Chapter 1: The new arrivals
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Hm?
Oh, it's you again. Welcome back.
Since we're here, how about another little history lesson? Let me tell you about the first people to roam Remnant.
Don't worry, I'll keep this brief.
Ahem.
Man, originally born from dust, was strong, wise and resourceful. However, he was born into a cruel and unforgiving world. As soon as man came to be, an inevitable darkness had lured over him.
Remember the creatures of Grimm? They had set their sights on man and all of his creations.
And soon enough, the two forces clashed. But the darkness seemed intent on extinguishing man's short and fragile existence in the world. Fortunately…
Even the smallest glimmer of hope, is enough to ignite change. And in time, man's passion, resourcefulness and ingenuity led him to the power he needed to even the odds.
This power was appropriately named 'Dust'.
And with nature's wrath in hand, man managed to light his way through the darkness. And in the darkness' absence, came strength, civilization…
And life.
.
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Unfortunately, even the most brilliant of lights are bound to eventually flicker and die-
"And when they are gone, darkness is bound to return."
Huh?
"So you may prepare your guardians...build your monuments to a so-called free world, but take heed...There will be no victory in strength."
Now hold on-
"But perhaps victory isn't in strength. It may be in the simpler things you seem to have long forgotten. Things that require a smaller, more honest soul."
Alright you two, break it up. This is my narration. Get out.
*a door opens and closes, before the sound of someone plopping in a chair is heard*
Well, since they brought their lovers quarrel over here, I gotta go find another quiet place for this.
I'll continue the next time we meet.
Until then…
As night befell the city of Vale, each of it's shops had begun to close it's door.
Except for a small dust shop called 'From Dust till Dawn'. This shop was still open, even though there were only two people currently inside.
The owner, an elderly gray-haired man with wrinkles under his eyes and over his brow, wearing a green shirt and a red apron.
The old man was situated behind the counter at the front entrance, while the other person inside was a ways off, reading some magazines in a back corner of the shop.
*click*
Everything was quiet, until the door to the shop opened.
A man accompanied by multiple goons in black suits entered the shop. This man had bright orange hair and green eyes. He wore a red-lined white suit with long black pants and black shoes, a small gray scarf, black gloves with buckled sleeves, and a black bowler hat with a small feather tucked into its red band. The man also had a cane in hand, and was currently smoking a cigar.
This was Roman Torchwick, an infamous criminal.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop opened this late?" Roman took a puff of his cigar, before addressing the old man behind the counter.
Said man quickly raised his hands in the air, and spoke in a shaky voice.
"P-Please! Just take the Lien and leave!"
"Shhh. We're not here for your money." Roman spoke calmly, before turning to his goons and motioning to the Dust Storage behind the old man.
"Grab the Dust."
His henchmen didn't need another order and got to work.
One of them brought out a suitcase and placed it on the counter. Then, they all grabbed a couple of cylindrical jars and went to collect the Dust.
Meanwhile another goon placed a container in front of the shopkeep.
"Crystals. Burn, uncut."
The shopkeep immediately handed the henchman a couple of red colored crystal from the glass display.
As that was happening, one of Roman's henchmen moved around through one of the isles in the back of the shop, where he began hearing faint music.
Following the sound, he came upon a short person wearing a red hood, peacefully reading magazines.
"Alright kid, put your hand where I can see 'em."
"..."
The goon's order fell on deaf ears, as the person didn't move an inch. This cause a vein to appear on the goons forehead.
"Hey, I said hands in the air!"
"..."
"Grr, you got a death wish or something?!"
*grab*
Getting fed up, the goons stomped over and grabbed the person hood and yanked it down.
With it, he revealed a cute young girl with short black hair ending in red tips, pale complexion and big silver eyes. She also had a pair of headphones on.
"Huh?" the girl released a confused sound, looking up at the henchman. Said henchman gestured for her headphones, which she took off. "Yes?"
"I said put your hands in the air, now!" the goon exclaimed.
The girl merely tilted her head to the side, looking at the goon curiously.
"Are you...robbing me?"
"Yes!" the exasperation couldn't be clearer in the man's voice.
However, the young girl merely narrowed her eyes slightly while gaining a small smirk.
Back by the counter, Roman was currently admiring one of the red crystals the shopkeep gave him.
"Hey!"
"Hyah!
*CRASH-!*
However, he was interrupted when one of his henchmen whizzed past his head before crashing face first into the back wall.
Roman merely glanced at the man, before motioning for another one of his goons to take care of whatever the problem was.
So the man rushed over to where the young girl was and pointed his weapon at her.
"Freeze!"
.
.
*CRASH-!* *shatter*
However, it didn't take more than a few moments for this goon to be sent flying through the shop's glass panes, landing on the street unconscious.
*tap*
And following right behind him, was the girl clad in red who gracefully landed next to the downed goon.
Going outside, Roman and the rest of his goons looked on as the girl unfurled a giant mechanical scythe, before she stabbed it into the ground gave Roman a challenging smirk.
"Okayyy..." Roman started, before looking at the goons. "Get her!"
His henchmen didn't hesitate and rushed outside with their weapons ready, surrounding the young girl.
The first goon to attack used his sword for a downward slash, which the girl dodged by using her scythe as a ledge before spinning around and planting her face in the man's face to send him packing. Using her momentum, she ripped the scythe out of the ground and landed in a battle stance.
When one of the guys went to attack her, she pulled the trigger on the scythes handle, firing a powerful round which made her spin very fast and with the built up momentum she slammed her scythe into the attacking henchman.
This sent him fling over several rooftops, passing by a Jackdaw that was conveniently perched on an antenna that gave a perfect view of the current fight.
Back to the actual fight, the girl used her scythe as a blunt object once more, slamming it against the side of a goons head and sending him flying as well.
As a third goon raised his gun, she she fired her own rounds and managed to avoid the bullets just in time. She did this two more times, before using her own speed and momentum to knock the guy out with the blunt side of her weapon.
The goon was knocked back, landing conveniently right at Roman's feet.
The man glanced at the unconscious goon and lightly shook his head.
"You were worth every cent. Truly, you were." he then looked up at the young girl. "Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening," he threw his cigar on the ground and used his cane to put it out. "-and as much as I'd love to stick around..." then the cane raised, to reveal a gun barrel pointed directly at the girl. "..I'm afraid this is where we part ways."
*BANG*
Fortunately, the girl managed to avoid Roman's shot by propelling herself in the air with the use of her own gun. But as she landed back on the ground, she saw Roman was gone.
However, a simply head turn was enough for the girl to spot Roman trying to climb a ladder to make a getaway on the rooftops.
She then turned to the old shopkeep who was now standing at the door.
"Mind if I go after him?"
receiving a short nod, the girl used her massive scythe to fling herself on the rooftops after Roman.
"Hey!" she shouted, making the ginger stop in his tracks.
"Persistent..." Roman grumbled, the girl assuming a battle stance, scythe at the ready.
*WHOOSH-*
At that moment, a humongous airship lifted itself in the air right in front of Roman. The sudden appearance surprised the young girl.
Roman quickly got on the ship and looked back at the girl as the bullhead raised itself into the air.
"End of the line, Red!"
Roman brought out one of the crystals he stole from the shop before and threw it right at the girl's feet.
*BANG-!* *BOOM!*
He then proceeded to shoot the crystal which created a massive explosion right in the girls face.
"Wha-ho-ho!" Roman cheered, thinking the girl was dead.
However, he opened his eyes wide as the smoke cleared.
In front of the girl now stood a bespectacled blonde haired woman with green eyes and a cape, holding a riding crop in her hand.
She had saved the child, by erecting a purple barrier of sorts.
"Hm.." the woman hummed in thought for a brief moment.
She then turned to the bullhead and, with a wave of her riding crop, she sent multiple blasts towards the ship. This caused the aircraft to shake violently, almost causing Roman to fall off.
He then rushed to the pilot's cabin.
"We've got a Huntress!"
Without hesitation, the pilot, which was a woman in a red dress with a golden pattern quickly stood up and left, leaving Roman to take care of piloting the Bullhead.
Back on the roof top, the blonde Huntress gained a purple glow on her body as she sent forth an energy blast into the night sky.
Within moments, dark cloud formed above the ship, causing Roman to look around confused.
"The hell…?"
Back outside, the Huntress waved her crop downwards which made a couple of giant ice spike fall down and nail themselves into the ship, almost stabbing Roman as well.
Then, the woman in the red dress appeared at the ships entrance. Her face was being covered by the shadows, but her bright amber eyes remained visible.
Igniting flames in her hand, the woman sent a fire blast towards the Huntress, which was was blocked with ease.
But as the cinders of the attack flew around the rooftop, the woman in the red dress waved her hand around which caused the cinders to ignite once more and explode, prompting both the Huntress and the young girl to jump back to safety.
The bespectacled Huntress then waved her riding crop once more, which gathered the debris from the explosion into a massive spear of sorts.
As the spear flew toward the aircraft, the mysterious woman launched a fire attack and shattered it, however it reformed right after and continued on it's war path which forced roman to maneuver the ship out of the way.
The spear dissolved, and formed into three new spears, all three ready to attack the ship again.
Knowing she didn't have time to destroy all three of them, the woman in the red dress conjured up rings of flames around her and released them as a blast wave which disintegrated the spears.
Back on the roof, the small girl turned her scythe into a high caliber rifle and began firing a couple of rounds at the woman on the ship.
However, she managed to block the shots using her hand alone. Then with another wave of her hand, the woman ignited multiple explosion rings and immediately afterward sent a fire blast at the two on the roof.
Thinking quickly, the Huntress used her riding crop to fling the young girl out of the blast radius while the huntress herself flipped out of harm's way.
But she was caught off guard by the second fire blast that heading for them. Fortunately, she didn't need to act.
*flare*
Within the blink of an eye, the fire blast was consumed by black flames which immediately dissolved into a bunch of black feathers that began floating down around the Huntress and the young girl.
Roman saw that the two became distracted and used this golden opportunity to turn the bullhead around and escape.
Back on the rooftop, the young girl watched as the black feathers seemingly danced around her with curious eyes, before she heard the faint sounds of footsteps coming from behind her.
"Thought you could use another Hunter's hand."
Hearing a smooth male voice, both women turned to see a tall young man making his way toward them.
If he hadn't spoken, the girl would have no way of knowing if it was really a man, as the large crimson coat he wore covered his body from head to toe while a black hood masked the man's face.
"Humpf-!"
The blonde Huntress was surprised at the arrival of this man, however in the end she simply crossed her arms over her generous bust and huffed.
The man released a chuckle, before he noticed that the young girl now appeared in between the two.
"You guys are Hunters!" her big silver eyes were currently glowing with glee and she quickly took out a notepad. "Can I have your autographs?!"
[…] The two Hunters stared at the girl for a brief moment, before glancing at each other.
"...You can deal with this."
The woman gestured toward the beaming girl.
The man nodded his head seriously, causing the girl's eagerness to recede slightly.
"Alrighty then, who will this awesome autograph be to, hmm? Little Red, or the Riding Hood?"
"-!"
However, both the girl and the Huntress were surprised when the man crouched down to the young girls level and took a pen out of nowhere.
"Oh! M-My name's Ruby Rose!" seeing she wasn't actually in trouble, the girl's glee returned and she even gained a few starts in her eyes.
"Right then! 'A very special thanks to the brave Ruby Rose, who-"
*SMACK-!*
"YEAOOW!"
"THIS IS NOT WHAT I MEANT YOU IDIOT!"
The man had actually begun signing an autograph for the young girl, before he was cracked over the head by a riding crop and consequently yelled at by the blonde Huntress.
"Fine then! You can deal with her~"
"Wait a sec-!"
*poof-!*
As he rubbed the top of his head, the man stuck his tongue out at the Huntress, before disappearing in a burst of black feathers.
"Wooahh.." the young girl stared in awe as the feathers began disintegrating right in front of her eyes.
"..." the Huntress on the other hand didn't look to pleased.
But in the end, she could only sigh.
A while later, the young girl was seated on a chair in a gray room. And the Huntress was currently lecturing her.
"I hope you realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly, young lady. You put yourself and others in great danger."
"They started it!"
"If it were up to me you would be sent home with a pat on the back..." the young girl gained a hopeful expression "...and a slap on the wrist!" however the hope disappeared, when the Huntress slammed her riding crop on the table, causing the girl to release an 'Eek!' while retracting her hand from the table in fear of getting her fingers slapped.
The Huntress then glanced at the door.
"But...there is someone who would like to meet you."
It was then that a man walked in. A middle-aged man with tousled silver hair and thin brown eyes. He had a light complexion and sharp facial features, wore shaded glass spectacles and a small, purple cross-shaped pin on the cowl around his neck.
His outfit mainly consisted of an unzipped black suit over a buttoned vest and green shirt. He also wore black trouser shoes and long dark-green pants.
In one hand, he carried a plate full of cookies while holding a coffee mug in the other hand.
"Ruby Rose.", was the man's short greeting. Going over to the table, he leaned down and looked at young girl's eyes. "You have...silver eyes."
"Um.."
"So." the man abruptly cut her off. "Where did you learn to do this?"
Glancing at the Huntress, he gestured toward video footage of young Ruby mopping the floor with Roman's henchmen.
"Uh..Signal Academy." Ruby's answer caused the man to raise an eyebrow.
"They taught you how to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?"
"Well, one teacher in particular."
"I see..."
The man then placed the plate of cookies on the table and slid it in front of Ruby.
She looked at the cookies before looking back at the man.
"Are these strawberry chip cookies?" she asked. The man gave a simple nod. "These are my favorites! How did you know?"
"A little bird told me."
Ruby then picked up a cookie, and quickly stuffed it in her mouth. Looking at the two adults, as if confirming it was really alright, she then began rapidly stuffing the cookies in her mouth as if there was no tomorrow.
The bespectacled man was amused by the sight, but continued talking normally.
"The reason I asked you, is because I've only seen two other scythe-wielders of this caliber. One of them happens to be an old dusty crow.:
"Mmm. Thash muh unkhul!"
[..?]
Ruby answered, however even she heard it came out as incoherent garble. So she swallowed the cookies in her mouth and repeated herself.
"Sorry, that's my uncle, Qrow. He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. And now I'm all like- Hoowaahhh! Wiatchaaa!"
"So I've noticed" the man gave a slight smile at the girl's antics. "And what is an adorable girl like yourself doing at a school built to train young warriors?" he asked, taking a seat opposite of Ruby.
"Well...I want to become a Huntress." Ruby said honestly.
"You want to slay monsters?"
"Yeah!" was Ruby's immediate answer. "I've only got two more years of training left at Signal. Then, I'm going to apply to Beacon! You see, my sister's starting there this year, and she's also trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress cuz' I wanna help people-" Ruby began talking and gesturing quite a lot. "-My parents always taught us to help others, so I thought 'Hey, I might as well make a career out of it right?' I mean the police are alright, but Huntsman and Huntresses are just so much more excitingandromanticandcoolandjustohmy- gosh, you know?!" with a final burst of air, Ruby finished her hyperactive ramblings.
[...]
While the woman was looking at the girl confused, the man subtly leaned over to her.
"Looks like it runs in the family after all."
He then turned back to Ruby.
"Do you know who I am?"
"You're Professor Ozpin. The Headmaster of Beacon."
"Hello."
"Nice to meet you."
With a small smile, Ozpin leaned over to the redhead.
"So you want to come to my school?"
"More than anything."
Hearing this, the gray haired man glanced back at his colleague.
"Glynda?"
"..Humpf!" the blonde gave a simple huff, causing Ozpin to release a silent chuckle before turning back to Ruby.
"...Welcome aboard Mrs. Rose."
This made Ruby's face to light up with glee, as big smile appearing on her face.
Ruby was allowed to return home shortly afterward.
Now, Ozpin and Glynda had returned to Beacon via Bullhead.
As the walked on school grounds, Ozpin suddenly stopped in his tracks. Glancing back, the bespectacled woman raised an eyebrow.
"Something wrong, professor Ozpin?"
*Caw-!*
"Looks like someone's returned..."
Ozpin took a sip of his drink as he stared up at the black jackdaw situated of the one of the lighting rods situated at various locations on the school.
He then watched as the bird spread it's wings and took off toward the school's tallest tower, which was also Ozpin's office.
"Looks like he brought news too."
"Or just another autograph..."
Hearing Glynda mumbling, Ozpin raised an eyebrow while giving the blonde a curious glance.
"Need to get something off your chest, Prof. Goodwitch?"
"No it's nothing. Just the usual antics."
"Fufufu. Come Glynda, a little bit of fun here and there never hurt. Let him act childish sometimes. After all...Those rare moments are the only time we get the see the old him."
"I know...I know."
A solemn silence befell the two for a while, before Ozpin began walking toward the school again.
"Let's be on our way. He's probably waiting for us already."
Ozpin then began walking towards the school with Glynda following close behind him.
Entering the school, the two adults walked the empty hallways for a few moments before coming to a halt in front of an escalator.
Stepping inside, the two were quickly brought to the top of the tower.
The doors opened to reveal the headmaster's office which in all honesty was just a massive lookout overseeing the campus with a medium sized desk in the middle of it.
The ceiling was probably the most curious sight as it consisted of many clock gears intertwining with each other. But none of them seemed to be moving at the moment.
Stepping inside the room, Ozpin and Glynda looked around but found absolutely no one.
"You guys sure took your time getting here."
However, a familiar smooth voice did resound through the room from no discernible location.
Ozpin and Glynda began walking toward the Headmaster's desk as Ozpin conversed with the unknown person.
"I'm afraid not all of us have been gifted with flight, Garnet."
"You know I wasn't gifted with this from the beginning either." the voice, now identified as Garnet, gave a barely audible chuckle.
Ozpin gave his own soft chuckle as he sat down in his chair, Glynda positioning herself a little distance away as she glanced around the room. The headmaster then took a sip of his drink before continuing the conversation.
"You're right, I haven't forgotten the child that used to run around the place all the time. But putting reminiscing aside for a moment, how did the mission go? I assume it was a breeze as usual?"
*shuffle* *shuffle*
"Well, not this time."
[-?]
Ozpin heard some shuffling in the cogs above his head, before Garnet's answer came. And when it did, both Hunters present raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? Did something go wrong?"
"No, but it's a good thing you sent me to deal with it. Anyone else would've been at a real risk of getting ripped apart by those things."
"Those things?" Ozpin's voice carried a hint of curiosity. "So the reports were correct? There were indeed mutant subjects being tested on?"
"Oh yeah. And those thing pack a mean punch."
Hearing that, Glynda glanced around the room once more before speaking.
"For you to to say something like that...Are you alright?" there was a hint of concern in the blonde's voice.
"I'm alive at least."
*tap* *tap*
This time, Garnet's voice came from one of the dark corner's of the room.
And from the shadows, the same cloaked man from before stepped out.
Walking into the moonlit middle of the room, he took off his hood and revealed his face fully.
He had medium length spiky black hair than ended in deep crimson streaks, a pale complexion and sharp facial features. His crimson left eye also seemingly glowed in the dim light, almost like a hawk's.
However, now that he was standing in better lighting, his appearance was visibly roughed up. This surprised both Glynda and Ozpin a considerable amount.
"Goodness gracious..."
Glynda almost immediately went over to the young man, beginning to give him a check up which caused a sweatdrop to appear on Garnet's face.
"Glynda, I'm fine. Stop."
"Fine? Look at you!" the blonde gestured at the now visible scratches and small bruises on Garnet's face. "These are the most injuries I've seen on you ever since you became a Hunter!"
*smack-*
"-OW!" to emphasize her point, Glynda gave Garnet a smack on the chest, putting barely any force behind it, which ignited a very real yelp of pain from Garnet.
She then grabbed his cloak and pulled it to the side to reveal three long gashes visible through Garnet's black jacket. Looking closer, there were other small wounds scattered around the young man's torso area.
She then looked up at Garnet with a stern expression.
"This is exactly what I mean! Don't walk around with wounds like these all nilly willy as if they're nothing!"
"But they are nothing. They'll be gone by tomorrow." Glynda's eyes narrowed slightly at Garnet's dismissive tone.
He then reached in his back pocket and pulled out a slick black scroll.
"Here." in a fluid motion, Garnet tossed the Scroll to Ozpin who caught it with ease. "The good ol' doctor had a self destruct button set up in case someone managed to bypass security and reach his research. That's all I managed to salvage."
"The facility?"
"Burnt to the ground."
"The test subjects?"
"I killed all the ones I came across but I don't know if there were others that could have escaped."
"I see...And the doctor?"
"He managed to escape when he activated the self destruct sequence in the lab. I tried to go after him but his damn lab critters swarmed me and gave him just enough time to get away."
During the conversation, Ozpin read through the contents of the scroll which he eventually placed on the table accompanied by a short sigh.
"It's most worrying that he escaped, especially while there's a chance some of his test subjects escaped as well. But at least neither will be an immediate threat, for now."
"I found him before and I can find him again. The mutants are quite different from the regular Grimm so they shouldn't be to hard to track down either. You just have to say the word."
Although Garnet's face displayed full willingness to continue his mission, Ozpin had different plans.
"It's fine. As long as you destroyed the majority of the mutant subjects, there's no need to rush."
"Are you sure?"
"We need you here Garnet." Glynda was the one to answer the boy's question. Ozpin then continued.
"She's right. The Vytal Festival is nearing. We need you here, to ensure the security it's at it's finest. We don't want any...unwanted guests dropping in."
Understanding the meaning behind those words, Garnet nodded.
"Alright, I understand."
After that, Garnet spent a little while explaining about the 'mutants' he encountered while on his mission.
"So yeah, that's about the gist of it. The mutants are bigger, badder and more durable. It definitely needs a full team working in sync to take those bastards down. Even some of the other Hunters would have trouble I think."
"Hmm..." Ozpin hummed lightly. "I'll make sure to send out some warnings to the other headmasters in case they or any of their students happen to see a mutant. But for the moment, here."
Saying that, Ozpin grabbed the Scroll Garnet had given him and tossed it back to the young man.
"For safe keeping. If you happen to find anything else that seems important to you, make sure to let me know."
"Got it."
With that, the air in the room seemingly got a little lighter, with Ozpin leaning back in his chair.
"It'll be a while before you have to go on another mission so take that time to rest. You've pushed yourself far enough."
"I'm just fine Ozpin-"
*cough* *hack*
Garnet tried to deny being tired, but was interrupted by a sudden coughing fit that made his knees buckle for the briefest of moments. As he hunched over, he saw tiny blood splatters soaking into his glove.
"Obviously you're not fine." Ozpin's voice carried an air of seriousness in it. "You have immense stamina, but your body is reaching it's limit Garnet. You're pushing yourself too hard, too quickly. Overexerting yourself could potentially lead to total organ failure and I doubt even your Semblance can recover all of your vital organs in time."
"..." Garnet didn't say anything this time.
It was clearly visible by looking at Garnet's condition that Ozpin was right. So the young man simply released a tired sigh.
"Alright, fine. I'll try and get some rest, if I can even fall asleep..."
"Nightmares again?" Glynda spoke knowingly and with what seemed to be motherly concern.
"Again? They never stopped to begin with..." Garnet then seemed to remember something.
"By the way, how did the little interrogation go?"
Ozpin took a sip of his hot cocoa and leaned back in his chair.
"It was...enlightening to say the least. Thank you for telling me her favorite snack before hand. Those cookies worked wonders in keeping her calm. Well, she also got a little too hyperactive but I guess that's to be expected from her, right?"
"Yup. She's just a ball of energy sometimes." Garnet chuckled before getting a strawberry chip cookie out of nowhere and taking a bite. "But if you ever need to get her under control, strawberry chip cookies are the way to go. She'll do anything for them."
"I'll have to remember that."
"Yeah, you'll need to. Especially if her sister ropes her into anything crazy or something. Have some of them cookies ready at any time and you'll have few problems with her."
Hearing that, Ozpin chuckled.
"Are you afraid she'll cause trouble?"
"Probably, but hey. Let's hope for the best."
"Fufu~ Yes, let's hope young Ruby doesn't bring the academy down."
Garnet and Ozpin shared a laugh, while Glynda watched from the side with a small smile, seeing Garnet laugh.
After they finished laughing, Garnet adjusted his cloak to cover his body once more and turned on his heels, glancing back at Ozpin.
"Well, I'm going to try and hit the sack. With some luck, I might get some deep sleep from the exhaustion, ahaha~"
He said that laughing, but it was clear that it meant much more to Garnet.
*tap*
Feeling a soft hand on his shoulder, Garnet glanced back see Glynda looking at him with a comforting gaze.
"I'll be with you shortly. Don't worry about a thing."
Hearing the reassuring words, Garnet allowed a small genuine smile to appear on his face.
"Thanks Glyn...You're the best."
With that, Garnet walked over to the elevator and left the room.
Left alone, the silence was broken as Glynda released a heavy sigh. Seeing this, Ozpin raised an eyebrow.
"Are the nightmares that bad?"
"I think that would be an understatement. They're slowly turning into night terrors, everytime he tries to sleep. Unless he's completely exhausted, he'll inevitable wake up screaming in the middle of the night."
Glancing back at the elevator door, Ozpin gained an almost remorseful look in his eyes.
"I knew I shouldn't have sent him and his team on that mission. It all spiraled out of control after that…" he mumbled, staring into his coffee mug. "Of all the mistakes I've ever done, this is one of the one's I regret the most. I can only imagine what it feels like to lose so much so quickly, especially at such a young age."
"Obviously it left a deep scar on him. Even worse, having to do...that..."
At the mention of the mysterious event, Ozpin's expression dropped further.
Without saying a word, Ozpin stood up and went over to the giant glass windows. He then glanced down into a slightly remote part of the campus, where what seemed like a stone monument was placed.
"Do you think he'll ever recover?" Glynda broke the silence, as the headmaster looked out into the night sky.
"In time, yes. However wounds like that don't heal on their own Glynda. He needs help. But you already know that, right?"
"..." Glynda remained silent, already knowing what Ozpin was referring to. "...I tried my best, but it seems like I'm barely making any progress."
Hearing this, something seemingly passed through the headmaster's mind that made him glance back at his desk.
Walking over, he placed his mug down and picked up a file. Looking through it, he spoke offhandedly.
"Maybe you shouldn't be alone in trying to help him..."
"Huh?"
"Did you know that Garnet had a few encounters with a student a while ago?"
"H-He did?" Glynda was slightly taken aback by this. For personal reasons which even she didn't know completely, Garnet made it a point to avoid interacting with students unless absolutely necessary.
So hearing that he encountered a single student multiple times was surprising.
Ozpin then handed Glynda the file, so she could see what student he was talking about.
"Velvet Scarlatina?" once again, there was a decent amount of surprise in her voice.
"Surprising, isn't it? Mrs. Scarlatina randomly encountered him one night and actually managed to talk to him for a bit."
"I don't think even she knows how great a feat that is" Glynda mumbled offhandedly. "Does she know who Garnet actually is?"
"I doubt it. But it's curious, isn't it? Something about Mrs. Scarlatina made Garnet feel alright with revealing himself to her."
"Are you saying she could help him get over his past?"
Glynda wasn't stupid, and she knew why Ozpin brought this up now of all times.
Said man showed a pensive expression.
"Not on her own but maybe with both of your help, you could speed up the recovery process. Who knows, maybe Garnet will even find love again in you two~"
The last part was obviously an off handed joke, however Glynda seemed surprisingly affected by it.
"P-Prof. Ozpin! I couldn't possibly have such a r-relationship with Garnet! And Mrs. Scarlatina is too young for him too!"
"She's 18, a consenting adult."
"Still!"
Ozpin gave a short laugh as Glynda slapped Velvet's folder on the desk.
"Relax Glynda, it was just a joke. No need to get so worked up about it."
"Humpf!"
Like before, Glynda crossed her arms over her bust and huffed. She then turned on her heels and began walking away.
"If that's all, I'll be taking my leave now. Knowing Garnet, he'll probably try to tire himself out even more, so I need to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. Goodnight."
And with that, Glynda was gone as well, leaving Ozpin all alone in his office.
_linebreaktotimeskipthenextmajorevent,ohmygah_
"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is coming to Beacon with me!" a young blonde haired girl exclaimed, while hugging an embarrassed Ruby very tightly. "This is the best day ever!"
"Y-Yang..Please stop."
"But I'm so proud of you!"
"It was nothing sis. Really"
Yang looked incredulously at her sister.
"What do you mean? You were incredible! Everyone at Beacon is going to think you're the bees knees!"
However, Ruby didn't seem to keen on being in the spotlight.
"But I don't wanna be the "bee's knees", okay? I don't want to be any kind of knees! I want to be a normal girl, with normal knees." she pointed at her knees to emphasize her point.
"What's with you? Aren't you excited?"
Ruby shook her head while glancing at the ground.
"Of course I'm excited...I just..I got moved ahead two years. I don't want people to think I'm something special, you know?"
"But you ARE special!" Yang encouraged her sister, draping her hand over the redhead's shoulder.
"The robbery was led by the nefarious criminal, Roman Torchwick, who continues to avoid authorities." however the sister's moment was interrupted by the news station. "If you have information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you Lisa."
"Thank you Cyril. In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Right's Protest turned dark, when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now disrupted..." and it was then the news holograms turned off, and in it's stead, a holographic Glynda appeared in front of the students.
"Hello, and welcome to Beacon." she greeted the students, getting everyone's attention.
"Woah, who's that?", Yang asked her sister.
"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."
"Oh."
"You, are among the privileged few, who have been selected to attend this prestigious academy. As our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, it's your duty as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed, for such a task. And now, it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect our world."
The hologram disappeared as soon as it appeared.
"Wow~" Ruby exclaimed, as her and a few other students approached the windows of the air ship. "Look, you can see Signal from up here. I guess home isn't so far after all."
Ruby then felt Yang's hand on her shoulder, turning back to see the blonde giving a the young girl a smile.
"Beacon's our home now."
The two then heard someone groaning behind them.
Turning to look, they saw a young man with blonde hair hunched over in one of the corners. He then quickly turned and headed to the end of the ship while gagging.
"Well...I guess the view isn't for everyone." Yang's remark was met with a nod from Ruby.
"I was a nice moment while it lasted."
"Now I'm left wondering who we're gonna meet there."
"I just hope they're better than "Vomit Boy"..." Ruby then noticed something. "-Oh, Yang! Gross, you have puke on your shoe!"
"Gross, gross, gross..." Yang mumbled in a panic, trying to get the puke off her shoe.
"Get away Get away! Get away from me!" Ruby tried to get away from her sister while shouting.
Off into the distance, on one of Beacon's towers stood Garnet, now dressed in a black dress shirt with red collar and ornaments. He also wore matching black dress pants and dark brown boots, his gloves and maroon coat ever present.
Though he didn't have his hood over his head now.
As he was watching the ship approach beacon, he suddenly chuckled.
"Looks like Beacon is going to be a lot of fun with you two around..."
Then, his body exploded into a mass of black feathers again, slowly falling towards the ground, disappearing in the process.
And that's a wrap!
Edit: 02.02.19
Welp, here we go!
The first chapter overhauled and rewritten. I changed quite a few things like completely rewriting the dialogues alluding to Garnet's past and even sprinkled some hints about his Semblance.
I tried to fix all grammatical errors I came across but I may have missed a few. I apologize if I did.
Also reworked the majority of the dialogue in this chapter, rewriting it so it wouldn't be so repetitive with the whole 'he said' 'she said'. Hopefully it's easier to read now.
Now it's time to rewrite the second chapter~
But considering how long it took to rewrite this chapter, it's going to take longer than expected to rewrite the other two chapters. I apologize…
But anyway, hopefully you enjoy this chapter~ Tell me if you did in the reviews. And if you didn't like it, what should I do better?
I'll see y'all next chapter!
Seeya~