Tales of Beacon

January 21st, 80 years since the Great War. For those who managed to pass Beacon’s entrance exam, this was the day they were waiting for, for today they would finally step foot in the prestigious Hunter Academy. In less than 24 hours, they would be undergoing Initiation, the first step of their training.

For now, though? The Initiates were on the Airships, merely on the way to Beacon. The students-to-be were spending the time in various ways: Some were chatting with their eventual classmates, others were messaging loved ones on their scrolls, others still were watching the VNN from the holographic projectors.

“…Rumor has it that the destruction at the Three Bears’ Den may be tied to L’Impero and its recent rise in activity. Anyone with information on the gang is advised to contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you, Lisa.”

“Thank you, Cyril. 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 disrupted—”

Anyone hoping to learn further on the matter would be disappointed, however, as the channel would switch out, replaced with a hologram of none other than Glynda Goodwitch. “Hello, and welcome to Beacon,” the hologram began to say. “My name is Glynda Goodwitch. 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 and Huntresses, 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 the training to protect our world.”

Not long after, the hologram went out, and the students would hear an announcement from the speakers. “This is your captain speaking. We will be landing at Beacon Academy within the next few minutes, so be sure to gather your things and wait near the exits.”

This latest announcement also had the added bonus of waking up a sunglasses-wearing fox-tailed Faunus who managed to have fallen asleep on one of the benches and was now learning the hard way that the contents of his backpack had spilled out during his impromptu nap.

Way to go, idiot, he thought to himself, cheeks burning red as he put back in one of the books that had fallen out. So much for only five minutes of sleep, now I’ve got a mess to clean up before the ship lands. And where the hell is that cane? I swear to God if I have to use Eidolon to find the damn thing…

Unknown to him at the moment, the “damn thing” had merely ended up underneath the bench.

The Airship

Bianca Rosso was positively vibrating with energy. Literally. The blonde heiress was so excited to be going to Beacon, wow! that she was shaking and fidgeting while making happy screeching noises.

Finally! Finally! Her dream was coming true! She was going to be a Huntress, she was going to beat up Grimm, she was gojng to go on adventures! Papa, bless him, really was the most amazing person ever, letting her go even though he was hurting from what happened to Mama (sometimes she still cried, thinking about it. It wasn't fair that her sweet, perfect Mama would...)

She shook her head. No, Mama wouldn't want her to dwell on it. Mama always encouraged her to keep smiling no matter what. So, that's what Bianca would do.

She grinned wildly as she started to shadowbox, throwing mock punches at an invisible opponent in front of her. (In all honesty, it was probably hitting Pius, but whatever, her CBGF- Childhood Best Grumpy Friend-could take it.)

"Umu! Umu, umu, umu!" She mumbled as she punched, golden hair flying.

Bianca had put up her hair in a different style today, since it was a special occasion. Twintails instead of a bun, and she wore her Captain Atlas hoodie and favorite workout pants, along with her favorite rubber shoes. Her bags (all fifteen of them) were in the cargo, so she had nothing to worry tripping over.

"Umu! Umu! Umu, umu!" She really got into it, ducking, weaving and punching, oblivious to her environment.

On-board the Airship.

...It had been quite the journey. Longer than expected according to the wristwatch but that was simply how things were, yet that wasn't reason to complain. For most of the trip, Jayce had managed to keep himself busy with his reading and hoping those in charge of their belongings were...careful as while some of his concern was for his equipment such as his computer and the like, most of it was for his tea set, something a certain someone had insisted on bringing.

And with the announcement echoing through the airship that they'd be arriving at the Academy soon enough, he quietly glanced up from his book and snapped it close with the hand he was holding it, causing what looked like an inert cube resting on the bench beside him to suddenly wiggle and almost topple to the floor before hovering in mid-air, a small holographic exclamation mark appearing above it.

H-Huh~? What? Are we there a...already? Alrighty~! Bacon Academy, here we come~!

It...she sounded rather excited at the idea, although that enthusiasm gave way for it to tilt at an angle, a question mark appearing above her head at SOMEONE making noise. And why is someone trying to sound like a cow~? Are they a faunus? Ooh! Ooh~! Maybe they'r- L.I.L.I loudly remarked before Jayce shook his head as he discreetly pointed to the shadowboxing Bianca.

He was trying to avoid looking at her and some of the...'hyper' of his potential classmates for a multitude of reasons. For starters, he really didn't want them or the more 'normal' classmates to get the wrong idea, especially this early. One was already being an obvious headache, the other he was half-expecting to go jump out a window if it meant getting to the Academy faster.

...Still, hopefully this 'Initiation' that he'd been informed of wouldn't take too long. Although a glance at some of these other students wasn't filling the young man with very pale-green hair with confidence as he picked up his suitcase and followed the instructions to get ready to disembark.

The Airship

Meanwhile, a bronzed god of a man was steadily tapping in a message on his Scroll, lounging in his seat relaxedly. The message was addressed to his adoptive mother; an update on the sudden collapse of Three Bears' Den. Another, more confidential, spoke the same and was addressed to a particular man who would deliver this message to a particular woman within Valoran underground.

White Fangers showing up on the peaceful protest was mundane at this point, much as Blaze disliked the notion. Oh well, now that he would try and become a legitimate Huntsman, his ability to move around in the underworld would be limited. Some blonde girl - a real cutie, and a shortstack too - was shadowboxing, some Faunus was looking through his stuff with irritation, another guy - and his little robot companion, apparently - picked up his suitcase already...

Blaze Koller has always been going solo. The thought that he would have to work in team wasn't as appaling as he feared it might be, but some of these people didn't look like they belonged in this business at all. "Trained box before, sweet thing?" He approached with a little smirk, leaning on her seat a little bit, watching the guy she was punching with no small amount of amusement.

The Airship

Bianca barely noticed someone approaching her, too caught up in her enthusiastic battle with an imaginary opponent.

She didn't even hear Blaze's question, but inadvertently answered him anyway when she performed a perfectly practiced dempsey roll.

"Umu!" The blonde exclaimed, satisfied that her skills had not, in fact, rusted in the time that Papa had made her go back home.

Then, she blinked and noticed Blaze, almost literally next to her.

Wow, this guy's pretty hot.

Bianca grinned and enthusiastically grabbed a hand to shake.

"Hiya~. So, so, I'm Bianca Rosso, nice to meet you! You're going to Beacon too, right?! Nice to meet you!"

Beacon Airship

...bag is set, Dorado's on my back, luggage and Springer are in the cargo hold...alright, I'm all set.

Basil rose from his seat upon hearing the announcement, grabbing his bag before making his way to a nearby exit. Though his outward expression was stoic, the light in his eyes betrayed his internal excitement at setting foot in Beacon Academy...though his excitement was absolutely tame compared to some of the other students.

Is she the one that's been making that "Umu" noise? Basil wondered, glancing at a blonde twintailed girl shadowboxing before continuing his trek. Passing by a fox faunus engrossed in packing his belongings, he noticed a book lying under the seat, just outside of the occupant's sight. Basil momentarily hesitated, before retrieving the book from its hiding spot.

"Excuse me." The grasshopper faunus spoke to grab the other boy's attention, before holding the book out. "Yours?"

Airport

Not half bad. Not half bad at all. Blaze figured that she probably used some sort of gauntlets to enhance her attacks; martial artists like him were rare.

The girl seemed like a bubblehead however. "You repeated yourself there, Bi." He chuckled as he returned the handshake. "Blaze Koller." Then, suddenly, he held her hand instead as he leaned down to place a kiss on top of her hand, maintaining eye-contact with her the entire time. "It's a pleasure."

Airship

Pius spun on his heel the moment he heard Bianca babbling excitedly in her signature tic. He was right to move away, he had been taught by experience that if something was in front of her when she got excited, it was either grabbed or punched. He maintained a slightly annoyed expression as he watched her fist fly and take up the space where he once was, but her excitement did get a little smirk out of him.

He remained silent as another young man introduced himself to Bianca, a Blaze Koller. He raised an eyebrow in annoyance when the new person decided to kiss her hand during his introduction, but he remained on the other side of Bianca from him. If Bianca wanted to drag him into the conversation, she was perfectly free to. For now, he could let his ears do the observing while he looked out at the cliffside of Beacon Academy.

Airship

"Blaze, huh? It's a good name, umu! Fits a Huntsman perfectly!" Bianca laughed, still grinning.

This Blaze person looked really tough and cool! Bianca bet he was a someone who could make Grimm cry for their mama. This was another thing that Bianca loved about being a Huntress! Meeting and befriending tons of interesting people~.

And then he swooped down and-.

Oh. Hmm, he was cute, yeah, but that's a bit far.

She pulled her hand back just before he could kiss it and then gave another smile.

"Umu, I know I'm very pretty. No need for the show."

"Anywaaaay~. I hope we can be friends, Blaze, beat up Grimm together and stuff. We can team up! You, me and Grumplord here~."

She gestured at Pius, a friendly teasing smirk on her face.

edited 8th Sep '17 7:58:29 AM by GrimHelm

Jeanne and the Ink Machine

Not too far away from the other to-be students, there was a girl with blond hair and a single open blue eye, dressed in rather nice clothes and a floppy hat as she was sitting down with her Scroll in hand. She seemed to be watching some kind of cartoon show on it, and was singing along to the lyrics of a song, loudly enough for the others to hear. Without caring if she was disturbing anyone else.

"I said come one come all enjoy the show! 3 to get ready, nowhere to go! Are you feeling blue or just black and white? In the end we're gonna have you feelin' alright!"

She looked like she was a giddy little kid with how she was acting...

Airship

Scarlett paces back and forth like a caged animal, hands balling into fists then relaxing again every couple of seconds, her face scanning the rest of the students with a cocky, almost challenging grin plastered across it.

Seems like there's some stiff competition in here, Scarlett thought to herself, sizing up some of the students around her. Shadowboxer over there kept good form and Mr. Gun Show hitting on her looks tough enough. Not gonna get much out of watching Books and Antennae. There's Rich Boy over there and his pet drone, heh, that just tells me he can't get the job done by himself. And then there's-

Scarlett shook her head to herself and unclenched her fists for the umpteenth time. Just waiting in anticipation this long was making her tense, turning her into a bundle of nerves. Almost there, Scarlett, she thought, just keep it together. With one last check of her worn-out, nondescript backpack, Scarlett heads for the exit, eager to get to Beacon as soon as possible.

Seeing Gun Show strike out with Shadowboxer calms Scarlett's nerves some and cheerily calling out "Better luck next time!" on her way past him calms her the rest of the way.

edited 8th Sep '17 8:44:25 AM by JohnTheSavage

Airship.

Idly flexing his fingers in a sort of rhythm as if they were tapping against keys on a keyboard, Jayce found himself stopping as a glance in the window showed that L.I.L.I had hovered off on her own, making the green-haired young man sigh and reluctantly follow before his 'assistant' got herself into trouble.

And considering she was humming along with that...crazy childish girl, that was probably going to be an issue. ...Him accidentally bumping into Scarlett as he cautiously tried to drag Lily away from that singing girl wasn't matters either.

"...My apologies, I'm kind of trying to avoid 'someone' making a mistake. I'm guessing you're alright?"

edited 8th Sep '17 8:41:12 PM by TheRealWren

Airship

Sitting on a bench with Gustavus at his feet, Axel was quietly tinkering with the various holsters and bags attached to his dog's frame, making sure that everything was attached tightly and wasn't going to fall off in a scuffle. After a few minutes spent securing everything, Axel stashed his tools back inside a pouch on Gustavus' back before patting the robot dog on the head, murmuring "Good boy" and getting to his feet.

With his arms clasped behind his back, Axel took note of those he would be potentially spending the next few years of his life with, quickly surmising that most of them seemed to be on the energetic side, but not of a malicious persuasion. Opting to attempt to join the three person group, Axel muttered "Follow" to Gustavus before wandering up to Blaze, Pius and Bianca, extending a hand and saying "My name is Axel Gyllene and my dog is Gustavus."

Beacon Airship

Cinnabar set his scroll aside at the announcement, sitting up from the bench he was laying on. He looked around, taking in the people onboard the airship. Many of them looked as nervous as he felt, which made him feel a little better. He grabbed his bags from beneath the bench and began to make his way across towards the exit.

He paused halfway there, finally tuning into the incredibly off-tune singing coming from one of the girls. She didn't seem to have noticed that the ship was landing over whatever she was listening to, so he went over and nudged her leg with a foot to draw her attention.

edited 8th Sep '17 5:32:36 PM by 4maskwolf

Airship

Pius turned around at the sound of another person's voice, and found himself looking at someone who had brought a robotic canine on board. With the rest of Axel's arsenal, Pius felt a sort of kindred with someone who prepared himself to appear quite like a Huntsman that they both wanted to be. He reached out and shook his hand first, giving him a polite nod. "I'm Pius Ashen Nobel. That's a very impressive dog you have there. Did you build him yourself?"

Airship

Yyyyep. A bubblehead. "I don't bite, you know. And I like to think that treating women properly is something every man should learn." He chuckled, undaunted by the sudden refusal of his kiss, straightening out and looking at the "grumplord". He sure didn't look like someone happy to see him.

"Something the matter, grumplord? You seem displeased." If he had a crush on Bianca here, it would be in his best interest to be quick about it; Blaze wasn't the type to wait long. Some other girl was singing loudly - and badly - nearby, but that could be ignored for now. Another girl called out encouragement - part-mockery, part-genuine, seemed - and this one was also quite cute. Not a shortstack, but Blaze's tastes were diverse.

And then a guy with a robot dog approached them. "Yo. Blaze Koller." He greeted Axel with a casual nod and a returned handshake. Pius the Ashen Noble felt like asking a boneheaded question. Duh, of course that dog was built from scratch. You don't get that kind of tech anywhere outside of Atlas.

Instead of being rude however, Blaze elected to crouch down and look at the mechadoggo from up closer. "Hey, lil' buddy. Does he accept pets?" He asked Axel with a chuckle.

The Airship

Bianca's smile became slightly challenging. She didn't quite know what to make of Blaze, so she was gonna get to know him the way she always gets to know people. Teasing.

"But, I do bite, you know? Umu." She said in reply, slightly teasing tone in reply.

And then when Axel walked up to them, she turned to look at him with a smile to return his greeting....and then got completely distracted by the robbot doggo.

"Umuuuuu~! He's so cuuuuute~ Ahhhhh~!" Bianca squealed, and then immediately leaning down and giving it a good cuddle, nuzzling her cheek on the metal flank.

"Oooh, who's a good boy! I love you, umu!"

Grinning, she raised her eyes towards Axel.

"Aah, he's amazing, you're amazing! My name is Bianca, by the way, let's be friends~! Umu!"

Airship

The blonde then gave an irritated look at Cinnabar, clearly peeved at him interrupting her.

"Oy! I'm tryin to watch my cartoons here! Buzz off!", she yelled at him...before noticing that they were near Beacon. "Wait, we're here already!?"

It was almost bipolar how quickly her tune changed.

edited 8th Sep '17 5:38:06 PM by TheHailStormer

Cinnabar suppressed a sigh at her response. I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything else from bothering someone while they're on their scroll. "Yeah, we're almost there, there was an announcement a couple minutes ago."

Airship

"Well, phooey. I thought I was gonna have time to watch more Bendy...", she said, pouting. She then stood up, putting away her Scroll. "So who the hell are ya anyway?"

Airship

"I'm... Cinnabar. What's your name?" He said, stepping backwards to avoid getting in the way of any bags she had.

She sure doesn't act like she's the same age of the rest of us...

Airship

As Basil spoke, the fox faunus turned to face the grasshopper faunus. "Probably," he responded, slightly unsure of what exactly "yours" was referring to but figuring it was likely one of the items he had yet to find. "Thanks..." He reached his hand out, ready to accept whatever it was.

Sorry this took so long Sven, I don't know why I froze up on what to post.

Airship

Despite being programmed to deal with being treated affectionately, Gustavus was slightly overwhelmed by the amount of attention he was receiving, simply opting to remain still as possible.

With the questions stacking up, Axel first answered Pius by saying "He's a re-purposed law enforcement model, I've done some tinkering but not enough to warrant mention."

Changing focus to Blaze, Axel continued "As for petting him, feel free, just don't touch him in a combat situation or when he's 'working' until I've added you to the friendly list. He gets bitey otherwise."

Now addressing Bianca, with a smile Axel said "He's probably enjoying the attention, but he can't really display it in the same way a flesh and bone dog would, since he's lacking in the tongue and slobber department."

"I look forward to working with the three of you in the future, who knows, maybe we'll end up getting teamed up."

Blaze, Feeling Mildly Stupid, Airship

So there were garden-variety robodoggos used by the police? That was a new one. Maybe they just operated in an area where Blaze simply wouldn't venture.

No matter. "Likewise." He hummed back to Axel, petting Gustavus. "Judging by our merry selection, we'll need someone with a head on their shoulders and personable too. Between me, Bi and Grumplord, you seem like the type to tie that kind of motley crew together."

Airship

Bianca continued to cuddle Gustavus, a big dopey grin on her face. Hey, you can't blame her, he was literally the most adorbs thing ever.

"It's fine, it's fine! Oooh, he's so cute~! And yeah! Axel, right? I can't wait to see you in action! Let's be friends!"

Bianca stood up from her kneeling cuddle position and heartily shook Axel's hand.

"Blaze is right, we might need someone to think our way out of something, since I'm such an idiot...oh, I can imagine it now, umu! Trapped in a crumbling ruin, Grimm everywhere...little chance of surviving in an open battle! Then Axel comes up with something and saves us all!"

There were stars sparkling in her eyes at that point.