Everything must burn.
That statement… that terrible, heartless thought forced its way into her mind.
Ruby Rose looked onward, beneath the star-filled night, to the damaged streets and massive skyscrapers of the island city. Flames engulfed it all, breaking only briefly to grant glimpses of massive, shadow-like beasts preying upon helpless innocents. Perched upon the roof of one of the many buildings, Ruby could only watch in horror, her body frozen in place, as if control was never truly hers.
A figure next to her approached, cloaked in a yellow coat, green hair covering his eyes. His expression was impossible to read, save for what looked like only a tinge of remorse.
"Seraph," he spoke, his voice barely carrying over the screams in the distance. "I will take back what was stolen from me." Glimpsing at the carnage beneath them for only a moment, he paused, as if he were uncertain of his own actions. This moment was short-lived, however, as he returned his gaze to Ruby. His hair parted as he turned, revealing green, snake-like eyes. His expression was that of a sharp scowl, yet his tone carried a twisted maliciousness to it. "The time of Law and Chaos is over, Seraph," he continued. "When I'm done with this world, Remnant will be mine to rule over. All the pain, suffering, and hatred of this world will only serve to cement my place as its true God, and neither my father, nor any man or deity can stop me. As for The Axiom…" he smiled, though in a way that carried the same unmistakable malice. "I'll leave them to you."
Reaching his hand out, he held the handle of a small knife toward her, urging Ruby to accept his offer. Ruby felt her body move forward, accepting the blade, while her mouth opened. What spoke sounded alien, like an unworldly distortion of her own voice. "All will tremble before the coming of a new age… of a new Creator."
Ruby shot up from out of her bed, letting out a cry of fear as the events of her dream abruptly cut back to reality. She clutched her chest, her rapid breathing pulsing against the pain building up throughout her body. Her heart raced, her head ached, and it felt as though her eyes were on fire. The experience continued to escalate for a moment… then ended just as soon as it started.
It had been quite some time since a dream like that had taken place. Shivering from cold sweat, Ruby grabbed her blanket, wrapping it around herself as she made her way out of her room. Fortunately, the sun was beginning to peek out her window, and the beams of midsummer light reminded her that the days to come would be the start of a new life for her, as a student at Beacon Academy.
Though the thought of living so far from home was a bit intimidating, she'd be lying if the same thought wasn't incredibly exciting to her. Okay, get it together Ruby! By this time tomorrow, you'll be on an airship to Beacon! Yang will be there with you too, and you'll get to show off Crescent Rose to the world!
Heading downstairs, the young girl shook off what little anxiety remained from the dream, looking down to see her father, Taiyang, watching the morning news. Their dog, Zwei, remained fast asleep on the other end of their couch.
"I heard that scream from down here, kiddo!" Taiyang looked back as his blanket-wreathed daughter approached. "Didn't fall out of bed again, did you?"
"Nah, I just had a scary dream." Ruby awkwardly moved toward the kitchen. "Do we still have any pizza left over?"
Raising his eyebrow, Taiyang lowered the volume on the living room monitor. "Uh, it's Friday. Orientation Day. You'll be getting a free meal on the flight to Beacon, remember? Did you even remember to pack your belongings?"
Ruby stopped in her tracks. "Wait, I thought it was still Thursday?! When is the airship supposed to arrive?!"
Her father casually glanced at his scroll in response. "You've got just over an hour, Ruby. Better hustle now, or you'll be taking the boat to Beacon!" Though he acted in a joking manner, Taiyang still decided to get up to help her. "I'll grab your gear and uniforms for you. Just worry about getting cleaned up and packing everything else you'll need."
"Thanks a bunch! I'll make it a quick shower!" Using her Semblance to dash back upstairs, Ruby began what would become a very rushed and hectic process of scrambling together everything she'd need.
As her family members bolted their way upstairs, Yang came inside from a quick trip around the neighborhood. It had been rough for her to say goodbye to so many friends that she'd made on Patch, but she'd been across the water more than enough times to feel comfortable among local Valecian's. Still, I've heard that Beacon gets plenty of foreign students as well. I wonder how Ruby will handle dealing with so many different kinds of people?
Running her hands through her hair, Yang looked at her luggage that she'd set aside. "It took some serious effort to fit everything in just three bags." Letting out a light sigh, she couldn't help but chuckle to herself. "So much for traveling light…"
"Dude, we are freakin' high up, man…"
Despite the discomfort of his high school friend, Yu Narukami couldn't help but be amazed by the incredible view from the airship window. He'd never had the opportunity to fly before, and the vast scape of farmland and mountaintops gave way to large port cities and busy highways. Though he grew up in the city, much of his recent life had been spent in the quiet town of Inaba with his uncle and cousin, as well as the friends he'd made during his stay.
But seemingly out of nowhere, they'd all gotten the same letter in their mail, offering them the opportunity to study at Beacon. "Well, at least you don't get motion sickness, Kanji." He pointed towards the onboard restroom. "Some poor guy is stuck puking up his free breakfast right now."
"Damn, that shit must suck." Kanji Tatsumi, Yu's friend from Yasogami High, turned away from the window to reach into a cooler that he'd brought along with his luggage. "Gotta get my mind off this crazy height… and this freakin' heat!" Pulling out a couple frozen treats, he handed one to Yu, before pulling the wrapper off of his own. "Nothin' beats the heat like an ice-cold topsicle, am I right?"
Yu smiled in appreciation, taking the other topsicle for himself. "Thanks, Kanji. I guess this'll be the last taste of home we'll be getting until winter, huh?"
Before his bleach-blonde friend could respond, someone came bounding up to them in a hurry, nearly bumping right into Kanji. "Hey there, any chance I could snag one of those topsicles from you?!" This individual appeared to be some sort of faunus girl, with fuzzy ears and a massive, bushy tail that swept back and forth as she bounced in anticipation. Some kind of red panda? Badger? Chipmunk?
While Yu tried to put together what kind of faunus the girl was, Kanji was having a rather… different issue. The only thing more eye-catching than her animal-like features were her human assets, with which her white crop top and excessively short shorts did little to conceal. Averting his eyes in a flustered panic, he nervously stammered out a response. "Uh… y-y-yeah, go ahead and grab one of 'em from the cooler!"
"Oh man, I owe you big time!" Grabbing a topsicle for herself, she dug right in with gusto, clearly eager to cool off. "You wouldn't believe how hard it is to stay cool with all this fur…" After finishing off the Topsicle in record time, she held out her free hand towards Kanji. "Hey, thanks again! I'm Makoto Nanaya, what's your name?"
Still desperately avoiding a glance below her neck, Kanji awkwardly shook her outstretched hand. "I'm Kanji… uh, Kanji Tatsumi…"
"Oh, as in Tatsumi Textiles?"
The boy's jaw dropped in response. Sensing that Kanji was too stunned to give a timely response, Yu jumped in to cover him. "Actually, that's right. Kanji here is a relative of the shop owner." He extended his own hand in greeting. "I'm his friend, by the way. Yu Narukami."
"Nice to meet the both of ya!" Makoto returned the greeting, excitedly shaking Yu's hand enough to nearly lift him off the ground. "I'm still pretty new to Vale as a whole, but it's exciting to have the chance to become a legit Beacon student. Fightin' Grimm as a job sounds like a dream come true, doesn't it!"
Though a bit shaken from the faunus' unexpectedly strong handshake, Yu still smiled warmly in response. "Agreed!"
Suddenly, an announcement blared through the ship's speakers. "Attention all first-year students!" The gruff voice came from what Yu assumed would be the pilot, or perhaps a co-pilot. "We'll be landing in a few minutes. Please leave your belongings with the attendants and security at the landing pad. A locker number and student ID will be issued to you immediately upon arrival, so don't go running off before grabbing one. Your assigned rooms will be determined tomorrow."
Yu considered that last bit of information. If that's the case, where are we going to be sleeping tonight? Makoto, however, seemed to have a different concern. "Oh crap, I've gotta find my friend before we land! She doesn't do so well in crowds by herself." She turned and waved goodbye, before making her way through the crowd of students.
Finally able to catch his breath, Kanji let out a heavy sigh. "Damn, that girl had it all… Cute ears, fuzzy tail…"
"Big bazongas."
Nearly jumping back from Yu's deadpan delivery, Kanji freaked out in response. "D-d-dude, you can't just go sayin' stuff like that in public!"
Chuckling to himself, Yu finished the last bite of his topsicle, while looking out the window of the airship. "There it is, Kanji." He looked out past the vast cityscape, to the large structure atop the overlooking cliffside. "That's Beacon Academy. I never thought I'd really get a chance to see it, and yet here we are!"
"Woah!" Kanji exclaimed in surprise. "That place is like a freakin' castle!"
Yeah, it's like something out of a fairy tale…
