In the country of Vale, the city of Vale stood illuminated against the dark backdrop of the night behind it, a shining symbol of progress and possibilities. At the top of the tallest cliff at the edge of the city lay Beacon Academy, which trains promising youths to become master hunters and huntresses who protect the land from the world's greatest threat, the creatures of Grimm.
At the tallest tower in the academy stood the academy's head master, an elderly man with short white hair and green eyes who wore a fancy suit and green shirt underneath. A great man by the name of Professer Ozpin who looked out into the town below him as the citizens of the fine city prepared for the upcoming Vytal festival. A celebration of unity and peace brought to the people by the hunters and huntresses.
But Ozpin was not happy at the upcoming festivities. In his hands, a datapad clutched hard in his hands read a simple message that brought dread to the man's heart.
Queen has pawns
The implications of the message had made the blood in Ozpin's heart freeze. He looked out into the city with narrow eyes searching for something in the darkness, illuminated only by city lights, stars, and a broken moon hanging from the sky like a dark memoriam over the world.
Breaking Ozpin out of his thoughts, his datapad rang out with a call. Ozpin looked down at the small electronic in his hand and wondered if he should ignore it. The scroll rang out constantly. Twice it rang, Ozpin pondering it's significance like the very universe itself with lowered eyes. On the third ring Ozpin pushed the button, and accepted the call. A voice rang out from the Scroll.
"Ozpin," said a female voice from the other end. Ozpin knew the voice, for it made him smile to hear the voice again. "I do not mean to bother you, but a man named Weldon wants to speak with you."
Ozpin heard the name and smiled, "Bring him in." The connection ended and Ozpin turned towards the other end of the room, beyond the desk that he did his work on littered with papers of security settings and information about the Vytal festival. Beyond the clear center of the room that displayed the clockwork workings of the tower was a pale blue green door that opened to reveal two figures.
The first was in a wheel chair, his body skinny and lanky and covered with bandages his face included. But there were two holes in the bandages for eyes that were black as coals, sharp and narrow like blades. Piercing through the room until they reached Ozpin the eyes lit up, the edge dulled and for a second the man seemed lighter, like he could jump out of the chair and hug the man in front of him.
The man wore dark shoes, black pants, and a white button-up to cover him, and on his head he wore a black top hat that accentuated his appearance. He was dressed as if this was something very important but lacked the ability to properly show it.
Behind the man walked a smiling lady, dressed formally in a knee length skirt, button up white shirt, dark jacket, and black tie she had golden hair draped over her dark coffee colored skin. The woman smiled as she walked the figure's wheelchair towards Ozpin with jaunty stride that bounced up and down. Amber eyes focused on Ozpin as she reached the front of the desk.
When she reached Ozpin's desk she bowed her head at the man greeting him with the same cheer she had entered with. She spoke in a cheery voice, one that spoke of a good life with lots of love. "Hello Professor Ozpin, it's lovely to see you." She said to the Professor who returned the greeting with a friendly smile of his own.
"Good evening to you Olivia." Ozpin said to the woman as he turned his attention to the man in the wheelchair. Walking around the desk towards the man as if to greet the man face to face the wheelchair bound man slowly reached his hands to his wheels, pushing forward so he could face the professor as he came close. The bandages on the man's mouth shifted upwards, lifted by the moving muscles underneath as Ozpin greeted the man as one would greet a dear friend. "Hello Weldon."
The man spoke in a soft raspy voice that whispered out like a deep wind. "Oz-pin." He said slowly as he reached out with his hands, Ozpin saw the gesture and stepped forwards, hugging the bandaged man in a soft embrace that the man returned tenderly. The two men stayed in the embrace for a second before breaking it and looking towards each other. Pleasantries had been exchanged and the two men set about talking about business.
"I'm surprised that you made it." Said Ozpin, "From what I've heard you have been sleeping at your workstation. You didn't haft to make the long walk up to my office. I would have been happy to visit you below the school." Weldon waited for a second before lifting his hand and motioning towards Olivia behind him. The young girl leaned forwards towards the bandaged man who turned his head and spoke softly into the girl's ear. The girl nodded a few times before standing up straight and addressing Ozpin.
"Weldon wanted to come into your office, as only befitting a long standing friend, he also wanted to give you the report in person rather than just tell you about it from the workstation." Olivia vocalized for Weldon and Ozpin nodded turning his head to look at his friend's bandaged body with narrow eyes. "He also wanted to say that the pain would be worth it, for you are the only one who understands."
"Yes, we have been through a lot together the two of us. It might be hard for others to understand our plight." Ozpin said as his eyes drifted into the sea of memories, of battles against enemies of country and humanity alike. The monsters of Grimm were vicious, and the world has not moved past such events even now.
Weldon nodded his head like a glacier, slow but surely he expressed his agreement. Weldon's black eyes looked past Ozpin towards a distant past. Weldon reached up to wipe his eyes clean of tears that threatened to dirty his bandages.
"Surely things have gotten better since that day?" asked Olivia naively. Weldon looked away and Ozpin shook his head solemnly. Weldon motioned with his hand to have Olivia talk for him again. Weldon spoke to Olivia before looking back at Ozpin. His stare locked on the man as Olivia delivered her message. "Weldon wants to tell you that the system is finished, all of the tests have been run and the programs are running smoothly."
Ozpin brightened at hearing that and Olivia seemed to give a small sigh of relief at those words. Expressing them soothing some deep weight in the dark skinned girl's heart.
"Is the building ready for the students?" asked the headmaster with interest. When Weldon nodded his head slowly Ozpin smiled, "thank you for all your hard work. I know it must not have been easy for you to do all on your own, what with your body as it is now."
Weldon shook his head as if to assure the headmaster that it was no problem at all. Ozpin took the shake with a smile as the bandaged man lowered his gaze towards the datapad in Ozpin's hands. The 'Scroll' still had the message on it and while the angle made it hard to read Weldon's eyes seemed troubled by it. Weldon raised an arm and pointed his bandaged finger to the scroll before speaking again. Weldon's words rasping in his throat and struggling to be audible, "Trou-ble."
Ozpin looked at the scroll in his hand and the horrible message it conveyed. Ozpin wondered whether or not to show it to the wheelchair bound man in front of him. Ozpin took one last look at Weldon's broken form before nodding his head and flipping the scroll so Weldon could also read it. Weldon leaned forwards so he could read the message better, while Olivia turned her head to avoid learning too much.
After he read the scroll, under the bandages Weldon's mouth let out a small growl, gritty and feral like a beast about to strike an invader. Ozpin shrunk the scroll to phone sized and put it in his pocket. Olivia peeked over to see what was going on. When she saw that the scroll had been pocketed she turned her head to look at Weldon in case he needed her to say something. "Our enemies grow much more numerous." Ozpin stated to the two people, Weldon nodded as Olivia simply stared in attention, "we need our forces to be at their absolute best if we hope to keep Vale from falling to them." Weldon nodded his head and looked to Olivia who looked at Ozpin with a straight face.
"Should we reveal the new training equipment tomorrow?" Olivia asked Ozpin.
"Yes, Olivia should be with me and Glenda to show the student's how the equipment works." Ozpin directed the two of them Olivia nodded but her posture slackened and her eyes spoke of displeasure. Weldon gave a nod displaying his understanding as Ozpin continued. "Weldon, how long would it take for the next part of the plan to be put into motion?"
As the question left Ozpin's mouth a beep was heard from his scroll, the professor pulled the datapad to his face and looked over the incoming message with a smile, "you work fast."
Weldon nodded as Ospin inspected the message. Ozpin gave a hum of satisfaction towards Weldon and Olivia. Confidence filled his face but not arrogance. He would haft to go over this new information thoroughly before making another move. "I have work to do," Ozpin stated returning to his desk, the two figures turned to look as Ozpin as he sat at his desk with the scroll in front of him. "But before I do, would you two like some tea? I would hate to simply tell you to leave without offering something in return."
"Thank you Mr. Ozpin." Replied Olivia, but her face was apologetic as she looked down at Weldon. "But I'm afraid I'm going to haft to put Weldon to bed, he's been up very late trying to get everything ready on time that he went a few days without sleep."
Weldon turned his head to look at Olivia with a look of frustration, but he soon found the movement troubling to do so he simply returned his head forwards towards the professor.
Ozpin smiled at that and nodded. "Well then, a range check then." Ozpin said as Weldon nodded his head. Olivia grabbed the handles of his wheelchair and rolled Weldon towards the door. Weldon raising his hand to stop Olivia as he spoke, "Go-od, nig-ht, Maj-esty." He said to the headmaster, Ozpin smiled and gave a fond farewell and Olivia and Weldon left the room.
Ozpin closed his eyes as the metal door slid shut behind them. Ozpin looked out into the starry night, his demeanor had changed, his eyes shone with light, and he waited for the dawn of tomorrow to break.
