Welcome To Beacon Pt. 2

Pure blue eyes widened as a young man sat up and have awaken from his dream. Blinking a few times as he brought a hand to his eyes, gently rubbing them with his thumb and index finger as his vision returned to him. He looked around and noticed that his fellow peers were still asleep then looked up at the window above the ballroom seeing that bright orange clouds meaning that it was sunrise. So he woke up early, good.

Sitting up, he gently grabbed his belongings and folded them neatly then quietly made his way out of the ballroom and towards the lockers where he needed to get ready. Once he got into the lockers, he changed out of his sleepwear and into his workout clothes, consisting of a white compression shirt, blue shorts and sneakers. Closing the locker, he went ahead and exit the room heading towards the exit. Making sure he has everything on him, he looked at the stopwatch hanging on his arm and set a time limit from start to finish, once done he set up a countdown starting from 10.

He didn't have to worry about anyone since he was the only one awake so no one else would be around. Doing a few jumps, he set into a running position and once the stopwatch beep, he started morning run and took a jog around the entire campus.

As the young man was taking his morning jog, he decided that today he would run along the main avenue of the camp doing five laps around the intersection, come to a stop and do a set of 20 jumping jacks, 20 push-ups and 20 squats, take a full minute break and then head towards Beacon Tower doing the same exact thing before making his last stop back to the lockers.

He was unaware that on his way towards the tower he was being watched by the Headmistress Salem and Hazel both who were already setting up plans for the initiation only to come across the young man running past their direction.

"Hmm, an early riser. Ah, the days of youth and their endless energy for physical activity." Salem spoke while reminiscing her younger days.

"It's not uncommon for young men and women to do exercise routines first thing in the morning. Some do it out of habit and some do it to stay in shape. It's a good way to keep yourself from slacking off but it's important to a day rest every once in a while." Hazel stated.

"I'm sure you had something like that back in your younger days, didn't you Hazel?" Salem asked, with a smile on her lips.

"My sister and I had… something like that. Mostly hunting Grimm and sparring with one another but nothing to different." Hazel answered. "However, I am curious about something. This boy, he's here instead of Atlas. Makes me wonder."

"I must agree with your thoughts. I can see that for someone as of his status he would've remained in Atlas not once stepping foot outside of kingdom and yet he somehow finds his way here. Curious indeed." Salem smiled in interest as she was quite curious on how this student made his way here.

"I do not judge him for his reason being here. As I said before, everyone has a reason for becoming a Huntsman, the first step is all up to them and I'm looking forward to see what our new years are capable of." Salem stated as she turned around away from the window. "Now, shall we get going and prep for the exams?"

"Of course." Hazel nodded his head as he followed the headmistress.

Cinder groaned as she set her stuff into her locker or what was soon to be locker assuming she passes the exam. She was dressed in combat clothes in prep for her exam, and was going through everything to make sure she had all she need. She then went into her pouches and frowned as she felt the set bag a little empty.

"I need to get some dust crystals when I get the chance." She said while grabbing her weapons from her locker, making a note to do the said assignment. She set her weapon Midnight behind her waist and closed her locker. She let out a small yawn as she was still a bit groggy from this morning.

'I need to get some coffee.' She thought about the said beverage that was introduced to her at young age thanks to her father, though she wished he didn't because she feels like she can't live without it. Okay that was an exaggeration, she feels like now because she had a taste of the bitter beverage, she feels like she can't go too long without it.

Feels like an addiction. One she wishes she never had.

As if her prayers were answered, someone held out a heated beverage in front of her.

"Here." Looking to her left she saw a woman holding out a beverage towards her. "You look like you need it more than I do."

Cinder was not one to usually to take things from strangers but right now, she did not care and needed something to wake her up.

"Thanks." She said before taking a sip and braced herself for the familiar taste of bitterness to hit her tongue but for some reason it didn't happen. "Hmm, it doesn't taste bitter." Cinder tilted her head in confusion.

"Oh, that's because I added it with a teaspoon of cinnamon. Really helps balance out the bitterness in coffee. One of the few things that can help flavor coffee."

"Well thanks for the offering um…"

"Carmine. Carmine Esclados." The said woman introduced herself to Cinder. She had long wavy auburn hair with a single silver streak, golden eyes with freckles on her cheeks and crimson tattered scarf around her neck. She was wearing a dark navy-cropped long-sleeve t-shirt with a metal chain-like top leaving her midriff exposed, bandages wrapped around her wrists and crimson torn booty shorts with thigh-length leather boots. Additionally, she had goggles on her head and black belts with sheaths holding her own weapons in the form of Sai, along with single belts on her right sleeve and left leg. Lastly, was the black stylish tattoo right on the side of her torso running down to her upper leg, and the crimson trimmed cape wrapped around her shoulders showing her emblem, a face of a snake with rhombus shaped jewel embedded in its forehead.

Once Cinder was done observing Carmine, she looked back up at her only to see a sly smile on her lips.

"What?"

"You done checking me out?" Carmine teased causing Cinder to look at her confusion before realizing what she was doing.

"Oh, forgive me, that was not my intention." She apologized but Carmine simply waved it off.

"That's fine, if anything I like it. Makes me feel more confident about my body, plus" Carmine paused as she gazed up and down Cinder's appearance, her lips forming a teasing smirk. "I get to have a turn as well."

"I'm flattered, but I'm not looking for intimacy." Cinder said, denying any advances the redhead was making.

"What, don't swing that way?" Carmine teased.

"No, more like I've never really thought about it. Been too focused on other things…" Cinder trailed off as she was thinking about her objective before coming to Beacon, then took another sip of her coffee.

"Well in any case, any guy or gal would be lucky to have you." Carmine complimented while drinking all of her coffee in one go. "Mm. That hits the spot." She then tossed into a nearby trash bin.

"Thanks, and I can say the same for you." Cinder returned the gratitude.

"Now if you excuse me, I have a farm boy to find." Carmine stated as she turned to exit the locker room.

"Farm boy?" Cinder repeated in curiosity.

"It's what I call my partner. I have to find him before he ends up getting lost again. It's a bad habit of his." The redhead explained with exhaustion laced in her tone.

"Well, it is a big campus, so it is natural to get lost on the first day after all." Cinder reasoned, trying to give Carmine's partner the benefit of the doubt.

"Trust me that boy has no sense of direction. See you at the cliffs." Carmine winked at the amber-eyed teen as she made her exit while adding a sway to her hips. Once she left, Cinder drank the rest of her coffee and crush her cup before dumping it into a trash bin.

'I better grab something else to eat on the way to the exam. A simple apple should suffice.' She thought as she headed towards her own way to the cafeteria then to the cliffside.

In the far corner of the area was Neo who was making sure she had everything she needed. Checking her appearance in the mirror, she nodded her head in agreement and gently tipped her hat, closing her locker. Grabbing her umbrella, looked around to make sure no one was gazing at her and then quickly skipped her way out of the locker rooms.

Moving over, we see Emerald and Mercury getting themselves ready as well with the former leaning against the lockers with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face while the latter was going through his shoes holding a screwdriver.

"So that's your weapon, rocket boots?" Emerald questioned.

"They're dual wielding boots with firing mechanisms… but yeah, they're rocket boots." Mercury corrected her before agreeing with her suggestion.

"So, you're a kickboxer?"

"Sort of. My pops wanted me to be good in any style related to kicking techniques. So other than Kickboxing, I also took Tae kwon Do and Capoeira." Mercury explained while screwing in the final adjustment to his weapon. "There, all set."

He did a few kicking motions before smiling in satisfaction.

"Now what about you, miss Brooding?" He asked earning an eye roll from Emerald. "What's your fighting style? From the looks of those blades, I say you dual wield in swords?"

"First of all, I don't brood." Emerald pressed a finger to his chest. "Second of all, that's for me to know and you to find out."

"Oh come on, not even a little info?"

"Nope. You want to know about me, then find me in the exams, or don't, preferably not at all." She suggested as she turned around and started walking.

"Can't do that Em. Otherwise, who else would be the best person as your partner?"

"One that knows that when to shut up."

"Oh, you wound me. Have you no heart." Mercury said while clenching his hand over his chest with a dramatic fashion.

"It died, a long time ago." Emerald stated coldly, leaving the silver-haired teen.

"Oof, tough crowd." Mercury raised an eyebrow at her tone before shrugging his shoulders. "Oh well, I'll see her later. Time to go woo some ladies." He said to himself as he walked over to a pair of twins with different theme-colored dresses.

While everyone went ahead to get themselves prep for the exam, we move to the bathrooms where the white-haired boy from before was getting himself. He was gazing at his appearance in the mirror with blank eyes almost as if he was reliving a memory, a memory that haunts him to this day.

However, he would be brought out of this when someone suddenly tapped him on the arm.

"Excuse me?"

Leaving memory lane, the white-haired teen looked to his right and saw a boy who was a little shorter than him. He had black unkempt hair, tanned skin and freckles on his cheeks. He was wearing a scuffed white t-shirt with laces across the chest, sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a pocket on his left tricep. Orange suspenders to hold up his olive pants that are tucked into his brown boots, a quilted cloth hanging loosely out of his left pocket. Finally, were his orange gloves with green straps overlapping the back of his hand in an X shape and around his wrist.

"Yes, can I help you?"

"Sorry, I um… kind of looking for the cafeteria or at the very least my friend but I got lost."

'I can see that, this is the first time here so it's a new environment for everyone.' The white-haired teen thought before speaking his mind. "I see no harm in helping a fellow student out."

"Really, you don't mind even I sort of… you know not exactly like everyone else?" The shorter boy asked in surprised before his voice changed into one with uncertainty.

"Never judge a book by its cover. That is a phrase that gets overlooked in our society. There are many of those out in the world that are different from what others assumed them to be. Assumptions lead to errors in judgments which can lead to conflict that can end in a bad or worse outcome for everyone."

"Whoa."

"Take the Blood Fang for example. People believe they are nothing more than extremists that want to enslave humanity. Monsters that want to be the more dominate species."

"Where are you going with this?" The farm boy interrupting while raising his hand earning a small glare from the taller teen.

"Please do not interrupt me."

"Oh sorry." He apologized while lowering his hand.

"Continuing on, people have forgotten that the Blood Fang used to be the Faunus Rights Movement. All they wanted was for their kind to be treated equally and fairly but after the Mistral Incident, they loss so many of their own in that event. However, this is overlooked by the world and because of that they felt they had no choice but to resolve to violent methods." The white-haired boy explained as he let out a sigh, his tone laced with sadness.

"Truth of the matter is that assumptions always lead to conflict and with conflict brings violence, every time. So that's why I do judge others of their background or their appearance, I've no information of who they are or what they've come from it's what you do in the present that counts."

"Whoa. That's a… I was not expecting… a philosophical lesson today, still every lesson counts. If you weren't here to be a Huntsman, I would've taken you for a philosopher." The short boy spoke earning a chuckle from the white-haired teen.

"That was something I did want to do… but I think that would be a minor career later down the road, one day." The young man blue eyes glanced over to the clock on the wall and saw that it was getting close to the exams. "We should get moving, the exams are going to start soon."

"Right. Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself, my name's Oscar, Oscar Pine." The young man introduced himself holding out his glove hand for a handshake. The white-haired boy smiled and returned the handshake.

"Pleased to meet your acquaintance. The names Whitley… Whitley Schnee."

After everyone had done their morning routine, they all boarded onto one of the airships as it was heading for the Emerald Forest. All the initiates were onboard with Cinder sitting in a seat far from people and gazing over the window.

'This is odd. Initiates would normally be reported to the Cliffs so that the initiation would begin, at least that's what Dad told me.' Cinder pondered.

The initiation would result in having students reports to the cliff, where they're exams would begin once they were launched into the forest but that was not what was happening right now. It was something completely different, and no one knew what was going to happen.

'Then again, shouldn't I had expected the same exam to happen? If could be something completely different and no one would've noticed. Still, that's what they would want. If you use the same stipulations over and over again, it becomes common knowledge and later on everyone knows about it and what to expect.' She finished thinking before opening her eyes once more and looking out the window.

"So, why not change it up a bit?"

"Change what up?" Cinder turned her head up to see Emerald with her signature expression and her arms crossed.

"Hm, it's just a hunch. Nothing accurate." Cinder said trying to dismiss the matter, but Emerald wouldn't let it go.

"No, if you have some idea of what might be happening, or a theory at best, I want to hear it." Emerald said causing the amber eyed teen to sigh.

"Fine… remember what you said yesterday?" Cinder asked.

"You mean about the part where will be in the forest fighting Grimm?" Emerald recalled with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes that." Cinder nodded her head before continuing her explanation. "From what my father told me; new students would normally report to the cliffs and that's where they would start their exams. However, we completely passed the cliffs and we're just roaming above the Emerald Forest."

"So, they are doing something different?" Emerald inquired.

Cinder shrugged her shoulders as she had no idea if it was true.

"Beats me, it's not like I could guarantee that we're going to stop in the middle of nowhere and suddenly fall from the skies, plummeting to our deaths." Cinder said with sarcasm earning a chuckle from the mint-haired teen.

"That's funny."

"I was being sarcastic."

"I know you were. I'm just saying it would be funny if that actually happened."

"I'm no fortuneteller."

"If you are, can you tell me mine?" A voice interrupted earning a frown from Cinder and groan from Emerald as Mercury entered the conversation. "I would love to receive some good fortune right now."

"Don't you have some girls to woo with your terrible flirting?" Emerald asked with her arms crossed.

"And how would you know that my flirting is terrible?" Mercury asked with a smirk on his face. "I thought you and I were forced acquaintances?"

"No reason." Emerald scoffed as Mercury had a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Admit it, you like me. You can't deny this handsome devil."

Emerald raised an eyebrow at his wording, lazily looking around them.

"Is he present?" She asked as Cinder couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

"Now that's a burn."

"She's just jealous because I said she doesn't count as a lady." Mercury said not losing his smile.

"It's called sarcasm, idiot. And for your information, I'm not looking for a relationship."

"Why, don't want to look for your other half?"

"I don't want to nor am I interested in that type of thing."

"Don't want to, or you can't?" Mercury teased causing an anger symbol to appear on Emerald's head. But before she could exact her vengeance on the boy, she felt something patting her head which confused her.

Turning her head, she saw Neo on her tip toes and her cheeks puffed out as she was trying her best to pet the former's head . Blinking a few times, Emerald realized what was happening and simply grab the girl's hand taking it away from her hair.

"What were you doing there?" She asked earning a finger pointed at her and then watched as Neo's hand patted the air.

"I guess she was trying to calm you down." Cinder said earning a nod from the multi-haired companion.

"Oh, well… while unnecessary, I'm glad at the attempt."

"Me too, I got to watch my favorite friend get calmed down by a pint-size chipmunk." Mercury said earning a glare from Emerald and a pout from Neo. They then watched as Neo reached into her hat and then pulled out another ice cream bar and offered it to Emerald.

"N-no thanks, I'm fine." Emerald denied but Neo wasn't having it as the latter pushed the ice cream bar further.

"Neo, I'm good, really." She said only to get said dessert pushed into her face as Neo had a determined expression on her face. No one has ever said no to ice cream before and she refused to let Emerald become the first, this resulted the two into a playfight.

"While those two get acquainted, what's your plan?" Mercury asked.

"Plan?"

"You know for the exams?"

"Other than passing, nothing much. Still have to look for partners though." Cinder answered with a frown.

"You don't sound to keen a that last bit." Mercury noted.

"I... prefer doing things alone."

"Why, not used to working with others?"

"More like I've gotten used to working alone for so long that I'm not sure what to expect with a having a partner." Cinder admitted.

"Well, you never know, things may not always turn out how you want to and you never expect the unexpected. The only thing you can do, Triple-A." Mercury noted as Cinder raised an eyebrow at his sentence.

"Triple-A?"

"Acknowledge, Adapt and Accomplish." Mercury clarified. "A phrase my old man taught me. Acknowledge your current predicament, Adapt to the situation, and Accomplish the task at hand. Do all three and you'll be fine." Mercury said in a sage like tone.

"Huh, never thought you would be one for wisdom." Cinder said as Mercury smirked at her.

"Life is full of surprises." He said pointing a finger gun at her, causing the latter to roll her eyes in return. They both turned back to Emerald and Neo, couldn't help but smirk as the former had a bit of red on her cheeks as she slowly eating the ice cream with the latter smiling.

"Stop looking." Emerald threatened but both couldn't take it seriously due to her facial expression.

"Students, please gather to the center of the airship." They all heard Salem's voice and headed towards the said designation. As they were gathering, Cinder saw Carmine as the latter was a bit beside some students until she noticed the former gazing at and gave her a wink with a two-finger wave. On the other side, she saw a young man with red hair and blue eyes a bit off to the side away from others, but his gaze was focus on the teachers. She also saw a young boy about Neo's size with black hair alongside a white-haired boy.

"Now, I know you all may be wondering why we aren't at the cliffside for our initiation. It's because we are not having our exams at that location this year. We decided to do something a little different." Salem explained.

"So, we're not getting launched into the forest then?" Oscar asked with his hand raised.

"Oh no, you'll still be getting launched into the exams. Just by a different method." Salem said cryptically earning looks of confusion from the students.

"So, what's the objective?" The red-hair teenager asked.

"Once you landed, you will be heading towards an abandoned temple where each of you will be collect a single piece that is displayed and make your way back to the cliffs. Be advised, we placed some extra… items and obstacles that can either help you or harm you." The headmistress explained as she made her way over to a wall next to a window with Hazel standing on the opposite side, before strapping a seatbelt around her waist.

"Rest assured, if the exams go wrong in any direction, help will be given immediately. I wish you all good luck on your exams."

DING-DONG

'We have arrived at our destination.' The voice in the overhead announced as they were still flying.

"Um, Headmistress, we're still hovering above the forest."

"I know." Salem answered with a smile. "Now for the final piece of advice." She started before turning her head towards Hazel who also had a seatbelt strapped around his waist.

Hazel just nodded his head, slammed his fist against a button to his opposite side and suddenly the bay doors opened at a fast pace, causing heavy wind and rapid decompression.

"…Eh?"

A few of them made that sound when the bay doors were suddenly opened, causing confusion to realization to panic.

"AAHHHHHH!"

Most of them screamed as the strong suction of wind flung them out of the bay doors and into the forest as Salem cupped a hand over her mouth.

"Make sure to fall with style~" She yelled giving them a wave as the bay doors slowly closed with the airship heading back in the opposite direction towards the cliffs.