J.A.P.R

Chapter 3: The First Step

The morning sun shined through the windows of ballroom, earning a wave of annoyed grumbles from students who weren't ready to wake up. Alex chuckled at the sound, having been awake for a while now. As he turned to his side, he jumped to see Penny beaming at him.

Penny: "Good morning Alex! You'll be happy to hear that you had a restful slumber the entire night."

Alex: "Oh, thank you Penny. I'm guessing you also had a nice rest."

Penny: "Yes, I did! And I am so excited to begin school. We should hurry to the cafeteria to eat breakfast. That way, it will be fully metabolized by initiation, allowing us to work at peak efficiency."

A low groan sounded from behind Alex, catching their attention. Blake had crawled completely inside of her sleeping bag, and was holding the pillow over her ears.

Alex: "Oops. We're sorry, Blake."

Penny: "Interesting. I would have thought she'd be a morning person. Though, I guess this is to be expected since it's only ten minutes after six."

Alex: "We should go. Before we wake up anyone else."

Wordlessly nodding, Penny and Alex packed up their sleeping bags and made their way out of the ballroom.

The two began to walk over to the cafeteria building, Penny continuously practicing her sloth calls while trying to convince Alex to do the same. Just as they entered the cafeteria, they were surprised to see two people were already inside.

Ozpin: "Good morning students. I hope you slept well. Coffee, tea, and coco have already been prepared over there."

Penny: "Thank you, headmaster!"

Penny skipped over to the counter where Ozpin had indicated. Alex was about to walk over as well, but the woman who was sitting with Ozpin waved him over.

She was wearing a buttoned lab-coat that contained many pockets filled with a wide assortment of scientific items: such as black rubber gloves, several vials that were either empty or full of dust, a few tools that Alex wasn't sure what they were, and several sticks of lollipops. Her peach coloured hair was tied into a bun, with a pair of safety goggles sitting above her bright amber eyes.

???: "Oh! Are you two, by chance, the Atlas transfers?"

Alex: "Yes, that's us, uh... I'm sorry, who are you?"

The woman bopped herself on the forehead with a smile. She stood up and walked up to Alex, holding out her hand.

Peach: "Oh, I'm sorry. Of course you wouldn't know me. I'm Professor Peach! I teach the dust and chemistry course. I'm very excited to trade notes on how our two kingdoms use Dust."

Alex nodded and shook her hand, before Penny suddenly appeared beside him with two steaming cups.

Penny: "Alex! You have to sample this coco! The blend is spectacular! There's your usual coco flavour, with a smooth feeling of chocolate, and a little cream to blend the flavours together. But there appears to be something else."

Ozpin chuckled quietly as he stood up, flicking open a pocket watch to check on the time while he spoke.

Ozpin: "Why, thank you Ms. Polendina. It's my own personal blend. The other flavour you tasted was derived from a coffee bean from Mistral. I wish I could stay, but I'm afraid there are still more preparations before the initiation."

Penny and professor Peach began to discuss the finer details of Dust particles, as well as several scientific ventures that the two kingdoms have made. Alex was about to join them, but Ozpin placed a hand on Alex's shoulder.