mused, frowning as he gazed back at the broken moon, 'And I already know who their goddess is. Who would've thought she's the reason for all of this.'
He held a tight grip on the handle of his axe, raising it high before holding it in both. The rogue knight stopped mid-swing, hearing a voice coming from behind him,
"Trouble sleeping?" Still in his sleepwear, Aster walked up to Duncan. He didn't turn to face him, continuing his practice swings and twirls.
"I'm not saying you should get some rest, even though we really need to. What're you doing out here this late? Besides the obvious of course."
Duncan hummed, setting down his axe, "To be honest Aster, I don't know. But it just feels… peaceful? Yeah, let's go with that. I feel more at ease at night."
Aster raised a slight eyebrow, he shrugs, "Well, I can somewhat agree with you on that," both of them turned to face the broken moon in silence for a minute, "It still stumps me that a piece of the moon hasn't fallen, like how is it still holding up?"
Duncan processed the question, then answered, "My grandfather told me of a tale: That another deity, sent by the God of Darkness, is keeping the moon in check, riding a majestic chariot pulled by two horses. There isn't much else he told me."
Aster hummed, crossing his arms, "That's one heck of a fairy tale. Who is she anyway?"
Duncan suddenly had a sinking feeling in his chest as he pursed his lips, tempted to just call her by her false name to avoid any rumors that might surface.
This was a roll of the dice. Hopefully, this won't bite them in the back. He held onto his breath before speaking, keeping his gaze towards the moon, "Salem."
Aster raised an eyebrow, "Salem?"