Inaugural Address (Public)

[Wilhelm Blackwell]

Will paced somewhat nervously behing the curtains of Beacon's main auditorium. As a former key officer in the military, he had spoken in public many times before, but this was different. These students would be depending on him for as long as he was Headmaster. He knew he couldn't let them down, and he was starting to breakout in an uncharacteristic sweat. He didn't normally get too nervous about much of anything, but the pressure of the moment was getting to even him. The time was drawing nearer and nearer for him to take his place on the stage, and he knew he couldn't avoid it. He would rather take on a whole herd of Grimm instead, though.


"And now, a word from our new Headmaster, Sir Wilhelm Blackwell," Will looked up from his feet, and quickly dabbed away the sweat from his forehead. Gathering up the courage that had seen him through his military career, he stepped from behind the curtains and walked the short distance to the podium. It felt like he was hiking a hundred miles, and the spotlights bore down on him like flames. He turned to address the entire crowd of students and faculty alike, clearing his throat before doing so.


"We are, all of us, in grief for our previous Headmaster, and he will be severely missed. His sacrifice will not be forgotten, and his name will be forever etched into our hearts, like all those who have fallen in the line of duty. Being a Huntsman involves a lot of characteristics that many of us here at Beacon Academy share. Strength, courage, intelligence. But there is one thing that he brought to this esteemed place of learning that many of us needed more than anything: compassion."


Will paused and took a moment to sweep his gaze around the room before continuing. "It is my hope that all of you will come to look up to me as you did him, and that you would learn to trust me and value my counsel. There is nothing in this world that could keep me from individually helping any one of my students so long as I live and breathe. Now, I wanted to keep this speech short and simple, so I won't spend any more time going on about what we can do for each other and what we need most right now. Instead, I will leave with you this parting statement. Listen well, and take to heart this message: now is the time to sieze your moment. Take the innitiative, and don't look back. The faculty and staff here at Beacon Academy are here for you, and we will do everything we can to help you in your goals to become Huntsmen and Huntresses."


At this, Will took a step back from the podium, and the audience politely applauded. He smiled and waved, and took his stage left exit. He quietly sat in a chair, the darkness behind the curtains giving him a nice place to think and consider his next actions as Headmaster. He wouldn't let his students down, and he vowed that every student that was under his care would be provided an excellent, but above all, safe learning environment at Beacon.

[Casia Rabt]

"Good job out there Will you sure kept your cool better than you did behind the curtains"  the voice reigned in from the other seat next to the new headmaster's own purple hair tired eyes and overall under dressed for the occasion Casia Rabt was now the second in command again after a few months in charge of these kids it'd be understandable to look like he did, well if he didn't always look a halfway mess. "You don't got much to worry about chap it's just all the world's next generation of hunters taking follow after you no pressure right?" Cassia elbowed the bulkier man jokingly as he gave his best smile which in hindsight looked terrible compared to anyone else's. Trying to take the edge off his new commander and chief seemed like the right thing to do because added stress isn't in high demand but sure feels like they have a full stock of it.

"Seriously though you have the rest of the staff to help you out I know it's hard to fill the shoes of someone great but if a weak man like me could last over a few months I'm sure you can do much better." The purple haired hunter spoke up with better words of hope for the new headmaster, he definitely seemed like he'd need a bit of help here and there but Casia figured he was the man for the job if not the man to get him off the hot seat at least.

[Wilhelm Blackwell]

"Oh, you know as well as I do that there are more decisions riding on my shoulders than the safeguarding of the students out there, Casia," Will replied to his new Assistant Headmaster, referring to secrets that were best kept as secrets. "But thanks for being there for me. I get the feeling that they're going to need us more than the world needs them." The responsibility of teaching one fourth of the world's protectors had crossed his mind more than once. The staggeringly huge weight of the pressure was something he knew he would learn to live with. But it wasn't as simple as commanding troops or just teaching somebody a skill. He would have to prepare every student for what was outside the walls of the cities, and hopefully instill within them the desire to preserve the order and peace that they were enjoying now.

'If only that peace didn't seem to be hanging on by a thread,' he thought to himself, knowing that there were more factors to it than most people could ever even know. Will thoughtfully produced his pipe from between the layers of his uniform's greatcoat, tamping the tobacco with his finger before striking a match and lighting it, taking a puff and watching the smoke curl upwards in the darkness backstage. He leaned back, crossing one leg over the other, pensively taking another puff, tasting the faintly honey-flavored smoke before letting it go again, allowing his mind to wander a bit in order to calm himself down from the heart-racing speech he had just given.

[Lucatiel Lazuli]

Lucatiel sat in a middle row of the auditorium with her hands folded on her lap, disinterestedly listening to the new headmaster give his speech. She wasn't too fond of the new headmaster, and he had been appointed just before the beginning of the new school year. Appointing somebody who was formerly a high-ranking military official felt like too much of a political move, like somebody had something to gain from this. She sighed and clapped weakly as the tall, bearded man strode off stage, thinking that maybe she only thought about it this way because she knew the inner workings of a big corporation. He seemed honest enough, and was probably more than competent in the subject of hunting. Even so, she still couldn't shake that feeling, and vaguely wondered if any other students felt that way.

[Dacre Tyr]

The speech was less than impressive. It was short, direct, and uninspiring, typical of a military man. That's what had him so puzzled, why would a former military officer become the next headmaster of Beacon, a school in Vale? If this was back at Atlas, Dacre wouldn't even have blinked considering Atlas has a reputation for pushing students into military positions, but not Vale. Something didn't seem right about this whole ordeal. The faunus looked around for some sort of affirmation of his suspicions but felt alone. "Maybe I'm thinking too much into this", he sighed, slumping in his seat. Still, that unsettling feeling in his gut turned into knots in his stomach. He decided to ignore this feeling, writing it off as new school jitters.