Alright, next chapter took a little longer than I would have liked but it's up now. Saying that I would like to say that the next chapter will be out sometime towards the end of the month, barring anymore problems being dropped into my lap. At the moment I have to fix my PC or completely replace it, I've got driving lessons to book along with work and trying to get over a rather persistent cold.
So lots of fun...
Silver met amber as Ruby looked at Blake and gave her a warm smile. She fought off the urge to catapult herself at Blake and hug the older girl but instead walked across the small clearing that separated them.
"Oh, Blake! You do not know how happy I am to see you." Ruby cheered as she rested Crescent Rose over her shoulder.
"Ruby…I must admit I am happy to be paired with someone I know at least. Honestly, I was hoping for either you or Yang." Blake admitted as she kept her katana sheathed only for Ruby to slowly become fixated on it.
"Sorry…I really shouldn't be staring. I just, kinda have a thing for weapons. So cool…" Ruby laughed nervously, hoping that she just did not scar Blake for life by being so weird around her.
"It's alright. I'll let you look at it if you like?" Blake smiled as she watched Ruby's eyes light up with joy. She did not believe that eyes could have dazzled like that. And she briefly wondered if letting her look at Gambol Shroud was a good idea.
"But I really think we should start heading towards the ruins to pick up these relics. Hopefully, we don't run into too much trouble along the way." Ruby nodded in agreement and pointed in the direction of the ruins.
"How do you know they are that way?" Blake wondered as Ruby just laughed nervously as if she really did not want to admit something.
"Well…my dad and uncle sometimes brought me here during my training. My mom was a little angry at first, she said there were too many Grimm. But they're both super strong, so I was completely safe." Ruby explained which sadly made Blake ask a tricky question.
"Isn't this part of Beacon training grounds? Wouldn't they have had to get permission beforehand to enter?" Ruby wanted to answer but knew she could not but decided to give a half-truth instead.
"Well, they both went to Beacon when they were in training…so they know a few things…and my dad kinda knows Ozpin so he got permission first…" Ruby admitted as she turned in the direction of the ruins and began walking, "Come on Blake we don't want to be the last ones there!".
Blake decided not to press the issue about how she was able to get into Beacon training grounds or even that her father even knows Ozpin. Taking off after Ruby she made sure to keep Gambol Shroud ready just in case a Grimm appeared.
Eli watched the camera feed with a bowl of popcorn, he and the other teachers were enjoying everything so far since nothing had gone wrong. And while they had their weapons nearby in case they were forced to intervene, they would rather things went smoothly.
"I bet your happy with that result, Eli?" Glynda asked with a small smirk on her face as she took a sip of her tea, "I bet you were hoping for anyone but Miss Schnee.".
"Not going to lie. But I'd feel sorry for Ruby if she was stuck with her for four years…" Eli said looking over his shoulder at Glynda, "Though it's going to be interesting to see her with a Faunus.".
Everyone but Ozpin looked at him.
"And how do you know she is a Faunus?" Port asked twirling his mustache only for Eli to point to the top of his head.
"That bow she's wearing isn't fooling anyone…that and I looked at her file." hearing Ozpin chuckle everyone looked at him only to see him take a sip from his coffee cup.
"Miss Belladonna is indeed a Faunus though she asked not to be treated by what she is but rather who she is. And I agreed to her terms." Ozpin explained only for the others to question why would she go to such lengths to hide who she is.
"You are aware of the attack on a train belonging to the SDC last month by the White Fang?" Ozpin asked, "Well she knew one of the people behind it and she was scared. Scared of what he had become. She is extremely skilled and would have been foolish to turn her away." Eli put on an expert poker face as he noticed Ozpin raise his mug to drink but not actually drink anything.
It was a rare tell from the cryptic man, he was not telling them the whole story.
"It seems that other pairs are making progress…" he added looking back at the feed and taking the attention off himself.
Yang thought back to all the trouble she had gotten into over the last few years all the way up to the most recent incident involving a nightclub and a misunderstanding. Needless to say, no one was going to hit on her again in that place if they actually let her back inside.
But her current predicament was much, much worse.
"Do you have any idea which way we are going?" the white-haired girl questioned, yet again, making Yang wonder how far she could fly with a good uppercut.
"My dad and uncles always took us camping back in Patch. So yes I know how to tell which direction we're going in. And keep it down will ya? Unless you want to attract every Grimm in the area?" Yang said keeping her eyes and ears open for any sounds or signs of movement around them.
"We are meant to fight our way to the ruins, it is our job as future huntresses." she said proudly which made Yang fight off the urge to roll her eyes, she really wanted to know if being paired with her was a punishment for the nightclub incident.
"Okay, first princess. Professor Ozpin told us to retrieve the relics, not fight every Grimm in the forest. And second, we haven't even been placed in teams yet, heck we're not even students at Beacon officially." Yang said ignoring the prissy look she got for talking back.
Yang continued through the forest with the only sounds where those of the forest around them and the rude mumblings of Weiss Schnee behind her.
'Why did I have to be paired up with her? Is this Eli's idea of a joke? Did he have something to do with this?' she thought as two smaller Ursa appeared out of the bushes in front of her, looking over her shoulder at Weiss she just winked playfully, "Let me handle this. I need the warm-up.".
Extending her gauntlets she ran forwards using her momentum from a double shotgun blast to launch her up into the air before slamming down on the skull of the first Ursa with a powerful punch before following up with an uppercut. The punch was powerful enough that she felt the jaw break.
Knocking it onto its back it began to dissolve as she turned her attention to the second one. Only to see it encased in ice with spikes piercing its body.
"I totally had it…" Yang said casually before finishing off the first Ursa.
"We are partners now…and while you are quite brutish, it is my duty to look out for my partner." Weiss said resting rapier at her side.
"Geez, I don't know whether to take that as an insult or a compliment." Yang said shaking her head at the girl's higher than thou tone.
"Well, you should take it as a compliment. You should be happy to be paired up with me." Yang seriously could not believe the girl's attitude, she seriously thought she was the greatest. A small whisper in the back of Yang's head told her to be sure to knock her down a few pegs, especially after yelling at Ruby.
Ruby talked a lot with Blake as they headed towards the ruins, just about visible through the trees in front of them. Surprisingly they had a few things in common such as reading and enjoying the peace and quiet of a night in. But it was clear to Ruby that Blake was happy to hear that she hated the treatment that Faunus received.
Ruby told Blake a little more about Luna and her family about how both her and Yang's parents all lived together.
"Doesn't that get a little crowded?" Blake asked picturing seven people clustered together in a small house on Patch.
"Not really, it's not like it's a small house or anything…but it does get lonely sometimes…Dad works in Vale, my mom and Yang's mom go out on hunts. While our dad, my birth dad, teaches at Signal. But usually someone is there and I always had Zwei there too. Best dog ever." she said which made Blake go rigid for a moment at the mention of a dog.
"Sorry…I'm not really much of a dog person…" Blake apologised when she saw Ruby give her a concerned look.
"Oh, I think you and Zwei would be fast friends. You will never meet a dog more friendly than him." Ruby said trying to convince Blake as they reached a clearing containing the ruins and the relics. Or at least what they thought were the relics.
"Wow…I've never seen it up close before. It's beautiful." Ruby said in amazement as they looked up at the ruins in front of them, "But…are these meant to be the relics?" she questioned looking at the black and white chess pieces.
"Seems so…but looks like we're not the first ones to make it here." Blake said looking at some of the empty pedestals since there was one 'relic' to each pair it showed that a team and a pair had collected their relics and left.
"Should we wait..?" Ruby asked wondering where Yang was.
Before Blake could reply the sound of a girl cheering with joy broke the silence of the forest before suddenly an Ursa came charging out of the undergrowth with a ginger-haired girl who seemed to be riding it. Followed closely by a young man in a green outfit with black hair, who seemed to be a little out of breath.
"Nora…please don't ever do that again." he almost pleaded as he looked over to now dead Ursa thinking to see his friend but did not see anything.
"I'm the queen of the castle!" she sang as she danced around with a Rook chess piece balanced on her head, seemingly erupting with energy. Which was surprising for Ruby to see as she always thought she had a lot of energy.
Ruby giggled as the young man called out to her, "Nora!" meanwhile Nora clearly found the whole thing hilarious.
"Coming Ren!" Nora called back as she skipped over to her friend, just in time for Yang to dropping in from the sky, followed closely by Weiss as they looked up and saw a rather angry looking Nevermore circling above them.
Shortly afterward they saw Jaune crashing through the undergrowth after being whipped through the air by a Deathstalker which was busy chasing Pyrrha. Ruby had run into Pyrrha earlier before they were launched into the forest, she really liked her, she was very friendly to everyone she met.
Ruby and Blake quickly opened fire on the Deathstalker hoping to slow it down to allow Pyrrha to at least catch her breath, the heavy rounds from Ruby's weapon managing to stun the Deathstalker long enough for them to at least regroup. However, Blake's small caliber rounds did very little to the hard armor of the Deathstalker.
Of course, they still had the Nevermore to deal with, which was going to give them, even more, problems to deal with along with the other large Grimm.
"Oh, S-Sugar." Ruby finally said trying not to curse as they watched the Nevermore circle back towards them. Before they looked down and saw the Deathstalker shaking off the hail of bullets that had hit it.
"Ozpin…are you sure about this? I mean maybe the Deathstalker but fighting that as well as a Nevermore…even that is a little much for two teams at their level of experience." Eli asked, almost itching to get out there and help his daughter and niece.
"They will have to work together as a team eventually, now is as good a time as any." he answered calmly.
Eli and the others watched as both large Grimm started to chase them through the forest towards an old ruined tower that had once been used as a watchpoint to spot approaching Grimm hordes.
Every minute they watched Eli was on edge as they watched the tower began to get wrecked by the Nevermore. Of course, his heart leaped into his mouth when Yang decided to check the dental work of the Nevermore before firing multiple rounds down its throat.
"Well certainly points for improvisation…" Port said, surprised at Yang's actions and given the number of stories he had under his belt it was an achievement to surprise him.
But it was the next part that surprised everyone and almost deafened the room.
They watched as Ruby coordinated her group into turning her into a slingshot projectile after having Weiss freeze the Nevermore at the base of the cliff by its tail feathers.
Blake dug her weapon into one of the old support columns as she threw the other end at Yang who caught it and pulled it tight.
Ruby balanced on the curved blade of Cresent Rose, being held in place by one of Weiss's glyphs, loading a fresh round she turned her attention back to the Nevermore.
As Ruby shot towards the cliff, she was using her rifle and semblance for added speed, short bursts of rose petals appeared behind her as she hooked her scythe around the neck of the Grimm and began to drag it up the cliff face. White glyphs appearing before her as she ran up the cliff face, before finally beheading it. The shower of rose petals falling behind her made the whole thing look even more impressive.
Glynda was sure that Ruby would be able to hear Eli cheering from what he had just watched.
Ozpin had been putting the teams together when he got to Ruby's group, made up of Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang.
"And team RWBY will be lead by Ruby Rose…congratulations." Ruby looked completely surprised by the announcement as both Yang and Blake cheered for her, while Weiss looked less than impressed and had the face of someone who had just swallowed a cactus.
Meanwhile, Eli was busy recording it on his scroll for Summer to watch over and over again over the next few weeks. Part of him wanted her to be there for it but he did not want her to end up getting removed from the grounds because she was making a scene.
The class schedule had been changed years ago to accommodate the two classes he thought, and Eli was currently waiting in the classroom, waiting for all the students to arrive.
However, it was almost nine and while most of the class were already in their seats, he was missing both team RWBY and JNPR and while they still had two minutes it was not the best first impression to make.
"Well, it looks as if we won't have a full house this morning…" Eli pondered as he watched the door almost get ripped off as both teams poured in and scrambled to their seats.
"Well nice of you all to join us. I will remind you all that it is, first and foremost, your responsibility to wake up in the mornings. Consider this a free bit of advice." he said smiling as most of the group had the decency to look embarrassed. Nora just seemed to have a content smile on her face the whole time.
"Alright, kids now that we are all here let me just go over what I will be teaching you over the next four years. Afterwards, I will answer any questions you may have…" Eli said turning to the board behind him he wrote his name.
"In case some of you may have forgotten, my name is Eli Frost. And I am Beacon's wilderness survival teacher as well as Human / Faunus relations." writing down the names of the classes he also added Patch to the list.
"Right…I will explain the wilderness survival first. Put simply there will be times where things do not go the way you would like them when you are on a hunt. You may end up with a wounded team-mate or you may be wounded yourself. You might be lost or stranded or any number of things…" taking a moment he continued.
"Learning how to survive is your greatest skill, this will consist of first aid, searching for food and sheltering against the elements among other things. And before you say your aura will heal your injuries, I would recommend only using it to heal wounds in small amounts, using too much if your wounded is extremely dangerous. Especially if you may have to fight Grimm." he warned.
"A suitable site located in Patch has been used by Beacon for the last ten years, it is a perfect area with minor Grimm such as Beowolves and Creepers with the odd Ursa but that is it. So it is relatively safe for us, if not some of the best hunters in Vale live there so if anything larger shows up things will be fine." he explained and smirked when he watched Yang and Ruby's eyes lit up at the mention of their home.
He went on to explain the human and Faunus relations class that was mandatory for them, mainly due to recent events that Ozpin believed that it would be best to reinforce the fact that regardless of some extreme elements on both sides it is possible for both Humans and Faunus to live together without any problems.
"I find that hard to believe, especially with those monsters in the White Fang." Weiss said earning a number of glares from her team, classmates, and Eli himself.
"Excuse me…? What was that Miss Schnee?" he asked, not expecting such a blunt statement from her.
"I'll have you know that not every member of the White Fang are monsters…considering I met the previous leader during that protest massacre at your father's warehouse. Ghira was a man who would do anything to keep the peace, he even handed over a few troublemakers to the VPD just to make sure things were safe.".
"You do realise what they have done to my family right? To our company?" Weiss asked, "People going missing. Shipments being hijacked.".
"And what about the families of all those people who were gunned down by your father's grunts? I actually felt sick as I watched your father's company try to brush it all under the rug. You realise Miss Schnee there were Humans and Faunus in that crowd, including Professor Ozpin himself." Eli explained much to the shock of a lot of the class.
"But I will admit that those were two valid points Miss Schnee." he admitted as he watched Weiss bristle with anger, "But you cannot simply ignore the fact that your father's company is responsible for its own bad image. The amount of complaints Vale council receives about the conditions in Schnee owned Dust mines is horrendous." Eli said wanting to make her understand that in their position, the Schnee company cannot simply do as they please without serious repercussions.
"All our mines operate at Atlas standards! I don't know where you get such slanderous information from but it is wrong. Our mines are closely supervised anyway and if any safety features did fall below acceptable standards then they would be quickly brought up to speed." she stated, trying to defend her family name.
"Tell you what Miss Schnee, stay behind after class and we can talk about your views and how they do not fit into the class, along with your attitude problem." Eli said firmly before turning back to the class.
"Class…I can't change your minds overnight about Humans and Faunus working together. However you will need to work together in the future, I have said this year after year and I will keep saying it until it finally gets through to people. The Grimm are the only enemy we have, and if we continue with this senseless cycle of hate, the Grimm will eventually take over.".
Though it was a rather dark statement to make to such young people, he was happy to see a good number of the class nod in agreement.
"I will now take any questions you may have. Sensible questions." Eli asked as Miss Nikos raised her hand.
"Yes, Miss Nikos? What is your question?" Eli asked, glad that someone like Pyrrha was in the class, while she was a champion her record showed that she was extremely kind to other people as well as being able to work well as a team.
"Are you going to go into history when teaching Human/ Faunus relations?" she asked.
"Not entirely, I'll be leaving world history to Doctor Oobleck. I will merely be highlighting the key parts that focus on Human and Faunus interactions, and how they benefited both sides.".
"I assume you will be using your own personal experiences as well?" she added getting a nod from Eli.
"You are correct there Miss Nikos, I do have a number of experiences to draw from that will be fairly enlightening. Though I will say this, my wife of almost fifteen years is human, so I can tell from first-hand experience that Humans and Faunus can live together.".
"Oh, do you have children!?" Nora called out, Eli getting a look of apology from Ren, but both knew she meant well.
"Yes. Miss Valkyrie, we do. Two in fact. And I am very proud of both of them. And both want to be huntresses, not that they aren't skilled enough already. Our oldest took out two dozen Beowolves by herself this past winter." Eli said watching out of the corner of his eye as Ruby looked down at her lap, her cheeks going pink.
"What about your youngest!?" Nora asked clearly finding the whole thing interesting.
"She is still trying to find a weapon that suits her. I swear she must spend more time in the forge than I ever have." Eli chuckled not wanting to throw Luna's name out since Ruby's partner already knew her name.
"I'll answer some more questions at the end of the class if we have time. But for now, lets go over a little more about the survival aspect of the class." he continued turning back to the board as he began listing out what key things they would be learning.
"Professor Frost? When will we head to Patch?" Ruby asked clearly eager to head home and show everyone how great Patch was.
"Sometime in the next month or so Miss Rose. It is dependant on how long it takes to hear back from the local council. Since we require permission from the council beforehand for each trip." Eli explained just in time to hear a scoff from one Cardin Winchester.
"Why do we have to go to that backwater hole?" he asked, "Seems stupid if you ask me? Why not just use the Emerald Forest?".
Calming himself from tossing Cardin through the wall for insulting his home, Eli turned to face him with a glare.
"Because Winchester, in the Emerald Forest there are still Old Grimm. Grimm that have lived through whatever we threw at them, they are smart and powerful. As you are now, you are in no condition to fight them. Patch allows you to improve your skills without us having to tell your families you've been eaten by a Grimm that is a couple of hundred years old." Eli calmly but with a firm underlying tone.
"Oh and one last thing Winchester. You insult my home again I will personally request Professor Goodwitch that I am your sparring partner for the rest of the year. See how long you keep that disrespectful tone for after I throw you around the ring a couple of times.".
Yang let out a loud snort as a number of students said that they would love to see that happen.
As the rest of the class left, Weiss was left sitting in her seat as she watched people cast a surprising look in her direction.
As the last student left Eli closed the door and let out a heavy sigh, "Miss Schnee, your comments in class today were not only extremely offensive but are in a complete disregard for what Beacon teaches.".
As he stood in front of her she refused to meet his gaze, and it was this that made him wonder if she was going to be this difficult for the next four years.
"You do realise I am a Faunus, right? These ears are real. But for you to pretty much label all Faunus as members of the radical elements of the White Fang is disgusting. By your own logic, all humans are evil for how Faunus are treated by your father's company." he said folding his arms while keeping a calm tone.
"Now I know that statement is wrong. In fact, my wife could easily spend an hour telling you how wrong you are. But whatever your personal views towards Faunus are Miss Schnee, you leave them behind when you come into the classroom, or even to Beacon.".
"Now do you have anything to say before you leave?" he asked, really not wanting to scold her but he would not treat her differently because of her name.
"Your going to send me to Ozpin aren't you?" she asked quietly.
"No…I should but if you can promise me that your earlier outburst is the last then I will forget this ever happened. Your entry scores to Beacon are impressive, you can do so much here, don't throw that away." Eli said trying to reason with her, he knew she was smart enough to excel at Beacon.
"Is that everything Professor Frost?" she questioned coldly towards Eli like she did not care that he was talking to her. Or even that he was a teacher.
"No you can leave, and please try talking to your team. I know they are all different but variety makes for a strong team." he said as she left, slamming the door behind her.
"And I can bet that all this is going to come back and bite me in the ass…" Eli said letting out a weary sigh and he looked at the time, "Glad I wasn't like that when I was her age.".
Later that night Ruby called Luna, finally happy to talk to her little sister as Yang and Weiss argued about her attitude in class while Blake tried to read her book.
"Weiss that was really rude of you to speak to Professor Frost like that, I mean it is our first day and you just well… treat him like a Schnee would." Yang said being honest.
"Why are you taking his side!? The way he spoke to me was far worse! And what he said about my family was unforgivable." she argued, but to Yang she just shook her head.
"No, it wasn't. And were you listening to the same lecture? Because he said 'your father's company' never 'your company'. It's clear even to me that the only problem he might have with you is your attitude. I don't think he could care less about your family name." Yang explained hoping to make her partner see reason.
"Besides do you think he enjoys being treated like he does? He's the first Faunus teacher at Beacon, which is a milestone by the way, and I'm guessing he basically spends every year telling people they should be working together instead of going after each other." Yang said going to the defense of the man who was an uncle to her.
Blake could not help but smile at Yang going to the defence of Eli as Ruby got off the top bunk bed and headed into the bathroom to get some piece and quiet, she guessed it was because of Yang and Weiss continuing to argue.
"So your taking his side?" Weiss accused her partner, "Aren't we meant to be partners?".
"Excuse me!?" Yang asked surprised at the statement, "The first time we met you called me a brute, then again when we partnered up in the forest. Not to mention how you've treated my sister just because she has tried to be your friend. We're on the same team Weiss, why can't you accept that?".
"Because I should have been made leader. I have trained all my life for this and she just comes in and takes it." Weiss said finally showing her resentment for not being made leader.
"Well get used to it. It was Ozpin's choice to make Ruby leader, just accept it." Yang said now wanting to end this argument as it was beginning to give
Blake was tempted to join Ruby to escape the seemingly endless bickering but it was all stopped by her shortly bursting out with a cry of excitement, which frankly made her jump and nearly drop her book.
"Yang! Luna is going to be in Vale at the end of the month! Isn't that great!?" Ruby cheered getting a high five from Yang as the two sisters could not be happier as Weiss told Yang that they were not finished talking.
"Actually we are…I'm tired and with the good news that my little sis is coming for a visit I'm going to bed on a high note." she said pulling herself up onto the top bunk above Weiss.
However before she could say anything to stop her partner from ignoring her, Weiss let out a 'humph' before going to her desk to go over her notes.