With the intense pressure in his head beginning to subside, Andrew stepped down from the airship's gangplank, overjoyed that his journey was at an end. Flying was not something he liked to do on a regular basis. Adjusting his gloves, paying careful attention to the small switch at the side that indicated what he liked to call 'handshake mode' he picked up his rucksack and began to make his way down the stone path toward the place that would be his home for the next few years; Beacon Academy.
The prestigious monster-hunting school was renowned throughout the Vale and beyond, as only the best were admitted and allowed to become huntsmen and huntresses. This year had been particularly different, as not only was there the least amount of students attending of any year previously, but a few students had been accepted from lands across the seas, such as the land of Donner, where Andrew himself hailed from. As he walked, his hyperactive brain scanned the crowd, latching on to the tiniest of details on the myriad of people that passed his slender frame. As he walked past a young woman, he noted four things about her:
'Blue hair, not dyed, so presumably hereditary mutation caused by copper infection; Katana hilt folded inwards, suggesting extra hidden addition to the weapon, unknown; Small luggage, not usual for a woman, suggests that she had left her abode in a hurry; Sour look on her face, she was not there to make friends; Avoid.'
Taking a deep breath in a futile attempt to calm himself, Andrew then took his first real look at the building itself. it was a titan of architectural design, drawing in aspects from almost every culture on the planet, as well as entirely powered by the green dust deposit that it was built upon, which is where Beacon earned its nickname; the emerald city.
'What now," he thought, stopping to admire the building. 'I attend classes, learn the skills and kill things… then what?' As the doubt bubbled in his mind, Andrew's mind flashed back to the last thing his father told him before he left for the Vale;
"Intellect can be a gift or a curse my son, remember that. And whatever you decide to do with your life, do good." A confident smirk crept across Andrews face as he thought about those words. This was the day he was waiting for, the day when he would get the chance to prove to his homeland that it didn't matter your physical size, as long as you kill monsters.
"Yeah, I like the arches too," said a cheerful voice to his side. Andrew jumped, instinctively flipping the switch on his gloves. With a distinct hum of burning nitrogen, arcs of electricity started to fly from the surface of the gauntlets, as though they were the manifestation of Andrew's wanton fear and aggression."Alright! The water feature is a nice touch as well!" Cried the young man, hold his hands up in surrender. Andrew kept his guard, taking a moment to study this strange person.
'Tall, at least 5'11, rate of eye twitch suggests overactive imagination and potential hyperactivity disorder. Confident smile indicates that he is in no way threatened by me, and therefore completely aware of his own skills. Weapon is a bow, with what seems to be dust enhanced arrows at his back; Do not engage at a distance.' Andrew's brain rattled off in an instant, absorbing the weight of the man in just under three seconds.
"Uh, are you alright? You look like you just got gacked on by a large bird. I mean- HI! I'm Gavin, Gavin Munchairudo." said Gavin, holding out a welcoming hand. Andrew hesitated for a moment, his heart still going wild inside his chest from the fright, as well as the burgeoning social anxiety that was starting to grip him. After an awkward moment, Gavin pulled back his hand, still smiling.
"H-Hello," said Andrew, lowering his fists but not switching off the power. "My name is Andrew Barry, and I do not wish to be bothered."
"Oh, well that's boring. I mean, I just came over here to stare blatantly at your white hair. it's not a quality I have seen before," Gavin proclaimed excitedly as he rubbed his chin in deep thought, 'Apart from the Schnee family I mean."
"Well it's very common in my homeland and I would thank you not to stare, besides, aren't you a little young to be going grey," snapped Andrew, drawing the puzzled looks from a few passers by as he drew immediate attention to the long streak of grey in Gavin's dirty blonde hair. The taller man ran a swift hand through his shaggy mane and his smile faded a little.
"Hm, perhaps, but it makes me rather interesting to the girls"
"Oh really?" snorted Andrew disbelievingly.
"Well… It's the dialogue in my head anyway," Gavin told him, the large smile instantly returning. "But enough about me, what brings you to Beacon?"
"What kind of question is that? I'm here to learn how to hunt monsters."
"No you aren't," said a voice from directly behind Gavin, causing the archer to shiver from the iciness of the tone. "You are here to show off. Hence the handmade weapon, the white suit and the over the top vocabulary." From behind Gavin came a face that Andrew recognised, as it was the blue-haired girl he had 'scanned' after disembarking. Her deep lilac eyes, bore straight into Andrew's and for the first time since he was eight, he knew he had finally found a challenge.
"But besides all of that, why do you think I am here to show off?" he asked, testing the waters of intelligence.
"OH, oh, I know!" Exclaimed Gavin, putting his right hand straight into the air. "It's because you're a bit of a tosser." At that, Andrew went pale and his eye started to twitch. All the while, the blue-haired girl simply smirked.
"Somehow that suits," she said, the icy tone shattering for a brief moment. Gavin held out his hand and introduced himself, bowing to the girl. "Peko, Peko Yukimura. And you, mister Andrew Barry, must remember that no one at Beacon survives alone. So try not to be a 'tosser'"
With one final wink at Gavin, she turned and walked away, swinging her backpack over her right shoulder and resting her left hand on the handle of her sword.
"Oh, I like her!" Gavin said happily, as Andrew simply watched her go, confident that she was just as smart as him, but aware that she would have to be tested a few more times to make sure.
"As do I, and I shall indeed endeavour to be less of a 'tosser' as you would say. but anyway, I must be going. I'm yet to check in," Andrew sighed, hoping to get away from Gavin and his obvious brain injury.
"Then I shall accompany you my friend, for I know exactly where to go!"
"Verdammt noch mal," Andrew breathed in his mother tongue.
Half an hour later, both Andrew and his unwanted travel companion found themselves in the mess of human bodies and B.O that rivaled Donner fishing ships. From what Andrew was able to gleam from the crowd, the automated check in had failed, and they were now calling out each name individually and ticking a box to show that that person had arrived. At the front of it all stood Glenda Goodwitch, the huntress that had welcomed them to Beacon via hologram on the airship
"Attention everyone, make sure you have your ID's ready so that we may check your name off the list as efficiently as humanly possible," she shouted in a deadpan tone. As Andrew reached into the pocket of his coat for his wallet, he saw, out of the corner of his eye, Gavin remove his right hand glove, revealing the same symbol that he had etched into the chestplate of his armour; A quill crossed with an arrow.
"What are you doing, she asked for identification?" he asked, only to receive a quizzical look from Gavin.
"This is my ID, you see, it's a house crest. My family has been coming here for a long time, so this little tattoo counts for some reason."
But that's ludicrous! Anyone could just paint that symbol on with marker."
"True, they could do that, but they don't. And besides, they have my photo on file."
'The Vale is a very strange place," thought Andrew, as people's names started getting called. Peko was about the fifth person called, out of the one hundred and fifty students attending that year, and after talking to another student, he found out that the list was in order of acceptance letters being sent back and it was then that Andrew groaned and slumped onto the floor, realising that it would be a long time before his name was called.
Sure enough, another half-hour passed and it was only Andrew, Gavin and three other students. One of whom had fallen asleep and was snoring loudly. Andrew had taken to staring at Ms Goodwitch intently, with the hope that a cold stare would encourage her to call him out of turn, to no such luck. Suddenly, her eyes snapped up from the clipboard she was reading off, casting a strange look around the room.
"Uh, Ember Key?" she asked hesitantly, "Is Ember Key here?"
"Considering that it's a girls name and there is only males here, we can safely assume that no, she is not," Andrew said in a snarky tone, but was quickly silenced from any more remarks by Ms Goodwitch's sharp look.
"Hm, shame. She comes highly recommended from Signal Academy," she said, with no change in expression at all. At the same time, a high pitched whistle filled the air, very faint at first, but increased to such a shocking degree that all of them had to cover their ears against the auditory assault. The sound evolved once again, shifting to an excited squeal and when Andrew looked up to investigate the source of the noise, he spotted a glider hurtling for the earth at incredible speed.
'She's not going to pull up,' he realised, leaping to his feet and flipping a switch on his gloves, a red one labeled 'Emergency' to the 'EM' setting. Then with blue arcs whipping from his hands, Andrew punched the stone in front of him, sending a shockwave of electromagnetic energy into the ground and as a result, forcing him high into the air at an alarming rate.
'I won't let another one fall.'