Following Traditions of the Ones Before Us

Starting a New Life

Then I went to my closet, pulling out my huntress attire. Black, white, and orange which gradually faded into yellow. It was a black cropped leather jacket that went over a slightly longer cropped white tee with a hint of gray coloring the bottom hem, a pair of black short shorts, followed by a pair of stockings that went from black to white to orange to yellow at the bottom. I had a pair of worn leather combat boots, they were manufactured that way. Now with mom's scarf, it added the finishing touch to the entire outfit. Mom was proud of me. She watched me grow from just a shy little girl that was afraid to put up a fight to a girl who stands up to a fight.

I basically combined both huntress outfits my moms wore. I didn't expect that to happen but it did. I wasn't complaining. It was an outfit that expressed who I was. Once I got everything that I would need, mom left to make breakfast for us, the last one we'd share as a family for a while. I went upstairs to take a shower, having my huntress outfit in hand. I neatly placed my clothing on the sink counter before I grabbed a towel. I locked the door so neither of my brothers would pull a prank on me and turned on the water. I let my pajamas and underwear fall to the floor carelessly before I climbed into the shower. Like always, I took a fairly quick shower. I wrapped the towel around my body as I stepped out, only to meet a room full of steam. It was comforting actually. I wiped the mirror from the vapor and began brushing my hair. The brush flowed through it like it was nothing even though it was thick. I used the blow dryer to get rid of the remaining water still in my hair. Once it was dry, it was soft to the touch. I threw the towel into the hamper and soon began pulling my clothes over my body. My fingers curled around mom's scarf and brought it up and over my head, resting it appropriately around my neck. It was a bit big but I knew I would grow into it. It smelt like... cinnamon. It brought a wave of comfort over my body. I closed my eyes as I breathed the calming scent. Just before I decided to leave the bathroom, I put my hair into a perfect braid that ended at the middle of my back. Once I was pleased with my appearance, I went back downstairs and joined everyone at the table. When Onyx and Trevor laid their eyes on me, they dropped their forks, having them clamor against the plates. "What? Did I go overboard?" I was really nervous by their reaction.

"No, it's just... Wow. You almost look like mom," Trev admitted in a surprised voice. Did I really look like her? Like I know I look almost identical to mom, my faunus mother, but did I really look like my human mother?

"You really do sis. You look like mom a lot, in a good way," Onyx stammered. 'Like that helped my confidence right now Onyx.' I sat down at the table and slowly started to eat my breakfast. I stayed quiet as everyone else talked amongst themselves. I wasn't in much of the talking mood. I didn't know what to expect when I get to Beacon. What if I don't get on a team with one or both of them? Or my cousins? Yes cousins since Aunt Nora and Uncle Ren have Peter, who's Onyx's age, and then their other son Richie, who was a year older than me; then Aunt Ruby and Aunt Weiss had twins, Noelle and Justine.

Before I knew it, it was already time to leave to get on the transports to the Academy. I only ate half of my breakfast but it was better than nothing. The three of us grabbed our suitcases and met mom at the car. She drove us to the nearest boarding dock for the transport. I just stared out the window, watching everything I was familiar with vanish before my eyes. I had my weapon, Forbidden Darkness, on my back. It was a sword that could transform into a gun and scythe. Like all students at Signal, we had the opportunity to design our weapons. Onyx had a lance that could transform into a sword with a long blade, which he called Destiny Destruction. Trevor had a staff that could either be two katana swords and a sniper rifle, which was bestowed the name Flame Strife. We were all proud of our weapons. "You'll be fine Dust. You'll make friends there before you know it. Like Uncle Jaune once said, 'Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.'" Mom's words were a sense of comfort. Uncle Jaune was right. If I remember correctly, it was his mother that told him that from what Onyx has told us. A smile crept on my face, giving my mother a sense of comfort from seeing her little girl smile just before she left to start a new journey in her huntress training.

It took us no more than thirty minutes to reach the boarding dock. I grabbed my suitcase after Trev handed it to me. Mom placed a loving kiss on each of our foreheads. "Take care of each other, understand? Even if that means you're all put on different teams," she said to us. We all nodded then said goodbye to her. Trevor took my free hand in his, squeezing it slightly to reassure me that everything will be alright. I gave him a smile and we stepped onto the transport. I looked over my shoulder one last time to see mom crying as she watched her three children walk away from her another time. It broke my heart to see her like that. She hardly cried in front of us or in public. The last time I saw her cry like this was when mom died in her arms. Then the transport doors closed behind us.

***

It wasn't a long ride to Beacon. I walked to the window, looking at the world below us. Onyx and Trevor joined me. "Hey Trev! Onyx! Dust!" A familiar voice called our names. We all turned our heads to see our cousins, all of them, walking over to us. Richie and I were the closest than the rest of us combined. He hugged me and lifted me off the ground. I just laughed as he spun me around in the air. Everyone else laughed too. I was finally happy again. I was surrounded by family. It comforted me.

"I see that Aunt Blake gave you Aunt Yang's scarf," Noelle pointed out. I nodded, feeling a sense of pride overcome me. "It looks nice on you. Goes with your outfit perfectly." I knew she was just being herself, so judgmental and picky. Justine elbowed her sister in the ribs, gently though. Noelle wasn't pleased and gave her sister a glare. It wasn't very intimidating in my opinion.

"So, what's the plan? Are we trying to stick together for teams," Peter asked everyone.

"That's what we hope to happen. We're all probably will be launched at the same time tomorrow at initiation," Trev spoke.

"Just to be uplifting here, Dust, I think you got what it takes to be a leader," Richie encouraged. Did I really have what it takes to be a leader? He gave me a soft smile while almost everyone just kept blank expressions.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves Richie. We don't know what the headmaster is going to do," Onyx stated. My brother had a point. We didn't know what was going to happen tomorrow. It was then when a message from Glynda Goodwitch, yes she's still at Beacon after all this time, welcoming us to Beacon Academy. It was only minutes later when our transport came to a dock for us to exit on. We all grabbed our bags and walked out together. I took in a deep breath and walked with a slight sense of confidence filling me. This was it. I was now a student at the prestigious school known as Beacon Academy.