Wild Element
Chapter 1
Books and Coffee
The city of Vale was bustling with shoppers, tourists and workers. The moon was high in the sky and the stars blanketed the night. A tall leopard faunas with a white tail and black spots laid on a park bench with his hands on his head. He looked up at the sky and sighed before he sat up and stretched. Okay Leon, time to see what there is to scrounge before heading home. He thought to himself as he stood up. He made his way out of the park and onto the streets gaining a few looks from those who were not comfortable around faunas.
He didn't pay them much mind and continued down the streets of the nice city. He started rummaging through a few dumpsters to find a few still intact cans he could trade for some small amount of lien. His animal ears turned as he heard someone inside the building shriek in horror. He quietly rounded the corner and peered into the main bay window of the book store to see two men with guns pointed at the woman behind the counter. "Okay lady here's how this is gonna work. You hand over the cash and no one gets hurt."
The faunas huffed and started to turn away when he heard the woman cry out in pain. He looked back and saw that one of the thugs hit her with the butt of his pistol.
"This grunt was reaching for a knife." He said as he stepped on the woman's wrist causing her to scream in pain.
"J-just take what you want and go!" She yelled out.
"We were, but now you've inconvenienced us." The one on the right spoke. He pressed his gun to her cheek as tears rolled out of her eyes. Outside the faunas was having an internal struggle, on one hand he had his own problems and it wasn't his affair, but on the other hand if he didn't do something then his conscious wouldn't leave it alone. He looked at a few of the bottles and cans he collected and sighed.
The two thugs were so busy terrorizing the shop keeper they didn't hear the front door open. Leon locked it behind him and crouched down before he threw two of the bottles at the lights. The two men whirled around when the lights went out and the glass shattered. Darkness engulfed the interior of the shop. "What was that?"
"No idea. Search the place, I'll take care of our host." The other man nodded and brought his pistol up as he started to search around the small shop. The wooden floor boards creaked as he walked through building. He heard a creaking sound and spun around to see one of the large wooden shelves filled with books fall down on him. The other raised is gun and looked around the store. The faunas had to move fast, he charged at the robber and managed to knock his gun away.
The thug cursed and threw a punch at Leon. The faunas shook off the punch to his face and grabbed the robber by his arm then slammed him against the counter before he started slamming his fist into the robber's face. The thug that the book shelf fell on had gotten out from underneath the heavy object and was starting to stand up. Leon threw the beaten thug into his partner before he jumped off the fallen bookshelf and slammed both his feet into his chest. The kick sent both of the men flying through the front window and into a lamp post.
Leon made his way out onto the street where crowd had gathered around the two aching men. The two thugs stood their ground as the faunas stepped out. "So, ready for round two?" Leon cracked his knuckles and smiled wickedly as the sound of sirens filled the area. Two police cars pulled to a halt in front of the shop and four officers came out with guns trained on the three men. The two thugs dropped their weapons and kicked them towards the cops as instructed by the lawmen.
"Alright break it up people." One of the cops had sunglasses on and a black beard around his chin. "Now, what's going on here?"
"We were just shopping and then this freak attacked us." Leon growled as the robber pointed at him. The cops turned their attention to the tailed man.
"That's a lie!" Leon turned back to see the shop owner. In the light of the lamp post he could make out her chestnut brown hair that was tied into a neat bun and bright hazel eyes behind a pair of oval glasses.
"Who are you miss?" A cop with brown spiky hair said.
"I'm Claire Ore. I own this book store." She said stepping beside Leon. "These two ruffians broke in and threatened to shoot me if I didn't hand over my lien."
"This crazy broad is-"
"Shut up!" The bearded man yelled. "Continue ma'am."
"That's when...pardon me, but what's your name?" She asked looking at Leon.
"Leon."
"That's when Leon intervened and saved me." She crossed her arms under her chest and glared at the two. One of the cops sighed and brought out the handcuffs.
"Bag these three. We'll get this sorted out at the station."
"I didn't do anything!" One of the cops reached for his baton at the outburst.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way." Leon growled and looked around at the crowd that had gathered. The cops all had itchy trigger fingers and he didn't feel like ending up looking like a slice of swiss cheese. He grumbled and let the officers cuff him and take him to the station in one of their cars. Leon was silent the whole ride there and no different in the interview room.
"So, you figured you'd play super hero kid?" The bearded officer said as he slammed his hand down on the table. "We don't like vigilantes in this town see?" Leon only rolled his blue eyes and chuckled at the vain attempt to intimidate him. They wee obviously doing something they thought was cool in those cheesy cop movies.
"You think this is funny pal? You're in a lot of trouble." The brown haired one yelled. There was a tapping on the one way window and the bearded man left the room. There was silence between the two before the officer called his partner out and left the door open. In stepped a man who was wearing a neat dark green coat with matching pants, a green ascot was sticking out with a pin buttoned to the front. A pair of small circular glasses rested on the bridge of his nose in front of his calm brown eyes. In his right hand he held a cane with an odd handle and in the right was mug filled with a cup of what smelled like coffee.
The older gentleman sat down across from Leon and rested his cane against the table. Leon looked past him to see a blonde woman with fierce green eyes with a crop in her right hand and large scroll in her left. With a wave of her crop, the door slammed shut.
"I do apologize for the dramatics." The older man said in a calm voice. He certainly didn't look, sound or even smell like a cop. The scent of coffee hung around him like a woman's perfume.
"So you some shrink to help me see the error of my ways?" Leon said in a sarcastic tone as he sat back and crossed his arms. The older man couldn't help but chuckle at the remark.
"No nothing like that. I simply wish to talk." His tone was calm and reserved.
"Well, I'm not really in the mood for talking. In case you haven't noticed, it's been a bad day for me." The silver haired man nodded his head and the woman in the room stepped forward with a large scroll that was the same size as a clip board. The glass surface darkened and a video showed up showing the events of the robbery. No doubt the woman had cameras in her store. What building in Vale didn't?
"Tell me. Where did you learn how to fight like this?" Leon remained silent. "Most people who fight at this caliber usually go to one of several combat schools and I know that you Mr. Alabaster, have not." Leon's blue eyes locked on the man.
"So you know my name? Thing is I don't know yours." Leon sat forward with a skeptical look on his face.
"You may call me Professor Ozpin. I'm the headmaster at Beacon Academy." Leon had heard of the huntsman school system and knew that Beacon was in the top tier.
"So why are you here? This isn't exactly a classroom." Ozpin looked at the woman beside him who simply rolled her head.
"We are here because we believe you'd be an asset to Beacon Academy." Leon looked at the two to see for any signs of them lying.
"This has got to be a joke."
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Ozpin asked in a serious tone.
"I thought people needed to go to other schools before Beacon and I grew up outside the kingdoms. Never even been to a real school."
"All that is required is an entrance exam based on combat skill and basic knowledge. You clearly have the skill."
"And the fact that I'm a faunas?"
"Beacon and the other schools welcome individuals from all walks of life; destitute, rich, human, faunas. All that matters is your skill and determination to protect the world from the creatures of Grimm." Leon sat back and sighed as he pondered his words. "You could be so much more than you currently are. Is living on the streets so glamorous?" Leon furrowed his brow.
"You don't know anything about me." He snarled at the man.
"True, but what I do know is that you have a conscience or else you wouldn't be in this police station chatting with me." Leon furrowed his brow and looked away from the elder. "Tell me, why did you decide to intervene tonight? You clearly didn't know the woman and I doubt you were expecting any kind of reward." Leon clenched his fist and bit his lip.
"I just don't like punks ganging up on someone weaker than them." He hissed. "She was just a shop keeper, minding her own business and she gets robbed? How is that fair?"
"Very unfortunate, but it could have been much worse without your intervention."
"It shouldn't have needed my intervention, but it did and then bystanders like me get dragged into it." Leon huffed and stood up. "Can I go now?" Ozpin looked at him with an intense stare and sighed. He pulled out a scroll and left it on the table.
"If you feel like taking the Beacon entrance exam call this number and they'll have you registered." Ozpin stood up to leave. As he got to the door he paused for a moment. "Before you go and disappear back into the streets ask yourself this, what do you stand for?" With those last words Ozpin and his guest left the interview room. The bearded officer then came back inside.
"Count yourself lucky kid. You're free to go. Media is camped outside our door like we're selling hot cakes."
"Please tell me there's a back entrance I can use. I'd hate to steal the spotlight away from Vale's finest." His tone was dripping in sarcasm. The officer huffed and showed him an exit that went into the alley behind the building. "Thank you."
"Just stay outta trouble kid." He said before slamming the door. Leon sighed and headed off towards his home. He quickly made his way through the streets towards an abandoned section of the city where most people avoided. He headed to his room or more accurately, four walls with no door. There was a filthy mattress inside wit a few springs sticking out, a small cast iron heater furnace. He walked over to a damaged pantry that had a few cans of food in it.
He set the cans on top of the furnace an opened the lid as it warmed up. His animal ears twitched as he heard the sound of someone stepping on glass. He whirled around towards the doorway and saw a shadowy figure duck out of sight. Leon grabbed a nearby metal pipe and held it firmly in his hand. "Hey! Either you come in here or I go out there swinging." He heard more footsteps and out from the shadows stepped three faunas'. A man with a pair of small bull horns on the side of his head, a woman with a pair of antlers coming from her forehead and a girl no older than seven with a pair of ram horns. Their clothes were raggedy, covered in dirt and the man had a few bruises on his face.
"P-Please we don't want any trouble." The woman spoke up. "We didn't know anyone was living here and we just smelled the food." The trio's stomachs growled in perfect unison. They had definitely seen better days. Leon could see that the three were unnaturally thin and probably hadn't eaten in a few days. Leon sighed and walked over to the pantry. The man quickly got in front of his wife and child.
"Here." Leon tossed the man two cans of his limited supply of food. "Might not be much and not taste too good, but it's something." He sat back down in front of the fire but kept the blunt object within arms reach.
"Thank you!" The woman smiled with tears in her eyes. The small family joined him around the stove and cooked their can of food.
"You guy's aren't from around here are ya?" Leon said before putting a spoonful of beans in his mouth. "Vacuo?"
"Mistral." The woman answered. "We were running from some less than reputable people." She shivered. "We figured we'd hold up here until we had enough lien to secure transport to somewhere else."
"How's that working out?" Leon said in a half mocking tone.
"Not...well." She peeped out quietly. The man scowled at Leon.
"What are you doing in a place like this anyway?" Leon paused and thought for a moment.
"Getting by however I can." Leon sighed. A long silence fell over the group a they ate. A question kept buzzing in Leon;s mind. Finally he sighed and spoke up. "If you had the chance to possibly make the world better, would you take it?" The two adults looked at one another with perplexed looks on their faces. "Forget it. Stupid question."
"I suppose." The woman answered. "If it means Maggie might be able to have a normal life." She said as she brushed the girl's hair out of her face. Leon went back to eating and the trio stayed the night with his permission. While he slept, he had images of a woman with ashen hair and a man with black hair and bright blue eyes. He woke up in the middle of the night, angry and covered in sweat.
The next day he woke up to find that the family was gone along with several cans of his food. It took him weeks of saving and scavenging to got those. He gritted his teeth and kicked an empty can against the wall. Leon headed into town and see what he could find. He headed into a nearby general store and walked up to a magazine stand. He checked his pockets and saw he had a bit of lien he's saved up.
He browsed the magazines and saw a newspaper featuring the robbery. 'Robbery Thwarted by Police.' Leon rolled his eyes seeing that what he did wasn't mentioned anywhere. He wasn't surprised. The media wouldn't want to glorify a vigilante, a faunas vigilante especially. He set the paper back and noticed a young girl in a red hood reading a weapon magazine. He peered over her shoulder and saw several different designs for guns, swords and other types of weapons. The girl spun around and stared at him. "Can I help you?"
"Sorry. Just curious about the weapons." She closed the magazine and handed it to him.
"Here. I already have this issue." She smiled. Leon raised an eyebrow at the girl's response.
"Aren't you a little young to be looking at guns?" The girl furrowed her brow and reached behind her back. She pulled out something red and it unfolded into a large scythe. "Holy crap!" Leon said as he stepped back. "Is that a scythe?"
"It's also a highly customizable impact sniper rifle." She smiled proudly. Leon had a bewildered look on his face. "It's also a gun."
"Where did you get that?"
"I made Crescent Rose myself."
"You made and named it?"
"Yeah. All students at Signal Academy make our own weapons." One of the store clerks then approached the two.
"This guy bothering you miss?" The clerk narrowed his eyes at Leon. The girl put her weapon away.
"No, we're just talking." She smiled sweetly. The clerk sighed and went back to his job behind the counter.
"So why do you have that thing anyway?"
"I want become a huntress." She said with a fangirl like squeal.
"Is being a huntress really all that's cracked up to be?" The small red haired girl gasped as if he had just kicked her puppy.
"Of course! Hunters and huntresses are charged with protecting the innocent and saving the world!" Leon only rolled his eyes at the words.
"Sounds more like a story from a kid's book and I don't mean to burst your bubble, but the world is a very cold and unforgiving place." Leon was all too familiar with how cruel the world is and those who inhabit it. Human and faunas alike.
"Yeah, the world is pretty scary, but that's what the hunters and huntresses are here for. To help make things better. Don't you want to help change things?" He had to admit he didn't particularly like his current state of affairs. Dumpster diving lost it's appeal after the thirtieth time or so.
"I...I don't know." Leon sighed. "Besides what kind of difference could just a handful of people make?" The girl frowned slightly at the man's words.
"Well, thinking like that and doing nothing won't help. It's better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all. At least that's what my dad says." Leon pondered her words for a moment and took in a deep breath. The offer Ozpin had given him the day before still hung in his mind. Maybe there was a chance for him yet. Leon came back to his senses to see the girl's silver eyes staring at him.
"Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, just thinking." He bit his lip. "What was your name kid?"
"I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose." She smiled.
"Leon. Maybe I'll see you around Ruby." She nodded and walked back into the store to continue her shopping. Leon walked up to the front and paid the man for the magazine. As he walked out from the store an old memory crashed through his mind.
"Mom, what's a hero?"
"A hero is someone who steps up when everyone else backs down." Leon shook his head once again and reached into his pocket to feel the scroll. He needed to make a phone call.
Professor Ozpin sat in his office sipping his cup of coffee as he watched the exposed gears in his office turn. The sound of his scroll going off caught his attention. "Yes?"
"Sir there is a Mr. Alabaster on the phone. It came in on your direct line."
"Patch him through." The receiver clicked off and Ozpin could make out the faint sound of breathing. "Have you reconsidered my offer?"
"Something like that. Can't hurt to try now can it?" Ozpin smiled over the line. "What do I need and where do I go?"
"The entrance exam is in two weeks. The written exam will be held at twelve o'clock sharp in one of my school's classrooms. The physical test will be at three in the gymnasium on the same day."
"What exactly will we be tested on?"
"Basic knowledge."
"The physical examination?"
"Just to see if your body can handle fighting and the intense training you will undergo. I'm sure you can handle it with ease." A sigh came from the receiver.
"Anything else I should know?"
"You will not be the only one being examined and I suggest you arm yourself with suitable weapons. I'm sure you will find what you're looking for within the city. Good luck Leon." He hung up the scroll and smiled. "He's interesting that one."