Chapter I: Tutti-Frutti Pt.1

Part 1
Vale was a liveful city. It was normal after all, being the capital of the country of the same name. In the commercial district, crowds were walking in the streets, doing window shopping or simply taking advantage of the sunny weather to take a walk. However, in such narrowed streets it wasn't rare to walk into people.

«Ouch! Mind your step!»

The small group of teenagers stopped upon hearing their leader grumbling. They were at least half-a-dozen, each with a brown snake drawn on their clothes. They looked at the person he was talking to. It was a tomboyish girl with short red hair and a brown leather coat. On her back she was carrying a big suitcase-shaped amaranth red object.

«Yeah, yeah. Sorry.» The girl simply walked past them as if she didn't care the least.

«Hey!» Their leader put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. «At least look at people when you apologize! Don't you know who we are?»

«Huh? Aren't you some kind of street artistes? In any case you're dressed like them.» The girl didn't seem any more attentive.

«Wha- Are you kidding me! We're the Tanned Snake, you pig!»

There most likely were many group of thugs in Vale, so that you couldn't remember all their name. The girl stayed quiet for a couple of second before starting walking again.

«Anyway, I said I was sorry.»

«Come back here, you faggot! Are you even a girl? You look more like a boy to me!»

The tomboyish girl stopped walking again. This time though, it seemed she was trembling a little.

«I… said...» She dropped the suitcase and finished her sentence with an angry voice. «… that I was sorry!»

She SPINNED around and threw a punch at the thug's face. The rest of the group raised their heads to look at their leader flying on several meter. Looking back at the girl's face, they saw a vein popping on her temple.

«You damn bake.» The man got up holding his chin in his hand. «Hey you guys, what are you watching?! Get her!»

The group surrounded the girl, which was craking her knuckles. Suddenly, altogether, they rushed at her. She picked her suitcase up and swung it around by SPINNING; all the rowdies were knocked on the ground a few meter away. Seeing that not even a handful of them were getting up, she rested the suitcase on her shoulder and continued her walk.

«Where do you think you're going?!»

The leader sped in her direction and throw a puch at her face. The scene stopped as if it froze, and the girl slowly turned her head in his direction. Her eyes were those of a mad bull when she clenched both her teeth and her fist and executed a perfect uppercut at the man's jaw. After the man stopped moving, she took a look at her face in a shop window and grimaced: she had a big bruise on her cheek. She furiously turned and kept walking.

«Dammit, you better hope I don't get late because of you!»

Part 2
The airship transporting the new students to Beacon Academy was approaching the school's field. Inside, all the teenagers were watching by the windows with faces of amazement. It represented a new chapter in their life and in their Huntsmen career. Some of them, though, weren't all that impressed by the look of it. A little retrieved from the crowds of freshmen, a boy with tidy brown hair and wearing an assorted light brown white-stripped suit was standing straight, giving his cold facial expression a haughty feeling.

«My, would you look at them all; they are already overenthusiastic. Though, it seems they do not get the importance of their situation. Well, I undoubtly should not have expected that much from such commoners.»

After the airship landed, the teenager boy stayed a moment on the landing platform with his bunch of suitcases resting on a baggage CART to take a good look at the shool. Standing tall, the buildings were indeed impressive, especially the giant tower that was probably worth its name to the scool. Although he wasn't fazed by the academy's huge proportions he had to admit that it was deserving of its title of Huntsmen school -deserving of him.

«Hey, why are standing there? You're in the way!» An angry voice shouted out behind him, making him jump in surprise.

When he turned back he saw a young woman with long dark green hair gathered in a ponytail standing tall in front of him. She was wearing a green sleeveless turtlenecked woolen sweater along with sepia pants. Under both of her arms (which were actually quite muscular) she was holding two long packages, one being wrapped in some kind of fabric.

«Who might you be, mongrel, to make me such a displeasant remark. You should at least have the politeness to name yourself!» The boy let out with an angered voice.

«Heh? What are you talking about, you little shrimp? Anyway, the name is Tourmaline, and I'm gonna kick the ass of anyone standing in my path!»

«Mph! You sure are confident for a mere mongrel. Well, I guess I have the duty to name myself, then. Listen carefully!» The boy opened his arms wide and said with a haughty voice «I am the reprensentative of the famous Hubris family! Sunstone Hubris!»

«…..»

«…..»

An awkward silence fell as the gril by the name of Tourmaline was giving him a quizzical stare while raising an eyebrow and Sunstone still had his arms up.

«Never heard about it. In any case, you look like a weakling. Get out of my way.»

«How dare you, you commoner.»

«What, you're one of those rich spoiled brats? Yep, you definitely have the profile of a little shrimp.»

The girl walked away without even giving a glance behind her. Her walk was strong and determinate, allowing her to get away quickly. Still on the landing platform, Sunstone looked back at his luggages and clenched his fist.

«You will regret your words, mongrel.»

Part 3
«Wow! It's huge here!»

In the hallways of Beacon, two boys were walking. The tallest one had purple hair and sligthly tanned skin. He was wearing a lavender docker with mauve pants, and had a necklace made of ivory and darkwood pearl.

«Sumire, I know you're excited but let me remember you that we're lost.»

The second boy, shorter than his friend, had dark blue hair and a very tanned skin, and was wearing what looked like a sailor outfit. He was holding a map in his hands but, given the glare he gave it, didn't seem to understand it.

«You BET I'm excited. Do you realize, Mar? After all these years at Signal, we're finally here!» Sumire took the map from his friend's hand. «But still, I'm impressed you can get lost on a building map while you have no problem reading a nautical chart.»

«These aren't the same, I already told you.» Mar sighed and raised his arms in sign of giving up. «At this rate, we're gonna miss the ceremony. That isn't a wise thing to do.»

«Hum...» Sumire looked lost in his thoughts as he tried to unscrambled the map before his eyes. «Maybe we should wait to find someone who could guide us.»

Sumire and Mar kept walking in the labyrinth of hallways for half an hour before deciding to stop. At this point, Mar frantically opened the map again to put it at two centimeters of his eyes. It was at this moment he realized something.

«Sumire.»

«Mh?»

«Tell me. You did check the map before buying it, didn't you?» Mar's voice was low and his question almost sounded rethorical.

«What do you mean?»

«What I mean...»

«!»

Mar shoved the map in Sumire's face with so much strength that the latter thought he was printing it on his face.

«Wh-Stop that! Stop that dammit!» Sumire took the map off Mar's hands and looked at it. «What's wrong with it?»

«There's no indication anywhere it's a map of Beacon! I don't know what it is a map of, but it surely won't help us find our way!»

«Err, now that you mention it.»

«Ah, Sumi. Why did you quit Signal Academy if you can't even buy the right map!» Mar talked in a tragic and theatrical way, as if to make more fun of him.

«Okay, quit it. We need to find a way.»

Sumire looked around searching for an idea. Glancing back behind them, a bulb popped out over his head. He walked to one of the window, opened it and put his head outside.

«Hey, What are you doing.»

«I thought we might try checking by the windows to know our location.»

«…..»

«What? I know it's stupid but-»

«No, no! Actually, I'm quite imprressed you could come up with a good idea.» Mar had a smirk on his face. «Tell me what you see.»

«Mmm.»

Sumire looked back at the scenery through the window. In front of him, there was a wide garden with a few white paths running through it. Beyond, a forest full of tall green trees was scretching far away with a handful of mountains in the background. He tried to find someone walking in the area, in vain. There was nobody in the gardens at this time.

«Looks like we're at the back of the academy. Maybe we should continue before checking a new window.»

They walked through a few hallways before Sumire suddely stopped in front of a window. As Mar glanced quizzically at him, the boy in lavender docker bent forward to look closer.

«What is it, Sumire?»

«I'm not sure, but...» He turned his head to look at the hallway they were in. «This window shouldn't be there.»

Looking in the same direction as him, Mar understood what he meant: there was a space of one meter between the windows, but this one seemed slightly too far from the precedent. It might be because it was the last of the row; the big window looked just like the others, showing the scene outside just like the oth-… No actually, something was off. The boys suddenly realized that no light was coming through the glass, despite the sun shining outside.

«What's wrong with this window.»

«Hey.» Sumire was sniffing the air around them and approached his fingers to touch the window. «Doesn't it smell like-»

«Don't touch it!» A female voice rang out.

But it was too late. Sumire's fingers thouched with the windows but instead of the warmth expected, he felt a cold sensation. Surprised, he retired his hand and looked at the windows again. Where he touched it marks of fingertips remained. Looking at the said fingertips, he understood that it was paint.

«It wasn't dry!»

Sumire finally turned around to look at the newcomer. It was an olive-haired teenage girl with a special outfit: she was wearing an avocado baggy and a dark olive green and pink T-shirt with numerous splashes of paint on it. On her head she was wearing an orange cap and she had orange gloves at her hands. In one hand she was holding a paintbrush while in the other she had palette with lots of colored paints.

«I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-!» When he took a look at her face, Sumire suddenly stopped talking when he saw her eyes. Her right eye was of the same color as her hair, only deeper, while her left eye was bright orange with small hints of brown.

«A problem with my eyes, onlooker?»

Sumire realized he had been staring at her face for a few second now. She was probably angered to be stared at like if she was a work of art.

«No- I mean I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bother you! It's just that, you really have beatiful eyes.»

The girl's cheek turned slightly pink for a second, but came back to their original color quickly. She puffed up her chest and put her free fist on her waist in pride.

«I know right! Usually people are a little disturbed by my eyes, but it's rare that I'm being complimented rigth away. Now, who are you guys?»

«Oh that's right!» Sumire straightened up. «My name's Sumire. Sumire Kizuchi. And my frend here is-»

«Mar Ekabs. Greetings.» Mar interrupted his friend to present himself and bowed politely.

«….» The unknown girl looked at them in surprise.

«What's wrong?» Sumire confusely asked.

She put her available hand in front of her mouth and let out a chuckle.

«What's wrong?» Sumire asked, in panick.

«Haha! You guys need to cool down! I'm not a military instructor!»

Sumire realized that he was staying to attention. Letting out a nervous chuckle, he tried to relax a little. Mar too seemed a little stiff on his own, but it didn't seem to bother him.

«You two are interesting. My name is Olive de la Toile, but just call me Olive.» [Olive] looked in a more pleasant mood and was smiling.

«Ah! I'm sorry about your paint-»

«No problem» Olive walked to the fake window and stired the paint on her palette with her brush. «I can easily correct that.»

Indeed, after a few brush strokes, the paint looked just like before. Olive stepped forward and comtemplated her work with a satisfied smile on her face.

«This should do.»

«You're pretty skillful.» Mar commented, probably by politeness once again. «I really did mistake this with a real window.»

«He's right. How can you do so many details? I really have the feeling of being watching outside!»

«Oh! Stop it you. Flattery will get you nowhere.» Olive said, although she had a small smile on her face. «But I won't mind if you try.»

As she was getting her painting stuff inside her bag, Olive raised her head and looked at the boys as if she remembered something.

«By the way, what are you doing here?»

«Errr...»

«This idiot took a random map, thinking it was Beacon's.»

Sumire glarred daggers in Mar's direction, whom dodged by looking away. Olive lifted her bag and put it on her shoulder.

«Then I guess I have no choice.» She started walking in the opposit direction. «Follow me!»

Part 4
«Sigh, what a pain.»

The tomboyish girl was standing still in front a big statue, her arms on her suitcase, which she was leaning on. Her back was bending forward with her head resting on her arms. She looked forward as if thinking of something important, and then straightened her back while letting out another sigh. She turned her head to right and left to see if anyone was around, but the place was completely empty aside from her.

«Boy, I arrived here but I don't even know where to go now.» She stomped her feet angrily «Grrrrr, all because of those idiots downtown! Because of them I had to wait for the next airship and it took an eternity. Now that I missed the crowd of students how am I finding my way?»

She turned back to retrieve her suitcase, only to realize that it had disappeared. She looked all around in panic, and turned in the school's direction when she heard a small laugh. Standing there, she saw an albinos Faunus girl with a shoulderless white sweater and a blood red skirt matching her eyes. She was also wearing a red and white stripped stocking and a white fox tail could be seen swinging in amusement. After the tomboyish girl recovered from the surprise of not having seen her approaching, she realized that the unexpected passerby had her suitcase next to hair. She quickly walked to the albinos girl's position and pointed her finger at her.

«Just what do you think you're doing?!»

«Just what do you think you're doing?!»

«?!»

The tomboyish girl frowned at the red-eyed girl in surprise: not only did the latter repeated her sentences with the most similar tone possible, but she had also raised her finger and imitated her stance so that it looked like there was a mirror between them; and given the Faunus' face, she face also, mimicking her facial expression.

«Huh? What are you playing at?!»

«Huh? What are you playing at?!»

«Stop doing that!»

«Stop doing that!»

«You think it's funny?»

«You think it's funny?»

«I said stop repeating after me!»

«I said stop repeating after me!»

The tomboyish girl was trying to catch her breath. No matter matter what she said the other girl repeated it immediatly after with a perfect tone and even matched her movements! It was just like talking to a mirror. A talking mirror. An irritating talking mirror. The tomboyish girl clenched her fist and approach her face of the Faunus girl's to shout:

«I don't care about your little games but give me my stuff back!» She said while pointing out the amaranth red suitcase on the ground.

The Faunus girl bent forward to match her position and opened her mouth to talk but… Instead of the expected repetition, an amused grin appeared on her face and she swiftly turned around to grab the suitcase and disappear with it. But instead of entering the school she took a different path that went downhill.

«Bh- What? Come back! Come back here you damn brat!»

She immediatly rushed after her as fast as she could. She quickly realized, as she was running along a small river passing below the bridge she was on a moment earlier, that the Faunus was incredibly fast, even though she was carrying a huge suitcase. When the tomboyish girl turned around a corner, she arrived in front of a wide area. The path she was following was lined by benches and lampposts and led to a circular building. When she looked at the building's doors, she saw the snow-white girl jumping while waving at her in an annoying way.

«Teasing me, you little-»

She ran to the building and passed through the doors the Faunus had disappeared into. Inside, she beholded, surprised, an incredible amount of people. All of them were students, chatting between or simply waiting for God knew what. She looked around, seeking for the Faunus girl, but only saw her suitcase laying on the ground several meters away. She sped to grab it, and found a small note patched on it:

This is the amphitheater! That's where the headmaster will do his speech! I guided you there since you seemed lost! By the way, my name is Magnolia!

She folded the paper in her hands and lifted her suitcase. When she turned around, she jumped in surprise when she saw the Faunus girl standing right behind her. She was starring at her with the same happy little grin while swinging her tail teasingly.

«You've done all this to show me the way?»

Magnolia nodded vigorously and let out a chuckle. She then jumped up and down while raising her arms like a cat.

«You're a fox, not a cat. Though, if you wanted to tell me your name you could have done it directly, ya know.»

Magnolia answered by an other chuckle and stopped hopping. The tomboyish girl scratched the back of her hair while sighing and held her hand out to the strange girl.

«My name is Aîma. Aîma D-dle. Nice to meet you.»

Magnolia opened her eyes wide, then suddenly jumped at Aîma to hug her.

«Hey, hey! Calm down! I know you're happy but-»

She couldn't finish her sentence. A voice resounded in the whole amphitheater and looking back at the stage, Aîma saw a man with grey hair wearing a green trouser -probably the headmaster.

«I'll keep this brief.»