A/N: Just a quick note before you go ahead begin reading.

Thank you for clicking on my story and giving it a chance. This is my first time doing something like this and I hope you stick with me while I work this thing out. I know how people feel about OC stories, and I've sort of pigeonholed myself by making a fic about an OC, but I'm hoping I can grab a hold of some sort of audience and hang on to them for a while. Once again, thanks, and enjoy.

Prologue - Part I

The clicking of heels echoed off the walls of the empty CCT tower as a tall blonde woman made her way to the elevator, tablet in hand as she tapped away at the screen. The only light in the titanic structure being that of the low-power lights that came on during the night and whatever reflected off the shattered moon that hung in the sky above Remnant. A push of the button opened the doors with a ding and the woman stepped inside; doors sliding closed after the button to go upwards was pushed. Green eyes darted to the watch on the woman's wrist. It was a late night here at Beacon and the first semester of the year was coming to a close soon. The elevator came to the stop at the top of Beacon Academy's tallest spire and it opened with the typical ding.

"Thank you for coming, Glynda. I apologize this was on such short notice and at this time of night," Headmaster Ozpin regarded the woman who stepped from the lift and approached his desk.

"I only hope the matter is as important as you made it out to be," Glynda replied with a bit of annoyance accompanying her words as she spoke.

Ozpin let a smirk tug at his lips before speaking, "Well if you recall, it wasn't long ago when I spoke to you about a particular individual that could prove to be quite the investment."

"I do remember. I also remember the explanation containing ambiguity that can only be accomplished by you."

Ozpin chuckles "Be that as it may, I wasn't entirely sure if he would accept my offer to come here. No sense in having you devote time to a task and have it all be for naught. Thankfully, I've gotten word that he is coming, so I must brief you on exactly who he is and what he is capable of so you may go over the details before it is logged into our student records."

Glynda's fingers quickly tapped on the screen of her tablet to open a form for this supposed new student. Her eyes met Ozpin's to signify that she was ready.
"His name is Raku Ryuukuro," the Headmaster began.

Before he could continue, Glynda looked up from the screen in front of her with a surprised expression.

"You reached out to the Ryuukuro boy you've been watching? Are you sure that's wise given what he has been up to in recent years?" she questioned.

"I'm confident that I couldn't have timed my offer any better," Ozpin affirmed, unwavering.

Glynda sighed "Well if you're so sure of yourself…" more taps on the tablet followed. "What is his basic information? Age, height, weight, etcetera."

Ozpin tapped a few keys on the holographic keyboard that appeared before him and a photo of the new student in question appeared on Glynda's tablet. "He is six-foot-two and one hundred-eighty-five pounds. He is seventeen years old, the typical age for a first-year student."

Glynda observed the picture that appeared on her screen before typing in the information she was given. This 'Raku' boy had a youthful, yet handsome, face. Long black hair fell past his shoulders out of frame and red eyes seemed to have a glint to them to match the small, confident smile on his lips. "What about his weapon? I'd rather have not any surprises in my combat classes."

Ozpin pulled up more pictures, but this time of Raku's weapon. "His main weapon is a polearm known as a naginata. It doesn't collapse or transform. The only ranged capabilities it has is that the blade of the weapon is able to be fired and is kept attached to a chain kept within the shaft. He has a secondary set of weapons stored within the bottom part of the shaft; two straight swords known as chokutō."

"It doesn't transform into any sort of ranged weapon such as a firearm? Interesting choice since weapons of that sort become more and more common with each passing generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses. I'm curious to see how he fights to compensate for his apparent lack of range," Glynda noted as she documented the weapon of the oncoming student.

"I believe you'll find his fighting style to be quite adaptable." Ozpin offered.

"Now, knowing his lineage, and the stories I've heard from you, I think I have a good idea of the capabilities of his semblance, but if you'd like to clari—"

"Actually, Glynda. There is an important trait of his that I'd like to go over before we get into his semblance," Ozpin cutoff his assistant as he pulled up more pictures.

The expression on the blonde woman's face was quizzical as she regarded the pictures before her. They were pictures of the tattoos that adorned the young man's arms. "I fail to see how his tattoos are at all important to us."

"They're not just any ordinary tattoos. They have a certain…quality to them." Ozpin pulled up one more picture of the body art in question, only now they ink was faintly glowing red.

Blonde eyebrows scrunched at the observation. "You see, Glynda, they're dust tattoos."

"What?"

"Odd, I know. We know about those who choose to infuse dust into their bodies, but in all my years, I can't say I've seen someone do so in such a fashion," Ozpin said as his own eyes traced the strange ink on the boy's arms.

"How…how do they work?" Glynda asked simply, still taken aback by what she was seeing.

"Well, firstly, the dust isn't necessarily in his body. It resides within the ink in his skin, empty and dormant. He can absorb the energy from dust crystals into the dust within his tattoos and use it in cohesion with his semblance, but not without causing him great pain."

"But why do something so…drastic?" She was bewildered that someone so young would do something that could be so detrimental to them.

"Unfortunately, his whole life has been a laundry list of drastic decisions that were forced upon him. Though admittedly, this one was under his own conviction," said the Headmaster. "You're roughly familiar with his semblance, but not with its exact mechanics. To use his breath attack, he must place a dust crystal in his mouth and give his aura time to absorb the energy. With his tattoos, this process is much faster, but like I said, not without a cost. So far, he has only managed to accomplish this absorption into his tattoos with fire and electric dust due to how potent their energies are."

"Do we know what the long-term repercussions of these tattoos are?"

"Aside from what we know about 'typical' techniques of infusing dust with one's body? No. All we know is that he cannot keep energy stored within his tattoos for long or else it will take its toll on his body," Ozpin elaborated.

People have been infusing dust with a multitude of things since its discovery. Clothes, weapons, even their own bodies to various results. Surprisingly, dust tattoos have never been a thing, the most surprising thing being that it was even possible in any capacity. Nobody has ever tried to infuse dust with their body in a controlled manner; the term 'controlled' being used very loosely. This boy went to these lengths just to be able to use his semblance faster.

Glynda sighed. She was not one to question Ozpin's decision making, but a small part of her just couldn't help but doubt. "Are you sure about this?" she asked, levelling the Headmaster with a skeptical gaze.

"Yes. I believe he is exactly what we need."

"If you say so, then I have no other option but to trust your judgement."

"Now, onto his semblance. I've given you some details on it, but there is still a few more things about it to go over." Ozpin pulled up some notes on his screen that detailed Raku's semblance.

"You know of his breath attack. He may only use it when he has dust of some sort. He either absorbs the energy with his mouth or tattoos, then expels it out of his mouth."

"Like a dragon?" Glynda offers unamusedly.

"You could say so, it is his namesake after all. Actually, even more than just his namesake…" Ozpin trailed off as he scrolled through his notes.

Glynda raised an eyebrow but Ozpin started again before she could push a line of questioning.

"Another ability granted to him by his semblance are these wings. They're not actual wings like you would find on particular types of faunus, but they seem to be generated by his aura. When activated, his aura becomes visible in the form of these wings as they unfurl and billow out from his back. He cannot use them to fly, but he may use them to and propel himself in a certain direction. He may also use them to perform a ranged attack similar to when a fighter channels their aura into their weapon and unleash it in a swing."

Glynda dutifully entered these notes into her own device as Ozpin rattled them off, making sure to hang on to every detail.

"Those are the two abilities granted to him by his semblance, but there are a couple of side effects that are worth noting. Firstly, are these scales that appear on his body." Ozpin pulled up a picture of Raku's arm. There is a stretch of black scales running from his wrist to his elbow. But they didn't cover his entire forearm, only a very deliberate area. His tattoos seemed to fade and disappear under the onyx scales

The blonde teacher slightly recoiled at the sight in confusion. "But those scales weren't visible in those pictures of his tattoos," Glynda said as she referred back to those photos to make sure she wasn't losing her mind and somehow missed this glaring detail.

"Correct. That's because they only appear when he is hit and his aura protects him. This picture—" Ozpin gestured to the picture of the scales, "— was taken just after running a blade over his arm."

"And they don't actually do anything? They just show up when he's struck?"

"Yes. This is simply how his aura manifests when he is hit. He doesn't gain any extra protection. Typically, when a Huntsman or Huntress uses their aura to protect themselves, there is no apparent evidence of it. This young man's aura is different."

"You said there was another effect of his semblance?" Glynda was eager to speed things up a little. This was going to be a lot to unpack and analyze properly.

Ozpin let out an amused chuckle. "This one isn't anything too unique. His eyes. When his semblance is in use, they change and take on this appearance."

One final picture appeared before Glynda. She was met with the same face before, but with a wildly different expression. The youthful confidence and charm was now gone as his chin was now slightly tucked and was glaring into the camera through his eyebrows like he was trying to burn a hole into whoever happened see this picture with his gaze alone. More notably, his eyes were certainly different. Instead of the confident red from before, she was now met with two burning eyes that shared the yellow-orange color and intense glow of a roaring flame, though that was not all. Instead of two round pupils, Glynda felt like she was being bored into by these two narrow slits gazing at her through this photo, but they were definitely not feline in nature. They were more like a serpent's—a dragon's. They left her with an uneasiness in her chest.

"Will that be all for tonight?" she asked as she pried her eyes away from the draconic orbs that seemed to peer straight through her.

"Yes. For now. It's getting late and I don't wish to keep you any longer." Ozpin affirmed.

There was a brief moment of silence before Glynda turned and started for the elevator. As the doors slid open, she halted and turned so she may look back at the Headmaster. "You're absolutely sure about this?"

"As sure as can be," he answered.

With nothing left to be said, Ozpin watched as his entrusted assistant stepped into the elevator and disappeared behind the doors as they slid shut. Turning his attention back to his screen, he couldn't help but notice the file containing information on Raku's background and life up to this point.

"A story for another time, I suppose."