Chapter 2 – Haven Academy

"What could I possibly need?"

I said to myself. I stared at the shelves which I didn't destroy while practicing. A lot of clothing and accessories were in them. Hats. Shoes. Jackets, trousers, shirts, everything. I picked out some things which looked similar to my primary clothing style. I took my bag which I brought with me and stuffed the things I found inside it.

I walked down the stairs to the book store. There was one book which seemed to be interesting. It was a book about weapons, techniques and specifications. I walked around a little bit longer and found a few books about Grimm and Huntsmen. I took them, too. If I wanted to become a Huntsman, I had to know enough about them.

After I was finished with packing my things, I took the bag and opened the front door of my hideout. I carefully looked around.

I saw nothing on the whole street but a black car. The doors opened, and two men dressed in black got out of the car along with Greystep. He waved at me. I closed the door and walked towards the car.

"It is good to see that you decided to come anyways."

Said Greystep.

"Get in the car; I will bring you to Haven Academy safely."

"Thank you."

I got into the car and closed the door. The car began to drive out of the city, in the direction of Haven Academy. Greystep looked at me.

"Well. You got questions, I bet?"

"Sure. First. How long will the trip be, Greystep?"

"I guess it should be one hour to Haven from here. And one more thing, now it's Doctor Greystep to you. I am one of your teachers from now on."

"Alright, I understand. Plenty of time I guess. What am I going to do when we arrived?"

"Let's see. Today is the arrival schedule. There are many new students coming to the school. They either studied or learned in a fight school. You are originally coming from Sanus, right? Then there shouldn't be anyone who recognizes you at first. I'd still be careful if I were you, because your family isn't that admired. No offense."

"None taken. I see it that way, too."

"Great. Professor Lionheart is the Headmaster of the academy. He is very polite, he will personally welcome everybody in the academy, of course. You will like him. I talked to him and convinced him that you are willing to practice and study in his academy."

"What does the training look like? "

I asked. Greystep thought about that for a second.

"How shall I describe it? You will take classes and lessons. Some of them will be about history, some about fighting, and some about knowledge which is important for a Huntsman. The fighting classes will be what you would expect, because it isn't just enough to know how to defeat Grimm. You also need to have experience and practice."

"Well, it shouldn't be that difficult for me. I was taught in fighting by my father. I am sure you heard something about his skills, right?"

"Oh, of course. Your father is rather talented in fighting. Some myths exist about him,

for example decapitating a Grimm nevermore with his dagger."

I shook my head.

"Those aren't just myths, Doctor. That really happened. We were attacked by that thing, and he killed it on his own. And I will not stop learning until I got better."

"That is exactly the spirit you need."

Greystep smiled and relaxed in his seat.

"First, there is the enrollment. It will be followed by a sleepover in the great hall, to give the new students a chance to befriend themselves with each other. Tomorrow you will take part in a quest, which will test you abilities and to make it easier to integrate everyone into a fitting team of four. But this will be the headmaster's duty to tell you all."

"Wait. Make teams? What do you mean?"

Greystep noticed that I didn't know anything about the academies of Huntsmen.

"You see, every student will be in a four-man strong team. It will be decided by the way they work together on the quest.

These teams will be working together until they have their graduation."

I looked back. We passed the cities walls. Now we were on our way towards the academy. Soon we were driving through forests. We passed a few little cities which were fortified pretty heavily to protect its citizens from Grimm. Creatures of the night, attracted by fear, hatred and discord. Sometimes I wondered why my family's mansion wasn't completely wiped out then.

"Welcome to Haven Academy."

Greystep said. He pointed at the enormous mountains. The City of Mistral. It was the biggest settlement on the continent Anima. We had arrived. Only the plain sight of the massive city gave me a quick impression of the wealth of this place. It was a beautiful city, it seemed harmonizing and peaceful. I looked at Greystep.

"Now, how are we going to get up there?"

"With a little airlift. Look over there."

He pointed at an airship which was flying towards us. It landed not far away from us and picked us up. It was a wooden ship with a balloon on top which provided the ability to fly. It had an open space in the middle. A city guard stood in it, as well as another teacher from Haven. He was a relatively young man. His hair was a light black with a highlight of blue. He was wearing a long, black coat and black trousers. And I noticed a white band around his left arm. A thick beard underlined his blue eyes. He looked at Greystep, and then at me.

"Is that the student you told me about, Isodor?"

"Yes, this is Darkin Tangery."

"Aha. Hello then, Darkin. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Doctor Ikuchi Mashiro.

I am going to teach you in weapons class."

"Thank you, Doctor Mashiro. It is a privilege to be here."

"It is nice to hear that. Well, we better hurry up. The enrollment will begin soon.

Are you excited?"

He asked while he gave the pilot a thumb up. The aircraft began to float towards the city.

"Of course, Doctor. I am thankful for this opportunity."

I looked at the city from far away. It was a very exciting feeling. I saw many people who were on their ways to their family, to a meeting, to the market or their occupation. The streets were colorful; people and animals of all kinds were present. It was a big, white city. The nature was very present there. I have never seen such a beauty. It was very fascinating to see a city, built in the wilderness which was nearly untouched by the humans. The wind blew through my hair. Greystep smiled.

"I see that you are fascinated, right?"

"You won't believe me, Doctor. I haven't seen such a beautiful city in my life."

Doctor Mashiro stepped next to me and looked down, too. He put his hands behind his back.

"It sure is. I was stunned, too. The first time I came here. I actually come from Vacuo,

but I heard that Haven needed more teachers for fight classes, so I signed up."

"I understand, Doctor. Where is the school, though? I only see normal houses."

Greystep nodded into the direction of the mountain.

"The school is located on these mountains. You could easily mistake it as an extension to the city."

The ship needed a little time to fly towards the two mountains. But the sight was great. The school sat above the overall city like a huge crown. It was almost completely built out of white concrete and dark wood. The blue rooftops were distinctive. A few staircases led to a landing platform next to the cliff.

The whole academy looked like a painting, like magnificently drawn art. The City of Mistral. There was some sort of gap between the two mountains, and above which sat the academy and the CCT tower. The Cross Continental Transmit station, an invention that allowed all people of the whole world to communicate with each other. A huge complex.

I looked at the aircraft which landed on the platforms. They were modernized, not like the aircraft which we used, but it had a nice, old feeling to it. These aircraft landed on the huge landing platform.

A lot of students walked out of them and made their way towards Haven Academy. Our ship landed directly next to the entrance. All the students walked towards us. I jumped off the aircraft and looked around. The academy looked way bigger and even more beautiful, now that we were on the ground. I turned around to the teachers.

"Okay, now we're here, what comes next?"

"Now it's time for you to go with the students. We will await you all in the main hall."

Said Greystep. He turned around and walked towards the entrance with Doctor Mashiro. I turned around to the students. They walked past me without noticing me. I was glad. From now on, I would be a normal boy like everyone else. I walked with the flow. I held on to my bag. One of the straps covered my emblem on my right breast, the silver T with the yellow circle in the background. I tried to be as casually as I could, to be just like the others, but one student kept up and walked next to me.

"New here, too?"

I looked at her surprised.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't see you. Yes, I literally just joined."

"My name is Eda Eisengrau. Nice to meet you."

I was surprised by her immediacy. I nodded kindly and answered.

"Cool. I am Darkin…"

I stopped for a second. I wasn't sure. Should I give away my last name already?

"Tangery, right?"

She said. I got surprised again. I stared at the ground and nodded carefully.

"Yes. Darkin Tangery."

"Wow, exciting. I heard a lot about your family. And, I am sorry about the incident."

I was very embarrassed, I didn't know what to say.

"Thanks, I guess, but, how did you know?"

"I guessed. I saw a wanted picture of you."

I closed my eyes and breathed out. What was going to happen if she was just playing me, maybe she was... no, not a student. They wouldn't contract a student for that.

"Well, how did you get here? Aren't you wanted by those idiots over there in Atlas?"

She asked, assuring me that she definitely was no undercover cop.

"Well, a teacher here took care of that. I am not longer wanted."

"That's great to hear. Nice sword."

She said impressed and looked at my scabbard. I put my hand on its handle. We walked through the entrance now. It was a stunning sight. Everywhere were plants, trees, and staircases. We walked towards the biggest staircase right in front of us. All the students which arrived went up there, too. We walked with the flow.

"Thanks. I built it by myself, and with the help of my father."

I looked at her.

"What was your name again, excuse me."

"Eda Eisengrau. Just call me Eda."

"Okay, Eda."

I looked at the thing she held in her right hand. It was a badminton racket. It had thick metal strings in the middle of the circle. The main, I didn't know what it was called; let's say the rod functioned as a barrel. It went all the way through the handle and the long part of the racket. A trigger sat at the grip. I happened to inspect Eda Eisengrau a little closer. She wore a light gray jacket which covered her dark gray shirt.

If I walked to her left, I wouldn't have been able to see her chin, because her jacket had an upstanding collar on the left side. She wore a very short red and silver striped skirt with black silk attached below it. It seemed to resemble metal plates. It had an unusual but unique structure. Some of her clothing had red outlines. She also wore a pair of white, high boots with dark gray heels and black leggings. The leggings exposed some of her skin, there was a pattern cut in the stockings. Those caused a difference in her mostly clean and flat clothing. Her light brown eyes shined at me with a lot of friendliness.

Her blonde hair sat on her head curly and light, while her earrings shined golden. I instantly knew that she came from a wealthy family. She had that in her appearance. I asked.

"What is that, is this your weapon?"

"Yes, I call it Stahlwaltz. It is my weapon of choice. it looks like a normal badminton racket, but it is actually a racket with the ability to transform into a double-bladed javelin. And it can shoot, too. All I need to do is to transform the racket and then simply pull the trigger. It was designed by my father and built by some of his lab coats. Did I mention that I am the current worlds champion in badminton, for three years in a row?"

"No, you didn't. That sounds cool.

So, you can fight with the racket as good as you can play with it?"

"Yes, to be honest, I am imagining myself in a fight while I play against an opponent. I got some moves with Stahlwaltz. But sure, I can fight. I normally use these grenades here…"

She pointed at her belt. It was modified with pouches and many grenades and round objects, which were strapped on it. A lot of different feather balls. They had different colors, and the most of them were as thick as a fist.

"But all of them are special. They only explode when their tip comes in contact with something solid. They are modified with dust. There are actually a few ones which I didn't even try out yet. And in case you're wondering, this steel grenade here is a projectile which isn't supposed to explode. It acts like some sort of boomerang. When I hit it the right way, it pulls of many spins. Huge or tiny, the way I want it to. It took some pretty damn professionals to create all this, and it takes even more skill to use it properly."

"That sounds complex. You are kind, though. I like you already."

"Oh, thanks. I didn't think that I would meet someone here who is like you. But okay, enough of me. What is your weapon called? Does it have a name?"

"Well."

I looked at my weapon. We still walked up the circular staircase. We soon would come into the main hall which the teachers meant.

"I call it Destiny's Sun. it has two transformations. At first it is a sword, but when I bend the grip, it turns into a pistol. The barrel extends and the blade itself pulls in.

That way, I can make a few damn decent moves, to say the least."

"Quite interesting idea. It surely comes in handy sometimes."

We finally got up the staircase with all the other students. The main hall was huge indeed. We walked in and stood in front of a big stage. The Headmaster stood there already, together with a lot of teachers. He had blonde, mid long hair and a beard, and it all looked like the mane of a lion. Coincidence?

But he seemed very young to be the Professor of an Academy. He barely was older than Greystep.

He looked nice and friendly, and his voice told me that he wasn't all too confident. But he seemed qualified. Eda was stunned.

"Wow, that is Professor Leonardo Lionheart."

"You heard of him, right?"

"Oh, of course. I really am excited to join the academy. He is a talented leader.

I heard a lot of good things about him."

I was fascinated by Eda. She was polite, and she didn't even want to hear anything about my past. I really liked her. Soon all the students arrived in the main hall. The Headmaster tapped against the microphone once, then he addressed us.

"Good evening, students, and welcome to Haven Academy. I am Professor Leonardo Lionheart, your future Headmaster. I hope you've already got a good, first impression of Haven. It is a very nice and quiet place to learn, to study, to make friends and, most importantly of course, become a Huntress or a Huntsman. You should have got the idea what it's like to be a Huntsman already.

It means that you need to risk a lot, you will be in danger sometimes, and you will get pushed to your limits, sooner or later. But to prevent all this, and to give you a maximum quality graduation, we will provide you a very good training. Now, to make it short, I will tell you all the things which will await you in the next days. First, there is the opportunity for you all to make friends, and to get used to teamwork. Then, tomorrow, you will take part in a quest But I am going to tell you everything you need to know when we have arrived there. If you have any regards, questions, or perhaps any problems, don't hesitate to ask me or the teachers for help and guidance.

For now, I wish you all a nice day, and a good night. Thank you."

He walked away from the podium and went to the teachers. The students walked out if the main hall again. Eda looked at me and said.

"Well, I guess it's time to find more friends, right?

We are weak on our own, but together we are strong."

We didn't even need to walk a lot. After our first steps, we were stopped. A boy, nearly twice as strong as me, stepped in our way. He wore a leather jacket and brown trousers. His hair reminded me of a bottle of grease.

"Oh. This can't be, right? What do we have here? Bigwigs."

"What?"

Asked Eda.

"You heard right, you are not going to become good Huntsmen. I bet my head that you are afraid of dirt, am I right?"

"Well." I took a deep breath.

"Then you must walk around with less brain than you already got, buddy. You don't even know who you are talking to. So, please, get out of our way."

"Or what?"

He said loudly. A few students around us looked at us. Great. Attention was exactly what I needed. Thank you, idiot, for assuring that.

"What is going to happen? Are you going to hit me with your cute little racket, or what?"

"No, buddy."

A voice said next to me. It was a girl, just a little bit taller than Eda was. She stepped towards the bully. She was wearing a white belly top. Her thin light brown jacket covered her chest. Her pelvis was covered by a light grey and loose pair of trousers. She held onto a folded in stick, hanging from her shoulder on a thick strap.

"You will get serious problems."

She looked serious, just as the girl next to her. She was a Faunus. A human with traces of an animal. She had two sharp, snake like teeth which were visible even when she closed her mouth. She wore an outmoded, bluish armor. It looked a lot like an old soldier's armor, probably from the Great War. Her black boots were modified with some spikes along the heel. Her weapons hung on her waist, two large pistols, placed in holsters.

She spoke up.

"Right. Leave them alone, dude."

"Oh, wow, go back into your jungle, where you belong, snake girl."

This escalated quickly. I took a step forward. I didn't appreciate bullying and racism. Another student came to us. He was playing with a modified Yo-Yo. It appeared to be his weapon of choice. He looked a bit unique as well. Apparently, he was the technicolor type of guy. He wore a green hooded pullover with some yellow and black stripes across it in a wild pattern.

He wore black sneakers and blue checkered tracksuit pants. His eyes were covered by colored sunglasses. His pink hair was covered by a black beanie, on which a catchphrase was printed. Yo-Yo, yo. He stared at the ground, or at his Yo-Yo rolling up and down on the string.

"You got a pretty nose; 'd be a shame if it got broken. Accidents happen. Get outta here."

The bully backed off a little bit. The guy with the Yo-Yo stepped in front of Eda Eisengrau and made a trick. Then he stopped playing with it and stared right into the face of the bully.

"Whatcha waiting for? Go read a book, then talk to them again."

The bully looked angered at us all. Then he turned around and walked away.

The snake Faunus girl looked at us all and smiled.

"Is everything okay? Did he hurt you?"

"Nah, everything alright. Thank you for your help, all of you."

"Absolutely no problem."

The Yo-yo dude said. He was chewing gum and looked at us through his sunglasses.

"Name's Pale Luken. Nice to meet folk who need help. That mostly means you're cool."

The girl next to me nodded and addressed all of us.

"I agree with you, Pale Luken. I am Ivory Zogeiro. And I can't stand out bullies."

"My whole life was formed by bullies, you see. I know how you guys must feel."

The Faunus explained. She made a light bow towards us all.

"My name is Thistle Turika."

I introduced myself.

"My name is Darkin Tangery."

No comments. No questions, no insults. Just normal expressions.

"I am Eda Eisengrau. And much obliged."

She said. We all went towards the stairs together. Pale Luken looked at her, but this time he took his Technicolor glasses of. His eyes were, and what a surprise, blue-yellow. I never saw anything like that before. Two colors shared their space. It looked cool though. He stared at Eda.

"Wait. You are THE Eda Eisengrau? Three years' champion in the world tournaments?"

She blushed a little and replied.

"Yes I am. You know me?"

"Of course, Curl. Saw your second tournament in the show, and the third one, too. The way you did ya feints before playing drives amazes. Not even mentioning the second play,

where you flicked, and that hairpin net shot, damn."

"Wow, thank you. I improved my feints with the times. Now everyone thinks I would do a push shot, but in reality, I play a net shot, sometimes while jumping up.

But this comes with a little bit of practice though."

"Sure. Heck, otherwise every rookie could pull off something like that."

I exchanged looks with Ivory. She just stared at them with a surprised look. She shook her head and pulled on the strap of her weapon while we went down the stairs.

"I don't understand that kind of stuff; there are way too many difficult terms for that sport."

I nodded. I completely agreed with her.

"Same here. I prefer the good old card game."

"Wanna go to the tree hall? It is a great place to hang out."

Asked Thistle. She looked at us.

"Sure, why not?"

Ivory replied joyful.

"After all, the Headmaster said that we shall make friends.

And we all broke the ice already I assume."

"Great. Let's go there, then. I still need to master the triple ground bump.

I need a silent place for that, to concentrate."

Said Pale, speaking like he wanted to blow our mind when he said to concentrate. He put on his technicolor glasses again.

I asked.

"Hey, what kind of gum do you chew, Pale?"

He gave me a gum in response. I inspected it. It was wrapped in green paper. He wrote something on it.

I looked at it a bit closer. The writing revealed a word. Activator.

"Whoa, no, don't you take that. I'm sorry, I gave ya the wrong one."

He hastily took it out of my hand and exchanged it with a different one which he got out of his belly belt, which he was wearing under his hoodie.

"Why shouldn't I take that one?"

"It's even more special and tacky wacky, ya know?"

Thistle crossed her arms and smiled at Pale. He was busy with putting away the gum again. He noticed her troubled expression.

"Nah, it's nothing. It activates my Semblance. I've got like, some sort of, you know, fail in my brain box. That's where the eyes come from."

He pointed at his glasses while he still was working under his hoodie.

"It's not natural. My father and my grandmother had that, too. I discovered some ways to activate my Semblance anyways, but the gum is the safest way to get it rollin'."

He finished with putting the gum away and turned to me again while walking. I should mention that we were still on a staircase, maybe five more steps and the staircase ended. He walked in front of me, backwards. Down the stairs. And he stared at me.

"So, what you got now? I hope not an activator again."

I looked at the wrap.

"Nothing, just a normal one I assume."

I opened the wrapping and chew on the gum. It flattered my tongue with a flavor of strawberry.

I was curious though.

"So, Pale, what does your Semblance do?"

"I can see everything around me. Like them senses of a cat. The sky fades to yellow, metal structures shine red, The skin of humans appears bluish, I'm winking twice as often than normal. And I don't feel heat and emotions, yo."

He pointed at his shoulder bag which he was wearing, which matched with his hoodie.

"I got all kinds of names for 'em. Activators, Headmasters, Headmindeyes, Berry Pops, Shenanigans. Take 'em, but be aware."

Pale bent down in my direction and pointed his fingers at his hand, while twisting his wrists.

"They make your eyes feel your mind, and the mind tells the head to stop.

That's their name, you see."

I was impressed by him. He was a cool and down dude, very comfortable wherever he went.

"Man. You are crazy indeed.

And you are trying to tell me that you are chewing that all the time?"

"Of course. Well, not all the time. And 'specially not the Activators. They're for combat only. The ones I just named, These are the normal kinds of gum I plug,

for example Headmasters."

"Headmasters? Explain."

Eda wasn't sure what she should think of that one; neither did I. Pale pointed at his head.

"No, not the Headmasters like the Professors, I mean a heads master. Like, someone is inside you and commands what you are doing. But this one is still a work in progress."

We continued to walk to the garden area. We stepped in and were greeted by a sight which was difficult to describe. It was beautiful. A big glass roof, and inside of this big hall were trees, grass, ponds and banks. The white walls combined with dark wood really contributed to this healthy appearance. We took a seat on one of the banks.

Ivory took her weapon off her shoulder and put it in front of her.

"What is that, Ivory?"

"This is my weapon. I called it Shiro. It can unfold into its full scale, but when it is folded in like this, I can simply pull a lever on it and a blade switches out. Then I can use the string to wield it around and to hit targets. The string can detach with a short pull."

"Sounds very practicable."

Thistle remarked. I angled my head.

"I am interested in your weapons, Thistle. What do you use?"

"These are pistols which I got from my great grandfather. He fought in the war for Mistral."

She took one gun out of its holster. The barrels were very long, probably half of the length of her arm.

"I modified them.

They can unfold a blade which is currently in that steel casing in front of the magazine."

She pointed at the handle.

"And this bends upwards, so it forms a straight line with the barrel.

I can still shoot the gun itself when it is in the state of a bayonet."

"Sounds useful, it surely comes in handy."

Eda commented. She took the massive steel grenade out of her belt and held it over her racket. She let go of it and let it fall on the rackets net. She balanced it then on the thick steel.

"So, where do you come from?"

I asked my newly found friends.

"I'm from Sanus."

Thistle nodded and explained.

"I am coming from the Kingdom of Vacuo. I didn't want to attend the academy there.

I wanted to explore the world a bit. Remnant can be beautiful."

Ivory pointed at herself.

"I'm from here. I lived in a settlement, but it got attacked by Grimm, and we had to flee."

"Sorry to hear that."

Pale said. He was playing with his Jo-Jo.

"I'm from Anima, too. I used to live on a small farm, not far from here. My family earns the paper with farming. But to be honest, that's nothing for me.

I want to become a Huntsman to protect the folk of Remnant."

Eda bobbed her head and said.

"My parents, back in Vale, wanted me to join this academy so I could learn to defend myself. Every one of my family was attending a fighting school eventually. After my graduation, I shall come home and continue my career as a badminton world star. But to be honest, I don't want to. And I won't go back. I will spend the rest of my life with being a Huntress. And no one will stop me from doing so."

"You sound confident, curl."

Pale stated. He stared at his Yo-Yo.

"Hey, Dark, why'd you join the academy?"

I thought about that for a second, then I answered.

"I wanted to be a Huntsman all the time. My family did horrible things, and I don't want to continue that. While I was in this one harbor, I met Doctor Greystep. He is a teacher here, and he got me a place. Because of him I am out of there. And out of danger.

And I don't have a bounty on my head as well."

"Hm. Even If you came from that family and did the things they did, too. The thing that alters the case is you regretting that you had something to do with it. But heck, you're even denying them. That means you're are serious, and with that, a cool dude.

And cool dudes are friends of mine."

Ivory pointed at Pale and nodded. She looked at me.

"He is right, Darkin. I think so, too.

If you ever need help with something, don't hesitate to ask."

I was flattered. I thanked her for the offer. Eda carefully asked.

"How did you manage to get a bounty on your head, if I am allowed to ask?"

"Of course, you can. I… my family was famous for doing bad things, especially in the area around our mansion."

Thistle asked.

"What did they do?"

"Well, robbing people. There was that one situation in which they completely flattened a mafia in a village next to us. They also took on mercenaries and politicians."

Ivory was curious. "But you haven't done anything wrong?"

I replied.

"The only crime I committed was to tolerate that stuff. They are dead to me. And probably dead in real life. That is my origin story. The other incidents, I bet you can imagine them."

"Probably."

Eda said. She leant back and closed her eyes while she crossed her arms behind her head. Ivory stared at something behind me. I turned my head around to see a big, blue flower. I looked at her again.

"What is it, ivory?"

"I am just so excited about this place. You see, I have a passion for the nature. That one over there, it is useful for crafting medicine. Put its roots into water and heat it.

Then drink it and it'll help your Aura regenerating. Or this tree over there."

Ivory pointed at a tree which stood separated. Its leaves were a lot thicker and blotched with a darker green. It was massive and huge roots had been growing all around it.

"It has fruits which are secretly hanging very close to the crown. You can't see those from the outside, but if you climb up the tree, you can see them. They taste really good. The nature is very important to me. It gives me something I never had. Passion and peace."

She smiled self conscious, but she didn't explain what she meant with that. No wonder, we all just met.

My look went over to two students who were approaching us. The male student looked a bit shy, though.

He was wearing a uniform, just as the female student next to him. A black jacket and black trousers, with white outlines and a white band around the left arm. I straightened and looked at those students. The boy was holding a bag in his hand. The female student began to address us.

"Good day, fellow students. Do you have a second?"

"Well."

Ivory said and looked around.

"I guess so. What is it?"

"Oh, just a little… call it a welcoming. We are here to present you with your uniforms. They are all handed out to the students. We and a few others volunteered to hand them out to you. Here you go."

They gave each one of us a pair of these uniforms. I took mine and inspected it. I instantly thought about mixing a bit of yellow into the appearance. I probably had to wear something yellow under it. Every one of us got one now, and the students which gave us the clothing went back to their first position. And stiffened a bit.

" So, what is your name?"

Thistle asked the male student. He looked at us confused.

"Gris Hamelinn. Why?"

"Oh, we were just exchanging information about each other, that's all."

She replied. Gris Hamelinn sort of bowed a bit and smiled awkwardly.

"Ah, I am sorry.

I always get a bit nervous whenever there are huge amounts of people around me."

"Oh, no problem, dear."

She looked at the girl. She spoke up, before thistle could ask her the same question.

"I am Yellwin Pyre. Just call me Yellwin. Same goes for Gris, right?"

She looked at her friends and hit him lightly with her elbow. Gris nodded.

"Oh, of Course. Yeah, Gris. Gris. Just call me like that."

"Okay then. So, what're you doing? I mean, free time and stuff."

Pale asked. He put the folded uniform away and continued practicing with his yo-yo.

Yellwin nodded and said.

"I like reading books, and writing some, too."

Gris bobbed his head and said.

"I don't really have hobbies, I just hang out with people and…

yeah, practice my combat techniques."

"Oh, cool. What do you fight with?"

I asked. Gris looked at me and answered.

"I fight with a rifle which can unfold into a halberd.

It is an older model, but it works out fine."

"Cool. And what do you use, Yellwin?"

She took out a pen out of a pocket attached to her top. She held it up to let us all see it.

"This here is my weapon. Unapproachable, am I right?"

We all looked at it puzzled. I don't want to sound rude, but it actually was just a pipe. An elliptic glass sat on top of it, containing a great deal of purple dust.

"What exactly is that? Looks like a pen."

"It is a pen."

She replied proud.

"Well, something like that at least. That is my weapon. I create solid forms of dust and can throw them around or shoot them, or kick, punch and wield it around. Just as I like.

The thicker the form is, the heavier is the impact. It's that easy."

"That. Is the most interesting weapon I have ever seen."

Eda said fascinated. Yellwin just kept smiling.

"Oh, I know. It is very unusual to see such a weapon, yet alone the idea behind it. But enough talking now, my friends, we still need to hand out those uniforms. Anyways, the sleepover in the great hall will be funny with you guys, I see that you are pretty cool.

See ya."

She waved friendly and went off with Gris. We looked after them. "Man, this is even more fascinating that I thought." Thistle said.

"I didn't expect this whole thing to turn out that interesting."

I stood up and shook my arms a little bit. Sitting around bored me.

"It sure is. I think, we should inspect the school a little bit more, I mean,

now is the best opportunity for that."

Ivory nodded and stood up, too. She lifted her weapon up and hung it over her shoulder.

"Great idea. I really want to see the rest of the academy."

"Especially the garden, huh?"

Pale asked, both friendly and mocking.

"Of course. What did you think, do you really think that I would just sit around in such

an amazing place and study without one plant in my room?"

"That was a joke, sis. Calm down."

Pale explained while bobbing his head.

"I am down, dude."

Replied ivory and cackled. Eda rolled her eyes and addressed thistle.

"Wow, I can't believe it. We hung out for nearly fifteen minutes now,

and they are already becoming friends."

"I know, right?"

Thistle replied while she inspected the uniforms.

I smiled self conscious. These guys were cool. I never had a real friend. Well, there was the butler from my family, Apilred. He sometimes was a person I could talk to. And that one guy, a soldier. He was probably against his will there, or he just didn't give two fucks about his job. He was calm, and pretty cool to be honest. But now I could finally forget all that.

We kept walking through the hallways and up the stairs. Everywhere was wooden furniture and casings with medals and weapons. Pictures were hanging all over the place. Either pictures of people, students or Huntsmen. Kings and politicians, and of course pictures of Remnants' continents and every important scenery. Haven was truly an astonishing place.

"Pale, how does your weapon work? I mean, the Yo-Yo is your weapon, right?"

"Yeah, it's my weapon. I use it to block, attack, all thanks to the steel rope. And I shoot fire with her. I got enough speed, she spits fire. Literally."

Pale replied. He took out a red crystal and rubbed it over his Yo-Yo. It was a whole crystal of dust, at least one hundred grams.

"Wow, where did you get such a huge dust stone?"

"I have my sources, pal. Ain't difficult to get that stuff."

"Yeah sure, but you carry around a whole stone."

He shrugged.

"Actually, I have six of those with me all the time."

"It seems to me that you have a lot of connections, with a lot of money though."

"I don't. I am just a normal boy just like you, Dark."

I had to smile. I angled my head and stared at the wall.

"I wouldn't describe myself as a normal boy. I am more like a coldhearted ghost."

I meant that sarcastically of course. The others understood.

"You are a child, just like us, dummy."

Replied Eda and rolled her eyes.

"Probably."

I said and smiled. They didn't have a clue.

I looked around. The great hall was the place where every student was sleeping for the first night. A sleepover. I sat on my bedroll and wanted to begin reading the book about the detective and his cases, but I got interrupted.

"Hey, mind if I have a place here?"

Eda asked. She let her bedroll drop on the ground next to me. I looked at her.

"Why don't you sleep on the girls' side? Isn't this a bit too close to all the guys?"

"Oh, I don't care about that. I'm used to be looked at, you know."

"You've got a point there."

It was somehow difficult not to look at her. She was beautiful. And now she was wearing just a tight shirt and short panties. I didn't speak a lot with girls, or even considered to be interested in them. Eda sat down next to me. She began to take her earrings of.

"What are you reading?"

"Oh, it is just a book I found in my old hideout. It's titled Tales of the Detective. It's about a detective who tries to figure out why people were kidnapped in his hometown."

"Wow. That sounds interesting. I have never been into this sort of thing;

reading isn't a hobby which I could have fun with."

"Why is that? Are they boring to you?"

"No. I really don't know. It just doesn't get a hold on me."

She smiled self conscious.

"I really appreciate your manors, Darkin. You are not that kind of boy I see every day. Sometimes they just want to hang out with a rather famous girl, or they just want to have… you know, a relationship with me. because I'm hot or something, I don't care. I cannot even tell the difference, I never had a boyfriend before."

"Well, I can't imagine how that worked out."

Impressive work, Darkin, a real damn gentleman. My tongue was faster than my head. Eda smiled, and then she giggled. She didn't get offended.

"You really don't talk a lot with girls, huh?"

"I am really not used to it, I am sorry."

"Oh, Darkin."

Eda hit me with her fist on my arm. Not hard. More like the friendly way.

"No need to excuse you. I know you already, pretty good I would say."

She leant over to me and whispered.

"And the thing you said with no boyfriend.

This could change at any given time, you hear me?"

I blushed very extensive. Eda was an amazing person. I couldn't stop thinking of that last sentence. Also, I couldn't believe that she took my stupid statement so well.

"So, you said you don't speak a lot with girls, right?"

"Yes. I don't know, I'm just not that good at it I guess."

"Don't you worry, Darkin Tangery. I am going to give you some advice on girls.

First of all."

She put her earrings away and pointed at herself.

"You might think that girls normally want gentlemen. Forget that. There are two kinds of girls. Some want boys who look cool and pretend super strong. And there are girls like me. I pay more attention on characteristics and personalities. I don't want boys who try to cover their real personalities, because they are just denying their selves."

Eda looked me in the eyes. They sparkled.

"You, sweetheart. You may be clumsy or shy. But this is you.

That makes you cute in my opinion. You've got chances."

I blushed even harder. My face began to look like a bang red tomato, fresh from the garden.

"I… I don't know what to say. That is really flattering. Thank you. That means a lot to me."

"No problem, darling.

We smiled. Then, I laid down on my bedroll and put my arms behind my head. I stared at the ceiling. I just now realized that there was a huge painting. Right on the ceiling.

"Wow."

I said, stunned by the shier validity of the artwork.

"That is what I call a huge painting."

"What?"

Eda asked politely. I bobbed my head upwards.

"There. At the ceiling."

She looked up and kept looking at the ceiling, too. She widened her eyes as she just realized that we all have been looking at the ground the whole tie.

"Wow. That's really big. What does it represent?"

"It guess it portrays us. Three years later."

"What do you mean? I just see colorful people and environments.

They are holding weapons, or something shiny in their hands."

"Those are Huntsmen. It is a painting which depicts the good things we bring,

the peace we stand for. We defeat the Grimm, so the people around us can life in peace."

"You really know a lot about us. But, now that you mention it.

You are right. It is a beautiful painting."

She laid down on her bedroll. She took a blanket and covered her body with it.

"But, we should fall asleep now. We have a busy day tomorrow."

"Guess so. Good night, Eda." I replied.

"Good night, Darkin."

Three days full of events. The way I came to be a Huntsman. I was certain that it couldn't get better. And soon I was going to find out that this wasn't the truth. Everything went way better in the following days, vastly better than I could've imagined.