Chapter Text
Leiah sighed and watched through the window of the airship at the city they were slowly approaching. In the centre of the city stood one of the highest pieces of architecture in Vale, Beacon Academy, where the Airship was heading.
She looked around the airship and saw people like her – soon to be students of Beacon, ready to study and train to become huntsmen and huntresses. They all had their reasons. Some did so because they wanted to learn how to do it. Most probably did it because their parents wanted them to. A few might have their own reason for learning how to fight the creatures of Grimm.
Leiah was like most – her whole life had simply led up to her becoming a huntress and nothing else. Having to go through school to become a huntress seemed a bit unnecessary to her. Unlike most, she was raised in a way that exposed her to Grimm from a young age. She’s even killed a few by now, but never officially – she was only following the huntsmen like it was nothing more than a field exercise. The whole idea was simply to gain her own huntress licence so she could be paid for killing Grimm instead of exterminating them like sport.
Leiah grew up in a very remote village with little to no outside contact. The village was small and being disconnected from normal civilization made the villagers… strange. She was glad she got out, even if only for the duration of her stay in Beacon. There were very little children her age, and most were not even allowed to leave their homes. The villagers all wore robes. Leiah just shrugged it off as some sort of cultural thing.
Turning back to reality, she noticed the airship had begun to descend. The other future students like her began to notice it and started running to the windows to get their first glimpse of their new home. Leiah knew they were excited, but some were also scared. She could see it in their faces, and in their eyes. Was it the new lifestyle? The beginning of a new chapter of their lives? Some of them might not have seen a Grimm in their lives.
Leiah felt excited as well, for her own reasons. She was finally free from the weird village she grew up in. She was finally experiencing proper civilization. She felt like she belonged somehow for the first time in her life.
“Are you a new student too?” a voice sounded from her left, a blind spot created by her scarf, that covered half of her face. Another piece of the strange uniform she’s been wearing since she can remember – a piece of her past she was uncomfortable to leave behind, no matter how awkward it made her feel sometimes.
“You can tell?” she answered with a smirk.
“You’re kind of obvious with that look on your face,” the young man her age extended his hand towards her. “The name’s Alexander Glorian.”
The girl turned her head towards him to get a better look at him. He had thick dark hair combed away from his face, almost like a dark crown. He was bigger than her by quite a lot (which didn’t say much when compared to her small size), and very strongly built. He was dressed in pretty simple clothing, which was covered in pieces of armour that was something between gold and silver, covering his torso and his limbs.
She took his hand. “Leiah. Leiah Prima,” she quickly added.
“So, where are you from?” he asked.
“Small village down south. You wouldn’t know it,” she shrugged off his question. It was unimportant. She didn’t even want to think about it while she was here.
“Try me,” he smirked, but Leiah simply laughed and looked away, ignoring his question.
“And what brings you to Beacon?” he continued.
“The museums,” she rolled her eyes. “Training to become a huntress, obviously.”
“I mean, how come you wanna be a huntress? Everyone has their reason.”
“A bit deep for when you’ve just met someone, don’t you think?”
“I’ll tell you my reason if you tell me yours,” he promised.
“I wanna learn how to kill Grimm,” she said simply.
“That’s it?”
“What else did you expect? My parents signed me up for it, like everyone else,” she lied. She grew up in the village, sure, but she didn’t know who her parents were. They might be one of the villagers, but they’ve never revealed themselves to her, leaving the village to take care of her upbringing. She didn’t mind. The other kids in the village were raised in the same way – by the village.
“To be honest, I’m the same,” he admitted and slouched his previously confident shoulders slightly. “My dad was a huntsman, my mom was a huntress, their parents were huntsmen, so on and so forth, so now I get to become a huntsman like them and my older brothers and sisters.”
“Sounds like you’re not completely okay with the concept,” Leiah pointed out.
“And you are?” he asked, but it must have been a rhetorical question as he continued. “I know, it’s a bit of a drag, having been pushed into this by my whole family, but I’m a pretty good fighter and I’ve been training ever since I was strong enough to pick up a weapon.”
Leiah stared at him for a second, not knowing how to reply, then looked away through the window again. They’re about to land soon.
“Umm, I’m sorry if this whole conversation’s been a bit awkward, but you seemed interesting, so I said I’d talk to you,” he laughed uncomfortably and looked away as well.
“You’re honest. I can appreciate that.”
They watched the surrounding landscape as the ship landed, and walked towards the school grounds together, still talking.