As the Bullhead containing the newly enrolled first-years of Beacon landed, student after student came pouring out, each one wide-eyed and filled with excitement as they took in every inch of the campus that was to be their new home for the next four years. Emerald Sustrai was not an exception to this.

"Wow.. So, this is Beacon, huh?" Emerald said, as she stood before an archway that led into Beacon "It's even more amazing up close. Can you believe this is a school, Mercury?" She asked her friend but when she received no response, she turned around only to see that he was nowhere to be found "Damn it, Mercury!" Immediately, she started to look for her friend who had suddenly disappeared. After a few moments of looking around, she saw Mercury nearby talking to a Faunus girl with dog ears.

"Hey, there. Mercury Black. And who are you?" Mercury asked the girl as he put on his most confident smile "You know, there's something wrong with my scroll. It doesn't have your-" Before he could finish however, he suddenly felt a stinging sensation on his ear as Emerald came from behind him and began pulling on his ear.

"Mercury! Honestly, can't you go one day without trying to flirt with a random girl?!" Turning to the Faunus girl Mercury had bothered, Emerald began apologizing for her friend's behavior "I am so sorry for my friend here" Accepting the apology, the girl quickly took this chance to flee from the scene.

"Wait.. I-.. Damn it.." Mercury said as the girl quickly disappeared from the scene "Seriously, Em? Why'd you do that?" He asked, only to receive a killer glare from her. If looks could kill, Mercury would have been long dead by now.

"Just one day, Mercury.. One day.. That's all I'm asking" Emerald told her friend

"Ughh.. Fine, MOM.." replied Mercury, as he began to walk towards the Beacon auditorium "By the way, have you heard from Cinder yet?"

"No, but I'm sure she'll be fine.. It's Cinder, after all"

"That's not exactly a reassuring thought, Em"

"Heh.. I guess you're right.. Cinder can be a bit-" Before she could finish that thought, Emerald suddenly bumped into another boy's back, causing the both of them to fall to the ground, back first.

"Ow.." the boy said, rubbing his back as he slowly got up.

"Need a help there, buddy?" Mercury asked, offering the boy his hand

"Thanks" The boy said, taking Mercury's hand. As he got up, Mercury saw that the boy was taller than him, with red and brown hair spiking backwards. He also did not fail to notice that the boy was a Faunus, evident from the two horns on either side of his head. The boy's eyes were red and he wore a long-sleeved black trench coat with slit sleeves and more red designs with a white symbol on the left side while also sporting long black pants, black shoes, and black gloves while holding a katana on his right hand.

"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry for bumping into you like that! I wasn't looking where I was going" Emerald said, immediately getting up and apologizing as hard as she could at the boy.

"It's fine.. I guess it's partly my fault for just standing in the middle of the path like that" the boy replied, rubbing the back of his head "I was just admiring Beacon, that's all."

"It's amazing, right?! I mean, I've read about how amazing Beacon is from books and I've seen pictures of it before but to actually see it up close like this is just breathtaking."

"Oh, boy.. You have to forgive Emerald.. It's been her dream to enter Beacon since she was a kid" Mercury said, explaining on behalf of his friend "I'm Mercury, by the way. Mercury Black." He said, offering a handshake to the boy.

"Adam. Adam Taurus" Adam replied, taking Mercury's hand "And it's fine. I think Beacon's pretty amazing, too"

"Hi. I'm Emerald Sustrai. Are you a first-year, too?" Emerald asked.

"Yes, I am" Adam replied

"Awesome. So, which combat school did you go to? Mercury and I went to Sanctum before coming here"

"Oh… uh… I didn't go to combat school.." Adam replied, looking away "I was… A friend of mine trained me how to fight"

"Really? Considering you got into Beacon without attending combat school, that's pretty impressive" Mercury said

"Thanks. Well, I'll see you guys around" Adam said, before he made his was to the auditorium

"Not much of a talker, is he?"

"Oh, leave it alone.. We just met, after all" The duo then continued making their way towards the auditorium themselves. The both of them knew they were lost but neither one of them wanted to say anything, lest having it rubbed in their faces by the other.

"Hey Emerald, I got a question for you" Mercury said suddenly, as the duo was still wandering around Beacon.

"Hmm?"

"You ever wonder why the huntresses of the world look like they're all part-time supermodels?"

"Huh?!"

"I mean, think about it.. There's Professor Salem, the Headmistress, there's Cinder, there's also-" Mercury caught himself staring at Emerald before he could finish the sentence "I mean, look around you at all the Huntresses here in Beacon"

"You were about to say something about me, weren't you?"

"Maybe it has something to do with Aura…" Mercury said, ignoring Emerald's question. As the two teens continued on, before they realized it, they were finally in front of the auditorium where every first year was supposed to gather.

"Finally, we made it" Exclaimed Emerald "Now, I wonder where's Cinder" Emerald wondered aloud. Looking around the place, she saw a lot of people had gathered. From a guy with a bowler hat in a white suit talking to a short pink-haired girl to a pair of twins, with one of them wearing all red and the other wearing all white, "The world really is a huge place, huh?" Emerald thought to herself

"Hey! Emerald! Mercury!" a voice shouted "Over here!" Looking around, Mercury saw that Cinder was in her usual clothes at the front of the gathering of students, right in front of the stage.

"There she is.. Let's go, Em" As the duo reached the front of the group, Emerald suddenly jumped on to Cinder, giving the raven haired girl a big hug

"Cinder! I was so worried about you when I heard about the attack! Are you okay? What happened? He didn't hurt you, did he? I'll kill that bastard myself if I have to"

"Calm down, Em" Mercury told the girl

"Calm down?! How can I calm down?! How can YOU calm down?! Our friend here was attacked last night by a wanted criminal. Cinder could have been hurt!" Emerald shouted, less than impressed with how nonchalant her friend was about the situation.

"Emerald" Cinder said "I'm fine. Really, I am" She quickly added as she saw the look of disbelief on the girl's face "He didn't hurt me and plus, Professor Rainart arrived just in time before anything serious happened"

"Pretty unlucky, if you ask me, for you to run into a famous criminal the night before school started" Mercury chimed in.

"Tell me about it. I feel like destiny has something against me"

"So, what was he like? Jaune Arc, I mean" Mercury asked, which caused Emerald to lean in as well, curious

"Honestly, I didn't fight him. He just sent a couple of his goons to do the dirty work for him" answered the girl

"That's disappointing"

"The guy sounds like a coward" Before the trio could continue with their conversation, Professor Salem appeared on the stage, accompanied by Professor Rainart.

"Shh.. Guys, quiet.. The Headmistress is about to start her speech" Cinder told her friends, excitement oozing out of her

"I'll… try to keep this brief, for your sake" she started "Now, each and every one of you gathered here today in this auditorium have come in search of knowledge. Knowledge to assist you in becoming a Hunstmen. How you use that knowledge will be up to you. Whether it be for the sake of the people or personal gain, once you have left this school, it is your responsibility to use the knowledge gained wisely. Your time in this school will show you exactly how huge a burden of responsibility comes with power. Thank you" With that, the Headmistress then walked off the stage and Professor Rainart made his own announcement

"Everyone, all of you here will gather in the ballroom tonight and tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed" He tells the group of students in a strict tone

"O… kayy.. Is it just me or did she sound… a bit off to you?" Mercury asked the two girls

"It definitely wasn't just you.. She seemed like she was in a different place" Cinder added

"Yeah but forget about that" said Emerald "Guys, can you believe it?! We've wanted to enter Beacon ever since our first year in Sanctum and now here we are!"

Cinder chuckled at her green haired friend "Yeah, I guess it is kind of hard to wrap your mind around. Well, in any case, I think we should get our stuff- wait, where's Mercury?" Cinder asked, suddenly aware of her gray haired friend's disappearance

Looking around, Emerald could only sigh as she found her friend, as he was talking to a pair of twins "I'll get him" she told Cinder and not a moment later, Emerald was seen dragging Mercury away from the twins

[That night, in the auditorium]

The auditorium had been divided into two sides, one was for the boys and the other for the girls. Cinder was, obviously, on the girls side and was lying down on her stomach, in the middle of writing a letter home to her Aunt Raven when suddenly, Emerald came plopping down beside her, a smile on her face

"Hey there. Watchu doing?" Emerald asked

"Just writing a letter to Aunt Raven, telling her all about Beacon"

"Why? Can't you just use a scroll for that? Or the CCT?"

"You know how she is" Cinder answered, looking at Emerald "She's not exactly the biggest fan of modern technology"

"Or so she says" replied Emerald "She just doesn't want to admit she's terrible with stuff like that. Well, I guess that's just how old people are"

"Better not let her hear you talk about her like that" Cinder reminded her friend "She may be old but she's pretty much the best at fighting with a sword"

"Heh, yeah.. You're right about that" While chatting with Cinder on the floor, Emerald noticed Mercury talking to Adam, who was sitting by the corner of the room with his scroll in hand, his attention half-focused on his conversation with Mercury, the other half on his scroll "Hey, there's the guy I met this afternoon. Come on, I'll introduce you" Emerald said, as she got up and took Cinder's hand

"So, Adam, which combat school did you go to?" Mercury asked before he noticed the two girls approaching "Uh-oh. Heads up. Here comes trouble"

Confused, Adam looked up to see Emerald dragging another girl by the hand "Hey, Adam. Thought I'd save you from whatever hell it was Mercury was bringing you through"

"Screw you, Em" answered the silver haired teen, glaring at the girl

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Emerald replied, a sly smile on her face "Oh, by the way Adam, this is my friend, Cinder"

"Hello. My name's Adam. Adam Taurus. Nice to meet you" the faunus said, looking at the girl beside Emerald

"Hello. As Emerald just said, I'm Cinder. Cinder Fall. It's nice to meet you, Adam" she replied with a small smile "I hope we'll get along great for the next four years" A few moments of awkward silence followed after that, before Emerald spoke.

"So, Adam, I noticed earlier that you used a sword as a weapon?" she asked, intent on breaking the awkward silence

"Yeah, I do. It's actually more of a… katana" the boy answered, causing Cinder to perk with curiosity

"A katana? That's so cool. I make use of swords, as well. A pair of twin daggers, to be precise" Cinder continued, a slight hint of pride in her words. She then made her way closer to the boy "If you don't mind me asking, where did you learn to fight?"

"I uh… A friend thought me how to fight.. Since I was young"

"Hmm.. Is he a skilled Huntsmen?"

"It's a 'She', actually, and no, she isn't a Huntress but she is skilled" Adam replied as he looked down, deep in thought.

"Sounds like an amazing woman. I'd like to meet her someday" Cinder replied

"Well uh.. it was nice talking to you three but I think I'm gonna go to bed now. 'Early to bed, early to rise' and all that, after all. Goodnight" The faunus told the trio, as he shut off his scroll before getting up and making his way to his sleeping spot.

"Yeah, I think I'm out, too. See you tomorrow, Cinder. Emerald, we'll see" Mercury said with a smirk before the three friends parted ways for the night.

~Chapter 2 END~