A flash of light.

'Ugh… what the… where…?'

The young man found himself in a bizarre place. There were murmurs of muffled voices in the background, and taking a look around he realized he was in some sort of storage area.

'Damn, my head…'

Trying to ignore the throbbing pain pulsing through his skull he stood up, his hand fumbling around until he found what seemed to be a door handle. He took a moment to gather his bearings, taking a deep breath before opening the door, which to his surprise led into a large area. Further inspection caused him to realize that he was flying, seemingly on some sort of airship if the clouds brushing past the windows were anything to go by. Many gatherings of people who appeared to be around his age were stood talking and laughing, each in their own small groups, some turning to look at him with confused expressions, but soon went back to their own circles. If nothing else, he didn't seem to attract too much attention.

Thank the heavens for that. I'd rather not be the freak that stands out. As soon as this airship or whatever it is lands I'm outta here.

The actual flight went fairly smoothly, at least until someone approached him to strike up a conversation.

'Hey,' he said with a small smile. 'You're not here with any friends from Signal?'

The boy had a brown tank top with black jeans, and messy light brown hair. He was fairly muscular and was very tall, easily over 6 feet. If Indigo had to make an estimate he would have said around 6 foot 6.

'Signal…?'

As soon as he said that he realized he had made a mistake, if the look of surprise on the other boy's face said anything.

'Yeah… you know, the Huntsmen Academy? They kinda prepare you for Beacon…?'

'Oh, of course,' he lied. 'I'm not from around here so the names get past me sometimes.'

'No worries, happens to everyone. I'm Dunn. Dunn Rock.'

'Nice to meet you, Dunn. Name's Indigo.'

Dunn was about to say something else, but the weapon poking above Indigo's back caused him to focus on that instead.

'Nice weapon. That thing looks like it packs one hell of a punch.'

He hadn't even noticed it until now. What the hell was it? It was definitely some kind of sledgehammer, although strangely it didn't seem very heavy. Maybe it was hollow? For now he just decided to play along with what Dunn was saying, as if anything the huge weapon seemed to make him blend in more rather than less.

'Oh yeah. One good hit from this baby and I can turn pretty much anything into paste.'

'I can imagine. That thing's huge.'

Dunn stood in contemplation for a second with a mischievous smile.

'I know someone who would love a look at that thing.'

Please don't call someone else over here.

'Hey, Nora! Come see this!'

God damn it.

A ginger girl came scuttling over at the mention of her name, bumping into several people on her way with no care or concern for them, before her eyes locked on the the article in question.

'Wooooow… that thing looks AWESOME! How'd you build it? What can it do? Does it turn into a gun? Can I touch it? Please? Pretty please?'

'I'm very sorry about that,' another young man apologized. 'She gets very excited around new people.'

'It's fine, don't worry about it. If it makes her happy more power to her I say. I'm Indigo.'

'The pleasure is all mine. I'm Ren, and I believe you've already met Nora,' gesturing to the excitable ginger as he spoke.

'Yeah, she's… something.' He wasn't sure what else to say about the energetic young woman virtually vibrating with excitement in front of him.

'So, are you looking forward to it?' Ren asked, Indigo only giving a vacant expression in response.

'You do… know where we're going… don't you?'

'Of course I do,' he lied. 'I was just messing with you. I like to try and... feel people out when I meet them, that's all. I can be a bit strange sometimes.'

'As strange as Nora?' Ren said with a small smile, his comment eliciting a pout from the ginger.

'Alright maybe not that strange,' he returned, Nora's eyes burning like daggers into him before she distracted herself with what Indigo could only assume was a particularly shiny object elsewhere.

'Anyway, it's been great meeting you all but I'm gonna go talk to some other people. I want to get to know as many as I can before we land,' Indigo desperately excused, taking his first chance at escape.

They were weird. Everyone here is weird. Speaking of 'here…' where the hell am I? I've never seen this place before. And… my magic isn't working.

Looking at his hand, he tried to muster up something, anything that would imply his magic was returning to him, but there was nothing. He'd tried several times since appearing in this place, but to no avail.

And what the hell is this thing?

Taking another look at the weapon on his back, he noticed a few grooves on the handle, the actual head of the sledgehammer seeming to sport some circular symbols indented into it in a concave fashion. Maybe there was some sort of gun attached to it.

Nah. That's ridiculous.

'That thing looks seriously awesome.'

The voice surprised him, causing him to drop it just inches away from his foot.

'Jesus, please don't ever do that again,' Indigo shakily blurted out, his face pale from almost losing his toes.

'Sorry,' the girl nervously responded, an apologetic smile on her face.

'Whatever, no harm done I guess. Who are you?'

'Oh right, yeah. I'm Beryl Arvin, future huntress and your best friend in the case of a dustpocalypse.'

'Oh. That's... nice. I'm-'

'Indigo.'

'How did you…?'

'I overheard your conversation with Dunn. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I swear!'

'How much did you hear?' he asked, suspicious of her incredibly quick denial.

'All of it.'

Figures.

Taking another look at her, she was very… green. Like, REALLY green. Chest length dark green hair styled in curls, dark green gloves, dark green blouse, even a green skirt and shoes. It caught him a little off guard, to say the least.

'So. I'm just gonna take a wild guess that you like the color green.'

'What gave it away?' she said with a giggle.

'I have no idea. I mean, if it weren't for the fact I can see you have pink underwear I'd have suggested everything you're wearing is green.'

'What?!'

The lightning fast attempt to cover herself amused him, especially considering he'd been bluffing.

'That was a joke. Guess I hit the nail on the head though considering your reaction,' he said with a triumphant grin.

'If you tell anybody about this, I will rip your balls from your body and make a stew out of them.'

Okay.

That's fucking terrifying.

To confirm the fact that he understood, he very quickly slapped both hands over his mouth, his eyes speaking words of unbridled terror.

'So what made you come over here anyway?' he asked, recovering from the horrific image Beryl had painted with her threat.

'I just thought you had a really cool looking weapon. What does it do?'

'Why does everyone want to speak to me because of my weapon?'

'Dunno. What does it do?' she repeated, completely sidestepping his question.

'Honestly? I have no fucking idea.'

'But… you kinda own it. How can you not know what it does?'

'It got pretty beat up recently,' he covered. 'I had to repair it using what I could get a hold of, so I'm not really sure if it'll work the same anymore.'

She didn't seem too pleased with his answer, but grudgingly accepted it.

'That sucks. But I hope it's good enough. I would not want to be the person enrolling in Beacon Academy with a faulty weapon. I've heard that it isn't exactly the friendliest to the inexperienced or unprepared.'

'Tell me about it,' he sighed.

Please let me go. I just want to leave. Why does everyone here have to be so talkative?

'So, which kingdom are you from? I already overheard that you aren't from here.'

Indigo felt his entire body freeze when she asked that question.

How the hell am I supposed to answer that?! I have no idea what the hell this planets countries are called! Shit… what the hell do I say?

'You OK there?'

Beryl sounded a little worried, probably due to the fact that he looked like he'd just had a flashback of the Vietnam war when she asked her question.

'Oh, uh… yeah. Sorry, I blanked out for a second there. Could you repeat what you said? I didn't really hear you.'

Beryl still looked quite worried about him, but continued nonetheless.

'I asked what kingdom you come from. I mean, it's not the hardest question in the world, right?'

Well, here goes nothing.

'I'm from the biggest one.'

He knew immediately that he'd given her the wrong answer. Her face had turned from one of mild bemusement and worriment to furious rage in an instant.

'…Who are you?'

Indigo froze again, her question piercing him like a knife.

'Attention all students, we will be landing at Beacon Academy in just a few short moments. Please be ready to disembark.'

Perfect. At least I can get away from my very pissed off 'friend' for a while.

'Oh, would you look at that,' he said with a nervous chuckle. 'Look, I'd love to stay and chat but I really have to get off and get ready for the big day ahead, you know? It's been really fun meeting you, see you around?'

With that he darted off into the crowd of anxious teenagers, hearing muffled shouts of 'stop the man in blue!' behind him.

Stop the man in blue? Are you fucking serious? Like, 30% of the people here are 'men in blue!' It's like a fucking rainbow exploded in this place!

Somehow he managed to evade her until the airship landed, and what awaited him took his breath away. Even if he planned to leave as soon as he could, even Indigo couldn't deny that the view was incredible. The majestic school, the cliff side waterfall and the forest close to the school, all overlooking a cityscape with clear blue skies… it was amazing. He didn't have time to admire it however, as the familiar voice of Beryl came calling out. Scuttling away, he managed to find a good spot to hide at the side of the school, sitting down for a moment to catch his breath.

'Thank GOD that's over,' he said with a sigh, his head in his hands.

'If you think this is over then you're not very bright.'

That wasn't a good sound. That was a very familiar sound. A very green sound.

'Look, lady. I don't know who the hell you are, or why you're-'

She silenced him with a hand over his mouth, her glaring eyes telling him to be quiet. When he tried to protest anyway, she pressed something against his stomach. He could just barely look down enough to see it, but when he did he saw it was a larger, pointier version of a trident dagger.

'Going to shut up and let me speak now?'

Furiously nodding his head in submission, she retracted the blade.

'There are several things I want to know. One: who are you?'

The tone of her voice told him if he lied to her then he wouldn't have the greatest of experiences in the moments following.

'I'm Indigo Kayle.'

'How do I know that's your real name?'

'Why would I lie about my name?'

'You could be a criminal.'

'Look here missy, I couldn't be further from a fucking criminal if I tried.'

'Alright then. I'll humor you for now. So if you aren't a criminal, then two: what are you?'

'I'm… I can't say.'

'Oh yeah, really clearing my suspicion of the whole, "you're a criminal" accusation, aren't you?

He looked at her again and noticed she was thumbing the dagger back and forth, almost taunting him with it.

'Fine. You really want to know so badly? I'm a soldier.'

'A soldier for who?'

'There's no right answer to that.'

'You're saying you're a mercenary?'

'No, I'm just-'

'If you aren't a mercenary, then you must work for one of the kingdoms. It obviously isn't Vale, so which kingdom sent you here, huh? I've already figured out you're a spy. If you don't start talking then pieces of you are going to be sent to each kingdom until I get an answer.'

'I don't work for any kingdom, alright?'

She held the dagger accusingly against his neck.

'Talk. Or else.'

'I'm not talking until you move that blade away from my throat.'

'Fine,' she said, retracting the dagger as she spoke, still keeping it close to him in case Indigo tried anything funny.

'I'm… not from here.'

'We've already established that. If you aren't going to be more specific…'

'I don't mean like that! Listen, I'm trying to cooperate as best I can, believe me, it's just… it's really hard to explain this without making it sound like I'm fucking insane!'

'You don't need any help with that. You already sound pretty damn crazy to me.'

'You see? That isn't helping. I'm not crazy, I just… I can't explain what happened. If I did you'd think I was even more nuts!'

'Well it's either that or I make that pretty face of yours a lot less pretty.'

'Alright- …wait, you think I have a pretty face?'

Indigo could feel himself blushing slightly at her compliment before she so rudely destroyed it.

'It's a figure of speech. Now talk.'

'Alright, and I swear to God this is going to sound ridiculous but, you want the truth so you'll just have to trust me.'

'I don't trust you at all.'

'Yeah, the uh, the whole part where you threatened to slit my throat kinda gave that away just a little bit. Anyway, here goes nothing I suppose. You ready for this?'

'Just say it.'

'The truth is… I… I kinda just… "poofed" in.'

'You… "poofed" in? As in, you appeared out of thin air?'

'Yes. One minute I was fighting in a war, the next I was in the storage bay of that airship. I've never seen this hammer before in my life, but that was on my back so I guess it just sorta poofed with me. I didn't want to tell you because I knew you wouldn't believe it.'

Beryl sighed before lowering her dagger.

'You're right. I don't believe it.'

'You see-'

'But for some reason,' she interrupted, 'I believe you.'

'Wait… you do?'

'Yes. I have no idea why, but I just… you don't seem like you're lying. You did seem genuinely confused on that airship, and I think it's relatively safe to say you have no idea what the hell is going on right now. I don't believe your story, but… I do believe you. You're lucky, I guess. This means I'm not going to cut you up and send you to each of the kingdoms with little ribbons attached.'

'Thank you… I think…?'

The two of them stood there in silence, contemplating what to do next.

'So…' Beryl began, 'this means you're not actually enrolled in Beacon, right?'

'Yeah. Unless I can sneak my way in somehow I don't see any way for me to stay.'

'Go speak to Professor Ozpin. He's the headmaster here. Maybe you can work something out with him.'

'Ok. Problem number one: I have no fucking idea who this Ozpin guy is.'

'Grey hair, wears a lot of green and never seen without a coffee mug. Trust me, you'll know him when you see him.'

'You're saying all this as though I know where to go. Newsflash, I literally know nothing about this planet or it's people. What the hell am I supposed to do after I find him? Even if I did get enrolled here, then what?'

Beryl was beginning to seem very annoyed with his constant barrage of questions, if her death glare was anything to go by.

'I have no idea,' she responded with a venomous tone. 'But hey, you said you were a soldier, right? Soldiers need to adapt to the battlefield. So just do that. Adapt.'

With that, she walked off without another word leaving Indigo to contemplate his options.

It's like she just radiates happiness and friendship. Well, guess I've got nothing better to do than find this Ozpin guy. Maybe he can finally give me some damn answers.

Wandering aimlessly around the halls of the school, he eventually came to a large wooden door, the other side producing a mixed amount of loud, muffled chatter. Reaching for the door handle, he opened it.

What could go wrong?

A lot of things, apparently. One person slammed face first into the now open door as they were walking past, another running to help them. He got several angry glares from some of the students-to-be, with a few of them confronting him.

'You wanna be a little more careful next time?' One of them said, trying to put on an intimidating façade that failed miserably.

'I was opening a fucking door. That one was on you.'

'Do you have any idea who the hell I am?' he angrily replied, his face turning red as a tomato as he fumed.

'Not a clue, but if I had to guess I'd say you were an entitled little shit who tries to abuse the people beneath him to make himself feel better. Now I'll ask you nicely one more time to step aside before I make you.'

His snide remark was all it took to rile the boy up and provoke an attack, the thug swinging him club at Indigo's head. Indigo, however, had well-honed reactions and easily evaded the strike, retaliating in kind with a simple kick to the back of his leg that caused the club-wielder to trip and fall.

'Your technique needs a lot of work,' Indigo told him. 'And also, never aim for the head. You're just giving yourself a smaller target.'

'I don't believe I've seen you before,' an unfamiliar voice called out from behind him. Turning around to look, his eyes widened when he saw the exact description of Ozpin that Beryl had given him.

Well that was easy.

'I'd be surprised if you had,' Indigo commented, which received a raised eyebrow from Ozpin in response.

'You aren't currently enrolled in this school, correct?'

'That is indeed correct.'

'For what purpose have you come here?'

'The one you just described. I want to enrol here.'

'You want to enrol? You wouldn't be the first. You most certainly won't be the last.'

'Look, I know I didn't follow official procedures. But I really want to join this academy. I even-'

'Very well.'

'I'm… sorry?'

'I believe you'll make an excellent addition to this school, Indigo, was it?'

'How did you…?'

'I would hurry if I were you though. You wouldn't want to miss the announcement,' he said, gesturing towards the open door in front of him.

Left mouth agape searching for words, he watched as Ozpin slowly walked away until he was no longer in view.

That guy… he gave me some serious chills. Who the hell…?

Coming to his senses, he realized that Ozpin mentioned an 'announcement.' Turning back through the door with the boy he had fought long since gone, Ozpin was already on stage and many students were stood nervously awaiting his words like some kind of cult. Indigo honestly found it a bit creepy. Joining the herd, Ozpin soon began speaking.

'Greetings, future students of Beacon Academy. I, as most of you know, am Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon. You have all come here today to be trained as professional huntsmen and huntresses, to be the ones to lead humanity into the future and protect the people from the threats that lay outside our walls. You will face many hardships. You will be forced to overcome countless trials in order to succeed as future hunters. Do know that the road will not be an easy one. With every mission, every assignment, there is always the possibility that you will die. As long as you carry with you that knowledge and act accordingly to it, you will prosper and survive. Here at Beacon we will not babysit you. Aside from food, shelter and classes, you will be expected to take care of yourselves. Any student conflicts must be resolved between yourselves. After all, if you cannot look after yourself, how do you expect to protect others? As for today, you may spend the rest of the day preparing and resting. Tomorrow, your life at Beacon will begin.'

Saying nothing more, he casually walked off stage, leaving the students to their own devices.

I need to find Beryl. If we're starting as early as tomorrow I need to know what this hammer does.

Searching the room for her, he had no success in finding her, many of the students leaving which led Indigo to believe she had also taken her leave. Just as he was about to exit however, he received a tap on the shoulder.

'Hey,' came a familiar, masculine voice.

'Oh, hey Dunn. Listen, I'd love to talk, but I need to know if this place has some sort of training ground. You wouldn't happen to know, would you?'

'Of course there is. Come on, I'll walk with you.'

Taking a scenic route through the gardens, the two got to know each other a little better.

'I'm from Vacuo myself, so it's pretty cool visiting a different kingdom,' he explained. 'Oh, right. I've seen your sledgehammer, but I never actually got to show you my weapon, did I?'

Thinking for a moment, Indigo realized he was right.

'No, I don't think you did.'

'Well, I say my "weapon…" I'm not being entirely candid with you on that one. I actually have two. This one here,' he said, holding up his right hand, 'is a combination of brass knuckles with a bowie knife attached to the end. And this one,' he said again, holding up his left this time, 'this is… it's just a sawn off shotgun. I didn't have time to get really creative with it so it's just sorta… this, for now at least. I'm gonna beef it up at some point though. What about yours? What does it actually do?'

Shit. That's exactly what I was just about find out. What is it with everyone here and weapons? That crazy ginger girl was obsessed with them, there was some redhead literally drooling over mine in the main hall, this guy seems to have a hard-on for them… is everyone here just nuts about really complicated weapons?

'Well… actually, I don't know either.'

'What do you mean you don't know?' he said, sounding rather skeptical. 'You built the thing, didn't you?'

'Yeah, but it got really beaten up not long back. I had to patch it up as best as I can so I'm not really sure what it's capable of anymore. That's why I'm going to test it out.'

'This should be entertaining.'

Oh yeah. I just can't wait to use this monstrosity… someone is going to die. The thing's almost as big as me and it doesn't exactly look like the kind of weapon that clocks in low on the 'destruction' meter. I am going to accidentally kill someone the moment I try and use it, I just know it.

After a minute of walking the two reached the training ground, Dunn lightly shoving Indigo forward.

'I've gotta see this.'

Indigo gave a nervous laugh in return, holding the sledgehammer at his side, the head facing behind towards the school behind him. There was a small button on the handle, just barely big enough to feel that he had noticed beforehand. He figured it was some sort of trigger, and if not he could at least explain it away as his weapons repairs not going according to plan.

Here goes nothing.

Pressing the button, nothing seemed to happen at first. That was until the blue light appeared from the end of the sledgehammer. The hammer end. The one facing the school.

'Oops.'

A huge beam of energy fired from the sledgehammer, tearing a several meter wide hole in the school and drawing the attention of some very surprised students… and one very pissed off teacher by the looks of it.

'Young man,' the blonde started, 'if you plan to be a professional huntsman you need to be much more careful than that. As it is your first day, nay, your first hour here, we will overlook this. But please, in future, try not to destroy the school.' With that, she gave a flick of her riding crop and the wall seemed to rebuild itself, much to Indigo's relief.

Soon after, he realized Dunn was staring at him, barely holding back laughter.

'I swear to god, it has NEVER fired out of that end before.'

'Oh man, you're a riot. Not many people spend their first few moments at Beacon destroying the school and riling up the teaching staff.'

'So, blueberry, what exactly was that?'

The unknown voice came from a girl who was also at the training grounds, a huge two-meter zweihander draped over her shoulder. She had deep chestnut-brown shoulder length hair, and a gold t-shirt with a matching skirt. She also wore some light shoulder pads and sported a pair of long knee socks.

'That,' he responded, 'was me finding out my weapon works very differently from how it used to. As well as everyone else finding out.'

'Yeah,' she replied with a chuckle, 'I'm pretty such they felt that one over at Signal. Name's Leona Harvest. It's nice to meet you.'

'Feelings mutual. I'm Indigo Kayle.'

'And I'm Dunn Rock,' he interjected, seemingly feeling left out of this conversation.

'Really,' she responded with fake enthusiasm. 'So, Indigo,' she continued, completely blindsiding Dunn, 'I'm guessing you're looking for very particular teammates judging from the fact you just tried to annihilate the dorms.'

'Teammates?'

'Didn't you know? Everyone is assigned to teams of four here. The selection process changes every year so people can't prepare for it, but I'm sure I'll find a way to get put with someone I work well with. I think you and I could make a great partnership.'

'Somehow I doubt that. I'm a heavy hitter, you look like a heavy hitter, one of us would just end up being better than the other and the weaker one becomes the third wheel for the team.'

'Think about the destruction we could cause.'

The glimmer in her eyes unnerved him somewhat.

This girl is very dangerous. If I don't kill someone I think she might.

'Alright then. That's a new one. I don't think I've ever met someone who has immediately proposed that we partner up and cause mass destruction before.'

'You're not even interested a little bit?'

'Uhh…' Indigo thought for a second before responding, praying he picked the option which would result in him keeping his head, 'No. No I am not.'

'That's a shame. I was really hoping we could try and team up. I can see it now, "Leona and Indigo, partners in devastation!"'

'I'm thrilled by the offer, really I am, but I'm gonna go now,' he said, feeling very uncomfortable all of a sudden. Hastily making his getaway with Dunn in tow, the two found a room to rest and spend the night.

'Pretty crazy day, huh?' Dunn said, a slight yawn escaping his lips as he spoke.

'Yeah… I mean, I'm sure everyone almost kills several students on their first day via weapon misfire, gets into a fight with another student and then meets a chaotic good woman with a sword bigger than me that wants to destroy everything she sees, right?'

'Unlikely, but we'll roll with it. Besides, it sounds like we've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow, who cares about what happened today! You excited? I'm excited.'

'I dunno,' Indigo answered, 'on one hand, I'm looking forward to it. On the other, I'm nervous about what's gonna happen.'

'Relax. That's pretty natural if you ask me.'

Indigo gave a 'hmm' in response, before deciding to go to sleep.

'I'm getting some rest. You should too.'

'See you at dawn,' Dunn replied chirpily.

Yeah. Hopefully.

His eyes drooping shut, Indigo fell to the sweet embrace of sleep.