Chapter 2: First Day

XxX

World of Remnant: Dust

If you were to ask any simple-minded inhabitant of Remnant what they thought of dust, they would call it magical. Those who are more scientific might call it concentrated elemental energy. They are both wrong. Understandably wrong, of course. When they see a standard, untrained human pick up a colorful rock and channel the elements, one can't blame them for having fanciful ideas. Dust is far more interesting - and far more basic - than mere magic. It is the only known non living substance capable of interacting with Aura. Dust does not summon elemental energy, but converts Aura into it. The difference is slight, but important for many reasons. Chief among them: it always takes someone's Aura to use Dust. There are no known exceptions...

Of course, this leads us to a more prosaic question: what form does Dust come in, and how can we use it? Dust comes in four basic forms corresponding to the four main elements, but can be blended into countless new elemental forms. As for use, there are four main methods, typically listed in descending power and ascending versatility order. In its most basic and pure form, projection, Aura can be directly pushed through Dust crystals or powder to produce powerful but temporary elemental evocations. Explosions, blizzards, lightning strikes and pillars of earth, for example. Next is ingestion, the practice of eating, injecting, or otherwise consuming Dust, which can produce incredible semipermanent elemental affinity at great risk to the recipient. Next is weaving, the practice of shaping dust into complex blends and seals to impart any number of effects before imprinting it on weapons or clothing. With practice, a dust weaver can become a terrifying opponent, controlling the battlefield with a near autonomous defense and offense. The final method of dust use is empowerment: using dust to strengthen Aura effects or bullets. This is nearly riskless and incredibly simple, but has the disadvantage of being incredibly weak relative to other forms of dust use. Of course, even this form of Dust use has its consequences. For instance, Atlas claims its soldiers are equipped with Aura-interfaced weaponry for security purposes. The truth, however, is quite a bit darker. I don't know if their armies would be quite so trigger happy if they knew every bullet, every drone, and every missile was powered by their auras.

XxX

Jaune

As the Carrier slowed to a hover above Beacon's landing zones, Jaune turned from Ren and Nora to face the window. He stared out at the expansive campus, hands clenching and unclenching, fingers gripping his sword. Beacon was there. Beacon. Right in front of him.

A hand gently squeezed his shoulders. "It's amazing, isn't it, Jaune?" Nora exclaimed, leaning against him like a ladder leans against a rickety wall. She was a girl without boundaries, a wild mare free from her reigns. Her eyes shone, seeming to reflect the massive grounds inside and out. "We are going to make everyone there know our names. We're going to be legends!"

Jaune smiled, tension draining from his hands. "Yeah. We will."

As the Carrier slid smoothly onto the landing pad, every window on the ship simultaneously tinted black, then flickered with a holographic image of a stern-faced, green-eyed blonde.

"Hello, new admits. My name is Glynda Goodwitch. Should you pass our next test, I will be your combat and Dust manipulation instructor for your years here. Without further ado: Welcome to Beacon Academy, a school dedicated to training the best huntsmen on Sanus. If you cannot be the best, you will fail. If you waver, you will fail. If you do not give all you have, you will fail.

There will be a more formal introductory speech in one hour in the atrium. Good luck."

With that, Glynda vanished. The students were silent. That had been worrisome, to say the least. Nobody dared break the silence even as the windows returned to clarity and sun shone into the Carrier. Only when the doors opened and students started to hesitantly mill out of the ship did the quiet yield to a few conversations.

As Jaune walked to the exit of the ship, Ren and Nora slightly behind him, he caught sight of a tall, slender, lightly armored redhead standing to the side, gazing up at Beacon. Something about her caught his eye. Did he know her from somewhere? He stopped for a moment before turning back to his new friends.

"Would you two mind going ahead and saving me a space at the speech? I want to get a sense of the grounds."

They looked at him for a moment before following his earlier gaze and laughing quietly.

"Of course, Jaune," Ren replied. "Enjoy the grounds."

Jaune blushed slightly.

"Look, that's not what I meant, just-"

Nora grabbed Ren's hand, pulling him away.

"We know what you meant, Jaune! Have fun! Meet up later!"

Jaune quietly chuckled as they left before stepping up to the armored teen. She turned quickly as he got close, hands moving to the sheath of her weapon.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Her eyes were guarded.

"I don't think so?" Jaune responded. "The name's Jaune Arc. Sorry for interrupting, I just couldn't help but notice that you looked really familiar."

The girl closed her eyes, shoulders almost seeming to hunch slightly before an unnatural smile slid onto her face.

"I am Pyrrha Nikos. I've done some fighting in the past, around the Mistral area. You probably recognize me from one of the tournaments."

Jaune shook his head.

"No, that's not it. We didn't watch tournaments in my family. My father didn't hold by them. Said they were against the huntsman ethos-" He cut himself off. She was looking at him intently all of of a sudden. And was that a smile? "I don't mean any offense, of course, you look like a great fighter!"

She laughed. The sound was sweet and gentle, like the simmering embers of a dying fire.

"No offense taken, Jaune. It's just unusual not to be recognized for my tournament fights. Where did you think you knew me from, again?"

Jaune closed his eyes, racking his brain before realizing.

"Wait...were you on the Pumpkin Pete's cereal box for a while? My sisters ate it for breakfast way too often so the box is kind of burned into memory..." Jaune trailed off. She was laughing louder, now. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't live with people who watched tournaments, okay?"

She shook her head, tried to stop laughing. But her lips were still quivering as she said, "no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it seem like I was laughing at you. I was laughing because I...I just found it unexpected, that the first person to approach me would know me because of that, of all things."

He grinned. "Glad to be unexpected. I kind of live by that."

Pyrrha tilted her head slightly, green eyes turning curious. "What do you mean?"

Jaune shrugged. "When I have a goal in mind, I do whatever I need to to get it, no matter how off the beaten path my methods are. Like winning a fight by throwing away my only remaining weapon."

Her eyes widened slightly. "That sounds like a story I'd want to hear. We should likely be on our way to the atrium, though."

"Good point," Jaune acknowledged. "Talk and walk? Also, I don't quite know where we're going..."

"Nor do I," Pyrrha said, slightly smiling. "I suppose we'll have to find it together."

As they set off, Jaune couldn't help but smile to himself. This was shaping up to be one hell of a team.

XxX

Ruby

Ruby Rose stood in the center of the Beacon pavilions, eyes flickering back and forth. She was supposed to be making friends, but how? Everyone looked so cool and intimidating and they were all talking to each other and they wouldn't like her anyway and why did her sister have to leave her to go see some friends she didn't even like back at Signal - Ruby inhaled suddenly, taking a deep breath and telling her inner monologue to calm down. She had to remember what Qrow taught her. 'Never mix vodka and gravity dust unless you're really sure you want to be going crazy.' Wait. No, that wasn't it... 'If they only start wanting you when you say you're a huntsman, scan them for active auras first.' ...probably not that, but maybe he meant potential teammates? He did talk about partners a lot...

Ruby kept walking forward, so focused on trying to remember Qrow's advice, that her situational awareness, hard trained into her, lapsed for a few seconds. Unfortunately for her, those were the few seconds in which a luggage cart intersected her path. Before she could stop herself, her foot caught a wheel, tipping over her and the cart. Her Aura flicked to her hands and feet almost unconsciously, blurring them into her rose state, moving her into place to catch herself and reset the cart and stay balanced. She wasn't quite fast enough to keep a suitcase from thumping against the ground, though. Qrow would have been unimpressed.

A girl wearing all white turned at the sound of the thump, eyes widening angrily. She stalked quickly towards Ruby, white ponytail swaying behind her.

"Do you have any idea what you almost did? How much damage you almost caused? Look where you're going, next time!"

Ruby stepped back, hands coming up apologetically. Whoever this was, they looked important. And mad. And that symbol on her bags and dress looked familiar, and she sounded like the suitcase was valuable. Oh god, maybe this was a diplomat and Ruby had nearly caused an international incident. She just knew Yang leaving would come back to bite her. She knew it, she knew it, she knew it. The girl stepped forward again. Oh no. What now?

"What, don't you have anything to say for yourself? I am not getting the silent treatment twice today!"

Ruby tilted her head. "Twice? And I'm really really really sorry, I didn't mean to knock over your bags but I lost track of my surroundings for a second and I tried to catch your bags and myself but I wasn't quite fast enough-"

The girl held out a hand to stop her, sighing.

"I get it, you're sorry. But you know, my father always says, 'sorry doesn't sweeten the tea.'" The girl wagged her finger like a school teacher. She frowned, then, as if considering her father's words for the first time. Straightening, the girl absently smoothed nonexistent creases on her skirt. "Lucky for you, nothing broke. What are you doing here, anyways? Are you lost? Bad awareness of your surroundings, and you look really young. Don't tell me they're letting you be a huntress."

Ruby reared back, offended. She might have nearly knocked over this girl's stuff, but there was no way she would just let herself be called out like this. Yeah, she looked small, but lots of huntresses looked small!

"Look, I'm normally way better, okay? Lightning-quick reflexes!" Ruby sliced her hands through the air, as if to demonstrate. "That's how I got into Beacon this young! I was just trying to remember my uncle's advice so I got a little distracted, that's all!"

The girl's eyes widened again, but this time she looked almost...eager? Weird.

"I'm sorry, how old did you say you were? And who's your uncle?"

"I'm 15," Ruby replied. "And my uncle's Qrow Branwen." The girls eyes widened in recognition, so Ruby straightened. "Yeah, that's right. He trained me one on one for two years. And that proves I'm good!" That'd shut this girl up.

"Oh, I apologize, I didn't realize!" The girl held out a hand, smiling. "We started out on the wrong foot. Why don't we introduce ourselves? My name is Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."

Ruby smiled slightly and extended her hand in return.

"I'm Ruby Rose! Nice to meet you!"

Weiss shook her hand, still smiling. Her smile was wide, glittery, as if she had practiced it in the mirror for hours. It was the smile of a pageant girl, a trophy wife. Ruby couldn't tell if it was fake or genuine.

"It's nice to meet you, Ruby. This place can be pretty hard to get around. Want to partner up with me for the next few hours until we both find our bearings?"

"That sounds great!" Ruby grinned. Making friends wasn't too hard after all! "I'm pretty sure the speech is that way?" She grabbed her new friend's hand and pulled her where everyone else was walking, missing the slight distaste replacing the frozen smile on Weiss's face.

XxX

Ruby

As Ruby and Weiss walked into the central auditorium, Ruby caught sight of her sister standing in an entirely different group of people. Yang looked up and waved. Ruby tapped Weiss on the shoulder.

"My sister Yang's over there and she saved us spots, come on! You'll really like her, she's great and fun and her sense of humor is sometimes funny but don't tell her I said that-"

Weiss laughed softly.

"Of course, Ruby. Lead the way."

Ruby grinned and almost blurred over to Yang, half dragging Weiss along with her. Yang looked up as she approached, eyes widening.

"Hey, Rubes! Whatcha got there?"

"Who, not what," Weiss straightened her skirt and brushed some invisible dust off her shoulders.

"That's Weiss! She's sometimes a little unfriendly but she's really nice once you get to know her! I almost knocked over her stuff but it was OK and now we're friends!"

Yang ruffled her hair.

"I get it, you made a friend. So, Weiss, huh? Wouldn't happen to be Schnee, by any chance? The snowflake is pretty distinctive."

Weiss straightened slightly. "As a matter of fact, it would. Why?"

Yang tilted her head, eyes mischievous.

"Eh, nothing much. You just seem like you would be a pretty...chill squad member."

Ruby groaned. "Yaaaaaaang, why do you always do this..."

Yang laughed. "Because it's fun! Anyway, I made some new friends too, but we'll talk about that later." She motioned to the central stage where a man in dark green with a mechanical cane was walking to the podium. "The speech is about to start!"

All three quieted down, turning to face the stage as the man took his position. He tapped the microphone twice, quieting the whole room. When it fell silent he leaned forward, speaking surprisingly quietly.

"Hello to all of you. I am Professor Ozpin, your headmaster for the next four years. Assuming you make it through initiation. But we'll leave such topics for another time. First, I feel I must explain why we are here. Why Beacon stands as it is, and does what it does. After the Great War and the treaty at Vytal, all four kingdoms were left reeling from years of battle and the ensuing Grimm attacks. As you all hopefully know, we responded to this by establishing four Huntsman academies, each mirroring the philosophy of their home kingdoms. Shade Academy, in Vacuo, home of individual tactics and extraordinary freedom to specialize. Atlas Academy in Atlas, militarized to a fault, training generals and squads of regimented huntsmen. Haven Academy in Mistral, teaching their students to know their enemy and goal and seize victory, no matter the cost. And lastly, Beacon Academy. A little harder to define than the rest. We train students to recognize their individual talents but unify disparate skills under one banner to devastating effect. In short, we emphasize two things: individual skill and team synergy. Alone, you will leave this school as powerhouses. But, with your teams? You will be forces of nature. That is our aim.

"The initial stage of testing and transcripts proved your individual potential. Tomorrow's initiation will test your ability to respond to unfamiliar situations, tactically evaluate new environments, and, most importantly, work as a team without sacrificing your individual strength. You will all be at the cliffs above the Emerald Forest at two hours past dawn tomorrow morning. Get a good night's sleep. And welcome to Beacon."

A/N: well, this chapter stretched more than expected. Though I'm not mad, this dialogue has been really fun to write :). However, this means that the next chapter will still be preinitiation and might not have the Semblance WoR. The chapter after will be initiation part 1, and so on.

Sorry for missing last week's update, I got really sick and my recovery led right into a badly pulled muscle. I am going to do my best to keep updating weekly, though! Ideally I'll be finishing up the first arc by RTX Austin.

Please review!