Transcript 1: (Un)Welcome Landing

Nero August looked about as he stepped off one of the many airships landing at Beacon Academy, and felt both out of place and out of the ordinary. He knew no one here – that was one of the troubles of having trained in Vacuo during the last few years – and his distinctly Vacuan garb made him feel like an outsider once again. The people of Vacuo were generally suspicious of outsiders to begin with as well, but he had expected that the moment he packed his bags.

Nero lowered his head and coughed, trying to push the unpleasant memories to the back of his mind. He hadn't run away. He had simply left home early in search of a better life, and Vacuo was the most logical place for someone wanting to learn to fend for themselves. The crowd of inductees bustled and bumped Nero and he struggled to resist as the group murmured towards the huge gates leading into Beacon Academy. That's what he always did. He didn't like being pushed around, didn't like to accept how others treated…

He sighed. He probably had run away. The thought had followed Nero from Vale to Vacuo and hadn't left him the whole time he was there. He was going to have to face it eventually. Face what he had left behind. What he had run away from.

"Hey!"

A boy with dark orange hair, sleeveless vest and wicked looking orange blades attached to his arms was looking straight at him. If staring with dead white eyes could be considered looking. He was blind.

'You don't like going with the flow either?" he continued. "Are you Vacuan as well?"

Nero raised his eyebrows. "How did you know? I take it you can't…" he bit his tongue, embarrassed at his careless slip up.

"Can't see?" the boy grinned. "You would be right. I can't exactly SEE… but I have my ways. I'm Fox. Fox Alistair". The handshake was an awkward one but now Nero didn't care about the jostling. He wanted to find out more about this Fox, this blind boy who somehow saw him.

"Nero. I've been training in Vacuo for the past few years, but I'm originally from Vale."

"I lived with a nomad tribe called the Kentye, and was taught to fight by a man named Copper.'' Fox lowered his blank gaze. "But then he was killed. The only person who saw value in a blind kid, needlessly killed over belongings. So I came here, where lives are valued more than property, to help others and prevent more pointless deaths."

Nero stopped short, although they were practically under the huge archway now, and instructors were already beckoning them inside. Fox's story was so different to his, and yet it mirrored his own.

"Did you ever feel like you were… running away?" Nero asked tentatively, running his hand slowly through his golden curls.

"No. I've never really thought of Vacuo as home, so I don't think I'm running away." Fox responded thoughtfully. "I have a few perspectives that most people there don't really care for. So I want to train here, where they more accepted. What about you?"

That was the question, thought Nero. "I'm not quite sure. I guess I'm here to figure that out".

They finally passed under the arches, which fed into a large courtyard with a fountain and long cobblestone path leading up towards the central buildings, with Beacon Tower rising above them all right in the centre. Nero hardly remembered the walk up to the tower, nor most of the tour and associated historical quips given by a green-haired professor who seemed surgically attached to his coffee thermos. He finally snapped to attention when the professor was assigning lockers – rocket propelled lockers, as it turned out – to the new inductees. This was the moment, Nero thought as the students lined up. These were the people he would be spending the next four years with, and he didn't know a thing about them because he had been worrying about his personal problems this whole time.

He studied them with a discerning gaze. It was he and Fox at the back of the line, then a tiny Faunus girl with lavender hair and a fox tail, dwarfed by the massive machine gun on her back. Nero smiled. There was more than one fox here, he thought. Next, a girl with puffy golden hair and white crop top carrying a jade staff. Two blue-haired identical twins, one a bored-looking axe-wielder in black leather, and his short-haired brother, carrying a pair of thin swords. A tall girl in grey with an equally grey ponytail and a large blue bow – or rather a bow-sword – on her back. The upturned corners of her lips betrayed the mischief hidden in her round chocolate eyes.

Then a glamourous girl who looked like she had just walked out of a fashion parade. Nero stared. That beret alone must have cost hundreds of Lien. He couldn't see her weapon, unless it was inside that heavy-looking handbag. Despite the flamboyancy, Nero thought she carried herself with poise and had an idea she would make a good leader. After her was a shy-looking girl in brown with matching brown bunny ears and a… camera? That's what it looked like, at least. You could never tell with weapons, they always seemed to have extra unexpected functions, usually gun-related. He wondered if his dust-infused whips would be able to match it with these fancy ones. Like the transforming gauntlets of the boy in bright red and green, or even the clarinet missile launcher held by the red-head in heels and puffy pink combat skirt. Who would be silly enough to dream up a musical instrument as a weapon?

Nero's comparison stopped there, for blocking his view of the line was a veritable giant. He was kitted in light green armour and stood at least 7 feet tall, with the largest broadsword Nero had ever seen strapped to his back. It could probably cut clean through his metal whips with the power of that massive frame behind it, he thought nervously.

He was interrupted by a voice beside him. "Black, green, gold, yellow, light blue…"

"What are you doing, Fox?" gasped Nero. "I thought you couldn't see?".

"Oh I'm blind all right, I can't see the other's outfits or weapons like you. But I can see people's Aura, that's part of my semblance. See, yours is purple."

"You're right, too. Handy thing to have."

"Absolutely. I sometimes wonder if my semblance developed to help counteract my vision, or lack thereof. They all say your semblance and your personality are linked, but I think it's related to the physical as well."

The pair had reached the front of the line now, and were each given a scroll linked to their locker, along with instructions on how to send their locker anywhere in Vale based on a six-digit code. The tour complete and the day now far spent, Nero and Fox began heading towards the sleeping area where they would spend their first night at Beacon.

"I hope we can be on the same team," said Nero. "I would enjoy some Vacuan company."

"As would I. But no matter how it ends up, it doesn't stop us from being pals."

They turned the corner to the washrooms, and Fox paused. "And don't worry about these Valeians." he said. "I've lived my whole life being different to others. Sometimes it's hard, but you learn how to get along alright." He broke out into that familiar grin once again. "Besides, I'll have to turn a blind eye if you do end up worrying." Fox raised his hand in farewell. "See you at the cliff!"

Transcript 2: Unexpected Landings

The sun was not far above the horizon when the sleepy first-years shuffled their way to Beacon Cliff. Many still bore signs of the night before, with eye-bags and messy hair abundant as a result of their early rousing. Several students had still been fast asleep when Professor Port's voice boomed instruction to assemble there in ten minutes over the loudspeaker system. Of the first-years who stood in front of Professor Ozpin, these were perhaps the most dishevelled, some pessimistically wondering if it was worth being constantly accosted by the new surprises they had been told to expect the day before.

Not so was Gale Grigia. She looked about with a smile on her lips and a spring in her step. Today was a day of new opportunities, to scout potential teammates, to see new weapons in action… to play a few pranks…

And it was going to be fun.

Professor Ozpin adjusted his glasses and spoke. "Today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald forest. Inside the forest are several relics inside an abandoned temple. You must pair up and retrieve a relic for the both of you, but will be using your own landing strategy to reach the forest."

Glynda Goodwitch frowned. Of course you would use your own landing strategy, how could it possibly be any different? She would make sure the unnecessary line was removed from next year's speech. Nobody who made it to Beacon would be stupid enough to assume otherwise.

"The person who you first make eye contact with inside the forest will be both your teammate for this exercise and for the next four years."

Teammates already! Gale could hardly believe her ears, and hardly listened to the rest of Ozpin's speech as her brain whizzed through the possibilities of what might happen. What if she was paired with that stylish girl, or the Vacuan guy with the cool tunic? The twins seemed a bit unenthused and boring, but what about the tall guy with the big sword?

So caught up in her scenarios was Gale that she nearly missed the final and most important part of Ozpin's monologue.

''You will be monitored and graded throughout the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. Do not hesitate to destroy anything in your path, or you will die."

Here we go then, thought Gale. Students began to be launched up and away by the spring-loaded platforms they stood on, and she looked around to see how others were approaching the fall. Next to her, the blonde with the green staff unfolded it to reveal a speargun and rope dart apparatus, and beyond her, a ginger girl with… a clarinet! With wind dust capabilities! That was so cool! Both of those should have no trouble getting down, thought Gale, but she did wonder what the Faunus with the camera and backpack was planning on doing.

Then suddenly, she felt a massive heave below her feet and she was in the air too, almost before she knew it as she had again been distracted by the others. The ends of her loose ponytail flew around her brown and gold shoulder pads as she dived down towards the trees and drew the long blue bow-sword from behind her back. Gale brought it down over the top of a large branch, grasped the upper half with her left hand, and skidded along to the end of the limb, before throwing it point first into the ground in front of her, landing, rolling and regripping the hilt all in one fluid motion as she rose.

Gale looked around silently for any signs of danger, but the only thing she noticed was the sound of the other students falling into the forest about her. Then she heard, growing gradually closer like the beat of some staccato drum, a steady intermittent firing, and suddenly a green dress billowing over a bright purple machine gun burst into view below the tree-line. The bullets tore into the forest floor, and the figure's descent slowed almost to a stop, before she dropped gracefully on the ground, quickly looked about and spied Gale.

"Oh, you're here" declared Lina Lavender. "You're that girl from Hammerhead Point, aren't you? I bet you are good at fighting Grimm, having come from outside the kingdom."

Hammerhead point was one of the few stable settlements in the eastern half of Sanus outside Vale. It lay directly south of the kingdom on the very edge of the continent, a seaside place at the mouth of a steep valley which widened out near the ocean, hence the name. The valley itself was practically a canyon, and its walls gave some natural protection against Grimm, although being outside the kingdom inevitably meant a higher concentration of Grimm than most would experience.

"Yes, I have seen my fair share of Grimm. How did you know that? I'm Gale, by the way. Gale Grigia."

"Lina Lavender. I spent last evening looking up all the new students this year so I knew who to side with when picking our teams." Lina's brow twitched with annoyance. "Although that went out the window when the headmaster threw that pairing nonsense on us this morning."

"Lavender? Ohhh, you must be…"

"DON'T say it" growled Lina, her frown darkening considerably. "I'm LINA – pretend the rest doesn't even exist."

"Sorry."

The girls stood in an awkward silence, the noise from the other students swallowed up by the dense foliage surrounding them. Finally, Lina spoke.

"We should start looking for these relics, I suppose. Did you see which direction we should head?"

"No," sighed Gale. "I've clean forgot where we landed, much less where we are supposed to go."

"That's a problem," muttered Lina. "If we got back above the trees we might be able to see the clearing where the temple is supposed to be." she paused. "AutoBeat's bullets can help me manoeuvre down from high places like the cliff, but aren't strong enough to lift me. The gun doesn't take gravity cartridges."

A spark of cunning suddenly flashed through Gale's chocolate eyes. She recalled a trick she had learned at the small combat school in Hammerhead Point, where she could use her bow as a lever to launch others into the air. Spying a suitable fallen tree trunk, she placed one end of the bow on the ground and held her foot above the other, across the other side of the log.

"Here, come stand on this." She said. "The spring generated from the ends of the bow will help propel you high into the air".

Lina obliged, stepping onto the blue metal and crouching down for better balance. Gale could barely keep a straight face as she sombrely reached across and touched Lina's shoulder. Instantly, a cloud of light blue aura washed over a surprised Lina, who found herself suddenly disoriented and unbalanced. "Oh, and you might feel a bit funny for a while," strained Gale, finally losing the battle with the enormous grin hidden under an emotionless façade and brought her foot down on the raised end of the weapon.

"AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh" cried a shocked Lina as she shot into the sky at an astonishing speed, faster than she would have believed possible even for her small size. Below her, Gale lay helpless on the ground, peals of laughter echoing about her as they were reflected by the dense matting of tree branches and leaves.

Professor Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin looked up from their scrolls in surprise as a figure flew high above the forest for the second time that day. The screens showed a most unprofessional-looking figure giggling on the ground, near the location where they had seen the other student appear.

"I do hope Miss Grigia will take her task seriously," muttered a concerned Glynda Goodwitch.

"Let them be, Glynda" consoled Ozpin. "They are still only children, and first years at that."