As a the capital city of the country that shared its name, and more importantly, as the closest city to Beacon Academy, Vale was no stranger to people that could be considered "larger than life."

  While the population density of Huntsmen was generally pretty low across the world, the average Valean citizen would typically see a Huntsman or Huntsman-in-training about two or three times a month, simply wandering the streets in those ridiculously colourful outfits of theirs that made them stand out like a beacon.

  In other words, Huntsmen were common enough in the streets of Vale that most of the time you wouldn't even bother to glance twice at them. Maybe if you'd just moved there from a different, less colourful city, then you might go out of the way to tell your husband or wife about the short girl you saw on your way to work, carrying a sword that was twice her height as a fun little story during dinner, but after a few months of spotting different Huntsmen going about their lives, the novelty would wear off for both of you. After the first time that you tell your story about a Huntsman who stood five spots ahead of you in the grocery queue, and your lovely spouse responds with a simple, "mhmm" instead of getting wide-eyed at the idea that you ran into a literal superhero on the streets, it stops being all that exciting.

  That being said, not all Huntsmen came with an equal amount of visual spectacle, and though the citizens of Vale were even more numb to the sight of Huntsmen than usual, with the Beacon school year starting soon, it was still impossible to ignore the enormous red-headed man that walked through Vale's downtown one day.

  As a general rule, Huntsmen usually dressed themselves up to be easy to spot. They're job was to be seen, both to lure Grimm away from more defenseless targets, and to act as a Beacon of hope to any citizens that were currently being attack, in hopes of mitigating the negative emotions that the Grimm were attracted to in the first place.

  But some Huntsmen were still easier to spot than others.

  Atlas Nikos walked down the streets of Vale, oblivious how many people were staring at him, because why would they have any reason to stare?

  Atlas was a perfectly normal boy who didn't really stand out from the rest of the crowd. Maybe if you thought that it was strange that he stood at a respectable six feet and eleven inches, with his bright red pompadour adding up an extra foot and a half of height depending on how his head was angled, you would turn your head to look at him.

  Or maybe you noticed the thick tattered clothes that hung off his body, looking like they belonged to a forty year old man who was actively in the process of drowning out his sorrows with alcohol in the nearby public park after losing his job, wife, and kids, but Atlas was seventeen, and the only time he'd been formally employed was when his twin sister had asked him once to buy some juice for her six years ago.

  Or maybe it was the loose pieces of armor he had, secured to his body with a web of ropes, tied in an intricate pattern that he had learned from a Mistralian book he'd stumbled upon when he was playing hide and seek with his sister once, and he had tried to hide in his parents' bedside dresser. It might've been too complex for most people to understand, but Atlas had grown out of his armor five years ago, and this was the best method he had found to continue to wear it despite that.

  But Atlas didn't think that any of these would be good enough of a reason for anyone to think that he was anything out of the ordinary. He was just Atlas, after all. If he had noticed anyone staring in his general direction, he would've simply assumed that they weren't staring at him, but were instead enamoured by the sight of one or both of his best friends.

  Looking down at the pair that flanked his sides, he couldn't help but smile. Oh, how lucky he was to have met them both, and how lucky he was that they continued to stay with him despite how utterly normal he was in comparison to them. Atlas sometimes felt that he was out of place between them, but he knew that Emerald was kind enough that she didn't mind having to associate with him, and Mercury often told him that being the coolest man in the world came with the ability to not care about what other people thought.

  Overcome with a sudden bout of emotion, Atlas bent down to grab both of his friends in a tight hug, as Emerald let out a screech of joy.

  "What is your problem, Atlas?!" she cried out in joy, as she flailed around happily in the air, as he held her up with an arm around her waist.

  In his other arm, Mercury, who had ducked down at the last second so Atlas could hug his neck instead, said nothing as he reached up to beat his fists against Atlas's arm. Mercury always said that cool guys could communicate without words, but Atlas had no idea what Mercury was trying to say here. Not wanting to disappoint his best friend and mentor, he nodded at Mercury in hopes that he could just pretend that he understood what Mercury wanted.

  "How many times have I told you not to randomly pick me up?!" Emerald shouted again. "Let me down, you fucking moron!"

  "Oh," Atlas said, suddenly remembering the many times she had scolded him for doing this exact thing and wincing as he gently put her down. "I apologize, Emerald. It must have slipped my mind."

  Emerald glared at him as he knelt down to gently place her back on the floor, but it didn't take long for her eyes to drift away from him. Though she seemed to get lost in thought for a few seconds, she eventually sighed and shook her head.

  "Let go of Mercury, Atlas," Emerald said. "As much as I hate him, he's more useful alive than dead."

  Atlas blinked and tilted his head, causing his pompadour to almost decapitate a passing pedestrian, but he eventually looked down at Mercury, who had stopped moving entirely.

  He wasn't sure what exactly that meant in cool guy language, but he trusted Emerald enough to know that she wouldn't tell him to do something that Mercury wouldn't want. Letting go immediately, Atlas watched as Mercury fell out of his arms and landed flat on the floor, unmoving and lifeless, in a move that Mercury might describe as "chilling."

  Though Atlas was content to let Mercury chill for as long as he wanted, Emerald walked over to stand next to his unmoving body.

  "Hey, asshole," she said, using one of her favourite nicknames for him. "If you don't get up soon, we're leaving you here. I'm not gonna be late just because you're lazy."

  Without waiting for a response, Emerald gave a quick kick to Mercury's ribs that made the grey-haired boy twitch violently, before he reached his arms forward with a sharp gasp.

  "I'm alive?" he asked, his eyes focusing on something that Atlas couldn't quite see.

  "Unfortunately," Emerald said, looking down at him with her arms crossed. "Now get up. You and Atlas already wasted so much time getting ready. I'm not gonna sit around and let you waste any more."

  "No mercy on account of almost dying?" Mercury asked, before glancing up at Atlas. "No offence taken, by the way."

  Atlas nodded, with a smile, not understanding what Mercury was talking about, but glad for Mercury's forgiveness regardless.

  "You seem fine to me," Emerald said, with a glare.

  Immediately, Mercury threw his head backwards, laying the back of his wrist on his forehead.

  "Oh, woe is me," he said. "I'm putting on a strong face, but if I'm being honest, I barely have enough oxygen in my lungs to survive. If only there were someone around who could give me some mouth-to-mouth for a quick refill."

  Emerald immediately grinned. "Atlas," she said, with a snap of her fingers. "Would you like to do the honours?"

  "On second thought, I'm good," Mercury said, immediately kipping up and landing back on his feet.

  "Oh, what a shame," Emerald said, sneering at him. "Your first and last chance to kiss anyone other than a picture of yourself. Gone, just like that."

  "Hey, what can I say? It's a really good picture," Mercury said, running his hand through his hair to shake off the dust that had managed to settle in it during his brief rest on the floor. "I look damn good."

  "Fucking narcissist," Emerald said.

  "Ain't narcissistic if it's true," Mercury said. "Most of us just aren't afraid to admit it. Isn't that right, buddy?"

  "It is indeed true," Atlas said, with a quick nod, eager to contribute to the conversation. "Mercury does hold the title of the coolest man in the world, but you need not worry. I have complete faith that he is magnanimous enough to remain our friend despite our differences in social standing."

  Emerald scowled at Mercury, possibly because she wasn't convinced by Atlas's reassurances.

  "Stop filling his head with stupid crap," Emerald said. "Atlas doesn't deserve to be dragged down to your level."

  Mercury grinned, and his mouth opened to say something in response, but after a quick glance towards Atlas, it snapped back shut. Eyes narrowing towards Emerald, he apparently decided to make peace instead.

  "Stupid bitch," he said, affectionately referring to her with one of his affectionate nicknames for her.

  "Asshole," she replied, with one of her own.

  As the two stared into each other's eyes, with the burning fires of friendly love, Atlas couldn't help but smile at the sight.

  Atlas threw his head back and let out a loud laugh, before bending down and picking up both of his best friends and lifting up into the air.

  Emerald let out another screech and Mercury laughed, letting himself be picked up by the waist instead of the neck this time.

  "Atlas!" Emerald shouted.

  "Emerald!" Atlas shouted back, squeezing her tighter so he wouldn't accidentally let her go with how happily she was flailing around.

  "Mercury!" Mercury chimed in.

  Typically, the Central Valean airship hub offered round-trip flights to and from Beacon up to three times a day on weekdays and five times on weekends. It made sense, given that there were only a few hundred students or staff who had any reason or clearance to go to Beacon in the first place, and though the school had the money to sign a contract for a more frequent service with the airship hub, it would frankly be a waste, both in the sense that trips often being completely cancelled if the airship hub had reason to believe that nobody would take it, and Beacon often had to pay out large sums of money in repair fees whenever their students went out outings to the city.

  That being said, the contract that Beacon had with the airship hub was flexible enough that they had no issue with sending out more airships if need be, and special occasions like the orientation day for prospective Beacon students called for up to eight round trips throughout the day.

  Thankfully, this meant that even though the trio was about an hour later to the airship hub than they had planned, it meant that they wouldn't have had to wait too long for the next flight. It didn't end up mattering, since Emerald had predicted that they would be late in the first place and had lied to them about the departure time, meaning that they had made it with time to spare to the earliest flight of the day.

  Flashing their examinee IDs was all it took for the airship staff to let them onboard, and though they were a few minutes early, it turned out that they weren't the first to have arrived.

  Standing at the window of the airship was a short girl who stared outside with her arms crossed over her chest and a determined expression on her face, her expression accentuated by the sharp angles of her thick glasses that gave off the impression that she was glowering intensely out of the window, as if she saw something that displeased her.

  Even as a new trio of prospective Huntsmen-in-training boarded the same airship as her, she either didn't notice or didn't care, as her focus on whatever she saw out of the window refused to waver, not even for the slightest glance at the newcomers in her territory.

  But despite her lack of interest in them, Emerald and Mercury both took notice of her immediately, though they continued to bicker with each other to try and hide the fact that they were wary of her, and were both actively scanning her to assess the level of threat that she posed.

  It was nothing that either of them specifically had against the girl. It was something that they did to everyone they came across, purely out of habit. Emerald had lived most of her life protecting herself on the streets of Mistral, and Mercury had lived most of his life training to kill others, and while their stories were tragic, it was unfortunately somewhat common amongst many other Huntsmen, or at least the ones that survived long enough to make a name for themselves.

  While it might be considered paranoid for a normal person to assess every person they meet on the streets, it was considered a smart survival skill for the average Huntsman to have. Even in Grimm-infested territories, where it was both easy and accurate to assume that everything was out to kill you, it was still important to gauge a Grimm's weaknesses, strengths, and whether it was a better option to just run instead of staying to fight, and the lack of that skill often meant a short career for most Huntsmen.

  But there were exceptions.

  While Emerald and Mercury both assumed that the short girl at the other end of the airship cabin was a Huntsman-in-training, it was difficult to push away the thought that she was more dangerous than that, just from the sheer lack of consideration that she gave them. Of course, there was no way to know for sure without seeing her in action, but on the other hand, there was no real reason to figure out. Emerald and Mercury were content to let sleeping lions lie and simply stay at the other end of the airship, next to a very breakable looking window that they could jump out of if necessary.

  While it would've made their lives a lot easier if they just dismissed her as being weak, neither of them had lived this long without being careful. They both knew that the only people in this world who didn't need to be were the ones who were powerful enough to shrug off any threat that might be thrown in their direction, and had the confidence to display that fact.

  But there were exceptions to that rule as well.

  Sometimes, a lack of caution didn't mean weakness, or a heightened sense of confidence. Sometimes a lack of caution just meant that you wanted to make a new friend.

  And by the time that Emerald and Mercury both realised that their walking exception to all rules was sauntering merrily towards the potentially dangerous girl, having slipped away while they were busy pretending to bicker, it was too late.

  "Greetings," Altas said, at a volume that was more like a shout, as he walked towards her, at a pace that was more like a jog.

  Even so, the girl didn't react until Atlas got close enough to touch and suddenly, she raised a hand up to stop him. Though she was small enough that Atlas might've bowled her over if he kept going, he stopped instantly at the silent command.

  Still staring out of the window, her expression unchanged, she spoke.

  "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm not interested in handing out autographs."

  Though Atlas was somewhat saddened by that, he quickly decided that it didn't matter all that much, especially since he hadn't even wanted an autograph in the first place.

  "It troubles me not," Atlas said. "I approached you with the intention of introducing myself in hopes that you would deign to accept my friendship."

  Finally, that seemed to be enough to make the girl turn towards him, though his words might not have been the main factor in drawing her attention. As Atlas took a step backwards and bowed to her in respect, the violent arc of his pompadour passed through where her head might have been, if she hadn't leaned back to dodge it at the last second. Surprisingly, even after nearly being decapitated, her expression showed no hint of malice, only curiosity as she raised an eyebrow at him.

  "You offer your friendship?" she repeated, still being short enough to have to crane her neck to look up at him, despite how deep he was bowing. "And you don't expect anything in return? Most people would consider that an unfair trade."

  "I apologise," Atlas said immediately. "If there is anything I could offer you, to make this trade more in your favour, I am open to suggestions."

  The girl frowned. "I wasn't implying that it would be unfair for me," she said, though she immediately seemed to reconsider the idea, gripping her chin and musing over the idea with a furrowed brow. "Though I suppose you could be right. If I accept your friendship, it gives you the possibility of entering into my good graces, which is far more invaluable than anything you anyone else could ever offer."

  "I beg you consider accepting my friendship regardless," Atlas said, sinking down to one knee.

  The girl stayed silent, mulling over the idea silently with a deep frown etched into her face. Atlas patiently waited for several long seconds, before suddenly, he felt an arm drape itself around his shoulders.

  "Hey, buddy! What have I always told you about watching where you swing that hair of yours?" Mercury said, with a brittle laugh as he turned to the girl with an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that, he never meant any harm."

  The girl raised her eyebrow again, and looked up at Atlas's pompadour, before looking back to Mercury.

  "You think he is capable of harming me?" she asked.

  Mercury smiled, and let out a laugh, but offered no other response.

  "Greetings Mercury," Atlas said, turning to his best friend and forcing the girl to lean back and dodge the blunt weapon that was his pompadour once more, though she seemed to take as little offence to the unintentional murder attempt as she had the first time. "Are you here to offer your friendship too?"

  "Are you?" the girl asked. "To be completely transparent with you, I may have to decline. It would already take a lot of effort to vet a single friendship before I can determine if it is worth pursuing, especially when I'm uncertain of whether either of you will be accepted into Beacon Academy in the first place."

  Mercury's eyebrow twitched, but he didn't say anything as his smile remained static on his face.

  Atlas laughed and shook his head.

  "I will have you know, Madam, that despite how he looks, Mercury is quite proficient in combat," Atlas said, causing Mercury to whip his head around to give him an offended look for some reason, as a familiar snort of laughter rang out from behind him.

  "Despite how I look?" Mercury asked.

  "Yes," Atlas said, not understanding why he sounded so scandalised. "If it were not for the fact that I have seen you in combat, I would not expect that you would ever deign to use violence, due to how kind-hearted you appear."

  "Oh, that's what you meant," Mercury said, quickly adopting a smile once more. "Yup. Kind-hearted. That's me, alright."

  Atlas smiled back at Mercury, gratitude filling his heart at the idea that he could claim to be the friend of such a kind-hearted man in the first place, when he realised that it would be selfish of him to keep the feeling to himself.

  Turning back to the girl, he bowed once more, bowing deep enough that his pompadour hit the metal floor of the airship with a heavy thud.

  "Madam," he said. "As much as it pains me to say this, I might rescind my previous offer of friendship. I have been reminded once more of how valuable Mercury's friendship is, and it would be outright villainous of me to deny you the opportunity to experience the same."

  "Damn straight," Mercury said, still preening proudly until he realised what was being said.

  Before he could say anything in his defence, however, Atlas felt a small hand land on his shoulder, and though he was tempted to look up, he remembered what Mercury said about watching his hair and kept his head down, not wanting to launch the girl into the ceiling by looking up.

  "What did you call me?" she asked.

  "Madam," he said, still with his head down. "I apologise if I have offended you."

  "Oh, not at all," the girl said, taking her hand off his shoulder. "I was simply surprised. It's not often that I meet a person who immediately treats me with the respect I deserve."

  Even as he heard her hop backwards, Atlas kept his head down as she hummed to herself, sounding like she was deep in thought.

  "I have decided," she said. "It seems you are a man of high quality, and since you're vouching for your fellow man as well, I can only assume he is of similar value. While I still cannot accept two friendships at once, I can be convinced to take both of your acquaintanceships."

  Atlas's eyes lit up with excitement, and he raised his head to look up at her, forcing her to hop backwards to dodge his pompadour again.

  "Truly?" he asked.

  "Truly," the girl replied, giving him a deep curtsy. "It is a pleasure to receive your acquaintanceship. My name is Chroma, though you may continue to refer to me as Madam, if you wish."

  "My name-" Atlas started, though his voice stalled when she held up a hand.

  "I'm sorry, my new acquaintance," she said, with a genuinely apologetic expression on her face. "But unfortunately, I can only remember so many names, and a simple acquaintanceship does not justify my efforts in remembering yours."

  "Oh," Atlas said. "Then in that case, what shall you call me?"

  "I'll think of something," Chroma said, furrowing her brow and cupping her chin in deep thought. "I usually employ a shorthand naming scheme when it comes to acquaintances, something that relates to their appearance so it's easier to remember."

  "A nickname?" Atlas asked, his excitement rising once more.

  "I suppose you could call it that," Chroma said offhandedly.

  "Most excellent," Atlas replied, though he stopped talking when he realised how deep in concentration Chroma was.

  It took a few more seconds before she snapped her fingers and pointed at Mercury, who looked startled to be included in the conversation again.

  "My first instinct was to call you Grey," she said. "But I know far too many Greys already. The same goes for Silvers and Dark Whites. It may be unconventional, but perhaps I could call you Mercury instead, due to the similarities in colour."

  Mercury, otherwise known as Mercury, blinked a few times before giving a confused thumbs up.

  "Works for me," he said.

  "As for you," Chroma said, immediately turning towards Atlas, tapping her chin with her finger. "My first instinct was to call you Red, due to your hair colour, but it may confuse me due to the colour of the rest of your outfit. But speaking of your outfit, it's very distinct. Blue clothes accented with armour coloured a distinct shade of green. It almost reminds me of something I've seen before."

  Atlas nodded, even if he didn't quite follow the train of thought.

  Chroma mused silently for a few more seconds, before she snapped her fingers.

  "It almost reminds me of a map of Remnant," she said.

  Mercury, or rather Mercury, raised his eyebrow. "Oh yeah?" he asked.

  "Yeah," Chroma replied. "And thus, I have the perfect name for you."

  She smiled a triumphant smile as she turned to Atlas and offered her hand for him to take.

  "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Globe."

  Globe blinked in confusion at the offered hand, before he fully realised what she was asking for. Throwing his head back in delight, he let out a loud laugh, before taking the offered hand and pulling her in for a hug.

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  "That is a wonderful name!" Globe said. "You truly are a wordsmith, my friend!"

  "Acquaintances, Globe," Chroma said, looking not at all perturbed by the fact that she had been scooped up and had her legs dangling in the air. "I thought I made that very clear."

  "You have, my friend," Globe said. "But I consider all my acquaintances to be friends."

  "And your friends?" Chroma asked.

  "Best friends," Globe answered.

  "And how, pray tell, does that work?" Chroma asked.

  "I am not certain," Globe admitted. "But I know it to be true, regardless of my understanding."

  "Like science, then," Chroma said, frowning but nodding all the same.

  "Indeed, my friend," Atlas said.

  "I see," Chroma said, nodding along. "Well, in that case, I suppose I must consider you my friend."

  "Which makes us best friends," Globe added.

  Chroma frowned, furrowing her brow intensely as she stared into his eyes.

  "I'll have to think about that," she said, after a few seconds.

  "Your consideration is all I would ever ask for," Globe said, smiling at her, before he started to walk towards Emerald, whose eyes immediately widened when she realised that he was headed in her direction.

  With how excitedly she was shaking her head, Globe smiled and started to walk more quickly towards her, until Emerald seemed to accept her fate and put on a brittle smile.

  "Atlas," Emerald said.

  "Atlas? Where?!" Chroma said with a snarl, swivelling her head around to identify the threat, somehow swivelling her head completely around despite her body being pinned in one place.

  Globe and/or Atlas stared at the sight, transfixed by his new friend's flexibility, even as Emerald seemed unimpressed by the sight, not being too surprised by the revelation that Atlas's new friend might be an owl faunus, given the fact that her sharp talons poked out of her open-toed sandals, but not caring enough to comment on it. Once Chroma seemed to calm down, Emerald tried again.

  "So," she said. "I see you've made a new… friend."

  "Best friend," Atlas corrected her.

  "That's yet to be decided, Globe," Chroma said offhandedly, as she still glanced around the room for any signs of the country, city, or school.

  Emerald frowned, but as a brief look of exhaustion passed by her eyes, she seemed to decide against burdening herself with a new problem, reverting to an old lecture that she had repeated too many times before.

  "Atl- Globe," she said, quickly correcting herself when Chroma's expression started to sharpen, even if it looked like she was physically pained to refer to Atlas with his new name. "We've discussed this before. You can't grab random people like that unless they give their explicit permission. You'll get us into trouble one day if you can't keep your hands to yourself."

  "Excuse me," Chroma said, before Atlas could even think to apologise. "But you must be mistaken about something, young lady."

  Emerald stared up at her, with the same tired eyes that Atlas was so familiar with. "And what might that be?"

  "You seem to be scolding young Globe here-"

  "Seem to be?"

  "Despite the fact that I did give him explicit permission to carry me," Chroma finished, ignoring Emerald's interruption completely. "If I did not want to be carried, I simply would not have let him."

  Emerald stared up at Chroma, completely unmoving but somehow conveying the emotions of a full-bodied sigh regardless.

  "Okay," she said.

  "Indeed," Chroma said before narrowing her eyes suspiciously at Emerald and turning to Atlas.

  "Who is this young lady, anyways," Chroma whispered into Atlas's ear, at a volume that could never be defined as whispering. "And what's her relationship to the detestable Atlas."

  "She's my best friend," Atlas said, answering both questions simultaneously.

  "I see," Chroma said, frowning and pulling at her arm before staring at Atlas.

  "Globe," she said. "Would you mind freeing my arm? I need to think."

  Atlas nodded, accidentally smacking Chroma lightly on the head with his pompadour before he slackened his grip enough to let Chroma wiggle one of her arms out and cup her chin with it.

  After a moment of intense thought, she sighed and whisper-talked into Atlas's ear once more.

  "Globe," she said. "I'm afraid that I'm not sure what my relation is to this young lady. As we are now acquaintances, or rather friends as you say, and this young lady is your best friend, does that mean she is my enemy?"

  "Why would you think that?" Atlas asked.

  "I often hear that the enemy of my enemy is my friend," Chroma explained, with a serious nod. "So is it not reasonable to say that the friend of my friend is my enemy?"

  Atlas's brow furrowed for a moment, before he turned to Emerald with a shocked expression.

  She stared back at him with a dead expression that conveyed no emotion besides the usual amount of friendship that typically overflowed from her.

  "I'm… not sure," Atlas said.

  "That is worrying," Chroma said.

  "Well, she's my enemy, if that helps," Mercury chimed in. "And we're friends, right?"

  Chroma's mouth snapped shut as she lifted her hand to her chin once more. A moment of intense silence passed through the room, before Chroma nodded.

  "We are neutral," she announced to Emerald.

  "Yay," Emerald responded.

  "But as an apology for the misunderstanding, I will deign to offer you my acquaintanceship for putting you through such a harrowing experience," Chroma said, bowing as far as her position in Atlas's arms would allow.

  "You really don't have to," Emerald said.

  "Nonsense," Chroma said. "I am not arrogant enough to not realise when I've made a mistake, so let me correct it by giving you the honour of being my acquaintance."

  Atlas and Mercury both gasped in excitement, as Emerald glanced at the emergency exit and the window, gauging her distance to both.

  "It's a pleasure to meet you, Emerald," Chroma said, straining as she extended her hand towards Emerald.

  Emerald stared at the offered hand, glaring up at Atlas for some reason, before looking down at the floor with a defeated expression on her face.

  "I assume Green was already taken?" Emerald asked.

  "What?" Chroma said, her brow furrowing at the question. "No, it wasn't. I suppose that would've been a good name too, wouldn't it."

  "If I may be so bold to suggest that Emerald is a superior name," Atlas said. "It's a pleasant name for a pleasant lady."

  "Of course it is," Chroma said, with her hand still extended towards Emerald. "It's a name that I thought of, after all. Wear it with pride, Emerald."

  Looking completely lost for words, Emerald glanced between Atlas and Chroma, before finally deciding to land on Mercury with a glare that promised death.

  The airship took off not too long after, with the four current occupants apparently being the only ones who had woken up early enough to take the first scheduled airship ride of the day. The ride wasn't particularly long, taking only twenty minutes of flying to reach their destination, and thankfully for Emerald, that was short enough that she just barely managed to resist the urge to jump out of the airship and just walk the rest of the way.

  When the airship landed on the school grounds, Emerald speed walked out of the ship, like she was trying to escape her demons, but to her misfortune, at least one of those demons was her friend.

  "We're here!" Atlas said. "Our new home! And what a glorious one it is!"

  Mercury stared up impassively at the towering castle at the other end of the courtyard that they'd landed beside, and Emerald twitched at the mention of home, but both of them ended up smiling a few seconds later.

  "Ugh, home," Emerald said, though she continued to smile. "Such a weird word."

  "For once, I can't say I disagree with you," Mercury mused as he scanned the entirety of Beacon.

  "I guess if I had to choose though, this isn't a half bad place to start learning about what it means," Emerald said.

  "Starting from zero, huh?" Mercury asked, with a grin. "I'm jealous."

  "Ass."

  "Hey, I was being genuine," Mercury said, with a laugh, as he placed both hands behind his head, and stretched his arms out casually. "I imagine it'll be easier to build something new, without having to tear down a shitty foundation. I'm jealous."

  Emerald frowned, but rather than apologise, she simply shook her head as she joined Mercury in simply looking up at the castle.

  "Do you two not know what home means?" Chroma asked, her voice conveying a genuine sense of concern for the two. "It's a very common word. I'm surprised you've never come across it before."

  "And the moment has passed," Emerald said, shaking her head again.

  Mercury laughed. "Yep."

  Atlas laughed along with him.

  With how the impromptu group of four arrived early enough that the sun had barely risen past the horizon, it was no surprise that they seemed to be the only ones on the Beacon grounds.

  Though Huntsmen were often the punctual sort, you wouldn't usually see one arriving excessively early to an appointment or an event. Out in the wilds, where danger was abundant and sleep was rare, a surprisingly good skill for a Huntsman to have was knowing how to optimise their downtime whenever it was available. A Huntsman needed to capitalise on every single second of relaxation that they could get, because in a Huntsman's life, there were often times that they would go for days or even weeks without it.

  That being said, though it was an uncommon occurrence, it wasn't an excessively rare one. While rest was important, it wasn't something that a Huntsman would prioritise if they had a legitimate reason to arrive early to something. Occasionally, Huntsmen would be assigned with providing a security detail to an important politician, and had to scope out the area for any threats preemptively, or sometimes they would do the opposite and set up an ambush for a stampede of Grimm that were heading to a small town.

  All in all, if a Huntsman ever arrived early to something, it usually meant that they had a very good reason for doing so.

  "Hey, you guys wanna help me hide all the signs that point towards the orientation?" Mercury asked, already with a small large foldable sign tucked under his armpit.

  Atlas tilted his head sideways in confusion.

  "Would this not trouble the other students?" he asked.

  "I see it as teaching them an early lesson," Mercury said, sighing dramatically and shaking his head. "It's dangerous to have all the answers laid out for you all the time, you know. I'd hate for someone to get hurt because they got too used to being coddled."

  "Hmm. Once again, you are a paragon of wisdom, my friend," Atlas said.

  "Damn straight," Mercury said. "Plus, it's funny."

  "It is indeed."

  Emerald gave him a flat glare.

  "Trying to set a record for how fast you can get expelled?" she asked.

  Mercury let out a quick snort of laughter. "They wouldn't expel me for something like this," Mercury said. "Maybe a detention, if it's something this petty, but I doubt I'd get anything worse than a slap on the wrist."

  "Well, it's petty alright," Emerald said. "But you'd still get in trouble, and I'm not letting you drag Atlas along with you."

  Ignoring the confused glare she received from Chroma, Emerald crossed her arms and stood between Atlas and Mercury, though Mercury didn't seem at all bothered by the heated glare.

  "But it is for a just cause, Emerald," Atlas said. "I wish to join Mercury in his noble endeavour."

  "Nah, Em's probably right," Mercury said, whistling a happy tune as he walked around the airship dock, ripping down every poster and picking up every sign that he came across. "You kids go off on your own. Don't want you getting caught up in my trouble, after all."

  Emerald glowered at Mercury's back as he casually swept through the entire hall, her brow furrowing in suspicion until her glare fell flat.

  "You just want detention with Goodwitch, don't you," she said, more than asked.

  "She looked a lot better as a hologram than in her staff picture," Mercury said, in lieu of a direct answer. "Sue me for being a little curious about how much better she might be in person."

  "I hope she kills you," Emerald said.

  "Jealousy's an ugly look on you, Em," Mercury sang out, as he tossed a handful of posters into a nearby trash can.

  Emerald made a short, but guttural sound of disgust as she turned away, grabbing Atlas's wrist and dragging him away from the still singing Mercury.

  ""I do not hope she kills you Mercury," Atlas called back, as he let himself be dragged away.

  "Same here, buddy," Mercury said, waving behind him without looking back. "Same here."

  Pulling Atlas out of the airship, and walking towards the castle until Emerald deemed that they were far enough to not be implicated in Mercury's petty pranks. With a few hours to kill, Emerald and Atlas wandered aimlessly around the castle, with Emerald scanning the building to try and get a vague blueprint of her new home for the next four years, while Atlas admired the pretty infrastructure.

  They walked without talking, comfortable in the silence that fell between them, the sound of their footfalls in the grassy fields, being their only companion besides the whistle of the occasional breeze that blew, still warm with the final touches of the summer sun as the beginning of Autumn approached. It was in this peace that Emerald felt that she could relax, but it didn't mean she was completely unguarded. A Huntsman never was.

  When Emerald spotted a person in the distance, practically a tall speck, topped with a splash of blonde hair, her guard slowly returned even as she recognized the person meant no harm. Distinct and fresh enough in her memory that she wouldn't mistake her for anyone else, she nodded towards Glynda Goodwitch, who returned her nod with one of her own, lowering the large holographic scroll she held in her arms to walk slowly towards them.

  "Ms. Sustrai," she said, once she was close enough to be heard without having to yell. "Orientation will take place in the auditorium, at the other end of the school grounds. Are the three of you lost?"

  "No Professor Goodwitch," Emerald said, lowering her head slightly in respect. "We just came to Beacon early and wanted to check out the place, since we had some time to kill. Are we not allowed to walk around?"

  "You're not in trouble, if that's what you're asking," Goodwitch said. Though she didn't smile in reassurance, her tone of voice was casual. "I was simply concerned. You may roam as you please, as long as you arrive at the auditorium at the appropriate time."

  "Thank you, Professor," Emerald said, with another nod.

  "No need for that, Ms. Sustrai," Goodwitch said. "I'm just doing my job. I'm sure even if you hadn't run into me on my last minute inspections, you would be responsible regardless, if you're this punctual already."

  There was a short silence, before Emerald lifted her head, smiling politely at Goodwitch, with no trace of malicious intent hidden behind her eyes.

  "Actually, Professor," she said. "It's a little embarrassing to admit, but I wasn't actually telling the complete truth before."

  Goodwitch's eyes narrowed minutely, in a silent question.

  "It's not like we're lost or anything," Emerald continued. "But we actually had no idea where the auditorium was. We were hoping we could find it while walking around the campus, but I guess we're way off the mark."

  "There should have been several obvious signs providing directions to the auditorium," Goodwitch said, with a slight frown. "I put them up myself earlier this morning."

  "Well," Emerald said, scratching her cheek. "There were a bunch of signs, but most of them were either blown over or thrown into bushes. Maybe there was a freak wind or something."

  Goodwitch's eyes narrowed instantly, as she searched Emerald's eyes for any hint of a lie. When she seemed to find no lie in them, she turned to Atlas and found nothing at all.

  "That's concerning," Goodwitch said. "Very well, then. The auditorium is located very close to the main entrance to Beacon. If you keep going forward, it's nearly impossible to miss."

  "Thank you, Professor," Emerald said.

  "You're very welcome," Goodwitch said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I will need to investigate why my signs have all been seemingly blown over. It was a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Sustrai, Mr. Atlas, Ms. Sky."

  She nodded to each of them in turn and walked off, not even commenting on how Chroma's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the mention of Atlas's name, or the fact that she was still being carried around by him in an underarm carry, too used to the oddities of Huntsmen to think it strange enough to deserve a comment.

  For a moment, Atlas wondered why she hadn't referred to him by his family name, when he realised that he simply must have forgotten to include it in his registration forms. Or rather, Emerald must have forgotten to put it in when she filled them out for him.

  Tilting his head, he wondered if he had ever told Emerald his family name in the first place. Surely it must have come up in the six or so years that they'd known each other.

  Before he could think to ask, however, he lost his train of thought as the cry of a songbird travelled through the air.

  A few hours later, the sounds of conversation started to ring out in the world as large groups of prospective Huntsmen started to mill out of the airship docks. Though Atlas perked up in excitement at the idea of meeting new friends, Emerald grabbed Atlas's wrist before he could run off, explaining that one new friend was enough for now.

  Though Atlas wanted to disagree with the sentiment, he didn't want to disagree with Emerald either, and after judging his priorities and deciding that a single Emerald was worth more than a thousand new friends, he nodded his head and covered his ears, accidentally dropping Chroma, though she managed to land on her feet easily.

  After a short conversation between the two girls that Atlas couldn't hear, Chroma looked at Atlas and beckoned him downwards. After getting down on one knee, Chroma walked around him and latched herself onto his back, clinging onto his midsection with her legs and covering his eyes with her hands.

  Atlas smiled, enjoying the strange but comforting hug, until he felt something tugging on his arm, beckoning him upwards. He let himself be led around by who he assumed was Emerald, until Chroma removed her hands from his eyes and hopped off of his back.

  Blinking a few times to adjust to the sudden light, after spending several hours in darkness, Atlas gasped in surprise and joy as he suddenly found himself surrounded by a whole crowd of potential friends. Before he immediately started to run off, a twinge of hesitation rang through him as he remembered Emerald's comment that one new friend was probably enough for the day, but as he looked around the large room, he was surprised to see that she wasn't actually with him.

  In fact, aside from Chroma who was quickly walking towards the bathroom, he couldn't spot any of his friends, with Mercury and Emerald being nowhere to be seen. Though he couldn't help but be a little bit spooked by the waving hands that kept popping up at the bottom of his peripheral vision, the thought of being a little sneaky and making a new friend while Emerald wasn't around made him grin.

  Atlas took a step forward, towards a strangely familiar looking redhead, before he felt a sudden pang of pain in his chest.

  Frowning to himself, he furrowed his brow, wondering what that pain might have been, before he felt it again. His frown deepened, before his eyes widened at the realisation of what he was doing, and took a step backwards.

  The panging pain in his chest stopped almost immediately, even if the guilt remained at the idea that he'd even entertained the thought of doing something that Emerald had explicitly told him not to do, just because she wasn't around to scold him for it.

  As the disembodied hands continued to wave at the edges of his vision, likely an illusionary manifestation of guilt on his part, as a voice echoed in his head, muffled, distant, but still very distinctly belonging to a very annoyed Emerald, like she was standing right next to him.

  Gritting his teeth in disappointment at himself, Atlas sat down on the floor, lest his legs tempt him to betray Emerald once more, but he immediately perked up when he was immediately rewarded by the sight of Emerald, who had suddenly and inexplicably appeared in front of him.

  "Emerald!" he said, reaching up to hug her out of instinct, but finding that he couldn't, with his fingers stuck in his ears. He made do with what he could, grabbing Emerald with his elbows instead, but backed off when she punched him in the chest, the feeling of her fist being oddly similar to the pangs of guilt he had felt a moment ago.

  When Emerald grabbed his wrist, he let her pull his fingers out of his ear.

  "Emerald!" he said again, surprising himself a little with how loud he shouted, but ignoring the ringing in his own ears to grab Emerald with his now free hand. "I missed you!"

  She glared at him with her hands covering her own ears, and a grimace on her face that Atlas knew secretly meant that she loved him too.

  "Yeah, yeah," she said, rolling her eyes as Atlas hugged her tight and laughed.

  Determined not to break his promise to her, Atlas refused to even glance at anyone who he wasn't already friends with, and though the definition for that was often broad enough that it usually didn't mean much, in this case, Atlas was content to redefine what constituted a "friend" as being limited to Emerald, Chroma when she returned from the bathroom, and Mercury, who came by several hours later, with a tired but satisfied look in his eyes.

  For now, Atlas contented himself with having only three best friends, because they were best enough that he didn't need much else. After brushing his teeth with Mercury, and returning to the communal sleeping area that the prospective Huntsmen in training were crammed into, Atlas, Mercury, and Emerald took their usual sleeping arrangements in a small pile, with their backs against a wall.

  Though Chroma was confused by the sight, Atlas didn't know how to explain to her that this was how they always slept, and simply offered for her to try it out instead. After she immediately passed out in his lap, Emerald glowered at her for taking her usual spot, but after a few failed attempts at waking her up, and even more failed attempts at trying to simply push her off, she settled for Atlas's arm instead.

  Like usual, Atlas though he remained still as possible so his friends would be as comfortable, he always liked to stay awake for as long as possible, simply enjoying the sight of Emerald and Mercury sleeping peacefully against him, the only time of the day when they could be less than six feet apart from each other without bickering playfully. It was fun to watch, but he liked watching them when they were like this too.

  Even though it felt strange to have a new body resting against him, it wasn't an uncomfortable feeling at all, and eventually, at some point in the night, Atlas too fell asleep.

  Atlas Nikos

  Origin: One day when he was 11, Atlas Nikos went out to buy some juice. Unfortunately, he somehow forgot about how horrible his sense of direction was and got lost, never to be seen again until one day he randomly shows up at beacon.

  Team Structure: Atlas joins a new team, with his best buddies Mercury and Emerald (+ one OC rando)

  Weapon: None, but you do have the armor you owned from when you were a kid. It doesn't really fit, but you hold the pieces together with string.

  Semblance: Weight manipulation. Can imbue objects with more or less weight as long as you're touching them. Effect lasts temporarily once you let go.

  Outfit: Pristine pompadour, but otherwise a complete mess

  Chroma Sky

  Species: Faunus

  Gender: Female

  Faunus Type: Owl

  Colour theme: Monochrome

  Body type: smoll

  Weapon: Too many revolvers

  Semblance: Pocket dimensions