Gray had his books piled up in his arms, a stack about half as tall as he was. He'd gone to the library to do his homework, but had wound up checking out an entire series about a bird Faunus named Max. To make it worse, everything was due tomorrow. "Way to go, Halseyon," he chided himself. "This is why you nearly flunked Remnant History." At seventeen, he was slim for his age, but his appearance belied his strength.

He turned a corner, and fell backwards when he collided with something. The books tumbled down, burying him. "Owwww..." The person he'd ran into was a young man with dark silver hair. Based on his outfit he was a transfer student. The universe added insult to injury by allowing thr spine of a particularly thick book to land on his head.

"J-Just fine," Gray insisted as he was pulled to his feet. He managed a smile, but found it hard to look the two ladies in the eye; he'd always been like that around women he wasn't familiar with. "It's mostly homework. I suppose there's gotta be a point where the books start hitting the students." He chuckled at his joke.

He cleared his throat, looking at Mercury. "If you're looking for graphic novels, I know the library has a small manga collection." Gray gathered his books up, tensing visibly when the black haired beauty dusted him off. "I'm alright. After all..." He looked down at his prosthetic arm. "I've been through worse."

Gray shook his head, remembering the hours his mother drilled etiquette into his head. "I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Gray Halseyon." He knew that name would be recognized, and he secretly dreaded telling people he was the heir to one of the biggest companies in Remnant. But there was no use lying in this case, since the family and company crest-- a pawn, within a king, within a square-- was emblazoned on his jacket. Gray understood completely what the crest meant: "At the end of the game, the king and the pawn return to the same box".

"I was training at an academy in Mystral," Gray explained. "My team and I went out for a field run... y'know, being dropped outside of the kingdoms while being observed. We did well, until Sunny fell asleep on lookout. We were ambushed by Grimm, and a King Taijitu seemed to come from out of nowhere.

"My Semblance allows me to look into the near future," he continued. "It shows me the best ending to a fight, I just need to find out how. But the best thing involved me losing a limb... better than being snake food, but..." He trailed off. "Unlike my parents, I don't like being in the limelight. It's bad enough my name is enough to drive girls to throw themselves at me, and people pretend to be my friend for money or favors. But everyone stares at my arm, like I'm in a zoo."

He gave a humorless chuckle. "Here I go. I don't normally prattle on like that. You probably have things to take care of before lights-out."

Gray visibly blushed, smiling shyly. "I'm used to crass," he admitted. "My father sees the company as more important than family; I only became a Huntsman to make him stop badgering me." He shrugged. "I don't find my Semblance anything special. It only applies to combat, but I wish it could be used in everyday life... like crashing into your illiterate friend there."

Gray gave a nod. "Hopefully," he said. "I hope you get settled in nicely." He hefted his books. "Well, I should get my homework done, otherwise I'm screwed. It was wonderful meeting you."

Gray spent the rest of the night finishing his homework. However, his mind kept wandering back to Cinder. She was different than what he was used to-- spoiled rich girls colder than Ice Dust, or overly eager and affectionate young ladies just looking for a man to buy them gifts. It was a very welcome change. By midnight he had finished half of his work, and needed some way to stay awake. He dressed quickly, retrieving his Mauls from his locker in the commons area. He made his way to the training field, near Beacon Cliffs.

As expected he was stopped by a grunt working for Ironwood. They were all over the place since the man had come to Vale. "No students are to be out after dark," the man growled. His demeanor made Gray think of a a police reject or an Academy dropout. Gray had been prepared for this, and flashed his ID with his Scroll.

"Look, I just need some time in the training field," he said. "I don't like throwing my name or money around, but I'll give you two hundred Lien to let me through, and another fifty to cue up the AK-100s Beacon uses for training."

Even though the man's eyes were hidden behind a black visor, he knew that the offer was too good to pass up, especially on the salary of a glorified security guard.

The practice field was something of an arena, with seating and a retractable roof. It reminded Gray of gladiator fights. The condemned dying, in the days before the Kingdoms, before any sort of gun was first created. Grey examined his Mauls, tucked under his arms in tonfa mode. He'd made them to be flexible in combat... plus, it was kind of hard to argue that two shotgun barrels aimed at one's face was enough to make some Hunters nervous. "Combat simulation preparing," the guard's voice came through a set of speakers. "Beginning in three... two... one."

Trap doors in the ground opened, and the AK-100s came to life. They were bulkier than the AK-130s that had replaced them, and even more than the AK-200s that had replaced them. They were somewhat tougher, but their weaknesses were extremely apparent in a real combat zone. They were slow, and as agile as a Goliath; the other was their AI programming. Unlike their successors, the AK-100s could not adapt to changes in situation, and were easily destroyed when a new tactic was used.

Gray took a breath, yellow eyes focusing. He didn't need his Semblance now, even to avoid the stun-gunfire from the androids. He did something most would consider suicidal: putting a set of ear buds in and taking the time to find
the right song. only when it began did he charge into the melee.