Chasing the White Rabbit

Takes place Sunday the first week of Beacon

The calm and sunny streets of Vale are bustling with citizens going on with their daily lives. It is the last Sunday and tomorrow the school year will start. Many students have long already arrived and made lodgings in the area days before in preparation. Just about all of the vacancies available to students have been taken. Even a fool would have made early reservations and is sitting comfortably if not preparing for the very next day.

"I'M LATE! I'M LATE! I don't feel so great..."

Wheeling down the streets of Vale was Rider Blanc looking frantic and weary, pushing his wheelchair wildly while constantly looking down at the newspaper lying on top on his blanket that covered his legs.

"No time to speak or chat right now- Oh man I wish I ate...."

Rider rubbed his stomach as it grumbled. He had pushed off coming to Vale until the literal last day and now after travelling all day without breakfast or lunch, he was rather famished and weary.

"Here you go sir..." a girl about two years older then Rider but only 5'3 ft tall spoke walking up behind him and handed him a crepe.

Spoiler:

"Ah, thank you Ai," Rider said smiling and taking the crepe, "You are the best assistant I could have asked for."

"My name is Billyasvayle Von Ainzenstein," she remarked as she took the newspaper from his lap, "I've told you that several times."

"And I've told you several times that that is too long," Rider said as he bit into the crepe, "So I'm either going to call you Bill or Ai and frankly Ai is cuter and I deserve a cute assistant."

"I might as well be your mother the way I take care of you," Ai murmured as she wiped some cream off his face, "How many times did I tell you you needed to go to Vale?"

"Forty-seven," Rider mumbled.

"And how many times did you ignore me?"

"Forty-six..."

"And now what's happened?"

"It's a day before the school year starts and there are no vacancies anywhere for me to say," Rider replied as he finished the last bite of the crepe.

"So in other words...?"

"I was... late..." Rider mumbled looking down.

"Come on. We might find lodging at some roach motel," Ai sighed as her lizard tail grabbed the wrapper from Rider's hand and tossed it into a nearby trash can. She stepped behind Rider and placed her hands on the wheelchair handles and started pushing him down the street.

"Excuse me." A voice said from behind the two, it sounded rather cute...but had an odd sound to it, like it was a machine, "You dropped this."

Ai turned around while Rider manually wheeled his chair to turn around and face this new person.

"Excuse me?" Ai asked with an almost mechanical voice, "Dropped what?"

What they saw was a girl with blonde hair and red eyes....And covered in head to toe in highly advanced armor that looked like it could withstand being rammed by a truck and covered with melee weapons and firearms. Whoever this was, she was made for war, and war alone.

"This." The girl held up the wrapper that Ai dropped in armored fingers, not realizing it was trash.

"I'm sorry but that is-"

"Beautiful," Rider smiles cutting off his assistant. He wheels his chair around and moves towards the blonde girl, looking at her up and down. His eyes are full of interest and wonder, "What a beautiful creation this is. Who built this? Did you build this? Marvelous, just marvelous. What a beautiful thing you are..."

Rider wheels his chair and circles around the armored girl, looking at her up and down from every angle.

"I just love the looks of this craftsmanship. You must show me how it works some time. You are truly amazing ah-"

He was stopped abruptly when Ai grabbed the handles of his wheelchair and kept him in place.

"You are being rude sir," Ai said blankly.

"But just look at her," Rider says, "Such a beautiful thing."

"I'm terribly sorry," Ai says taking the wrapper from the girl's hand, "He has a bit of an obsession with weaponry and engineering."

"...must show me how it works some time. You are truly amazing ah..."

It was this phrase that awoke the sleeping form of Bianca, who had found refuge on the roof of a small dust shop. Under normal circumstances, she simply would have fallen back asleep. However, several circumstances caused her to force herself into action. One of them, was that she still had yet to find Beacon, and another was that there was too much noise around her for her to simply fall back asleep any time soon.

"Oh well..." she mumbled as she groggily pushed herself upwards, stretching her arms and legs. She still wore her pajamas, as she wasn't exactly carrying anything on her at the time. She'd just have to manage with what she had.

With a slight spring in her step, she stepped over to the nearby ledge. It was barely a single story off the ground, nothing she couldn't handle. What she saw beneath her were three people, one male, two female. The male was a faunus and in a wheelchair, one of the females was pushing him around, and the other was in a suit of armor. She could only think of them as strange and move on. Or so she would have, had something not sprung into her mind.

Normally she wasn't too social, mostly because most other people weren't nocturnal, but she felt now would be a good time to interact. Maybe they knew they way to Beacon?

"Such a beautiful thing." she heard the faunus say. She recognized the voice as the same one that had woken her up. Not because he was loud, but because her ears decided it would be him that she heard, rather than everyone else. Or something like that. She didn't know how ears worked, she wasn't too smart.

"Alrighty then, seems I've found something new to play with." she said with a smile. Bianca stretched once more, a mewl-like sound escaping her lips before she leapt off of the building and onto the streets behind the girl and rabbit. She was sure the armored one would see her, but it didn't matter. The other two wouldn't hear her, as she landed silently. She simply stood there, smiling. She was silent as she looked at the two, carefully thinking of something to say.

David was exploring beacon visiting for when he actually came here. He looked at the map. "Ic which way?" He sighed and looked around he saw a man in a wheelchair. He might know. He went running over to the man. "Excuse me sir, but do you know where the dorms are?"

"And what of you?" Rider says as he quickly turns his wheelchair around to face Bianca, "My my, you're fairly cute too. And so silent, why if it weren't for my ears, I wouldn't know what to do."

"Please withhold from the rhyming sir," Ai murmured as she turned towards the cat faunus, "May we help you?"

It was then that David approached them and Rider quickly turned his chair around to face him. "Well hello there," Rider greeted, "Well I don't know where the dorms are yet but I do know where to find Beacon. Are you heading that way good fellow?"

"Yeah, trying to. I've been this way and that way." As he spoke in frustration his left wing unfolded and patted his back. "Thanks Ic." [You need a nap man.] "Not happening."

"Oh what a marvelous piece," Rider says wheeling his chair towards David, "My my, I do love the craftsman ship. The joint work is amazing. Such fluid movements. That's it. I insist on escorting you to Beacon myself and we must chat on the way. Now what time is it..."

Rider takes out an over sized pocket watch and opens it, staring into the clock before snapping it shut.

"Oh dear. We're late. We're late. For a very important state. No time to go to campus right now. Tell me, have you ate?"

"Beacon Academy." The girl with blond hair spoke up, a visor that ran over her left eye popped up with an interface coming in, "Searching....Located." Without any tells, the girl pointed a finger robotically in a given direction, "Target is found. Continue in north east direction and continue for two hundred miles. Warning, obstructions present: Vale cliffs, Vale lake. Advise taking Airship for transport."

David nodded his head. "Yes I have, mister?" He said hoping to learn the mans name.

"Rider Inaba Blanc, at your service," Rider nodded in greeting, "And this is my assistant Ai."

"Billyasvayle Von Ainzenstein," Ai correct over her shoulder.

"Ai is shorter and cuter," Rider said bluntly, "Well then my good fellow, how about a cup of tea and cake then? My clock says its lunch time and I would rather not mess up my internal body clock and skip it."

"I didn't know you had on," Ai stated, "Seeing how you're constantly late."

"Not all the time," Rider murmured back, "In any case, how about I treat you eh? All of you! Let's go out to lunch then we can head out to Beacon."

As the blonde girl made her statement on the direction of Beacon, Rider remarks, "Well yes, I suppose if you go a literal straight line from right here. Airships are a bit of an expense too. That's why after lunch, I'll show you both a much more fun and inexpensive way to travel. So how about it? Care to join me for lunch?"

Bianca's stomach growled quite loudly behind them, and she smiled sheepishly. "Eh, mind if I join too?" she asked as she rubbed the back of her head in embarassment. "I'm on my way to Beacon as well, so it'd be good if we all stuck together anyways, no?" she said, hoping he would accept. She didn't want to burden the man, but she could pay him back eventually.

The girl's stomach growled, "Energy required. Your offer is accepted. Identification: Rachel Λ."(Note: Λ means Lambda/11.)

"Of course you can, that's why I invited you!" Rider smiled at the cat faunus, "I invite all of you! Especially you Rachel, I want to get to know you better."

"Sir, you should not treat random strangers so--"

"Oh stop being so stiff," Rider huffed, "I have lien and I'm not afraid to use it. I insist we all go out to eat and that's that. Ai, any nearby locations?"

His assistant groaned and pressed a button on her head set while lowering the visor. "There's a highly praised steak house two blocks away called Lone Star."

"Who's up for meat?" Rider smiles at the group.

David simply nodded. "A good meal would be nice, thank you." David said. A small screen comes down over his eye. [Why steak, why not Mexican?] "Ic, why does it matter? Your a cpu you don't eat." [I can dream can't I] David just pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh brother."

"Then off to the Lone Star we go!" Rider smiled as he moved his chair around. Ai sighed and walked up behind him, taking the handles and pushed him in the opposite direction. As the four of them walked and the one of them sits in his wheelchair, Rider tries to strike up conversation.

"So tell me a little about yourselves," he said not talking to anyone in particular, "You all new students to Beacon or what? Hobbies? Interests? Preferences in men--"

That last question was cut off when Ai pinched his shoulder.

"Preference in uh... steak? Well done, medium, rare?"

David watched the man in the wheel chair. "Medium. As for hobbies I like to tinker with technology." David looked at his arm. He tried to clench his fist, but couldn't. "Damn servos." He pulled out his multi-tool and began to work on his arm.

"About me? Uhh, oh! I'm sorry, I completely forgot to introduce myself. I am Bianca Criniera, a newcomer to Vale." she said as she followed the man in the wheelchair. "I honestly don't exactly do much besides sleep, eat, and drink." she said as she crossed her arms under her well-endowed chest. "I'm not smart enough for all that machinery stuff so I tend not to mess with it. My brain doesn't work that way."

She was surprised the others didn't note the fact she was still in her pajamas, or the fact she came out of nowhere. It's not like she cared though, as it was sometimes difficult to explain why she was always walking around in just her pajamas.

"Well I certainly can't blame you. Sleeping and eating are two of my favorite sports."

"They're not sports, you just sleep too much and take too much time eating that you forget the time," Ai commented dryly.

"So what about you young lady?" Rider asks over his shoulder at Rachel, "What's your story eh?"

Rachel was silent, and no real emotion was on her face, "Classified." She said robotically.

"Hm... well then, feel free to share it whenever you feel comfortable my dear," Rider smiled as they rounded a corner. "How much farther Ai?"

"We will arrive at our destination in five minutes and twenty-five to forty-two seconds," Ai replied mechanically, "Have you run out of conversation starters sir?"

"Possibly," Rider admitted, hiding behind a carefree smile.

"Then all me to say a joke to lighten the mood," Ai stated, "A stupid man walks into a store and looks at the thermoses. The man asks the store clerk what they were. The store clerk told him that the thermos keeps hot things you put in it hot and cold things you put in it cold. So the man buys the thermos and goes home to his wife. He tells her he bought a new thermos and when she asks what did he put in it he replies, 'Hot chocolate, iced tea, two scoops of ice cream, Italian meat balls, and buffalo wings."

"That was terrible," Rider says with a backhand jab, "Your voice sounds like a computer and your punch lines are just dumb."

"You're just jealous because I am funny," Ai said blankly.

A light chuckle could be heard from behind the group as Bianca was seemingly amused by the two's arguing. "I'm sorry, it's just you two arguing is kind of amusing." she said as she looked down on the two. "Don't mind me." she said as she kept close to the group.

Rider simply smiled at Bianca's comment. "I'm glad. I find that putting a smile on a lady's face is the best joy I can experience."

"We will arrive at our destination shortly," Ai announced as they continued down the street.

"Very well then. So what are all of your reasons for being here?"