Hey there reader, thanks for taking a look at this fanfiction I really appreciate it, if you want to see more of team ARNC adventures please favorite or leave a comment about what I should do next I would greatly appreciate it. A bit of a warning though, I lack a beta reader and am working off of google drive so there may be spelling or grammar errors. Also, I may have chapters done before I upload this first one so I might not implement any feedback you have for a few chapters. Anyways, thanks for reading and enjoy.

The clouds were dense in the sky that day and there was no sunlight to be seen for miles. Rain was on the forecast and it was a Monday. This was appropriate considering it was the first day of school at beacon academy. Well, appropriate for the first day of school in general, but this wasn't just any ordinary school, this was where children walked through the doors and exited trained warriors. This place created heroes. Some had waited their whole life for this. To them, this was way more exciting than the weather would suggest. Every first year student walking off of the airships that day was ready and bursting with excitement. They thought they could handle anything thrown at them and of course they couldn't have been any more wrong.

Well, most of them were wrong at least. After all, if you came to a school to learn then you must still have something to gain. And that was what this year's students would soon realize. They would figure out sooner rather than later that this was no game and that their fantasies weren't going to become reality. This was after all, the job they had signed up for.

One student however, didn't sign up for this. She wasn't ready, she wasn't excited, she wasn't prepared. She was forced into this, the gloomy feeling of the day suited her mood precisely. Crystal Zinca was her name. Her mother and father both attended this academy years ago and they both chose this line of work. They had told her that she was going to become a huntress, whether she liked it or not. Even though she hated fighting, was timid and shy and made friends very rarely she was sent to this school, rather than a normal one.

As the rain began to drizzle outside of the airship she couldn't help but feel cold and abandoned. Even the weapon on her back felt alien to her. She looked around her and saw the people near her, there was a man with a massive bronze sword and another who appeared to be blind. A joyful looking fanus girl with a camera was taking pictures of everything around her like a giddy little schoolgirl. Towards the front of the craft a guy wielding a sharp looking shield peered out of the window at the academy.

This guy looked like he knew what he was doing, he carried himself with some sense of purpose. He had worn things you wouldn't expect in battle, a red and black jacket, red jeans and a t-shirt with a flame insignia identical to the one on his shield. He also had glasses, so his sight must have not been the greatest, yet here he was despite that impediment. Before not to long Crystal realized she was staring and not to long after that the boy turned his head to reveal red eyes and black hair hidden under his fur lined hood. She quickly looked away out the window.

As she turned Crystal noticed that her back felt lighter, she reached back and felt the absence of her weapon.

"Awe man…" a female voice said. Crystal turned herself around to see a disheartened girl looking at her weapon. She had no idea what this girl thought was so special about her great sword Howlite but she had no intention of letting her examine it further.

"Um… can I have that back please?" she asked, trying to avoid confrontation. The girl looked up at her just realizing that she was even there to begin with and sheathed the sword..

"Oh, yeah, sorry I was just taking a peak. It looked like your sword was much longer than it actually was," the green eyed girl explained. The way she said it almost made it sound completely normal to steal someone's weapon just to have a look at it. Crystal took her weapon, now sheathed, and draped it back over her shoulder. She moved away from where she was and sat down closer to the red and black clad boy. This caused him to glance at her briefly before opening his locket that hung securely around his neck.

The girl she had just avoided sat next to her, Crystal sighed and just stared out the other window at the grey sky. She was careful not to make eye contact with the girl next to her. The girl next to her however, was constantly smiling and looking in her direction, trying to be as friendly as possible.

"Hi, my names Rachelle, it's nice to meet you" she smiled. Crystal was reluctant at first to take her hand but soon she found that it was no use to avoid her and she took her hand anyway. Immediately her heart rate doubled and she began to get incredibly nervous from the human contact. She gulped then mentally prepared her sentences so she wouldn't mess up.

"M-my names Crystal" she said shakily. The girl immediately bombarded her with questions.

"So… What does your weapon turn into? An assault rifle? A shotgun? Or… Oooh, maybe a sniper rifle!" she sang the last sentence then waited patiently for a response.

"It... just turns into a bigger sword…" Crystal said, hoping she didn't ruin the girls expectations. Little did Crystal know this girl was to crazy about weapons to even have expectations.

The girl looked over at Crystal's shoulder then pondered for a moment at Howlite.

"I guess I see how it works, isn't it heavy? You must be really, really strong to swing that when its bigger!" the girl said feeling up her arm. Crystal didn't like how this girl wouldn't just leave her alone. She didn't even want to be here! How come everyone was so concerned with her? She just wanted to be alone at her house talking to what few friends she had.

"Hey, Ray, leave her alone she's obviously missing home," a voice said from over Crystals left shoulder. She looked up and saw the face of the boy with the shield and glasses. She actually smiled at him. He seemed to not be surprised that Rachelle was acting this way and immediately decided to intervene. Crystal was surprised he even picked up on her homesickness. Was it that obvious? She didn't care actually, she was more delighted by the fact someone had tried to ease her pain.

The boy sat down next to her, "I had to deal with her earlier, she's lucky I didn't cut her hand off for trying to take my weapon when I wasn't looking." Crystal giggled, finding the whole situation suddenly amusing. It must have been the way he said it and the expression Ray had on her face when he said it. He was totally calling her out right now and Rachelle looked like she had just rolled her face in red blush and left her jaw open for air.

"I-I apologized! Didn't I Ashton?" she asked looking kind of embarrassed that he had pointed out her noisey habit. He smiled.

"Yeah, yeah… You did. After I told you how invasive it was and how the next time you did that to someone you would be lucky if you didn't lose a limb and here you go again!"

"Crystal please forgive me! I can't help it!" Rachelle pleaded. Crystal couldn't help but smile at the expressions of the two people next to her.

"It's fine really," she turned to Ashton, "thanks, for making me feel better."

He shrugged, "I didn't do anything. Well, except keep a kleptomaniac from getting her hand on another dangerous weapon," he muttered. Crystal laughed again at Rachelle and the green eyed girl left to avoid further embarrassment.

Ashton got up and walked back towards the front of the ship where he was solitary staring out at the horizon just a few moments prior. He seemed to enjoy the sight of beacon, in fact it was almost like his face seemed to glow. Actually, to be more precise, it looked like light was shining on him, it even refracted off of his glasses and shined in Crystals eyes. She stood up to avoid the glare and noticed that Rachelle had already found someone else's weapon to gawk at. A girl with a beret looked annoyed that she had taken her pocketbook without asking and was looking at her lifelessly through her sunglasses whilst scolding her.

Crystal moved towards Ashton and was blinded by the sunlight, yet again, that had poked it way through the clouds. The rain had stopped without her noticing and she realized the light that shining off of Ashton had been the sun. Looking at him and the yellow light of the sun she couldn't hold on to that cold feeling any longer. A small smile formed on her lips.

Maybe it won't be so bad here after all...