Chapter 1: Where Every Journey Begins

"Hey!"

Brand knocked on the door once more. He was at a small village near Vale surrounded by the thick brush of trees. The land was a lush green color with fields of grass mixing in with the gray concrete.

"We made a deal, remember?! Are you even home?"

Brand gripped the blue travel pack on his shoulder tightly. He had gone through a lot to get these artifacts and now wanted his payment. Unfortunately, it appeared that the small wooden house in front of him was empty. The windows had curtains preventing anyone from looking inside and both the front and back door were locked. Brand was skeptical at first when he had made the deal with this unknown huntsman but was certain that the reward was worth it.

Knocking one last time, Brand was prepared to take down the door. Suddenly, he heard someone unlock the it from the inside. A pale hand reached out with his body still being concealed inside.

"So you have it?" The man inside asked.

"All in one piece too. Can't say the same about the temple though." Brand held the bag out but not all the way. "Show me first."

The man chuckled. "You're smarter than you look." His hand went back inside.

Brand heard footsteps within the house. The huntsman held out a brown envelope.

"Everything you need for Beacon. Rest assured that you've been registered as a student."

Brand put the bag on the ground and retrieved the envelope. Checking inside, he found that all the information he had given had been processed.

"The ship leaves tomorrow morning at 8."

Brand narrowed his eyebrows. "And you're sure I can get in without any complications?"

"As I said, I was able to register you as a regular student. They won't know the difference."

"And my qualifications? I haven't completed combat school."

"I don't think they'd question you, especially with your stature."

"But I basically skipped-"

"You were the one who wanted this, weren't you? If you think you have what it takes to survive Beacon Academy, then go for it! Nothing's stopping you."

Brand nodded. "Thanks. I guess these are yours now."

He took out the chess pieces one by one and placed them on the floor as each one was taken indoors by the huntsman.

"I give you my gratitude for recovering these relics. Good luck in Beacon," The huntsman said.

Brand closed his backpack and hung it around his shoulder as he walked away from the house. He heard the door close behind him. Staring at the envelope, he made his way onto the path to Vale. Beacon Academy, undeniably the best huntsman school in Remnant. Now he was going to be part of it. Brand held his head high.

'Time to see what I'm made of…'

The landing pad of Vale was cluttered with students looking forward to attending Beacon Academy. A large ship was docked at the side of the cliff, ready to take all the boys and girls to their new school. Now, Brand was one of them. He smiled as he walked through the countless number of teenagers and of course he avoided eye contact. He was never really good in a crowd. Brand sighed and donned his dark blue earphones, deciding to play his favorite playlist on his scroll.

He was used to it. All his life, anyone who'd try to be friends with him eventually stopped. Well, it's not like he made any effort to keep them. Brand always preferred the isolation. He glanced at the people at his right. They were smiling and at the same time shedding a tear while saying goodbye to their families. Of course, this is what people have to go through when they leave their families.

Brand paused and contemplated his family back at Patch.

'No. Not now... now you focus on becoming a huntsman.'

The young man closed his eyes before entering the large vessel.

Sable and Melano sat on a bench near the walkway of the docking area. Melo checked his watch and turned to his friend.

"Shouldn't we board the ship already?"

"Mhm…" Sable was busy reading the book he always reads.

"Are you reading that book again?" Melano looked at the cover. Damn it, it was another one of his adult novels. Sable had always loved reading smut ever since they met in Vacuo. The girls in the orphanage always considered him a pervert but he never showed any signs of being one, besides reading this.

"Mmm…" Sable still wasn't listening.

"You know you're reading an erotic fantasy novel in public, right?"

"Ahhh…" Sable closed his book and put his arms behind his neck. "I'm hungry, Melo," he complained.

"I don't even want to know how you got hungry from reading that. Besides, we already ate breakfast."

"How 'bout breakfast part two?"

"You're going to become overweight by the time we graduate," Melo replied, rubbing his temples in irritation.

"Eh, I exercise regularly."

"Yeah, right." Melo stood up and stretched his arms. "Still, we better get onboard if we want decent seats."

It's been like this for over a year. Melano had met Sable when he arrived at the orphanage. In fact, Sable was the first one to speak to him. At first, something seemed off about the archer. Melo had heard that Sable had just lost someone close to him so it was understandable if he was on edge. However, the more they talked, the better friends they became. After a while, Melo found himself in charge of his friend's behavior, keeping Sable's actions in control.

"Ooh! I want the window seat!" Sable said.

Melo smiled. "Sure."

Aurum made his way to the ship's gate with a huge bag on his back and a scroll in his hand. He was scanning through the messages sent from Atlas. Nothing much, just a few reminders before he went to Beacon. Sliding his finger across the screen, he came across a photo of his squad. Aurum smiled. Rubbing his thumb across the scroll, he looked at Dawn's face. He won't let what happened to her happen again. The golden haired boy closed the scroll and took a moment to scan his surroundings.

'He's still not here? Maybe he went inside the ship already.'

He then spotted a familiar face.

"Well if it isn't Meroch!" Aurum approached the teenager wearing a black trench coat. "Still have Ace clinging onto you, I see."

A small face peeked out from behind Meroch. Acerbus was holding onto his back and staring at Aurum.

"It's been a while." Meroch said. "I haven't seen you since you became part of that hit squad."

Aurum chuckled. "It's more of a special operations team than an assassin's guild."

Meroch smiled. "I'm guessing you're going to Beacon as well?"

"No, I'm going to Shade," Aurum said sarcastically. "There's a ton of sunscreen in my backpack."

"Still the same as always…"

Aurum grinned and looked behind Meroch. Ace hid back. "Well good morning to you too, Ace. She still not comfortable around me?"

"Aurum, nobody is comfortable around you."

"I guess so." Aurum checked his scroll. "Well! I'm going aboard the ship. See you at Beacon then."

"Hold on! Why are you even going to Beacon? I thought you preferred Atlas."

Aurum grinned. "That, my friend, is classified information."

"Of course. This is some sort of covert operation."

And with wink, Aurum left.

Meroch waved as his friend walked away.

"You know, you really need to learn how to talk for yourself." Meroch pulled Ace out from behind him.

"I don't want to," she softly said.

"Why not? We're going to a huntsman academy now, Ace. There's no guarantee that I'll always be with you." Meroch was right. All her life, Ace has let him do the talking for her.

"Right, but you'll try, right? To stay by my side?"

Meroch sighed. "Fine… but no promises."

Ace smiled and hugged his arm.

"There we go…" Ruben retrieved his drone from the air and placed it into a suitcase.

"Did you really have to take pictures?" Avery was standing beside him, looking at the view in front of them. Beacon was separated from Vale via a large valley so the scenery was beautiful.

"Of course. We Crimsons have learned to always immortalize our greatest accomplishments so that we may- AAARRGH!"

Avery karate chopped his head. "Stop talking like a rich douchebag already."

Ruben rubbed his head. "But I am rich…"

"Oh, so you are a rich douchebag?"

"Yea- wait! No!"

Avery broke down in laughter. She loved insulting Ruben all the time. Breaking down his pride was one of her favorite hobbies.

"Why'd I even bring you along?" Ruben said.

"Oh come on! Don't be like that!" Avery pushed Ruben towards the cliff. "Look! There's Beacon! Our new home for the next four years. As well as a new school. We get to meet new people! Isn't that exciting?!"

"I guess… I just hope they all aren't idiots."

"Hey!" Avery punched his arm. "Be nice to others for once!"

"Whatever you say, Aves…" Ruben grabbed his scroll and positioned himself beside his friend. "Smile!"

Harmon made his way across the platform with his brown luggage in hand. Looking at a brochure, he compared the picture of Beacon to the actual thing. It was much more impressive in person, the waterfalls were especially astounding. He smiled and made his way towards the ship.

"IIII'M LAAAAATEEE!" A voice rang out behind him.

Before Harmon could turn around to see who had shouted, he was knocked face first onto the ground. Rubbing his head, he got a good look at his attacker. It was a white haired boy with a square slice of cheese in his mouth. Even more, he was a faunus with a large bushy tail behind him.

"Uh… Hi! I'm Mond!" He swallowed his cheese whole with a large grin.

'He's too enthusiastic about this…' Harmon thought.

"Harmon… and please watch where you're going." Harmon stood up and brushed his shoulders with his hands. "If you keep this up, people wi-"

"I like your weapon!" Mond interrupted. He dashed over to Harmon's back and glared at Relentless Harmony. "Touch."

"Hey! Back off!" Harmon quickly turned around. "Didn't you say you were late or something?"

Mond's eyes widened. "Right! I'm late for school!"

Harmon sighed. "The ship doesn't leave for another twenty minutes."

"Huh? Then why was I in a hurry…"

"Mond!" Another voice echoed through the platform. A man with dark red hair and a yellow T-shirt came running onto the landing pad.

"Oh right, Sora." Mond pulled out another slice of cheese from his pocket and put it in his mouth. "Gotta go! Nice meeting you, Hormone!"

"It's Harmon!" Harmon corrected but the squirrel faunus had already dashed away. There are certainly some weird ones in every batch. Meanwhile, the same man Mond called Sora stopped in front of the pianist, breathing heavily.

"Hey, you were talking to that faunus kid right?" Sora asked.

"Uh, yeah but…"

"Can you give this to him?" Sora pulled out a large, gray knapsack. "It's his stuff. He forgot it at my store."

"Uh I'm not actually acquainted-"

"Also, remind him that I run a store, NOT a charity!"

"Well, sir-"

"Yeah! Thanks, buddy!" Sora patted Harmon on the back and left.

'This year's starting off with a bang then.'

Harmon looked at the huge metal vessel.

'Mond had probably gone inside already, might as well board the ship.'

Brand found a nice seat facing the city of Vale. He gazed out, getting more and more lost in his thoughts.

"WE WILL BE DEPARTING IN FIVE MINUTES. ALL STUDENTS PLEASE FIND A SEAT OR A RAIL TO HOLD ONTO DURING TAKE OFF. THANK YOU."

'This is it. My new life begins.'

The locks holding the vessel to the landing pad lifted. The entire ship slowly rose up from the chasm.

"Crap!" A boy with a gray scarf known as Grei Schimmel ran towards the departing ship. At this rate, he wouldn't make it. Flicking out the weapons on his arms, he fired a shot to the ground. Grei was immediately thrown into the sky where he activated his semblance. Floating in mid-air, he fired more shots behind him until he landed on top of the flying vessel.

"Ha! that was a close one…" Grei exhaled. "…uh. How do I get inside?"

"I spy something blue." Sable said.

Melo sighed. "The sky?"

"Nope. The lake." Sable pointed at the body of water far below them. "Man, you suck at this."

"You're clues are extremely vague."

"What are you talking about? Okay! I spy something black!"

Melo got up. "I'm going to walk around…"

"Aw, don't leave, sore loser." Sable chuckled. "In that case, I'll follow."

"That is the most idiotic idea I have ever heard." Ruben patted Avery on the head whilst gazing out the window.

"I'm just brainstorming for you, you know? I mean, going around in a flying would be pretty cool."

"Avery, Avery, Avery… where is the value in that? I don't just make things because I think they're 'cool'. I invent because I want to better society." Ruben raised his arms to the view of Vale beneath them. "I want this world to benefit from what I create."

"You mean like the rocket boots?" Avery smiled.

"They are not rocket boots! They're high propulsion… oh forget it. You already ruined the moment."

"Aw, is Ruben down already?" Avery playfully pushed him.

"Hey. Stop that. Or I might-" with one swift push, Ruben sent Avery back. She would've fallen onto the ground if it wasn't for a brown suited boy. The book he was reading fell under him. She sat on top of the student's body for a second before realizing what had happened and got up.

"I'm so sorry! It's this idiot's fault…" Avery pointed at Ruben.

Sable reached out from beneath him. The cover of his book was folded and twisted. All because some clumsy girl knocked him over…

"You know, I really hate couples…" Sable got up and gave the two a frightful stare. "Always making mistakes and blaming it on 'love'."

"We-we're not…" Avery began stuttering. After all, how could she not? Sable had a bloodshot look on his face. Ruben noticed Avery's situation and stepped in between them.

"Hey, dude. She said sorry. I'm sorry for using too much force as well." Ruben said as Avery pouted.

"'Yeah, I stopped caring a second ago." Sable put the ruined book inside his coat.

"What's your problem?!" Ruben reached for his weapon.

Sable laughed. His eyes widened as much as his grin. "Well right now I'm looking at two of 'em."

"Someone ought to teach you some manners."

"Sable!" Before Ruben could pull out his weapon, Melo dashed right in.

"Ah, Melo!"

"I am so sorry if this guy caused you any trouble." Melo apologized to Ruben.

"Hey, I didn't start-."

"No, Sable. We talked about this… let's just go, alright?"

Sable looked at his friend and sighed. "Fine."

Then two started walking without looking back.

"Oh by the way. Here." Sable took out the ruined book from his pocket and handed it to Melo. "It's yours."

"I don't want it." Melo said.

"Hm?" Sable had pulled out another pristine copy of the same book from his pocket and started reading.

Avery watched the scary boy leave with his friend. She also hadn't realized she had been clinging to Ruben's arm. She let go immediately.

"Well, I'm glad that's over. The nerve of that imbecile, huh?" Ruben said.

"That was terrifying… for a moment I thought I was a goner."

"Don't worry, you can always count on me to save your butt…" Ruben felt a punch enter his stomach. He dropped down on the ground.

"Stop that attitude of yours! Just you wait and see, I'll be the one rescuing you."

Brand glanced out of the window.

'Huh, you could see Patch from here…' he thought to himself.

He turned his head back inside and leaned forward, face staring at the floor. Brand sat there in the comfort of his music for a while before someone dashed right past him, pulling his earphones out along the way. Brand scratched his ears and saw that they were on the floor.

"Oh! I can't believe my baby sister's going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!"

Brand looked to his left and found a blonde girl hugging a much shorter girl in a black and red dress. In fact, Brand thought the blonde was crushing the red one to death.

"Pleash shtop." The red girl said.

"I'm soooo proud of youuu!"

Brand picked up his earphones and headed elsewhere. He never liked to get involved in other people's business and he had a bad habit of eavesdropping. Brand continued his walk across the ship until a boy with white hair hung down from the ceiling.

"Hi! I'm Mond!" The boy said.

Brand noticed that Mond was hanging on a bar using his legs and a big bushy tail.

"Uh…"

"Hey, are those earphones?! You like music?!" Mond pointed at the earphones in Brand's hand. "I like music too… although it's mostly pirate songs. Ahoy!"

"Okay…" Brand just wanted to get out of there.

"Aw! That's not fair!" Mond yelled.

"W-what's not fair?"

"I told you my name but you didn't tell me yours!"

"It's Brand..."

"Oh! What brand of name?!"

"No, that's my name…" Brand said. 'Is this guy an idiot?'

Mond paused with his fingers on his chin. He flipped onto the ground and landed with a crouch. "Oooooohhhhh! Braaaaand…"

'Need to get away, need to get away…' Brand was sweating.

"So what brings you to Bacon, Brand?" Mond asked.

'Finally… a normal que- wait…'

"Bacon?" Brand said. "Don't you mean Beacon?"

Mond nodded his head side wards. "No. Bacon Academy, where you learn to become a skilled master in the art of cooking!"

"Uh, we're going to Beacon. You know? The huntsman school."

"Huntsman, wait…" Mond's eyes widened as he banged his fists on the window. "Oh yeah!"

Brand looked around. This squirrel boy had definitely caused a scene since he caught the attention of everyone around him.

"Hey!" A boy with a tie came up to Mond with a gray bag in his hand. "This yours?"

"Huh?" Mond looked at the bag. "Oh! Yeah! No wonder my back was feeling lighter than usual, thanks Hormone!"

"Harmon! But you… almost remembered my name?" Harmon was caught off guard with this.

"Well durr, how can I recognize you next time we meet if I don't remember your name?"

"Uh…" Harmon smiled. "Anyway, please remember to check if your belongings are still with you before you leave anywhere."

"Oh, okay! Thanks Hor- I mean Harmon!" Mond smiled and looked around. "Huh, where's Brand?"

Meroch and Ace made their way towards a window and watched Beacon get closer and closer.

"We're almost there." Ace said softly.

"Yeah, it should be a brand new experience. Maybe you'll actually socialize for once." Meroch nudged his friend.

"I don't need to socialize. I have…"

"THE ROBBERY WAS LED BY THE NEFARIOUS CRIMINAL, ROMAN TORCHWICK WHO STILL CONTINUES TO EVADE AUTHORITIES."

The hologram on their left interrupted Ace. It was playing a local news show. Pictures of an orange haired man showed up onscreen. He was holding up a rectangular cardboard with his prisoner number printed on the front.

"IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON HIS WHEREABOUTS, PLEASE CONTACT THE VALE POLICE DEPARTMENT. BACK TO YOU LISA."

"Huh, robberies in Vale… you didn't have anything to do with it, right?" Meroch gave Ace a look.

"I don't remember seeing that guy when I-" Ace quickly shut her mouth.

"Okay, we're going to have a talk."

"Thank you, Cyril." A woman with lavender hair appeared on the screen with the caption: 'Lisa Lavender' below her. "In other news…"

"…this Saturday's faunus civil rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has also been spotted-" the feed was immediately cut.

"Aw…" Aurum sighed. 'It would've been nice to know of the White Fang's activities here in Vale. After all, those good-for-nothing thugs are in for some serious payback.'

Suddenly, a blond woman with glasses replaced the television broadcast. She was wearing a simple dress and a purple cape.

"Hello and welcome to Beacon…"

"…my name is Glynda Goodwitch."

Brand glanced at the woman. She definitely looked like a serious staff member of Beacon.

"You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy."

He snickered a little.

"Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace. And as future huntsmen and huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it."

Ruben and Avery glanced at each other.

"You have demonstrated the courage for such a task..."

Mond and Harmon both watched the video with a smile.

"…and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." The hologram then faded away.

"Eh…" Sable pushed his glasses up. "Six out of ten. Could've used more plot."

Melo held his face. "That wasn't a movie, Sable."

"Whatever." Sable sat back down and turned a page.

"C-c-coooold…" Grei sat on the roof with his hands holding the sides of his arms. He tried to look ahead even if the wind was blowing against his face. He could see a green, castle-like structure standing on top of a cliff overlooking the bright blue lake below.

'Beacon… it's more impressive than I thought it would be.' Another gust of wind hit Grei. "Cooooold!"

Once the ship landed, Aurum made his way out alongside the other students. However, a blond haired boy bumped past him and headed for the trash can outside.

"Hey, you alright?"

The boy didn't reply. Instead, he started throwing up into the trash can.

"Okay, then…" Aurum decided to leave him alone. He then spotted a gray figure jump down from the top of the ship. He started walking while shivering.

'Target is in sight.' Aurum followed the gray student.

"Alright, Mond! I'm afraid this is where we part." Harmon told his newfound friend.

"Awww, but what if I get lost?" Mond tried to make his best puppy face.

"The orientation should be in that giant dome ahead. And if you do…" Harmon pointed at Mond's hands. "…just climb."

"Oh, okay then! See you around Harmie!" Mond cheerfully skipped away.

"Thank god." Harmon breathed a sigh of relief. After all, he isn't fond of disorderly people. If only they could be more like…

"Harmon?"

Harmon heard a girl's voice from behind him. Turning around, he found a girl in a white dress standing behind him.

"Ah, Ms. Schnee. I was told you would be attending this academy."

"Please, you can call me Weiss." She said. "How have you been? What brings you to Beacon?"

Harmon smiled. He had met Weiss Schnee before through their numerous concerts together. Out of all the singers he had worked with, she was the only one who bothered to talk to him.

"I've been excellent. Thanks for asking. As for Beacon, well…" Harmon stopped mid-sentence.

"Huh? What is it?" Weiss turned around to find a squirrel faunus staring at her.

"Who are you?"

"Mond?! I thought I told you go ahead?!" Harmon yelled.

"Who's this?" Mond's voice sounded like he was in a trance.

"Is this a friend of yours?" Weiss asked. Harmon didn't reply. Sighing, she spoke up. "If you must know, I am Weiss Schnee and I demand that you stop staring at me like that!"

"Weiss…"

"Okay, I'll take my leave then. Talk to you later, Harmon!" Weiss waved as men in suits pushed a trolley of white luggage behind her.

"Yeah…" Harmon said.

"She's pretty." Mond suddenly appeared at Harmon's side.

"Why are you here?" Harmon asked.

"I got lost so I came back here."

Harmon sighed. "Fine. I'll take you to orientation."

"Yay!"

A figure with an orange beanie walked across Beacon's main garden. He gazed at the number of students exiting the large vessel.

"Heh…" He smirked, fiddling with strings in his right hand. "…a bunch of new kids."

Brand's mouth was wide open as he stared at the huge academy before him.

'So this is Beacon Academy, huh?'

Gray brick paths led towards a bunch of white pillars circling the school. A tall, castle-like structure stood at the center with a single tower being higher than the rest. Brand smiled. It's been a while since he experienced this sort of awe. For him, this was a new sight to behold.

Brand continued his walk with his earphones still tightly tucked into his ears. The gardens that lined the path definitely added to the beauty. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a girl in a white dress overlooking another girl in a…

'Wait…'

Brand turned to see the same girl he saw on the ship lying on the ground, surrounded by white luggage that matched the color of the other girl who appeared to be yelling. Brand couldn't hear their conversation through the music.

'Meh. Whatever it is, it's not my problem…'

Then, something changed Brand's mind. The white haired girl grabbed one of her luggage and held out a fire dust capsule. She started shaking it in front of the red dressed girl. Brand remembered what he had learned about dust. Shaking it loosens the particles, making the dust highly combustible. All it needed was something to ignite it.

'But there isn't anything right?'

The red girl then held her head back while opening her mouth.

'Wait… is she gonna…'

Without hesitation, Brand jumped in the way as the girl in red let out a sneeze, igniting the dust and creating a fiery explosion. Luckily, Brand managed to push both of them out of the way in time. Flames blew past Brand as he stood in place. Once the fire died down, he found himself in the middle of a small crater.

"ACH!" Brand coughed out a puff of smoke as his body glowed blue.

"Unbelievable! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!"

Brand heard a voice from behind. It was the girl in white.

"I'm really sorry…" the red girl said while touching her fingers together.

'Wait… how can I hear them?'

Brand reached for his earphones but only grasped at ashes. "No…"

"Ugh! You complete dolt! If it wasn't for this kind young man, we would have been burnt to a crisp!" Their argument continued. "Aren't you too young to be attending Beacon?!"

"Well, I…"

Brand just stared at the ashes in his hands.

"My earphones…"

"Hey, Melo. Check it out." Sable pointed at the scene nearby. Two girls in dresses were arguing while some guy in a blue outfit was standing in a crater staring at his hands. "Day one and I already like this place."

Melo rolled his eyes. "You have a special appreciation for chaos, don't you?"

Sable chuckled. "I just love it when things go wrong for others. It's always so funny!"

"What if something goes wrong with you?"

Sable patted his friend on the back. Well, it was more of a slap. "Then I'll just have to kill it."

Melo sighed. Checking back on the two girls, it seemed like another one had joined them. This time, she was wearing black and white.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

Brand turned around to find that another girl had joined in. The first thing he noticed about her was the black bow on top of her head.

"Finally! Some recognition!" Weiss said.

"…the same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and its questionable business partners." The black haired girl continued.

"What?! How… dare! The… nerve of…!" Weiss started to stutter as the girl in red giggled. She then took her remaining bags and left. Men in suits transferred the other luggage from the ground to a trolley and followed the heiress.

'Okay! Time to make my escape!' Brand thought as he attempted to climb out of the crater.

"I promise I'll make this up to you!" the red girl yelled. "I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day…"

"So what's… uh…" She looked to her right to see that the black haired girl had started walking away. Looking to her left, she found the boy who had saved her earlier climbing out of the crater. "Hey!"

"Ah!" Brand got startled and tripped back inside. He landed with his back on the ground.

"Oh! Sorry! Here, let me…" the red head held out her hand.

"Uh, thanks…"

"Ruby. Ruby Rose!" She smiled.

"Brand." He grabbed ahold of her hand as she attempted to pull him up. Unfortunately, Brand's foot carved off a piece of concrete, shifting their weight and pulling her down as well.

Ruby scratched her head as she tried lifting herself up. "Oww… you're much heavier than you look."

Brand opened his eyes to see that his face was inches away from Ruby's.

"Uh! Can you get off me, please?!" Brand closed his eyes.

"Oh, sorry!" Ruby quickly got off of him and sat on the broken concrete beside him.

"Welcome to Beacon, I guess…" Ruby giggled.

Brand smiled as a shadow loomed over them.

"Hey." A blonde boy in white armor was holding his hand out to them. "I'm Jaune."

"Ruby." Ruby replied.

"Brand."

Jaune helped Ruby up, followed by Brand which took a little more effort.

"Whoa, you're tall!" Jaune said as Brand's height overtook his.

"Heh…" Blue scratched his neck.

Ruby then giggled. "Hey. Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"

Aurum briskly walked through the crowd. Looking ahead, he spotted his target.

'Still in sight.'

Grei was walking a few feet ahead of him holding a brochure in his hand. He had no idea that Aurum was tailing him. Grei Schimmel. This was the guy responsible for creating a gravity sinkhole in the middle of their operation in Vacuo. Luckily the gravitational force didn't reach unstable levels and the rest of Aurum's squad managed to get out alive… but not all of them.

A flash of yellow caught Aurum's eyes. Looking to his right, he spotted a yellow haired girl beside him.

"Dawn?" Aurum stopped in his tracks.

The girl looked at him. "Huh?"

She had purple eyes and a different face. It wasn't Dawn…

"Oh, uh… sorry. I thought you were someone else." Aurum said nervously.

"Oh, alright."

"Yang! Come on! You need a good spot for you and your sister!" A female voice called out.

"Yeah! I'm coming!" The blonde replied. "I hope you find who you were looking for."

She then darted towards her friends leaving a stunned Aurum behind.

'Damn it…' Aurum curled his right hand into a fist. 'She's dead. There's no changing that… just focus on the task at hand…'

Looking around, he realized that he lost Grei. Aurum just sighed and walked towards the stadium.

A dark red drone flew through the air swiftly as Ruben looked at the camera feed on his controller.

"This campus is huge!" Avery peeked at her friend's gadget.

"Yeah…" Ruben pressed a few buttons and zoomed in on a circular podium.

"Ah! There we go! Seems orientation is exactly… that way!" He said, pointing at the direction of the stadium.

"Let's go!" Avery put her fist into the air and smiled.

"Huh?" Suddenly, Ruben's screen went black. "What's with…"

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I just lost the signal…"

"Hey! This yours?" A man in an orange beanie and a black and white shirt walked up to them with the drone in his hand, which was tied up in strings. "This supposed to be one of those fancy new gadgets from Atlas?"

"Oh no! Notanotherscaryguy!" Avery quickly stepped back.

"That's mine, not Atlas'. And I'll have you know that you'll be replacing the damaged parts-"

"Yadda yadda yadda!" The man threw the drone at Ruben who caught it. "Look, kid. If you're going to stay here at Beacon, don't show off your toys. It… tempts the troublemakers."

He turned around, chuckling.

"Name's Malkaush Aprikose by the way! Remember it." Malkaush said while winking at Avery.

"I'm starting to think everyone here is a huge prick." Ruben grunted as he examined his drone.

"Maybe we're just meeting the bad ones. I'm sure there are nicer people inside!" Avery said with a smile.

"Woah. Look at Miss Positive today."

"Hey!" Avery slapped Ruben on the back. "I haven't lost hope yet!"

Meroch and Ace walked along the pathway towards the stadium.

"Quite the crowd, huh?" Meroch said.

"Yeah…" Ace spotted a few faunus making their way to orientation as well. This was definitely not Atlas anymore. Here, faunus were accepted... well, more along the lines of tolerated.

"The campus is also more colorful than Atlas'," Meroch continued as Ace stayed silent. "Something on your mind?"

Ace shook her head. 'Hopefully there aren't that many scumbags here.'

Brand followed Ruby and Jaune down a path.

"All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!" Jaune said.

Ruby giggled. "Look, I'm sorry. Vomit boy was the first thing that came to mind…"

Brand listened on to their conversation. It wasn't like he had any plans on joining in. He just stared at the cord in his hand that was once his earphones.

"Oh yeah? What if I called you crater-face?"

"Hey that explosion was an accident!" Ruby fought back. "Besides! I'm not the one you should be calling crater-face."

At that moment the two stopped in their tracks and looked at Brand who just stared back blankly.

"What?" he asked.

"We've been walking for around five minutes and you still haven't said a word," Jaune said.

"Is that bad?"

"Of course not!" Ruby smiled. "You're more of the silent type, right? Well, it's about time you open up to others!"

Brand did not like where this was going.

"Oh, what's that?" Ruby pointed at the burnt off cord in Brand's hand.

"Oh! It's nothing! Just my earphones. They were caught in the blast so-"

"OhMyGosh! I'm soooo sorry!" Ruby looked at the cord. The wires connected to both ear buds were completely seared off. "I'll make this up to you, I promise!"

"You don't need to…" Brand just trailed off.

"Soooo… let me introduce myself once more!" Jaune cleared his throat. "The name's Jaune Arc! Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. The ladies love it."

"Do they?" Ruby asked.

"They will!" Jaune raised his hands towards Ruby. "Well, I hope they will. I mean, my mom says that… uh, never mind."

Ruby and Brand just stared at the awkwardness.

"So, I got this thing." Ruby pulled a red object from her back that instantly folded out into a giant scythe. The tip of the blade hit the ground, cracking it with its weight.

"Woah!" Brand rushed over to look at the weapon. "Is that a scythe?!"

"It's also a customizable high impact sniper rifle." Ruby grinned.

"A what?" Jaune said in confusion.

"It's also a gun."

Brand stroked the edge of the blade. "This must be heavy to use in battle..."

"Not actually. All you pretty much have to do is use the-"

"Momentum?!" Brand finished before quickly facing Ruby.

"Yeah, look who has a sudden change of personality." Ruby said. "So what have you got?"

"Oh!" Brand reached to his sides and spun out the two parts of Cobalt Ravager. The blades instantly slid out. "Two dual-bladed axes with sawed off muzzles on the end for maximum spread shots."

"Oh, that's cool…" Jaune remarked.

"I can also put them together to make a double sided battle-axe!" Brand smiled as he put both ends together.

"Do the guns still work?" Ruby said in fascination.

"Of course!" Brand stopped and realized how much he had been saying. "Uh! How about you, Jaune? I bet your weapon beats ours."

Jaune suddenly had a sad look on his face.

"Uh, I got this sword…" He pulled out a regular looking sword from his sheath.

"Ooh…" Ruby said.

"Yeah, I've got a shield too." Jaune pulled out his sheath which then folded out into a shield. The shield itself was white and had his symbol on the surface engraved in yellow.

"What do they do?" Brand touched the shield.

"Woah!" Jaune's shield retracted and popped out again. Luckily, he caught the it. "Th-the shield gets smaller… so when I get tired of carrying it… I can just uh… put it away..."

"But wouldn't it weigh the same?" Brand asked.

"Yeah it does…" Jaune looked down.

"Well…" Ruby chuckled. "…I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons. I guess I did go a little overboard in designing mine."

"You made that?!" Jaune gasped.

"Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons." Ruby explained. "Didn't you make yours?"

'She's from Signal?!' Brand's eyes widened.

"It's a hand-me-down. My great, great grandfather used it to fight in the war." Jaune said.

"Sounds like a family heirloom to me…" Ruby smiled. "…well I like it. Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days."

"Yeah, the classics..." Jaune put back his sword and began walking again.

"So, Jaune. Why'd you help us out back there? In the courtyard." Ruby asked.

"Eh, why not? My mom always says that strangers are just friends you haven't met yet."

"Hm…"

'If she's from Signal… does she recognize me?' Brand was still processing his thoughts. 'No… can't be… although… she looks… wait. Where are we?'

Looking around, Brand realized that there were no other freshmen around.

"Hey, guys?" Brand caught their attention. "Where are we going?"

Jaune scratched his head. "Uh, I don't know. I was following Ruby."

Ruby and Brand just stayed silent.

"You think there might be a directory? Maybe a food court?" Jaune asked. "Some sort of… recognizable landmark?"

Ruby just started snickering along with Brand.

"Is uh… is that a no?"

"That's a no." Ruby answered.

Grei gazed at the interior of the stadium. A tall clock tower with four blue green circles stood high above a stage overlooking the entire podium. Crowds of people gathered around the stage awaiting the orientation.

Stretching his arms Grei exhaled. "Let's see… where to sit?"

Looking around, the gray haired boy realized that there were no chairs. "…or stand. Standing's fine."

Walking towards a good spot, a strange girl bumped into Grei. The boy stumbled back onto the floor with a small thud. 'Yeowch.'

He looked up and noticed that the girl lent him her hand. He pulled himself up with a nearly inaudible thanks escaping his lips.

Grei took the time to look clearly at the stranger. She sported short orange hair that reached around her nape and clear blue eyes that gleamed with a sense of curiosity.

"Whoops! Sorry about that," she apologized sheepishly.

"Nora!" Another student had caught up with the girl. He was wearing a green uniform with lined laces. "You okay?" The second newcomer asked Grei with hint of worry.

Grei simply nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for helping me up." Grei tried putting on the best smile he had, which was pretty much a tiny one.

"Nora! You should stop with the reenactments!" the boy in the green uniform chided his friend.

"Aw… but, Ren! How will you understand the story if I don't demonstrate it to you?" the girl, Nora, complained.

"Maybe you should consider the fact that I was there?"

"Oh yeah..." Nora put her finger on her chin. She immediately turned her head towards the gray haired boy. "Oh yeah! I don't think we caught your name."

Grei blinked at the sudden outburst, but quickly composed himself afterwards. "Grei."

"I'm Ren. And the clumsy girl that bumped into you is Nora," Ren answered.

"Hey! It's not my fault I didn't see him," Nora pouted.

"Well, it did look like you were busy." Grei grinned lightly at the two. It was nice to make friends on the first day.

"Oh great." Sable sighed. "More people…"

"It's not that bad." Melo said.

"Says the shut in."

"I'm pretty sure that's you."

"Whatever…" Sable put his book back into his pocket.

"Anyway, we should at least try to meet new people here."

"Don't care." Sable already had that bored look on his face. "They all look like black silhouettes to me. All unimportant."

Melo sighed. "This is going to be a long four years."

"Woooow!" Avery gasped at the amount of people crammed inside the stadium.

"Impressive. Beacon was a good choice after all," Ruben said. "Just look at all these students."

He suddenly stopped while scanning the area. "Great. She's here."

"Huh?" Avery followed his gaze and saw a girl with red hair and green eyes. "Oh! That's Pyrrha! We should say hi!"

Avery grabbed Ruben's arm and dragged him across the floor.

"Wait! Wait! Avery!" Ruben couldn't escape Avery's grip.

"Pyrrha! Long time no see!"

Pyrrha's eyes lit up. "Avery! You didn't tell me you were attending Beacon."

"Well, it was sort of a last minute decision."

Pyrrha smiled and looked at the grumpy guy beside her. "It's nice to see you too, Ruben."

Ruben just crossed his arms and looked away.

"Ow!" Ruben grunted as Avery elbowed him in the stomach.

"Be nice!" she whispered.

Ruben sighed before speaking. "Hi, Pyrrha…"

"Still jealous?" Pyrrha asked Avery.

"You bet!" Avery answered with a smile.

"Hey!" Ruben frowned once more as the ladies laughed on.

Aurum looked up as he entered the podium. Countless thoughts scattered across his head. However, right now, he didn't want to sort them out. He spotted Meroch and Ace entering through another pathway but still no sign of Grei.

'Huh… Beacon's more remarkable than I imagined.' Aurum thought to himself. 'I don't know if Atlas can compare to this school's aesthetic.'

Of course, this was just the appearance. The quality of their education was yet to be judged.

"Guys! I think it's this way!" Brand waved over to Jaune and Ruby.

Together, the trio entered the large stadium.

"Ruby! Over here!" A yellow haired girl waved from the crowd. "I saved you a spot!"

Ruby saw her and turned to the boys. "Oh! Uh! Hey, I gotta go! I'll see you guys after the ceremony!"

"Hey wait! Ruby!" Brand tried to stop her but Ruby was already on her way to the blonde girl. He wanted to ask her about Signal. Well… guess that'll have to wait.

'Great. Now I'm alone again.'

"Aw great…" Jaune said beside him. "Where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?"

'Oh right. Him.'

"I think that would be the least of our problems." Brand said. "Come on, Jaune. Let's get a spot."

Harmon looked at all the people in the crowd. He recognized some of them from Atlas.

"Harmie… I'm boooored!" Mond was sitting on the ground beside him.

"Don't you have any games on your scroll to-" Harmon turned to his right to see his friend on the floor. "Mond!"

Mond got startled. "Huh?"

"Will you please refrain from sitting on the floor?! You have no idea how unsanitary that is."

"But my feet hurt."

Harmon just sighed and decided to let it pass. Suddenly, he heard grumbling from behind. Turning around, he saw Weiss who looked like she was in a bad mood.

"Ms. Schnee?"

"Weiss," she corrected.

"Right. Um, is there something troubling you?"

"Oh, well…" Weiss thought back. "There was this extremely clumsy dolt who knocked over my luggage."

"That's unfortunate."

"What's more is that she ignited the fire dust and caused a huge explosion! I would have been toast if it wasn't for-"

"Weiss!" Mond suddenly appeared beside her.

"Oh, not this creep again!" Weiss stepped away from the squirrel faunus. "Harmon, please keep your friend away."

"Sorry." Harmon quickly pushed Mond back down on the floor. "So, what did this girl look like anyway?"

"Oh! She was wearing a black dress with a red hoo- wait, there she is!" Weiss pointed behind Harmon.

Following her gaze, Harmon spotted a girl in a red hood talking to another girl with yellow hair.

"Hm… doesn't look like someone who'd cause trouble. Well, don't judge a book by its cover, I guess. Right, Weiss?" Looking to his right, he realized that Weiss was already making her way to the red hooded girl. "Oh no."

"What's wrong, Harmie?" Mond sprang back up.

"Weiss Schnee is not the most understanding person when it comes to disputes…" As if to prove Harmon's point, Weiss started yelling at the girl in red who instinctively jumped into the blonde's arms. "Come, Mond. We must prevent this predicament from escalating any further."

"We must what the who now?"

By the time Harmon and Mond got to the heiress, she was holding a pamphlet that read 'Dust for Dummies' in front of the red girl. She was talking… but all Harmon heard was a bunch of Schnee Dust Company things. He could see the confusion on the red head's face already.

"Laying down the terms and conditions, I see." Harmon said.

"Harmon?" Weiss turned around. "I was just helping this dolt make things up for me. You want to, don't you?"

"Uh, absolutely?" The red hooded girl answered.

"Read this and don't ever speak to me again." Weiss quickly put the pamphlet in her hands.

"Look, uh…" the blonde girl stepped in. "…it sounds like you two just got off on the wrong foot. Why don't you start over and try to be friends, okay?"

"Yeah! Great idea, sis! Hello, Weiss! I'm Ruby! Wanna hang out?" Ruby held her hand out.

"Hi! I'm Mond!" Mond exclaimed while jumping in between them. Harmon face palmed from the side.

"Okay…" Ruby gave her hand to Mond who shook it enthusiastically. "Hi Mond! Nice to meet you."

"You too Ruby!"

"Oh great. You made friends with Captain Weirdo," Weiss said.

"There's still room for more, you know?" Ruby held out her hand to the heiress.

"Sure! We can become friends and paint our nails and try on clothes and talk about cute boys like fuzzy tail over here."

"Me?" Mond slowly turned around.

"Wow, really?" Ruby asked without realizing that Weiss was being sarcastic.

"No." Weiss answered.

"Well, they aren't far…" Jaune said while eyeing Ruby and the blonde girl who were joined by a girl in a white dress, a formal looking dude, and a faunus with a bushy tail. "Do you think we should go over to them or-"

Brand was busy tapping away at his scroll. "Huh? You say something, Jaune?"

"Never mind." Jaune's gaze returned to the girls.

"I wonder when this damn thing is gonna start…" Brand said.

"I see you made it here safely, Mr. Tachyon."

Looking to his left, Brand found a man with white hair and glasses standing beside him. He was wearing a dark green suit and had a green scarf as well as a silver cane.

"How do you know my name?" Brand asked before coming to the conclusion. "Wait, that voice… you're the huntsman who gave me the artifact job!"

"Precisely." He said, pushing up his glasses. "Although, I'd prefer it if you called me by my name, Ozpin."

"Oh, alright. Anyways, thanks for getting me into Beacon. I hope it wasn't too much trouble."

"Oh don't you worry, Mr. Tachyon. I told you before: I have connections."

Brand smiled. "I bet… I'm assuming you're here because of your 'connections', right?"

"Something similar to that, yes." Ozpin then walked away.

"Hey, Brand?" Jaune tapped him on the shoulder. "How do you know Beacon's headmaster?"

"Well, I met him in a village near… wait. Beacon's what now?!"

"I'll keep this brief…" Ozpin was already onstage in front of a microphone. He was accompanied by the same Glynda Goodwitch from the hologram. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your lives to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you… and all I see is wasted energy. In need of purpose, direction."

Everyone started whispering.

"You assume knowledge will free you of this but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far... it is up to you to take the first step."

Ozpin then stepped down from the stage.

'The headmaster of Beacon snuck me into his own school…' Brand thought. 'If you put it that way, it doesn't seem so bad…'

Glynda took the microphone and spoke. "You will gather at the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."