NYON

The Forest of Death

"Wakey wakey, Noellie!" A bright voice chirped. Noel stirred in her sleep, slowly opening her emerald green eyes as Nia stood above her. It was early, that much Noel could tell with little effort. But even despite that, Nia seemed as chipper as ever. "Come on, sleepy head, it's initiation day!"

The energetic Faunus bounced up and down where she stood. Meanwhile, Noel slowly sat up, brushing her long blonde hair out of her eyes. Evidently, she was not a morning person.

"Nia? What time is it?" She mumbled, looking around in a daze. Many other people seemed to be just waking up, and a few others were already ready. One of those people was Orion, who she could see chatting with another boy, who was fixing a sort of cloak around his frame.

"It's time for you to start getting ready." Nia joked, grabbing the shorter girl by her hand and pulling her to her feet. Noel stumbled a bit but managed to stay standing.

"Y-Yeah...okay..." Noel nodded, following after Nia into the locker room. She quickly dressed herself, finishing the ensemble with the beret placed on her head. She hid her long blonde locks beneath it, earning a hum from Nia.

"I kinda thought you just had really short hair yesterday," Nia commented, earning a blush from Noel, who got busy strapping Scarlet and Azure, her dual handguns, to her lower back.

"O-Oh? Sorry about that." Noel muttered, looking apologetic. Nia raised an eyebrow at that.

"You don't need to apologize over that." Nia pointed out with a small laugh, waving her hand in the air dismissively. She held two tonfas in either hand as she did so.

"O-Oh, right." Noel nodded in agreement. Shifting awkwardly where she stood, she turned on her heel and made her way down the corridor with Nia in tow. "So did The Headmaster tell us where to meet?"

"If he did, I didn't hear him, I was just planning to find a group of people and follow them." Nia chirped in reply, her hands behind her head as she walked.

"It's a Cliffside, near the forest," Orion stated, jumping into the conversation, suddenly walking alongside them. "I can lead the way."

Nia laughed. "Did your new friend already get sick of you?"

"I think that guy is already sick of everyone." Orion shot back, earning a wince from Nia.

"Sucks that hunters are placed in teams then. For him, at least." She pointed out, Noel beginning to trail behind them a bit as they walked. She kept her head down, doing her best not to stand out.

This didn't work. Or perhaps it worked so well that she was practically invisible. But as she walked, the same bully from yesterday collided with her.

"Watch it wallflower." He barked, sending the girl falling backward, having not been braced for the collision. She almost fell over but felt her momentum stop as someone grabbed her by her wrist.

Opening her eyes as she was pulled back up, she stumbled a bit but was able to keep her balance.

"Noel! Jeez, what the hell is wrong with that guy!?" Nia groaned, glaring at him as he walked off.

"Just leave it alone Nia, going after him won't do us any good." Orion pointed out, crossing his arms as he leaned against the lockers. Noel meanwhile turned toward her savior, who had finally let go of her wrist.

"T-Thank you." She stated, noticing that he was the same man whom Orion had been talking to. She blushed a bit as their eyes met, but she quickly forced herself to recover.

"Sure." He replied, stepping between the group, and walking down the hall. Noel watched him leave silently.

Why did he sound so...haunted? Nobody, even close to her age, should have ever sounded as distant as he did. It kinda scared her.