"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna take a nap! That drained all my energy!" The blonde announced loudly to her teammates. They had just returned to their room in Beacon after an unexpectedly long and tiring mission. After all, they did accidentally trigger an attack on Vale, and have to fight off a horde of grim right after dealing with a notorious criminal. As Yang hopped up onto her bed, her plans were disrupted by a certain heiress.
"Yang, I realise we're all extremely tired after the recent events, but also due to these events you're neglecting something."
Great, we finally get to our beds and here's Ice Queen to ruin it. "And what could that be, Ice Queen?"
"Your teeth. And all of ours as well."
"We just beat, what, an army of grimm and got Roman Torchwick locked up, and you're concerned about our teeth?"
"That's what has been done. Now that it's happened, we can deal with smaller problems, an important one being hygiene! So get off that bed and brush your teeth Yang Xiao Long!" Weiss ordered with arguably unnecessary malice, and the brawler groaned and dragged herself to the bathroom.
Blake opened her mouth to say something, but was sharply cut off by a 'beep' from the intercom. "Team RWBY, please report to the headmaster's office as soon as you have settled down." A voice that unmistakably belonged to Glynda Goodwitch said.
"She was out there too, right? And she's already back here as if nothing happened?!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Must be important if Professor Ozpin needs to see us already." Blake commented.
"Well, seeing as she gave us time, everyone brush your teeth before we go." Weiss said as Yang stepped out of the bathroom.
"Wait, you're gonna brush your teeth before meeting them?" The now mint-smelling brawler asked.
"Yes, so wait here and we'll go as a team." Weiss replied. "If you have a problem with that, you can go and have idle chatter with professor Goodwitch. I'm sure she has plenty of things to talk about with you." She added.
Yang raised her hands in surrender. "Okay, gotcha Weiss! Just gonna stay put and wait."
About fifteen minutes later the girls had arrived at Ozpin's office, now with fresh breath. They entered and saw four small chairs facing Ozpin's desk, where the headmaster sat with his filled mug of coffee. Glynda stood just to the side of him, and she gestured towards the four chairs. Team RWBY had sat down for no more than five seconds before Glynda started to talk.
"Have you heard any important rumours about Beacon ever since you came here?" She started, and watched as the four girls looked up in thought, before each shaking their heads.
"Just random stories about students doing dumb things or getting in trouble." Ruby said.
"How about before entering these gates? Any rumours heard then?" She asked, hoping they didn't know anything. Unsurprisingly, they all nodded their heads. "Anything important relating to students? Specifically, students who get expelled?" Please tell me we did a good job. Her prayers were answered as they collectively shook their heads.
"Then let me tell you a story. Or much rather, a memory." Ozpin said as he rose from his desk. "But firstly, you all know that no one has been expelled from this school before, correct?" They nodded once again. "Then let me tell you that that is a false statement. Only one person has ever been expelled, since we have extremely high tolerance of our students' behaviour. His name was Rode. He had also gotten into the school two years early, but unlike Ms. Rose, he had not been such a good student. He was often alone, despite being partnered with his team leader. Few people, including the staff, knew of their internal relations, especially with Rode. What we did know was he had a very sad past, and he was a very angry boy. He had on multiple occasions hurt anyone who spoke ill of him or his team, for which we would reprimand him, since aura fixes most wounds, not to mention our well-equipped infirmary. Each time his partner would be the only one who could stop him without resorting to violence, and due to his skill no one else ever stopped him."
He paused and examined team RWBY's expressions, sipping some coffee as he prepared to tell them the worst part. "Unfortunately, a few of his seniors went too far. As his team walked through the courtyard, his teammates laughing and talking as they walked, they were ambushed by a group of their seniors. His leader's semblance allowed her to get away, pulling Rode with her. They watched as their teammates were easily defeated by the group, and as the group of them stood triumphantly against the pair, they parted to reveal one man. His name was Carrion Winchester, older brother of Cardin Winchester. He insulted the two, pointing out how quickly they abandoned their friends to save themselves. The pair seemed to disregard him, as Rode attempted to control his breathing as his leader tried to calm him down. But Carrion was arrogant, and called out to Rode, telling him to watch as he beat his teammates. Rode muttered something that only his leader and friend will ever know, and he charged straight for Carrion, eyes pulsing with rage. He used his semblance to enhance his punches, knocking out anyone with one punch. It didn't take long to knock out the whole group, but he took it a step further. He stopped draining his aura, and grabbed Carrion and dragged him towards a wall. There, he punched Carrion's head into the wall until it burst, and I won't tell you the details, but suffice it to say that he brutally murdered the Winchester right there, his leader pleading with him to stop. Ms. Goodwitch arrived at the scene, and before he turned on her his leader and only friend kissed him, calming him down. After committing homicide, we had to expel him."
The four girls sat there, mixed expressions on their faces. Should they be sad for Carrion? Or happy for Rode? Was it really Rode who got himself expelled, or is Carrion responsible? But most importantly of all, why was Ozpin telling them this story?
"Professor?" Yang started. "Why did you tell us that story?"
"Because I wanted you to think. Tell me, who do you each think was responsible for Rode's expelling? Carrion, or Rode?"
The four girls thought for a few moments, before all saying their answer at once. "Carrion."
"Then let me ask you this. If you had to make the decision to expel Rode or keep him in the academy, would you? Remember, this is a student who was infamous for hurting many people and being very antisocial, only ever leaving the dorm room with his partner."
"I would keep him, but not without giving him a very strict schedule and keeping some form of security near him at all times." Blake suggested.
"Same thing here!" Ruby said.
"I agree. It would help both him and his peers." Weiss agreed.
"What did he look like?" Yang asked. Everyone in the room looked at her and saw something different. Something they rarely saw. She had a completely serious face, and she did not look like she was asking a trivial question.
"That's an interesting question to ask. He had blonde hair and wore a black suit and red bow tie whenever he wasn't wearing his uniform, and used yellow and red gauntlets. Why do you-"
"What about his eyes?" Yang continued. Her teammates were shocked for a moment. She had just cut off the headmaster of Beacon.
"They were blood red, which pulsed with brightness when he got angry."
"Who was his mother?" Yang asked, looking straight into the eyes of the headmaster. Her teammates realised now why she was so serious.
"Yang Xiao Long, I will talk to you further in private. For now, we have to finish this." Ozpin stated, and Yang quickly reverted to being her usual self.
"Well, I'd keep him around, but I'd have someone really tough on standby just in case." She stated, as if nothing had happened.
"Then we are all on the same page. But it would not bode well for the school or for Rode if we kept a murderer on our premises on purpose. As such, I had to choose from one of two options: Expel him and he'll be left alone to do whatever on Remnant, or keep him and allow him to finish his training, but he'd have to deal with Ironwood himself keeping a close eye on him and Beacon having to deal with allowing a murderer to graduate and become a huntsman. Do you see the problem now?" He said, watching as they nodded their heads once more.
"So, why did you give us a history lesson on Beacon?" Yang asked.
"Because I think you'll be meeting him and his team very soon." He replied.
"His team? Wouldn't they have been separated after he was expelled?" Weiss asked.
"His partner wanted to go with him and wouldn't take no for an answer, so we just removed all records of both of them. The other half of the team are still training here though."
"Wait, training here?! How do we not know about this? I mean, they're a two person team right now, right?" Ruby exclaimed.
"They've been training in secret, going through the same classes, tests and such that you all go through, although instead of being in a room of other students it's just the two of them and a professor." He replied, taking another sip of coffee. "Well, that's all I wanted to talk about. Go ahead and rest up, it's well into the night already."
The four girls got up from their chairs and left the room, their plan simply being to return to the dorm and sleeping.
"Are you sure they are ready for this? This will change everything and we can't stop once we start." Glynda told Ozpin.
"I am well aware that if we mess up we can't change anything, but all things considered, we need to take the risk. We'll need to bring him back." He replied, taking one last sip of coffee. "But you should rest too. It's late after all, and the attack has put a stop to any work you need to do."
As Glynda entered the elevator, she asked Ozpin one last question. "Are you going to let Ms. Xiao Long know?"
He looked at her, and replied with a smile on his face, "Of course I will. It could make a very big impact on Rode and Yang's lives. A good impact."
Author's Section
So this is so much longer than the first chapter, and I'm not all too good with telling stories in the past when I'm already using past tense, know what I mean? So I probably screwed that up, but if you haven't caught on yet, prepare yourselves, for my friends and I's OCs are coming soon. Anyways, thanks for reading, reviews and criticism is welcome if helpful and once again, goodbye!
