This was an idea that I have been toying with for a few months now. The story follows Sterling Moonstone in his time at Beacon, and as an AU tries to put some answers to the story as well as put in a few original characters.
Beacon Academy, the last stop of schooling for hunters, situated at the eastern edge of the kingdom of Vale. It was truly a beautiful place… too bad Sterling didn't get much of a chance to admire it, as other students were pushing at his back to get out of the airship. It sounded like someone was vomiting further back. That poor guy would probably never live it down. And as much as he enjoyed fresh air, Sterling preferred not to be rushed by the crowd. Still, he took time outside of the airship to admire the surroundings. His eyes locked onto the headmaster's spire in particular, watching the orbs of light orbiting the top. He could almost feel Ozpin's eyes on the group making their way forward across the long avenue, and that sent a shiver down his spine. The last time he had an audience with Ozpin, he couldn't say that it was pleasant. However, he was accepted into the academy, so there wasn't much of an issue.
Sterling Moonstone was around average for those that were accepted into the academy. His style of fighting preferred speed to strength, and it showed with his figure, skinny but toned. His clothing was simple, a grey hoodie with the hood down and large front pockets where he stored his weapons. The back of the hoodie had a silver outline, an intricate cut gem, probably diamond. His left cuff had a similar symbol weaved into the cloth, although there was some differences, namely that the pure cut top was shifted to that of a heart. He usually wore jeans for fighting whenever it could break out, but at the moment he wore black cargo pants, a red and yellow stripe down each leg. Each of the pockets was holding a vial of red dust. They were a gift from his sister for being accepted into the Academy. He wasn't one to use dust that often in its pure form, but it was a touching bit from her, so he brought them with him. His hair was shaggy, as though just mussed by someone, and mottled silver and grey – the mark of his namesake. His eyes were bright silver themselves, almost as though they were opaque. His face was sharp, softened only by his youth.
It was a long walk down the main avenue, but it felt like a walk of victory, the first step towards becoming an actual hunter. Others ran while he walked and observed, listening to the conversations that were going around him, learning of his classmates. He didn't come from a training school, so not a single face was known to him. It was a challenge well taken, however, and he was putting overheard names and faces into memory until an explosion shook him out of focus. His gaze turned to see a girl in red and black, and another covered in soot and livid. Immediately he picked up his pace to leave the main courtyard – it was more dangerous than he thought.
Once he was away from the probable fight and in one of the gardens, he pulled out his scroll and lowered his gaze, walking as he ran the map through his mind. Beacon was huge, and there was already a notice about an assembly at the Amphitheater. He was looking for the dorms on the map as he turned the corner and WHAM! He felt himself hit something and fall back, losing his breath as something landed on his chest and stomach. He took a moment to rest his head from the impact with the ground before opening his eyes and meeting stunning lilac eyes. He seemed incased with yellow hair.
"Oh! I'm sorry! Are you alright?" The woman put her hands on either side of his head to push herself up, dusting herself off.
Sterling got up himself, trying to will away the tint of red that touched his cheeks. "Yeah, sorry about that, I was busy checking my scroll and wasn't paying attention."
"It's fine, I'm sure nobody knows the place yet anyway." She gave a good natured smile, and Sterling couldn't help but return it. He could still feel the burn in his cheeks, although it was ebbing away. His eyes did a quick once-over on her to remember her, something that didn't go amiss with her. "Like what you see?" Her voice carried equal measures of joke and bite, which made him visibly wince and blush harder.
"I, ah, that's not what…." He sighed, giving up trying to explain himself. It earned him a chuckle at least, which brought back his composure. "I'm Sterling."
"Yang." The smile that she gave made his eyes light up.
"It's wonder to meet you, Yang. I'd enjoy talking with you, but there's much to be done and a meeting to attend to, so hopefully we will see each other around?" He started to walk around her, although his body shifted so he faced her the entire time, even slowly walking backwards away from her as though to stall.
"Definitely!" Sterling grinned at that, matched by Yang's own, and with that he turned, waving as he went the other way. He wanted to see the dorm building before heading to the Amphitheater.
Considering that there was an assembly supposedly within a few minutes, the room was considerably empty. People were filing in behind Sterling, though, so he used that to move forward, getting rather close to the stage in the front of the room. There was a lot of talk around him, school friends from the academies that got accepted together here, some minor yelling, but Sterling tuned it out mostly, scanning the room quickly. There was so many new faces that he was tuning those out, as well, his eyes moving to simply watch Glynda and Ozpin. As the room seemed to reach the breaking point, Ozpin moved closer to the microphone, speaking up.
"I'll keep this brief." Sterling's eyes locked onto Ozpin's, watching as the Headmaster scanned the room as he spoke. "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." With that some background noise came up, mutterings that Sterling shut aside as he kept his attention. "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 stepped away from the mic, but Sterling could have sworn their eyes met for a moment before the Headmaster limped away, Glynda taking his place at the mic. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." As the other new students filed out of the room, Sterling stood still, watching as Ozpin and Glynda left the room. Ozpin seemed on edge, although Sterling couldn't put his finger on why. Eventually shrugging it off, he turned his back to the stage, leaving and thinking to himself. Taking a walk through the gardens, some food, and then some sleep; now that sounded like a good end to the day.