Chapter 1

The world was called Remnant. As if to indicate the remains of something left unwanted, though it was unlike anything they had seen before. The crystal ball in the hands of the Troll girl provided her a quick glance through the history of this world, which showed humanity's struggle against one another, as well as the darkness of strange creatures whose faces were universally encased in masks of bone. It was a world where mankind developed weapons, skills and powers to combat their foes. In other words, a world where they may even be able to blend in.

“y0u are certain 0f this?”

The voice was all too familiar, emotionless on its face, but with a hint of discouragement to the idea. Xavier was silent for a few moments after hearing it, however a slow smile would come to his face as he thought it over. “i want to remember what it’s like, i want to be human again... is that so bad?”

The Troll he spoke to was draped in the shadows of this dark place, her ruby red lips, ash grey skin only faintly illuminated by the crystal ball in her hands, it made her expression difficult to parse. Red eyes glanced over at her human companion, and she spoke with no small amount of apprehension at first, as though carefully considering exactly how to phrase what she wished to say.

“if y0u are t0 partake in this j0urney it must be with restricti0ns... p0wer such as 0urs cann0t be used t0 reshape the hist0ry 0f this w0rld”

He slowly nodded, both intrigued at the possibilities of this world, as well as the challenge that was being posed. His previously wistful expression became a mischievous smile, and she knew at that moment that she wouldn’t be able to talk him out of it. His mind had been made up, as so often before.

“what kind of restrictions were you thinking exactly?”

Two days had passed since then, and their conversation was fresh in his mind as he drove the blade of his long knife effortlessly into the bone-like mask of a wolfish creature, the last of its kind left after the others were slain. These beasts sought him out, though seemed to have an issue picking up his scent somehow. He sighed, the rush from the battle fading as the monster disappeared into nothingness. Placing the long, weighty knife back in the sheathe on the back of his belt, he continued on forward through this forest that he had found himself in. However, he seemed to be reaching the very edge, as sprawling plains and hills were within his view before he finally passed the treeline.

Xavier stood and stretched as he was fully bathed in sunlight for the first time since arriving. The midsummer heat was hardly a problem as of right now, but he found an unfamiliar sensation in the back of his throat. As he continued forward, a few things caught his attention, the first was that a rather large structure seemed to rest on top of the tallest hill in the distance. Perhaps a mountain? He wasn’t entirely sure. Nevertheless, a sign of civilization was a good thing in this case. The second thing, or rather the second and third, were a pair of pedestrians making their way towards him.

Xavier was unsure of who or what exactly to expect, but he made an effort in quickly shifting the matter of his clothing to patch the few holes that had been made in battle with the creatures in the forest. His attire was fairly casual for the Rogue of Space, possessed of a dark blue hoodie that matched his eyes, dark and faded jeans, and a pair of rather worn leather hiking boots. Xavier himself was a fairly average looking young man, appearing to be around 18 physically, one could be forgiven for mistaking him as any younger at a glance as his features were youthful, and he had no facial hair. Xavier stood at a bit over 175 centimeters, his physique was lithe however it was toned and athletic, not unlike a marathon runner, and his hair was relatively short and chestnut brown. As the two figures drew closer, Xavier noticed they weren’t exactly in a hurry. This sent a few messages to him, and while he wanted to reach for his weapon, that may give the wrong idea right off the bat. Instead, he decided that discretion was the better part of valor and simply waited for their approach.

The first was a tall man dressed in an exquisite black suit, with a dark green button-down shirt that likewise matched his own eyes. He wore dark glasses in a style that reminded Xavier of old Chinese spectacles, and carried a black cane with an ornate silver handle. Despite looking only to be in his early 30’s, he had a full head of silver hair, and an expression that spoke of being terribly inconvenienced. Xavier, however, recognized the look in the man’s eyes right away. He was attempting to gauge this stranger to the forest just as Xavier had been eyeing him the entire time. It was... Disarming how casually this man conducted himself, but Xavier was no fool. Behind that dismissive air was something undeniably dangerous.

Speaking of dangerous, the irritated-looking blonde woman next to him had a completely different air about her. She dressed in semi formal attire, like one would expect to find at a high-paying office job. Her white blouse, black skirt, stockings and heels could lead to a few assumptions about her line of work, though the riding crop held in her right hand sent an entirely different message. Her violet eyes would likewise speak to a more immediate danger, as if waiting for either of the two men before her to make the first move. While the man had an air of danger about him only to one who knew what to look for, the woman made sure to be up front about exactly what she was capable of. Xavier knew he would have a fight if he said or did the wrong thing here. Though, before he found any words to say, already, a question was posed to him.

“Young man... Do you know where you are?"

That was one month ago, and their conversation was still fresh in his mind...

Blake was sick of running away... That was the only thing on her mind. She grew up outside the kingdoms, so even compared to those who trained within lower huntsmen schools before being admitted to Beacon, she was on another level... That combined with her heavy interest in solitude (and let's face it, RBF) lead to her being left almost completely alone, even on the crowded airship full of students being brought into the academy for their first year of training. She placed her book back into her bag as the ship landed at Beacon, having not cared much for the sights or anything like that. Her troubled past was evident by her belongings, which all fit into a small bag she carried with her, while other students brought large suitcases of clothes and other knick knacks. She had only a few outfits and toiletries with her. The bare essentials, most of which she purchased just yesterday.

Xavier by now had begun to settle into a new, and most likely temporary role. A teacher's aide at Beacon, learning as he went. After a brief meeting with Professor Ozpin, the two would make their way outside. Entertainingly enough, the year would start off with a literal bang as a small explosion of Dust could be seen from some distance while they stood at the gates. Xavier got a good laugh out of that as Ozpin moved on, no doubt taking this as a sign of things to come. With some time to spare before any formal business, Xavier would hang out in the courtyard of the massive school, giving greetings to quite a few passers by as he looked over those who would soon become students here. One in particular caught his attention, however. The girl’s long black hair, pale complexion, and golden eyes were enough of a sight to turn heads, but the way she carried herself was different from most anyone so far. Not an air of excitement, anxiety or cautious optimism, but rather something else entirely. "...not very social huh?"

She gave him a side eyed glare as she walked by, almost considering ignoring him... but before she realized it, she was responding as well. "Is that a problem?"

His response would come after a brief moment of silence, surprised that he got any acknowledgement from her. Xavier cracked a slight smile, placing his hands in his pockets as he leaned back against the railing of the main stairs. "never said it was, not yet anyway,"

She scoffed a bit, shaking her head at him. Muttering to herself as she left. "Then why mention it..?" She was a bit confused, honestly. Not factoring in what had really made him feel like speaking to her. Things like that weren't on her mind in the slightest... Blake made her way into the main hall of the academy and settled into a corner after a colorful orientation. All of the first year students would be sleeping in the main hall in one massive slumber party before initiation tomorrow, and that meant they'd have nothing to do but pal around for about 8 hours before bed. Blake quickly changed into her pajamas, a nice robe, and sat by a wall reading.

As one of the aides, Xavier was going to be in the hall until lights out, more or less keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. While he could certainly imagine what a gathering of 18 year olds could get up to in private, especially given the coed status of this school, he highly doubted that anyone would be up to something in this public of a space. Several of these students seemed like they had promise, a few stuck out in his mind. Two girls who seemed to be sisters if the bits of conversation he picked up on were correct seemed to b It was entertaining to watch, but the girl with the bow from before seemed to be just as antisocial as ever. She... Reminded him of someone. Oh well, he wasn't about to just lean against the wall for the next few hours. Xavier approached the talkative girl who introduced herself as Ruby and chatted with her for a bit. Occasionally he threw a glance toward the girl with golden eyes.

Blake paid no attention to anyone else, content on reading as much of her book as she could with the time she was given, knowing that school would start soon and she'd have less time. She sighed, not realizing she was slowly sliding down the wall until an hour and a half later, when her head was the only thing left on the wall, and she was laying on the floor, craning her neck to continue reading...

Once the night began to set in, Xavier found himself sitting against the wall not too far from her, not bothering anything, not yet anyway, but eventually he did break the silence. Boredom was starting to set in, and he retrieved an old companion from his sylladex*, an ornate black tarot card with golden details, marked as "LIII: Ragnarok", it appeared to be floating in his hand. "...that book any good?"

Blake slowly looked up at him, recognizing this boy from earlier... She sat up, pinching the front cover of the book against the several hundred pages she'd already read. "Would I be this far in if it wasn't..?"

Xavier's answer to the obviously rhetorical question came without any hesitation. "depends on how bored you are i suppose, even something dull would be better than nothing," He gave an earnest shrug. "...not that it's my business, but what brought you here?" Not a question he'd asked anyone else, for most it was obvious, they wanted to become Huntsmen. It was equally obvious that something was different about this girl.

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Blake set her bookmark into the page she was on, and put the book back into her bag, seeming like she was going to get more engaged with him, but she simply said "I don't want to talk about that." She said it quite genuinely... not in the snarky way she'd spoken to him up until now. So it definitely seemed that it was something weighing on her

"fair enough, i wouldn't spill my life story to a stranger either..." Except for the one he did, but damn if the green man wasn't charismatic. Damn father figure types. "...i'm xavier, kind of a teaching assistant, aide, whatever the hell that means"

She sighed, figuring he might leave if she showed some courtesy back. "Blake Belladonna." Though, she then asked probably the one thing she shouldn't. "Why did you talk to me earlier when I was first coming in?"

A sincere smile came to his lips. "you remind me of an old friend, just... something about how you carry yourself" He admitted without looking away from the card in his hand. His memories weren't exactly whole anymore, but a face came to mind.

"I see... I guess I might say the same about you, if you were better looking." She tried to keep cool as she insulted him, but let out a slight 'snrk' as she turned away from him.

"i've been burned by an emo girl yet again" He half-joked before placing the card into his pocket. "...i gotta say, if your friend was anything like me, i'm sorry," He sounded more sincere in that, keeping a smile despite the self-deprecation.

"I... Doubt it." She sighed. "You wouldn't be here if you were anything like him..." She shook her head, gently rubbing her eyes with her thumb and index finger. "Let's change the subject."

Fortunately, he had another one lined right up. "alright, what is your weapon like?" Oz had told Xavier about the students receiving the opportunity to design all kinds of cool gear before they graduated from their previous schools, if nothing else there was always a unique answer when it came to weaponry, a subject he was admittedly fascinated by.

She would hesitate for a moment before retrieving her weapon from her bag, flipping it open in her hand almost purely on instinct. "It's a Katana with a folding blade, and a pistol built into the hilt. All on a ribbon I can use for distance." She tried to explain the complicated weapon as briefly as she could, somewhat hesitant as she didn't expect much from his idle curiosity.

However, the design seemed to click with Xavier, able to imagine its construction and applications, in theory at least. "huh... must have required a flexible material with high tensile strength, assuming 'distance' means you can use it to cross long distances quickly" He pondered the multifunctional weapon as he looked at it. "stronger than tungsten if it kills some of those monsters..."

Her eyes widened briefly, though she didn't let him see her surprise, and didn't even realize the slight smile that had crept up onto her lips. "The ribbon part isn't especially dangerous, but it's not fragile." She stood, deciding to give a brief demonstration by tossing it high up as the blade folded halfway into a scythe shape, wrapping it around one of the supporting beams way up in the roof, and hooking it, lifting her entire body up by a few inches just with the ribbon. However, she quickly realized her mistake as, any higher, and she may have flashed him inadvertently.

Xavier quickly turned his head away once the same possibility occurred to him, a light dusting of red appearing on his cheeks. He gave an awkward cough before continuing the conversation. "no lie, i wish i had something that flexible, it certainly could've lasted for awhile..." He slowly rose to his feet to meet her at eye level once she had dropped down, and detached the long knife from his belt, sheathe and all. "this is... brotherhood, simple and effective," It certainly looked simple, while he didn't unsheathe it, the weapon was roughly 56 centimeters in length. The sheathe itself was sleek, black and lacked any true ornamentation, aside from a divide that showed where the hilt of the blade ended and the sheathe began it looked to be a solid block of black metal.

Blake admittedly took a step back once she had landed on her feet and dislodged her weapon, firmly pressing the bottom of her robe in with her hand. "Y-yeah? Seems simple." She tried her best to move on from what had happened, but the idea was firmly burned into her mind. The distraction was welcome compared to the embarrassment she felt.

"...y-yeah," He could tell from her own flushed expression that her train of thought mirrored his own, best to hone in on the current topic. "simple has its advantages, it's easy enough to conceal but it weighs over 500 kilos, and it never dulls,"

Blake furrowed her brow at him, looking at the relatively small knife... "you've got to be kidding. That's not 500 kilograms."

Xavier gave a sly smirk. "try to lift it without your aura, i dare you"

She narrowed her eyes a bit, holding her hand out for it... Bracing herself for 500 kilos even though she didn't believe it... And he let it go. "Nngh!" the full weight of the blade dragged her outstretched arm down to the floor for a split second until- ...it felt like nothing at all. In fact, if she let it go, it would just float. She definitely managed to slow it down a great deal, but you couldn't really call that 'carrying' or even 'holding' it... Only for her to be saved by him levitating it. "I get it... Your semblance is a sort of telekinesis."

"sem-" He cut his curiosity short by remembering an earlier conversation with Ozpin. That's what they called their powers here, right. He nodded, but was a terrible liar. "right, telekinesis, that's it," And like it was nothing, he returned the blade to its spot on back of his belt.

She nodded a bit. "Still, it seems impractical... Even if you can levitate it. What's the upside?"

"well, aside from cutting through most things without much effort, it leaves a hand free for the rest of my bag of tricks" He was wondering about her semblance now, each was supposed to be entirely unique, he wondered if he would be stuck trying to frame his main use of powers as 'telekinesis'.

"My weapon is one handed as well, but it doesn't require my semblance to work." Blake crossed her arms over her chest, giving him an expression that simply said: "Unimpressed"..

"heh... and if i told you i can use it without bothering to make it float?" Xavier's sincerity in his hypothetical, as well as the smirk never leaving his face, may have convinced some.

But not Blake, who got a bit of a laugh out of the idea itself. "I wouldn't believe that no matter what you did." Admittedly, she was starting to loosen up a bit, viewing this guy a bit more curiously now.

Xavier could tell he had her attention for now, and decided to capitalize on it. "alright, and if i said that's not my only weapon?"

"You're weird." She answered immediately, seeming to relax... "Again, that seems impractical. Huntsmen only use one weapon for a reason."

"hmm..." He retrieves the tarot card from his pocket again. "alright then blake, let me show you a magic trick" She leaned back against the wall, giving him some space, watching eagerly as, with a flick of the wrist, the card became an ornate black and gold sword of a much more proper size for open combat. The obsidian blade was inlaid with many gold ornamentations, notably in waving lines running from a connected point near the tip of the blade and traveling up towards the hilt in symmetrical, mirror opposite patterns. "ragnarokalibur, no i didn't name it," He stated quickly, knowing full well how it sounded. "the trick behind this one is that it can grow and shrink, this is its default, though it can get to be well over two meters"

"It suits you." She laughed a bit, shaking her head at the idea of the absurd size of the thing. "There isn't a Grimm in the whole of Remnant that would need such a ridiculous weapon to fight."

With a slight flash of light, the blade returned to its resting form, and Xavier would captchalogue* it once more.. "well you're not wrong, but i haven't met one yet that i couldn't kill"

"Alright, show off. I've killed plenty myself, that's not why we're here." She rolled her eyes playfully, beginning to figure that he was just as blunt and full of bravado as so many she had met.

Xavier took notice of the time in the slightly awkward pause following that, knowing fully well it wasn't long before the lights were out and he took his leave. He decided to leave things off on a high note. "it was nice to meet you blake, something tells me you've had a hard road coming here that no one around you probably gets, but take it from someone who knows, you don't need someone to get it to be friends"

She nodded a bit, looking back at him with no small amount of surprise. "Um... Thank you, that means a lot." She blushed again, fidgeting with her hair for a moment... "I-I should probably get back to my book."

"yeah... come find me sometime, i wouldn't mind talking again," It was awkward but, he honestly didn't know that many other ways to connect to other people. Regardless, he knew they would meet again soon enough, aside from Oz, was by far the most interesting person he'd met. Once the lights were turned out, however, it was time to move on. The next day would undoubtedly be an interesting one.