Chapter 1: New Arrivals
Their eyes were fixed upon him.
As he walked by every teen and parent looked at him. They knew who he was, even if they didn't understand what he was.
The young man stopped and looked at them all without emotion. He had on a long brown overcoat that had sleeves cut to his elbows. He had gloves on that went high upon his arm, and had a brown coloring that matched his boots. At the top of his coat was a red cloth that he wore around his neck like a cloak, but it merely circled his head without touching anything but his shoulders. He had numerous accessories, including a belt that had runic symbols on it, belts across his chest, and fringe cloth and ornaments on his shoulders. His hair was short, curly and brown, the same color as his eyes. As he looked upon everyone you could see the age upon his face, though he was still very young.
Without so much as a notion to them he continued to walk. Eventually, he made his way to an air vehicle that was to take him to his destination. As he passed more people they moved out of his way, many out of fear. Upon entering, he made his way to the back of the craft, and sat on the ground far away from any of the common areas. He closed his eyes and tried to block out the sound of the people as they entered the craft.
"Glyph Masterson!" said a voice a while after he sat down
Glyph opened his eyes and looked out to see another young man looking at him with a smile. He wore an old-school army attire. Camouflage style pants and undershirt, an army vest, and more. He had a shovel or sorts strapped onto his back. His hair was cut like a soldiers, and had a light color to it.
"Macro." Glyph stated, a small smile appearing on his face
"Should've known you would've been here in the corner."
Macro took the shovel off of his back, as he did the shovel revealed a very jagged edge on one side. He held it in front of him as sat next to Glyph, then laid it on his lap.
"Been a long time." said Macro with a smile
"It has." replied Glyph
"I'll be honest, I wasn't sure you would be coming to Beacon after...you know..."
"Me either."
"What changed?"
"I did."
"Short and blunt as always eh Glyph?"
"Yep."
They looked at each other and laughed smally, then look back at the now fully packed craft full of students.
"Lot of new arrivals huh?"
"Yep."
"Have you thought about-?" started Marco
"No." interjected Glyph
Macro sighed and shook his head sadly, "Glyph, I know you're still thinking about what happened, and you should be. But I'm pretty sure the reason you're here is because you're looking to the future. Right?"
He waited for Glyph to respond, but he didn't.
"The future for us is Beacon, and Beacon has us in teams, and you need to start thinking about those teams, and who might be on them."
Again Glyph didn't respond. Macro looked at him with pity.
"Wow, you really are still thinking about it."
"Same as you think about your "career"." said Glyph bluntly
Macro was taken aback by this, Glyph's face became full of regret.
"Sorry."
"No, don't be. I do think about it still. I'm hoping Beacon gives me the insight I need, one way or another."
They both go quiet, thinking about what haunts them in their minds. After a while, Macro turned to the window and saw something that made him smile. He nudged Glyph and motioned him to follow. As they approached the window they saw a massive place awaiting them.
The school of Beacon was a perfect mix of natural beauty and man-made architecture. It had natural trees and grasslands, but also man-made ponds and streams. In the center was Beacon Academy itself. It had tall towers, numerous walkways, and several buildings all built into one place.
"It's a little too elegant for a guy like me," noted Macro, "but it'll do."
"It will." agreed Glyph
Macro looked at Glyph, who was looking at the academy with great uncertainty. He put his hand on Glyph's shoulder, causing him to turn and look at Macro.
"Hey, we'll get through this, and even if all these other arrivals don't want you on their team? I do. I always have. As long as I lead of course."
He flashed a big smile at Glyph, which caused him to roll his eyes. But eventually he stopped and nodded his head, "I'd like that."
"Then Beacon here we come."
They watched and waited as the ship slowly lowered to the ground. Once opened, the students departed, Glyph and Macro were some of the last ones to leave. All of them look took better notice of their surroundings as they left the craft.
"Like I said, too elegant for me. Give me a forest and a sleeping bag any day." said Macro as he looked around
"I prefer beds." noted Glyph
"Wimp. Oh, they're going this way, let's follow."
Glyph and Macro followed the pack of students and headed into the academy. Eventually, they were led into a large amphitheater. The students murmured amongst themselves as they waited for news on what to do next.
Both Glyph and Macro looked around, but for entirely different reasons. The sound of footsteps got everyone's attention though, and they looked to the stage were a small man was standing. Though he was short in stature, it was clear he was quite strong, and his attire was a mix of formal suit, and suit of armor.
"Welcome to Beacon Academy everyone," he said with a surprisingly deep voice, "I am Heathern Squire. Head of Staff here at Beacon, you will be seeing me and the rest of your teachers quite a lot of over the next few years."
The students again murmured amongst themselves, but were silenced when Squire cleared his throat.
"Another person you will be seeing is the Headmaster, who I am about to introduce you to. I will say before he enters, I expect all of you to treat him with the utmost respect. Or else."
This got a major reaction from the students, Glyph and Macro looked at Squire with angry intent, as they felt threatened.
"And now," said Squire getting their attention, "allow me to introduce, Headmaster Night."
He backed up and motioned to his right, where a tall man emerged. His hair was long and jet black, as were his eyes, and much of his attire. Much like Squire, his clothes were a mix of suit and armor, but Night's made him look much more regal. As he approached the center of the stage he turned and stood upright with perfect posture. To the students surprise though, he didn't say a word, not at first.
Instead, Night looked long and hard at all the students that were gathered before him. At times, his gaze seemed fixed on certain students, both Macro and Glyph got this feeling when his eyes turned to them.
Finally, once he had his look, he straightened up even more and looked at them as a whole, "I see many faces here today. Some male, some female, some human, some Faunus. As I look at you though, I can tell you one thing. Not all of you will be alive in a few years."
This statement caused an uproar in the student body, Glyph and Macro were among the few to keep their composure. Headmaster Night held a hand into the air to signal he wanted to speak, the students slowly quelled their chatter.
"I am told that I am a blunt man, I consider this a side effect of my experiences. As you know, I am Kendall Night. I was the leader of a team from this very school, Team KGHT, and yes, I have every joke there is about the names. So please don't."
The students snicker at this, but again die down.
"I have sat through many speeches, and have been told by others at other schools what their headmasters told them when they arrived. Though inspiring, and necessary to a degree, I believe in a more truthful approach. Yes, my truths are hard, but they are necessary to prepare you for what it is to come."
Night motioned to a wall, "Outside these walls is a world filled with monsters. Not all of them though are Grimm. Human and Faunus can be just as deadly, whether it be through their words, or their actions. I have seen this, and as my teammate Squire will attest, I have fought this. I worked long and hard to make this world safer for children like you. Yet as you stand here, you are a testament to the truth, it's not enough, not yet. You are proof that the world is still in danger. So, I must prepare you for what it is to come once you truly leave these walls. Sadly, that means I have to tell you the blunt truth, not all of you will be alive in a few years time."
No one made a sound this time, Night sighed sadly and looked towards the ground, "Death, is an inevitability, and sadly, in our world, we live in a place where death can come at any point in any given day. No one is truly safe, not in Vale, Mistral, Vacuo, or Atlas. To feign safety is to invite death, to ignore what our world has become is to embrace death. I refuse to let you die for these reasons. So, while you are here, both alone and in teams, you will work, and work hard, to become Huntsman and Huntresses that can fight what brings death in this world. Though I know I cannot succeed in keeping you all alive, I believe in my heart that if you believe what we teach, and you learn from one another, you will have a better chance than most.
The students looked to each other and talked about Night's words. Soon he raised his hand again.
"There are rumors," he said with a smirk, "that all new arrivals to Beacon go through a screening process. That is true."
Another burst of chat from the students came forth, causing Night to again raise his hand.
"Let me be clear though, I was not trying to keep anyone out. More of, I was trying to know who I was bringing in. Now yes, I did reject certain students, but it was because I believed that they had nothing to learn here, or, they would not be willing to learn here. Those are attitudes I cannot allow here, for they welcome death."
He looked to Squire briefly, who was sad in his expression.
"But, for those who are willing to learn, there is infinite potential for you. I truly believe that anyone, anyone, can grow into a something they did not expect. I have seen it, in fact, I was one of those students."
At this Squire chuckled, getting Night's attention. He bowed slightly in embarrassment, but Night joined in on the joke.
"Another secret of this academy, is that the staff looks at your profiles before you enter and gives you..."titles". These titles are based on what they think they know about you, and how you will succeed, or fail, based on those profiles. And yes, we did the same here. The irony in this is, that those profiles aren't worth much if you don't let them. For when I took over for the position of Headmaster, the man before me, who was my Headmaster, showed me my file. On it, was my young face, some details of what I had done at Signal, and the words, "Most likely to die within a year after graduating."
A wave of shock and surprise swept the room. Even Glyph and Macro were surprised at this, given the legend of Team KGHT. Night again smiled at this.
"Precisely, I was deemed someone who would died, and die quickly apparently. It's funny how life can change you. More specifically, it's funny how people can change you."
He turned to Squire and gave him a small bow and salute, to which Squire happily returned it.
"I have no doubt when I entered Beacon that I was exactly what that file said I was. But then I was put on Team KGHT, and I led Team KGHT, that was all the difference, the rest you already know. So in conclusion, I tell you with upmost honesty and sincerity, if you let us, we will help you. If you bond with your team, you will grow. Past histories, past discretions, family ties, nothing of that sort matters here. For from this moment on, you are students at Beacon Academy. I hope to see all of you graduate in two years time."
Night took a step back and bowed to all the students, then left the stage. The entire room was silent as he did. Squire then took center stage and got their attention once more.
"The remainder of the day," stated Squire, "will feature a feast welcoming you to Beacon, then having you rest in the common area afterwards until lights out. You will not be given rooms until your teams are decided tomorrow. You will be led to the feast now."
He lowered the microphone and clapped his hands. The doors sprung open, and attendants entered the theater and began guiding everyone out.
After the feast, Glyph and Macro found themselves in a large common area, where all the new students were being held. Many had changed into their night clothes, other kept their regular attire on. Glyph and Macro had only toned down versions of their standard clothes.
"This is much better," Macro said to Glyph quietly, could barely hear myself in that banquet hall. Way too much noise."
"Agreed." said Glyph with a nod
"So...what did you think of the Headmaster?"
"Blunt, and honest."
"In the good way?"
"...yes."
Macro nodded in agreement, "He is right of course, on a lot of what he said. It's ironic how honest he was."
"How so?" asked Glyph
"Well, it tells me that the rumors were true." answered Macro
"Rumors?"
"Look, you what KGHT did, Team KGHT I mean. There's a reason their legends. But after that? Things went wrong for them. One of their team died, the other is missing and presumed dead, leaving Night and Squire as the lone survivors. Rumors around the kingdoms was that both Night and Squire were offered any position they wanted. Seriously. But instead of taking it, they both agreed to come here, and train the next generation."
"But what's the rumor?"
"That the loss of their teammates broke them, in a very deep way, and they're using this opportunity to try and prevent others from feeling their pain."
"Noble, if futile."
"We all have to try right? To fight inevitability."
"I suppose."
Glyph looked grimly out into the crowd of students, seeing a menagerie of expressions and emotions. He thought about what faces he might not see again, causing pain to fill his face. Macro saw this and began to fidget in place until his expression lit up.
"So," Marco said loud enough to get Glyph's attention, "I think it's time we scouted the "recruits" to see who will be on our team."
"Macro..." said Glyph with clear annoyance
"Oh come on, I actually did a lot of research on this. It's necessary to use the connections your military father has when you're looking for potential good and bad eggs! Right? That's totally a good use of resources!"
Glyph laughed sarcastically, but then shrugged and looked at Macro with a smile, "Sit rep Macro."
"Yes sir!" Macro replied with a happy salute
He scanned the room, looking for candidates he knew about, "Believe it or not, much of our class of Signal transferred to other schools."
Glyph glared at Macro with clearing knowing of the reason, but Macro waved him down, "Easy, easy. I admit, some of them left because of that, but there were plenty of other reasons. As Night confirmed, he screens everyone, and you know as well as I some of our old classmates wouldn't have made it through Beacon without serious injury."
He thought about this and nodded in agreement, "True."
"Yeah, and there were more personal reasons too. I hear some families just preferred teachers or headmasters at the other schools. I know at least three families that had job transfers, which caused them to move their kids, and some kids just wanted to try something new. No baggage."
"Fair enough." noted Glyph
"Exactly," said Macro, "but, in return, we got a lot of transfers from the other schools. For example, see silver and gold over there?"
Macro nodded to one corner of the room, where a young man with gold hair and a silver outfit was standing. The outfit itself was very sleek, but had pointed shoulderpads and upper sleeves, around the collar was fur of some kind. He also had gold boots, which made his hair. Upon further inspection, Glyph noticed the young man had blood red eyes, and a very harsh grin.
"That...is a Heron."
"That's a Heron?!" said Glyph shocked
"Oh yeah, I couldn't believe it either. There hasn't been a Heron at Beacon for generations. Ironic huh?"
Glyph looked back to the young Heron, and just looked at him in disbelief.
"Doesn't look like one. Outside the hair."
"Yeah...about that..." said Macro clearly uncomfortable
"What?"
"Well, the Herons are famous, or possibly infamous, for their peacekeeping, right? They're politicians, mediators, one is even an advisor to the Headmaster of Haven, teaches classes on the "peaceful side of being a Hunter/Huntress". Gag. Anyway, that guy? Reyson? Yeah, he's the black sheep."
"Likes to fight?"
"Ha! That's an understatement. The guy is a berserker, he goes after any Grimm he finds without hesitation, or thought of what it might do. To be fair, he's killed a lot. But...it's ticked off a lot of people, and scared a good many more. This guys personality is a light switch. He's a cool guy one minute, then when he sees a Grimm? Animal. Folks call him the "Cool Barbarian". I call him, "Guy On My Watchlist." In my mind, he trumps what you did in spades."
"Hmm..." said Glyph clearly unconvinced
"Moving on..." stated Macro knowing he wasn't going to win that argument
A plethora of clapping got their attention, and both of them turned to see a red-haired girl entertaining some people with her dances. The girl had a long white dress that had edges filled with red. She had a whip that she used in conjunction with her moves.
"An interesting combination." noted Glyph
"That's one way of putting it," joked Macro, "That's Diana Artemisia, she's from Atlas. She's arguably one of the most elegant fighters you'll ever see. Or so I'm told. Apparently, she wanted to be a dancer, but then decided to be a Huntress who can dance. Women, am I right?"
"Heh."
"Oh! Look at that, there's some familiar faces!"
Macro pointed to another side of the room, where a young man in a green sweatshirt and hair to match was sitting close to a young woman with pink hair and a green kimono. Glyph saw them and was overcome with disbelief.
"The Lovers? Seriously?"
"Yep, still together. You know what that means..."
Macro held out his hand. Glyph sighed angrily and reached into his coat and gave Macro a small wad of money.
"Nice doing business with you Glyph."
"Shut up."
"Don't be mad because I knew they would last the summer."
"Eh."
"Say your "eh" for them."
He nodded to another part of the room, where three girls were standing near a wall chatting. All of them were wearing fashionable clothing, and had very unique stylings. Glyph grimaced as he saw them.
"Easy, you know I want to fight "The Elite" as much as you for what they did during school and after. But we can't. Not yet anyway."
Glyph turned to Macro confused, which made Macro smile, "Don't you remember? We're going to be having lots of combat practice. Which means...if we get paired up against them...open season."
This made Glyph smile, Macro nodded in agreement, "Right there with you man. Let's see, who's left..."
Macro looks around the room, searching for people he recognized, after a bit, he lit up, "Check out the two Faunus over there."
Glyph followed Macro's eyeline and saw two girls sitting against a wall. One had rabbit ears and a simple yet very colorful attire. She hard drawings on both her arms and her pants, while she wore a kind of belt pouch across her torso. The other had a more refined attire, looking kind of like a conductor with a black like suit with blue and white underneath. She also had short white gloves. Her eyes were blue, but were textured more like a cats' eye than a human one.
"Those two are an interesting case, that's...oh no."
Glyph looked at Macro, who's expression went very hard as he looked somewhere other than the Faunus. He followed the new eyeline and saw group of guys glaring evilly at the Faunus, tossing fruit up and down into the air.
"You going to stop them, or should I?" asked Macro readying his shovel
A second later, one of the guys with the fruit shouted out, "Hey bunny! Catch!"
He threw the fruit at the Faunus, who looked up just as it was tossed. She held up her arms to stop the fruit, but it never hit. As she moved her arms, she saw Glyph standing in front of her, fruit caught in his hand undamaged. The room went quiet as Glyph made his presence felt. He glared at the group of guys with intense hatred. The group didn't back down, but they didn't make a move either.
"Grow. Up." Glyph spat out, before tossing the fruit back at them, forcing them to catch it else get splattered
Glyph then turned to the Faunus, and softened his expression, "You both alright?"
"We're fine," said the cat-eyed Faunus, "good catch."
"I didn't see you arrive," said the rabbit-eared Faunus clearly flustered, "that was awesome."
"Thanks. Stay safe."
Before either could respond he blinked out of sight, the rabbit-eared Faunus looked frantically around for him, until she saw him reappear next to Macro and sit down. She nudged her sister, "Did you see that Yasmine? He can teleport!"
"It is a rare Semblance, Leilani," said Yasmine, "we'll have to see what else he can do."
"Yeah," said Leilani with a slightly longing smile, "I'd like to see that."
Now sat down, Glyph reassumes his emotionless expression, Macro just chuckles at him, "Man, you may hate it, but you still got it."
Glyph turned and mustered a smile, "I never lost it."
"Ha! True enough. But seriously, that was cool, nice job. Glad to see your hatred of bullies hasn't gone away."
"Never."
"Another reason I want you on my team. Honestly, I think that's a good sit rep. There will be a few surprises no doubt, but for now, that's good. Cool?"
"Cool. Thank you." said Glyph with a nod of appreciation
"No problem," replied Macro with a jab playfully to Glyph's shoulder, "I love doing that to be honest. Now, I suggest we get comfortable and just watch over things until it's time to rest. Something tells me we'll be doing shifts tonight to keep the peace. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
"Just like old times! Man I sound old."
They share a laugh then stand up and get a good view of the room.
"You want the first shift? Or should I take it?"
"I'll take it."
"Ok, let me know when anything happens, deal?"
"Deal."
A few minutes later they were all prepped for rest and for watch. Though they didn't talk, they knew that this would possibly be the last night of peace like this, for the next morning would force them into new and unpredictable situations. The day where singular people, became teams.