The Hunter's festival loomed ever closer as Vale prepared eagerly for the influx of visitors and tourists that the celebration would bring to their city. People arrived by the dozens via sea and air, all of them traveling as they were to avoid the certain death that awaited them in the forests. The walls of Vale stood tall and impassable against the edges of the forest where the Grimm lived, awaiting their chance to feast on the flesh of the inhabitants. The walls were lined with rows of roving guards, experienced hunters all, who were keeping a keen watch for any sign of an attack by the dark creatures of the White Fang.

One late afternoon one such hunter was roving the wall when four black hooded figures emerged from the woods below. He peered down at them, hardly believing that anyone would dare transverse the woods with such a high concentration of Grimm lurking within. Yet these hooded figures seemed unscathed in the least, indeed they seemed completely at ease. Only two of them had any visible weapons, one wielding a massive broadsword across his back and the other with two longswords strapped across his. "You there!" The guard challenged, gripping his trident in the event that these four proved to be trouble. "What are you here for?"

"This is Vale right?" A light-hearted male's voice responded. "We're here for the Hunter's festival."

"The Festival?" The guard asked, surprised. Most of the hunters competing in the events had arrived some weeks earlier and were already welcome sights around Vale. Besides, none had arrived via a land route. It was widely viewed as suicide for all but the most experienced hunters. "What academy are you from?"

"We aren't from an academy." The man called, quickly becoming annoyed. "We are from the wastelands."

The guard was instantly on his guard even more than he had been several seconds before. The wastelands were areas of the world that were widely considered uninhabitable. The Grimm that dwelled there were as ancient as Vale itself, and their hunger was just as ravenous. The few people who lived out there were considered dangerous at best and deadly at worst. The capitals had tried to reach out to these people and offer them a place in the relative safety of the civilization, but all such efforts had been in vain. Often the emissaries sent to these people did not return, but whether they fell to the dark beasts or the inhabitants of the wastelands was anyone's guess. "What do your kind want here?" The guard demanded, pointing the prongs of his trident at the four.

A gentle hand clapped the guard on the shoulder, startling him thoroughly. "Now, now." Headmaster Ozpin chided gently, moving past the guard to peer down at the four. "No need to be rude."

"You're Headmaster Ozpin." The voice called again. "My name is Axel. This is Cloud, Roxas, and Raziel." Axel quickly gestured to each of the group as he introduced them.

"You said you were here for the Festival, correct?" Ozpin inquired. "May I ask why you chose the land route? Surely it would have been faster to travel via air or sea."

"The other cities wouldn't let us in. So we walked." Axel pulled back his hood revealing a mass of red spiky hair. "It wasn't that bad, just took a little while."

"Sir, they are waste landers. The other cities made the right choice! You know what people say about them." The guard whispered urgently.

"They are children." Ozpin chided the guard again. "They have done nothing to deserve our distrust."

The four hunters waited patiently for the exchange to be finished. "You should be aware that if you are to join in the Festival, you will be required to attend classes like the other hunters as they wait for the Festival." Ozpin informed them. "I will not tolerate any misbehavior from any of my students whilst they are here. Am I clear?"

"Oh, absolutely." Axel agreed, waving a hand unconcernedly. "We'll be on our best behavior."

A sudden crashing sound resounded through the forest as several trees were cut in half by an unknown creature. Ozpin and the guard gave a shout of alarm as a Deathstalker burst through the foliage and made a mad dash towards the four. "Run!" Ozpin cried, pressing a button with his crane that descended a rope ladder from the wall.

Axel glanced back to the hunter with two swords strapped across his back and grinned at him as the red haired man sauntered towards the wall. "You got it, Raziel?"

Raziel made a sound of disparagement as he faced the Grimm. "This won't take more than a second." The hooded man said, drawing a single sword and striding towards the rapidly advancing scorpion-like creature. The Grimm hissed in apprehension of the meal to come and struck forward with its barb, the golden weapon flashing deadly in the midday sun. Raziel sidestepped the attack and cut off the stinger with a single strike. The Grimm hissed and tried to scuttle back but the hunter was there, cutting and slashing away at the creature with abandon. A few moments later, Raziel was striding away as the creature began to dissolve into nothingness. His companions had already joined Ozpin and the guard on the wall and were enjoying the amused expression of Ozpin and the stunned expression of the guard.

"Well, that was skillfully done." Ozpin observed, offering a hand to Raziel. "Welcome to Vale, Raziel."

The hunter took the hand, throwing off his hood and smiling at the surprise that flashed across Ozpin's face. Raziel's hair was snow white and his complexion fair, but what had surprised the professor were his eyes. They were the eyes of a snake, down to the crescent like pupil and ice blue color. "It's a pleasure to be here." He said warmly, scanning the city as he shook the professor's hand. "Truly. We hear a lot about the capital cities from the others, but we thought it would be nice for a change of scenery."

"Were you planning on staying here for some time?" Ozpin asked curiously as he led the group away, leaving the guard to resume his roves.

"Haven't decided yet." Axel answered cheerfully, happily looking at the shops as he passed them. "We do need to visit a dust shop though."

"Oh, did you need to purchase dust?" Ozpin inquired. "The students are given a standard amount of money at the beginning of every…." His voice trailed off as Axel shook his head.

"We need to sell some of our dust." Roxas explained, his hands behind his head as he walked. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a jet black dust crystal and tossed it to Ozpin who caught it deftly with one hand.

The professor examined the crystal with interest before shaking his head and handing it back. "It's a very fine crystal, but I am afraid that it won't sell for very much." He said, slight apologetic notes creeping into his voice. He stopped suddenly and turned towards a shop with dust advertised in the window. He strode inside and greeted the old man who sat behind the counter. The four followed behind him and groaned as one as they beheld the magnificent collection of dust amassed before them. "You see?" Ozpin said, smiling at them.

"This is a lot of dust…" Axel admitted. "More than I've ever seen."

"Yes, we are quite proud of our collection." The old man said happily, thrilled with the praise. "We have every color and type of dust any respectable hunter could possibly want."

The door dinged open again and the man smiled in greeting. "Why hello there Ms. Rose." The man said, bowing low.

Raziel and the others turned to regard the newcomer and took a step back when his face came within centimeters of hers. She was shorter than all of them, garbed in a red hood and a black and red dress with silver eyes. She followed Raziel's step, peering interestedly at him. "Can I help you?" He asked, leaning back.

She only then seemed to notice Ozpin and beamed at the professor. "Oh, Professor!" She said happily. Raziel only then noticed that she had a weapon of some sort stored at the small of her back. Three other girls came through the door, presumably following the hyperactive black-haired girl. "Who are these guys? Oooh, are you here for the Festival too? I hope you are, are you?" She asked, darting among them and examining each of them.

They glanced amongst themselves, thrown by the eccentric greeting by the girl. A blond girl with gauntlets strode forward and seized her by her hood and dragged her back away from the four. "Sorry about that," She told them. "Ruby gets a little excited. But she's my sister so what are you gonna do?"

"Erm… Yes." Roxas said uncertainly. "It's fine."

Raziel scanned the newcomers before his eyes landed on a girl with green eyes and a bow on her head. His eyes narrowed and she quickly stepped out of the store, obviously distressed. Raziel made to follow, but a white haired girl barred his path. She crossed her arms and rested her weight on one leg while she glared at him. "Going somewhere?" She asked. She wore a rapier at her hip that had several jewels inlaid into a very bizarre looking hilt.

"Her." Raziel pointed at the retreating figure of the girl who had just left. "What's her name?"

"That is Blake Belladonna. The young woman in front of you is Weiss Schnee, the woman with the blonde hair is Yang Xiao Long, and the one currently examining your swords is Ruby Rose."

Raziel turned around and once again came face to face with Ruby. "Your swords are amazing!" She gushed, disappearing from his sight only to end up behind him, reexamining his blades. "Can I see them?"

Roxas and Axel snorted and turned away to conceal their laughter and even Cloud broke his normal stoic nature with a lopsided grin which quickly vanished. "I like her." Axel declared. "She keeps Raziel on his toes."

"Well then," Ozpin said as his cane clicked against the floor. He walked to the entrance of the shop and turned around. "Team RWBY I am assigning you the task of ensuring that our newest participants in the Hunter's Festival are well seen too. Please show them around and prepare them for class tomorrow."

"Yes sir!" Yang said with an exaggerated salute. She seized Cloud by the arm and threaded hers through his. "We'll have them ready!"

"Very good." Ozpin nodded. "I have some business to attend to. Welcome to Vale Team….?"

"Arc." Axel supplied, "Team ARRC."