Akarui Sentō

Part 1:
''Ashe strode across the room, pushing a stack of photographs into  Hǎiyáng's hands, before walking away. ''

''"In there is a man I would very much like to see dead." ''

Hǎiyáng  ''looked at the man in his photographs. He had sweeping Royal Blue hair, and dressed in a combat jacket crisscrossed with belts. ''

''Ashe smiled, walking away. This one would provide a challenge. ''

Hǎiyáng walked across the busy "street" of Beacon, trying his best not to draw attention to himself. He barely had anything with him, just his weapon and basic toiletry items. And for some reason multiple other tools construction workers would have used.

Cinnamon was slower than him, but for some unknown reason she kept teleporting to wherever Hǎiyáng ran to. It was nothing short of infuriating.

"So, do you want to get paired up together? We'd make a great team. I mean really. With our skills. Plus, I could make you coffee."

Hǎiyáng growled. He didn't even like her that much, and it was slightly unnerving that she was this obsessed. He would probably even wish to be paired up with Royal rather than her, as annoyingly wise as he was.

He hurriedly rushed past an enveloping argument between two girls and some fallen luggage, and again past a silly-looking blonde. He really just needed to reach Beacon.

Hǎiyáng ran even faster. Which just made him fall harder when he rushed into an iron-hard lunchbox that hadn't been there a couple seconds ago. He was cleanly knocked down to the ground. A girl stood over him.

The first thing Hǎiyáng noticed about her was her age. She looked about ten, or at least 12, but not in the least bit old enough to go to Beacon. She wore a pretty green skirt, which was fairly short, and a loose-fitting white uniform, complete with a mint green tie.

It was a standard school uniform, although a bit...minty, but there was still some thing that unnerved Hǎiyáng about the girl. Just her smiling, silent manner. She wasn't even saying anything, even though she had just tripped him.

It took a moment for Hǎiyáng to process what was happening.

"What the hell!" He whispered. "What the hell are you doing?"

The girl only smiled and walked away, dragging her cute lunchbox away. Hǎiyáng didn't even bother wasting his energy on her. For some reason, her lunchbox gave him a sense of foreboding. When he had ran into it, it had been iron-hard.

Nonetheless, Hǎiyáng continued to run to the doors. He vaguely began to realize that Nui was running beside him. Personally, he didn't mind. He had known Nui for quite some time now, and she was truly an endearing friend.

"Looks like we're here, Ninja Girl," Hǎiyáng smiled, good to see a familiar face.They entered the large academy, just in time to see Ozpin walking to the microphone. Hǎiyáng praised his timing.

Part 2:
Royal stood in the crowd of people, searching rapidly for Hǎiyáng, or at least someone that looked familiar. Hǎiyáng had abandoned him almost instantly when they first saw each other, running off into his own path. Royal didn't try to catch up. When Hǎiyáng wanted something, there was no stopping him.

Looking up at the staff, Royal knew that he should technically be up there with the rest. He was a professor, after all. But he had never completed his training at Beacon, and Ozpin was kind enough to give him a second chance. He wasn't complaining.

Suddenly, a figure bumped into him in the crowd.

Cinnamon.

Royal barely knew her. They had pretty much just met. But she never listened to whatever he had to say, and her impulsive and hot-headed way of seeing things just got on Royal's nerves. Which was a rare thing for most people. Royal was generally a chill guy.

"Hi Water Pick," Cinnamon grinned. "What's up?"

Royal tried his best not to get annoyed by her flippant manner and usage of his nickname. "Perception of up and down is just an illusion created by gravity." He had chosen this answer specifically to aggravate her.

"Oh, don't be such a killjoy. Come on, we're in this together!"

Royal gritted his teeth. Killjoy? That was even worse than Water Pick!

"What's the matter Gloomsville? Can't you talk?

Royal was an inch from extending Star Tear, pushing the blade against her throat, then decapitating her. He tightened his grip on the weapon, just as Ozpin began to speak.

"I'll... keep this brief."

The intricate workings of Royal's mind shifted from envisioning Cinnamon's gruesome death to concentrating on Ozpin. Something was off about Ozpin. He was not new to him. Far from it. Royal had known Ozpin for quite some time, and Ozpin seemed almost...restrained in his speech.

"...But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy..."

Royal kept a poker face, not reacting to anything he said. But there was definitely something up. It could have just been him, but it seemed to Royal that Ozpin had a lot on his mind. Weighing heavily. And Ozpin always had a million ideas jumping around in his head.

All four of them were thinking the same thing.

''These next few years are going to be interesting, that's for sure. ''

Part 3:
Nui huddled up to the nearest wall in the ballroom, doing her best to remain inconspicuous. With her small size and mostly silver dress, it wasn't that hard.

Nui's first impression of Beacon was not the best. Nui had never known her parents, trained all her life, the only friend she ever knew was Hǎiyáng, and he wasn't exactly cut out of friend material.