Chapter 2
Initiation with Education
"Ya'll heard about that crazy kid from Vault 101..." Three-Dog, Galaxy News Radio
Emerald Forest, Beacon Academy
"Your objective mister Walker is simple." Ozpin said as he gestured to the entrance of the Emerald Forest behind him. "There is a clearing to the north of this location, residing in it is a temple with several relics. You will retrieve one of those relics and bring them to me. Depending on your choice, I will assign you to a team. You will also be evaluated on your aptitude in combat."
Idly, Royce wondered what kind of psychopath would put a letter grade on how you kill something but decided the question wasn't worth it.
"What's the catch?" Royce asked already dreading the answer if there was going to be one.
Ozpin simply gestured to the forest. "Well, there are a lot of Grimm in there. So don't die."
/
"That's the new guy?" Jaune asked as the first years watched the video feed from Emerald Forest. "He...doesn't really look like much."
"Wow, he's...really, really tall!" Nora rocked back and forth. She had a point, he was as tall as Cardin Winchester. "And really, really cool! Look at that thing on his wrist! What is it? Is that his laser gun?"
"Looks like some kind of bracer." Ren said his magenta eyes narrowed. "Wonder if that's his weapon."
"No," Ruby shook her head. "...Ooh, nice rifle!" She watched as the new student shrugged off his assault rifle. "It is a rifle right Blake?"
Blake nodded. She had seen the thing rip into a Beowolf. She had also seen what the other weapon could do, the one in the holster. Yang had said it was a "plasma gun", whatever that meant. Still she silently wished Royce Walker luck as she watched the video feed attentively.
/
Royce took another draught of water before getting up. Holding the Xuanlong in hand, he kept heading north since that was where Ozpin needed him to go. No Grimm yet, and so far he had only seen two types. The wolf type and the bear/Yao Guai thing. He also kept a lookout for the bird type too. Still, despite his current objective he found the forest to be...beautiful. It was like finding Oasis back in the Capital Wastes and although the Treeminders were a strange sort of folk he found his experiences with them to be quite peaceful. That and talking to Harold, the resident talking tree, had been a refreshing experience.
It was amazing considering how old Harold was and that he used to be a traveler of sorts before finally being rooted in the Capital Wasteland. Despite his advancing age he was still one of the kindest souls the Lone Wanderer had met.
The Wanderer eventually found his first quarry. Two of the wolf bipeds were crouched around what looked like a huge boar with the same skull mask as the other Grimm. Perhaps it was a common feature around here, Royce mused. That and the damn things looked...designed. Maybe Ozpin would have some detail as to why the Grimm had the same features.
He was going to be a student anyway, perhaps he'd do his own research while he had the chance. Royce was slightly taken aback by the size of the dead boar, the tusks were almost as long as his arms. Good thing it was dead. Now he had to deal with the wolves. Royce reached down to his belt for a fragmentation grenade.
/
"Yay! Explosives!" Nora sounded real excited as the new guy threw the small pineapple shaped explosive at the two Beowolves. The ensuing explosion crippled both of the beasts. Howling in pain the two Grimm beasts were slaughtered by accurate bursts of gunfire from the trees. "Aww..."
"He's good." Ren commented as the new guy stepped out from the bushes towards the two dead Beowolves.
"They're just ordinary Beowolves. He got lucky." Weiss said. "The fool would probably struggle with an Alpha or that Boarbatusk if it was alive."
"Well, it's dead so let's leave it at that." Pyrrha spoke. The red haired girl tilted her head. "What's he doing?" JNPR and RWBY watched as the newbie kicked both corpses before shooting each twice in the head. "Is he..."
"Double tap." Blake answered. "He's making sure they're dead."
/
As Royce reloaded he saw another one of the wolf bipeds. Drawing the Novasurge he took one look at the stupefied thing, aimed and fired a burst of plasma into its face. Headless the corpse hit the floor like a ragdoll. Royce calmly holstered the Novasurge, reloaded his Xuanlong and kept moving.
Stupid motherfucker should have stayed out of his way.
/
"Whoa..." Ruby's face was alight with curiosity. "Was that a ray gun!? I want a ray gun!"
"That is so...cool! Hey you think he has an extra one? That would be great! Pew, pew! Zap!" Nora was hopping in place before Ren calmed her down. Still the surprised look on his face said more than enough.
Pyrrha watched with renewed interest while Jaune wondered what kind of weapon could just blow off a Beowolf's head like that. He then sulked in a jealous depression. Noticing her teammate and leader's bad mood, Pyrrha silently reassured the young blonde by putting a hand on his shoulder. In response Jaune gave a sheepish grin and continued watching, wondering if when they met the new student he could ask for some pointers.
He didn't seem to flinch in the face of danger.
Blake and Yang were familiar with the weapon so they had no comment. Yang smirked when she saw that Weiss' jaw had dropped.
"What kind of Dust was he using?" She asked Blake and Yang. Blake shrugged but Yang had an answer.
"He said it was plasma," Yang answered looking back at the screen. Royce was steadily approaching his destination and without any delays he could return to Ozpin in no time. "I...really don't think he's using Dust Weiss."
"Humph, so he has a ray gun." The Schnee heiress rolled her eyes. "Are we supposed to be impressed?"
"You looked impressed with your jaw hanging." Blake deadpanned causing Yang to snort and for the white haired girl to glare at her.
With the professors, Ozpin sipped coffee out of his mug as he watched the newest addition to Beacon advance towards his destination without stopping.
"That was a waste of ammunition." Glynda's eyes narrowed as she pushed her glasses up her nose.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that my dear Miss Goodwitch. The Grimm are notoriously durable. This young student has the right idea about dealing with the beasts. No quarter." Professor Peter Port nodded his head. "Where exactly did you find this exceptional young man Headmaster?"
"He arrived late." Ozpin had best keep this close to the chest. While he was the Headmaster he felt it prudent to keep Royce Walker's identity to himself for now, not out of malice but sometimes news reaches the most unscrupulous characters. Only Glynda Goodwitch knew so far and he could trust her.
"Hmm...Interesting sigil he has on his armor there, a four leaf clover." Bartholomew Oobleck was talking fast even as he seemingly teleported to and fro from his position. It would have scared anyone but to Beacon's staff it was nothing more than part of the everyday life. "A metaphor for good luck? A memento perhaps?" The history professor's brilliant mind raced with questions.
"It is possible." Ozpin nodded to his fellow coffee enthusiast. "Ah looks like he's managed to get into something of a snag."
"That...is quite a pack of Boarbatusks." Glynda commented.
"Indeed, I wonder how he'll get around that." Port nodded. "Perhaps he will surprise us, am I correct Headmaster?"
Ozpin smiled to himself. "It's always a possibility."
/
"Great." Royce grit his teeth like he was chewing a brick as he saw what was in front of him. More of the pig beasts except these were smaller, six in total. He was tempted to try and sneak around them but even with a Stealthboy he was out of luck if he made a sound. That either left grenades or his guns. Using them carried risks.
The Wanderer considered his options when an even bigger bastard appeared out of the woods. "Fuck..." This must have been the mother or the Alpha. He tracked it with his rifle. It will not go down easy, that was for sure. He looked at his Novasurge. It would still take a few shots judging from the size and the armor...
"Sneak or fight...Fuck it." Royce muttered shaking his head. He reached for another grenade...
A howl alerted the boar pack and the big one gave a low squeal as all seven faced right. Royce raised a brow as a pack of bipedal wolves moved towards the boars, with a big burly bastard in the front.
"Interesting..." Royce said as he watched the situation develop. Maybe he could get something out of this. All sorts of beasties lived in the Capital Wasteland. He'd seen them try and kill each other before. He hoped something like that could happen here.
/
"Oh shoot." Ruby looked concerned now. "That is not good, get out of there mister alien!"
"Boarbatusks and Beowolves!? He must be really unlucky." Weiss commented. "Why isn't he doing anything!?"
"Because it's not the right time." Blake answered realizing what Royce was waiting for. "He'd get torn to shreds."
"But how is he going to get out of this? I mean sure we took on a Nevermore and a Death Stalker but that was because we had them outnumbered four to one!" Pyrrha's eyes were worried. "He could get killed like this!"
Jaune just kept watching. "Oh man is he doing what I think he's doing?" He said loud enough catching everyone else's' attention.
"Reckless." Port said incredulously. "But...clever at the same time."
Glynda simply shook her head at the reckless action taking place. The screen showed Royce Walker firing a burst of bullets at the Boarbatusk Alpha and actually managing to draw some blood. The Boarbatusks turned to face the human but suddenly had bigger problems to worry about.
The scent caused the hungry Beowolves in turn to go wild. They charged tearing into the Boarbatusks. As the packs battled for the right to exist, almost none of them noticed the green armored human run as fast as possible to the bushes in the opposite end of the newly created battlefield. And beyond those bushes was the objective. One Beowolf took a swipe at the human only to be riddled with bullets for its trouble.
Yang was laughing boisterously. "Hah! That was unexpected! Maybe he ain't so bad after all!" Her grin was wide.
"Clever, I thought he was going to do something else." Pyrrha said nodding. "But he'd better hope they don't come after him."
"I think...I think he knows." Jaune looked up at the screen. "And if he's heading to the same place we were, it's a clearer and wider area. He won't have as much problems in the forest."
"Less places to hide though," Ren frowned.
"Aww come on don't be party-poopers!" Nora told them all cheerfully. "He'll make it back!"
/
Royce found the temple and in it were the relics he was supposed to choose. "Chess?" He said as he looked at the pedestals, all arranged in a circle. Each piece was colored either black or white. "So...am I just supposed to pick one and go? Is there any significance? What?" Royce turned briefly to look at the forest behind him. It was either the wolves or the boars. He was hoping they'd kill each other but knowing how things went for him it could go either way. He was thankful that he had some time...
For now at least.
He looked at the pieces. "Must be some kind of meaning to this. Pawn, nope." He kept looking. There had to be some symbolism here. Ozpin had been real cryptic and had pretty much given him carte blanche on what piece to pick. "Bishop, nope. King? Nah. I'm not exactly a Rook either." He reached for the Queen and thought better of it. "Knights then." He deliberated between the black knight and the white knight...Until the Alpha wolf from earlier crashed through the trees looking like hell.
"Ah fuck!" Royce picked up the white knight chess piece. He then turned and blasted the Alpha with bursts from the Novasurge. Green light flashed and as soon as the bastard was down, more of the wolves appeared. Royce served up a couple of grenades, blowing two straight to hell, three others had to deal with crippled limbs. Blasts from the Novasurge finished off a couple more, and at that point there wasn't much left.
He continued onward.
/
"Hey he picked our team!" Yang certainly looked excited. "Whoo!"
"Great...First I get Ruby as team leader and now we get some worthless, stupid boy as a teammate. Wonderful." Weiss groused, walking off before anyone could stop her.
"She doesn't have to be so mean to Royce." Ruby mumbled. "He hasn't done anything wrong. We just met him."
"Don't worry Ruby," Yang assured her. "It'll just...take some time, 'sides I don't mind having a guy on the team."
"He'll certainly prove to be an interesting fighter that's for sure." Pyrrha remarked.
Jaune just kept his eyes on the screen as Royce finally exited the Emerald Forest.
The students had seen Ozpin slip away to go meet up with the new student. They were told to wait by Glynda Goodwitch as the other professors filed out.
/
As Royce exited the forest he found Ozpin waiting there, leaning on his cane. He was standing in front of what looked like a Vertibird, except instead of using propellers it used hover tech like Mr. Gutsies back in DC.
The Wanderer walked over and presented the chess piece. Ozpin smiled.
"Welcome to Beacon Academy Mister Walker." He shook Royce's hand. "I think it's about time you properly met your classmates."
"Let's do it." Royce said shrugging his shoulders. "I like meeting new people." Sometimes I have to kill them but hey, that's a different story.
/
As Ozpin introduced him to the crowd of first year students, Royce stood straight, taking in the myriad crowd of faces. Amusingly he saw Ruby trying to wave before Weiss forced her hand down with a glare. He took the stares with a quiet grace. Yeah he'd seen those stares before, back when he had gone back to Vault 101 to settle things.
"Stop. You can't call me by that name anymore OverseerAlmodovar." Royce said calmly as he holstered his revolver. "We're not friends anymore." He turned his back on his former friend and her father and left without another word.
He ignored the sound of sobbing in the background. Inwardly he mourned the loss of a friend before steeling himself. As he left the Vault behind once more, it took all of his strength not to look back. The Wastes were waiting for him.
"Is there anything you'd like to say, Mister Walker?"
Royce cleared his throat as he pushed that memory all the way back in his head. "Hello Beacon, I'm here to stay."
/
With the introductions done and dusted, Royce got directions to the cafeteria so he could get something to eat. Ozpin was going to take care of the paperwork. He already had most of his stuff squared away, seeing that all he had was his guns, his knife, spare clothes and other shit in his pack. Now he had his own pillows, sheets and a school uniform along with a locker. All he had to do was go to the dorms after dinner.
For him to have so much was a pleasant feeling but it didn't get to his head. When he had first left the Vault, he had been crushed by the realization that he had left everything he ever owned. A few months after that and he had no idea what to do with all of the crap he had collected over the span of his travels.
He looked down at the tray of food. He just picked out random stuff off the menu, crammed all of it into a sandwich and went from there.
It was an awesome sandwich, way better than the processed irradiated Pre-War food he had been forced to eat. He took another bite. It was a goddamned awesome sandwich. In his pleasant reverie of finally eating a tasty sandwich he didn't notice Team RWBY and JNPR approach taking their usual seats with him at the end.
"Here's the Hero of the Hour!"
/
Yang clapped Royce Walker on the back as she took a seat next to him. "So!" Her grin was extremely wide. "You're our new teammate!"
"That I am," Royce answered politely. "Food's good. Maybe I did make the right choice of staying." He took another bite out of his sandwich.
"Urgh..." Weiss' struggled not to say anything as Royce devoured another portion of his sandwich.
"Darn good sandwich," Royce said quietly. "Salisbury Steaks can suck it!"
"What?" Jaune asked and Royce looked at him curiously. The boy flinched at the intensity of the other guy's gaze. Yang took notice of Royce's eyes as he seemingly sized up Jaune like he was a threat or something. What he did next was unexpected.
"Haven't seen you before." Royce extended his hand. "Royce Walker."
"Er..." Jaune glanced at Pyrrha who gave an encouraging nod. "Jaune. Jaune Arc." He shook Royce's hand wincing at how strong his grip was.
Royce didn't seem to notice. "Are...all of you in a team?" He asked Jaune. "Cause the Headmaster told me I was supposed to work with team RWBY or some such."
"That's us." Ruby chirped gesturing to Yang, Blake and Weiss. "You'll be working with us, now can you show us your ray gun?" Royce turned to regard her with a raised eye-brow. Ruby blushed. "W-What?"
"Ruby..." Yang shook her head. It was funny how Ruby was so obsessed with weaponry instead of people. Royce was right there!
"Ray gun-oh..." Royce sighed but he did draw the said ray gun and took...something out of it. He then drew them both close to his chest as Ruby nearly flew over the table.
"Oh...cool!" Beside Jaune, Nora also stood up and looked at the pistol. "Do all space aliens have those? Because I want one!" Her eyes were excited and Yang struggled not to laugh as Royce shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Nora." Ren spoke and the excitable girl sat down. Yang couldn't see how Ren dealt with Nora but he didn't seem to mind. That and Ren was the most patient person she had ever seen. It was incredible.
"So...the ray gun." Ruby said looking at it, eyes shining with curiosity.
"Plasma." Royce corrected. "It's plasma, not laser. Sure it's slower than molasses but it can hit like a truck. It'll punch through armor at medium range."
"So what about...this one?" Ruby pointed to the Xuanlong.
"Ah this one?" Royce was proud of the Xuanlong. "It is an amazing beast that fires 5.56mm rounds from a thirty-six round clip. It will buzz saw anything in front of its barrel in half."
"Can I see?" Ruby asked eyes shining.
"No." Royce's smile faded.
"Aww..." Ruby looked forlorn.
/
Despite the attention focused solely on him he was surprised to find that he...enjoyed it. It was pleasant feeling. Along with Team RWBY he also met the members of Team JNPR, who were close to the four girls he had met in the forest.
Jaune Arc was a nervous, cowardly wreck but from what Royce could read he was a kind and earnest young man who wanted to prove himself, a worthy cause if any. Next to him was Pyrrha Nikos, a young red haired girl who was more composed. Royce could see that she was head and shoulders above Jaune but did not let her strength get to her head. All in all she was a pleasant person to talk to.
Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie were opposites in every connotation of the word. While Lie Ren was a mellow, patient personality Nora was a spunky, ray of sunshine who talked constantly. But despite her chatty demeanor he found that he didn't mind at all. Although he did wonder how Ren dealt with her.
She reminded him of Moira Brown, the eccentric store owner in Megaton and one of the two authors of the Wasteland Survival Guide. He never really liked claiming credit for it, it was all Moira's idea anyway. He still had a copy of the book in his pack.
"So, how did you end up in the Emerald Forest Royce?" Pyrrha asked the one question on everyone's minds.
"I'm...not exactly sure." The wanderer turned student answered. "I just...woke up here."
"Ooh! I know what this is!" Nora piped up. "You have amnesia!"
"Nora...Amnesia only happens if Royce can't exactly remember who he is. Which I'm pretty sure he does." Pyrrha admonished. She turned to regard Royce. "You do know who you are right?"
"I do, I do." Royce said taking a swig of water. "Now as to why I am here, I can only tell you that it's a very long story. One that we won't have time for."
"Aww...but I like stories." Nora said disappointed.
"It is kind of getting late Nora," Ren told her. He turned to Royce with a polite smile. "It was nice meeting you."
"Yes likewise." Royce's smile was genuine.
/
Royce had never realized how long it had been since he showered. He felt like a king standing there under the streams of hot water. Washing the grime off of his body, Royce finished taking the shower dried up and started with brushing his teeth with his new toothbrush. He dressed up, walked back into the dorm room.
He opened the door and looked inside. The girls were already asleep except for Blake who was reading a book. She looked up regarded him with a nod and went back to her book. Royce crept in quietly got into his mattress.
"Good night." He told Blake.
"Night," Blake returned.
Royce was asleep long before his head hit the pillow.
/
The next morning...
Royce looked himself in the mirror. The uniform consisted of dark colored suits lined with gold with a blue vest and white shirt with red tie. He had never worn anything so fancy before. He kept his cloth wrap over his hair and his Pip Boy over his left forearm. He had stowed all his weapons and armor in his locker and strangely enough he felt...naked. Vulnerable. It made him nervous. Here he was a student when a few months ago he had been spending most of his life fighting for his survival in an apocalyptic wasteland. For him peace was an illusion, a dream. The difference between the DC ruins and Beacon was staggering. It was going to be hard adjusting.
"This is a school." He muttered to himself. "You're not here to kill anything. What do you have to worry about anyway? You've got your fists."
"Um...Royce?" Ruby asked looking for him. "Royce? Hey you ready?"
"Sorry," Royce called back. "It's just been a while since I went to school." He walked over to Ruby who was wearing her uniform. "Well?"
"You look nice!" Ruby complimented him. "Come on, we have history today."
Royce reached into his pack for the Scroll he was given. It was like a Pip Boy in a way, except it showed something called "Aura." Whatever that meant. He assumed it was the green bar on screen with his picture on it. He tucked it back in his backpack and followed Ruby to their first class.
History...Perfect, he could finally get some info on Remnant.
/
"Today we will be beginning lecture on the Faunus War." Bartholomew Oobleck talked real fast and he was literally zipping around his lecture desk. Behind him was a map of Remnant with a bunch of notes stuck to the thing, already making it difficult to see. Thank God for textbooks. The green haired disheveled looking professor noticed Royce. "Ah Mister Walker! Welcome to the class! I am Professor Oobleck."
Royce nodded politely. "It's nice to meet you too professor." He bowed his head.
Royce paid attention as the lecture started on the Faunus, humans who shared some traits with animals. Royce found that he wasn't surprised at all. Dealing with Ghouls and Super Mutants back in DC probably had something to do with it.
As Oobleck continued with the lecture he noted most of the students not listening. Typical with school so Royce paid no heed and took notes. Apparently the Faunus were suffering some negative treatment from humans which resulted in the Faunus Civil Rights Movement. It was the same with Ghouls except they typically get shot for their trouble.
He remembered what Leo had said, the right to exist is a hard-won thing.
Ruby looked over and saw how...intense Royce looked when he listened. When Oobleck mentioned the Faunus War and the subsequent results she saw the young man's eyes narrow but he still took notes. She had never seen someone so intense while taking notes before. She wasn't too interested in this kind of stuff anyway, send her against some Grimm or get her to make a weapon, now that she could do.
/
"Hey Royce-holy moly!" Yang was taken aback at how much notes Royce had taken down. "How much did you write down!?"
"A lot," Royce said as he tucked the overstuffed folder into his backpack. "I mean I gotta keep my grades up." He flapped his wrist. "Man, been a while since I took so much down."
"Wait, how long have you been out of school?" Ruby asked.
"Hmm...I'm nineteen now so...around three years maybe?" Royce answered shrugging his shoulders.
"Three years?" Weiss asked. "What have you been doing with your life?"
"Hey take it easy!" Royce raised his hands. "I took an aptitude test and I was supposed to be a Technician until..." His eyes blanked. "Until..."
"Until what?" Weiss asked impatiently.
"Royce?" Blake put down her book. "Are you alright?"
"It's nothing." Royce answered suddenly shaking his head. "Let's just say that it didn't end well for me. It's hard to talk about."
Yang blinked. She could have sworn she saw a sad smile on his face. "Didn't mean to pry." She said looking sheepish.
"No, you didn't mean anything by it." Royce shook his head. "But..." He didn't know what to say after that.
/
The next class was more physical with Glynda Goodwitch. The professor raised a brow as Royce dodged Cardin Winchester's mace then surged forward, putting all his body weight into a straight punch with Fisto. The poor boy was sent flying, landing in an unconscious heap a good distance away. Had he not been protected by his aura he probably would not be able to function for a while.
In the audience Team RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL watched with jaws dropped. Yang started laughing softly to herself.
Jaune just gaped at Royce and then at the unconscious Cardin Winchester who was spread eagle a few meters away.
"Well, mister Walker." Glynda said as she looked up at the screen. Royce was still in the green, Cardinal was definitely in the red. "I must say that was quite a punch."
The Wanderer scratched the back of his head nervously. Then again that Winchester kid was swinging a club at him with murderous intent.
"Although your insulting his mother was not exactly called for." Royce winced at that, but Cardin started it first by mocking Fisto so he was just getting even.
"Nonetheless you are the clear winner of this match up. And seeing that you were not formally trained in using Aura the outcome is surprising."
"...I didn't mean to punch him so hard." Royce said.
"Perhaps a modicum of restraint would be wiser the next time." Glynda nodded sagely. "Are there any other volunteers?"
Yang raised her hand.
Royce paled
Oh shit!
/
"Ow!" Royce winced as Ruby put an ice pack on his cheek. Actually it was more like she shoved the thing into his face a little too hard.
"Sorry Royce." She apologized. "Wow...I've never seen Yang hit you so hard."
"Well, I must say that your sister has one helluva right hook." Royce held his jaw. A few bruises marred his face but they would heal, like all of his wounds did.
"Oh come on!" Yang said from the opposite side of the lunch table. "I didn't hit you that hard!"
"You were pummeling him, Yang." Blake turned a page in her book. "But I have to say Royce, you did pretty good considering the circumstances. Yang's one of the strongest girls I know."
"I've...learned how to deal with pain." Royce said shrugging, he still winced as Ruby applied the ice pack to his face.
"You should have been using your Aura." Weiss commented. "Jeez, don't you know anything!?"
"I don't know what Aura is, not from here remember?" Royce said as he took another bite of his sandwich.
"Ugh...How can you eat so much?" Weiss complained. "That sandwich is the size of your head!"
"I take offense to that one," Royce said swallowing his food. He looked quite offended. "My head is not the size of this sandwich."
Yang and Ruby giggled. Weiss scowled.
"What? No sense of humor?" Royce looked at Weiss with a raised eye brow. "An old friend of mine says you get wrinkles earlier being like that."
"Don't mind Weiss, Royce. She may act like this all the time but she's a decent person." Ruby said. "Anyway Royce, how do you not know about Aura? It's part of your soul!"
"So...anyone can use it?" Royce asked.
"With a decent amount of training, yeah." Yang said.
"Huh. Never did know that my soul was that strong." Royce said. "So...how do I use it?"
"Uh..." Ruby looked at Yang who shrugged.
"This is going to take a while isn't it?" Royce asked again.