Days later, I found myself in the cafeteria. Stone walls surrounded the occupants of the room, complete with a high ceiling and elaborate chandelier. Sounds of mindless chatter bounced off the walls, amplifying the sound. I forced myself to push back my annoyance. Instead, I settled against a wall and scanned the sea of faces for Team RWBY.
RWBY, I thought. Ozpin could have bothered to be a little more subtle about the name.
It took about another minute before I recognized Ruby by her red hood. She was speaking with quick hand gestures, a wide grin on her face, to the blonde haired girl I had seen with Ruby during orientation.
Was she always this… enthusiastic?
I pushed myself off the wall and made my way through the unusually thick crowd of new students. Almost immediately, I caught a movement in the corner of my eye. Instinctively, I stepped backwards just in time as the young, blonde haired boy's momentum sent him tumbling in front of me. He shrieked in a way that seemed familiar.
He was the kid that had been yelling in the Emerald Forest? Oh, that was fantastic.
Years of training allowed my body to respond with minimal effort. My left hand shot out and grabbed the blonde boy by the elbow as he fell. The right snatched his tray of food. Both maneuvers were successful and the boy's decent came to a sudden halt, his face a good foot above the cold floor. There was a momentary struggle as I yanked him into a standing position.
"You alright?" I asked casually.
The blonde boy laughed awkwardly, red flooding into his face. "Oh, yeah, you know. Just didn't watch where I was going… sorry."
This kid was a Beacon student?
Then I noticed his eyes flicker behind him nervously. Something I wasn't meant to notice, no doubt, so I made my own glance all the more subtle. A group of boys – new students, yet again- were laughing hysterically in our direction.
Ah, well. That made sense. The blonde boy emitted a sweet, naiveté that made him stand apart from the crowd. It was different from Ruby's sweetness, from what I could tell. Ruby was a fighter, despite her innocence. This boy was…not.
On the other hand, I truly hated bullies.
"It's alright," I told him. I gave the boy my sweetest smile, emphasized by my blonde hair and deep blue eyes. The poor boy's confusion was palpable. However, I looked at him calmly in the eyes, trying to communicate to him to play along. "How about I walk you to your table? To avoid any further injuries."
I didn't wait for his response. Instead of simply releasing his elbow, I hooked my arm through his while handing him his tray back. The gesture had the intended effect. The laughing from behind us stopped. My smile grew.
"O-okay," He stumbled over the word. Adorable.
After a few moments of silence, I cleared my throat. "So, where is it?"
He stared at me, stunned. "The what?" He asked. I gave him a meaningful look. A second later, there was audible click in his head as he put two and two together. "Oh! Oh, uh, my team is over there." He pointed. Two red headed girls and a boy with a long black pony tail sat across the room. Conveniently, Blonde Boy's team was sitting with team RWBY. I led him over.
The small group of seven, including Ruby, looked up as we approached.
"Jaune, there you are!" One of the red-headed girls exclaimed. Her hair was pulled into a high pony tail, emphasized by a golden hair band. As soon as she saw Jaune, I saw a fire light up in her eyes that I identified immediately.
Ah, young love.
I released Jaune's arm. "Sorry for keeping him. We had a bit of a traffic accident."
The red-head's eyes pinched together in concern. "Cardin again?" She asked.
"It's fine, Pyrrah. We were just joking around." Jaune said, clearly embarrassed. He sat down next to her. Pyrrah's expression softened, although clearly not convinced. She turned to me.
"Well, thanks for getting him here safely." She said.
I nodded, turning my attention to the rest of the group. "No problem."
The blonde girl sitting next to Ruby popped a tomato into her mouth. "You're a new student, too, am I right?"
I vaguely recalled her name. Yang Xiao Long. Ruby's half-sister, if I wasn't mistaken. The thought twisted my stomach into a small knot. Family left an opening for mistakes. Well-intentioned mistakes, perhaps, but mistakes.
I eyed her, still forcing a smile. "Actually, Yang, I'm not." All eight students eyed me. "I'm Team RWBY's mentor."
"Like the candies?" Ruby chimed up.
Oh, dear.
"No, Ruby. Mentor. Not Mento's." A black haired girl piped up. She set down the book she was reading to give me her full attention. Her yellow eyes rested on mine. Something about them piqued my curiosity, but I was unable to place why.
Blake Belladonna, I thought. Fast, good hand-to-hand combat. There was little personal history in her file, however.
"Exactly," I agreed finally. "For the next four years of your training, I am responsible for Team RWBY."
"Like a babysitter?" The white haired girl practically sneered. I searched my brain once again. Weiss Schnee, heir to the Schnee fortune. It was an interesting choice, pairing her in Team RWBY. However, I have long learned to not question Ozpin's motives.
"If you want to think of me that way…" I trailed off. "But I'm mostly here to make sure you guys don't blow yourselves up." That was closer to the truth.
"Well, in that case, I'm Ruby!" Ruby introduced herself.
No Kidding.
"Yeah, actually, I've heard of you already." I told her. Now it was Ruby who flushed red. "Roman Torchwick, huh?" I raised an eyebrow at her. She crumbled under my stare.
"It wasn't like I planned on it. He started it." She nearly whined.
Now it was my turn to be taken aback. I knew from her file she was only 16. But my god, did she ever sound young.
I cleared my throat. "You could have been killed. Torchwick is no pushover, alright?"
I hadn't meant to sound so motherly. But it achieved the desired result. Ruby nodded her head and I allowed the conversation to drop.
"Good" I smiled again at the group. "I'll see you in class, then!" I said happily, soaking in their confused expressions as I turned away.
As soon as I was turned safely away from the group, I dropped the façade. The idea of Ruby, or any first year Beacon student, taking on Roman was enough to send a shiver down my spine. Unwelcome memories threatened to surface, even as I pushed my way through the cafeteria doors and into the open outdoors. I inhaled a couple of deep breaths of fresh air to calm my nerves.
I had a class to prepare for, after all.
"What is a Hunter or Huntress's greatest asset?" I asked the small cluster of young faces in front of me. "And yes, it is a trick question."
There was an exchange of nervous and confused glances. Near the middle of the group I noticed Jaune slowly raise his hand. Almost reflexively, Prryha grabbed his wrist and gently guided it down again. A couple of others responded by shuffling their feet in the dirt, looking anywhere but me.
"Your weapon," Weiss pipped up confidently. I raised an eyebrow, inviting her to explain her answer. She smirked, unbothered by my attention or the attention of those around her. "Your weapon is something that you create or that's handed down to you. You need it to fight. It's a part of you."
"Good answer," I conceded. Her smirk became more arrogant. "But you're wrong." I finished. Her expression collapsed.
"Wrong?" It was as if she had never heard the word before. A few in the class snickered.
"Mostly wrong, anyway. You see, Weiss, I asked a trick question. It's safe for you to assume I am not looking for the obvious answer." I explained. "Does anyone else want to give it another shot?" I scanned the crowd again.
Crickets could be heard chirping from Emerald Forest. I sighed and began to pace around the group.
"The answer I was looking for was you." More confused looks were traded. "Your experience, your knowledge, body and soul. Your greatest asset is what makes you, well, you."
"You mean our aura?" Ruby offered.
"Bingo!" I said as I spun on my heels and pointed at her. "Well, mostly, bingo. The truth is, the answer can be more complicated than that."
"I thought this was Basic Training, not philosophy." Yang stretched her arms above her head, presumably enjoying the warmth that came with having class outside.
"Trust me, young Grass Hopper. It will all make sense in time." I told her. This time, most of the class chuckled. "Yes, this is Basic Training, but I will cover more than that. Whereas Professor Goodwitch will teach you weaponry and more advance battling skills, this class will focus on hand-to-hand combat and mastery over your aura. The idea behind this being that you need to walk before you can run."
"But, we already know hand-to-hand combat." One student that I failed to identify pointed out. Now it was my turn to smirk.
"Do you really?" I asked. There was a general chorus of agreement among the crowd. "Because, I reviewed the footage from your Orientation," I paused for effect. "And you guys sucked."
"But we passed the entry exam to get into Beacon. How can that be true?" The long haired boy from Jaune's team spoke up. Ren, I remembered. I had assumed he was the leader for Team JNPR, only to find out that Jaune had been chosen. I had been surprised at first, but after observing Ren more closely, his reserved nature became a more glaringly obvious hindrance to any potential leadership capabilities.
"Allow me to demonstrate. Ruby?" I called to her firmly, gesturing with my hand. She hesitated for a moment before obliging. She reflexively reached for her scythe. "Leave Crescent Rose there." I told her. There was another hesitation before placing her scythe back on the ground. As she walked over to me, I observed her, mentally listing off her observable strengths and weaknesses while comparing them with my own.
Once she was a couple feet from me, I gave a slight bow as a general courtesy. She returned the bow, although she was clearly uncomfortable with the gesture. Despite attending Signal Academy, she was still uncomfortable with formal fights.
"Um, did you just want me to…" She trailed off.
"Just come at me with whatever you are most comfortable with." I assured her. It was enough confirmation for her, and she settled into a basic fighting stance.
"Come on, Ruby!" I heard Team RWBY and Team JNPR cheer on gleefully.
Predictably, she attempted to close our gap with a high kick. If I had not been prepared for the sheer speed, rather than force, of the kick that she delivered, it would most likely have landed cleanly into my side. However, I knew what was coming and grabbed her leg with relative ease, rolling with the speed of it. By matching her energy, I was able to position myself well enough to pull Ruby in closer to me, temporarily throwing her off balance. My free arm swung down and collided with her left side.
She started to fall to the ground as my maneuver sent her stumbling past me. I was careful to release her leg rather than to twist or break it. She hit the dirt, as I anticipated, but her speed was her saviour. She rolled as soon as she hit the ground and was up again before I could blink. She turned toward me as I settled into a defensive stance. This time she played to her strengths. She lunged towards me, throwing well-executed punches.
My God, her speed is amazing.
I managed to keep pace with her blows, but only just. I had to keep stepping back to give me the space I needed. Eventually, her inexperience was her downfall and neglected her form for speed. I managed another grab her arm after her fourth or fifth punch. Again, her legs proved vulnerable. My grab restricted her movement long enough to place my foot in front of her, locking her legs. I threw her about three feet from me.
Once again, Ruby was on her feet before I was ready. A good tactic, really, despite its simplicity, keeping your opponent from being able to retaliate or recover.
However, it was time to drive my point home. I inhaled in and breathed out.
The effect was instantaneous. I could feel my aura moving underneath my skin, warming my entire body from my core to the tips of my fingers. Electricity surged through me and I relished in the surge of adrenaline that came with it. The sensation was fantastic. I could feel my power.
I knew how dangerous that power exactly was.
Everyone had this power. Aura was what, essentially, could be considered the soul of an individual. It is a power that manifests itself as a Semblence, an ability that was embodied who the person was. The Aura could also be used as armor, if the user knew how. For most, this was a reflex, externalizing the Aura just slightly so as a thin, invisible force field covers the person's body or can be used to heal minor injuries for that person. This is what made armor essentially obsolete. In times of crisis, small bursts of Aura can be used as a deadly weapon. As a whole, however, an Aura held an amazing deal of power.
My aura worked a little differently. My Semblence didn't manifest itself distinctly from the Aura. Rather, it was my Semblence. Others were limited in their ability to externalize or manifest their Aura, as if they were equipped with a safety switch to keep themselves from overloading. I, on the other hand, had no such limitations.
My hands emitted a soft, white light. Power rushed to my fingertips. With a good deal of effort, I restrained myself. Ruby, intently focused on her own attack, realized too late that something had changed in our fight. She had lunged herself at me, unable to stop herself in time. I jumped to the side. She attempted to counter my movement, seeing what was coming. She jumped off to the side to dodge my grab, but it didn't matter. I released a small portion of my Aura, careful to not aim it directly at her.
My Aura blast hit her, despite her best efforts. She landed hard, skidding across the freshly cut grass.
I straightened out of my defensive pose as she began to rise. For a few moments, nobody said anything. "Are you alright, Ruby?" I asked, breaking the silence.
She pushed herself to her feet, eyes wide. "Woah," was all she managed.
I smiled, relieved that she was alright. "I'm glad you thought that was fun." I turned to the rest of the class. Each of them was now watching me intently. "I will say it again; your greatest asset is you, not your weapon. Your weapon is merely an extension of you. Remember that this applies to your opponent as well as yourself. Each of you has your own experiences, your own weaknesses and, more importantly, your own strengths. Your weapons, or rather what you can do with your weapons, are merely a reflection of that. Remember that, and I know all of you will become great Hunters and Huntresses. Each of you has a power inside of you." I told them.
To emphasize my point, I reached for my Aura once more. This time, my Aura manifested directly in front of me. A light ball of energy floated gracefully. After a few seconds of intense concentration, the energy ball took shape. Suddenly, a bright, white bird stood in its place.
The bird grew and more of its details become apparent. I willed it to fly around the now-gawking crowd of students.
"How are you doing this?" Prryha's voice was almost inaudible.
"That is your power. That is the reason we are here." I answered. After another moment, I willed the bird away. A small wave of exhaustion hit me as I did, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. "Class dismissed."