Lighthouse

Lighthouse

## Part 1:

Beacon Academy was huge.

It was her first impression as Tianee Musk stepped out of the airship.
There was a wide courtyard that leads to a beautiful fountain and the famous Beacon tower just right behind it - *just like the photo I've seen in the tour guide!* The young girl was excited: Having travelled from across the continent to another, completely different place to her hometown to study at one of the most famous Academies after all!

"Neil would love to be here right now." Smiling to herself, Tianee skipped down the stairs from the airship before anyone else did, her wavy teal hair bounced behind her as she did. The path to the courtyard wasn't very long, but the young girl took her time to observe the scenery around her, admiring it for as long as she possibly could - accidentally bumped on a few people on her way.

"Sorry. I'm sorry!" Apologized the petite girl, before she bumped into another person yet again. However, before she could even utter another apologise, she was met with a pair of sharp, blood red eyes looming from above. For a moment, Tianee felt chill was sent down her spine just from locking eyes with the opposite person - and she was from a snowy region!

"Are you lost, little doe ?" Came an alluring voice with a hint of teasing in the tone, "What are you doing here all by yourself ?"

"Eh ?" Tianee was confused at her question. Wasn't it obvious ? "Me ? I'm a Beacon student."

There was a moment of silence between the two of them, before the taller girl adjusted her stance and asked - Tianee could even tell that she was holding back a chuckle, "Well, well, you must be the child prodigy people has been gossiping about. You're cuter than I expected!"

"Excuse me?!" Idina Caliber was taken back at her sudden outburst: The tiny girl took a step forward - closing the gap between them, and tiptoed up as she stared at her dead in the eyes, "Do not call me a child! I'm 17! Seventeen!"

And she snorted, rather ungracefully if Idina would admit.

"That's it!"

Idina felt a strong jab on her knee, followed by a grip on her forearm as the petite girl turned sharply on her heel and flipped the heiress over her shoulder.

It was rather unexpected, but she wasn't one to go down in a fight that easily: As soon as her back met the hard ground, Idina immediately swept the girl's feet off with one wide swing of her leg.

"Nice try, deery, but you have to do better than that." Taunted Idina - casually got back up with a mocking look on her face. It earned a low growl from the other girl when she scrambled to get up on her feet.

"You want to see how well I can fight ?" Narrowed her eyes when the girl reached for what appeared to be a weapon behind her back. As the teal haired girl charged forward, Idina got into a stance: If a fight is what she wanted, then so be it...

There was a flurry of green, and both girls were surprised when a third person - cloaked in green hood, appeared between the two of them: A long sword was held up to block Tianee's weapon, while they was facing Idina face-to-face.

"Enough" Came a calm yet stern voice as the person withdrawn the sword, "You are causing a scene."

"She started it!" Tianee exclaimed loudly, pointed a finger over their shoulder at the purple haired girl. To her annoyance, she simply chuckled - that goddamn smirk on her lips only served to irritated the girl further. Huffed out loudly, Tianee put away her weapon and turned to leave the place, unawared as she pushed through the crowd of people that has gathered during their little spar.

"Adorable one." Chuckled Idina, turning to the person standing in front of her, "And what about you, mysterious warrior ?"

"Do not want anything to do with you." Replied the hooded figure, before they withdrew their sword and left the place.

"Well, this will be an interesting year." The heiress mused to herself and shrugged, following the crowd of people to head to the amphitheater...

From behind the tree line, Crystal could see the group of kids around her age heading toward a building: Some of them looked excited, the others looked casual while a few of them wore an expression that was hard for her to guess. Chewed down on her bottom lips rather nervously, the girl took a step backward - not wanting to be seen by other.

"Ouch!" There was a groan, followed by her own yelp as Crystal turned around to face another person, "Watch where you're going!."

"Ah! I'm sorry! S-sorry..." Stuttered an apologize, the young girl held her hands in front of her chest unsure of what to do. She braced herself, lips pressed together into a thin line as she waited for them to yell at her, telling her how careless she was and that she should pay more attention. It was an unpleasant thing to be reminded of - *mother would scold me if she saw what just happened...*

"Whoa whoa, don't cry! I didn't mean to raise my voice!" Crystal felt a pair of hands gripped on her shoulders. But it wasn't a tight grip, no, it was firm but gentle followed by a single shake coming from the other person. Crystal didn't even realized that droplets of tear has been blurring her vision the whole time, until a rough fabric was pressed on the corner of her eye to wipe it away. Sniffled, she rubbed the other one with her hand all the while whimpered out another apologize, "I r-really didn't mean..."

"Haiz, I can't believe I made a girl cry on my first day here. Phoebus Thies you son of a gun!"
His exclaimation was followed by a moment of silent, before the red haired girl snorted out loud and giggled from it. Crystal couldn't explain why, but she found the way he talked - the way he smacked himself up the head and sighed out loud, it was all hilarious to her. To make matter better, this Phoebus guy grinned while she was giggling.

"There we go! You should totally laugh more often, it's adorable!" He exclaimed loudly, giving her a pat on her shoulder - a bit too rough that Crystal slightly stumbled forward, "The name Phoebus, but you can call me Pebby."

"I'm Crystal, Crystal Nelde." Smiled the redhead, "Nice to meet you, Pebby."

## Part 2:

"Tomy!" Loudly shouted Phoebus as soon as the two of them entered the amphitheater, waving him arms at a certain person standing at the far corner. It earned a couple of curious glances from those who were standing nearby, as well as a groan from a blonde boy who he was shouting at, "Tomy!"

"Dude, can you keep it down ?" Tomy stood straight up - finally decided to answer him, and smacked Phoebus across his head lightly, "I can hear you from a mile away."
The raven haired boy grinned - didn't seem to mind the smack his friend gave him, and threw his arm over Tomy's shoulders to pull him closer. It earned another groan from him, and the shorter boy immediately shoved his friend away - clearly annoyed at his over-friendlyness. Tomy didn't enjoy the idea of being stuck with this goofball during his time at Beacon, but without his help, he would never have a chance to get to the school to begin with. *How troublesome...*

*"Found you...!"*

*Gritted his teeth, Tomy turned on his heels to face his pursuer: He was just another boy of his own age, but armed with heavy armors and a sword as large as he is, with thin lines-like tattoo that glowed bright blue under the heavy rain that was currently showering the two of them.*

*"C'mon, just give me the bag. I'm not going to call the police on you if you do."*

*"Well aren't you a heroic one ?" Sarcasm was filled in his tone as Tomy barked back, already pissed off from how things went. He thought it was going to be another easy catch: Go in, snatch the bag, go out. Unfortunately for him, he was chased by this goody two-shoes all the way to an empty alley, demanding Tomy to give back what he has stolen.*

*"It's not heroic. I'm simply doing what is right." He insisted, extending a hand forward to gesture the blonde boy to hand the bag over. It annoyed him even further, the way he wasn't being aggressive about it - and if there is one thing Tomy hated, it'd be that damn pitiful looks he was giving him. The grip on his cane tightened, and Tomy readied himself.*

*"Prove it then. Fight me and win it back...!"*

Lost to his own thoughts, Tomy glanced to the side - looking over Phoebus' shoulder, and noticed another person was looking at them.

"What're you looking at ?!" A small yelp escaped her lips unconsciously, and Crystal quickly ducked for cover behind Phoebus' board shoulders - away from the blonde's view. There was a sound of a light smack, before the girl found herself being nudged forward with Phoebus' hand on her back.

"Hey, be nice to her! This is her first day here."

"It's *everybody's* first day here."
"And it won't hurt to make some new friends here, right ?" Grinned the raven haired boy as he playfully jabbed his friend with his elbow. It earned a sigh from Tomy, and a giggle from Crystal - much to Phoebus' delight before he threw both his arms over their shoulders and pulled them into a tight hug.

As her giggle died down, Crystal glanced to the stage as the headmaster casually walked out from behind the wing - using a cane to support his weight as he stopped behind the microphone.

"I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people" He wore an expression that was hard for the girl to guess - the same kind of expression that she often see on her mother's face when she would stand on the beach and stared at nowhere.

"But I look amongst you..." Blinked Crystal, as she noticed Ozpin was looking at her direction, "...and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction."

"You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far..." But before she could confirm it, the headmaster already turned his gaze away as he finished his speech, "It is up to you to take the first step..."

*What do you think he mean by that ?* Whispered Phoebus just as he leaned over next to her - his tone showed that he was just as confused as she was, *Were we not here in order to learn to protect Remnant ?*

I don't know... Was her reply, watching the older man leaving the stage while professor Glynda stepped forward, taking his place.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

The ballroom was packed.
The young redhead girl barely managed tiptoed through the maze of sleeping bags scattered across the floor, hugging her own close to her chest. Her lips formed a thin line as Crystal tried to look for Phoebus in a sea of people - the lack of light certainly didn't help.
Carefully, she placed her belonging down on an empty spot just by the large window - trying her best to not bump into someone next to her. It has been a long day, from the crash to the recovery, and then meeting new people, but to her it felt too rushed to take them all in. Exhaled slowly, Crystal slided down on top of the mattress to make herself comfortable - all in while she was thinking of what the headmaster said just then.

"Why's the long face, pretty ?"

Idina was amused when the other girl startled at her question - how her cheek flushed pink when she looked at her with a surprised expression. She then shuttered something that the heiress couldn't understand, before burying her face onto the pillow. *Adorable...* It earned a chuckle from Idina as she raised a hand to gently poke the girl on the cheek, in an attempt to get another reaction from her.

"...Can you cut that out ?" Came a flat tone from the other side of the redhead girl. Narrowed her eyes, Idina glared at the one who said that.

Sirce was rather annoyed to find herself running into the same person today, and already she was making fun of another person. However, with most people around them being fast asleep, there was not much she could do other than telling her to stop - all the while returning that glare with her own.

"Aren't you a party pooper, Elfy ?"

"I'm not a stuck up brat."

"Excuse me ?" Came a third person, "Can you keep it down ? It's really late."

Crystal shyly looked up from her pillow to see a rather petite girl with long curly locks standing in front of them. Glanced to the side, she noticed the change on the purple haired girl's expression, as if her day was made for her.

"Well well, Tiny Doe is here as well, what a surprise!"

"What ?!" Was the respond she got...