The bullhead landed with a soft whir and the sound of air releasing as the ramp lowered. Dozens of brightly colored aspirants flowed out of the vehicle onto the bright square before it. A breathtaking view lay before them. The towers of Beacon Academy rose into the low-lying clouds as a strong wind blew past and into the scarlet forever falls behind it.

Amongst the excited, chattering masses, a solitary boy of the same age walked to a nearby bench. Resting his single case at his feet, he watched the crowd. Vibrant colors, extravagant accessories, and style. Most even had their weapons brazenly on their person and in view.

He looked down at his apparel. A mesh of greys, blacks, and white in a sleek military style. If anything it could be said he looked dull in comparison. It wasn't much different from what he was used to, however. Uniforms, camouflage, or combat fatigues. The only real difference was the weapon he now carried. A family heirloom that he modified for himself, it certainly was no standard issue Atlesian rifle.

Caelum Hyalus didn't even have his paltry military rank anymore after his unceremonial discharge and subsequent assignment to Beacon. 'You are to be trained and utilized as Vale's dog now' he was told after his punishment was issued.

He hardly had time to gather his things and speak to his family before he was loaded onto a cargo airship and then placed on public transport. Now he sat alone on a foreign continent with not even comrades in arms. 'At least these people won't try to kill or betray me' he lamented as he stood up. The crowd had begun shifting onto the school grounds animatedly chatting and greeting each other. Some males tried getting into good graces with some females, while others shyly avoided attention.

Caelum himself was out of his element, never speaking to anyone his age outside of his family and no one of the opposite gender outside of his 'service'. Approached by an individual or two who tried to initiate conversation, he was always quick to answer and leave without any room for further talk.

Orientation was the first large impression the school made. Though young, he was well-traveled and had seen many breathtaking sights. It was however the appearance of the headmaster, Ozpin, and his assistant goodwitch, that left its mark.

Students watched in awe, listening with rapt attention as his words echoed in the large room. His message caused some confusion and offense.

"You plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this but your time at this school will prove to you that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Goodwitch then took the mic and informed them to gather at the ballroom for the night and that initiation would begin in the morning. With an ominous warning of "Be ready," she left as wild murmurs erupted from the crowd of aspirants. Talk of what exactly the headmaster meant and anxiety for the next morning flowed from most of the teenagers.

Caelum's mood soured as the demeanor and speech of his soon-to-be headmaster mirrored so many of those that were left in charge of him before. In his eyes, the old man seemed more likely to move pieces on board and give a brief apology if one were to break rather than show actual care in his intentions. There was no greed, pride, or even sympathy in his words. It was an emotion Caelum knew too well. It was apathy. Even here huntsman candidates were diminished to simple application numbers.

With a bitter impression, Caelum was one of the first to leave the building. He was guided by some senior students who had volunteered their time to assist with orientation. A strange girl with a beret and sunglasses directed her friend, a female rabbit faunus to lead him and a few others to the cafeteria where a small dinner was prepared for their reception.

After the meal, the large crowd of student aspirants was directed to the soon-to-be freshman lockers to store their weapons and bags before being led to the ballroom where they would clean up in the large restrooms and rest for the night.

It wasn't hard for Caelum to find a corner and drown out the low light of candles, rambunctious wrestling, and chatter of the giddy teenagers. He had experienced much louder, much worse nights before and soon was asleep without a single conversation since orientation.

-Transition-

Raiden was amazed at Beacon and its reception. The city of Vale was astoundingly large as he had flown over it in the morning. The headmaster's speech was riveting, leaving him bristling with anticipation at initiation and the prospect of his new school life. Even the food presented to them as just initiates, not even full-blown students was impressive.

Despite all this, a bit of homesickness had ebbed its way into his heart. It would be the first night that he spent outside of his hometown. He had met a few individuals and exchanged some talk but no friends were made on the first day. Raiden was anxious about how he would perform and just how would he be placed on a team.

Questions and thoughts filled his mind as he watched the crowd of pajama-fitted teens speak amongst each other in the ballroom. Many compared it to a large sleepover, some taking the chance to obnoxiously wrestle, the reasoning lost on him.

Despite his wish to speak to others and form favorable connections regarding future teammates, his lack of sociability struck. Trapped in his comfortable corner, Raiden reasoned that there would be plenty of time once he passed initiation and joined a team. For now, he settled on people-watching. There were certainly enough colorful characters to see.

One of the most cheery individuals was a bubbly redhead who persistently stuck to a sleek look male with raven black hair. For every sound he made, she had ten words.

A male with a wide chest and clear pride sat before a group of thinner boys as he recounted stories of his training. Claims that "Winchesters only buy the best" regarding training and gear seemed to impress his audience.

There was another girl with jet-black hair and golden eyes. She wore a bow even to sleep and was off in a corner reading to herself. Raiden may have felt a tinge of compulsive youthful attraction if he hadn't noticed something strange about her. Her nightwear was of an unusual style. It was eastern, a common trend in Menagerie. He couldn't count it as anything but strange.

That was until he noticed a blonde-haired boy, of decent build yet still lanky like himself. The boy was his age and yet strutted around in a onesie as if it was normal. Feeling secondhand embarrassment at the sight, Raiden looked around for anything else.

Luckily for himself and especially the blonde fool, two girls caught some attention when they approached the girl in the strange nightwear. The most… notable of the two was a blonde girl with rather revealing shorts and top. Next to her was a petite girl with black hair and red undertones. The latter was seemingly younger than everybody else present.

The smaller girl attempted to speak with encouragement from her blonde friend to the girl reading. Raiden deduced she must have been an exemption to the rule, an honor student or the like who was allowed early entry. He felt a spark of encouragement at seeing her presence and even some envy at a girl younger than him living out the same dream.

Suddenly a white-haired girl in a pale blue nightgown stormed towards the three girls, shouting. It was as the blonde and white-haired girl shouted in unison "Oh not you again!" the younger girl tried to reason others were now trying to sleep. The arguments continued momentarily until from the far side of the room a male with slightly curled blonde hair and green nightwear rolled over and shouted over them.

"Will you kindly, Shut. The. Fuck up! We're trying to sleep!"

The girl who had been reading hurriedly grabbed one of the last remaining sources of light, a candelabra, and blew out its flames in an attempt to stop any eyes from falling on her in association with the noise makers. As footsteps followed and the girls went to lie down in the dark the boy spoke one final time.

"Thank God!"

Raiden, as well as many others in the room, took the sudden dimming and loud shout as a sufficient signal to sleep. And so he did, albeit a little uncomfortable on the floor in his sleeping bag, it wasn't too different from the sleepless nights he would find himself drifting to sleep at his workstation before waking up to a new day in the same spot.

Dreams flittered through his mind in the night. Action, adventure, friendships, heroism. Everything he dreamed of was coming true, he was a hunter! Or he would be he reminded himself in his dream. 'I just need to pass orientation. Can I pass?' he treacherously asked himself, souring his dreamscape. The rest of his sleep was none too peaceful.

Finally, morning came and with it, bleary-eyed students, lethargically emerging from their bags with yawns. Raiden felt worse for wear, his anxiety having crept up on him in his sleep and now leaving him paranoically overthinking. He flicked his glasses onto his face and looked around. He was one of the first to wake with only a few spots having already been cleared out. It wasn't long before some senior students and a teacher arrived to wake the teens and herd them to the locker rooms.

Uniformly, the teens were marched to the restrooms and freshened up before being given a light breakfast in the cafeteria. From there they were shown to the locker room once more and left unsupervised with instructions to proceed out the back doors to the cliffs facing forever falls.

Raiden nervously kept his head lower than usual as he glanced at the other students while searching for his locker. A look left and he saw a group of 4 discussing meeting up and forming a team. A few strides later and to his right he saw two more teenagers trying to convince another to join them.

Finally arriving at his locker, Raiden began to think again, perhaps to his detriment. 'Am I supposed to be trying to make a team right now? Am I already falling behind?!" His storm of emotions calmed somewhat as he opened his locker and his weapon lay before him in all its glory. The unassuming object looked like two poles with some blade heads in its dormant form but it was his pride and joy. Something only he could use and soon he would get to show off.

Closing his locker, he heard a commotion on the other side of the row. Peering around the corner he saw three figures. The girl dressed in all white who had been yelling last night, the strange boy who had worn a onesie, and a stunning beauty. The latter of which was adorned in bronze armor and alluring red hair.

Raiden made no move to speak to them, that was a bit too challenging for him at the moment but he was soon glad he remained quiet. The blonde made a fool of himself in Raiden's opinion as he pawed for the white-haired girl's attention, even going as far as to ignore the redhead and brush her aside!

Raiden shook his head as made his way to the cliffs. "Maybe I just don't think like a hunter in training should?" he muttered to himself as he thought of everyone else's actions in the morning. They certainly had their priorities from what he could see.

The mass of teenagers assembled at the cliff edge where the headmaster and Professor Goodwitch waited. Excited chatter and last-minute checkups of gear were hushed and stopped as the man, coffee cup in hand, spoke.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors and today your abilities will be evaluated in the emerald forest".

Goodwitch then continued off of him. "Now I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates, today".

Sneaking a sip of coffee Ozpin took over. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

It was here that some aspiring students couldn't refrain from speaking. Some cooed with interest, most others seemed distressed. The headmaster didn't insist on silence or wait for it, he proceeded with instructions to head north after finding a teammate and with another ominous warning.

"Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path or you will die".

Some swallowed nervously, others smiled, even laughing, accepting of the challenge. For most, it was clear that they didn't take the warning seriously. The instructions finished with the information that they were to be monitored, and graded, but not saved if found in distress. They were to find a temple at the end of a path and obtain a relic. Then guard said relic and return.

With that, the headmaster anticlimactically asked if there were any questions. As the same blonde who had seemed to be making a poor name for himself began to ask about landing strategies, Raiden's thoughts turned internal once again.

His anxiety turned to a solid pit in his stomach. He could feel the pressure mounted from that speech alone and the outcome being solely on himself. This was what he wanted right? To take the reigns of his future for himself? Looking to his left and right from beneath his blue-trimmed glasses, he became slightly more discouraged.

Standing tall and proud, the rest were confident. They were huntsmen in training. Not self-taught like he. He had never felt so overshadowed and paltry before. In his hometown, he was important, in his parent's words a prodigy.

Thankfully he didn't need to dwell on his thoughts much longer. The first wave of students was launched into the air at high speed, with the last squealing rather high-pitched. It was then Ms. Goodwitch instructed the next students to step forward. Raiden just so happened to be one. Without a thought, he stepped onto the platform and crouched. He took unsteady breaths trying to calm himself.

One by one, he heard the clunk of the platforms launching. He closed his eyes and gripped his weapon. Feeling the cool metal hilt he finally calmed somewhat. Opening his eyes just in time to see the ground beneath him leave at a frightening pace. Now airborne, he had officially started his life. He would find adventure and find his way through life through these four years of training. Find this relic and pass so he could prove himself and earn his right to attend Beacon!

But first, he had to find a way to land.

-Chapter End-