Gabriel stepped off the airship onto the landing platform of Beacon Academy, letting out an appreciative whistle at the structures before him. Flicking his worn black duster so that it sat properly on his shoulders and brushing his short, black hair out of his eyes Gabriel looked around at the other new arrivals. His eyes stopped on a fiery looking blonde wearing a short-cut vest that was holding the collar of an overly excited looking girl in a red hood. 'Bullshit she's old enough' he thought, looking at the cloaked girl before turning his attention back to the blonde and noticing the yellow bracelet like objects on her wrists. Gabriel smiled at realising what they were 'If she's a brawler like me it could make for some interesting competition'.
His reverie was cut short as a flash of white, blue and red knocked him back a step, causing him to blink in surprise. Shaking off the slight disorientation, Gabriel looked around to see an eager looking brown haired girl in a white, blue and red corset with thigh-high boots and evening gloves dragging a pink haired girl wearing short-shorts, a tank top and an exasperated expression along behind her.
Raising a bemused eyebrow at the first girls fashion choice, Gabriel looked around at the now sparsely populated dock and started following along to avoid getting lost.
##
Eventually finding himself in a medium sized arena along with the rest of the students, Gabriel backed off to one of the walls where he could both see the stage that took up a third of the arena properly and avoid the crush of the crowd. As much as he enjoyed getting up close and personal in a fight, a crowd in a space like this could get a little stuffy.
Gabriel was idly studying the seating around the edge of the arena when raised voices drew his attention back towards the crowd, the young cloaked girl from earlier was standing before an imperious girl in a white combat skirt who was in the middle of a rather technical rant. 'Schnee Dust Company logo points to her being the Heiress I heard so much about' he thought to himself with a smirk and a slight shake of his head, the year looked to be. . . . Interesting, to say the very least.
His attention was drawn back to the stage as the headmaster of Beacon, Professor Ozpin, an aging man with glasses and a cane stepped up to the microphone.
"I'll keep this brief. You have travelled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. 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."
Throughout the surprisingly brief introductory speech Gabriel had been watching the Professor carefully, leaning forward from his position against the wall of the arena. 'He's distracted' Gabriel finally realised 'someone probably forgot to get him his coffee.' Chuckling slightly he leant back against the wall, realising that the Professor Goodwitch was at the mic, talking about their initiation 'oh fuck, forgot about the teams thing.'
"Lien for your thoughts, tough-guy." A cheerful voice cut though Gabriel's musings, causing him to blink and shake his head slightly. 'I must be tired, that's the second time today.' He turned to find the corseted girl from earlier leaning against the cool grey wall beside him, a light smile on her face. Getting a chance to properly see both her and her outfit Gabriel realised that she was a Faunus, with pointed brown ears sticking up through her long brown hair that had been pulled back into a ponytail. Looking down he saw that her outfit was primarily white with light blue and cherry red creating a flame motif that ran up her legs and arms to edge the corset, with a light frill at the waist, breast and shoulders finishing the effect. Gabriel looked down ruefully at his worn black duster that now seemed a little bland in comparison.
The girl laughed softly, drawing his attention back to her. "If you're done staring, I'd like to at least learn your name?" She said, holding out her hand, "I'm Ruellia Starlight."
Accepting her hand, Gabriel nodded at her with a grin "Gabriel Emmet Tethras. Most of my friends call me Gabe but I don't mind either. And there's gotta be some rule that says you can't wear that."
Ruellia laughed fully at his remark. "Surprisingly not, I don't think Ozpin saw the need for one. And nice coat by the way."
Gabriel's smile dropped slightly. "Thanks. It was my dad's."
This caused her to wince and take a small step forward. "Touchy subject?"
He snorted slightly before shrugging and smirking at her again. "Nah, not really. He died not long after I was born, same with my mum. So there's not much to remember. I was brought up by close friends of theirs." Gabriel frowned slightly. "Hey you have any idea what was up with Oz?"
Ruellia raised her eyebrows a little in surprise. "The headmaster? Probably just didn't account for something that's come back to bite him."
Gabriel raised one of his own eyebrows. "What like your outfit?"
"Hey!" Ruellia exclaimed. A mock frown on her face before she started laughing. "But yeah. Like my outfit."
Frowning slightly Gabriel looked at her. "Hey where's your friend? The one in the tank-top and shorts, I think she had pink hair."
"Oh that's my girlfriend. She's around here somewhere, I think I saw her talking to this cat Faunus earlier." Ruellia looked back in the direction she had come and perked up a bit. "Hey there she is."
Gabriel looked around her to see a girl with extremely pale skin in a midnight blue tank top with diamonds in the pattern of a treble clef on it and short shorts of the same colour walking towards them, he realised that she too had a pair of pointy ears sticking up out of her pink hair that he now saw had purple highlights in it. Upon reaching the duo she braced herself slightly as Ruellia threw her arm around the girls shoulder and grinned "Heya Night."
Returning the hug the girl looked at Gabriel and shook her head with a smile. "We've been here for an hour and you're already flirting with the guys Rue." The girl grinned slightly "Some would think you were unfaithful."
Ignoring her girlfriend's reaction to her statement the girl reached her hand out towards Gabriel. "Night Bell. At your service. And don't mind Rue, she'll be fine." Night said, noticing that he was looking towards Ruellia who was silently fuming at being ignored.
Nodding Gabriel smiled and repeated his greeting from earlier. Looking at his watch he raised his eyebrows a little. "Hey what are you guys doing now?"
Night smiled lightly. "We actually have to go and talk to the Headmaster now. That's what I came over to tell her." She replied, nodding her head at Rue.
Gabriel chuckled lightly. "Okay then. I'll see ya round."
"Yeah see ya."
##
After Gabriel had made note of where the Ball-room was he began to wander the halls of the vast academy, attempting to familiarise himself with the grounds. He came to a stop when he found a small garden near the rear of the main building, not wishing to go much farther to avoid getting lost.
The garden was of eastern design with a medium sized Koi pond in its centre. A small wooden bridge crossed the pond to a small island with a single tree upon it, large enough for one or two people to sit beneath its branches before it got crowded. Around the pond were a dozen Sakura trees and a small rock formation with a waterfall forming a stream into the pond. A small stone path wound its way through the trees and over the stream in the form of another small bridge, connecting the entrance of the garden with the bridge over to the island.
After wandering the path for a while and watching the Koi swim around the pond Gabriel made his way back to the entrance. 'Nice place. A little too peaceful for my taste but could be good for training.' He smirked slightly as he watched the sun dip behind the line of the buildings. 'Probably a good idea to get back before it gets dark.'
Gabriel made his way back to the Ball-room where the other students were setting up sleeping mats and getting ready for the initiation the next day. Grabbing his bag from beside the door he frowned slightly, looking around for a free spot before making his way over to where the windows were on the northern wall.
He had taken off his boots and was laying his duster on top of his bag when a deep voice spoke from behind him. "That spot taken?"
Turning in his crouched position Gabriel looked up . . . and up at a giant sandy haired boy wearing a brown hoodie. Standing up and whistling appreciatively Gabriel smirked. "How in hell did you get that big?" remembering the question he nodded to the empty spot beside him. "And nah, Spot's free so go ahead."
Laughing at Gabriel's comment the boy threw down his bag before holding his hand out. "Donnachadh James Darrow. But I go by James. And aside from a healthy diet I know as much as you."
Shaking James' hand Gabriel shook his head lightly. "Gabriel Emmet Tethras. And either Gabe or Gabriel is fine."
A commotion drew both their attentions over to where the Schnee heiress was standing across from the blonde brawler with the younger girl standing between them, a black haired girl sitting down with a book not far away.
With a slight chuckle James sat down on his mat. "Well it certainly won't be a quiet year."
Shaking his head with a smile Gabriel watched as the black haired girl blew out the candelabra beside her. "Damn right about that."