You quickly unfastened the seatbelt and managed to grab your luggage without getting hit on the head by one of the passenger's bags. "Sheesh... It seems like everyone is in a hurry. I wonder why?" You muttered to yourself as you boarded off the plane and made your way across the airport terminal. You looked to the glass windows, only to see hundreds of stars shining in the night sky.

"It's Beacon Academy, dumbass. Apparently it's a Huntsman Academy in Vale. I've never heard of it." You continued to pace through the building to find an exit. Your eyes caught sight of glass doors, and you immediately ran towards the exit before things started to get hectic at the terminal.

"It's not that," You slid through the crowd, finally making it out of the area. You raised up a hand to get the attention of a taxi cab. Luckily enough, they pulled up in front of you. "I just hate crowds. And, I also don't want to be stuck at the airport terminal any longer than I have to. I just want to get out in Vale and explore." You opened the car door, placing and pushing your luggage inside the yellow vehicle. You scorched down and entered the vehicle, making sure to close the door after.

"Where to?" The driver asked, adjusting his mirror. You simply answered, "Beacon Academy. Pretty sure that's the most popular place here in Vale according to this tour guide book." You showed him your guide book and he nodded.

"Ah, yes. Beacon Academy is very well-known for their trained teams of Huntsmen and Huntresses. Are you a transfer student there?" You shook your head. "No, I only came here to start anew. I figured if you dropped me off there, then I'd be able to associate myself with the notable parts of Vale."

The older man nods and begins to drive to the destination. For a few minutes, the drive had been silent until he decided to break the ice. "So, where are you from, miss?" You briefly responded. "Japan."

"I see... Why did you choose Vale?" You could only shrug. You didn't have a proper answer to his question, but it'd be rude to leave the man hanging. "Beats me. I randomly picked an area on the map and it led me here."

He chuckled, stopping at a red light. "Must be fate, eh?" You cocked your head slightly to one side. "I don't know. I'm just letting the pieces fall where they may be." The vehicle moves again once the traffic lights glow green.

"You're wanting to be surprised by the days that are to come?" You sighed, shaking your head. "I'm just trying to live my life, absentmindedly waiting for something like how everyone is right now." The man fell silent for a moment, deeply absorbed in his thoughts.

Thinking that he was finished with the conversation, you plugged in one earphone and searched for a song on your phone. But before you could press the play button, he poses another question. "Do you know why we built Beacon Academy?"

You responded by shaking your head. Through the reflection of his mirror, he replied to you with a smile perching on his lips. "This Academy was built in order to protect the citizens against the Creatures of Grimm. These beasts have been around for ages, and it's the Huntsmen and Huntresses' duty to deprive them away from Humans and Faunus."

Faunus? Grimm? Well those were some new words. "What you're telling me is that Beacon Academy is meant to banish the Grimm? To protect the citizens of Vale by training at this school? Though I'm not familiar with the terms 'Faunus' and 'Grimm'. Could you explain them to me?"

He drives on past the crossroads and several buildings. "I'd be glad to. Faunus is of an intelligent race that inhabits Remnant. They're easily distinguishable from humans as they possess the traits of animals, and I'd like to see them as our equals but the public says otherwise..." You caught sight of his frown through the mirror.

"I understand. How about the Grimm?"

"They are destructive monsters that inhabit various parts of Remnant. They're very much drawn to many negative aspects such as these sources of emotion: envy, sadness, hatred, loneliness, and more. It's said that they were created by the God of Darkness in order to humanity, a creation by the God of Light. They serve as a balance to our world, but everyday their numbers keep multiplying."

These creatures sound awfully familiar to the Mirror Monsters you had to face back in the Rider War. Were the Creatures of Grimm controlled by a supreme embodiment similar to how the Mirror Monsters were loyal to the Kanzaki siblings? Were they perhaps more powerful than the Mirror Monsters? You had no clue, but you didn't want to dwell on fighting them. Not after the recent events...

"Do you know why they keep coming?" You prompted a brow. The man shook his head. "I don't know, but I'm sure the students at all of the Huntsman Academies along with the Atlesian Military are to succeed against the Grimm." You didn't like the sound of that, but you kept your mouth shut.

The yellow vehicle soon arrives in a long, wide avenue, which leads up to what seems to be the main buildings of the academy and behind the edifices is a large, prominent tower with glowing green spheres of light in the center of the tall structure. Wait... Is that an amphitheater!?

"Holy Crud Nuggets! This place is huge and rather technical! Man, Japan needs to step up their game if they wanna get this advanced on technology!" You admired the monument with sparkling eyes.

He chuckled at your reaction. "Already bashing your homeland?" You giggled. "Uh... no..? Maybe... It'd be nice to see something like this back at home." He grinned and tipped his hat. "Well, we're here."

"Oh yeah. Hold up..." You outstretched your hand toward him, holding out

the money, but the older male turned his head sideways as a way of refusing. "You're good. I had a nice chat with you, so I'll consider that as payment. And besides, you're gonna need that if you're planning on staying in Vale."

"Thank you, sir." You responded to him with a small smile. However, his cordial, relaxed demeanor soon shifts into a serene expression. "Be careful out there. Vale may be armed with the best Huntsmen and Huntresses, but there's a rumor going about the existence of blood-sucking demons."

Your curiosity peaked, the strong feeling of desire is written all over your face. "Do you mean vampires, sir? I don't think they exist..." The cab driver made a face and retorted, "If the Creatures of Grimm exist, then who's to say that other supernatural beings don't? We already live in a world with the supernatural, so it wouldn't be a surprise if vampires roam the lands."

You gave it a thought and nodded. "Touché, but I still don't believe in them. They're just popular legends that've been passed down from stories. I doubt their existence." He shrugged. "You'll never know. But anyways, have a safe night!"

You unlatched the car door, dragging your luggage out of the vehicle with you. "You, too!" You said, closing the door and waving goodbye as the man drove off.

"Bingo, partner!" You snapped your fingers and whipped up a map of Vale. Tracing your location from the airport to Beacon Academy, you began following the guide's directions to the nearest bookstore, From Dust Till Dawn. It's a Dust shop that also sells books, tools, equipment, and other merchandise. "What is 'Dust' exactly..?"

"Good point. As soon as we settled into a place, we should do some research. For now though, the bookstore is at hand!" You told them, earning groans from the two beasts.

You used to hate reading as a kid. Though what probably made you despise the pure skill was the goddamn boring books that your old school provided — they were the (literally). But you were able to enjoy the perusal of stories and manga from any genre (except for... you know what I mean...). The mere action and skill alone supplied you a part-time job at ORE Journal back in Japan. When the days were so innocent and peaceful... Until it all came to a crumble when you were involved in the Kamen Rider War.

'Ugh, I shouldn't even be thinking about it. I'm here in Vale for a new beginning. Keep it together, [Y/N]... Just- Hey, there's the bookstore!'

A couple of minutes later, you were now standing in front of the store. The small Dust shop had a modern exterior, colored by a light olive green and a dull beige, and the letters being plain gold.

You opened the door and went on ahead to the section containing a variety of books and comics. "What? No manga?! Ya gotta be kidding me!" Your voice was a little more than a whisper. You looked over your shoulder to see the shopkeeper staring at you in confusion.

"Sorry!" You said to him before turning back around. "Oh well. I'll just make do with what they have here. No biggie!" You brought up your earphones, sealing your ears with gratifying music that was being played from your phone.

While you were reading a book about Dust, you hadn't noticed a fair-skinned girl with silver eyes and neck-length black hair that was standing next to you. She wore a black high-collared blouse with red trims at the end of her long sleeves, a waist cincher with a meshwork of interwoven red silk, a matching skirt with red layers underneath, black stockings, combat boots, and a red hooded cloak.

Although she was wearing headphones, she became aware of your presence due to an earlier event of you rummaging through the bookshelves. Taking a good look at you as you busied yourself with finding a book, she found you quite cute.

'I've never seen her around here before... I would've remembered a cutie like her in Vale. Is she perhaps a new student at Beacon? I hope so! Should I ask her? AHH! Come on, Ruby Rose! You got this! Just tap her shoulder and-'

Her thoughts had wholly dissipated as she felt a hand grab her shoulder. Ruby came face-to-face with a man dressed in a black suit with a corresponding hat and shoes, red sunglasses and a necktie. She took off her headphones, music blasting through the small speakers. "Huh? Yes?"

"I said, put your hands in the air, now! You and your friend!" The henchman leveled a sword at you and Ruby. You still weren't paying attention to whatever was going on; the book along with the music totally engrossed you, not caring in the world if you were in the middle of a robbery.

Ruby glared at him, asking suspiciously, "Are you... robbing me?" The man groaned, then answered, "Yes! Now put your hands in the air! Tell your friend as well!"

"Oh." Her lips tugged into a playful smirk. She glanced over at you and giggled. "How is she not noticing any of this? What a cutie... As for you though," Ruby twists her head back to face him. "You're not as cute as her." The training Huntress kicks the henchman away from you and her, allowing him to crash into several bookshelves.

Their orange-haired leader tilts his head over at the direction of you and Ruby. His henchmen nodded and began to surround her, pointing their swords, axes, and long-barreled pistols at her. "Freeze!"

Exceeding the speed of sound, she already tackled the shooter, knocking him through the glass windows. The henchmen and their leader gather around the broken window, now witnessing Ruby unsheathing her High-Caliber Sniper-Scythe.

"Roman, sir, what do we do? We can't take a Huntress head-on." One of the henchmen says shakily. Roman glared at him, then turned his attention back on Ruby. "Buy me some time by distracting her! Half of you on her and the other half is on that girl! That's an order!" He growled, pointing his cane at you. Following his command, half of his henchmen went after Ruby, whereas the other party came at you.

One of the henchmen spoke up, tapping you on the shoulder. "Hey! Don't you understand the situation that you're in?! You want a death wish or something?" You didn't turn and kept on browsing through the book. This agitated the man extremely.

"Would you just listen to-"

"No," You raised your head, glaring at him in vexation. "You shouldn't interrupt someone when they're reading. That's just rude. Now, fuck off, will you?" Your hands curled into fists. You stepped forward and delivered a solid punch to his mandible with an upward motion. Flying through the roof, you allowed the man to soar into the sky for a few seconds before coming down onto his teammates and crushing them with his weight.

"Get her!" Roman barked, grabbing as much Dust as he could. His henchmen charged at you, two on the offensive and three on the defensive. Taking a second to process, you moved expeditiously, leaping up and seizing their swords. "Mind if I borrowed these? Thanks."

You bashed the two gents over their heads with the hilt of their cleavers, knocking them unconscious within seconds. Regarding the other three men with a smirk, you flew over them, dodging every metal projectile that had been fired. While you were in the air, you took an opportunity to test this so-called, 'Dust'.

"Let's see what these bad boys can really do..." You zoomed off into the direction of the Dust Crystals. Roman's underlings chased after you, but they lacked physical agility. Seconds later, they cornered you, aiming their guns at your head. "That's enough, lady! Take one more step and we won't hesitate to pull the trigger!"

You spun around and held the Dust Crystals in one hand and the two swords in the other. "I'm not from around here, so I don't know much about Dust. But after reading about it, I thought of trying it out. Mind being my guinea pigs?" You extended the weapon's handle, tucking a bright orange crystal inside and closing the helve. This resulted in a glowing, orange-colored blade, generating flames all over the flat cutting edge.

"Ooh, pretty! Now, let's test it! Who's up first?" You regarded the three henchmen with a wicked smile. They were perturbed by your capricious response, but carried on with their mission nonetheless. The trio fired shots at you, but you melted the lead and their weapons with a flaring swing of your new toy.

One of them spoke up with droopy shoulders. "Is the part where we get our ass kicked..?" You chuckled and swept them off their feet with your dual cleavers. "Yep. That's just how it works, bud." You said and your blades clashed with their stomachs, precipitating them down into a heap of gravel.

You examined the shop for any remaining henchmen, but none were standing. All except for one person... You dashed out the building, only to find the leader of his faction climbing up a ladder on the side of another structure.

You went after the criminal boss, wedging a light blue crystal inside the hilt of your other extending cleaver. The original blade color of red had shifted over to a glacial blue, now thickly enwreathed with the ice element. You smirked and launched yourself into the night sky, a spiral pattern of ice and fire following your trail. "Woohoo!"

You took the initiative to tackle Roman, knocking away his cane and the Dust bag. "Ergh! Why you..! Let go of me, twerp! Once my friend arrives at the scene, you'll be toast!" You restrained him by holding both of his arms tightly behind his back. "Quit your yapping before I break your arms. Literally." Your grip tightens, earning an inarticulate response from the male. "Ow! Stop!"

At this rate you'll end up actually breaking his arms, but you didn't care. Something was taking over you. Roman stared back at you, only to find the glint of dark, malevolent eyes. "Who and what the hell are you- Argh!"