It was quiet. Quiet and dark. Such was the condition of Beacon Academy's halls at this hour. In fact, Ozpin himself would have been asleep at present, except... It was only a feeling. A less experienced huntsman might have dismissed it, but Ozpin knew this feeling all too well. He'd learned long ago what it meant. It meant something was coming. Not something bad – not always, anyway. Nevertheless, it paid to be ready.
It was for this very reason that, at – he checked his watch – 2:47 in the morning, he was wandering the empty halls of his school, waiting. In his many years as a huntsman, albeit slightly less as Beacon's headmaster, he had never lacked for sleepless nights, and over the course of his tenure, he had learned to enjoy the quiet stillness that usually accompanied them. Tonight he found he was enjoying it a bit more than usual. This was mainly because of the lack of students sleeping in the dorm rooms.
Not that he didn't enjoy the presence of his students, but one of the things you learned as a huntsman was that people, even sleeping people, made noise, unless they were making a conscious effort not to. Even then, there was always some kind of sound that could be detected if you knew what to listen for, even if it was just the sound of someone trying not to make a sound, which it usually was. Among the many skills that made Ozpin one of the most widely respected huntsmen in history was his seemingly supernatural ability to hear and distinguish between every single sound around him. Tonight, however, with the students all home for the summer, there was nothing except for the faint whisper of wind and the chirping of crickets. Which made the sudden unanticipated voice seem almost to have appeared from nowhere.
"Still burning it at both ends, I see." Ozpin allowed himself to lower his guard... a bit. In the past two decades, there had been only one person, other than Qrow, to have proven capable of sneaking up on him like this. And that was definitely her voice.
"You've been gone a long time," he said, turning calmly to face her.
"Almost three years," she agreed.
"Come, Violet," he said. "Let's take a walk across the grounds."
Once they had left the building, Ozpin broke the silence. "Is your brother coming back as well?" he asked conversationally. They were walking around the hunter statue in the center of the garden. One of the many things Violet loved about Beacon was that on a clear night, a look toward the sky always promised to be a beautiful sight. And it was a very clear night. With the total absence of students on campus, the subtle din of light which invariably accompanied late-night studying was nowhere to be seen. Every star was visible. It was breathtaking.
Violet turned her attention back to the headmaster. "He's on his way," she said.
"It really has been a long time, hasn't it?" he said. "Three years ago he would have wanted to surprise me with the good news himself." There was a pause. Ozpin was leading her back around the statue toward the centerpiece of Beacon's main building complex, Beacon Tower. The namesake of the school and easily the tallest building in Vail, it rose high above the clouds and gave a stunning view of the whole of Beacon Academy and beyond. The top floor housed the headmaster's office. Violet knew at once that was where they were heading.
"He's grown up since then," she said, after a while.
Ozpin sighed. "Yes," he said. "Seeing one's closest friends die tends to have that effect on people. What worries me, however, is that more often, it tends to have quite another, far more unfortunate effect on people." They entered the tower and took the elevator to Ozpin's office. They stood facing each other in front of his desk. "Getting straight to the point," Ozpin continued, "are you certain he's ready?"
"He's spent the last three years training-"
"You know what I meant," he said, the edge of authority now in his voice. "When he left Beacon, it was because the vivid memory of his team every waking moment very nearly broke him." Violet said nothing. More kindly, he said, "Believe me, nobody at Beacon misses having him here more than I do, but," and here the edge returned, "I absolutely will not risk his mental stability. Unless you can assure me that this won't be an issue, I'm afraid I cannot allow him to return to my school."
After another pause which seemed to last longer than a minute, Violet said, "He's ready."
Ozpin appeared to consider this. "Very well," he said, reaching a conclusion. "Seeing as how I trust you as I trusted your mother and father, and since I know that you care for Riley even more deeply than I do, I will take your word for it." He noticed the subtle signs of relief in Violet's expression. "However," he said raising his voice just slightly, "if I should detect any hint of a collapse, I will be well within my rights as headmaster, and especially as your godfather, to order his immediate removal from campus."
"If that happens, I'm leaving with him," Violet said firmly.
Ozpin smiled. "I'm sure he wouldn't have it any other way," he said. They hugged. "It's wonderful to see you again, Violet." Violet, beaming back, blinked away a tear. "You look beautiful," he said. "You're the spitting image of your mother."
She laughed and said, "You should see Riley! If it weren't for the color of his eyes, I'd be calling him 'Dad' all the time."
"That would be terribly confusing," said Riley from the window. Startled, they both turned at once, Ozpin brandishing his steel walking stick. He lowered it immediately at the sight of Riley. "Thank goodness for the color of my eyes." He hopped down from the windowsill. "Hey," he said.
Ozpin couldn't believe what had just happened. Riley, a boy of only eighteen who had not yet completed a single full semester at Beacon, had completely avoided Ozpin's detection just as expertly as his prodigy of a sister had, only Riley had managed reach the top of the tower, unlock and open the window from the outside, and have been perched on the window sill at least long enough to have heard what they were talking about. And he had done so while somehow remaining even more silent than Violet had been, if that was even possible.
"Remarkable," he said. "How did you – oh, where are my manners?" He gave Riley a big hug. "It's so good to see you again, Riley," he said.
"It's good to be seen again," Riley answered. "I take it my sister told you why I'm late."
"No, actually, I hadn't gotten around to asking about that yet," Ozpin said. "I assume you both flew here."
"No," Riley said, "just Violet. I decided to walk most of the way. I only flew the last stretch." Ozpin could sense hesitation about something. After a few seconds, during which Riley closed and locked the window he'd entered from, Riley continued, "Even so, I would've gotten here sooner, but I ran into some trouble."
Ozpin and Violet looked from Riley to one another, then back to Riley. "What kind of trouble?" asked Ozpin.
"I was confronted and attacked by five suspicious people," said Riley, "only two of whom I was able to identify in any way. They were all wearing Grimm masks."
"Are you okay?" Violet asked. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," said Riley.
"White Fang?" Ozpin mused.
"No, I don't think so," said Riley. "They didn't have any obvious animal traits."
Ozpin turned this information over in his head for a while. Finally, he sat down at his desk. "Tell me," he said.
