“Everyone here helped defend our home and school, even though they didn’t have to,” Velvet said. “We’re grateful. As far as we’re concerned, you’re all honorary Beacon students.”

Whatever that means anymore, Sun thought. Then he chided himself. To the others here, it still meant a lot. Sun liked to move around so he didn’t get too attached—to a place or the people there—but that’s not how other people operated. Most people’s identities were built around where they lived and trained. Their friends, their culture. That was the whole point of the team system—to become part of something, to define yourself, to lose yourself in it. A team made you someone new, someone better.

Sun hadn’t really been a big fan of that mentality, either, come to think of it.

And now here they were, creating a new group named after a place that didn’t even exist anymore. The Beacon Brigade. There was Team CFVY, of course, but also Team ABRN (auburn), consisting of Arslan Altan, Bolin Hori, Reese Chloris, and Nadir Shiko. They had gone back to Haven Academy with Neptune, Scarlet, and Sage, where they watched the school nearly fall to the White Fang. And like Team SSSN, they were one of the few groups who had decided to pick up their training in Vacuo rather than lose another semester. ABRN had beaten them to Vacuo by a couple of weeks, though, since Sun had insisted on taking the scenic route—luckily for Team CFVY.

Sun recognized a few other faces from Beacon, even if he only remembered Iris Marilla’s name. But he was surprised to see Nolan Porfirio, the only one here who was an original Shade Academy student. Nolan had lost the rest of his team, BRNZ (bronze): Brawnz Ni, Roy Stallion, and May Zedong. And it showed. He was even thinner than he’d been last year at the Vytal Festival, and his rose-colored glasses couldn’t hide the dark shadows under his eyes.

“Who wants to start?” Velvet asked. “What’s on your mind?”

- RWBY: Before the Dawn, Chapter 3