Beacon Light

“You’ll call us every weekend, won’t you?” Gray’s mother insisted.

They were standing in a waiting room just before the gate to Gray’s flight. All around them parents were sending off their kids to Beacon. The floor to ceiling windows showed off the rest of the skyport and the great big airships that would transport new students as well as any returning students. The airship that Gray would board soon was maneuvering into place now. Its four fin-like wings shifted inwards as it came closer to the gate.

“Yeah, Mom. Don’t worry. I’ve made an alarm for that each Sunday.” Gray assured her.

She hugged him once more as Gray’s father stood by and smiled. It was easy to see where Gray got most of his looks when you saw the father and sons shared grey hair. Lead grey like the lead in a pencil. But his eyes were blue like his mothers.

“Say hi to Oobleck for me, would you?” Gray’s father asked once his wife had finished her hug.

“The one who’s addicted to coffee, right?”

“Exactly.” Gray’s father smiled. He had told Gray a little about the man and how they had been colleagues for a time. By the sounds of it this Doctor Oobleck was a good teacher. Even if he was a little odd.

“Sure thing.” Gray told his father.

Moments passed and the docking of the airship had been completed. It wasn’t long before all the new students were called to line up at the gate. Gray hugged his parents for a final time before he joined the queue of nervous and excited kids.

As the line filtered through the gate Gray got closer to the windows and saw that the student's luggage was now being brought on-board the ship's cargo hold. He couldn’t see his luggage from where he stood though. He had to part with his weapons and stow them safely into his luggage bag before entering the skyport proper. So, all he had at the moment was his knowledge of hand-to-hand combat and his Semblance. Which he still hadn’t named yet.

Just before walking through the gate to the boarding tunnel Gray looked for his parents in the crowd of supportive families and waved one final goodbye. They waved back and smiled before he was through and walking down an echo chamber like tunnel. Skyport personnel ushered the kids into the airship and pointed out where the seats were.

Gray looked for an aisle seat and decided to activate his Semblance, so that he didn’t have to bother with awkward first impressions with new people.

It took a while for all the kids to be seated but once they were the flight attendants explained all the safety procedures. And that once they had reached cruising altitude on the course for Beacon Academy the seat belt sign would turn off and they would be free to get up and move around. They could even use the observation deck just below them.

Gray was halfway tempted to just walk around then and there, even as they were lifting off but decided that he didn’t want to test his Semblance on any on-board cameras. That was a test for another time and place.

One unfortunate thing that Gray noticed was that a guy chose to sit next to him instead of a girl. So, he didn’t have anyone to entertain himself with until the seat belt light turned off. So, he calmly sat and waited for the ship to take off before trying anything.

The flight staff got through their spiel after a few more explanations and then they were on their way. The ship rumbled as the engine did its thing. Looking over at the window Gray could see the skyport receding as the ship gained altitude, turning as it rose.

The kids around Gray spoke excitedly about Beacon and the next step in their schooling careers. Others talked about their weapons, fighting styles and semblances. Gray just sat and looked around at the faces of the students he could see and let his mind wander.

There were a lot of interesting looking people. And a lot of cute girls.

Gray was idly taking note of as many girls as he could from his vantage point when a ding sound caught his attention. He looked up and sure enough, the seat belt sign had turned off.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached optimal height and are now on our way to Beacon Academy.” One of the flight staff said over the airship's intercoms. “You are now free to stand up and stretch your legs. The observation deck is just down the stairs behind row J. The restrooms are found next to the stairs. We also have a refreshment vendor–”

That was all Gray needed. He unclipped himself from his chair and got up before anyone else was done listening to the announcement.

No one complained as he walked off to explore the ship.

First stop was the toilet. After waiting a while in the skyport terminal he didn’t really feel the urge to go until now. So, he tinkled in a nice snazzy looking restroom, washed his hands and left to start more experiments.

Gray closed the door to the men's restroom and noticed a girl with a long blonde braid and wearing a black zip hoodie and denim skirt, fast walking her way to the women’s restroom opposite. Her hand covered her mouth and her eyes looked tight and panicked. She hurriedly pushed the door open and rushed inside. The last Gray saw of her was the braid flapping behind her and her black tennis shoes.

Airsickness. Some people just couldn’t handle being on something other than flat ground.

For a moment Gray considered following her into the women’s restroom. Either to check on her or to mess with her he wasn’t sure. He decided against it after a moment. If vomit was involved then that would be a hard no from him.

So, he moved on to the next thing. The food vendor, just down some more rows of seats. Students were moving about now, standing in the aisles and talking or going off to look around. Gray weaved around them, brushing up close to some girls along the way. He let his hands come into brief contact with butts and other body parts. Not one protest followed him.

Once at the small counter near the rear of the passenger compartment Gray leaned over to inspect the woman in charge. She wore the same outfit as the rest of the attendants, a knee length pencil skirt and black vest. Gray eyed up her curves before reaching over the counter to take a muffin. The lady didn’t bat an eye.

He ate the muffin as he contemplated what to do, all the while staring at the woman’s breasts. He then looked around the walls to see if there were any cameras. One sat above the woman’s head. It was one of those small upside-down fishbowl ones.

So, it just saw him take a muffin. Great.

Hopefully his semblance did something to affect the footage. He really didn’t want to be questioned about this.

He moved away before he did anything else that could draw attention. He kept the muffin though.

Gray made his way back towards the stairs to go and check out the observation deck. Just as he came abreast of the staircase the women’s restroom door opened and that braided girl walked out holding her stomach with one hand. She looked pretty downcast and pale.

Gray’s considerate side got the best of him as he looked her over. She really looked like she wasn’t having a fun time of this airship ride.

Gray deactivated his semblance before approaching her. “Hey, are you doing okay?”

“Huh?” The girl looked up in surprise. Her deep amethyst eyes blinked uncertainly at Gray. “Ah, yeah... I just...”

“Not any good on airships, huh?” Gray sympathized. This girl was actually pretty cute. She had this somewhat shy look to her and her hair looked short from this angle, since her braid was hidden behind her back, giving her a slight tomboyish look.

She smiled sheepishly. “Yeah. Happens every time.”

There was a self-deprecating shake of her head. “I’ll be fine though. I just... uh...” At this point she pointed back at the restroom door with her thumb. The implication was obvious.

Gray laughed a little. So, she did in fact spew.

“Yeah...” She laughed along in that sheepish way.

“Hey, maybe the vendor down there has medicine, perhaps?” Gray offered, wanting to help somehow. He pointed down where he had come from to get his muffin.

She looked over with a little bit of hope in her eyes. She looked back to Gray and smiled. “You might be right.” Gray couldn’t help but admire that smile. There was something bright yet humble about it. “This is an airship, they’d likely have something to help with airsickness, surely.”

“Most likely.” Gray agreed.

She turned towards the vendor before stopping and turning back to Gray.

“I’m Jeanne Arc by the way.” She said, holding her hand out to him.

Gray returned the gesture and shook her hand. “I’m Gray Farran.” Her handshake was firm and surprisingly cool to the touch, though the air-conditioning in the ship was quite cold.

Her eyes looked up to Gray’s hair and picked up on the connection to his name. She giggled a little and shook their hands again before letting go.

“See you around?” Jeanne asked.

“Sure thing. But maybe on solid ground to be safe.” Gray joked.

“Hey! I had almost forgotten that I was sick before you reminded me.” Jeanne pouted. Her face paled again. If not for the obvious illness, that pout would have been really cute. “I better get that medicine.”

Gray laughed good humouredly at her expense. “See you later then.”

“Later.” She waved as she turned away.

Gray activated his semblance once again and ogled her butt as she walked away. A subtle sway to her hips almost made him go after her but he held back. He didn’t want to induce another up-chuck of whatever she last ate. That didn’t sound very sexy.

He definitely kept her in mind for later though.

With that over he headed down the stairs.

The observation deck was really just a long corridor with tilted windows for optimal viewing. There were raised platforms on both sides for sitting but other than that it was mostly bare. Holographic screens were spaced out by each window cycling through news channels and commercials.

New students were already standing around gazing out at Vale. Gray stopped to admire the metropolitan sight below. The windows from skyscrapers and other tall buildings gleamed in the early morning light. Off in the distance Gray thought he could make out the ocean past the Forever Fall forest to the north. The ship followed the river cutting through the middle of Vale towards the mountains in the east. He stood there and admired the sight of his home and finished his muffin.

Gray decided to check the window opposite for a slightly different view but found himself stopping when he unexpectedly recognized someone. Well, it wasn’t really unexpected for him to recognize someone on the ship since he knew quite a few people who made it into Beacon from his old school. It’s just that this particular person was quite unexpected. He would have thought that she would be at least a year away from attending Beacon. Maybe even two years away.

Little Red from last night's failed dust robbery was on the airship. The airship bound for Beacon Academy. Which meant that she was entering Beacon. Even though she looked a little too young for it.

She seemed to be with someone too. Some blonde girl with long messy hair, a brown jacket, black shorts and some kind of brown leather half-skirt thing that only covered her backside. Then there was that yellow top underneath the jacket that could barely contain those tits. That was some mighty impressive cleavage.

Intrigued, Gray moved closer, making sure his semblance was active.

“I still can’t believe it. My little sis is going to Beacon with me.” Blondie exclaimed. She shook her head in apparent disbelief. “It still feels unreal.”

Wait a second. Sis? Were these two related? They really didn’t look it. One was short with short black hair, and red highlights, pale skinned with some kind of grey eyes and looked somewhat uncertain with herself. The other girl was bright as day blonde with a healthy complexion and healthy... assets, though Red wasn’t exactly small. And her eyes were kind of light purple. Lilac maybe?

Blonde girl hugged her sister(?) and squeezed, which had the fortunate effect of squishing their chests together for Gray’s viewing pleasure. “It’s all because you impressed the headmaster with your skills. Now I don’t have to wait a year to go to school with my sister again. This is the best day ever!”

Red had the look of someone being squeezed so hard they couldn’t breathe. Which made Gray think that this blonde chick might be pretty strong. That, along with the style of dress she had going made him think that she might have been a hand-to-hand combat type. But that was only a guess. He hadn’t seen her weapon yet so maybe she had an axe or something.

“Please s–stop.” Red managed to get out.

Blondie broke away and bounced on her feet. “But I’m sooo proud of youuu!”

“Really sis, it was nothing...” Little Red said, her voice thick with self-deprecation.

From where Gray stood off to the side this girl seemed almost completely different from the one he saw yesterday. That girl was confident and strong. This one seemed really out of her depth. Which, in a way, wasn’t surprising. She was skipping a year after all. But the difference was quite striking.

“What do you mean? It was incredible! Everyone at Beacon is going to think you’re the bee’s knees.” Blondie said. Bee’s knees? Who even says that anymore?

“I don’t wanna be the bee’s knees.” Red said with frustration. “Okay? I don’t wanna be any kind of knees. I just wanna be a normal girl with normal knees.”

Gray thought they were focusing too much on these knees.

“What’s with you? Aren’t you excited?” The blonde bombshell obviously couldn’t see where Red was coming from. She was probably too fixated on bees and their knees.

“Of course, I’m excited. I just...” Red deflated a little. “I got moved ahead a year... I don’t want people to think I’m special or anything.”

Blondie moved up beside her sister(?) and gave her a side hug. “But you are special.”

Just then they were interrupted by one of the holograms that was playing the news at the window closest to them. “The robbery was led by the nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities.”

The screen showed the mug shot of the man Gray had seen last night fighting with Red. So that was Roman Torchwick, then? Gray had heard the name before but hadn’t seen the pictures.

“If you have any information on his whereabouts please contact the Vale police department. Back to you Lisa.” The screen changed to show Lisa Lavender, Vale’s favorite news anchor-woman.

“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 organisation has now disrupted–”

The holographic screen cut her words short when it disappeared and was replaced by another familiar person. This time it was the blonde woman who Red was escorted by last night.

So many blondes, Gray thought.

“Hello and welcome to Beacon.” The woman greeted.

“Who’s that?” The other Blondie asked. Red and her sister(?) glanced at each other. Obviously neither of them had the answer. Even though Red had seemingly met her during that dust robbery.

“My name is Glynda Goodwitch–”

“–oh.”

Gray smiled wryly at the girl, though she wouldn’t have noticed.

“You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy.” That was a really long sentence, he thought. “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.” And with that her image faded as the hologram projector powered down.

With Goodwitch’s departure the windows were no longer partially obscured.

Red seemed to notice something outside since she exclaimed and rushed to the window. “Look! You can see Signal from up here.”

Gray approached her side and looked out to see what looked like a school campus off to the left. That must have been her combat school until recently. It looked somewhat similar to Gray’s old combat school, Lantern, but his had a larger and oddly shaped training yard.

“I guess home isn’t too far after all.” Red said besides Gray. He looked at her and saw her relax a little. The sight of her old school must be giving her some comfort.

Blondie came up behind and placed a hand on Red’s shoulder. “Beacon’s our home now.”

The sisters(?) shared a sisterly look. All nice and wholesome. But Gray couldn’t hold back anymore. He looked around for any camera’s and only found one off in a corner. It’s line of sight was blocked by a few students in between. Sensing the opportunity, Gray reached out and grabbed the blonde girls butt. It was over the leather half-skirt so he didn’t get much out of it but he waited to see any reaction.

The two girls just stood together and watched the city scroll by.

Gray then slid his hand underneath Blondie's half-skirt and rested it on her shorts-clad buttocks. She still just stared outside alongside her sister(?). He squeezed the cheek in his hand and felt her twitch. He held his breath, waiting for her to do something. Anything.

A moment later he squeezed again without even a twitch. With one hand on the blonde Gray looked at Red just in front of her and gave her a once over. Little Red was pretty cute with that almost innocent face. Now that he could look closer at her face, he realized that her eyes weren’t quite grey. They had this almost shininess to them that made him think of the moon and how it shone at night. They were like a vibrant silver rather than a normal grey.

Pretty cool, Gray thought.

He looked down and examined her not quite so modest bust. Like he had noted before, she wasn’t exactly small in that department. With her shorter stature compared to her sister(?) along with Blondie's own bust size, anyone could be forgiven for thinking that Red was small chested. But looking up close like this Gray could tell that Red had something going for her there. She would likely get more development given another year or so.

With his other hand he grabbed onto one of her breasts and noticed her jump a little at the contact. She kept on gazing out at the amazing vista though. He squeezed a little and really took in the feel of a boob in one hand and a butt cheek in the other. It was such a rush being able to do this in broad daylight and in full view of everyone around.

Heat rushed to Gray’s face and crotch as he squeezed more and more. He trailed the hand on Red down her stomach, over her skirt and onto her thigh covered by tights. His eyes drank in everything about these two girls as he drifted his hand slowly up Red’s skirt. He eventually came to rest at the warmest part of a girl. The place where her legs connected. The crotch.

Her thighs shifted slightly to tighten around his hand but settled after a moment. Red relaxed again, she and her sister(?) continued to share in a quiet moment.

Gray, on the other hand, got really excited at the implications of his semblance’s power. The things he could do with it. Especially in the middle of a school with many girls attending. Especially in the dorms where they’ll all be staying.

Images of the sorts of shenanigans he could get up to crossed through his mind. Images of this Blondie topless with his penis in between her massive tits. Images of Little Red on her knees looking up at him with his dick in her mouth and an innocent look in her eyes. Images of other girls in various positions. Images of the shower and locker rooms full of changing beauties. Images of doing naughty things in the middle of class. Images of joining a girl as she entered the girl's toilets.

All those thoughts had him growing incredibly hard and breathing hoarse. And while he was lost in his thoughts and in the sensations in his hands he jumped when Red suddenly spoke.

“What if I don’t understand the work because I skipped a year?” Red spoke out randomly while still looking out the window.

Gray had flinched enough that his hands had jumped away from Red’s crotch and Blondie's butt.

“...uh.” Blondie blinked and floundered for an answer. “Well... uh...” A moment later she nodded to herself and eventually said, “I guess if that does happen, I’ll help you study up on stuff.”

“Cool.” Red replied.

And with that they went back to silently enjoying the view.

Gray snorted. That small interruption and Red’s nonchalant reply brought him out of his perverted thoughts long enough to check to see if the other students still blocked the camera. Some of them had moved away and were looking through other windows or formed a conversational group elsewhere. So, Gray thought it was time to stop and move on. He didn’t want to risk the camera’s having anything on him before he had the chance to do some tests with camera footage in a controlled manner.

He stepped away from the sister-like pair and thought about how to test his semblance on a camera. The only thought he had currently was to record himself with his own scroll doing something slightly eyebrow-raising with the semblance active, and have a second recording of the same action but without the semblance. Then he would show both to someone and watch for their reactions. Anything else would likely be too risky.

But anyway, that was enough testing for now, until he reached solid ground again. Perhaps Gray should wait to do anything else until he’d seen his new school and learned where everything was first. He should get a lay of the land and set things up before jumping straight into the sexy times.

He decided to head back upstairs, but before he got to them a freshly familiar face greeted him at the bottom.

Jeanne Arc, the airsick young woman, had ventured down stairs.

From what Gray could see she was looking a lot better than before. Still a little pale but that might just be her natural skin tone. He deactivated his semblance and went over to her.

“So, you made it down here after all?” Gray joked.

Jeanne looked up, recognized him and smiled. “Hehe, yeah. These definitely helped.” She pulled out a small box of pills for motion sickness from her hoodie’s left pocket.

“That’s good to hear. If you’re not also afraid of heights you can go enjoy the view now. It’s pretty great.” Gray offered, pointing over to the nearest window. “Unless, of course, you are?” Gray backtracked in case she might relapse.

“No, no!” Jeanne waved a hand in the negative. She shook her head in denial making her braided ponytail sway suddenly. “It’s just the motions that get to me. That’s all.”

“Well, okay, but if you faint, I’ll have to carry you upstairs. Deal?” Gray told her, a little worried that she might be forcing herself.

Jeanne noticeably blushed at the mention of being carried but nodded. “Deal. But I really should be fine.”

“Alright.” Gray then led the way to the window nearest but forgot all about Jeanne’s motion sickness and possible fear of heights once he saw the new sight beyond the glass.

They flew over a vast lake at the bottom of a steep and curving cliff-side that curved like half of a bowl. The striations all along the cliffs spoke of millennia of shifting rock and grinding winds. Way at the bottom of the cliffs a narrow strip of sandy beaches followed all the way around the great big lake. Boulders of different sizes dotted the sandy edges of the lake. The lake itself looked pure and inviting at the edges and deep and mysterious in the middle. Above the cliff-side rim were gentle grasslands and small copses of trees. Those trees then became a small forest that surrounded a small lake to the left. Above the lake rose a mountain range that stretched from the north-west to the south-east.

As Gray and Jeanne looked over the vista in awe the airship drew closer before maneuvering to the right. This allowed them to see more of what was on the right. What they saw was perhaps just as awe inspiring. Somewhere along the middle of the cliff rim sat a castle of spires right at the edge overlooking the vast lake below. Rivers bordered the structure on either side before they became waterfalls, feeding the great lake. Gray could make out a large open area of walkways and courtyards just at the edge right before the fairy tale like buildings. Right below that, on the cliff face itself were paths hewn into the rock that led down to a network of docks. A smattering of boats dotted around the water surrounding these docks.

The most impressive thing of all was the tallest spire of the castle. It looked like the tower of a lighthouse. A soft, yet incredibly bright green light shone from the top, giving it the look of something magical. It was a beacon of a welcoming light.

Gray understood then why it was named as it was.

“Welcome to Beacon...” He said under his breath. Jeanne nodded dumbly in agreement, though he didn’t notice. Both them and the rest of the students could only stare.