A blast of chilly air swept through the entrance of the airship and a wave of blinding sunlight slowly revealed the outside world as the ship's door creaked opened. Platina and May stepped off the massive airship that had brought them to Haven Academy. They were dropped off on a small concrete area with a large fountain, which was immediately followed by a long, narrow avenue which led up to the school's main plaza. Streetlights lined the sides of the boulevard, and on them were deep orange banners bearing Haven's national symbol. The area surrounding the courtyard was a spacious grass field dressed in rows of sakura trees.

Platina and May both took a long breath and a loud exhale; relieved to have some fresh air after that long trip.

"Finally, we're here!" Tina exclaimed, hardly able to contain the amount of excitement and happiness that was buzzing inside of her.

"This place is huge!" May exclaimed. She had the widest smile Tina had ever seen. "This is like, thrice the size of Signal!"

"Thrice?" Platina giggled.

"It's a real term, look it up!" May declared as she pointed a finger at Platina's face.

Lost in conversation, May didn't even see the person who ran into her until they collided. The both of them fell to the ground in a slow, almost dramatic fashion and landed on their butts. May held her head for a short second, then she looked up to see the person that bumped into her. It was a girl who was taller than her; maybe 5'7. She had long white hair with a green streak on her right side. She wore a green denim jacket with a large symbol on the back; a white circle of flowers, and black lines down the sleeves. Combined with a white scarf, black short shorts, green and black leg armor, and black combat boots, the girl has a solid and unique color palette that worked well together. She dropped her weapon, which looked like a sniper rifle, and holstered at her side was a standard looking pistol. The girl also dropped her suitcase; spilling small cylinders of what May assumed had to be dust cartridges.

"I'm sorry!" May scrambled to stand up and reached out a hand to help the girl. The girl looked up at May, revealing a cute and shy face with a pair of soft emerald eyes that matched her green streak of hair. She stared at May for a second, then averted her gaze and took May's hand.

"N-no…it was my fault, I-I should have been paying better attention to where I was going..." The girl stuttered as she was pulled up. She was blushing and noticeably trying to avoid eye contact.

Tina and May bent down to help the girl pick up her dust cartridges. They gathered them all up and fit them into the holes made for them in her case. When they were finished the girl shut her case and stood up.

"Thank you!" She said as she beamed a smile to Platina.

"Woah! Your weapon is awesome!" The girl became flustered as she turned to see May examining her weapon. It was a green and black sniper rifle that had a silver revolver chamber instead of a traditional clip. May's eyes were filled with almost the same shimmer as when she was talking about her mom.

"I love seeing new weapons; it's the only thing I like more than meeting new people. My name's M-" She was cut off when the girl practically ripped the rifle from May's hands.

"I-I'm sorry," she began to stammer again, "I left something on the airship, I-I have to go." The girl sprinted off in the opposite direction, leaving the other two to themselves. May and Platina exchanged similar looks of concern.

"Weeeell…she was…" Tina started, smiling awkwardly.

"Incredibly socially awkward?" May finished her thought; slouching slightly. "Well, it's a good thing we extroverts can make friends super easily." May smiled as she thought of every introvert that she pretty much adopted from being lonely forever. She wondered if Platina was one of those people.

"Maybe the next time we see her, we can make a new friend." She turned to Platina and gave a malicious smile, "By force if we have to."

Platina giggled, "That's if she doesn't disappear the second we talk to her."

"Oh, god, did that sound harsh?" The blood suddenly drained from Platina's face as she realized she just said something without thinking.

"Speaking of disappearing," May said as she adjusted the strap of her bag, "I want to sightsee the town. I'll see you later!" She cheered as she turned around and waved Platina goodbye.

"W-wait!" Platina screamed after her, stopping May dead in her tracks.

"Huh?"

"There's gonna be some kind of briefing soon, you know? We should go to it, so we're not lost tomorrow." She tried to convince May to stay by her side.

May sighed as she walked back up to her, "Listen, Tina," she put a hand on Platina's shoulder, "you and I are different from each other. I can tell that you worry a lot. I've never seen this place before, and in all honesty, I don't think I want to spend my first day here not enjoying it."

May was different from everyone else Platina has ever met. Nobody has ever had such vigorous energetic, yet at the same time been so laid-back.

"I'll be back." She finished, turned, and ran in the opposite direction of the school.

Platina started to protest, but May was already gone. Tina just stood there for a while wondering what to do next. She thought back to her childhood and how she was never really that great at making friends. Her old school was so small that she doubted anyone she knew from there made it to Haven since the acceptance rate was so low. Most of these people here were probably from big schools like Sanctum Academy, like May was from Signal.

She was beginning to feel hopeless. "What if I end up friendless?" She began to question. Tina remembered what it felt like to be lonely; it was one of the worst feelings she thought a human being could experience. To not have someone to lean on when she was struggling, or to not have a person to share what was on her mind. Because of that, she made a habit of talking to herself.

"What am I going to do?" She asked herself.

She hung her head. She had a sinking feeling in her heart that she knew very well. It was a mixed feeling of complete dread and total isolation from the outside world; like she couldn't feel anything other than her emotions. She was on the verge of tearing up.

"No, you have to stay positive," Platina attempted to shake all of her negative thoughts out of her head, "like Reese would." She thought back to her friend from school, Reese Chloris. She was like May in some ways, being a people person and all that. She was pretty easy-going, and whenever things got bad she never stressed out too much or made things a big deal. Even after she discovered Platina's secret...

"Okay, no more dwelling on the past." Tina bawled her fist, straightened out her back, and held her head high. "These next few years are going to be different. This time I'll bring the challenge to life!"

She turned towards Haven Academy; the place she always dreamed of going, and although she still felt terrified about going to a school without any of her original friends, she reminisced on the words of Reese and August about having more confidence in herself. She knew that if she doesn't walk into the building now then all her hard work, pain, and tears will have been for nothing. She closed her eyes, took a long, deep breath, and began to march towards her dream.