[center][h3]Monday[/h3][/center]

On this most cheery of mornings, even the sun shone brighter.  It shone through the shutter blinds and curtains on the students' windows; it bathed the green, green grass of their home away from home in light.  Yet, nature's jubilee carried with it the definitive tone of a last hurrah, for a hint of a chill blew in from the north.  With it came the realization that autumn would soon be falling upon the kingdom of Vale.  The season of yellow, orange, and red also meant that the time would soon come to buckle in and commit oneself to the daily grind of studies, exercises, and so forth.  The students' missions for the most part shouldn't have been as serious as they ended up being, and they served as an omen of even greater seriousness for the future.

All the same, the future could wait.  Dreary hours spent poring over books, memorizing information, or drilling movements into one's muscles needn't occupy the thoughts of the students today as they celebrated their last real holiday.  Many an alarm carried a note of joviality, and not just because everyone got to sleep in.  Room by room, the dormitory emptied, its denizens headed toward Beacon's outdoor athletic center in small groups.  For sure, the thought of coffee, Shiny D, and fresh crepes made Abel's stomach -so used to oatmeal or hotel eggs and sausage patties- grumble uproariously.  He went through his usual tidying-up routine at a leisurely pace, making sure to greet Scoot the ferret and give him a good tickle.  Not for the first time, the guardian thought about how great of a blessing it was that the doctors at the island laboratory took advantage of the earnest mustelid's intelligence to potty-train him.  After that, Abel put on his favorite jacket, waited while his animal friend situation himself on his shoulder, and made ready to embark.  Of course, he wouldn't be participating in the great race at 9:45, but he wanted to watch, and of course he didn't want to miss out on the complimentary breakfast.

Meanwhile, at the newly-renovated special obstacle course, the gym teacher Ahriman Kore Agesander wrapped up the final test.  So loaded was the course with moving, mechanical components that it took a lot of ironing-out to get everything functional, but with his adoptive brother Solomon -who wasn't up to much during a day off anyway- and a whole heap of other Beacon staff to help, all the technical issues had been resolved just in time.  Now, with the finished result on display for him to take pride in, Kore felt his angry mood slipping away.  Soon the students would arrive, and not long after the event would begin.  The handiwork of the Agesander brothers would make for a challenging run indeed!  A ways off, Headmaster Ozpin examined the course from a distance.  He held in his mind no concerns for the functionality of the course, but instead yearnings that the students would, on this special holiday, be able to escape from the misgivings and misfortunes that plagued them.  Seldom did a school employee wish for escapism, but to leave the awfulness that the hunters-in-training had experienced behind, Ozpin hoped that this whole shebang would be just the ticket.  It all lay upon the students to take the final steps and allow the fun to work its magic.