Chapter 2: Starting Classes

"Russell Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark." Ozpin listed off the names as the four boys' faces formed together on the large screens overhead, "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward the four of you shall work together as team CRDL, led by Cardin Winchester."

Alexei stood at the back of the stage, a barely noticeable cloaked figure that few even bothered to glance over. He watched the newly formed team CRDL walk off the stage. Their performance hadn't impressed him at all. When the group was faced with a large ursa major they immediately ran in a cowardly fashion. He was particularly disgusted with Cardin Winchester who had first met a wolf Faunus boy as his partner, but instead of partnering with him as he should have, Cardin had beaten the boy to a pulp. Luckily, the wolf boy had managed to get away and partner up with a human girl who had a healing semblance, and was much kinder than Cardin.

Next walked up another team, the one that had defeated the Deathstalker.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie." Alexei felt sadness wash over him. He wondered if this was what his team would have looked like a year ago, standing tall and proud of their accomplishments. Instead, one was dead, one was in a deep coma, one was crippled, and one had a bloodthirsty monster within him.

"The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces," Alexei wondered if Ozpin was color blind, the pieces were gold, "From this day forward you will work together as team JNPR."

The giggly hammer girl in pink wrapped her arms around the neck of the stoic boy in green, giving a laugh as she did so. The two must have been dating.

"Led by Jaune Arc."

The blond haired boy gave a sound of surprise. Alexei was surprised by the decision as well. Thinking back the boy had proven himself to be intelligent, but far from combat ready. He decided not to question it. In the year that he had known Ozpin he had learned that the man thought in mysterious ways.

The girl in bronze colored armor next to Jaune, assumingly Pyrrha, gave him a smile and a punch on the arm which knocked him to the ground, causing laughter to erupt from the crowd.

JNPR exited the stage as the last team arrived.

"And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long." Alexei looked at his two friends from Signal. He had been close with them. Marcus had had no interest in hanging out with them but Alexei had spent many days with Yang and later Ruby when she had entered Signal. Ruby had introduced him to her uncle Qrow who had helped him with Gray Death's creation. He silently wondered how the two had taken the news of his supposed death. He knew that they might have spent a week or two in mourning but they couldn't have possibly grieved as long as he knew his parents had.

His father probably tried to bury himself as far into his work as possible, while his mother had probably quit her job entirely and mourned for months before trying to even leave the house. He had known that both of his parents suffered from depression but he preferred that they think their child was dead rather than know that he was a monster.

"The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward you shall work together as team RWBY. Led by Ruby Rose."

The four members minus Yang looked shocked and as Yang hugged Ruby. Alexei couldn't help but feel shocked as well. He had known that Ruby had tremendous fighting skill, especially for someone two years younger than the rest here, but he had never seen her as a leader.

"Looks like things are shaping up to be an…interesting year." that had been the third time today that Ozpin had said that today.

Alexei watched as team RWBY turned and saw Ruby give a look at him. Alexei was glad that the cloak and mask covered up his entire body. The only thing she could see were his dark eyes which were common enough in the kingdom of Vale.

"Headmaster Ozpin, who's that?" she asked while pointing at him.

"I almost forgot." he said. The crowd had gone silent as the dark gray figure stepped forward hesitantly. "This is Alexis Gray. He is a student who, due to unfortunate circumstances, could not start his first year last year, and will be joining you all this year. He will be his own team, but anyone caught attempting to provoke him into causing violence will be dealt with harshly."

The crowd was unsure what to do and continued to clap for Alexei who furiously stared at Ozpin. He could see that most of the students were giving him strange looks. They had all noticed Alexei but didn't give much thought to his presence, but now that they had a name and knew that he was a student receiving special treatment he seemed to have captured their interest. They all wanted to know who the mystery student was. He turned around and walked off the stage as Ozpin announced where they could go to find their dorm rooms as well as scrolls and luggage.

Alexei waited at the stairs for Ozpin who led him to his office, knowing that Alexei would want to talk. When Ozpin closed the door Alexei pulled down the cloth mask and gave him a piece of his mind.

"Alexis Gray, seriously Ozpin?" he nearly shouted, "You took my name and changed it slightly! I might as well be wearing a see through mask! It's like you want me to be found out."

"You were going to have to repeat the year anyway." said Ozpin, "Were you going to sit in the darkest corner of class and hope that no one approach you? Someone would, and knowing the extrovert personality of your old friend Yang, she probably would have been the first."

"She and Ruby aren't that stupid," said Alexei, "Sure my personality has changed, but with the name Alexis and dark gray eyes they'll be able to put two and two together."

Ozpin sighed as he sat down and took a quick drink from his mug, "Did you seriously think that you would be able to hide your identity throughout all four years?"

Alexei had no response and let Ozpin continue.

"Your fighting style does not favor that cloak." he said, "You would have had to remove it eventually. Your weapon is also a dead giveaway. The first time they see you spar or fight they'll recognize you. Maybe for the first few weeks you'll maintain your anonymity, but sooner or later you will reveal you self."

Alexei had no responses to Ozpin's logic. He was right. Sooner or later Yang and Ruby would realize that Alexis Gray was their dead friend Alexei Seryy.

"I have also moved your room." said Ozpin, "Instead of that cell in the basement you will getting your own dorm room," he said as he handed a scroll to Alexei, "You have no idea how jealous your fellow students will be."

"What if my semblance flips on and I tear my way through the dorms?"

"Your semblance hasn't activated unexpectedly in a non-combat situation in over three months." said Ozpin with a wave of his hand, "That shouldn't be too large of a worry anymore. Nevertheless, your new room has been modified. A device has been installed that will soundproof and reinforce the walls of the room upon detecting a huge surge in aura. Another device will also start draining your aura as fast as it can. An alarm shall ring in both my office and my sleeping quarters and I will alert Ms. Goodwitch." said Ozpin.

"Great." said Alexei, "Just like home."

"Now run along." said Ozpin, "I have work to do, and I trust that you will get along fine in your new home."

Alexei left the office and made his way across the campus to the dorms. He received many different looks from his fellow students, each of which curious about him in their own way. He ignored them and stepped inside the lobby of the dorm building where several students lounged on couches waiting for their leaders to get back with their scrolls which acted as their room keys. He decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator. He didn't want to get stuck with people and risk his Semblance activating. When he reached the fifth floor he walked to his room and unlocked it.

Ozpin had given him an entire dorm room to himself, and it made him happy. One bed sat in the corner and several empty shelves and a desk sat on the other side of the room. He noticed a door in the room and opened it to find that it led to a small bathroom. He was incredibly lucky. Ozpin knew that he would want to remain in his room as much as possible and had apparently decided to give him the means to do just that. Now he didn't even have to leave to take a shower with the other males at Beacon. It seemed like the only thing he would need to go outside to get was food.

Alexei noticed the time and realized that dinner would be starting soon. It would be the welcoming dinner for the first years. If he moved fast he could make it to dinner and bring the food back to his room before any other students made it there. He could deliver the dirty dishes to the cafeteria the next day at breakfast.

He made sure the bandana was wrapped tightly around his face and made sure that Gray Death was secure on his back under the cloak and opened the door. He noticed teams RWBY and JNPR walking off the elevator and talking eagerly. Most of their members seemed excited that the two teams would be across the hall from each other. Alexei turned to lock the door and hoped they wouldn't notice him. They were all too deep in conversation to notice the gray cloak a few shades darker than the wall. When they passed he turned to walk away.

"Hey, gray cloak!"

He cursed as he turned to see that the caller had been the Schnee heiress. Alexei looked to see that the other teams had disappeared and then noticed the open doors. He cursed, realizing that team RWBY's dorm was next to his. He focused back on the Schnee girl who was studying him.

"Alexis Gray, right?" Alexei gave a slight nod, "Why is it that Ozpin is giving you special treatment?" he shrugged as a reply, "You even have your own room to yourself don't you? I demand to know why the Headmaster is doing this for you."

"Hey Weiss which bed do you want?" Alexei's eyes widened slightly as Yang came out of the room, "The welcoming dinner will start soon." she turned to look at Alexei standing there, "Sorry, did I interrupt something?"

Alexei shook his head and walked away, towards the stairs.

"Hey! Get back here this instant!" shouted Weiss as the boy in the gray cloak ignored her, "How could you be so rude as to not even speak?"

"That's that Alexis guy, right?" asked Yang.

Weiss nodded, still staring in anger at the back of the cloak as it turned and went down the stairs, "I've never heard his name before, and for Ozpin to treat someone so differently he must be pretty special, so why isn't he more well known?"

"Me and Ruby had a friend named Alexei." said Yang, deep in thought, "He had the same gray eyes and love for the color gray. He was one of the top students at Signal. It couldn't be him though."

"How do you know?" asked Weiss.

"You remember that incident last year? When the Emerald Forest was overrun by a way too many Grimm?" Weiss nodded, "Two teams were still in when it happened, one got wiped out, the other lost two members, Alexei was one of them." Yang's voice held sadness as she remembered the day her and Ruby had gotten the news of Alexei's death.

"I see." Weiss said softly.

"Yang! Weiss!" shouted Ruby, "Come on! We need to go to the dinner!"

"Coming!" said Yang. She stared back at the entrance to the stairwell. She knew it couldn't possibly be Alexei, but the boy's eyes had widened when he saw her, and not the way boys' eyes usually widened when they saw her. She could even swear she had seen sadness in those familiar gray eyes. It couldn't possibly be him. Could it?

Alexei moved along the campus. With his cloak it almost looked like he was gliding along. He quickly made it to the mess hall where only a few other teams were sitting at the tables. He quickly got a box of prepared food and left as soon as he had entered. He passed a large number of other students making their way to the dinner. He noticed Yang and Weiss gave him a glance as they passed him.

Yang. He wanted to talk to her but knew that he should stay away from her. Of the two sisters, he had been closer to her, having met her his sophomore year when she was a freshman. Back then he had been almost as much of an extrovert as her. Soon after he had met Ruby and they became good friends as well.

He shook the memories from his thoughts. The good times were dead. The only thing he should focus on from now on was learning to control the Death Semblance and using it in the war against Grimm.

He arrived in his room and ate before unpacking. He didn't have much. A few books that contained relevant information on the Death Semblance as well as some spare clothes. He took off his cloak and cloth mask to do a few exercises. He had lost count of how long until he heard a knock on the door.

"I didn't order room service!" he shouted.

"We're not room service." came the reply. It was female, but it wasn't a voice he recognized.

"Then go away." he responded.

"We just wanted to talk to our dorm neighbors."

He cursed and put the cloak and mask back on. He looked through eye hole in the door to get a look at who it was. He immediately recognized the team that had brought down the Deathstalker, team JNPR. He opened the door as far as the chain would allow and looked at his visitors. It was the gorgeous redhead in bronze armor, Pyrrha Nikos, who spoke first. Alexei was beginning to wonder if every girl who went to this school was ridiculously attractive.

"You're Alexis Gray aren't you?" she asked.

"Yes." came his reply. He was starting to master this whole cold and distant thing.

"We wanted to say hello-"

"Hello." he interrupted and closed the door. He was almost successful but a pink boot had stopped it. He looked at the pink boot's owner to see hammer girl, Nora Valkyrie.

"Why are you so rude?" she asked. It appeared that her bubbly personality disappeared when somebody did something she didn't like.

"Just the way I am." he said.

"Nora, take your boot out of his door." said the stoic boy, Lie Ren.

"But, Ren, he's being really mean." her tone had become almost whiny, she seemed to have the mind of a child, all the more reason for her to stay away from him.

"You know what Ozpin said Nora." the blond boy, Jaune Arc, said that, "You'll be punished if you bother him too much."

"Fine." she said as pulled her boot away.

"I apologize for my coldness." said Alexei, "But I promise you I don't think myself better than you. I was actually impressed by your defeat of the Deathstalker, but I need to maintain my distance from people."

"Why?" asked Pyrrha.

"That information will remain a secret." he said, "Now why don't you speak with your other dorm neighbors. I'm not much of a talker."

He closed the door and watched them leave through the eye hole

He made sure the door was locked and changed to some sleep clothes. Before he could sleep he tried to activate his Semblance manually but found like all other times, it was impossible.

Alexei's eyes shot open when he heard a whistle. It had come from the dorm next to him.

"Good morning team RWBY!"

He sighed. Ruby hadn't changed at all. The girl was incredibly timid when it came to new people, but even after only a few minutes of knowing a person she would quickly reveal her chipper personality.

He rolled over to check his clock. It was eight. He quietly got up and took a shower. The entire time he could hear team RWBY doing something loud.

He got dressed in the school uniform, but thanks to the school's dress code allowing students to customize it he was still able to wear the cloak and mask. On his way out he picked up an apple and a banana for breakfast, then he walked off to his first class, Grimm Studies with Professor Port. He walked into the room, the only other person was Port.

"You know Ozpin's arrangement right?" Alexei asked.

"Yes," said Port, his bombastic tone ever present. "I am to refer to you as Alexis Gray. Don't worry my boy. Your secret is safe with me."

Alexei nodded and turned to walk up the stairs to sit in the farthest corner of the room. He sat and watched as everyone else filed in with teams RWBY and JNPR both barely on time and panting. For the rest of the lesson Alexei sat incredibly bored. He respected Port for his past accomplishments, but the man was a narcissist. Half of every lesson was him talking about himself. Alexei had already spent a great deal of last year studying the Creatures of Grimm from books while sat in his cell, so anything that Port said that actually had something to do with them was something Alexei already knew. The man also had an unhealthy obsession with capturing creatures and naming them, though he gave them all the same name.

"So who among you believes yourself to be the embodiment of these traits?"

"I do, sir!"

Alexei tore his eyes from the window to look down at Schnee girl with her arm held up.

"Well then," said Port. "Let's find out. Step forward and face your opponent."

Port gestured towards a large cage with red glowing eyes that Alexei had not noticed before. Weiss was allowed to change into her combat outfit before she fought the beast. She got some encouragement from her team and in return snapped at Ruby. It annoyed him a little. He had been protective of Ruby almost as much as Yang during his time at Signal, and seeing someone yell at her like that usually never made him happy.

"Alright," said Port. "Let the match, begin!"

Port cut open the cage and the boarbatusk within charged at Weiss. She dodged while slashing at the beast's side with her rapier. The attack was easily bounced by the armor of the boarbatusk which turned back to face Weiss.

"Ha ha!" laughed Port. "Wasn't expecting that were you!"

"Hang in there Weiss!" shouted Ruby.

Weiss used one of her glyphs to shoot herself forward at the boarbatusk which charged at Weiss as well. The beast hit her with its tusks and managed to lodge Weiss' rapier between two of the massive teeth.

"Bold new approach!" Port said. "I like it!"

"Come on Weiss show it who's boss!"

Weiss turned to give Ruby a look of irritation and paid for it when the boarbatusk used her lack of focus to fling her rapier to the side. The beast smacked Weiss hard in the chest, knocking her to the ground as her rapier skittered across the floor and far away from her.

"Now what will you do without your weapon!" Port only seemed to have one tone of voice.

Weiss barely rolled away from the boarbatusk as it charged her yet again. The beast crashed into one of the thick wooden desks and rolled over onto its feet again.

Weiss slide towards her rapier and scooped it up into her hand.

"Weiss, go for its belly there no armor underneath-"

"Stop telling me what to do!" Weiss snapped at Ruby yet again.

Ruby slumped down as the beast got ready to attack again, but this time it rolled towards her in a ball form. Weiss waited for it and summoned a glyph in front of her and one above and behind her. The beast crashed into the first and fell on its back. Weiss jumped onto the second glyph and shot forward and stabbed the beast in its belly. It gave off some dying sounds before it stopped moving.

"Bravo!" shouted Port, "Bravo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress in training! I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings. And, stay vigilant! Class dismissed."

Everyone watched as Weiss stormed out and Ruby followed.

Alexei pulled his books out from under the desk and looked up to find himself staring into a familiar pair of purple eyes. Yang still looked as beautiful as Alexei remembered and if anything, she had grown to become even more beautiful. Yang stared for a good while into his eyes as he stared into hers. Then he realized that he was making a mistake by letting her study his eyes. He turned back towards his books.

"Do you want something?" he asked.

"That's the first time I've heard you speak." said Yang.

"Don't get used to it." he said as he continued to look in the space under the desk for a book. He couldn't find his copy of Grimm Studies.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"You heard Ozpin announce me yesterday." he said.

"You know," she said, "You are just like one of my old friends."

"Really?" Where is that fucking book?

"Everything about you two seems the same." she said, "Everything except your attitude. You're way more cold than Alexei ever was."

Alexei felt something in his heart. Part pain that she was calling him cold, but part happiness that she was also calling him kind.

"Have you seen my book?" he asked, as he gave up looking in the cubby.

"You mean this?" she pulled the book out from behind her back.

How did she even?

He reached for it but she held it away, "Nope, not until you pull down that mask at let me see your face."

He couldn't believe his luck.

"I don't need it anyways." he said as he quickly got up and left.

She watched him go. Why was he so secretive about it? Was it possible that he was Alexei?

She was going to find out right now.

She ran after him. Hearing her, he dropped his bag and began sprinting off as well. He dashed around a corner, causing a rabbit faunus girl to fall over. Behind him Yang had to jump over her to avoid tripping over her. Alexei leaped over a group of students carrying a crate of ammunition and Yang slid under it. She was faster than him and he knew it. He had to think quickly. He noticed the window at the end of the hallway. They were on the sixth floor, but knowing the possible beating that Yang might give him, he liked this idea more.

He held his arms out in front of his face as he dove through the window, the glass shattered on his way through. He quickly turned and used his aura to latch onto the wall and slow his descent. He hit the ground and went into a roll. He ran through the crowd of students that had stopped to watch him. He came to a stop next to the fountain on campus, sure that he had managed to lose her.

When he heard booms in the distance he remembered that he was dealing with Yang. He turned just it time to see her flying towards him with her Ember Celica extended on both arms. She had leapt through the window and used their recoil to keep her going so that she could fly towards him. Sweet dust, Yang was amazing.

He brought up his aura in time to at least make the collision less painful but he was still knocked to the ground and lifted by the collar. Yang pulled off his hood and ripped off the bandana.

She gasped, "It really is you." she looked into the face of the boy that she had gotten undeniably close to over the course of three years. His black hair was messy and his gray eyes looked up at her with a mix of emotions.

"Yeah, it's me." he pulled the hood back over his head and pushed her off. He got to his feet and walked through the crowd.

"How are you alive?" she asked as she followed him, "Where have you been? Why didn't you tell us? Did you know your mother got put in an institution?"

Alexei stopped. His heart skipped a beat. He turned back around

"What?" he asked. Could his decision really have affected her that much?

"Your dad told us." she said, "She took the news pretty badly. She tried to kill herself Alex. Apparently the last conversation you two had didn't go very well. You had stopped talking to her because she didn't want you to be a huntsman."

Alexei put a hand to his face. His mother had tried to kill herself? He had expected her to react poorly, but this?

"The news hit us all pretty hard." she said as she got closer to him, "I got scared that something similar would happen to Ruby. I almost quit Signal." she pulled him into a hug, not one of her trademark bear hugs that left the victim breathless, but instead a tender and soft one. "Not to mention the sadness. We all missed you."

She pulled back and then his jaw felt like it was going to split in two and he felt himself slam into the ground yet again.

"Which is why you better give a damn good reason for lying to all of us!"

"I found my semblance." he said as he rose to his feet.

"But that's great!" she said, "You were always bummed that you didn't have one, so why did you say it like it's not great?"

"Have you heard of the Death Semblance?"

"The really dangerous one?" she asked.

He nodded, "That's the one I have. Last year it activated for the first time and a lot of people got hurt-got killed, including Marcus."

"Your friend, Marcus? But he was on the list of casualties from last years initiation." she said as it hit her, "You-"

"Killed him." a silence passed, the crowd had long since dispersed, leaving them alone next to the fountain. The trickling water was the only sound he could hear.

"That's why." he said, "This semblance is uncontrollable. I killed five people and crippled two others. Worse of all, I had to watch. For a full year I was in a cell while Ozpin waited for the semblance to stop being so unpredictable. I have gotten better, after all I don't change every time I stub my toe anymore, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm too dangerous to be around."

"Alex, me and Ruby and just about everyone else here can protect ourselves."

"No!" he shouted, "You haven't seen it! I killed ursai with one hit. I was able kill beowolves with my bare hands. The other students that I killed were no slouches either. They had lasted for hours in the Emerald Forest and I slaughtered them in seconds."

He stared at his hands, "I was a monster. Once I get into combat it turns on. I can't be on a team and I can't let someone get close to me ever again."

"There's no way you'd hurt me or Ruby." said Yang as she reached for his arm.

He pulled away from her before she could touch him, "And I never thought I'd be able to hurt Marcus before I shoved Gray Death's bayonet into his head."

He grabbed the bandana out of her hands and put it back on his face, "You can't tell Ruby or anyone else for that manner. Alexei Seryy is dead. He died last year when that semblance activated. We can't be close again. Ever again."

He turned and began walking.

"I don't want to lose you again."

He stopped and felt as sadness once again clenched at his heart. He didn't like to think how his decision had affected others. He knew what it felt like to experience the loss of someone close.

"It hurt so much the first time. Now that I know you're still alive I'm just supposed to let you disappear again?"

He turned to look back at the girl he had considered to be the closest friend he had ever had. She was probably the strongest person he knew, both physically and emotionally. She was crying. Tears were silently falling down her face and her purple eyes were puffing up. He felt tears fall down his own face and soak into the bandana.

"I don't want that." she pleaded in a quiet and sad voice that made his heart feel like it was going to be crushed.

"I don't either." he said, "But this is how it will have to be." His own voice was quiet.

He walked off and left her to fall to her knees and continue crying silent tears.


Already I have chapter two, but only because I already had the first three chapters finished before I posted the first. I'm actually impressed that I actually got a review and more than sixty views within the first week, so thank you to Im Sammeh for the favorite, follow, and review. I guess I'll respond to reviews for the previous chapter in the A/N at the top. Also, I'd like to get as many reviews as possible so that I know what I'm doing right and wrong, otherwise everything will just stay the same. If you don't want to be thanked for your review, then just tell me in the review I suppose.

Im Sammeh,

I'm happy to know that someone is enjoying the story so far. I guess naming something after death is pretty cliche, but I'm not all that creative and the Semblance was named simply because of its ability to cause a lot of death. Some of it's history gets explained later, but it's all still pretty cliche.

I have to say this chapter, despite everything that my editor told me, still feels somewhat off. Maybe because it was difficult to write Yang in a way she's never been shown to act in the series. I hope that none of the canon characters come off as too OOC. Ozpin seems different to me too.

Oh well, reviews are always appreciated, expect the third chapter sometime soon, since it's already done and in the fine tuning process. Chapter four after that will take more time, and if Alexei comes off as particularly angsty, then I'm writing him right.