Chapter Two: Beacon
Morgan POV
Morgan was irritated. After his fight with Blanc the previous night, he had decided to look her up. Nothing. He found nothing. He couldn't understand it. Goodwitch had told him that Blanc was part of a notorious crime syndicate but he couldn't find shit about Le Syndicat Blanc or Blanc herself. If they were well known, how come he couldn't find anything about them?
He lashed his tail. "Load of bullshit." he growled, closing his scroll after another failed search. This attracted some stares from the other teens on the Bullhead but he ignored them. The Bullhead was to take them to Beacon Academy to start the term. He wasn't much for air travel but that was only because he felt a bit claustrophobic in most vehicles, especially with a lot of people in there with him, like now.
He turned his focus to the news that was playing. "The robbery last night was led by a little known criminal named Chatte Blanc, who was captured after she was defeated by a Huntsman candidate named Morgan Rubrum, who was unavailable for comment. Back to you, Lisa." the anchorman said.
"Thank you, Cyril. In other news, the White Fang has disrupted yet another civil rights demonstration. The formerly peaceful organization continues to become increasingly violent."
Morgan stopped paying attention after that. He didn't care about the White Fang and them being idiots. He couldn't believe that he had said that Blanc was a little known criminal. It didn't make any sense. He could only assume that Goodwitch had lied to him.
Speaking of the Professor, a hologram of her popped up, interrupting the news feed, which had transitioned to weather. "Hello and welcome to Beacon! My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty 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 the training to protect our world." the recording imparted.
He felt the Bullhead shift as it changed directions. Some of the students rushed to look out the window. He discreetly moved closer to the exit as he knew they were close to getting off this bucket of bolts.
A few minutes later, the Bullhead touched down and Morgan stepped off of it, along with the other potential students. He took stock of his surroundings. They were deposited onto a long, wide avenue leading up to the main academy buildings and their large, impressive main doorway, which opened up to a large amphitheater surrounded by a double ring of colonnades bisected by the main avenue with the outer ring rising high over the main entrance to the academy itself. The avenue was marked with trees and flag-draped light-poles, as well as a number of impressive aqueduct-like features and archways.
In front of the entrance to the main amphitheater was a large statue and fountain of a Huntsman and Huntress standing atop a rock, beneath which a Beowolf cowers. There was also a large circular pond feature surrounded by a pathway and a garden of red trees. He also saw a massive tower just beyond the main buildings. The tower was capped by a number of green spheres or lights forming a kind of beacon, probably where the school got its name, as well as a complicated looking clockwork device.
Morgan knew that Ozpin's office was in that tower and he wondered how he could deal with the noise of that giant clock.
He walked as he thought. He'd heard that students at Beacon must go through an initiation of sorts. He wondered what it would be. When he was still at Signal, he had asked Professors Branwen and Xiao Long what it would entail but said they couldn't do it justice.
Morgan's tail lashed again. He was getting real damn tired of not getting the information he wanted. Was it that hard for people to tell him what he wanted to know? More to the point, why couldn't he get accurate information?
His thoughts were interrupted by sounds of arguing behind him. He turned to face it.
"I told you to leave me alone!" a human girl insisted. She was wearing a form fitting brown leather bodysuit with a matching belt and boots. She had two dagger sheaths attached to her back and had pitch black eyes and close cropped black hair.
The source of her annoyance was a human boy wearing dark yellow leather winklepickers, tattered yellow jeans and a dark gold leather jacket over a grey undershirt. He had his light blond hair done up in a glossy pompadour. Two large cheese grater-esque gauntlets were attached to his gold belt. "Ched Caseus…" Morgan whispered to himself. Then he grinned. This was going to be fun.
"Come on, baby! I know ya can't resist a swell guy like me! Think about it. I get a hot ass girlfriend and you get an even hotter boyfriend! It's a win-win!" Caseus replied.
The girl scowled and rolled her eyes. "So you're an asshole and a narc. Great to know. I'm leaving now." she said as she started to leave, only to be stopped by Caseus reaching out and grabbing her arm.
"Hey, I didn't say you could leave!" Caseus said playfully.
The girl didn't turn around. "You have ten seconds to let go of me before I break every bone in your body." she warned with a very dangerous edge in her voice.
Caseus laughed and shook his head. "Sure, sure! Like you could do that! Hate to break it to ya, dolly, but I was the second strongest guy in my class at Signal, so there ain't a whole lot you could do to me, ya dig?"
Morgan felt the girl's Aura spike then the ground started to shake a little. Judging from the lack of reactions, he and the girl were the only ones to feel it so he guessed that she was the cause of the shaking. He decided to intervene before the girl could make good on her threat.
"Hey, Cheese Grater!" he called out.
Caseus's eyes widened in abject terror and he recoiled from the girl immediately and the shaking stopped. "Rubrum! Hey! What's up, dude?" he asked nervously.
Morgan rolled his eyes. "Cut the shit, Cheese Grater. The girl said to leave her alone so you leave her alone. You got that? Or am I gonna have to give you another… physical reminder of what happens when you piss me off?" he warned.
The blond teen became even more fearful, if possible. "No, no! I dig ya, I dig ya! I'll, uh, just be on my way now!" he exclaimed while walking away.
The feline teen's eyes followed Caseus as he walked off.
"I didn't need your help. I could've taken him." the girl huffed.
Morgan snorted. "I know that. I just didn't want rocks chucked my way. What's your name, anyway?" he asked.
The girl was visibly shocked. "R-Robin. Tori Robin. How'd you know I can manipulate earth?"
The Faunus teen laughed. "I could feel your Aura spike and the ground shake and no one else could! Even if that tremor was natural, which it wasn't, it wouldn't have waited until your Aura spiked to start and it stopped as soon as Cheese Grater let go of your arm! Too many coincidences in too short a time frame." he pointed out.
The girl, Robin, scoffed. "You're certainly observant."
He twitched his ears. "Of course. By the way, is Robin your given or family name? You look Mistral and I want to make sure so I don't fuck up."
She looked surprised at that one. She laughed it off, though. "Given name. I have to tell most people that, you're the first who's ever asked."
"Well, if you piss someone off, you want to make sure it's intentional, right?"
She giggled. "You're pretty funny… Oh, I forgot! I never got your name."
Morgan smirked. "Morgan Rubrum. Resident badass, slayer of monsters and dispeller of assholes who won't leave you the fuck alone."
"Oh, I've been meaning to ask, who was that guy and why did he just about piss his pants when he saw you?" she wondered.
Morgan sighed. "Jeez. We should probably walk and talk. We need to get to get movin' and find wherever we're supposed to go."
Robin nodded and they began to walk.
"That was Ched Caseus. A couple years ago, he wasn't terrified of me. In fact, he bullied me. At least, he tried to. At first, he just annoyed me. Then annoyance turned to frustration then anger then rage then I had enough and beat him the fuck up. Hospitalized him. Course, I got a few month's worth of detention and was lucky I wasn't expelled. Plus side, though: I basically traumatized him so much that he does not want to risk even more broken bones."
Robin blinked in surprise. "Damn. Remind me never to get on your bad side."
Morgan laughed. "Haha, yeah. Shoulda' told that to Blanc last night. Whew, that fight did not end well for her." he chuckled darkly, his tail swishing behind him.
Robin raised her eyebrows. "So you're that Morgan Rubrum. I am learning all sorts of things about you today. How come her mugshot looked like she got smashed through five separate brick walls and then concrete pillars?"
He ran his hands through his unruly hair, messing it up further. "Cause she really pissed me off and I don't handle people pissing me off. At all. If Goodwitch hadn't been there after I lost control, Blanc would be in a worse place than jail right now. Not like that outcome would bother me, though. I say the bitch deserves it." he explained.
They walked in silence for a couple minutes. It was odd. He was opening up to someone. A human. He was supposed to hate humans. Most of them, anyway. But there was something about this girl that made him not hate her guts immediately. As for if he'd hate her guts eventually, well. Jury was still out on that one.
His thoughts were interrupted by someone impacting his side. He looked to his right and saw a tall, tanned, muscular girl with a light blue bodysuit and skirt under gold armor on her shins, thighs, chest, right shoulder and forearms, as well as tan sandals. Her hair, which was in a braided ponytail, and eyes were a dark blue and she wore dark purple eyeshadow. She was rubbing her shoulder and closing her scroll.
She looked him up and down with thinly veiled contempt and scoffed. "You'd better watch where you're going, Faunus." she sneered.
The feline Huntsman's eyes flashed from gold to scarlet and back again. "Well, sorry, princess, but I was. You blindsided me. Maybe don't look at your scroll when you walk and you'll experience a lot less collisions." he growled.
The tanned girl narrowed her eyes. "Heiress."
"What?"
"It's heiress. I am the heiress of Aquaria Munitions. If you use any sort of firearm, my family's company makes the rounds or shells for it." she explained.
Morgan cocked an eyebrow. "Huh. You got a name, heiress?"
"Donna Aquaria. My name is Donna Aquaria."
"Morgan Rubrum. You might recognize the name, it was on the news on the ride here."
She scoffed and looked him up and down again. "Yes, I did. I have to say, I expected someone more… reputable." she jeered.
Morgan's ears twitched in annoyance. "Now, what the hell is that supposed to mean?!" he demanded loudly.
Aquaria chuckled. "Well, you don't exactly look like a stand up citizen, do you? Your colors are reminiscent of blood, your hair is all scruffy, you reek of smoke and don't even get me started on your ears and tail." she listed.
Morgan's tail lashed. "First off, there's nothing wrong with a red color scheme, even if it is a little dark. Second, my hair's always been like this, so what is it's a bit messy? It's not like it's dirty. Third, my Semblance is fire based so I can't exactly get rid of the smell a hundred percent. Last, what the fuck is wrong with my ears and tail?!" he snarled.
The heiress rolled her eyes and waved him off. "Oh, everyone with common sense knows that all Faunus are criminals. You probably only fought Blanc as a territory dispute. You animals tend to do that sort of thing." she stated.
His ears flattened against his skull and his tail lashed and a low growl emanated from his throat. His gold eyes once again shifted to scarlet and stayed there. Steam rose from his hands and hair. "Aquaria, I am going to tell you this once and once only. I am not a criminal. Just because I am a Faunus does not mean you can say shit like that. Not all Faunus are like the White Fang. They are extremists and terrorists. I am not apart of them. They are idiots for acting like that. We all know that. I fought Blanc because she was robbing a shop I like. Okay?"
The tanned heiress raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms. "Only because she was robbing a shop you like? Really? No other special reason? Like doing the right thing because it's the right thing or it's your civil duty?" she questioned.
Morgan was confused. "Yeah? What does the reason matter as long as it wasn't me being a criminal?" he asked, his eyes turning back to normal and the steam dissipating.
Robin laughed. "Donna, Morgan seems to be more of a neutral figure."
Aquaria balked and turned back to Morgan. "So, you'd help an enemy if the opportunity arose?!" she demanded.
"If I wasn't already fighting them? Possibility. Doesn't matter to me who or what I'm fighting or why as long as I get to fight strong guys. Nothing's worse than fighting a weak opponent. That's boring. No challenge in it." he stated.
Aquaria looked at Morgan then Robin then back to Morgan. "You two are crazy. I'm out of here. Sayonara and let's hope we don't get put on the same teams!" she said as she nearly ran away from the pair.
Morgan stared at her retreating frame. He already knew they weren't going to get along. She seemed strong, though, so he figured that she could be a pretty decent fight in the future. Who knew. His thoughts were interrupted again by Robin laughing.
He turned to face her again. "What is it?"
It took her a bit to calm down. "You are without a doubt both the oddest and most interesting guy I've ever met. Not that that's a bad thing. It's just gonna take me awhile to get used to you." she explained.
Morgan cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean, 'get used to me'? It sounds like you wanna be friends with me." he said, shuffling his feet.
"I thought we already were? I think you're pretty cool and it seems that you don't hate me so I think it's a no-brainer that we're friends already. Besides, the only other people I know here are major douchebags, so I'd rather hang out with someone I like."
Morgan felt a weird sort of heat rise in his cheeks. "O-oh. Okay. Friends, huh? With a human? This'll be a new experience." he muttered.
Robin laughed again. "Never been friends with a human, eh? Well, don't let Aquaria and Caseus give you the wrong first impression. Not all of us are assholes."
Morgan nodded. "I suppose not. Most of you, though. People in general, human and Faunus, are assholes. That's mostly why I prefer to stick to myself. Things are less complicated when you're alone, you know?"
Robin chuckled sadly. "Yeah. I can understand that feeling." she trailed off. She was quiet for a couple seconds before shaking her head as if to clear it. "We should get moving. I'm pretty sure we have to get to some auditorium." she stated, changing the subject.
Morgan looked at her, concerned, but shrugged it off and started walking with her again.
They didn't even get two feet before they heard another new voice.
"Excuse me! Please wait up! I'm looking for my friend. Can you help me find her?" the voice called out.
They turned around to see who it was. This one was a pale, thin boy with buzzed lilac hair, purple eyes and wearing a purple military-esque uniform. It was reminiscent of an old navy's dress blues from the Great War nearly a hundred years ago.
Morgan sighed heavily. "Alright, what does your friend look like?"
"She's a bit taller than me, she's tanned, dark blue hair and eyes, purple eyeshadow and she is scary strong looking. Her name's Donna Aquaria." the boy said.
Robin and Morgan shared a look. "We just saw her a couple minutes ago. She went that way." Robin informed, pointing to the main building.
The boy heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you, I've been looking for her for hours. My name is Lilo Ehre, heir of Ehre Firearms. Pleasure to meet you." he said while extending a hand out for both Robin and Morgan to shake.
Robin shook it first and introduced herself. Morgan did the same.
Ehre started in the direction they pointed out when Morgan stopped him. He turned. "Yes? What is it?"
"Your friend? Aquaria? She's a bitch. Keep her in line would you? I won't hold myself responsible if she says something to really piss me off." the feline Huntsman warned.
The lilac haired teen looked confused. "Okay? Sorry if she said anything that offended you. Donna's always been abrasive. It's just her way, I have no control over that. I'll try to get Donna to be less mean but I can't make any promises. We really do need to get moving, though. We're supposed to be in the auditorium. Goodbye!" he said while running off.
Morgan stared at his retreating frame. "Hmm. He's not a bad kid. It's Aquaria I don't like. Something's off about her." he said as they started walking again.
Robin turned to him. "What do you mean?"
The feline Huntsman ran his hands through his hair. "I don't know. She sounds pretty anti-Faunus but… something in her voice. Something makes it sound like she doesn't quite believe the rhetoric. But it also sounds like she does believe it, a hundred percent. I don't know. Whatever. Let's keep moving."
They managed to make it to the correct building without too much issue or further interruption. They made it into the auditorium just as a tall man walked onto the stage.
From what Morgan could see, he was middle aged, with a light complexion and sharp facial features. His tousled hair was silver and his eyebrows were dark. He wore an unzipped black suit over a dark green, buttoned vest and green shirt and a cowl around his neck. He had shaded glass spectacles and a small purple, cross-shaped pin on the cowl. He also wore black trouser shoes and long, dark-green pants. Morgan knew him to be Professor Ozpin.
His silvery eyes scanned the massive room and his gaze locked onto Morgan for an extra second before clearing his throat and readied the microphone in front of him. "I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction."
He paused for a couple seconds. Morgan heard the students whisper among themselves, trying to figure out what he meant. "You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." he continued. Ozpin then walked off the stage and left the auditorium.
Goodwitch, who was also there, stepped up to the microphone. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."
Morgan could feel something off about Ozpin. He just couldn't tell what. But something about the man made Morgan's skin crawl.
*A few hours later*
Morgan walked into the ballroom, bag of clothes and armor in hand. He had removed his armor, leather jacket and undershirt and changed his pants out for a pair of knee-length shorts, the only item of clothing he currently had on besides his underwear.
He made his way over to Robin, where the rest of his things were; scroll, weapons, etc. As he walked, he noticed many of the other first years staring at him. His golden eyes stared back. He stopped and waited. After about a minute of them staring, he had had enough.
"What?! Why are you staring at me?!" he demanded.
They all went back to whatever they were doing before he entered the room. His tail lashed and ears twitched. Apart from one reason, he could not figure out why they were staring at him! It made him rather uncomfortable.
When he got his and Robin's cots, he sat down heavily and set the bag of clothes down. "Did you see that? They were all staring at me like I was some kind of circus attraction! Yes, I'm a little out of the ordinary. I get it. After all, it's not everyday you see a Faunus with two animal traits or even a Tiger Faunus but they could have the common decency to not stare. Or at least not make it so obvious." he grumbled.
Robin laughed. He whipped his head towards her. "What?! What's so damn funny?!" he snarled, pride a bit wounded. Friends shouldn't laugh at other friends. At least, that was what he was led to believe from his precious few friendships.
Robin laughed harder. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's amazing to see someone so oblivious to this kind of thing." she explained.
Morgan narrowed his eyes. "Oblivious to what?"
Robin shook her head. "Jeez. They weren't staring at you because you're a Faunus. There're other Faunus in the room and they're not being stared at. No, they're staring at you because you're hot!" she said.
"But the air conditioning's on and I'm not using my Semblance. How can I be hot?" Morgan asked, confused.
Robin looked like she just about had an aneurysm. "I-I can't tell if you're serious about that and that is very concerning."
Morgan cocked his head to the side. "Of course I'm serious. Why would I not be?"
Robin slapped her face with her palm and sighed. "Okay. I can't believe I'm explaining this to a seventeen year old. Look, when two people love each other, or even just like each other… D'oh, forget it! Do you not know about sex and attraction?!" she whisper yelled.
Morgan furrowed his eyebrows. "…yes? But, what does that have to do with being hot? That doesn't make any sense." he stated.
Robin's eyebrows twitched. "Oh, my gods, you're serious. Ugh. Look, 'hot' is a figure of speech used to express how much one person finds another person attractive. How have you not figured that out yet? Girls must have been throwing themselves at your feet with that kind of body. I mean, hot damn, your six-pack has a six-pack."
The feline teen snorted. "There… were a few girls who tried to ask me out back at Signal. But I always turned them down. None of them could interest me or compete with me. Well, one could compete with me. She was a long haired blond firespitter. She could take a hit and dish right back, twice as hard, same as me." he sighed, reminiscing. "But I wasn't into her like that and neither was she. Besides, it wouldn't have worked out even if we were. She's a year younger and her uncle, who was a teacher at Signal, was protective as hell. Man, he gave me such a chewing out the first time we sparred. 'You could've hurt her,' 'you're supposed to be a role model,' crap like that." he said, grinning as he remembered.
He shrugged his shoulders. "But, in the end, we were better as classmates and sparring partners. We weren't meant for each other." he sighed contentedly.
He could feel Robin staring at him. He turned to look at her. "What? What is it?"
She seemed to struggle with the words. "Well… I've heard you talk about a childhood bully. I've heard you talk about someone who was clearly almost a friend. But what about other parts of your life?" she asked.
He looked at her quizzically. He shrugged. "Eh, sure, why not. What do you want to know?" he asked.
"Well, what about your parents?" she asked.
Morgan's expression hardened. "I don't want to talk about my parents." he said curtly.
Robin cocked her head to the side. "Why not? I'm sure they're not that bad. I mean, yeah, everyone hates their parents at some point, but-"
"Shut up. Now." he interrupted, a steely edge in his voice.
"W-what?"
"You don't know a fucking thing about me or my parents. I don't want to talk about them because they're dead. I loved them. With all my fucking heart! But they were taken from me by the greed of the Schnee Dust Company. This conversation is over." he growled, barely keeping his voice to indoor levels.
He laid down on his cot and pulled the covers over him. He had hoped Robin would've been different, that she would have respected his privacy. But, at the end of the day, all humans are the same; nosy and arrogant. But… something in the back of his mind was telling him to give her another chance. Ugh, I'll deal with that in the morning. I need to sleep! he thought.
He rolled over on his cot, facing away from Robin, and allowed the dark embrace of sleep to take him away.
AN: And that is the second chapter done! Very dialogue heavy and no fight scene, but I needed to introduce some characters.
To Guest DCDGojira, yes Team MRLD will meet RWBY but they have to get through their first year first. Morgan and crew are a year older than RWBY.
I've already teased a character relationship with the blond firespitter. If anyone can guess who Morgan was talking about, I'll give them a shout out. Alright, review and let me know what you think of the chapter! Until the next one!