The sun shined brighter than usual in the City of Vale and the streets were bustling with citizens. Out from the block, Daniel dragged a large luggage bag in his left hand and a sleeping bag hanging around his right shoulder. In addition to his loaded baggage, a hunting rifle hung around his left shoulder, and pistols in their holsters on the side of his hips. The rifle was more reminiscent of an antique polished to look brand new. Seemingly simple weapons a normal citizen could pick from any weapons store.
"Okay, five more blocks up here, three blocks to the left, and two blocks to the right up a long flight of stairs… Then I'll be at the skyport… Why does following map directions have to be this ludicrous?" Daniel groaned.
He trotted around his belongings while making it up to the skyport. Upon reaching the top, it was filled to the brim with young Huntsmen and Huntresses in the making. He scanned the area and noticed Ruby standing with a long-haired blonde wearing revealing clothing consisting of a tan jacket to show her midriff and black compression short-shorts.
"Aura isn't going to save you from taking any less damage with how much skin you're showing lady…" Daniel thought as he moved closer to the boarding line.
Brushing past him was a young woman with long black hair and a black bow on her head holding a duffle bag and a book with one hand. Daniel caught a slight scent of fish and commented,
"Must be some good fish in that bag?"
The young woman jerked her head around to him, with a face of disdain and disgust at his comment. She became perplexed when he gave a wink to her the moment they made eye contact. He noticed an instance of her bow twitching.
"Do you have a problem with me?" Bow Girl said in a threatening manner.
"My bad, I have a pretty sensitive nose and couldn't help to comment. The name's Daniel, Daniel Conrad." He said while reaching out for a handshake. "People tend to think I'm a Canidae faunus, but you can already tell that from my look. Your name…?"
Bow girl stared at it before awkwardly shaking his hand.
"Blake Belladonna…" She softly replied while refusing the handshake.
Pivoting to a different topic while reeling back his handshake, he asked,
"Which program are you going into? I'm in the Minute Man division."
"I'm going into the Huntsmen- Wait, there are divisions? And what's a Minute Man?"
"You don't know what a Minute Man is? The system where merchant or caravan owners are considered Huntsmen under the law when in times of crisis?"
"...Doesn't ring any bells…"
"They're pretty popular with small-time merchants who want to be able to help in times of crisis. Can't have customers if they're dead." He stated dryly, "But technically you can only really get into the Minute Man division if you don't already have experience in the field, be it being the owner or a guard. Good luck with the initiation. Maybe I'll see you around."
"I guess you too…"
She turned around and headed off to the boarding line, disappearing within the crowd. Daniel lagged from having to carry around his luggage. A large airship then slowly descended upon everyone near the skyport. When its gates dropped, a ramp had propped down for the students.
Now boarding the airship, the majority of the students were restless in anticipation of their new lives at Beacon. By the window, Daniel placed his hands together for a prayer while the airship took off.
At a different part of it, Ruby was bear-hugged by the Blonde as she proclaimed,
"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!"
"Please stop…!" Ruby trying to breathe.
"But I'm so proud of you!" The Blonde finally let her go.
"Really, sis, it was nothing."
"What do you mean? It was incredible! Everyone at Beacon is going to think you're the bee's knees!"
Ruby flailed her arms around as she exclaimed, "I don't want to be the 'bee's knees', okay? I don't wanna be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees."
"What's with you? Aren't you excited?"
"Of course I'm excited… I just… getting moved ahead two years. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything. Or worse, getting favoritism from the literal head of Beacon!"
"But you are special." The Blonde said in a bubbly tone. Giving Ruby a side hug.
"It just doesn't make sense how stopping one robbery can lead to me getting into Beacon." Ruby's self-doubting, "Maybe it's because I prayed a long time ago that I wanted to get into Beacon. Like I don't know, Yang…!"
"Look, Ruby, it doesn't matter if you prayed or believe someone is pulling the strings, you're here now. So try not to loathe about it any longer. Maybe pray or whatever you do about it. What you need are positive reinforcements!" Yang said before looking around to see Daniel, "Maybe that dude, he's praying just like you do."
Ruby looked to see him and recognizing the distinct olive green overcoat, stared at it intently, almost a burning stare into him.
"What, Rubes, love at first sight? Or mortal enemy?"
Ruby cried out in embarrassment, "What! Yang, you…!"
The two sisters began fighting each other which broke Daniel's focus and he looked over to the cat fighting. Not wanting attention, he attempted to look away before he and Ruby made eye contact. This caused Yang to stumble over from Ruby's sudden halting and fall flat on her face.
"...That was uncalled for…" Yang groaned.
"Um… do I know you…?" Ruby broke the silence.
"Maybe… Somewhat…" Daniel faltered in composure.
Yang got back up while holding her nose slightly as her Aura surrounded her to heal the injured nose.
"What you two already flirting now? Imagine if Dad saw this."
"No we're not-" Ruby tried to punch her sister's arm; recoiling in pain.
"My bad, I think you got me for someone else. So if you'll excuse me…"
As Ruby recovered, He tried to walk away from the sisters until she tugged on his overcoat.
"Were you the one who saved me last night…?" She asked with puppy eyes.
"I-I…" Daniel said as he struggled to utter a word about it before succumbing to Ruby's silver eyes, "Yes, I was…"
Her eyes glistened with joy as she excitedly questioned him while she circled him,
"What model of grenades were those?! How many do you have?! Do you keep them in your coat? Oh my god, your pistols are so beautiful! What are they chambered in?! Oh, oh, your rifle looks so retro!"
Daniel, upon seeing Ruby's joy and childlike nature, regained his composure to try to calm the red ball of energy. As he was going to say something, Yang caught Ruby and held her up like a sad puppy.
"Come on, Ruby you're scaring him off."
"But his weapons…" Ruby dejected.
"I don't mind it, I've dealt with kids like her." Daniel thoughtlessly said.
"Hah! He called you a kid, Ruby. Maybe you'll need to try harder next time." Yang said in a teasing tone.
"Why you…!" Ruby tried to hit Yang, but she easily blocked the attacks with her other arm.
"Where are my manners, I'm Daniel Conrad. A pleasure to meet you two ladies." Daniel said with courtesy and did a little bow.
"I'm R-Ruby Rose…!" She was caught off guard by his chivalry.
"Oh, a real gentleman…? Yang Xiao Long, but you can specifically call me sis." Yang putting on an obvious flirtatious act.
"...I appreciate the sentiment, Yang." Daniel awkwardly replied.
"Again, Yang?" Ruby annoyed while punching Yang's shoulder, "Ow!"
"You two half-siblings? Or step-siblings?"
"Half-siblings, but Ruby is the best little sister I could ever have!" Yang exclaimed before tightly hugging Ruby.
"I-I'm d-dying…!" Ruby looked as if she was about to pass out.
"Okay, I think we've had enough fun making of your sister," Daniel stated. "I'll make sure to show you my weapons later."
"Fine~."
Ruby breathed heavily after being let go and sighed in relief. She shifted her attention to look out of the ship's window to see Beacon on the horizon, making her ecstatic. Yang joined her and Daniel noticed something turn on. Not long after, the Vale News Network started to play with Lisa Lavender as the host,
"In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now fallen from grace as more violent riots have been happening around Vale. In addition, it seems like the new policy that Vale has adopted from Atlas now outright bans Faunus from being Minute Men. But that is one of the many reasons that faunus are fighting against the unfair treatment they claim to face, especially in Atlas."
As the news lady was talking, Daniel noticed Blake blending with the crowd watching the news, paying close attention to what was happening. Her face seemed to be filled with frustration and remorse while clenching her fist tightly. Soon enough, the news had cut off, and a holographic video of Glynda appeared.
"Hello, and welcome to Beacon!"
"Who's that?" Yang asked.
"Just wait." Daniel replied.
"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."
"Oh."
"You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen, Huntresses, and Minute Men, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now, it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect our world." Glynda says before the hologram disappears.
Ruby went back to the window to stare at something from afar.
"Look, you can see Signal from up here! Daniel, that's the academy I was previously attending.
He joined her and admired the sight and the city from below.
"I guess home isn't too far after all! Beacon's our home, now." Yang stated as she put her hand on Ruby's shoulder.
The three then noticed someone who sounded like they were about to vomit. They witness a tall blonde young man, with armor plating surrounding a simple black hoodie and a short sword sheathed from his left hip. The man stumbled past the three and Yang joked,
"Well… I guess the view isn't for everyone."
"It was a nice moment while it lasted." Ruby said.
"Meh, five out of ten." Daniel shrugged.
"Buzzkill." Ruby bit back.
"I wonder who we're gonna meet." Yang said with enthusiasm.
"I just hope they're better than 'Vomit Boy'." Ruby says, "...Oh, Yang, gross, you have puke on your boot!"
"Gross, gross, gross…"
"Hey, don't fling it towards me!" Daniel dodged Yang's attempt to fling the vomit at him.
Yang then tried to do the same thing with Ruby,
"Get away, get away! Get away from me!"
They finally resolved the issue when Daniel pulled out a packet of tissues for Yang to wipe the vomit off her boot. By the time Yang had finished wiping it off, the airship had finished docking onto Beacon. The gates open and people start moving out to the school grounds. The first one to leave the ship was Vomit Boy as he rushes over to a nearby trash can from the exit to finish the rest of his suffering. The three left together, but Daniel went ahead to Vomit Boy and handed him a few pills of Benakrill.
"Take these, rookie."
"T-Thank y-you…" Vomit Boy groaned.
The two sisters waved to him to hurry up and he left behind Vomit Boy to his devices. Thre
"I've been told that Minute Men don't have an initiation like you gals do so imma head to the dorms. I'll see you at the Amphitheater." Daniel waved them off.
"Cya!" Ruby exclaimed as she waved back.
"...So you gunning for him or can I?" Yang teases.
"I am not!" Ruby shouts.
"Well… Why not try to meet some people then?" Yang asked while pulling down her hoodie.
"Hey… why would I when I have you or… I'm not finishing that last part."
As Ruby finished pulling back up her hood, a group of students, dressed in battle-ready attire but lax, appeared alongside Yang. She sheepishly smiled at Ruby before she zoomed off with them.
"Well, myfriendsarehereactuallyherenow. Gottagocatch up, bye!" She blurted as she ran with the group brushing past Ruby, causing her to spin.
Ruby stopped her selfing from spinning out of control and groaned,
"Now I got to handle all of our luggage on my own…"
She searched around from the pile to find their luggage between other bags. She attempted to pull them out before accidentally knocking over some prestigious-looking luggage. The luggage had spilled some red Dust into the air causing her sinuses to act up. Stomping noises close by, Ruby witnessed an elegant young woman wearing a combat outfit with a skirt and snow-white hair coming right over to her.
"Urghh! How careless can you be!? If any of those Dust containers had broken how will you compensate me!" The elegant woman extremely indignant while shaking around one of the red Dust bottles, "And how can you servants put the luggage with all the other students when they could have just brought them over to the main hall! Why can't today just be a simple one!?"
The red Dust floating in the air made Ruby sneeze right after she got up. This caused a huge explosion that caught Ruby and the Elegant woman. A concussive blast from the explosion sent a red bottle of Dust rolling over to hit Blake's black boots. She picked it up while reading a book before inspecting it to see a snowflake insignia branded on it.
The Elegant woman then started to tell off Ruby,
"Unbelievable, how could be so careless with all this?! Dust is extremely potent and your sneeze almost made me lose my life!"
"I'm really really sorry!" Ruby apologetic.
"You complete dolt, what are you even doing here aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"
"Well, I-"
"Well, this isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice you know, we're here to fight monsters so… watch where you're going!"
"Hey, I said I was sorry princess!" Ruby irritated.
"It's heiress actually." Blake stated as she went up to the two, "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."
"Finally some recognition!" Weiss felt gratified before darting her eyes at Ruby.
"The same company infamous for its controversial labor force and questionable business partners."
All Weiss could do was fumble her words at what Blake said while Ruby snickered. In response, Weiss yanked her red Dust bottle from Blake's hand before storming off.
Inside the dormitory, Daniel found his dorm room which happens to be the 77th room and entered to find the room empty with nothing but a wooden desk and a chair.
"Thanks for the warm welcome Beacon…" Daniel sighed as he dropped his luggage on the floor.
He placed down his sleeping bag and unpacked his belongings from the luggage. After unpacking everything, he summoned his prized fairy tale book into his right hand and rubbed the front for a bit. Afterward, he stored it away with his semblance and rushed off to the Amphitheater.
Moreover, he went through the main avenue, and despite following the directory; he ended up getting lost around the courtyard. Panicked, he darted for any building that looked like a theater building. Eventually, he made it over right before the ceremony started. Finessing through the gaps of the crowds, he found Ruby and Yang with Weiss handing Ruby a pamphlet on how Dust worked.
"Oh, Daniel, you made it in time!" Yang said before playfully punching his shoulder.
"They need to improve their directory, it felt like I was circling back the majority of the time." Daniel said as he rubbed his shoulder. He noticed Weiss the next second with confusion, "A Schnee?"
"I-"
"H-Hello Weiss, I'm Ruby, wanna h-hang out? We could go shopping for school supplies." Ruby was at her tipping point of anxiety.
"You okay, Ruby?" Daniel looked at her with concern.
"I'm doing j-just f-fine!" Ruby full-blown panicking.
Weiss watched her with disbelief and mockingly played along with Ruby's request,
"Yeah~, and we can paint our nails, and try on clothes and talk about cute boys… like tall blonde and scraggly over there~."
Vomit Guy then looked over to see Daniel form an X with his arms at him while motioning no.
"Wow really?" Ruby gullibly believed.
"...No."
This crushed her soul as Daniel and Yang felt awkward; not knowing what to do. Before either could say anything, a microphone being tapped on could be heard from the main stage with Ozpin standing in the forefront.
"I'll keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, 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 that knowledge can only carry you so far. The Grimm will very much show you this notion. For they are the progenitors to crushing all the hopes and dreams of many young inspiring students at this school. It is up to you to take the first step." Ozpin said dryly before walking off stage with his cane in hand.
During Ozpin's speech, Daniel could feel something piercing his left abdomen. A sharp pain ensued in that area, making him wince; no one noticing what he was going through. All the while giving a cold stare at Ozpin and whispering to himself.
"...Just like in the book…"
Glynda took Ozpin's place and announced,
"Upcoming Huntsmen and Huntresses, you will gather at the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins, be ready. For Minuteman, you are to go to your dorms and are to follow me at the same site." Glynda said before walking off the stage too.
Trying to hide his pain, he smiled at the sisters and said,
"I-I guess that's my cue to scadaddle. I'll see you guys at initiation."
"Let's hang out after initiation!" Ruby said as he leaves.
"Ooo, taking the initiative I see~!"
Ruby punched Yang's shoulder and Vomit Boy popped out next to Weiss,
"You know I'm a natural blonde you know."
Everyone else except Weiss stared at him with confusion as they cringed at his flirtatious attempt. Weiss, meanwhile, facepalmed to then walking away. Daniel spoke in disappointment,
"I tried to warn you, Vomit Boy."
"Oh, not you too!" Vomit Boy anguishes from the thought of vomiting.
"Wait, you two haven't introduced each other. Jaune this is Daniel, Daniel this is Jaune." Ruby said.
"Imma head back with my other friends-" Yang tried to leave before Ruby held her back.
"Wait, one moment, Yang! You need to grab your luggage or I'm dumping it in the trashcan!"
Yang relented and sulked over to where Ruby placed their luggage.
"Daniel Conrad, nice to meet you Jaune…?" Daniel said as he reached to give him a handshake.
"Jaune Arc, short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it. Thanks again for the medicine, worked wonders."
"You're welcome and your little stunt was part of why they love your name?" Daniel snickered.
"She'll… Come around eventually, but hey, I see you and I are pretty similar with our builds. Except you have three guns compared to a sword." Jaune dejected, before pulling out his sword.
"Come on, you and I share the same old money style of fighting. Simplicity! By the way, is the sheathe a shield? I know some people in my village who still own one. Honestly, still surprised at times by how durable the shield is despite being a sheathe.
"Do you happen to know my family then?"
"Unfortunately no, I would have most likely recognized the last name if that was the case. Although, I would probably get a new blade for your sword sooner or later."
"It's a hand-me-down from my great-great-grandfather so it makes sense."
"Hmm, I could probably recommend you a blacksmith who knows how to change out the blade to look the same. But I think the blade should probably last a good year or two before it starts showing cracks." Daniel said, hand on his chin, "Mind if I have a closer look at it?"
"Sure." Jaune said as he handed his sword to him.
"The weight is… passable for a one-handed." Daniel says before giving a few swings with it, "A lot better than the swords from the past, your grand-dad sure had a good sword. I'm sure you'll be a good Huntsman with time. But I suggest you get a pistol at the very least for more ranged fights."
"Thanks…" Jaune looked a little gloomy at the thought of it.
Daniel handed back the sword before Ruby jogged over to them.
"Hey, Yang and I are gonna head over to the ballroom now, since it's getting late. Catch you guys later!"
"Got it, see you two at initiation."
They parted ways and night came around. Daniel looked up to the rising moon; staring at it for a few minutes and began to pray.
"Oh, Voice, please heed my call that tomorrow nothing too severe happens at the initiation. I only hope that any ally I meet makes it through all their trials."