Colors of Remnant

Jericho Galley, seen as Johnny Silverhand, sat in the Dining Hall alone. Well, he wasn't alone in the entire room, but he sat at one end of a row alone. Day in and day out was paranoia, wondering which student had been hired by Blackhand to stab him in the back, literally, if any had been hired at all. He didn't even know if Blackhand knew he was here or not, but if he thought he was bulletproof, someone would soon give him a physical demonstration that he wasn't.

Because of this being his possibly only safe haven, Jericho couldn't afford to be found out that he wasn't Johhny Silverhand. Hard to pass as a Huntsman in training when you were a Pirate your whole life. But there were some things that carried over. Knowledge of Grimm, fighting, Aura, that all was alright. The academic stuff was tougher than ship nails though. His current stress was an upcoming test about the Great War, and he had never even heard of the thing before coming here. Damned teacher skated over a ton of material saying that it was 'general knowledge' and that she hadn't a need to explain further. If he failed too many of his tests or didn't appear to be a student, he would be arrested at least, booted out at best. An arrest would mean it would catch on the news, which meant Blackhand would know.

Jericho finished his first orange and moved on to the second one, ripping into it with the fingernails of his right hand while his gloved left hand held it, frustration fueling him to easily take it apart. Not to mention that he was so paranoid that he hardly met anybody that didn't like him. One girl wanted to spar with him and almost killed him, and two of the probably cutest lassies he had met treated him like barnacles just for being around them.

He let out a sigh before popping one orange slice into his mouth. They had had their reasons and they explained themselves, he had to remember that. It was nothing personal. ...hopefully...

He blinked back a tear, or tried to. Blinking just caused it to go down his cheek and he quickly wiped it away, going back to his food.

Nym stomach growled at her as she plodded, irritated, towards the cafeteria. She was absolutely sure that she'd stashed away some food in the small refrigerator in her dorm room! It wasn't real food, but an ice cream sandwich was a good way to stave off hunger if she was really craving something fast, cold, and sugary. If she HAD any! Her little ice box had been cleaned out, no doubt by her own hands drunkenly searching for a quick bite while she'd been unwinding after a long day. Sugarless, hungry, and a little peeved at herself, Nym stalked into the lunch room to begrudgingly seek out school approved nutrition.

But it looked like she was about to find a hidden gem, instead. The sharp, pungent smell of fresh citrus was easy to detect and her sharp eyes searched for it's source as she made her way through the cafeteria line. Lo and behold, sequestered in a lonely corner was Johnny Anxious. Well, that wasn't his real name, but Nym could have been fooled considering how their first meeting had gone. First meetings weren't always a good reflection of who someone was, and Nym had promised herself she'd give the guy a chance. He'd sounded like he could use a friend or two. As she paid for her small bounty, a bowl of ice cream drenched in a comical amount of chocolate syrup, she made her way through the midday crowd to sit down unceremoniously right across from the brooding boy.

She could see the mist in his eyes, even if she'd missed the tear on his cheek. Was he lonelier than she'd thought? Maybe they were birds of a feather afterall.

"G'day, love. This seat taken?" It wasn't, and she wasn't going to wait for him to confirm it! "Sorry 'bout shooin' ya off the otha' day, I felt pretty bad 'bout that, like...didn' really give ya a fair chance or nothin'. Feelin' any betta' t'day?" It was about the best she could think of for a hello. Start positive, show him she really didn't hold a grudge over being a little awkward, ask him something so he had something to say, stuff she'd practiced. It was like a little script in her head that she could use before conversations just felt natural with someone else given enough time together.

Not a minute after he had stopped thinking of this girl did she just show up. Well, at least it wasn't the other one who was much ruder to him. The wind behind her sails had been strong, while this girl, Nym? She was a bit more playful.

He looked up to her when she came by and hesitated just a second in confusion as to why she would seek him out before he waved his hand that it was fine for her to sit. She was sitting down before he did so. Then she apologized for the other day and asked how his day was! That... He had never heard that before, from anyone. Not just in Beacon, but back on The Corsair. It was all tough feelings and jabs and little circles among their crew. Nobody apologized for anything. It would show on his face as something like surprised shock.

"Er, don't worry about it!" He said, shaking both hands in the air a little, his right hand still holding the opened orange. "You two were good friends, I was butting in. I get it." he said, nodding slightly. "And today has been stressful." He decided that he didn't need to lie about school stuff. "Upcoming test on stuff I'm not good at. Other than that, I'm alright." He half lied. "What about you? Why aren't you sitting with Ax instead?"

The look of mild surprise on Johnny's face wasn't exactly new to Nym. Guys loved getting attention from pretty girls, and if it happened out of the blue it was pretty easy to put them on the back foot. She couldn't guess at exactly why he was so affected by her casual kindness, but it wasn't uncommon enough to even bat an eye at. It was a little charming. It was also nice to know that the air between the two of them had cleared considerably since their previous meeting. Nym took a spoonful of ice cream, leaking chocolate sauce, and enjoyed a messy bite. She swallowed quickly to answer his question.

"Ah, we're good friends but we ain't attached at the hip or nothin'. Sometimes she's got classes when I don't n' the otha' way 'round. S'not like I spend all me time slinkin' around with 'er." Just...a lot of it. The rumor around Beacon is that they were long time, secret lovers, but no one could really get a rise out of them by saying it to their face. No one really gossiped about them where they could hear it or they ended up getting a fistful of metal. "Aaaaand I'm 'avin' 'bout the same time as yer 'avin' with classes, bloody awful. I ain't good at anythin' need's readin' n' studyin' for, but...eh, could be worse." She could have been in her first year again when she had none of the tools to deal with it that she had now! Her tail stirred the air behind her as she took another bite of her 'lunch.'

"Ah, right." He noted. When she talked about classes, he groaned. "You too huh?" He ate another slice of the orange. "If it's Grimm or something, I can pass, but this old history stuff just keelhauls me. I mean, how do you even study?" He muttered that last part as he reached into the orange, taking another slice. He did it in the same manner that somebody reaches back into a bag of chips. He noted that for lunch she was just having ice cream. He didn't quite know when the last time he had ice cream was. Probably when the crew had pilfered a crate of it one day, years ago. Some awesome sweet stuff.

"Obviously I would get one of my many friends to help me," He gestured to the rest of the empty table. "But you can see that they are all begging so helplessly to help me that it's hard to choose one of them. So I choose none." He finished his orange and turned to the sandwhich on his tray.

Keelhaul? That had to be slang for getting a bloody drubbing, a thing that Nym was also familiar with getting from history classes. She nodded along in sympathy and solidarity. History was so bleeding boring. Who cared about why Atlas became so rich and powerful and racist? What was the point of going on endlessly about how terrible everything was for Faunus years ago? How was that going to help her get better at fighting Grimm and bandits? Her professors kept telling her that being diplomatic and understanding of other cultures was also a part of being a huntress, but...was it really? Did it have to be?

She laughed at his joke about friends. At least he had a sense of humor. Or, maybe he was just trying to not let it show that being alone was getting to him. He was a guy, right? They liked to put on a tough front when things were bothering them. Nym licked her lips, unsuccessfully removing a smear of chocolate sauce that had gotten on her cheek. "D'nno 'ow anyone's s'posed t' study. I jus'...read n' reread n' write stuff down over n' over n' hope it sticks in me 'ead long enough t' get it down on a test." She shook her head and sighed. "Bloody suck at it. I'm scrapin' togetha' a passin' grade, but it ain't easy." Nothing at Beacon was easy. Classes, combat training, it was all hard, but it was a task that she was now capable of besting. Or at least not letting it best her!

"Afta' the last time we met, figured I'd neva' get the chance t' talk t' ya again, what with ya bein' such a bloody social butterfly. Figured the boys n' gals'a beacon'd be fawnin' all ova' a prancin' show pony like you." She raised her eyebrows a couple of times, grinning. She, too, had a sense of humor.

"Read and write stuff down over and over again?" He repeated as if he hadn't heard that before. "Huh. That's an idea." He considered seriously. "But yeah, I'm scrapin' by too." He was honestly relieved that someone else was struggling. He thought he'd be the only one. It was nice to know that someone else was having a hard time with it, a weight off of his shoulders. He didn't need to come up with some excuse and reason now, it was normal. Well, sorta, maybe.

Jericho leaned back in his seat and put his hands behind his head like he was relaxing. "Yeah, I'm pre-tty popular with my peers. They all love this." With his left gloved hand he twirled some of his very unevenly cut hair. "Just too roguishly handsome." He joked. "But I didn't think I'd see you or Ax again either outside of class." He said, leaning forward again. "I'm... glad you came over." He gave a little smile.

Nym couldn't quite decipher whether Johnny was taking her studying advice seriously or not. He could have been joking, but his delivery wasn't enough to leave her certain one way or the other. It was all the same to her, it didn't really matter how studious anyone here was. Talking about studying wasn't exactly what she'd planned to spend her afternoon doing. Witty banter and whatever came with it was more up her alley. She smirked at the flip of his hair and his tongue-in-cheek pat on the back.

"Ah, we ain't that bad. N' yer not 'ardly that bad eitha'. Wasn' 'ard t' tell you 'ad yer 'eart in the right place. 'Sides, I've been there b'fore. Didn' know no one at Beacon when I first got 'ere. But I didn' 'ave it in me t' go 'round introducin' meself t' people, so ya got me beat there." A stranger in a strange place, it was a position that hardly anyone wanted to be in. Having no one to rely on but yourself was harrowing even in a place like Beacon. "Plus, uh...I'unno, kinda felt like maybe I came off like I was tryin' t' scare ya off or somethin', but...I jus' don' like talkin' 'bout Mystral. Place bloody sucks n' I don' 'ave any good mem'ries from it, so...people I don' know walkin' up t'me n' askin' me all kindsa things 'bout it's...eh, s' wata' unda' the bridge long as yer not about t' start grillin' 'me 'bout it again."

It turned out that they had the 'lost dog' thing in common, though judging from her ears it was more in her favor than his. Unsure where they stood among their peers, unsure about the peers themselves, and unsure where the freaking bathrooms were! It sure was a struggle, and he had the added hardship of not even belonging here in the first place. Maybe all strangers felt like that though, in some way or another, but he knew it for a fact.

Jericho hadn't really been on the ground that was considered 'Mystral' for any really long period of time, maybe a year or two in total over his life. But Johnny Silverhand had. He still had to pretend like he was his departed friend. He remembered some of the things that Johnny had told him about home, more than Jericho had learned of the place when he had been there. It certainly was more of a 'fend for yourself' kind of place, much more so than Vale or Atlas. What she was saying could definitely be true if she was constantly on the bad sides of towns. Then again, the 'good sides' that he had experienced was on behalf of criminals that Blackhand favored. Outsiders from an organization wouldn't get that treatment.

He wondered breifly if him and Nym had ever crossed paths before, if he had even walked down a road she was crossing, walked by a building she had been in, or met someone she had met. Small world.

"I'm... sorry for just walking up and grilling you. I know how it can be back there. Just thought two people from a similar place might be able to have each other's backs, at least be friends." He didn't know why, but his mouth kept running. "And that anxiety that Ax felt was from me suddenly thinking that you were somebody from back home, sent to bring me back!" He changed what he about say at the last second, almost saying 'somebody from back home sent to kill me.' "But if you are really done with that place, I won't ask you about it. New place, new beginnings, yeah?"

Nym's eyebrows perked up and her tail flicked behind her as a sudden fit of laughter gripped her. She was some kind of goon sent to take this guy back to Mystral? The thought of going back, much less dragging someone else along with her was ridiculous. There wasn't enough lien in the world to get her to take a job like that! When the sudden burst of mirth was over she was still grinning. "Bloody 'ell mate, who'd you piss off ya think people're tryin' t' infiltrate bloody Beacon t' getcha back?" She shook her head and raised a hand as if to stop him. "Don' need t' answer that, heh. New place n' new beginnin's. Don' really matta' t'me who anyone 'ere was b'fore they walked in the doors. We're all tryin' t' be the same thing, eh?"

Nym had to believe in second chances. Beacon was hers. If she had let her history follow her past the landing pad she never would have made it this far. "Don' really matta' who ya were, s' who yer tryin' t' be." She took a big spoonful of her dessert and wolfed it down. "N' I'll give ya a bloody drubbin' f'you say that sounds cliche, mate." Most of the loners that Nym ran into were faunus. For whatever reason, it seemed like all the loneliest wolves were sporting ears, tails, or horns. Was Johnny the first human she'd run into that had it this bad? Well, she was no racist, and he hadn't thrown up any serious warning flags so far. "We c'n be friends. Jus' don' say it's 'cuz we're both from Mystral. S'cuz we're both at Beacon."

Making Nym laugh definitely helped Jericho feel a bit better about himself. Though, not sure what he said that was funny. Maybe him thinking that taking him back was her objective? Either way, he got her laughing. That brought a smile to his face. Then the smile vanished as he realized he needed a someone who would want him back! He scrambled for something before Nym told him he didn't need to explain. Phew! He'd take that way out.

Then he listened to what she had to say next, slowly finishing his food as he listened intently. All trying to be the same thing, huh? What was he trying to be? Alive. But past that, what? What did he want to do with his life? Blackhand and The Corsair was out of the picture now. He possibly could go back to piracy, but this seemed like an opportune moment to change course, to be something else. But what? A huntsman?

And then she said that they could be friends. He turned his head up at that, looking at her intently. A friend? Was... damn, it sounded sad, but was this his first friend off the ship? Even if it was a loose friendship, it was more than he'd made by himself. A friend, somone to count on. Someone he could make laugh and talk to. Someone who wouldn't care about his past. He had to blink a bunch to clear his vision and he shut his mouth up with the last of the sandwich, chewing it throughouly before speaking.

"That'd be great. I'd like to be friends." He said, careful to keep those emotions down that came from nowhere. "Maybe we could study together sometime, help each other out a bit?"

The misty eyes did not pass her notice. Johnny seemed genuinely touched by her offer of friendship. That warmed her heart. It felt good to just be taken at face value and have it mean so much to someone. She was getting better at socializing! The fact his emotions were so easy to read made her sit a little more at ease. There was a lot he wasn't telling her, but why should he? Nym could probably turn his stomach with some of the things she'd done and seen in order to live long enough to make it to Beacon. She wasn't going to start passing judgment on people who kept their histories to themselves. Either he was a truly incredible actor, or he really did just need a friend.

"Ugggggghhhhh," Nym groaned, rolling her eyes in an exaggerated fashion, trying to add a little more levity and hopefully make it easier for Johnny not to burst into tears. "Studyin'? S'yer idea of a fun time?" She pointed her chocolate covered spoon at him accusatorially before quickly licking off the dripping sauce. "Mate, you gotta work on yer ideas fer friend stuff. But, yeah, I don' mind studyin' with someone else. S'easier not t'get distracted by the billion otha' things that're more fun than studyin', but don' eva' suggest that one t' anyone else yer tryin' t'be friends with. Not unless yer absolutely bloody sure they're tryin' t' get in yer pants, but...I'unno, jus' suggest watchin' a movie instead or you'll scare 'em off." She would agree, but begrudgingly. It was impossible to get excited about bloody studying, but they could work on that. Vale was full of stuff to see and even Beacon had things to do. She was also getting the impression he needed the help a little more than she did, but what were friends for if not to help one another?

Nym groaned and complained about studying as a general topic and Jericho couldn't help but laugh a little. Plus when she took that chocolate spoon back to lick at it was kinda cute. Just a little. He was a little confused as to why studying would be good to suggest to those wanting to sleep with him, but hey, he'd never been to school before. What did he know? He certainly didn't know if it was supposed to encourage or deter those behaviors though. But Nym was talking about things to do as friends.

So, what did Jericho like to do with friends? Well, he liked racing to the crows nest. Long talks while scrapping off barnacles. Testing the sharpness of blades after taking a whetstone to them. Throwing daggers at an empty keg with a target painted on it. Seeing who could hold on to a rope and be dragged by the boat the longest. Talk about the girls they met at the Mystral brothels, though that one had only happened a couple of times. All really fun things, and almost none of them he could do here, let alone say.

"Er, alright. Well, how about... pfft. Throwing daggers or sharpening blades or talking about girls..." He mumbled, slightly cohesive before trailing off as he thought about what would be fun around here. Beacon had a lot of tall spires, the tower being the tallest. "You much for racing and climbing?" He asked her. "Or maybe we should just stick with a movie." Jericho hadn't seen a movie before, to be honest. He'd read a book or three, but only heard of movies.

Nym's eyebrows raised in surprise. Now he was speaking her language! Her expression brightened. Maybe Johnny was better at this than she'd initially surmised. "Okay, okay, mate, those ain't bad, heh." Now she actually had to give this a little thought. Throwing daggers sounded like a blast even if she'd never done it before and would definitely need some practice before she could get good at that. Sharpening blades? Well, she didn't have any blades, but talking about girls was a good option too. Racing, climbing, watching movies, she nodded, now there were some actual options on the table.

"I d'no 'ow t' drive, so I don' think racin's in the cards, but I know a few places downtown that've got climbin' walls in case yer not up fer scalin' Beacon's cliffs." They were pretty steep. If you had the upper body endurance and strength you could definitely do it. Nym could guess most Beacon students could manage it with the boost that comes from aura, but it still took a long time. It had to be planned. Rock climbing walls were a lot more fun and a lot less of an investment in time. "Movies ain't too bad, but s'kinda passive n' jus sittin' round n' stuff. Why doncha tell me more 'bout knife throwin', eh?" It didn't have to be knife throwing. Truthfully, she just wanted to get Johnny to talk a little bit more about himself even if it was only about his interest in throwing knives. It was a hobby Nym had never heard of. Maybe there was some story to it. Maybe he was really passionate about it. Maybe he really just took a big stab in the dark!

Nym seemed very impressed with his suggestions. But, oh, she thought he meant racing cars and climbing walls... "I sorta meant more of climbing buildings and racing on foot, but climbing walls in town works. I don't know how to drive either." He said before sipping his drink.

"Well, Knife throwing is easy once you get a feel for the weight and balance and spin. It's not just throwing a sharp object at a wall, you need to put enough power behind it with your wrist while figuring out how to get the pointy bit to hit your target." He rubbed the back on his neck. "Maybe it's not so easy." He chuckled. "I remember when I was a boy," He said, looking down at the table as he went through the memory. "I was on... a ship, and it was rocking back and forth a little while docked. These guys were teaching me to throw at a target painted on a barrel." He remembered his first throw. "I threw the dagger and it bounced off the barrel into a guy's ankle." He couldn't hold back the snicker at the end, remembering the man howling as he hopped on one foot. "It wasn't bad, he was fine." He waved a hand. "I threw it way too hard. Though after a long time of practicing, I was able to beat them." He looked back up at her. "Oh, sorry, you didn't want a story. My bad."

Climbing buildings? That sounded like a good way to get arrested. Well, not that the police would have an easy time catching either one of them, but that was probably out of the cards. Sprinting around on foot to race each other wasn't exactly Nym's favorite past time either, but it could probably substitute for a workout. Would Johnny actually try and win, or would he end up trailing to get a good look at her in her workout clothes? Hah! Knife throwing sounded like it actually could be fun. She'd never been much for throwing her weapon. The spin of the chain made it's arc unpredictable. It was only accurate within a very short distance and it was rare that Nym couldn't simply launch herself forward with her own legs or using the chainsaw like a catapult. She sniggered quietly at the thought of a young kid bouncing a knife off of a target and catching some poor sailor in the foot with it.

"Nah, I'd say that was a good story mate, sure made me laugh." She was getting on towards the bottom of her ice cream, spoon only coming back up with nearly liquid heaps of the stuff. "Got me excited t'see if I can give anyone any minor injuries 'avin' a go at it, heh heh. 'Ere," Nym reached into a pocket and pulled out her scroll, tapping through the buttons so she could share her contact info with Johnny. "D'no when 'm gonna be free, but maybe sometime this afta'noon we could do somethin' f'you c'n get the knives t'getha'." She paused for a second, furrowing her brow. "Betcha the schools got somethin' we could use f'you don' 'ave any lyin' 'round. Prob'ly got it in the trainin' rooms or somethin'." She shrugged nonchalantly. Even if Beacon was devoid of spare daggers they'd still be able to figure out something to do.

Jericho was glad he could get her to laugh again with his dumb little story. He pulled out his scroll as well to get her contact info. He hadn't actually looked through this part of Johnny's scroll before. Turns out he had a ton of friends back in Mystral. Also a bunch of missed calls. Is that what the "Silent" setting meant? Jericho felt a little bad about it, but quickly got rid of those notifications before he passed her his scroll. She would know what to do with it more than he.

"This afternoon? I think I'm free then." Pfft. Like he knew his schedule off the top of his head. His scroll helped him do that, but everyday there was always a long time before dinner and a bit of free time to train or whenever. That time would work just as well. Jericho didn't have knives anymore, but the training room very well might have spare weapons to train with or against. He hoped. "Yeah, I'll get things set up and contact you." He said as he took his scroll back. "And with me the only person there, I hope I'm not the guy you hurt with one." He chuckled.