Team C.E.R.O

Part 1

Slowly the magnificent airship came to a stop. The flight to Beacon Academy had been rather short although the view from the soaring metal had been nothing to scoff at. The doors opened and the students stepped out to greet the new stage of their lives. One such student left the ship with more surprise and hope in his eyes then his peers.

He was a young man like any other, although from a distance anyone would have difficulty discerning much about him. Well It was true he was tall and quite thin it was apparent he had taken the time to cover up. He was engulfed from head to toe in baggy clothing, all of it varying colors of grey. He wore shoes, simple laced things that tapped against the stone of the pathway with each step he took. His pants were made of common cloth yet hung limply off his waist. His shirt was mostly covered by a light hooded sweatshirt that extended past his pockets and whose sleeves cut off halfway down his forearm. The only truly exposed part of his shirt did the best to cover the rest of him, sleeves traveling down to his knuckles and the collar, zippered closed, covered everything underneath his nose. Sticking up from behind the cloth of his collar were two small rectangle tattoos ending in circular bulbs just below his eyes. Their color matched that of a smoke cloud with the pigments seeming to move as such. His skin was pale, as if he hadn't seen the sun in years. His grey eyes darted around, never focused on one object or person for too long. His short brown hair peeked out from his hood, yet was strangely stiff as he walked.

With hood up he wandered down the pathway. His movement was sporadic, spinning his body and swiveling his head doing his best to absorb his surroundings. He acted as if it could be ripped out from under him at any moment, as if each step was a gift. He stopped and turned around at the sound of the great metal beast's gears grinding to a start. Frozen in place he watched the great ship fly off. With a sigh of relief he turned to face the school.

"I guess I'm really here." He said to himself.

As the young man walked into the auditorium his eyes exploded tenfold. Never before had he seen so many people in one room. Quickly he scanned the area. People stood everywhere in small groups, talking amongst themselves. On the stage stood a blond woman, intently focused on the scroll in her hands, seemingly oblivious to the mass of bodies before her. The young man spotted an empty corner, completely devoid of not just people, but their gazes as well. With an adjustment of his hood he made his way through the crowd, head down, doing his best to avoid being noticed. Not a minute had passed since he had set himself in the corner before a tall man with grey hair joined the woman on stage. The man on the stage tapped the microphone in front of him quickly. The crowd became silent almost instantly, so silent in fact that the boy in grey was suddenly aware of his own breathing.

"Welcome to Beacon. I am professor Ozpin." The man said calmly. "You are here because this world is far from the peaceful place your parents would have you believe. You all know, just as well as I do, that the creatures of Grimm are always apparent, always a threat." The man paused as he looked around the room, stopping as his gaze met the boy in grey. Their eyes locked for what seemed to the boy to be ages. Suddenly, as if the man was proud of what he saw, he looked back to the crowd as a whole. "You are here not because the world is peaceful, but because you plan to be creators of the lie your parents told with such fervor. Among you I sense the greatness of our future sculptors, and the hope of your generation." With his final words Ozpin turned and slowly walked off stage. The blond woman who had been standing by quickly filled the void left in his stead at the microphone and spoke with a laser focus. "The locker-room is down that hallway. You will store your gear in the locker that has been assigned to you. You will find your extra clothing and sleeping bag within. You will all gather in the ballroom. Your initiation begins tomorrow. Prepare yourself." With her final words she turned, following the path Ozpin had taken off the stage. The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper as he made his way to the hall.

...

Walking back from the bathroom to his sleeping bag in the corner of the ballroom he surveyed the area. Everyone was in some form of pajamas, including him. However he had been the only one to leave on something from the day. He still wore his shirt, sweatshirt and socks doing his best to keep his body covered. As he slipped into his bag for the night he looked around the room one final time. Content with the state of the others he reached up to the zipper on his shirt, grasped it, then froze. As he had been scanning the room he had come upon a girl in the far corner. She looked beautiful to him. Her face was angular, thin yet strong. Her lips were thin, a natural vibrant red. Her hair was a light red, cut to her shoulders. She was a Faunus from the looks of things, with two light red, angular ears. It was not the ears that caught the boy's attention however. What pulled him in were her eyes. The eyes, a piercing blue, were intently focused on him.

He looked away for a moment, then snapped his head back. She was still there, still focused, unblinking. The boy slipped down under his covers. He removed his extras until he was just in his pajama bottoms, then turned on his right and deposited them in a pile nearby to his bag. Well he would of moved them further he dared not leave his bag with that woman's gaze on him. Feeling uncomfortable with his right side he shifted to his left, and directly into the gaze of the woman. His body froze. She had somehow managed to traverse the whole ballroom and lay down beside the boy, silently, within moments.

"Hello." She said.

The boy said nothing as he sat there, sleeping bag cover taking the place his shirt collar had been, intensely hoping the woman would leave. "What is your name?" She asked. Her voice was gentle, no doubt due to the silence she was forcing as to not wake anyone in the room. The boy said nothing, did nothing, nothing but stare into her eyes. "I've been watching you." she said. "You didn't put anything in your locker." The boy rolled onto his back and looked at the ceiling, hoping for the impossible. The girl moved, but not in the way he had hoped. She flowed up and over him coming to a stop straddling his waist. "What are these?" She asked, gesturing to the lines under the boy's eyes. He blinked once. Slowly she moved her head down, past his face. He could hear her breathing in his ear. "I will find out." She whispered. Her voice was less gentle now, carrying the weight of a hunt. She slinked off of him and back to her corner. Her steps were silent, her hips swaying as she walked. As she reached her bag she turned her head. Their gaze met once more before she laid down for the night. The boy in grey slept lightly.