#cedar glade

[cedar-glade]

Caesar Creek Gorge, Its not directly limestone based but it does have extremely interesting deep cut topography, is a glacial cut gorge(Vshaped), does have cedar glade remnants dotting it, is a mix of Wisconsin till( alkaline overall out wash near the base where it also meats the Ordovician pack) and Illinoisan till (acidic at upland till). These geological features make for some great botanizing.

[cedar-glade]

The open hillsides of friendship Indiana with mixed calcareous talus is proper habitat for American Colombo, Frasera caroliniensis (middle photo), which was well into the ripe seed stage. Bitternut hickory(the hickory species most associated with alkalinity) swamp white oaks, sugar maples, tulip poplars, white pines, and eastern red cedar were all widely spaced with few of the normal understory and forest thicket species between them leading to a classic open woodland herbaceous layer. Although it’s not clear at this point of year, this type of habitat is known to be great for midland shooting stars and wild hyacinth in spring. 

[cedar-glade]

Monarda clinopodia

White Wood Bergamot 

[destinyduke]

RWBY: Chronicles of Vault

Chapter 6: The Pecking Order, part 1

“And you’re sure it was Candi that called you?” Yasmin questioned a bewildered Isaac, sat on his bed with his teammates.

“Positive. I ain’t no liar. It sounded just like ‘er.” Isaac claimed, arms folded with an assured look on his face.

“That is weird…” Cedar wondered aloud. He hadn’t seen the picture until later on, a policy of the library was to turn your scroll off so as not to make noise and interfere with the other students. He’d spent a good few hours buried in a book ‘The Man Who Stole The World’ before returning to his room with the others. That’s when they’d found Isaac, having showered and dumped his clothes in a basket beside his bed, muttering to himself under his breath in words Cedar daren’t repeat. Now they were together, discussing the issue on who could’ve pulled the prank.

“The worrying thing is how the picture was sent from Candi’s account, assuming it wasn’t her.” Yasmin thought, Cedar practically able to see her thinking it through just by the shifty movements of her eyes.

“I was with ‘er when it went up. She didn’t do nothin’.” Isaac insisted.

“And there’s no way to time posts to send at a certain time, right?” Cedar thought ahead a little bit.

“Not as far as I know.” Yasmin shook her head. “Interesting indeed… someone tricked Isaac and timed it perfectly with Candi’s location, and posted the photo. Our culprit is a clever one.”

“But why would anyone do this? Why target Isaac?” Lariah leaned forward. “He’s nice to everybody.”

“Sometimes people just like taking others down a peg, Lariah.” Yasmin sighed. “My concern is if more pranks like this start happening. Then we’ve got a serial prankster on our hands.”

“I hope not…” Cedar frowned. He had enough to worry about with Faunus insults without also having to look out for a prankster.

Their discussion continued into the night, but little came from it aside from asking Candi and her team about it tomorrow. Isaac in particular was fervent in wanting to find out the truth about the situation.

The discussion even impacted Cedar’s dreams, finding himself strapped to a chair in a dark room, surrounded by people in colorful masks who were dumping buckets of slime, oil and other horrible substances over him and laughing at his torment. When he woke up, he could still feel his skin and hair covered in the substances, taking a longer shower just to be sure he was clean.

At breakfast that morning, team TORC seemed extremely on edge. Candi was glancing around the room suspiciously, occasionally shovelling cereal into her mouth. Martin wouldn’t stop tapping on his scroll. Ozzy was drumming his fingers on the table in annoyance, a grumpy look clear on his face. The only one who seemed alright was Brock, just casually enjoying breakfast.

“Just to confirm, Candi.” Yasmin asked, once they were sitting with them. “You didn’t take that picture of Isaac, nor did you post it on the board, right?”

“I didn’t!” Candi whined. “I would never do that... Not to a friend.”

“We shouldn’t be pointing fingers at one another, it’s detrimental.” Martin cleared the air with an authoritative tone. “We should instead investigate this matter and then draw our conclusions.”

“So how do we go about that, eh?” Ozzy asked, leaning in. Martin paused for a moment.

“...sssstill working on that.” He admitted sheepishly and there was a collective groan around the table at the helplessness of their situation. “What we know is, someone was able to access Candi’s account without using her scroll, so whoever did this is tech savvy, to say the least.”

“Within just one day too.” Yasmin mused. “Busy busy busy…”

Cedar sat quietly, bemused. All the talk of the mysterious prankster was putting him off his breakfast, he was supposed to be excited for Weapon work and Combat training today, he couldn’t be getting flustered over some strange prankster! Then why was this nagging sense of doubt and concern pressing on his shoulders and keeping his head down? Why couldn’t he shake it? Maybe he was afraid he’d be next considering yesterday. Wouldn’t be the first time he was targeted for bullying...

Thankfully the conversation steered to more pleasant matters until the bell went and Cedar finally put those worries behind him to focus on class. They arrived in the classroom with a similar build to the others, a lecture hall with a desk at the front. This time the desk was a little rough and seemed like it’d seen a lot of manual work, the surface laden with cuts, paint stains and dirty marks. There were blueprints on the walls and, much to Cedar’s awe, weaponry befitting of any old or modern huntsman. Hefty swords with hidden machine gun barrels, humble daggers with triggers on the handle, mighty axes and great swooping scythes, almost any kind of blade Cedar could think of was present. The most striking was a pair of two hefty gauntlets, bigger than his own head, let alone his hand, mechanical knuckles fit only for the strongest huntsman to wield. As he sat with his team he leaned forward and daydreamed about what kind of champion could have collected all these relics and tools.

His question was soon answered as a man lumbered into the room, blocking out the light of the doorway. To call this man a giant would be a gross understatement. Cedar estimated he was at least 7 ft tall as he lumbered toward the front, his footsteps making a rumbling thud with every step. He was swathed in a great trench coat over his mighty frame, turning to face the students from the front, bearing a weather beaten face with a square jaw and serious eyes, only accentuated by his wild grey mutton chops. He was a picture of towering might and stern authority.

“At ease, class.” The large man said, the entire class quiet and observant. “I am Professor Golem. I will be your weapons maintenance and repair instructor.” he introduced himself, his voice gruff and strict. “A huntsman’s greatest ally is his weapon. Treat your weapon with care and it shall protect you through the worst of times. High quality maintenance and repair of your weapon is to be expected of any professional huntsman.” The professor moved to the front and looked over the class with a steely glare. “And not just your weaponry. Defences against the Grimm, firearms, turrets, robots, all of which you can apply repair skills to. With technology ever marching forward, a smart huntsman will keep pace.”

“Now. Do any of you believe you completely understand your weapon?” Golema addressed the class, everyone was a little too intimidated to raise their hand. Except for one, at the back.

“Sir, I do.” Martin claimed, a confident smile on his lips.

“Then come down to the front. Bring your weapon.” Golem beckoned him and Martin joined him at the front. He placed his yo-yo on Golem’s desk. Golem gingerly picked it up and inspected it. “A unique choice for a weapon.”

“Thank you, sir! It’s a very intricate system and I know every single cog, spring and screw inside of it.” Martin assured him, his glasses flashing slightly in the overhead lights. Golem put his weapon down and suddenly, his hands were a blur, making use of a set of tools spread across the desk. Within maybe thirty seconds, the entire weapon had been dismantled, every cog, spring and screw laid bare with the yo-yo’s casing set beside it. Martin’s glasses slipped down his face as his jaw hung open.

“If you are so familiar with it, then i’d like to see you put it back together.” Golem looked expectantly at Martin. Martin looked over the components on the desk and picked up one of the yo-yo halves, trying to connect some pieces back together. After a little bit of trying, he looked at the professor and shook his head lightly. Golem nodded and within seconds, the yo-yo was back together again. Martin slinked back to his seat in defeat. “By the time you graduate, you will all be able to disassemble and reassemble your weapon from scratch. And if you can’t, you won’t be passing this class.” Golem assured them, maintaining that stern tone.

Their first assignment from the professor was to write a list of every single component in their weapons and anyone who managed to get it accurately would get to leave class early. For Cedar, this was a problem. Whilst he had built his weapon himself, he really couldn’t remember every part of it off hand. His teammates struggled too, he could see Lariah tugging on her fish braid in irritance, Isaac frowning and Yasmin sighing whilst idly flicking her pencil around. By the time their papers were handed in, consensus was that nobody had gotten every component right. And when Golem sighed whilst checking their papers, Cedar felt that was confirmation.

“Next.” Golem brought the class’ attention back to him, wheeling a trolley loaded with red metal boxes to the front of the classroom. “You’re to partner up with someone not on your team. Then use the toolkits to take apart the test weapon, an Atlas pistol. Hurry now.” Golem said as the various students seemed to look frantically around to find someone they liked. And it left Cedar a little bit high and dry, looking for anyone he could possibly go and work who hadn’t already been taken. Most of his team had immediately paired up with team TORC but just as he was about to ask Candi to be his partner, she was suddenly standing by April with a sorry smile. Drat, Cedar thought, usurped by cuteness! He had to find someone else. And that was when his eyes fell upon one of team STAR’s other members… Remus, wasn’t it? Cedar honestly found it hard to remember his name. He was sitting there, nonplussed, reading from a travel atlas.

“Um… hello?” Cedar approached him, knowing full well how awkward this was.

“Hm?” The boy looked up, or Cedar presumed he did, the sunglasses he wore covered his eyes pretty well. “What? You want something?”

“Uhhh yes. I need a partner and I saw you didn’t have one… so uh, wanna work together?” By Oum this was awful, he was asking a member of the team who mocked him and undercut him in the exam to be partners?! What was he thinking, there was no way he’d agree!

“Eh, sure.” Remus shrugged idly and put his book away, standing up. Cedar blinked in rapid succession, mostly out of sheer disbelief. “...well?” Remus raised an eyebrow and folded his arms.

“Oh uh, right!” Counting his lucky, or unlucky stars, he raced down to the front, retrieved a toolbox and pistol and brought them back up, sitting down with Remus. “So… where do we start? Do we unscrew this?” Cedar asked, pointing at a random screw on the firearm.

“Not unless you want to hurt someone.” Remus replied, taking the weapon and pulled something out of the handle, a large battery-like device sliding out. “You disarm it first.”

“Oh…” Cedar hadn’t even thought of that, now it seemed far too obvious. Remus went on to slide off the top of the weapon, then turned it over and removed what looked like the barrel of the weapon, a lot of more complex parts inside. “You seem to know a lot about this, Remus.” Cedar noted, the other boy just looking at him oddly.

“Dad used to be in the Atlas military.” he explained, whilst working on unscrewing the handle of the weapon. “Never had to take it apart, but he gave me a couple shooting lessons with some leftovers from his army days.” That gave Cedar pause for thought. He’d never really trained with firing standard weaponry, he’d taken up archery as an after school club to learn how to shoot, which eventually transitioned into him using a crossbow. He’d just practiced with that back in combat school. And here was one of his classmates with gun training from an Atlas soldier? He hated to admit it to himself, but he found that kinda cool.

“That must’ve been nice, a dad who was a soldier.” Cedar complimented Remus as he removed the trigger. He shrugged in return.

“No big deal.” Remus replied. “Had its perks, drawbacks. Same as every other parent, I bet.” Cedar was a little bemused. Did he really think it was so unspecial? He put it out of his mind and finished helping Remus take the pistol apart. Cedar was amazed just how many parts there were to it, this was the true face of Atlas’ technology huh? Kind of made his weapon look simple, maybe even dull by comparison.

After taking the pistol apart, they put it back together and took notes from Professor Golem, lecturing them on recognising the parts of a weapon that can be taken apart and the methods and tools used to do so, mostly involving clips, screws and hinges. At the end of class, there was a little test based on the pistol they’d taken apart, naming the components and how they’d done it. Cedar and Remus ended up getting most of the answers right.

“Study up on the parts of your weapon. I’ll be testing you again next class.” Golem addressed the class one final time, still as firm and stoic as ever. “Alright. Dismissed.” the bell rang and the class began to slip out, Remus rejoining his team without so much as a word to Cedar. The Faunus couldn’t help but wonder about him. He seemed so listless and apathetic, but from the way he held that travel atlas and took apart the weapon, there was more below the surface. It made him wonder how well he truly knew his classmates…

“Y’comin’, Cedar?” A tap on the shoulder jolted him back to reality, Isaac standing behind him with the rest of his team waiting by the door.

“Y-yeah, yeah, i’m coming…” He joined his teammates once again as they went to go and have lunch.

One uneventful meal later, they were already going to their next class, something most of his team seemed excited for. Combat class.

“Finally, a chance to kick some butt!” Lariah grinned, flexing her arms in excitement, hefting her weapon around her belt.

“Be nice t’finally see other folks’ fightin’ styles.” Isaac agreed, in generally good spirits.

“I agree. Gauging our classmates combat prowess will be helpful to increasing our own skills.” Yasmin smiled. Cedar was quiet behind them. A part of him was excited to see the other students fighting, but another part of him was concerned he’d mess up and make a fool of himself. He knew what that could lead to...

Unlike the other classrooms, the one for combat practice had some notable differences. First and foremost, it’s stage beyond the seats was far wider and formed a large circle. There was a terminal set up behind it as well as a large screen on the wall above. There were normal seats too but there were also strange machines set up around the walls. Cedar wondered to its purpose. For once their teacher was waiting to greet them, the familiar form of Miss Lariet standing in front of the stage, dressed in her flowery skirt with her strawberry blonde curls lingering around her head. Once they sat down, she clapped her hands together to draw their attention.

“Good afternoon, students! You might remember me as Miss Lariet and i’ll be your combat teacher this year. In this class, we aim to build on your skills in combat school by focusing on singular combat and team based combat. The latter is extremely important as teamwork is one of the greatest weapons a huntsman has in his arsenal.” She explained, her cheerful and bright personality a nice change up for Cedar after the gruffness of Golem and the lax attitude of Redwood. “And before we begin, i’d like to take this opportunity to introduce the school nurse, miss Valeria Gelb, who will be overseeing events to treat any possible injuries.” she gestured to a woman beside her.

“Hello!” A bubbly voice rang around the hall as nurse Gelb stepped up beside miss Lariet. Cedar blinked in disbelief. Her attire was sure consistent with a nurse, button up white outfit with a red cross on the chest… but speaking of that chest, it was pretty ludicrous. Cedar was fairly certain he’d never seen a pair that ridiculously big before. It took a lot of willpower just to avoid staring at them whilst convincing himself she was some form of illusion or hallucination. “I’m nurse Gelb, i’ll be taking care of you today! Don’t fight too hard now.” She cheered, her long blonde hair swaying slightly behind her. The class was collectively quiet, probably making the same assumptions that Cedar was.

“Now then.” Miss Lariet returned their attention to her. “To start with, you’re going to be paired up into one on one matches to get an idea of your strengths and weaknesses. We’ll be using a randomiser for fairness. After that, i’ll be working with each of you on what you need to improve on and your coordination.” Miss Lariet crossed the circular area and moved behind the terminal, activating it. On the screen above her, two images appeared, profiles of every student in the class. The screen began to cycle through their images, Cedar spotting himself several times in the process. It soon stopped on two images and he recognised both. The first, Ozzy. The second was Terrance, the large boy Cedar remembered tripping him up.

“Alright!” Ozzy pumped his fist into the air. “Payback time, ya blonde buffoon!” Terrance too stood up, glaring at him as they both made their way to the arena, Ozzy putting on his boxing gloves he’d used in the exam and Terrance drawing his own weapon. It looked like a large hammer but it seemed to have a revolver chamber as a part of its head, something Cedar found interesting. On the screen beside their profiles, two aura gauges appeared. Around the arena, a crackling blue field formed around them, something Cedar could only guess was some kind of forcefield to protect the spectators from harm. The two students glared each other down, the tension between them thick and strong, enough so Cedar could feel it in the stands with the rest of the class.

“Standard tournament rules apply, you two. If your aura drops below 15%, you lose. If you are knocked out of the arena, you lose.” She instructed them, both of them nodding in understanding. “Now, begin!”

Ozzy wasted no time, he bounded from foot to foot, rushing Terrance and going into a right hook punch. But Terrance blocked, holding his hammer horizontally as the head blocked the fist. Then he quickly countered, booting Ozzy in the stomach and knocking him backward. Then he followed up, bringing his hammer above his head and striking it down. Ozzy barely had time to dodge, bouncing to the boy’s left as his hammer struck the ground with a mighty thud.

“Ya bloody punk!” Ozzy snapped at him, swinging at him again, only for Terrance to bring his hammer around into his stomach and send him skidding backward. Whilst he’d been pushed back, Terrance folded back the handle of his weapon and there was a sharp click as the hammer head revealed a hole, resting the weapon on his shoulder. He pulled on a trigger and from the hammer’s hole, a missile soared out of it toward Ozzy. The copper haired boy realised what was coming and ran to get away. The missile struck the ground and exploded in a great flower of fire, knocking Ozzy from the force as the boy was sent sprawling on the ground, his aura going down by a decent chunk. Terrance turned on him and approached, switching his hammer back to its melee mode.

“Get up. I want to beat you down again.” Terrance threatened. Cedar found that strange. He was winning, but he still seemed so angry. Ozzy leapt back to his feet, his vigor renewed. Winding up a punch, he threw his fist forward, only for the glove to come off his hand and fly at Terrace like a rocket. It struck the blonde boy in the face before Ozzy fired the other, scoring another hit, both gloves slipped back over his hands.

“Only beating happenin’ today is yer sorry backside!” Ozzy taunted him, bouncing on the spot in a boxing stance. His opponent growled like a wild animal and rushed at him, swinging his hammer at his side. Ozzy this time managed to jump back in time, before leaping in for a right straight into Terrance’s jaw. The blow rattled the blonde boy, staggering him enough that Ozzy could unleash a flurry of fast jabs, peppering his aura and evening the score. Coming to his senses, Terrance brought his hammer down in a diagonal strike. Ozzy countered with a roundhouse kick, knocking the hammer to one side and following up with a low blow to the stomach. Cedar noted the metal bracers on Ozzy’s considerably big shoes having given him a stronger kick.

Terrance rushed at him, this time pulling the trigger on his weapon whilst in its melee mode, a jet of fire exploding out of its head as he swung the weapon, its speed suddenly doubled by the rocket going off inside. Ozzy blocked too late and was sent spinning by the surprisingly swift shot. Terrance grumbled as the hammer head opened, dropping the missile out with its boost depleted. Ozzy sprang back to his feet, still rife with energy. He bounded toward Terrance, raising his right fist to attack but just before he swung, he leapt up high and bounded over his opponent! Before Terrance could even realise what was going on, Ozzy landed and kicked him in the back, following up with two swinging blows from his fists, all of which knocked the blonde boy forward. Cedar was impressed at that acrobatic move, he’d never seen anyone jump higher than a person just from a short run up!

“How’d ya like that one, ya wazzock?” Ozzy taunted, bouncing on his feet with his fists up, still raring to go, whilst his opponent only seemed to be getting frustrated. He turned toward Ozzy, a white knuckled grip on his hammer as he held it ready. Fearless as ever, Ozzy bounded forward, leaping from foot to foot before he sprung up into a left hook, jumping for Terrance’s face. But Terrance brought the hammer down first, purposefully missing his opponent, his aura crackling around him like electricity. His hammer struck the arena floor and the entire classroom shook as a mighty sonic explosion occured from the contact point, shockwaves ripping across the arena and sending his airborne opponent flying backward, clean out of the ring before he even knew what was happening. Cedar held his fluffy ears as his eardrums popped from the loud noise, the rest of the class reacting similarly.

“Ring out. Terrance Thunderhead wins.” Miss Lariet said, the screen above her drawing a red X through Ozzy’s picture and a small shower of confetti sprinkling over Terrance’s picture. Ozzy was still sprawled at the arena side, a mix of annoyance and shock on his face. Terrance compacted his hammer, snorting at the sight of him.

“You fought well, Mr Thunderhead.” Miss Lariet complimented him. “However, your need to remain more aware of your opponent’s moves, he caught you off guard many times when you could have avoided a hit.” He didn’t seem to listen much and just returned to his seat, the teacher approaching Ozzy. “And you Mr Wattle, you were agile and scored many good hits, but you underestimated your opponent’s strength numerous times and leapt right into his final attack. You need to be smart as well as fast in battle with another huntsman.”

“Yeah yeah…” Ozzy grumbled, getting to his feet and returning to his seat. Cedar was taken aback by the entire spectacle, he’d thought both sides had been fighting pretty well. Then again, this was why Miss Lariet was the expert in all of this. Before he could further think about the fight, the screens began to show the images shifting again, picking the next two participants. Then they stopped. Cedar felt his heart sink slightly at the end result.

Stizza Hamelin vs Cedar Glade.

[destinyduke]

RWBY: Chronicles of Vault

Chapter 4: The Foundations

BIBEEP! BIBEEP! BIBEEP!

The alarm on Cedar’s scroll woke him the next morning, the repeating beeps raising him from a dreamless slumber until he tapped it to turn it off. He sat up and blinked his eyes open, shaking his head slightly as his fox ears perked up. Glancing around the room, he almost expected it to be his room back at home, with the wardrobe at the foot of the bed, window to his right, the tatty red rug stretching out beside his bed and the wafting scent of breakfast creeping under the door. But as he looked around and remembered he was still at Lustre Academy, he smiled slightly. It hadn’t quite felt real yesterday, but waking up in this room, now it felt real. He’d made it… he wasn’t going anywhere. Not yet.

The next thing that drew his attention was the sound of running water and the rising steam from the bathroom, someone was showering. Considering he could see Isaac still asleep, snoring noisily and Lariah still in bed, he guessed it was Yasmin who was showering. He stood up and moved to get his clothes from the wardrobe, but when he was checking for his normal clothes, he found something he wasn’t expecting, some identical articles of clothing he didn’t remember bringing, nor did he remember anyone adding it to the wardrobe. Three dark blue sweater vests, three long sleeve cream shirts, two sets of blue trousers and a similarly coloured skirt with a cream lining and three dark blue ties, lined with three light blue diamond symbols.

Yasmin emerged from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her hair and her body clothed in one of the outfits Cedar had spied in the wardrobe, though her feet were currently bare and a rich smell of soap wafted out from the bathroom.

“Aaahhh. This fits me nicely. All the measurements are correct. Much better than I was expecting.” Yasmin was admiring herself, checking the length of the skirt and her shirt.

“Umm… why are you wearing that?” Cedar asked idly, still a little dozy.

“It’s my uniform, silly.” Yasmin giggled. “There’s one for each of us. You might want to get yours on before these two get up and hog the bathroom.” she joked, gesturing to her two slumbering teammates. “My hair still needs to dry anyway.”

“Um, right.” Cedar took one of the outfits, the smaller of the two of course, before he headed into the bathroom. He showered up, having brought his own soap and shampoo with him, he needed something special so it wouldn’t affect his fox ears natural fur. Once he was washed and dried, he tried on his new outfit. It was a good fit, decently comfy, though he took a few minutes fumbling with the tie and watching himself in the bathroom mirror. He’d miss wearing his scarf and gloves… but it did look a little more official. He emerged back into the bedroom where the rest of his team were now awake.

“Heeey Cedar! You look kinda cute.” Lariah beamed at him and the Faunus smiled a little shyly.

“Not that cute… but you should probably try yours on, too.” He mentioned.

“Oooh right! We better hurry or we’ll miss breakfast!” Lariah dashed into the bathroom with not even a hint of debate from Isaac, who still seemed very weary. A little while later, all four of them were dressed and making their way down to the dining hall from last night. It was clean as ever and a number of students had already arrived, seated at tables of queueing for food, everyone in uniform. Cedar couldn’t help but feel a little proud, even comfortable as they joined the line. Their uniformity, it felt like he was really one of them. A normal student training to be a huntsman… he briefly wondered if being excited over something so mundane was sad, silly or both.

Whilst walking over to a table with a bowl of porridge, Cedar spied someone waving at him.

“Oi, shortyfox!” It was Ozzy, the copper haired loudmouth who was waving at him from a table. “Come sit with us, eh? We could use the company!” The rest of team TORC were seated next to him. A little chat with ICYL and soon both teams were sharing a table together. Somehow, Martin made the school uniform look even smarter, whilst Ozzy had somehow already gotten food on his sweater vest too, mangling a plate of scrambled eggs in the meantime.

“I’m so excited for class today!” The girl Cedar vaguely remembered as Candi piped up, her shocking pink hair with slight blue highlights catching his eyes, a bowl of sugary cereal set in front of her. “Do any of you guys know what we’re doing first?”

“I believe it’s history first.” Martin spoke up, showing his scroll with the class schedule on it.

“Well that’s just dandy.” Isaac smiled, making his way through a fry up on his plate. “I ain’t too partial to history round my home, so I wanna find out s’more.”

“You said you’re from Vacuo, right?” Lariah glanced his way, a kipper idly stuck on her fork. “So you guys don’t hear much about history over there?”

“Not s’much.” Isaac shook his head. “Was kinda homeschooled and we didn’t have all too many books.”

“Bah who needs it!” Ozzy scoffed, his mouth full of egg and toast. “All ya need to be a huntsman is a good punchin’ arm and the common sense not to stand in a Grimm’s swingin’ range! Who needs history?!”

“Mind yourself, Ozzy.” Yasmin smirked, picking at an omelette. “Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

“Yes, miss Yasmin has the right idea.” Martin nodded, Yasmin raising a suggestive eyebrow at his compliment. “We should all be sure to study hard alongside our combat practice, both will be important.”

“Studying’s hard…” Lariah frowned, slightly bemused. “I tried to study with Dad a couple times… it didn’t work out.”

“Come on, we’ll all help each other!” Candi leaned over the table, her pale yellow eyes sparkling with an unusual gleam. “We can be one big study group!”

“Maybe we should actually see what we’re working with first.” Martin suggested, adjusted his glasses slightly whilst Cedar stood up, having finished his breakfast whilst they were talking. He made his way over to a stack on the right side of the room to put his tray and bowl away when he walked by a familiar blonde haired boy. The two collided in passing and Cedar suffered the worst of it, the bump making him stumble before he tripped and fell forward, face planting right into his bowl and covering his face in his leftovers. The room around him went quiet as people turned to look at the Faunus who’d fallen over. The silence was deafening as Cedar raised his porridge smeared face from the floor.

“Watch where you’re going, mutt.” Terrance growled, only looking back for a moment before he continued walking. That word… mutt… Cedar was familiar with it. Back in combat school when the other kids made fun of his Faunus traits, mutt was one of the things they called him. All that feeling of belonging drained away along with the colour in his face, his ears limp and his body stiff, finding himself unable to even get up off the floor.

“Now hold up there, pardner.” Isaac was suddenly standing, facing down with Terrance, his face a picture of calm but with a distilled anger bubbling behind his eyes. “Y’all bumped into my buddy there and sent him sprawlin’. You oughta apologise.” Cedar looked back at him in surprise, the room focused on them. The blonde boy’s teeth gritted as he stood against Isaac.

“Your buddy wasn’t looking where he was going, butterball.” Terrance accused him, folding his arms. “You got a problem with that?”

“Matter of fact, I do. And I got a problem with that insult.” Isaac returned, both boys emitting a great aura of intensity as they stared each other down.

“Not my fault you eat more than anyone in this hall.” Terrance returned, his eyes narrow and spiteful.

“Not what’s important, friend. Y’shouldn’t be knockin’ folks over like that.” Isaac replied, firm and calm.

“I’m gonna smack you if you keep accusing me for your friend being clumsy..” Terrance spat as Cedar watched, Lariah moving to help him up in the meantime. Were they really going to start a fight here?

“Maybe we should settle this here, pardner. Been a while since I done some proper wrasslin’.” Isaac seemed more than intent to throw down, when someone intervened.

“Now now you two, calm down.” A grey haired boy said, someone Cedar recognised as Silas, Terrance’s teammate. “It was just an accident after all, no need to be so hostile over it.”

“Hostile? Pardon me but it was your buddy who insulted mine.” Isaac countered, not impressed with the smooth talking mediator.

“Oh please, it was an off handed remark. Terrance doesn’t actually mean that.” Silas assured him coolly, looking to his blonde friend. “Isn’t that right?”

“...yeah.” Terrance seemed to simmer down a little, his teeth no longer grinding and his arms unfolding.

“See? Now let’s stop this fighting business before a teacher shows up, shall we? Don’t want to make a bad impression on the first day, after all.” Silas continued, smiling at Isaac who was finding it difficult to get a word in. Silas just took his hulking teammate back to their table whilst Cedar felt a mix of confusion and sadness.

“Creep.” Lariah muttered with a frown, wiping Cedar’s face with her napkin to clean the porridge stains off. “Are you okay?”

“A little.” Cedar lied, still unsettled by his comment and looking a fool in front of his new peers. The front of his uniform was a little scuffed too, which he brushed down, his ears still flopped over his head.

“Who the bloomin’ hell does he think he is?!” Ozzy snapped once the two were sat back at their table. “Callin’ a Faunus a mutt, bloomin’ cheek…”

“He probably didn’t mean it like that…” Brock tried to speak up. He shared a knowing look with Cedar, the two sharing a mutual understanding of Faunus torment.

“Perhaps we should steer clear of their group in future.” Martin recommended, having watched the whole thing over the rim of his glasses. Then the bell rang nearby and everyone got up to go to class. Cedar trailed behind his team as they put their trays away and walked on, his head  down as he tried to recover his shattered pride.

A little wandering later and they found their classroom, a large square room with seats and stacked tables lining the back walls which the students began to fill, stairs cutting through the middle of the room and leading down toward the front area. That area was dominated by a large antique looking desk with a polished wooden surface and ornately carved patterns spiralling around its corners and sides. A large leather seat sat behind it, probably the most modern furnishing in the room. Strung up on the walls behind the desk were framed pieces of parchment, depicting maps, sketches of Grimm and huntsmen of the past. And most interestingly of all, a wooden mannequin dressed up in an antique suit of armour, composed of green and silver metal with a sword in hand, keeping a watchful eye over the room, like a valiant guard at his post.

Everyone took their seats and for a while there were murmurs and a little chatting until their teacher arrived, drawing the eyes of the students with his toffee brown hair fading into soft red and his loud tweed jacket.

“Good morning everyone!” He said cheerily, strolling down the stairs to his desk and standing behind it, adjusting his bow tie slightly and the light reflecting in his dark brass framed glasses. “My name is Malum Saccharo, and you can all call me Professor Saccharo! I’ll be your history teacher over this term.” He clapped his hands together, his face a picture of pure excitement. “Now, who’s ready to explore the past and relive the tales of old?!” there was a resounding silence from the classroom til Saccharo continued.

“W-well then, why don’t we test your skills on local history first? Can any of you tell me about the area this school is situated in?” Saccharo looked eagerly to the class, all a little too nervous to put their hands up. Then, Martin raised his hand.

“It’s a colony built by the four kingdoms, sir. It’s the youngest large settlement in Remnant..” He said quickly, Cedar could’ve sworn his glasses flashed slightly as he answered.

“Very good, Mr Thistle!” Saccharo nodded, taking a device out of his pocket and pressing a button on it, activating a projector, displaying a map of Remnant on the screen. On the Sanus continent, on the central southern section between Vale and Vacuo, the shield symbol of Vault was present on the map.

“18 years ago, the four kingdoms were facing a crisis of overpopulation, their capital cities were full and there were fewer safe villages with increasing Grimm and bandit attacks.” The image on the board showed a number of human symbols popping up over the four kingdoms. “Even with Menagerie, this problem couldn’t be fixed. So, the councils arranged a meeting to discuss a solution. And they came up with one.” He clicked the device and it returned to an image of Sanus. “At the time, Vacuo had plans to expand a mining operation into this area.” he pointed to the map. “And the dust reserves there had been untapped, a fresh vein of resources. So the four kingdoms proposed something… a grand plan to solve their issues and make use of this deposit of dust! And that project, boys and girls, was the colony of Vault!”

He clicked the projector to show a layout plan for the city, including building placements, wall defences and certain establishments. “The four kingdoms came together and began building on this site, their troops protecting it from Grimm at night and through pooling their resources, they were able to construct a settlement on the volcanic soil of the area, using natural defences and built defences to protect it. Construction took a year of work and a lot of money, but it was completed by that year’s end.” Professor Saccharo continued to lecture, changing the image to a photograph of what looked like a township, small but fresh and new.

“Initially, Vault was populated by the workers and those stationed there to protect it. Anyone in the kingdoms who didn’t have a stable home or those that lived in unprotected settlements were invited to have a fresh start in the newly flourishing colony. It was built with the best of all four kingdoms, the technology of Atlas, the style of Mistral, the culture of Vale and of course, the strong working attitude of Vacuo, who could resist such an offer?” the professor grinned brightly as he changed the image to another photograph, this one a little later than the first.

“Now, who can tell me how they decided Vault would be governed?” Saccharo looked over the class and Cedar kept his hand down, still trying to write down what the professor had just been saying.

“Sir.” Yasmin raised her hand to answer. “It was decided Vault would be governed by four council members from each kingdom so each kingdom may have a voice here and all would be equal.”

“Excellent answer, miss Ginshi!” Professor Saccharo nodded, clicking the device as the board showed four individuals, one from each kingdom, no-one Cedar recognised. “Even now this system of government is in place, however recently a representative chosen by the people of Vault has also been given a seat on the council to assist in its governing.” Saccharo continued. “Thanks to their guidance, Vault has flourished despite being only 17 years old, a success for the other kingdoms’ project. Now, who can tell me when Lustre Academy was built?” There was a greater show of hands this time, more students knew of the academy than the colony itself. “Yes, Mr Sleet?”

“It was established 10 years ago.” Silas replied, smiling thinly.

“Not quite, Mr Sleet..” Saccharo shook his head slightly. “After Vault was constructed and proved it could sustain life and income, the council members drew up a plan to construct an academy and further aid in the training of huntsmen to protect the colony and work outside it. Once again the kingdoms pooled their resources in order to build it, which took 6 months. However, the plans and the building occurred 11 years ago, whilst Lustre Academy opened the next year, aka 10 years ago. So, you were close Mr Sleet.” Saccharo smiled at him reassuringly and the grey haired boy just rolled his eyes. “Make sure all of you write that down!” he said quickly, clicking the device to change the image again, this time it was of Lustre Academy. 10 years had been very kind to it, Cedar thought as he gazed at the photograph on the screen.

“Now then, who can tell me the rules the council set upon Lustre Academy when it was built?” Saccharo looked over the class, this time no-one raised their hands to Saccharo decided to pick someone. “You, Mr Wattle, can you tell me?”

“Erm… urr…” the copper haired boy struggled, having been leaning back in his seat all this time and paying little attention. “Don’t practice Grimm dentistry?” There was a slight snicker from somewhere in the room.

“No.” the professor said flatly. “The rules of the academy are similar to the rules of those that run the colony itself. At least one representative from each kingdom must be present in order to maintain presence and fair order, whilst the headmaster and the school nurse are both neutral representatives.” he proudly put a hand on his chest. “The more astute amongst you may have picked up on the fact I am the representative chosen for Vacuo. I’ll leave you to figure out the rest.” he winked cheekily and clicked the button again, shifting to an image of Lustre’s blueprints. “That’s arguably what makes Lustre Academy the finest huntsman academy. Everything is shared here, the culmination of the four greatest kingdoms to make one final achievement. And with Vault continuing to flourish, it’s going to give us plenty to talk about in future!” Then the projector turned to an image of the more modern Vault township. “Now, to finish up for today, can anyone give me an explanation why Vault is becoming so prosperous?”

“Sir.” Yasmin was the one to speak up once again. “It’s become prosperous due to a thriving tourist trade, low crime rates, the environment and the mix of cultures.”

“Very good indeed, miss Ginshi!” Saccharo nodded, changing the image once again. “Because Vault was built upon volcanic soil, growing crops has become one of its main exports. Plus there’s still the healthy deposit of dust being mined and sold. The mix of cultures also turned Vault into a unique experience even among over kingdoms with attractions like the Atlas designed shopping centre of the more Mistrallian based hot springs, again thanks to the environment.” Saccharo explained, striding up and down behind his desk. “And yes indeed, the low crime rates. With Atlas trained personnel on the watch, few criminals attempt large scale operations and most of the crime consists of petty theft and vandalism.” Saccharo turned back to the group.

“Alright, that’s all for today. For your homework, i’d like you to research something that assisted in creating Vault, be it a group, a resource or a person and present your research in a short essay. That’s all for now, class dismissed!” the bell rang perfectly in line with when he finished his speech. Cedar just about managed to finish writing his notes when the bell went, breathing a sigh of relief. The entire lesson had gone by pretty quickly and he’d struggled to keep up, but it helped knowing some of the others weren’t finding it easy too, like Ozzy.

“Y’comin’ Cedar?” Isaac tapped him on the shoulder.

“Oh uh, yeah, i’m coming.” Cedar got up quickly, following Isaac out.

“You sure know a bit about history, Yasmin!” Lariah mentioned as they were walking.

“Well, my family moved out here to assist in the building of Vault when I was very young. So I had a good home teacher, you could say.” Yasmin explained, a slightly proud smile playing on her lips.

“Ohhh so you’re local! I always kinda guessed you were from Mistral because of your outfit and your weapons.” Lariah looked surprised, scratching her chin. “Here I just moved here from Vale and all…”

“There’s no shame in not being local.” Yasmin assured her. “What about you, Cedar?”

“Hm?” Cedar hadn’t been listening and was more focused on walking. “Oh, yeah, i’m local. I was born in Vault, actually… my family moved out here from Vale due to um… financial troubles.” he explained, though he kept a little bit of the truth to himself for the time being.

“So you’re both local! Neat!” Lariah beamed. “You two better show me around town sooner or later!”

“Maybe at the weekend.” Yasmin flicked her fan over her mouth and looked at Lariah with those suspicious eyes. “Unless you’re suggesting we cut class on the first day.”

“W-what?! No, I wasn’t saying that at all!” Lariah protested, throwing her hands up in surprise.

“It’s alright Lariah, the mind wanders and wants to free itself from this prison of a school.” Yasmin teased her as Lariah became increasingly flustered.

“Stop saying those things! I just wanna see the town sometime, not during school!” She insisted. Isaac chuckled and patted her on the shoulder.

“Now calm yerself. She’s only teasin’.” Isaac assured her and Lariah just pouted indignantly. Yasmin flicked her fan shut and moved on, the strong armed girl lagging behind the group as they returned to the cantina. It was lunchtime after all. As Cedar returned to the hall, he remembered what happened over breakfast and felt a little nervous at it happening again. He’d have to keep an eye out for that blonde boy from before and his grey haired partner. He mustered up his courage, tightened his fists and went to get food.

[destinyduke]

RWBY: Chronicles of Vault

Chapter 3: Alliances Forged

Cedar was bent double, puffing and panting from running for the exit, the adrenaline starting to wear off. The Gauntlet had tested him thoroughly, but he’d finally made it out. Beyond the door marked by the shining star, he found a simple looking waiting room, seats at the walls, a water cooler with cups nearby and a stairway leading up and, presumably, out. Some of the others who had finished the exam were sitting there too, catching their breath and taking a moment to recuperate. He spotted Yasmin sitting up straight and looking mildly annoyed, her pretty dress smeared with mud and damp in places. Isaac was there too, drinking deeply from a cup of water. Lariah was also there, wiping her brow, her strong arms glistening slightly with beads of sweat. At a guess, Cedar assumed they’d only just arrived, same as he did.

There were others who looked far less haggard. He spied Martin leaning on the wall, playing with his yo-yo, apparently having not noticed Cedar didn’t follow him through the exit. There was a tall guy with a mask over his eyes, Cedar didn’t even remember seeing him earlier. The dark skinned blonde in the sharp suit was there too, seated with one leg crossed over her lap. No sign of the grey haired kid, maybe he’d already gone back up…

“Cedar!” Lariah approached him suddenly. “You made it!”

“Just about.” Cedar smiled back at her. It was hard to feel down around her, even when he felt a little down about being the last one out. “It was a bit touch and go back there.”

“You too huh? We had it hard. That geyser field was scary…” Lariah frowned thinking back to it.

“Well we wouldn’ta made it s’far without yer mace flingin’.” Isaac complemented, looking over at the two.

“Oh cmon, you’re the one who blew away those big dumb birds!” Lariah returned, going back over to talk to the large boy, leaving Cedar for the time being.

“E-excuse me?” Brock caught Cedar’s attention, the Faunus standing behind him after they’d escaped the Gauntlet. “Thank you, for helping me back there.”

“It’s fine, really.” Cedar smiled wryly. “I just hope we don’t get expelled for it…”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about that.” Yasmin spoke up with the slightest of smiles, glancing over at the Faunus pair. “I expect that mention of expulsion wasn’t true.”

“Wait, what? What makes you think that?” Cedar looked at her, a mixture of disbelief and suspicion on his face.

“Unless students were failing quite terribly in the Gauntlet, why immediately expel them? It makes far more sense to keep them and train them at least a little. Besides…” she smirked. “My brother told me they said something similar to him during his entrance exam at Haven Academy.”

“So I stressed out over nothing… cool.” Cedar swept a hand over his forehead and removed his goggles, slightly relieved and slightly annoyed he’d been fooled.

“Come, no sense waiting around here. Let’s head out.” Yasmin beckoned them toward the stairs, Lariah and Isaac getting up from their seats to follow her. Cedar’s ears perked up slightly and he bounded after them, up into the light, happy to leave the Gauntlet behind him.

At the top of the stairs, they emerged back onto the school grounds amidst the soft red grass, a winding white path leading around toward the school building, the other students who had left the Gauntlet were already filing back ahead of him. Cedar trailed behind the others, regaining his spirit and his strength and putting away his weapon. He’d used a couple of bolts in the exam, good thing he’d brought plenty of spares with him.

They sat back down in the academy’s hall and awaited the other exam attendees. It took another few minutes for everyone to return, Miss Lariet and Headmaster Birchwood arriving last, stepping back onstage.

“Well, first of all,” Miss Lariet began “we’d like to congratulate all of you on passing the entrance exam. Next, i’d like to apologise for the little fib regarding expulsion if you finished last.” Yasmin smirked at Cedar and the Faunus once again felt foolish. “That lie was told to bring out the best in all of you for the sake of this exam, but we will not be using such methods in future, rest assured.” She smiled somewhat sheepishly, like she was embarrassed at her own underhanded method. “Now then, the headmaster and I have checked the footage of all of you during the exam. Based on your performances and your completion times, we’ve sorted you into teams of four. When your name is called, please come onstage.”

Cedar edged forward slightly on his seat, both worried about who he’d get paired with and eager to see the other forming teams. The first ones called up were some he recognised.

“Silas Sleet, Terence Thunderhead, Remus Fogg, April Showers.” The headmaster called them up. There was they grey haired kid who’d shot at him during the exam, the jagged haired blonde he’d seen talking to Lariah, some other kid with a bandana on his head and the cute girl in the raincoat. ”I hereby name you as, team Star.” The headmaster addressed the four once they’d lined up onstage. “And you shall be led by, Silas Sleet.” Then the four sat down, the grey haired kid looking particularly proud of himself in a way that irked Cedar. That kid had shot at him, how was he fit to lead his team? He felt a little bad for the girl in the raincoat...

“Violetta Georgia, Stizza Hamelin, Pazice Gjaller, Raijin Kuro.” Next up was some violet haired girl he didn’t recognised, the masked fellow who finished ahead of him, the dark skinned blonde and some black haired kid with a white band round his head. “I hereby name you as, team Vesper. And you shall be led by, Violetta Georgia.” The violet haired girl looked very happy about that and the masked one just nodded slightly, his face showing scant emotion. Cedar was curious about the masked kid, had he somehow finished in their group without him even noticing? How skilled was he? The headmaster began reading more names.

“Martin Thistle, Oswald Wa-”

“That’s Ozzy, mate!” The copper haired kid interrupted him, earning a steely glare from Birchwood that made even that spunky spirit settle down a little.

“Ozzy Wattle.” Birchwood repeated. “Brock Rathbone. Candi Cotton.” Cedar watched as the familiar glasses wearing eccentric headed onstage, followed by the hot blooded bruiser, a pastel haired girl in bright clothing and the familiar Faunus he’d saved before, now wearing his jacket around his waist. “You four shall now be, team Torch. And you shall be led by, Martin Thistle.” They all seemed happy about that. And Cedar was too, he trusted Martin’s skill and he liked Brock. Ozzy he admired, to say the least. After that, more teams were announced and Cedar drew closer and closer to the edge of his seat when time after time, his name wasn’t called, his anticipation and his concern growing and growing. Then, just when all seemed lost…

“And finally, Isaac Carbon, Cedar Glade, Yasmin Ginshi and Lariah Marine.” Cedar’s name finally came up and as he bounded onstage and stood beside the others. He was brimming with excitement, standing facing Headmaster Birchwood. “Together, your four will become, team Icicle. And you shall be led by… Isaac Carbon.”

Well, Cedar wouldn’t lie to himself and say he wasn’t disappointed. He would’ve liked to lead the team… but he liked his other team members, so he was alright with this. He’d have to put his trust in the portly cowboy… he seemed like a decent guy. But time would tell.

With that, they returned to their seats and all present students had been sorted into teams. Miss Lariet returned to the podium.

“Now, before we end today’s ceremony, there’s a few things we need to go over. First, now you’re all sorted into teams, you will be sharing rooms together. Please collect your keys before you go upstairs. And finally, dinner is being served in the cantina. We’ve a special menu to celebrate your acceptance and all food is complimentary. Also, school schedules will be available on the school’s network so make sure you download it before classes tomorrow! And that’s everything, so please, enjoy the rest of today. You have all earned it, students of Lustre Academy.”

And with that, the newly inaugurated students of Lustre Academy began to file out. Cedar, brimming with happiness, picked up his key and went to the cantina with the others. It was a larger room on the western side of the academy grounds, a long room with diamond shaped tables, two seats at each face. The floor was slick and tiled and the serving area had large television screens displaying the menu for the day. Cuisine from all over Remnant, Cedar’s belly started growling just from the prospect! He hadn’t even realised how hungry he was… the exam took more out of him than he’d expected.

Deciding he’d sample a beef bowl commonly found in Mistral, Cedar carried his meal on a tray back with him and eventually found a table where his new teammates were seated. He noted Isaac was eagerly digging into a large juicy steak with several other forms of meat crowding his plate, including bacon, sausages and pork ribs. Lariah had a plate of grilled salmon with a leafy salad surrounding it. Yasmin had also chosen Mistrallian food, stir fry noodles. He sat down without question at the diamond shaped table, sitting beside Lariah. It felt a little surreal, knowing these three were now his teammates and they were already having a meal together despite only knowing each other for less than aday. It put him in mind to life at home, the automatic knowledge of sitting to table when his Dad had cooked dinner.

“So um…” Cedar broke the silence, regretting it slightly as the three turned to look at him. “Guess… we’re teammates now, huh?” He mentally kicked himself for sounding so inane.

“That we are.” Yasmin smiled in agreement. “And from here on out, we need to act like one.”

“I agree.” Isaac spoke up. “How bout we do a lil’ meet n’ greet in terms of what we can do once we mosey on up to our room?”

“Erm, pardon?” Cedar blinked, unsure of what Isaac was saying.

“I think he means, we should show each other our weapons and explain our semblances.” Lariah added, a lump of fish on her fork.

“S’bout right.” Isaac mumbled through a mouthful of beef.

“Yes, I agree. We can gauge one another’s skills and abilities and start working on team synergy.” Yasmin agreed with a slight nod. “There’s a lot of other teams to compete against after all.” a slight competitive flare gleamed in her eyes. Cedar would just be happy having a room at all that night, let alone strategy talk.

Once they’d finished their meals, Lariah led the way through the academy, claiming she’d already memorised the map on her scroll. And she was still claiming that once she led them to the training gym and the back gardens, twice. But eventually, they found their way to the student lodgings and found their room. He was pleasantly surprised when he found their team name, ICYL, had already been added to their door via a metal name plate.

The room’s interior was quite nice. The walls were a little bare, painted light blue on the left and right walls and white on the front and back. The floor was covered by a rich dark blue carpet, four metal frame beds sitting at each corner of the room. A large window sat across from the door with metal fittings. There was another door off to the right leading to an en suite bathroom. The lights were indented into the plastered ceiling and there were some basic furnishings, a wardrobe, some bookshelves, bedside tables and a desk and chair on the left side. Cedar had to admit it, it sure beat his old cramped room back home!

“Man, this is way bigger than my old room!” Lariah vocalised what Cedar was saying.

“Pretty cosy…” Isaac nodded, arms folded.

“Definitely needs a little work. But that can wait until tomorrow.” Yasmin sighed, dragging her suitcase in and claiming a bed for herself without asking for it. Cedar made sure to get one too as he began to unpack his bag. There were neat little storage drawers under the bed that Cedar filled up with socks and shorts before hanging up his shirts and jackets in the wardrobe, once Yasmin was done filling it up with flowery looking dresses and Lariah had hung up a single tank top. Once they were done, they sat down on their beds with their weapons and agreed to go one by one to explain their semblance and show off their weapons.

“Well, since i’m the leader, guess i’ll go first.” No-one fought Isaac on that front. He hefted up his weapon, the huge four barrel shotgun, black iron barrels and a soft wooden handle. “This here’s Outlaw Sunday. She fires bout four shells, got plenty of dust types.”

“You fire all four barrels at once…?” Cedar leaned forward slightly. “Wouldn’t the kickback hurt a lot?”

“It does.” Isaac chuckled. “But it only fires s’many dependin’ on how hard I squeeze the trigger here. S’all controlled.” he continued. He then pulled down on the pump of the shotgun, all four barrels widening to make an X shape. He then pulled further back and a long metal pole extended from the middle of the four barrels, the end of the barrels covered by iron clasps. “And with this here staff, she becomes a pretty nice pick mace.” Cedar couldn’t help but think it looked a little unwieldy, but for someone with Isaac’s stature, he supposed he was able to handle it.

“So, what about your semblance?” Yasmin asked.

“Ah, s’little hard to explain.” Isaac chuckled. Suddenly he glowed slightly black with what seemed like smoke rising off of him. His hands were a blur as within seconds, his weapon was in its prior form and in his hands. “M’semblance slows down everythin’ fer me and gives me a chance to do somethin’. Motion’s cancelled outside’a it though, so I can’t go movin’ my legs or windin’ up some big attack or some such.”

“That’s quite useful indeed.” Yasmin nodded, seemingly impressed. “You can plan ahead and reload that weapon of yours before the enemy can even react.” “What can I say? Sometimes you gotta be fast to take it slow.” he chuckled deeply and Cedar groaned at how awful that joke was.

“Okay, I call dibs next!” Lariah interrupted, hefting a huge chain and what looked like an attached sea mine onto the bed. Cedar had to resist the urge not to duck and cover in fear of it exploding. “This is my baby, Daedalus Detonator. She hits hard and she leaves a dent! But if I wanna leave a crater instead, well.” she pried open a part of the sea mine, revealing an internal mechanism, small shooting devices and what looked like dust power inside. “If a trigger on the ball is pressed, it’ll shoot out explosive dust around it! And if I hit something with that, it’ll go boom!” she grinned broadly at her little explosive secret.

“You just keep an explosive with you like that?!” Cedar was really on edge seeing her casually open it and show it off.

“Oh relax, the chain has a trigger that de-activates it. I can make it explode whenever I want.” she giggled teasingly and pointed to it on the chain. The Faunus breathed a sigh of relief. “Now as for my semblance…” she began glowing a bright blue aura, moving in waves akin to water. Suddenly the room seemed to shift and Cedar found himself hunkering down slightly, as if a huge weight had been slipped onto his shoulders, akin to standing on the ocean bed!. Yasmin and Isaac too were affected, finding it hard to sit up straight, whilst Lariah sat there, arms folded, almost entirely unphased. Then she stopped glowing and everything returned to normal, Cedar feeling the weight lift off of him. “You get it? I manipulate gravity! I get affected too, but i’ve trained to be resistant to it!” Cedar couldn’t help but gasp a little with the weight gone. A semblance like that with a weapon THAT destructive?! Lariah was definitely the powerhouse of their team.

“No wonder them Grimm could barely shift ya.” Isaac chuckled, patting the muscular girl on the back.

“Yep, you can’t shift me for all the might of the ocean!” Lariah boasted, the widest smile on her face.

“Moving on.” Yasmin steered the conversation back to herself. She picked up the two closed fans at her side and opened them, revealing their decorated patterns of curled lines and leaping rabbits, the fan edge lined with sharp looking blades. “Zhan and Zheng. Fan-blades by nature. And pistols.” she flicked them shut and the handles flicked out from below them, barrels clicking out of the fan’s collapsed sections. Cedar noted they were quite ornate and mechanically intricate… not something a normal student would build themselves. He wondered if she’d had help.

“My semblance is a simple one.” Her body glowed with a yellow aura rising like heat. And in an instant, two identical copies of her were seated at either side of her bed. “I triplicate myself.” All three versions of her spoke in unison. “We move in time and we all take damage. I implement it with grace and style.” Then her two copies shifted back into her and she was one person again.

“Wow, that’s pretty cool!” Lariah nodded enthusiastically. “You could ambush enemies all by yourself!”

“Mighty handy.” Isaac agreed.

“Yes it definitely has its uses.” Yasmin agreed, a little prideful. And then all three turned to look at Cedar. He felt a great pressure settle onto him, and this time it wasn’t Lariah’s semblance. He felt nervous, having seen his teammates amazing abilities and believing his wouldn’t stack up in comparison.

“Well… um…” he held out his automatic crossbow on his lap. “This is Rundasbane. It’s… well it’s usually an auto crossbow. And, I use these bolts in my quiver.” he held one out to show it to them. “But, twist the handle here and…” he slipped it onto his arm and the sword came out with a sharp snikt. “Arm sword… that’s about it.” There was a silence that, to Cedar at least, seemed to last forever. He was expecting them to start laughing, almost...

“It’s quite charming.” Yasmin noted the look of the blade. “Small and not very flashy, but effective. Especially as a crossbow.”

“I suspect y’got some good aim with that thing. Covers up our long range pretty nicely.” Isaac smiled supportively. Cedar felt a little better about his weapon.

“So, what about your semblance?” Lariah queried, leaning forward. Cedar fumbled for a moment, feeling a knot tighten up inside his stomach. Maybe it was just the beef bowl not agreeing with him, but more likely it was his nerves again. He felt at odds with himself, thinking quickly on what he should do.

“I…” he began to speak, mustering up a little courage. “I’ve not unlocked it yet.” he lied.

“Oh… well, that’s a shame.” Lariah frowned, somewhat disappointed.

“Well y’know what they say, great things come with time.” Isaac assured him. “I betcha you’ll unlock it just from trainin’ with us.”

“Yes, it’s nothing to be too concerned over.” Yasmin added, offering a somewhat sympathetic smile… right until she flicked her fan over her mouth and her eyes took on that. “So long as you’re not lying to us about it.”

“What? No!” Cedar instantly responded, hoping Yasmin hadn’t just seen right through him. “I… I’m not proud of it, but It’s true. I just… never unlocked it.” Yasmin eyed him suspiciously, Cedar felt himself shivering, his fox ears drooping a little.

“...well, alright then.” Yasmin snapped her fan shut. “I trust you, Cedar. As your teammate.”

“And friend!” Lariah added. Cedar nodded as well, his ears perking up again slightly as he breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Thanks guys.” He smiled weakly.

“Well, now that that’s bout done, I say we get ourselves some shut eye. Classes n’ all tomorrow.” Isaac recommended. Almost in direct response, Cedar found himself yawning slightly. They took turns going into the bathroom to change into their sleeping clothes. Yasmin returning in an elegant flower patterned silk nightie, Isaac a simple black shirt and shorts, Lariah a tank top and longer trousers with fish patterns. Cedar just slipped on a button up green pajama shirt and trousers to match, feeling far more comfortable in them. After that, they said their goodnights and climbed into their beds, drawing the blinds on the window and switching the lights off. Darkness and quietude engulfed the room and settled the newly formed team down into a long night’s slumber.

All except for Cedar. He laid awake, staring up at the ceiling, nerves and doubt wracking his mind. He glanced over at the other beds, his teammates already fast asleep. He couldn’t get his mind off of their show and tell… he’d lied to his teammates. It wasn’t because he didn’t trust them, he was just embarrassed and ashamed of himself.

He knew full well what his semblance was and how it worked. But not only was he ashamed of his semblance and that he hadn’t mastered it… he thought it would be useless for a huntsman to have. It was nothing cool or special. Ever since he discovered it in combat school, he’d done his best to hide it and thus, hadn’t practiced trying to master it. No, he couldn’t tell them, not yet… he didn’t want to let them down, not so soon after they’d become a team. Maybe someday he’d tell them. But for now, it had to be his secret… not unless he wanted to become dead weight on his own team. At least it wasn’t hurting them for the time being.

His doubts finally quelled, he was able to let his eyes close and drift off into slumber. Tomorrow was a new day, after all. A new day with new friends and new people. His chance to shine. His chance to prove himself. To himself… and to her.

[maxandmaeby]

In the fort at Cedar Glades.