Right… so… been working on this for I-don't-even-know-how-long, but it is finally done. My redo of my previous RWBY endeavours. Obviously this retcons all previous works.
Anyway, enjoy.
Chapter 1 – Exchange
"Settle down please, students, settle down." Ozpin called for calm, waiting until everyone was quiet before he continued speaking. "I have some interesting news for all of you. I assume that all of you are familiar with the Society?"
It was a redundant question; everyone knew about the Society. The existence of a separate community living outside the borders of the Kingdoms had caused quite the stir all over Remnant. As it turned out the Society had known about the Four Kingdoms but had avoided any contact, adopting a strictly isolationist philosophy, although it had been revealed that some former members of this Society were in fact integrated into that of the Four Kingdoms, each having sworn an oath to never reveal the existence of their original home. So far the Society had held off on integrating or being integrated into the Four Kingdoms and little was known of how things worked among them.
"Apparently Hunters and Huntresses in training have expressed interest in the teaching methods of our society and a request was put out for an… exchange, of sorts." Ozpin paused as a wave of excited whispers filled the stadium, being called here after dinner suddenly seemed worth it. He raised a hand for silence and continued when everyone complied. "However as a gesture of good faith, and as a way of testing the waters, it has been decided that a team from the Society will be sent to each of the Hunter Academies of the Four Kingdoms first. Should it go well there may well be a full exchange program put into place, where students from both sides travel to their counterpart academies, but for now they will be coming to us and not the other way around." He smiled sympathetically at the disappointed groans. "I understand your disappointment but I'd like you all to worry about it later and focus on giving a good impression to the Society team that has been sent to Beacon."
That had everyone perking up.
"A word of caution. The Society, due to the very nature of its members, has different traditions to our own. Remember that when interacting with these newcomers." Ozpin then gestured behind him and the transfers stepped out of a small door located at the back of the stage.
Some people did a double take as they realised that there were five transfers in total, one more than the teams those in the hall were expecting.
"I see that all of you have noticed the extra member. Apparently the Society organises its teams into groups of five rather than four though it would be best to ask them for a more in depth explanation if you are curious. For now please welcome Aaron Koreutu, Rinnigan Bermejo, Kulamin Marioneta, Sasha Ianova and Grenin Osmjesi, the members of team ARKIG (Arcing)." Each of the members had given an indication of their identity as their name was called and already people were eyeing them.
Aaron was a muscular boy in a simple, white, hooded vest with an emblem of a shattered Beowulf skull done in black on the left side. A set of simple leather pauldrons covered both shoulders. Loose black pants were held up by a crimson sash tied around his waist and white wrappings covered the area from just below his knees to the base of his toes, leaving the digits and his heels exposed. The wrappings also secured his pants. Fingerless gloves with metal reinforcement over the backs and knuckles covered his hands. Swirling lines of red, pale blue and purple intertwined all the way up his tanned arms, vanishing beneath the bracers and pauldrons he wore with only a single blue line reappearing on the right side of his neck and running up over his cheek and one slate grey eye before vanishing into his hairline. His snow white hair was pulled back into a short, rough ponytail.
Rinnigan was a short, wiry cheetah Faunus with the tail and ears to prove it. His hair was a darker shade of the tawny gold that made up his tail and animal ears. His visible eye was a shocking shade of neon green, the left eye being hidden by an eye patch made of some kind of shiny black glass, and his skin held the remnants of a tan, as if he had once spent a lot of time in the sun but had been avoiding it for some time now. The eye patch seemed strangely at odds with the lazy smile he now wore as his visible eye darted between the assembled students of Beacon. One of his cheetah ears had a row of silver studs running up one side of it and three steel rings were wrapped around his tail. He wore a loose black shirt with a faded band logo on his torso. Sports tape was wrapped around his arms from the elbow down, a small tactical display situated on his left forearm, while a simple black, hooded vest covered his torso. Two tattoos were visible on his upper arms, by his shoulder, one on each arm. The one on the left resembled an upside down question mark without a dot on its tail and with points at either end and was done in black ink. The one on his right was the same as the first but flipped upside down and done in a white ink that stood out to an almost startling degree, even on his slightly paled tan. Baggy shorts hung to just below his knees and were tucked into the scuffed and battered shin and knee guards encasing his lower legs. Two roughly carved wooden masks hung at his sides, one white, and one black. The black mask, the one hanging on his right side, was carved like the visage of a wolf, though lacking any real defining features such as a mouth, and was large enough to cover the entirety of its wearer's face. The white mask, worn on the left, was carved like the face of a lamb, though once again lacking hard features to define it, and was a half mask that covered only the top half of the face. Nobody could quite say why but the masks gave an odd… chill to anyone who looked at them. A set of simple, lightweight running shoes completed his look.
Kulamin was the tallest of all of them, just under two meters in height, and one of the most smartly dressed, with a rich purple waistcoat edged in gold thread over a black button up shirt with its top button undone and the sleeves rolled up past his elbows, revealing the chocolate colour of his skin. Darker purple slacks were tucked into heavy black boots with skull patterns painted on them. Black fingerless gloves covered his hands and small metal coverings encased the ends of his index fingers, middle fingers and thumbs. The purple and black top hat he wore had several spools of thread attached to it and an even greater number of needles stuck into it, his medium length black hair hanging out from under it. The most striking feature was the fact that his face was painted in the likeness of a stylised skull. Olive eyes gave nothing but amusement away as he examined the gathered students with a faint smirk.
Sasha was the second tallest of them all, with a lithe, almost willowy build. Clad in an ocean blue waistcoat over a white dress shirt, a black skinny tie held by a simple gold tie pin, navy slacks, smart black shoes and fancy gloves and finishing her outfit off with a set of round, frameless glasses and a blue newsboy cap, she was easily the best dressed girl of the group. Her violet hair reached down to her shoulder blades and was tucked carefully behind her ears and offset her pale skin tone nicely. Hazel eyes showed a slight nervousness as she eyed the large crowd in front of her warily. The black grip of the pistol holstered in the small of her back was just visible in the curve of her waist.
Grenin was… abnormal. Her skin was deathly pale, as if she had never seen the sun or was an albino, yet the shockingly bright shade of pink that made up her roughly cut hair shot the second theory straight down. Her eyes were also an almost scarily bright shade of blue and while she seemed to be genuinely happy to be there, there was a spark in her eye that unsettled anyone who met her gaze. The wide, triangular teeth set in a grin that was far, far wider than a normal person could manage probably didn't help matters. Her body could, politely, be called petite, the girl almost completely lacking in curves of any kind. Her outfit consisted of a loose, dark grey, long sleeved top decorated with various buckles and straps, its sleeves level with the middle of her thumb, underneath a high-collared, sleeveless, zip up jacket, tough, fingerless leather gloves, ragged shorts ending mid-thigh and thin knee-high boots. Bizarrely, a length of chain was wrapped around each of her shins. Numerous scars of varying sizes covered the visible skin of her legs, as well as three scars on her face; two running from the corners of her mouth to the middle of her ears and one running from her hairline across the inner corner of her right eye and ending at her cheekbone.
"Mr Koreutu, would you like to say a few words?" Ozpin glanced at the leader of the group as he asked.
Aaron tilted his head slightly in consideration before replying. "If it's all the same to you, Headmaster, it's been a long trip here. I think we'd prefer a chance to rest."
There were few people in the audience brave enough to continue looking at Grenin longer than quick glances but a few of them could have sworn her smile shrunk a few centimetres and her eyes darted to the leader before just as quickly returning to her original expression.
"Of course. On that note, would teams RWBY and JNPR please step forward."
Sharing unsure glances, the eight students approached the stage. When they arrived Ozpin calmly asked, "Would you all escort team ARKIG to their dorm room? It is just down the hall from you."
"Uh, sure. We'll show them the way."
"Damn, and here I was looking forward to wandering all over the place with the excuse of having no idea where I was going. What a wasted opportunity." Rinnigan joked dryly.
"Where exactly were you hoping to end up?" Kulamin asked slowly, his voice containing a Filipino accent.
"Dunno. I guess I'd just… see where my feet take me."
"Would that happen to be in the vicinity of the female locker room?"
"It's as likely a location as any other in this school. Laws of probability and all that jazz." Rinnigan retorted smoothly, though his smirk told a different story.
"Do we have to leave you two alone? Because I will." Aaron commented dryly.
"Chill, boss. Just some friendly banter. Right, Kul?"
"Indeed."
"In that case, shut up. I had to put up with Grenin's rendition of '99 bottles' for an hour. I am not putting up with any more."
"You seem to forget that we had to put up with it too, Boss man. We were all in the same transport."
"You clearly don't still have a headache."
"Um…"
ARKIG all turned to find Ruby looking back at them from the exit to the hall along with her team and JNPR. Before anyone else could say anything Yang piped up. "Do we need to leave you guys alone for a minute?"
Their reactions were as varied as could be expected: Aaron groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, Rinnigan chuckled and gave the blonde thumbs up, Kulamin rolled his eyes, Sasha muttered something under her breath and Grenin cackled.
Fortunately the group promptly set off, ARKIG tactfully ignoring the curious glances they were almost constantly receiving from those around them. Except Grenin who stared back at each person with a wide smile until they looked away. Aaron felt something tugging at his awareness and quietly turned his gaze over his surroundings in time to see the dark haired girl from team RWBY look away from him. He frowned briefly, something about that look not sitting well with him, before asking, "Is there some kind of problem, Miss…?"
Her eyes darted up to him. "…Belladonna, Blake Belladonna."
Aaron briefly processed the fact that her name translated to nightshade before calmly nodding in acknowledgement and repeating his question. "Is there a problem, Miss Belladonna?"
"Why do you ask?" Her voice bore a faint defensive edge.
"You seem… wary of me. I'm just curious as to why. Have I done something to offend you?"
By now the other members of the group had noticed the conversation and were watching with interest.
"…I'm just… not big on meeting new people, especially so many." Blake lied with a tight smile.
Aaron cocked his head and considered it before giving a faint smile of his own. "I know what you mean. Meeting others isn't exactly my strong suit either."
"Not exactly a strong suit?" Rinnigan butted in disbelievingly, "It took you three months to trust us enough to leave your door unlocked while you slept."
"Maybe that's because you're a borderline kleptomaniac and Grenin displays an alarming amount of psychopathic tendencies."
As one everyone looked at the girl, who grinned even wider and said, "I'm not apologising."
"Pft, like a lock could have kept me out if I had wanted in anyways." Rinnigan boasted.
"That's why I hooked it up to the mains each night." Aaron retorted calmly.
"…Dude, that's cold."
"Really? I personally thought it was… shocking." Yang said, grinning as her teammates groaned.
Rinnigan grinned and bumped fists with the girl. "Nice. Rinnigan Bermejo, but everyone calls me Ringtail. So what's your name?"
"I'm Yang Xiao Long, and this is my sister, Ruby." The blonde brawler pulled her sister into a one armed hug and grinned at the newcomers. The red head waved cheerfully.
Weiss sighed slightly before saying, "Since introductions seem to be in order, I am.."
"Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company and first in line to become the new head when you reach an appropriate age." Kulamin butted in calmly. When everyone turned to look at him he calmly explained, "I take a keen interest in the companies I invest in as well as those in charge of them."
"Didn't they say if they caught you pulling a stunt like that again you would be charged with treason or something?" Rinnigan asked slowly.
"They did, but the solution was simple: do not let them catch me."
Aaron very slowly sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Any other felonies I should know about from any of you?"
Grenin opened her mouth and promptly closed it when Sasha kicked her in the shin, gentle enough not to really hurt her but hard enough to remind Grenin that Sasha definitely could hurt her should the notion take her.
"…Moving on. Who are you lot?" Aaron asked tiredly, turning to the members of team JNPR.
With a nudge from Pyrrha, Jaune held out his hand and said, "Jaune Arc. It's, uh, nice to meet you, I guess."
Aaron shook the blonde's hand firmly. "An Arc, huh? Heard about your family, even way out there. You got a good name there, bud."
Jaune grinned uneasily and surreptitiously shook the feeling back into his hand when Aaron let go. The guy had a hell of a grip.
Pyrrha smiled and introduced herself as well. "My name is Pyrrha Nikos."
Grenin's eyebrows shot up. "The Pyrrha Nikos? Sweet!"
Sasha gave an embarrassed smile as everyone turned to look at her companion and explained, "We've heard about you out there too. Grenin's a bit of a fan."
Pyrrha smiled slightly and extended her hand to the sharp-toothed girl. Just for the briefest moment a flash of icy calculation appeared in Grenin's eyes before she gripped the scarlet clad warrior's hand and shook it.
"We have to have a duel sometime!" Grenin declared, still smiling.
"I'll look forward to it."
Aaron breathed out a silent sigh of relief. He'd also seen that edge in Grenin's eyes and had been worried of what might have happened next but it seemed to have worked out. He turned to the other male of the team, a boy with black hair with a single pink lock.
"Lie Ren. It is a pleasure to meet you." The boy greeted them formally.
"Oh, Ren, don't be so uptight. You should be all big and explosive and happy! Like this!"
Aaron felt a sense of foreboding and turned around just in time for Nora to pop up right in front of him.
"Hi! I'm Nora!" She cheered, a bit louder than her closeness necessitated.
Aaron blinked in shock.
"Nora, please calm down. I think you're agitating him." Ren implored of his hyperactive companion.
"…Honestly, kind of. Not used to such a… enthusiastic greeting." Aaron explained slowly.
The rest of the walk passed in relative comfort, small talk and the occasional question passing among the group.
"Well, here's the dorms. Now we just need to figure out which one is your room." Ruby said cheerfully.
Kulamin idly set his scroll to the door right next to him, giving a hum of satisfaction as it clicked to show it was unlocked.
"…My money's on this one." He commented dryly.
"You don't say." Rinnigan retorted deadpan.
"If you guys need anything or want to ask something, we're just next door. See you." Ruby waved and departed, along with the rest of RWBY and JNPR.
Rinnigan waved back and slipped into the room after his companions.
When the door was safely closed behind him he commented, "They seemed nice."
"Nice enough. Still trying to figure out what was up with that Belladonna chick though." Aaron responded thoughtfully.
"Her scent suggests Faunus. Primal part could have recognised the sort of potential threat you pose and translated it into a sense of uneasiness." Ringtail offered.
"That is a possibility. Regardless, it should not cause any problems." Kulamin agreed with his companion.
"Fair enough. Remember guys, we have to play this low-profile until we're told otherwise. Nothing that could expose us or endanger anyone back home." Aaron reminded them all. He received four nods of acknowledgement, even Grenin went briefly serious to show she understood. "Good. Now, if that's settled, let's turn in for the night. Big day tomorrow."
Kulamin was idly browsing through his Scroll and said, "Indeed. Looks like sixth period is going to be an… interesting affair."
"What makes you say that?"
Kulamin just held up his scroll for them all to see. There, under the heading 'Class Schedule', was their lessons for the next day. Under sixth and seventh periods were the words 'Combat Training.'
"Oh yes." Grenin was smiling widely, her eyes fixed on those words.
"Looks like you might get that duel sooner than expected, Grenin." Rinnigan commented.
And done.
Read and Review what you think of the new designs and feel of the thing.
Until next time,
Elemental Hybrid