Chapter 1 - From the Underground
I looked down at the camp in front of me. It was a a small thing, overall. We didn't need much space. The clearing we decided to make camp on was on a small hill. Small tents littered the ground in front of me, dotting it in blues and greens that almost faded in the background of the chilly night. I was still upon the wall, wasting time, looking at the stars, thinking. It was a strange night.
"Heeey there
stud, whatcha doing there all by your lonesome, mhm?" A playful voice reached my ears. It was Leeron. I almost shuddered, but by now his antics didn't bother me as much as they once did. It was just how Leeron did things, apparently, and I was fine with that.
"Stay away, Leeron." I told him anyway, and I immediately noticed that my voice lacked its usual bite. I jumped up and pointed my sword at him, but he was already looking at me with a knowing expression. Damn it.
"Oh oh oh! Is our unstoppable leader starting to second guess himself?" He asked with his usual tone of voice, but with a tone of worry in it. Basically, annoying times two.
"No way, Leeron. We're charging the future, and we'll not stop until it's behind us." I smirked.
"What an inspiring thing! So you're saying that you'll never stop, right? I'll hold you to that!" He smiled at me, and he was suddenly beside me, his head over my shoulder -
"Don't do that!" I shouted from my position ten meters behind him. "I could have fallen, you idiot!"
"I would have caught you, looove!" He sing songed.
"Oh shut the hell up." I sighed. I couldn't win against this man. He started laughing.
"You're cute. But I didn't come here for this. Are you ready for tomorrow?" He asked, suddenly serious.
"Of course. Is there even a point in asking that?" I scoffed. "You came all this way for nothing. Go back to bed."
"You'll be alone tomorrow, you know that, right? Yoko won't be able to support you anymore, not for a long time." I laughed.
"Is that what you were worried about, Leeron?" I chuckled. "I don't need that woman to cover for me! Goliaths are nothing! And anyway, members of Team Dai-Gurren aren't as easily separated as that." I pointed to myself. "Distance doesn't matter at all, because we are
one. We fight together, we live together, we
dream together. Not even death can break us apart, so what makes you think something as stupid as distance could touch us?" I laughed again.
"... I guess you're right. I guess there needs to be at least one reason why you're our leader, huh." Leeron put a finger to his chin in mock-thoughtfulness and my fist shook for a moment from the sheer desire to plant it in his face.
"Huh!? There are plenty of reasons why I'm the leader!" I shouted indignantly.
"Sure sure."
"...Get the hell out of here before I really punch you in the face."
The next morning Yoko and Simon went on their way to Beacon. On the same day, I'm going to take on a horde of Goliaths which came too close to Vale, and score another victory for the Team. Maybe I could finally get us acknowledged by the Council of Vale, or Atlas or Vacuo or... Mistral was the last one? Who cares. Those bastards will never get off their high horses, until I make them. They didn't understand.
Grimm were the problem. And we could take them on. Instead of banding together to repel them, we hid in fright of these beasts, behind high walls and under the cover of false positivity. I hated that from the moment I was born, and as soon as I could, I started doing something about it. Without Simon, of course, nothing would have happened, and that's why I'll always be grateful to him.
As I said goodbye to the both of them, my bro and... Yoko, waved back, before they disappeared in the direction of Vale. They were supposed to board a plane to Beacon in the early afternoon, which is the reason why I decided to come here, in 'safe' territories, with the Team. It was always nice to see our work being carried on. The land was almost clear of Grimm, and Dayakka was coming to meet us soon. It was unfortunate that he would miss Yoko departure, but she made sure to leave a letter for the man.
"It's sad to see her go... but damn." Kittan, the blonde haired idiot next to me, decided to speak up. I punched him, because I could.
"What the hell, man!?
"...Well, you're totally right. But you're not allowed to say that. Only I can say that, jackass."
"Huh?! Says who?!"
"...I think someone needs to be reminded of their place here." I cracked my knuckles.
"Come and get it, fucker."
"Ooh
, you're
on!"
Simon and Yoko arrived at Vale in relative security and speed. On the way, they met a patrolling squad, and they stopped to exchange a few words with them as one team member to another. Then they met another patrolling squad, this time of hunters, and they barely managed to go unseen. It wouldn't do to be filed as potential members of Team Dai-Gurren so soon. Beacon would accept them, they had passed the test after all, but not all of the students would. As part of the mission was also recruiting other for the cause, it wouldn't do to ruin it at the start.
Once they were in sight of the enormous, white walls of the city, they stopped. Yoko nodded to Simon. His pet mole, Boota, was quick to pass him his weapon, his small paws holding it up as if it was a ring and Simon the spouse. The boy sniggered and accepted the small drill. In his hands, it instantly grew to an impressive size, enough for him and Yoko to stand on the flat side with space to spare. They mounted it, and in a rush of swirling speed, they were gone.
A minute later, they emerged, Yoko coughing and Simon grinning excitedly. He had never broken into a city with his drill before!
"W-Where are we?" Yoko, though mostly accustomed to Simon 'drilling', was still not ready to be underground for such a long time.
"Whoa! Who are you and why did you break into my house" Yoko started glaring at Simon, who shrinked a bit. "And is that a giant driiillll - oh you're Simon, aren't you? Kamina told me you were coming, I didn't expect you would break my fucking house though." The man, brown curly hair and fairly tall, started glaring at them with ever increasing pressure.
"I-I'm sorry this was the only way we could get in Vale... Uhm." Simon looked left and right, before suddenly bolting for the door, dragging Yoko with him. "Gotta go, Bullhead to catch!" He ran out, while the man started screaming obscenities.
They found themselves running around Vale for a while, until Simon broke down laughing.
"Simon! What was that?!" Yoko was glaring at him, and he suddenly straightened himself up. "We're here to
get supporters, not scare them away! Ugh, why am I even bothering, this is all Kamina's fault anyway..." She mumbled, while scratching her forehead. "Let's just go." She sighed.
"O-okay, Yoko. Let's just go." Simon said unsurely.
They walked in awkward silence for a while, before they suddenly realized they didn't know where they were going. They panicked a little, before deciding to ask one of the passerby for help. The first just looked at Yoko dirtily and kept walking away. The second looked at Simon's face, stopped and asked if they wanted some help.
It took a while, but they reached the parking lot where the bullhead were supposed to be in time. As they got on the bullhead, they noticed that it was kinda too nice to be just a bullhead. It had wide hallways with fancy, gold design on them and sloped windows, with plenty of rooms for the students to sit in. Simon figured in the rush to get on it he just didn't notice how big it actually was.
"... Didn't Kamina say we had to board a bullhead?" Simon nodded. "At four pm, right?" Another nod, more hesitant this time. "...What is it, Simon? You can tell me you know?" Yoko smiled gently.
"Weeell... He kinda said," And here Simon did his best Kamina's impression. " 'Yeah, yeah, four or something I guess, why are you asking me?' "
"He told
you."
"No, that's exactly what he said. Word for word."
"Oh." Yoko's mouth stayed in that position for a long second. "He actually has a point, the bastard." She started biting her nails. "Does that mean we have to wait here for who knows how long?"
"Yep!"
"Damn it, Kamina."
One hour and a flood of angry calls later, other students started flooding the airship. Simon and Yoko had already occupied one of the rooms, which meant that most students just passed them by to find an empty compartment to share with their friends. Meanwhile, the two were going crazy waiting. Going from life in the wilderness, to breaking into Vale, to waiting for more than an hour was mildly disorienting.
And it was all Kamina's fault, as Yoko kept repeating. The nonchalant attitude of the former in their calls -
how was I supposed to know, do I look like administration to you?- were only mounting the stress the redhead felt. She really didn't want to leave her former life, her
fight, and now that she had to, it seemed like everything was going wrong.
Simon just thought she was being overdramatic, and should take Beacon for the good thing it was.
A few minutes after the airship took off, a timid knock resounded at the door.
"Uhm, can I come in?" A sweet voice came from outside, and Simon looked at Yoko. She shrugged.
"Sure." He answered, and the door mechanically slid open to reveal a girl. The first thing Simon noticed about her were her hair. It was white, with a slight blue tint, and looked like clouds in the way it fell delicately on her shoulders. As he looked at her eyes, Simon noticed their color. Blue, like the sky, and with a strange pink hue to them. He couldn't stop looking at them.
Until Yoko coughed, that is. As he embarrassedly looked away, he distantly heard them introducing themselves, and caught her name. Nia Teppelin. He tried to get his bearings back and offered his hand to shake when she looked pointedly at him.
"I'm Simon, nice to meet ya." He stood awkwardly with his hand extended, waiting while Nia looked cutely at his extended hands. As he was about to retract it she
ooed and smiled brilliantly, clasping his hand in both of hers.
"Nice to meet you too, Simon, I didn't know people could grow whiskers!" Yoko and Simon looked at each other weirdly, before Simon turned to face the girl.
"Uh, I'm a Faunus!"
"Of course you are!" Nia exclaimed, before growing quiet. "Um, what is a faunus, again?"
"People. They are people." Yoko cut Simon off with a sharp tone. Now it was Nia who looked at Yoko weirdly, clearly finding her attachment to the issue strange.
"I know that, silly!" She laughed. Yoko gritted her teeth. "I meant, why do faunus have whiskers?"
"Not all of us do!" Simon was quick to correct. "Faunus have a few animal features, from cat, dog, monkey, whatever you can think of. I once saw an elephant faunus... I'll never forget that nose." He shuddered for comic purposes.
Nia giggled, and Yoko relaxed.
"Geez, where did you live in, under a rock?" Yoko joked. Nia looked at her seriously.
"Yes, that is accurate. In fact, from now on assume that I know nothing of your customs. Please, I'll be in your care!" She bowed cutely. Yoko and Simon shared another look.
"Of course, Nia, you can count on us."
As they started to talk, they lost track of time, and the day become dusk just as from the hallways the first cries of "Beacon!" started to repeat themselves. The trio got up and out of their room, before reaching the windows.
Even Yoko stood breathless while seeing Beacon for the first time. The castle had an imposing presence in its semplicity, and it captured the eyes of all the promising students. Simon could feel the excitement rising. He thought about all the people around him, who all had dreams they were hoping to achieve in the castle right in front of him, and felt happy.
Meanwhile, a blonde haired guy vomited all over the hallway.
