The Unguided Tour Of Beacon

While the airship was preparing to dock with Beacon all the students had been recalled back to their seats. Gray took this time to sit with Jeanne after asking if it was okay. To which she was more than happy to oblige. So, they sat in a row of chairs closest to the stairs that wasn’t occupied (there were more seats than there were students).

They both got to talking about the school, their weapons, where they were from. The same sorts of things that Gray had overheard from the rest of the new students. This sort of thing was usually something Gray couldn’t stand. Small talk was something for the more talkative people. Gray was more of the observant type. But this time he was talking with a cute girl that seemed to be nice and open with him. Plus, he was thinking of getting closer to her with his power anyway, so, getting to know her was likely to his benefit.

“...sounds like a big family. Can’t imagine what that would be like. It was just me and my parents living outside of Vale.” Gray commented when Jeanne mentioned that she had seven sisters. That immediately piqued his interest.

“Yeah, well, I’m a little jealous.” She told Gray, pouting a little. “Just be glad that you could hog the shower all you wanted. I lost track of the number of times I was left with cold water. Getting anywhere on time was a pain, too. And don’t get me started on holidays!”

Jeanne may have sounded like she was ranting but Gray could tell that there was hardly any real heat. It all sounded pretty amusing so he laughed at her cute pouting face as she got her sibling troubles off her chest. She went on for a bit while he just nodded along. She never raised her voice above an annoyed, exasperated tone, trying to hush herself so that none of their neighbors would hear.

“Carmen and Saffron might smirk when I’d talk to a boy, but the little brats would–” She abruptly stopped herself and glanced at Gray, who was still grinning, and tried to laugh off what she just said as if she had told too much. “Hehe... and that’s my life.”

She ended her tirade with a sheepish grin.

“Sounds tough.” Gray admitted. “And you’re, what? A middle child?”

“Third oldest out of eight.” Jeanne nodded.

“Wow... eight...” Gray had trouble picturing that. “From the same two parents?”

“Yeah...” She looked away as if that information was slightly embarrassing.

Her parents must have been real horn dogs. Gray grinned at Jeanne beside him. “You know, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have siblings, with all that company and the fun and games...” He paused, looking away as if to think before finding the right words. “And the teasing and the fighting and the lack of privacy. But then I think to myself ‘Nah! That’s crazy.’”

He turned back to her. “Being an only child is pretty cushy.”

Jeanne glared at him cutely, unable to hold back a smirk at his teasing. “Well, I’m glad you’re happy then.”

Just then the ship rocked slightly as it was docking and Jeanne clutched at the chair's armrests. Her face went as pale as it did before she took that medicine.

“Hey, we’re almost there. You think you can hold on for a bit longer?” Gray asked, concerned about his new friend. And concerned about the state of his clothes if she couldn’t.

Jeanne answered by shutting her eyes and breathing slow and deep breaths before nodding.

Gray waited for the ship to finish docking while keeping an eye on Jeanne. He glanced through the window on their side of the ship but that was looking out across the lake. Instead he looked at the line of windows at the opposite end to see how close they were to the docking platform. He could see the platform and the big courtyard and walkways. The platform seemed pretty close but the ship was still inching towards it. Unfortunately, the seating level of the ship was raised higher than the platform, so determining distance wasn’t so easy.

Then, after a few moments there was a distant but reverberating clnk, dnk sound followed by a slight shifting which had Jeanne groaning. She opened her eyes with an expression that simply said ‘My life sucks!’

Damn, that medicine didn’t last long.

A moment later one of the flight attendants spoke into a microphone to tell the students to wait for the ‘go ahead’ before getting up to leave.

Glancing at Jeanne she seemed to be doing better now that they had docked. Still a little pale but without clutching her armrests for dear life. Her eyes were closed again. Gray watched as her decently sized chest heaved with each of her deep breaths. He then eyed up her thighs, wishing that he could use his power to do something with her without fear of being spewed on. But Gray was nothing if not patient. He could wait.

It wasn’t long before the flight attendant spoke again letting them leave while other attendants guided them off the ship and wished each student good luck.

“You ready to go?” Gray asked his ill companion.

Jeanne looked around and saw the bustle of many students getting up from their seats and making their way over to the exit. She turned back to Gray with a tired smile. “Could we wait a little bit? When it’s not so crowded.”

She must have been worried about being jostled or even confined in a tight space in her current condition. Gray didn’t blame her since the exit looked packed at the moment. Freedom was so close and yet so far for her. Especially if she couldn’t hold it in. That would be a lot of ruined clothing and an ‘amazing’ first day at school.

“Sure thing.”

She went right back to her little breathing exercise.

---

After the crowd had funneled itself out Gray had nudged Jeanne. She looked up, saw the way was clear and almost bolted from her seat. Gray followed in amused pursuit and thanked the flight attendants at the door.

Gray found Jeanne standing off to the side with her hand over her stomach and breathing deeply. Her eyes were fixed to the ground probably as a way to convince her brain that she wasn’t swaying anymore. He stood beside her and looked around.

The school grounds spread out before them with walkways made of brick with cool and pretty patterns along the way. Large patches of grassy areas and trees were placed symmetrically all around the grounds to great effect. Pillars and archways covered the far end of the walkways with concentric circles and also with ponds or moats. Lamp posts and hologram banners led up to the entrance. Beyond that stood the academy itself, standing tall like a fairy tale castle from some picture book, but with greater detail. The tower with the green light and clock tower bells really sold the image.

“I don’t know if this will help, but this place really does look pretty cool. Maybe the sight of it will help calm your stomach?” Gray said to the girl beside him without taking his eyes off of the school.

Jeanne coughed a few times to clear her throat before lifting her head. There was a moment of silence then as she took it all in. Gray glanced at her to see her wide-eyed stare roaming over every archway and pillar surrounding the entrance to the school proper.

“...so pretty.” Gray heard her say.

“Yeah.”

Their awe was interrupted by what sounded like an explosion up ahead.

Both Jeanne and Gray stopped gawking at the scenery and tried to make out what was happening. Gray peered his eyes to see two people further down the path. There was hardly anyone else around. All the other students had left the docking area far behind by now.

Gray turned to his companion. “Wanna check out what that was?”

Jeanne shrugged and they both walked cautiously towards the two figures. Gray could see that one was dressed in black and red while the other was in white. They also looked like girls as he could see that they wore skirts the closer he got to them.

It seemed like the white one was berating the other for some reason. Luggage bags were dropped haphazardly on the floor by them. Then a third person, another girl, approached, picked something up and began talking.

Jeanne and Gray were close enough now to make out what was being said. Also, Gray recognized who the girl in black and red was. None other than the grim reaper herself. Someone he still didn’t know the name of.

“...the same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners.” The third girl said. This one wore black and white clothes. Her top was like some sort of mix between a vest and a shirt with black coattails. Her lower half consisted of white shorts with two-toned black and purple tights leading down to low-heeled black boots.

“What...?! How dare...?!” The girl in a white thigh length strapless dress and a long sleeved bolero stuttered before snatching something out of the other girl's hand and storming off. Two men dressed as butlers then approached with a fancy looking trolley to pick up the luggage bags from the floor.

“Oooh, drama on the first day of school.” Gray muttered to Jeanne. Both of them had slowed in their approach.

“I don’t think that’s something to be excited about.” Jeanne whispered back trying to be the straight man but failing to hide the small smirk at the corner of her lips.

Little Red took two steps out to the receding girl in white. “I promise I’ll make this up to you!” She called after her.

Red then looked down and muttered something they couldn’t hear before turning to the third girl, “So, what’s your name...” Only to see her walking away down a side path.

Red sighed and slumped to the ground sitting on her feet in a very pitiful display of teenage angst and first day jitters.

Gray had stopped when that other girl walked away. Mainly because that butt was swaying a nice goodbye to him. Also, he wasn’t sure what to do now. So, he turned to his cute new friend and nudged his elbow into her side.

“That’s your cue.”

“Wha?” She jumped from the sensitive jab to her side and looked at him confused.

“Help a sister out.” He said, nodding to the downtrodden girl in front of them.

Jeanne understood what he was saying but hesitated a little before approaching the girl.

She stepped up to Reds side, her shadow falling over Reds face making her look up. Jeanne then offered her hand and smiled prettily. “Hi. I’m Jeanne.”

Red looked a little surprised but reached out and took Jeanne's hand. She looked a little embarrassed but replied. “...Ruby.”

Ah, so that was her name. Finally, Gray didn’t have to think up random nicknames for this girl in his head anymore. Not that he was required to or anything.

Jeanne lifted Ruby to her feet and turned to Gray. “And that over there is Gray.”

Gray waved and said, “Hey.”

“Hi.” Ruby gave a small wave back.

She seemed pretty shy about receiving kindness after what she just experienced. Gray wondered where her blonde sister was and why she seemed to have ditched her. He doubted that the Blondie would have let her little sister be treated like that.

“We saw what happened. Are you okay?” Jeanne asked while rubbing Ruby’s shoulder gently.

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine.” Ruby nodded. Somewhat unconvincingly. “Just, you know, blowing holes in the ground on my first day.” She continued with a sad shrug.

“Is that what those scorch marks are?” Gray asked, eyeing the ground next to Ruby. “Damn, that’s a great first day of school in my books.”

That got Ruby to laugh a little and Jeanne to try and suppress her own grin.

“Don’t mind him. Boys and their explosions...” Jeanne told Ruby while shaking her head. Ruby giggled again, this time with more warmth.

Ruby was pretty cute when she smiled. And thinking about her just reminded Gray that he actually had his hand up her skirt earlier. Good thing his coat was long enough to hide any stray boners.

“Hey, there's still some time before the welcoming ceremony. Did you want to walk around with us for a little bit?” Jeanne asked Ruby suddenly.

Nice one Jeanne! That’s exactly what I wanted to do, Gray thought with triumph. He needed to check out the place for any surveillance systems that might impede his experiments and this was a great way to start. Walking around with two cute girls as he staked the place out.

“Yeah, that’d be cool.” Ruby said, nodding a little eagerly.

---

“Yeah, that must have sucked.”

“It wasn’t so bad... They did have medicine on board. And Gray distracted me a little.”

“Still, being sick while in an airship will be tough if you’re going to visit Vale on our days off.”

“Oh, trust me, I’ve had worse times visiting Mistral.”

“You’ve been to Mistral?!”

“Yep. I’ve got family over there.”

“Cool. I never really left Vale. Well, I live on Patch, the island just off the coast of Vale but that’s really just part of the same thing.”

We were strolling around the grounds enjoying the relaxing scenery and talking. Well, the two girls were doing most of the talking, as girls tend to do. Gray was walking by Jeanne’s side and keeping an eye out for cameras and other devices, while looking like he was just staring at all the grandeur just like everyone else. Ruby was on Jeanne’s other side and hanging onto Jeanne’s every word.

It wasn’t a stretch to say that Jeanne was good with younger girls since she did have a lot of younger sisters herself. And these two seemed to have hit it off. It was like Ruby traded one blonde sister for another.

“You’re a year younger than us?” Jeanne asked, quite surprised. Ruby nodded. “So, you skipped a year?”

“Yep. I guess they thought I was good enough?” Ruby admitted, although she said it with a shrug. She was obviously still uncomfortable with being seen as the prodigy kid.

Jeanne just hummed in thought.

The conversation lagged a little before Ruby blurted out, “So, what are your weapons?!”

She seemed a little too excited asking that.

“Well, I have a sword spear combo plus a shield.” Jeanne told her.

“Cool! Can I see them?” She asked with bright eyes.

“Mines still in my luggage. Sorry.” Jeanne apologized.

“Oh...” Ruby seem a little dejected before she turned to Gray. “What about you Gray?”

“Mine is in my luggage too. In fact, everyone was supposed to put them away safely before getting on the ship.” Gray explained.

“R–Really? Uh...” A guilty look passed over her, giving Gray a sneaky suspicion.

“You still have yours, don’t you?” He asked.

They all stopped walking next to a part of the artificial ponds. There were a few benches along the side of the walkway and a couple other students were using them but other than them the area seemed mostly empty.

“Hehe... yeah.” Ruby scratched the back of her head. “I didn’t know that you had to put them away.”

All Gray could do was laugh and wonder how she got through the whole of the skyport without being questioned. Jeanne giggled and shook her head, probably wondering the same thing.

“All right then, let's see it.” Gray said, a rueful smile on his lips. “We know you’re just dying to show us.”

At that Ruby beamed with a bashful blush as she whipped out that overgrown gardening tool of hers. With a flourish she spun it from behind her back, transforming along the way before bringing it to a stop with the butt resting on the ground and the sharp **** harvesting part unfurling mechanically, even as she gave a wide grin.

“Wow!” Jeanne gaped. Her eyes lit up almost as much as Ruby’s. “Is that a scythe?”

“It’s also a customisable, high-impact sniper rifle.” Ruby said proudly.

“That’s so cool!” Jeanne gushed.

Gray took that moment to really admire the weapon so up close. It was indeed pretty cool. It looked like a big job though with all those moving parts. Ruby either had an enthusiastic teacher helping her make that thing, or some high-profile sponsor.

“Where do you even get a weapon like that? I’ve never heard of any weapon designers making scythe’s in Vale.” Jeanne was still gushing as she touched Ruby’s weapon up close.

“Oh, I uh, didn’t get it from anyone. I designed and built it at my old school like everyone else.” Ruby said like that was obvious.

“Wait! You built that?!” Jeanne exclaimed, pointing at the large mechanical toothpick.

“Yes?” Was Ruby’s confused answer.

“Sure, students are encouraged to forge their own weapons, but I’ve never heard of anyone designing something so complicated as that thing on their own.” Gray explained to the possible genius in their midst.

“Well... I guess I went a little overboard with it...”

“A little? Even my weapon is a redesign of my great great grandfathers to keep up with all this modern tech, and that was made by a skilled manufacturer.” Jeanne told them. “Even then it doesn’t come close to this.”

Ruby couldn’t help but blush at what Gray and Jeanne were telling her. She really didn’t quite know how to react but it seemed like they were saying that her work was on par with official weapons manufacturers. And that was a little embarrassing. Flattering sure, but still embarrassing.

“Hehe, it’s not that big a deal, is it?” She asked bashfully, holding her tool of **** like a puppy to her chest.

Gray thought about it but shrugged. It was a pretty big deal considering she was a little girl making big weapons. He reckoned most people would raise an impressed eyebrow at that. However, it was ages before the big companies had to know about her. Let her graduate first. Gray had no doubt that if she wanted to look for work then work was guaranteed.

“Eh, it’s cool, but who doesn’t put a lot of love into the equipment they’ll use for their Huntsman career?” Gray brushed it off. Not to put Ruby out or anything but to give her a break from the limelight that they had put on her. “Anyway, where are we going next?”

Jeanne was a little confused by the sudden change but thought about it. At the corner of his eye Gray noticed that Ruby was smiling to herself as she put her **** stick away. Once again Gray marveled at the engineering of the thing to get so compact like that.

“Apparently, they have an outside recreation area and a small combat arena over there somewhere.” Jeanne pointed to the side past an archway and some trees.

“Alright, off we go!” Gray called out and started marching.

The girls followed behind, smiling to each other.

---

The three of them explored all around the outside of the main buildings, taking in the sights of the place they would see a lot of for the next four years. They found the sports and training fields, for both the students' hobbies and physical training. An outdoor arena sat next to those fields that was really just a wide place with packed dirt and stepped seating. It seemed like the kind of place that could double as a place to eat lunch while enjoying some unofficial fights.

Next, they found the science and engineering building. That place had classrooms for, you guessed it, the sciences. And students could go there to tinker with their equipment in their spare time.

On their circuit around the school they found the indoor gym facilities. It extended out from the main building and had a convenient side entrance. The three of them took a peek at the place they would likely use the most while attending Beacon. There even seemed to be some club rooms and even a swimming pool.

That had Jeanne grinning. Turns out she really liked to swim.

Gray made sure to look for any tell-tale signs of security measures throughout their exploration. But most especially around the pool and changing rooms. So far, he had found some decent measures in place around the outside of the school and near each facility. He took mental note of any blind spots and high-risk areas as he went.

Then they found the combat locker room. The place that every student could use to store their weapons and armor. It was currently being used to store everyone's luggage until rooms were assigned to the students. Gray and the girls didn’t want to get in the way so they didn’t stay long.

They found themselves walking through hallways on the bottom floor of the main building, peaking into classrooms and lecture halls. Everything was so state of the art.

“We’ll be taking classes here, huh?” Jeanne asked absently as she peered into one lecture hall.

“Yeah, I’m getting real nervous thinking about it.” Ruby said next to her.

Each classroom, Gray noted, had a camera. So, any shenanigans might be limited in those places, of course, only if he found that cameras weren’t fooled by his Semblance.

They found the cafeteria next. The girls immediately wondered if there was any food being served at that second. Jeanne, Gray could understand since she had some... issues earlier. But didn’t Ruby have anything to eat before coming here?

Gray wondered where the ballroom was. Apparently, they would be using it their first night at Beacon before moving to the dorms. Gray wasn’t sure what the system was.

They were running out of time to look anyway. The ceremony was happening soon.

The three of them had to ask some other students for directions to find where the ceremony was being held. They had to take an exit near the front of the main building and hang a right. There stood a large domed shaped building with dark grey pillars and high pointed windows. An intricate design covered the walls surrounding the entrance. The roof seemed to be missing at the top or it was supposed to be an open-air design.

Students were hanging around inside and around the entrance waiting for the ceremony to begin. Gray, Jeanne and Ruby filed in and took a look around at the crowd of aspiring Huntsmen and Huntresses.

“Ruby!” A voice called out.

Ruby looked for the voice, scanning the crowd.

“Over here!” Turns out it was Ruby’s sister, the blonde bombshell. She was waving in their direction trying to get Ruby’s attention. “I saved you a spot!”

“Oh.” Ruby took a step towards her sister before turning back to Gray and Jeanne. “Ah, hey, I gotta go, but do you guys wanna meet up after the ceremony?”

“Yeah, sure thing.” Gray told her.

“Of course.” Jeanne assured her.

“Cool.” Ruby smiled, relieved that she had made a couple friends on her first day. “I’ll see you later.”

She hurried off to her sister’s side while Gray and Jeanne waved her off.

“Aw, there she goes.” Jeanne sighed.

“Missing her already?” Gray asked.

She shook her head. “It’s just that she’s so dang cute and dorky.” Jeanne giggled. “She reminds me of my little sister Amethyst. We call her Amy for short. She’s a little dorky sweetheart too.”

Gray smiled. He guessed that it wasn’t all just frustration between Jeanne and her sisters.

Now that they were moments away from the welcoming ceremony Gray wondered if any of his friends from his combat school were in the building. A lot of them had taken the entrance test too but he hadn’t seen any of them yet.

“Did you have anyone to meet up with, Jeanne?” Gray asked as he scanned the crowd for familiar faces.

“Um, not really. I didn’t spend much time in any of Vale’s combat school’s–”

“–Jeanne?”

Startled, Jeanne turned around.

Gray followed suit to find that a stunning red head was walking towards them. Huh, maybe she did have friends here after all.

“Pyrrha?!” Jeanne almost shouted. “W–What are you doing here?!”

Both girls lit up with joy as they threw themselves at each other and squealed. Albeit, quietly squealed so as not to bother everyone.

They disengaged just enough to look at each other. And then the chatter flowed.

“I thought you were going to Haven Academy!”

“I managed to convince my parents to let me come here.”

“How though? Is everything okay?”

“Yes. Don’t worry. All I had to do was fight Father.”

“D–Did you win?!”

“No. He just wanted to see my determination.”

Jeanne laughed in disbelief then smiled ruefully. “I almost forgot how ridiculous your family could be.”

This Pyrrha person just laughed graciously at that comment about her family.

“So, how is your mother doing?” Jeanne continued with her questioning.

“She’s well. She told me to send her regards if I ever saw you. And how about you? How are your mother and sisters?”

“Ah well...”

And the girl chatter continued from there. So much of it flowed from them that it formed a sort of barrier that no boy could ever hope to scale or cut through without appearing rude. So, he took the time to just scan the crowd again.

Gray’s eyes fell on Ruby, her cloak being very eye catching, and noticed that a third person had joined Ruby and her sister. From the way she seemed to be speaking (read: screeching), with a haughty and stuck-up attitude, plus the white dress, this must be that girl that was having issues with Ruby earlier.

In fact, Gray could hear her from where he was.

Then Ruby’s sister chimed in trying to diffuse the situation. He couldn’t hear her though, since she wasn’t loud like the prissy girl. Then Ruby said something and held her hand out to the princess wannabe.

Of course, Queen Snooty’s reply to whatever Ruby said was, “Yeah! And we can paint our nails and try on clothes and talk about cute boys like... tall, dark and forgettable over there.”

At which point she pointed straight at Gray and startled him. “Wait what? Why me?” He muttered. “Though... she’s not wrong.”

If he didn’t like her before he most certainly didn’t like her now after that comment. As true a comment as it was. “You are on your own Ruby. Rest in peace.”

He turned away before his ego could take another hit.

“Oh, I forgot to introduce you. This is Gray.” Jeanne’s voice reached his ears again now that his name was mentioned. “I met him on the airship here.”

Gray turned back to the two pretty girls that weren’t judging his appearance.

They had separated now and were looking at him.

“Gray, this is Pyrrha. We met a while back in Mistral.”

“Hi.” He said with a friendly smile.

“Hello.” Pyrrha replied cheerfully.

Right at that moment the high-pitched sound of a microphone filled the building. Everyone turned to the stage. A grey-haired man wearing a dark suit, a green scarf, a cane and a coffee mug of all things stood there in the center with Professor Goodwitch standing behind and to his left.

“I’ll... keep this brief.” He began.

That was an odd way to start an entrance ceremony but whatever, Gray thought.

“You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and to acquire new skills. And when you have finished you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people.” He took a pause there to look around at all the students. “But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction.”

Uh, huh... This wasn’t the kind of speech Gray was expecting to hear.

“You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step.”

Then he walked off.

And that was Professor Ozpin ladies and gentlemen. Mysterious as fuck.

Professor Goodwitch stepped up to the mic once the headmaster turned to leave.

“You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed.” And she too left the stage.

Just like that.

Gray had attended a couple opening ceremonies for his old combat school and they had a little more to their boring speeches than whatever this was. Honestly it was a little ominous.

“Well, that was a warm welcome, now wasn’t it?” He said to his two pretty companions. A dubious smirk on his lips.

Jeanne chuckled lightly, unsure.

Pyrrha just smiled through her uncertainty. “Maybe he was testing us?”

“Hm, could be.” Gray allowed.

---

Everyone filtered out and headed into the main building. Gray and his two new friends met up with Ruby and her sister. Everyone introduced themselves as they walked.

A couple teachers were guiding the students through the halls and mentioned that they should all stop by the locker room to get anything they would need to go to bed, like extra clothes and toiletries. Then they were led down a hall, took a turn down another hall and into a big room with fancy carpets, curtains and chandeliers.

Gray couldn’t believe that they had missed this room when they had explored earlier. The ballroom was pretty cool. He wondered what they used it for. Did the school have any dances? Not really his thing, but with his Semblance he could enjoy something like that another way.

Unfortunately, he had to separate from the girls and head to one side of the room for the boys. Which was definitely a huge bummer. Still, he couldn’t see any cameras in this room... And he didn’t have to be near them when he eventually went to sleep.

Grinning a small grin, he staked out a sleeping bag and dumped a few of his things on it. Then he headed to the nearby toilets to get changed and brush his teeth.

On the way there he was planning what his first test would be.