Pathfinder/RWBY: You Call That a God? A Summoner in Remnant Quest

"I'm Nora's younger sister, Xanthe Valkyrie." You say with a smile, giving Ren a wave. "She never stops talking about you, it feels like I've known you forever." You add dryly.

Ren nods at you as Nora jumps at you, wrapping you in a bone crushing hug and knocking you on to the impossible soft bed.

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The paperwork needed for you to attend Beacon is very simple, or at least the parts Ren asks you about are. Slightly more interesting is the little tablet he fills it out on, apparently using Dust to manipulate light and mimic an endless slate or a stack of paper. It's called a Scroll because it collapses, which feels odd to you considering actual scrolls roll up but you hardly care.

With some regret you say a final farewell to your grandfather's name, but it quickly fades. You've been trying to earn a better name for years now and you hadn't exactly followed in his footsteps with your chosen weapon.

Plus it's difficult to think of a better name than Valkyrie. The servants of Gorum and other gods of war, charged with finding the finest warriors and helping them be reborn in the Outer Planes as Einherjar. The ravens that serve them have brought your people luck in battle countless times and you can't help but smile at the arguments you've heard among the faithful - some say the Valkyrie oppose the Norns your grandfather served as defiers of fate by exalting fallen warriors before Pharasma can judge them, while others argue Norns govern life and the Valkyries govern death, making them natural allies.

Your weapon is recorded as a nameless self bow you'd personally made from elm, your Semblance is listed as Summoning, the ability to manifest and command animals, your fang shaped sigil is carefully recorded as your emblem and everything else is the same as Nora.

You half listen to Ren confirming what he's written down and what will happen tomorrow as you tend to your things, tucking away anything too difficult to explain in Nenio's Satchel.

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Beacon's Entrance Exam is conducted in a large hall, well lit by the Dust lights you see everywhere and the large windows set into the higher parts of the wall - those sitting the exam have little to look at but the plain walls, the other applicants and the ticking clockwork timekeepers that are apparently called clocks.

The dozens of desks in the hall already have the exam papers sitting on them, along with writing tools and some flat tablet you don't recognise but definitely isn't a Scroll.

It's only as you get a glimpse within that you realise the impossibility of the task, quickly pushing through the crowd as a stern blonde woman reminds you all of the rules and warns against cheating, finding a man with messy green hair and equally messy clothing that is either a teacher or an old man desperately hoping Beacon has no maximum age for its students.

"Excuse me, Mr Teacher." You begin, keeping your voice low.

"Doctor Teacher." He corrects you, taking a sip from a thermos as he glances at you.

"Doctor Teacher. I can't sit this exam." You say.

"Ah, well. I's natural to feel some doubt. I'd advise you to take a moment to compose yourself and put forth your best effort but if you truly cannot face the exam simply move to the back and we'll handle you soon." He says encouragingly.

"I mean, it's pointless for me to sit the exam." You try and clarify, only to be interrupted.

"Nonsense. You've come this far, why let some last minute doubts stop you form attending Beacon?" Doctor Teacher says a little quieter as the applicants milling around start to take notice of your conversation rather than the woman's speech.

"I do want to attend Beacon, but I can't take this exam, not in this format. I can't read or write." You say, not letting the man interrupt you this time.

That gets a few more people's attention and you can just about hear Nora gasp, but you ignore it all. You can apologise for not pointing it out to her and Ren more explicitly later.

"Oh. That's a different issue then." The teacher says, taking another sip from his drink and gesturing for you to follow as he leads you out of the hall. "Fear not, illiteracy isn't an insurmountable obstacle.

One of the applicants slaps you on the back and wishes you luck as you pass, a blonde man with tanned skin and a bare chest who shoots you a confident grin when you look back.

You give him a thumbs up back and focus on the teacher, who's now muttering to himself.

Once outside the hall he leads you away from any who are lingering outside to the privacy of a garden tucked against the walls of some other building.

"When you say you're illiterate Miss..." He begins.

"Xanthe Valkyrie." You answer.

"Xanthe, do you mean to say you possess a learning disability?" He asks.

You scowl at him when you manage to place the word.

"There's nothing wrong with me. I never learned, thought it was something I could leave to my sister." You explain.

"Very well. If you are successful in your application to Beacon you'll be expected to learn how to read and write, as well as meet all the same standards of education as your fellow students. You are not the first student to need additional tuition, bu you should know we will allow ask for less than excellence form you in your work, literate or not. Futhermore it is up to your individual teachers what allowances they make for illiteracy in your assignments, whether that is a form of dictation, oral examinations, partner work or other alternatives." He says rapidly, outlining the expectations of you for both the exam he'll apparently be delivering to you by memory and as a student at Beacon.

"I understand." You say when he pauses.

"Excellent. We'll begin now - what caused the Great War?" He asks.

You consider what you've overheard in the last few days, trying to figure out if you know the answer.

"A territorial dispute between Vale and Mistral." You say, hoping you were right about what Maria was talking about.

"Yes, but in more detail." The Doctor prompts.

"To understand all possible causes of a war you need to examine centuries of history to understand the clash of cultures, ancestral grudges and other pressures that force conflicts to escalate, but to identify the single cause you need to ask those present at the first battle. I haven't done either so I don't know which nation struck first. But I do know they were fighting over the eastern aprt of this continent." You say, remembering the words of your elders on why you might fight other Followings and while the demons are different. "Sanus." You add when you remember the name of the continent.

A continent, that's an odd thought. You'd spent your entire life on what was essentially a single vast steppe and in a few days had flown from one continent to another. Yet it felt as if you'd barely gone anywhere at all, everywhere on Remnant equally distant from your people.

"Very good." the Doctor says happily, accepting your answer and continuing with the questions.

Your ignorance is quickly established, though you manage to get a few more questions right from what you and Drakōn had heard and several more by pure luck - the Faunus, whoever they are, won their revolution, something you'd guessed because Oobleck said they were right, Mistral had unified Anima a few centuries ago and no longer had a king which you knew from Nora spotting a statue of a cavalry officer in Sumire and Vacuo was allied with Vale in the Great War.

From the Doctor's reactions you do well when it comes to animals, plants and battle, though you struggle with Dust, guns and the details of the Grimm. You do better than you expected at the more abstract questions testing your logical thinking, mathematics skills and knowledge of technology but the teacher is disappointed.

"Finally the most important question. Why do you want to be a Huntress?" The Doctor says, deliberately locking his gaze on yours as you think.

You pause, considering what you can afford to reveal and landing on a version of the truth.

"Me and my family - Nora and Ren - only survived because we helped each other and because other people didn't hesitate to help us." You begin, certain you'd have survived without meeting the two but also knowing you wouldn't be standing here.

"I have a duty - I want to help other people like we were helped. To protect them from monsters and teach them to survive. The world is full of people who need help, guidance and protection and if I can do that while helping my p - family then I will." You say confidently. That's what you'd sworn to do when you met Drakōn, what your people had taught you.

"There is evil in the world and it must be fought." You add as you look away.

"Excellent. Well, I think we can say the Exam and the Interview are over, though I'll need to confer with my colleagues before I can deliver your results. But before we can make that decision there is an additional test we can administer, one I think will be more necessary for you than most applicants." The Doctor explains, leading you through the school grounds to another large building, this one with walls of tinted glass.

Within is another teacher, an aging man with grey-white hair and beard and a red and gold uniform, presumably a former officer, and a dozen cubes covered with sheets.

"Ah Barty. I take it this is my first applicant?" The man calls out as you enter, prompting several snarls and growls from what must be cages behind him.

"Yes. Xanthe this is Professor Port. Peter, this is Miss Xanthe Valkyrie." The Doctor ways, ushering you into the wide open centre of the room as he and the Professor move away.

"The test is simple young woman. Slay the grim." Professor Port says, fumbling with something in his pocket and causing a sheet to fall from a cage, revealing a black wolf standing just a bit taller than you.

You string your bow with urgency as the Professor counts down, analysing your foe as you do. The shadowy creature is almost entirely black, with crimson eyes and the beginnings of a bony white mask around its eyes the non-shadowy elements. It's smaller than the other wolf Grimm you've seen and it seems lethargic as it first steps from the cage.

It only takes the beast a few seconds to adjust before it's running towards you on all fours, eager to sink its fangs and claws into you. But those few seconds are all you need.

You kill it with three arrows and if this wasn't a test you'd have been satisfied with the one - the first penetrates the throat, the second the heart and the third pins a claw to the ground. A pointless but impressive looking display that you'd spent countess hours practicing.

From the Professor's cheer you'd say it was time well spent.

"An excellent show young lady." Professor Port says as you turn back to him. Next to him the Doctor nods in satisfaction.

"As I expected." He comments, tapping on a Scroll as you kick the now disintegrating wolf corpse before walking over to the two.

"Is that all?" You ask curiously.

"Yes. The official results will be sent out tomorrow but I see no harm in saying you should qualify for the Initiation, assuming your reference is genuine." The Doctor says, showing his Scroll to Professor Port.

"Oh you're one of the applicants the Grim Reaper recommended?" Port asks, sounding impressed.

The Doctor nods as the Professor whispers something else to him and he does something to the Scroll.

"Yes I am. Thank you, Doctor..." You say when the two don't say anything else, trailing off in the hope that Teacher wasn't actually his name.

"Bartholomew Oobleck." He says.

"Thank you." Professor Port asks you a few questions about Maria before Doctor Oobleck directs you to take a seat so they can test the other students being led here after their interviews.

Considering how many applicants you saw at the Exam and how few cages there are you assume only the most promising are tested against a Grimm, a guess borne out when only a dozen others are brought back here. Only four put on a display of martial skill that your people would accept from someone your age - the blonde man who you'd seen earlier though you'd missed the equally blonde tail, armed with an odd separating staff, a man with a pale green mohawk, rough green clothing and two daggers and of course Ren and Nora.

The other students succeed in slaying a wolf but with much more difficulty than you'd expect, with one even suffering the unexpected failure of their gun. You didn't know that was possible, but it makes sense. A bowstring can break, of course a gun can too.

The three of you reunite with Maria once the tests are done, discussing your varied experiences. Apparently Port was the man who spoke to maria, explaining why he wa simpressed. The stern blonde woman, Professor Goodwitch, was the one who interviewed Nora and Ren and apparently asked a few questions about you in the process.

The Exam was harder than Nora had hoped but she's confident, as is Ren. You can only shrug and say Oobleck seemed happy enough with you.

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You have one last day of free time before Beacon's Initiation and the start of Classes, assuming you pass. After said day Maria will be leaving and you can't be sure if or when she'll show up again.

Choose two of the options below:
[ ] Get Ren to show you how his gun works
[ ] Get Nora to show you how her grenades work
[ ] Listen to the lectures Oobleck sent to Nora's scroll - an early start on schoolwork can't hurt even is Nora is put out by it
[ ] Talk to Maria about magic and those that hunted her
[ ] Try again to summon an elemental (Will use several dust arrows)
[ ] Try again to summon a fey (no reagent available)


A/N: Sorry for the delayed update. Had an old medical issue flare up again and it was too difficult to focus. Of course, now I'm writing this because otherwise I'd be focusing on writing up another D&D campaign I'll never get around to running despite said issue, but that's how it goes. As always, ask any questions you have

Despite their best efforts Ren and Nora do nothing but radiate nervous energy during dinner and breakfast - Nora even wakes up at the same time as you and Ren for once, constantly inventing worse and worse scenarios that will accompany Beacon rejecting your applications while Ren quietly fails to stop her.

You can't say you're feeling much better. You don't think you could've done better yesterday but you were obviously the only student who didn't sit the exam. And despite Drakōn's quiet confidence and Maria's verbal mockery of the tests Beacon conducts, you can't help but feel like they're looking for more from a prospective Huntress.

And since you can't go out hunting or looking for herbs or anything truly productive, you're left to fiddle with the bones you'd kept from Sumire, wishing you had something better then the wood chisel you'd managed to buy as you chip away at a knucklebone.

Eventually Ren and Nora resign themselves to constantly checking their Scrolls as they try and focus on what will happen when you are accepted. The next step is the Initiation, where the prospective students are sent to fight the Grimm and the teachers select the teams that'll be joining Beacon, along with which of the students will lead them.

If it were the Elders of the Watching Wolf choosing from your peers you can guess who would be chosen as leaders - Kaster's father is getting old and has been hoping his son would replace him as Mammoth Lord, Sidke already rides Gesel into combat, Tibeth never listens to any idea that he can't claim was his own and you're a God Caller.

It wouldn't matter what your goals were or if you have any talent for leadership, the moment you found Drakōn and lit a fire in the heart of everyone of Sarkorian descent in the following you had t be a leader. You know the elders and Mammoth Lords had been discussing splitting or refocusing the following now that the Worldwound was closed and that any attempt to reestablish a Sarkorian clan would involve them trying to get involved as a figurehead, if not the leader.

In the last six months you'd gone from only really looking at Azira in the brief time he'd been with the Following to turning down five attempts to marry you for clout. Emek hadn't even spoken to you himself, his grandmother was talking for him. You're not even sure the oaf knew about it! Which admittedly made him the best out of the five, but that wasn't saying much.

Worst of all they were right. Not about marriage and you needing a successor for Drakōn as soon as possible, that was just fear talking. But you did need to become a leader. You have a duty to Drakōn, to his people and yours. You need to be able to speak with your own voice rather than rely on his.

Even if you're trapped on Remnant for the rest of your life, you'll need to find someone else to bond with Drakōn when you're gone. And if you don't give Ren and Nora a chance to grasp magic themselves you'll be doing them a grave disservice.

You have no idea how to convince the teachers at Beacon that you're be worthy of such a role, but you'll have to find a way. You owe your people nothing less.

Eventually Nora shouts in triumph, adding a second whoop as her Scroll starts chirp at her. Ren smiles in relief a few seconds later when his own Scroll vibrates in his hands.

"What's happening?" You ask as Nora pulls Ren from the bed and swings him around.

"We got in! We got in! We got in!" Nora sings happily.

"Of course you did. I'd bet half the kids there would've run from that mess at Sumire and half the rest would've gotten themselves killed." Maria says with a smirk.

"Now we just have to pass the Initiation." Ren says.

"And all get on the same team. I'm thinking we use a secret signal so we meet up without running into anyone else. Can you hoot like a barn owl?" Nora asks you.

You oblige with your best shriek and return Nora's look of confused excitement with your best impression of Ren. An impression ruined by your failed attempt to suppress a smile, but a good impression nonetheless.

Then Nora's scroll chirps at her again.

"Oh cool, one of the Professors sent Xanthe an email." Nora says, diving for her Scroll. "Dear Xanthe Valkyrie, blah blah blah, early chance to start learning, blah blah blah, Yours, Doctor Oobleck." Nora reads out, sounding rather confused. "I wonder why you got an extra email?"

"Oobleck is the one I told I couldn't read. It might have to do with that." You say.

"Wait, you can't read?" Maria interrupts.

"You can?" You respond with surprise. "Can everyone on Remnant read?"

"Most people can. Ever since the Great War there's been a push to get everyone on the same level so we can all appreciate poetry and that junk." Maria says with a frown. "Why can't you read?"

"Reading isn't necessary for survival like hunting, tracking or identifying poisonous plants. It's useful extra skill, like swimming or riding a horse. I never needed to learn, so I didn't." You say defensively.

"You don't know how to swim?" Nora asks.

You give her a perplexed look.

"Why would I know how to swim?" You respond.

"Oobleck sent you some lectures he recorded. An overview of recent history he calls them." Ren says, having taken Nora's scroll and investigated for himself. "He must teach history."

"I should listen to those then." You say. "Not let anyone else realise I don't know who fought who in your 'Great War'."

"You're going to do homework before school starts? Boo." Nora says.

"I think it's a good idea." Ren says, poking at the Scroll. "And we can find something else to do." He adds as Nora pouts.

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The lectures Oobleck sent you are a fascinating pairing of image and sound captured on the Scroll so you can listen to them over and over again without wasting the teacher's time. You can't exactly get the Scroll to work on your own, but Maria's willing to stick around and give you a hand when the lecture ends. Or when you drop the Scroll.

The lectures cover the last two hundred years of Remnant's history - Mistral's campaigns to unify, colonise and reunify all of Anima, Vacuo's constant balancing on the edge of civil war averted solely by the wisdom of their kings, Mantle struggling to handle the sudden adaption of the Grimm to the cold of the extreme north and Vale trying to mimic Mistral's success with their own wave of colonisation.

Until Mantle spiraled into the same sort of brutal rule that characterises Cheliax and they attempted to turn Mistral into their own version of Isger by supporting their attempt to expand onto Sanus. The resulting conflict started the Great War and swiftly dragged Vacuo into the bloody conflict.

The end of the Great War brought with it the end of royalty on Remnant and a dozen other sweeping changes that have defined Remnant for the last eighty years. It unified the calendar, currency and language of all four nations and gave them all a shared piece of culture in their defiance of Mantle's oppression.

The Faunus, a group of humanoids with bestial traits found all over the world, were forced onto the uninhabited continent of Menagerie and won their freedom in the subsequent Faunus Rights Revolution, though they've remained aggressive about it ever since. And you can't blame them - if the Taldans had marched their Armies of Exploration further west or north your people would've had to fight against suffering the same fate.

Surprisingly Menagerie is still inhabited, with some calling it the 'Fifth Kingdom' of Remnant. You wouldn't have expected anyone to stay on what was obviously intended as a prison or worse, but if there really isn't anyone else there you can see the appeal. Though the idea of an entire continent being completely devoid of inhabitants is laughable. Did no one ever build a boat, or travel through the Darklands?

Oobleck's last lecture covers the last 80 years - the establishment of the Huntsman Academies, the faunus' continued campaign for equality, Mistral's establishment of a new status quo, allowing independent townships to exist without enjoying the protection of their soldiers, Atlas' attempts to distance themselves from Mantle and embracing of construct technology, Vacuo's slow economic collapse after the loss of their king as an arbitrator and their mines running dry and Vale using the last king's actions to become the most dominant of the kingdoms.

A lot of the technology and implications go over your head, but the parts of the story of Remnant you understand are fascinating - it turns out that people are people, even if you're on another world and nearly everyone is human, doomed to constantly come up with new reasons to fight each other over the same ancient problems. Hopefully this is enough to keep you from ruining your lies or immediately failing Oobleck's class.

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"What are doing with those bones?" Maria asks over Ooblecks discussion of the White Fang Faunus, forcing you to poke at the Scroll until it falls silent. You look up from the desk you'd been working at and at her, brushing aside some of the dust and shards you've produced while listening to the lecture.

She's been staring out the window when you haven't needed her help, silently thinking about something. Probably reminiscing about her days as a Huntress.

"We owe it to the animals we hunt to make their deaths meaningful. To use every part of their body or return the excess to where it can be useful to others. I needed something to do with my hands while listening to Oobleck and this was the closest I could get to being productive." You explain, considering the skull in front of you and deciding you aren't going to do anything better in the time you have.

"Good philosophy. Some would call it macabre or barbaric." Marie comments, walking over to you. "What specifically are you carving?"

"A way to show Ren and Nora my gratitude for letting me into their family." You say, eyeing the roughly carved knucklebones that broadly resemble the flower Ren has on his emblem and a hammer. They were faar from perfect, but you couldn't do any better without a smaller chisel. "And to show you the same gratitude for your aid and guidance." You add, handing her the pheasant skull.

Maria grins as she looks at your work, running her fingers over your attempt to mimic the decoration of the skull on her weapon.

"On the other hand, you've got excellent taste." She says appreciatively.

"It isn't much. But it will aid you while it lasts." You say, smiling at how the lines converge at the back as a trio of lightning bolts, the symbol of Bergelmir. Hopefully the Mother of Memories will watch over Maria as she travels north.

You leave the Scroll screen-down on the table as Maria returns to her seat, turning to face her as you think. Maria has taught you a lot in the last few days but has always focused on the need for secrecy with your magic. And you still don't really now why someone would blind her and not kill her.

"Why did they take your eyes?" You ask once she's comfortable.

"Because I was an arrogant fool that needed humbling." Maria says sourly.

"You said I need to keep my magic secret or someone will hunt me down. The same someone who hunted you down and blinded you back when you were a legendary Huntress. Famous enough people still remember you today. If they're that good, I need to be prepared." You point out.

Maria frowns as she considers this but stays silent. You tilt your head as Drakōn speaks up and relay his words in your best impression of his impossibly deep voice.

"Foolishness and arrogance are the fruits of youth. You are old enough to have enjoyed their poison many times, and if you hold your tongue the only result will be others sampling those same fruits, instead of making different mistakes." You intone solemnly.

"Your lizard needs to mind his own business." Maria grumbles before sighing. "I do owe you the real story though. To put it simply, my father and I had Silver Eyes." The says.

"You're descended from a Silver Dragon?" You ask as you consider what that could mean.

"Maybe, but I've never heard of a dragon with power like me." Maria says. "I've barely ever heard of anyone else with them. But the stories are all the same - that a Silver-Eyed Warrior is anathema to the Creatures of Grimm. And it's true, back when I had them I carved through the Grimm like butter. I never questioned why I never met anyone else with them until someone came after me."

"You inherited a magical power specialised for fighting Grimm, and someone wanted you dead for it." You surmise, astonished by the implication. Everything you'd heard said the Grimm were just beasts, waiting for humanity to be weak before striking. "So a group of Grimm Cultists or something came after you."

"I don't know about magic, but pretty much. The bitch cut out my eyes and would've finished me off if she wasn't as arrogant as me." Maria says solemnly. "Ever since I've been keeping my head down, trying to stay safe and figure out why it happened. Haven't had much success."

"You just gave up? They cut out your eyes and your magic just stopped?" You ask, more than a little surprised. You're pretty sure if the same happened to any of your people they'd get themselves killed in battle shortly afterwards instead of hiding and letting others fight. But Maria was alone and didn't have anyone relying on her, or for her to rely on.

"Yeah. The Silver-Eyes are what annihilate the Grimm. Without them I'm just a nearly blind old lady with a gun. Plenty of people can do better than me." Maria says with a shrug.

"That isn't how magic works." You retort. "I may need to make certain gestures and say certain things to cast my spells, but if you cut off my fingers I'll make do with my palms. Cut off my arms and I'll use the tip of my tongue or my toes or something." You say, demonstrating by marking the desk with your sigil, managing to cast the Magic Mark spell without speaking the second time.

Not the best example but it will serve.

"The Amethyst Eagles claim their purple eyes mark them as descendants of Aroden, granting them the power to see through deceit and other such feats. But from what Azira the magic isn't just in their eyes. It's in their tongues, their eyes, their blood. Same as every other mystic legacy.

"Your magic might have naturally flowed through your eyes but if you'd tried it would've found another path. You can't take away a red dragon's fire by sealing its mouth shut. Your eyes might not be silver anymore, but the same blood - your father's blood - that gave them to you still runs through your veins." You point out.

"You really believe that." Maria says after a moment.

"I know more about magic than you. I've learned from some of the wisest people I've ever met and from Archmage Nenio." You point out. "But I will hide my magic as best I can and keep my eyes out for any others with Silver Eyes. So they can be warned as well."

"Good." Maria says, falling silent as you return to Ren and Nora's gifts.

The two might not be together, but they clearly think of themselves as a pair. You'll represent that with the carvings, giving Ren the better hammer and Nora the better flower. If they end up on separate teams, it should remind them of their bond. While the bones last at least.

"Any advice on how to figure out my magic?" Maria eventually asks. You consider your answer as you finish braiding the twine into two bracelets.

"Of course." You say, turning to face her.

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Gained Aural Learner (Excels at remembering what they're taught through listening and speaking)

Crafted Lotus Hammer Talismans (Rough carvings of a lotus flower and a hammer from the bones of a boar, strung together in a bracelet. ???)

Crafted Skull of Wisdom (A pheasant skull roughly carved with ominous markings. ???)

A/N: Double bloody crits. This ballooned again, so I'll have the vote next time, once you say goodbye to Maria and arrive at Beacon properly.[/spoiler]

When morning arrives the three of you bid Maria farewell and board another airship, surrounded once more by other aspiring Huntsmen and Huntresses.

You silently stare out the window at the impossible size of Vale, struggling to imagine how many people live here and how. The towers of steel and glass, the densely packed smaller buildings with wildly varying looks, the small patches of open, green space that badly mimic the wilderness and out on the edges, the towering walls and nearly identical, rolling fields of farmland, divided by artificial rivers and vast black roads.

Everyone you've ever met could fit into just one of those towers, ignoring the one giant. Everyone who'd ever been part of the Watching Wolves, every soldier in Fifth Crusade, every refugee, repentant cultist and traveling merchant could be swallowed up by the city without its people noticing.

You'd once been told that almost a million people live in Absalom and had laughed, but from what you've heard more than ten million people live in Vale. Ten million.

A number so big it might as well not exist.

'Impressive, what can be done with enough time and wealth.' Drakōn comments. 'I can'

'It must have taken them centuries to build this.' You respond. 'Centuries spent building somewhere they can live without ever venturing into the wilderness.'

'Erastil may condemn Vale's mere existence, but they have good reason to build those walls.' Drakōn points out. 'There is safety and even a form of privacy to be found in such numbers.'

'I think I'd prefer Drezen. If the walls were breached the city would be a nightmare to defend.' You reply, thinking of the dwarf designed and built fortifications built into every buuilding that defined the only city left in Sarkoris.

'Millions of people in Vale and countless more beyond its walls. This is what a Huntress fights to protect.' Drakōn says, prompting you to look at the people all around you.

'Vale has an army to guard its walls. It's the rest of the continent that needs Huntresses.' You point out. 'Places like Sumire and Shion.'

'I wonder if more Huntresses come from the city or from the frontier?' Drakōn asks.

'I wonder how many students have any experience in battle. Chances to prove yourself must be hard to find in the city.' You ask, confident about your chances.

'Experience will grant you an edge, but overconfidence is a slow killer. Don't think less of your fellows without seeing their actions.' Drakōn rebukes you.

'I can't be an effective leader if everyone thinks I'm an arrogant jerk.' You agree.

'The Initiation will be the true test, but you should seize the opportunity offered to you. To make a good impression on those that will be both ally and rival.'

'All of us in one place, with the same goal. We're essentially a following.' You realise.

'A temporary following, united by ambition alone. A disaster waiting to happen.' Drakōn dryly notes.

'The school has stood for eighty years, it can't be that bad.' You respond.

'Such is the optimism of youth.'

You roll your eyes at Drakōn, turning to face Ren and Nora as they approach. You can't but smile when you see they're wearing the bracelets you'd made, even if Ren's was mostly hidden in his sleeve.

"I forgot to tell you the schedule. We have lockers to put our things in, then there's a welcoming speech , and tonight we all eat and sleep in the same room." Ren says, gesturing to his Scroll.

"That's a lot of time to explore." You say.

"Right? I'm thinking we scope out the dorms and get an early look at the forest. That way we can sweep the competition." Nora says excitedly.

Further conversation is prevented by the stern woman that proctored the exam to the others - Professor Goodwitch according to Ren - appearing on the Scroll screens all over the ship and delivering a short welcoming speech.

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As several hundred people disembark from several airships and try to organise themselves you can't help but be struck by how most of them have significantly more things then you. Almost everything you had fit easily into your comparatively small pack, yet most people had a pack and a sizable wheeled case, if not several.

One girl even has half a dozen bulging suitcases that she's not even bothering to pick up, instead leaving it for the servants Beacon must employ.

You quickly get separated from Ren and Nora as the sound of someone vomiting causes people to both clear space around the unfortunate and press in to get a closer look.

You look around, trying to decide who, if any, of these people you should approach.

[ ] The Familiar - Surprisingly you spot Ruby, the girl who'd helped you out at the dust store, standing away from the crowd, by the discarded bags of those who must not care for their belongings. The man heading over to her is familiar too - the blonde guy from the exam, who you now realise must be a faunus
[ ] The Fancy - The girl in white and blue with far too many bags is making a beeline for a tall redheaded woman. To have so much she cares so little for, she must be a noble. And the red haired woman must be important.
[ ] The Friendly - As you look at the crowd a blonde woman approaches you, clearly looking to make friends. Shortly afterwards you're joined by a blonde boy with the same goal, but much worse methods.

A/N: Didn't want to take so long to get this out but I was busier than expected yesterday. I did see the new Puss in Boots movie though, which gave me some surprising inspiration for this quest.