Eisen Schwarz stood on a rooftop overlooking Vale's warehouse district. His long coat billowed in the wind, and he looked up at the dusky sky, waiting for night to fall. He was waiting in this particular area for some people to arrive. Criminals, to be precise. Eisen looked down to the warehouse, at the crates of magical dust which was energy in a pure, unadulterated form. The uses dust had, it's value, and indeed the danger it presented, were all exceedingly high.
He took note of the symbol that adorned all of the crates. A white, snowflake-shaped insignia. It read 'Schnee Dust Co.'
So who was Eisen? Why was he here? What was the significance of Schnee Co.?
Well, Eisen was the son of Regen Schwarz, the current CEO of Schwarz Arms Ltd. They were one of the biggest weapon monopolies on the world of Remnant. For the past couple of years, Schwarz Ltd. had been competing with Schnee Co. for the control of the acquisition, distribution and sale of dust. Eisen was the current heir to Regen's conglomerate, and he was a suitable enough candidate- calm, diplomatic, and wily.
But, Eisen was not enthusiastic about the idea of becoming a CEO. This was for differing reasons, the fact that (a) he hated the very thought of that kind of responsibility, because (b) he valued his freedom of choice, and (c) he was starting to think his father may not be the man he once thought.
The Schnee family had been at war with the notorious White Fang, a group of once-oppressed Faunus who were known for committing crimes to hurt or hinder humanity, for some time. Regen, capitalising on this, brokered a deal with the White Fang behind closed doors. He promised to arm the White Fang, as well as financially aid them in their dispute. In return, the White Fang would hand a share of the stolen Schnee assets over to Regen. By doing this, Regen was able to weaken Schnee industries financially, and deal crippling blows to their manpower simultaneously, all from the safety of his own office.
But Eisen wasn't there to help his father do this.
Eisen looked down at the charcoal-black mask in his hands. It was made of very thin iron, and slightly padded on the inside, resembling a metallic hockey mask somewhat. He turned it over in his hands a few times, before removing his thickly-rimmed glasses, placing them in his breast pocket, and putting the mask on.
Eisen then took one last look around, before hearing the approach of vehicles. He jumped down, and disappeared into the shadows.
Three vans, and a truck, pulled up outside the nearmost warehouse. The drivers all jumped out, weapons in tow. They all wore white masks, and adorned white clothing. They were the White Fang. Being Faunus, each member had a unique animal-like feature. Some had tails, whether they were Fox-like, Reptilian, or even Lapine. Others had these features atop their heads- Stag horns, Cat ears, Bull horns. Whatever feature they possessed, they were all dangerous people.
One of the Faunus, a man of average build with a Lion-like tail, went to the back of each van and banged on the doors. More armed henchmen came out the back, as the Lion-tailed man addressed spoke up.
"Come on, get a move on. We've gotta get this dust back to Schwarz headquarters before daybreak."
The crowd started moving into the warehouse, and gathered the crates with the Schnee logo. Before long, they were placing the crates in the back of the truck rather efficiently.
Eisen, who had thus far stayed out of sight, got up the roof of the warehouse. It had a few top panels missing, and Eisen looked through them to the floor below. The group of Faunus were leaving no stone unturned, as they scurried about, and the Lion-tailed man barked orders. When no-one was paying much attention, Eisen dropped down to the warehouse floor.
"Well, hello there."
The henchmen closest to him turned around, guns pointed at him reflexively. Lion tail spoke.
"Who're you?"
"A fair question." Eisen replied, drawing his sabres. "But, surely it stands to reason the fact I'm wearing a mask means I quite deliberately don't want you to know who I am. Savvy?"
Lion-tail stared at Eisen, somewhat perplexed. One of the men training guns on Eisen turned to him.
"Boss, it's that punk who's been gettin' in the way of our operations. The one with the mask."
"See? This one. This one gets it." Eisen mocked.
Lion-tail started laughing. Louder and louder. Eisen joined in, a little confused. Lion-tail abruptly stopped laughing.
"Ice him."
A hail of fire was let forth from the henchmen, raining bullets down upon Eisen. Using both blades, Eisen blocked the bullets by moving his weaponry, almost in a blur, such was the speed of movement. After a moment, the henchmen needed to reload.
"My turn."
Spinning his sabres in his hands, he stabbed both of them into the floor with some force. A jet of orange flames came from his right, and a stream of icy crystals from his left, which tore across the room. The henchmen that were too busy reloading were either sent flying out of the warehouse by the sheer speed of the flames, or frozen in place.
Pulling his weapons from the ground, Eisen launched himself towards the rest of his adversaries in a blur, and took out one of the henchmen with a swift kick to the head. He then parried an attack made with the butt of a gun, and struck the man wielding it with his free weapon, which sent the Rabbit-eared Faunus flying into some crates.
By now, the henchmen outside had realised something was going on inside the warehouse, after seeing their allies flying from the entrance, and started moving to the door. Eisen took out the last henchman, and turned his attention on Lion-tail. Lion-tail started spinning the chain tied around his wrist viciously, in a show of power.
"Oh no. Chains. My one weakness." Eisen deadpanned, and threw one of his sabres through one of the chain-links. The blade threaded through one of the holes perfectly, and yanked Lion-tail back as the end of the blade impaled the wall. As Lion-tail desperately tried to pull his weapon back down, Eisen sheathed his other sword. Then, rushing at his foe, and grabbing the impaled blade's handle for leverage, he did a back-flip, catching Lion-tail in the face with his foot, pulling his blade out of the wall, and landing all in one fluent move.
Eisen had no time to appreciate his work as the henchmen outside flooded into the building, opening fire somewhat blindly. Spiralling away acrobatically, the shots that missed Eisen caused a thunderous explosion as crates of dust started igniting. Flames flared chaotically and scorched the roof. Sky blue bolts ricocheted around, eventually forming icy crystals frozen to the wall.
Some of the henchmen had felt this was a little above their pay grade, and ran back outside. But they were met with the truck they had brought, burning and blazing, the dust they'd managed to take being systematically destroyed.
On the rooftop, Eisen admired the fiery trail he'd left, and sheathed his sword. Sirens blared in the distance, and he made a swift exit. He'd been moving for about 5 minutes, before he stopped to catch his breath and took off his mask.
"Quite the performance."
The voice made Eisen jump slightly, as his eyes met those of a tall, bespectacled man with steely gray hair. He had a refined manner about him, and spoke with a very slight lilt, with both hands resting on the top of a cane which slightly resembled a sword. Eisen pondered why a man such as he would be out in the warehouse district this late, but despite the fact this man had seen his face, his presence didn't seem ominous.
"Who are you?"
The man smiled, as his tousled hair wavered in the breeze. "Introductions do seem in order. My name is Professor Ozpin. And you are?"
Ozpin dawdled a little as Eisen continued his trained gaze.
"What are you doing out here?"
"I find a late night stroll helps me clear my head after a long day." Ozpin replied, through his smiles "My work can be stressful, but the simple pleasures make it all worthwhile."
Eisen nodded slowly.
"Eisen Schwarz."
One of Ozpin's eyebrows crept up.
"Schwarz. Interesting." he said, as he pondered.
"What did you say you were a Professor of?"
"I didn't. I'm headmaster at Beacon academy. I assume you've heard of it."
Eisen had heard of Beacon academy, though only in passing. It was a place where they didn't just train hunters and huntresses- they trained the best hunters and huntresses. Eisen had always been interested in becoming a hunter. He was a thrill-seeker, part of the reason he'd taken up fighting the White Fang.
But, family tradition dictated that this would not happen. The Schwarz family were notorious for spearheading the development of weapons specifically designed for combating the Grimm, and it was customary for anyone with the Schwarz name to have a basic aptitude with weaponry. But, they much preferred to simply supply weaponry, not themselves, to the plight against the Grimm. Eisen himself, would have been ecstatic for the chance to become a hunter. Alas, he'd not been allowed to apply, and was now 17 years of age, going on 18 which was past the age of accepted application. Though he had no problem being heir to his father's estate he would've much preferred the opportunity to help defend the world.
"Yes, I'm familiar with Beacon, though i can't say I've ever been."
"Well, this brings me onto my predicament. As you probably know, we divide our students into teams of four, and students spend the entirety of their time at Beacon training in these teams. In an unfortunate turn of events, we had a student withdraw from the academy, leaving his team leaderless."
Eisen's steel-shaded eyes shot Ozpin a look. "What're you telling me here?"
Ozpin's infectious smile flared once again.
"I've been monitoring your, shall we say activites for some time, Eisen. I want you at my school."
Eisen's eyes widened, as a couple of differing thoughts bombarded his mind all at once. He first was first surprised to hear Ozpin had been keeping tabs on his escapades, though he was aware his masked persona was garnering something of a reputation in the media. Second, and perhaps the more pertinent thought one of sheer surprise. Ozpin wanted him at Beacon?
"I'd be coming in pretty late."
"You've already shown you can fight. As long as you complete a few formal exams, I don't see any reason why you can't jump in."
"And this team?"
"They've already been notified the spot will be filled."
Eisen had to take a moment to think about this. On the one hand, he genuinely cared for his father, and didn't want to betray him. On the other, this was his one and only opportunity to do something he really really wanted to do. He let off a wry smile.
"When do I start?"
Ozpin quietly chuckled.