Rune, taking the walk home out of Atlas Academy, is flashing a smile akin to a child who just got a lifetime supply of candy. Having been pushed ahead 3 months through the “arrangement”, she can now go to Atlas at the same time as her best friend Ashen Sky. Turning the corner into downtown Mantle, she walks a bit more and stops at the hotel that her and Ashen are renting, only staying long enough to be transferred to Atlas Academy. Stopping at the small hotel’s door, she enters, takes the elevator to her floor, walks down the hall, and opens the door to find Ashen blasting EDM music and dancing. Ash, seeing Rune just staring at him, just dashes to turn off the music and freezes. “Uh, why are you home so early Rune?” Ashen Says, nervous to Rune’s reaction. Rune just rolls her eyes. “So is this what you do when I’m gone?” Rune asks Ash, tapping her foot up and down. “At least I don’t spend my nights reading comics!” Ash replies, trying to defend his late-night habits. Rune, just laughing a little, changes the subject. “You will NEVER guess why I’m here!” Rune, says, excited. Ash, just trying not to laugh, shrugs. “Why are you so early?” He says, now curious after seeing Rune’s energy. “I got pushed ahead three months!” Rune says, squealing in excitement. Ash, not believing her at all, just raises an eyebrow. “Yeah whatever Rune. As much as I’d love for you to come with me, you can’t. I’m sorry.” Ash says, saddened by the fact, but having to accept it. Rune, just shaking her head, just looks at Ash. “No dude, I’m serious” Rune says, trying to convince him. Ash just laughs. “Do you have proof?” Ash says, hopeful, but not believing her. Rune than proceeded to explain the entire events of the night to Ash. “So let me get this straight Rune. You foiled a robbery, followed the criminals onto a roof, almost died, got saved by two professors, followed them into their car, met General freaking Ironwood, and HE accepted you into Atlas three months early?” Ash asks Rune. Rune, nodding her head with a massive smile growing on her face. “Well, if it was anyone else, I’d call them liars. But you're serious aren’t you?” Ash asks Rune, already knowing her response. Rune just smiles even wider somehow. She nods, causing Ash to smile back. “I think I know what this calls for... VICTORY BURRITO!” Ash yells, now ecstatic. Rune, just repeating the call, just goes in for a high-five. Ash, giving her the high five, starts laughing. Rune, being nice, offers to go get them. Ash, frowning but not minding, nods his head. Rune, stopping at the door, just turns around and gives Ash a thumbs up. Ash, returning the motion, smiles at her. Rune, smiling back, leaves the house, closing the door behind her. ——————————————————— Spending the last day before going to Atlas together, 5 teenagers are having a sleepover. Their names are Greyson Greil, Hunter Sebastian, Noctis Wade, Raven Ranunculus, and Umbra Mortis. Deciding to play video games, the 4 boys pile onto the couch and load in Smash. They’re trying to settle the timeless debate: Is a Hot Dog a sandwich. The character selection screen pops up. Greyson choses Cloud, Hunter choses Joker, Noctis choses Link, and Raven choses Sonic. The map is Battlefield, and the game begins. About five minutes pass, and the game is over. It was a slaughter. Greyson took them all out easily. “HA! A hot dog is NOT a sandwich. I was right!” Greyson yells, triumphant. Noctis, standing up to challenge him, raises his Scroll. “Even Google agrees with me!” Noctis says, showing Greyson the screen, with the search already pulled up. Raven and Hunter just nod in approval. “Hey dude, I won fair and square. A Hot Dog is NOT a sandwich.” Greyson says, happy with his victory. Noctis just pulls out his bow and pulls back the string. “IF YOU DO NOT CONVERT, IT WILL BE DEATH!!!” Noctis yells, pointing the weapon at Greyson. Greyson, pulling out his own weapon, points the gunblade at Noctis. Umbra, who has been sitting on the armchair swiping through Social Media, notices the argument and smiles. “I agree with Noctis, Hunter and Raven. And I’ll prove it.” Umbra says, confident. Putting her leg on the table she raises her finger to Greyson and points. “I challenge your skills! Umbra yells, defending her other 3 friends. Greyson just playfully laughs. “Umbra, you haven’t even played this game. You’ll get destroyed.” He says, trying to warn her. Umbra, just staring him down, waits for his response. Greyson, caving in, just sits down again and gives her a controller. Choosing based on looks, Umbra choses Lucina. Noctis, Hunter, and Raven raises their eyebrows, hope growing with their friends choice. Greyson, chuckling, picks Cloud again. The game loads back up, and it’s a massacre. Umbra manages to combo attacks perfectly, causing Greyson’s CP to rise to the hundreds in a matter of seconds. Managing to break a Smash Orb, she finishes him off with a Final Smash. Noctis, Hunter, and Raven just blink rapidly, not believing what they had just seen. Greyson, scared for his life after getting his ass kicked so hard, just stares at the screen. Umbra grinning triumphantly, just accepts the immediate praise from her 3 friends. Greyson, shaking out of the stupor, just laughs with everyone. “Fine, I guess you got me. A Hot Dog is indeed is a sandwich.” Greyson manges to get out, trying not to throw up at the thought. Umbra, smiling slyly, Is secretly impressed with her button-mashing skills. ——————————————————— Rune, taking the walk out of the small hotel and getting burritos, is just surprised by her insane luck, meeting two professors and being pushed ahead three months. Passing the 9-story building to her right, she looks at the behemoth. If someone fell from that height, It definitely would be fatal, Aura or not. Paying that horrible thought no time, she keeps moving, but as she passes it, she looks up, just to be certain, Thinking it's clear, she does a double take, and sees a shadow that appears to be… human? Brain going into overdrive, Rune quickly estimates where the person would fall, and slides to the area, praying she is right and holding her arms out to try and catch the figure, slowing its fall as much as she can. What she is meet by blows her mind. Instead of falling, the figure begins slightly glowing an electric blue, and begins flying. Rune, not believing her eyes, just watches as the figure darts throw the sky, quickly turning and even spinning once. Deciding to dive-bomb, the figure plummets downward. Trying to pull up, the figure fails miserably, and flies straight into a concrete wall. Rune, cringing from the impact, dashes over to the figure, trying to see if its ok and ask why it just nearly killed itself. What she is met by is a girl that looks roughly her age, wearing a black dress with white silk lining the whole thing. She also has small white fox ears and a tail, identifying her as a Faunus. The girl is currently holding her head, shaking and dazed from the impact. “Uh… are you ok…” Rune asks the girl, concerned for her safety. The girl, hearing Rune voice, quickly shakes off the daze and springs her onto her feet, nearly punching Rune in the process. “Ofcourseimokareyouokwhoareyou?” The girl quickly garbled out, unintelligibly. “Um… what?” Rune asks the girl, blown away by the girls energy after nearly dying. The girl, looking pained to slow down, takes a breath. “Yes, I’m alright. Now… DID YOU SEE MY FLYING!” The girl yells, bursting with energy. “Um, well, it was great until you almost died…” Rune says, shaking her head and frowning a little. The girl, face turning grey and a miniature cloud growing over her head, kneels down and cradles herself. “Wait! I didn’t mean it like that! It was great! I was just worried about your safety, that's all…” Rune says, trying to cheer up the girl. The girl, hearing this, springs back to life. This time, she actually nearly does punch Rune, but she dodges it. “Sorry bout that. So what's your name? Mine’s Luna!” The girl asks Rune, quickly checking her from all angles, eyes darting to every part of her body. Rune, just blushing at the girls energy, speaks. “Mine’s Rune…” Rune says shyly. Luna, just laughing, notices her sword. “OMG! That's a longsword right! I LOVE longswords!” Luna says energetically before taking out the longsword at her waist and nearly decapitating Rune. “WHOA! Watch it!” Rune says angrily, trying not to lose her head so young. Luna, just apologizing about 20 times within two seconds, quickly sheathes her sword. “So… what were you doing out this late in Atlas?” Luna asks Rune, now curious. “Oh! I’m supposed to be getting burritos! Sorry Luna, gotta run!” Rune says quickly, somehow leaving Luna in the dust. Luna, watching her go, just faintly smiles. “Guess I made one friend already… I’ll make you proud Alex… I promise.” Luna says to herself, and disappears into the endless alleyways of Atlas. ———————————————————