Welcome back to another exciting (or maybe not) chapter of my fanfic! Episodes 1-3, go watch them again for a good visual. I will not be describing people's clothing because I am terrible at that. So don't ask. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own my OC and nothing else. I do not own RWBY or any video games or songs referenced. All other copyright mumbo jumbo.
Chapter 3: Enter, Team RWBY
'It's been what? Two months now?' AJ thought while sitting in a airship heading back to Beacon. 'I feel like there is something important I forgot right now. Ozpin said to look for changes after two months. Maybe that will have to do with what I'm forgetting? Ok, have I changed at all?' He turned and looked out the window and was able to see the city of Vale below. He focused his eyes to see his reflection in the window. 'Alright… hair is still brown. Down to my eyebrows but parted down the middle so it doesn't look like I don't have a forehead. Clothes… same, added guards to my wrists and shins, any blade will be stopped as if it hit another blade, sparks and all. It's just premium Dust sown into it though, still can't get over how useful Dust is in this world. It's sown into all my clothes if I remember correctly, removes the need for armor and helps me channel my Aura and Energy. I DID add this brown cloak so no one see's that I'm a Faunus, and I have black fingerless gloves also lined with clear dust for channeling Aura. Black shirt, black gloves, would look really bland if it wasn't for the cloak. Eyes… yes, vibrant green with flecks of gold. Wait, they just turned back to dull grey-green, which means…'
"Hello Neko," AJ said, still looking at his reflection. "What are you doing out?" He finally turned to his left to see an average size house cat with brown fur the exact same color as his hair, the cat's eyes were vibrant green with flecks of gold, staring at AJ intently. Then it meowed in response to the question. The moment it finished its meow he heard a voice of a boy about his age by the sound of it. "Keeping an eye on the groceries you got, you just started staring at your reflection and I realized some fool might try to take them for no good reason." AJ was the only one who could hear the voice, sometimes he would only hear the voice and not the meow, and it wasn't because he was a cat Faunus. He looked behind the cat and saw two bags of groceries and looked to his right and saw the other two bags.
"Right sorry, I don't think it will help me remember anyway." AJ sat back down in his seat and Neko laid down in his lap.
"Been an interesting few weeks so far huh?" Neko meowed. "Ya, Glynda kicked my ass repeatedly, put the training bots at higher levels than she said she would." "Why don't you ever say we?" Neko asked, sounding depressed. "Because I'm the one that feels it! Anyway, what else? Got made fun of for being a Faunus." "Don't remind me." Neko growled. "But then again," Neko started, sounding much happier now. "That also is the reason I'm around to cheer you up whenever you need me." Neko finished with a smile. "Yep." AJ said as he remembered how Neko came to be.
One month since entering the world
"…and they kept hitting me and hitting me! I tried to hit back but I was weak and I couldn't!" AJ screamed while he was on a large, secluded rooftop that him and Glynda had been training on for a month. But instead of training, he came to the roof furious, and Glynda tried to comfort him but he was to angry to listen. "And they kept calling me an ANIMAL! WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO TO THEM!" His Aura had begun radiating out in it's usual mist form as his anger grew. But at this point it exploded. His Faunus ears and tail changed from brown like his hair, to white and began glowing white. "I am DONE being LAUGHED AT! I am DONE being a FAUNUS!" He focused all the Aura he released (Which little did they know was a very small amount of his potential) and tried to purge the Faunus out him.
"AJ STOP! You don't have to do this! You don't have to give in to the bullies!" Glynda tried to yell over his Aura but if he heard he didn't listen. Then the large mist around him rushed back into him giving a split second of silence before there was another large explosion but this time the Aura mist that blasted out was light green, and formed into a basketball sized mass. Then AJ went to destroy the Faunus Aura but passed out before he could. He no longer had his Faunus ears or tail.
When he unlocked his Aura, everything was in overdrive, his body probably healed itself so fast that it never tired out till his Aura calmed down. Now there was no overdrive, if his body was gonna make use of larger amounts of Aura, it would have to get used to these large releases. But the mass of Faunus Aura didn't stay, Glynda watched in amazement as it fell to ground and turned into a brown cat that was as unconscious as AJ was.
AJ eventually woke up in the infirmary, again. The staff there knew him from his few trips before and felt bad for how much Glynda pushed the boy. But they knew that this time wasn't from Glynda. Proof of Glynda's crazy story was in the form of the brown cat that slept in the same bed as the boy. Which AJ only noticed when he sat up and the cat fell off the bed with the classic cat cry of panic and desperate clawing at the edge of the bed before finally falling. AJ also heard "Oh god! What are you, No WAIT!" *Thud* "Ow, damn it."
"Did I just hear that right?" AJ asked dumfounded as he looked down at the cat who, evidently, had NOT landed on it's feet.
The cat meowed up at him angrily and AJ heard "Yes, yes you did AJ!"
Neko then calmed down and explained how AJ had tried to get rid of the Faunus part of him and failed because there is still a tether that connects them. That intelligence that the spirit thought might have been in his Aura took the form of the cat, which being that AJ is creative until it comes to names, decided to name him Neko. Neko said he isn't mad about trying to get rid of him because despite being its own intelligence, he also shares a lot of AJ's intelligence and understood why he tried to purge him. It also meant the intelligence has a definitive form now! Neko can disappear into AJ's body at any point and gets the more vibrant eye color and Faunus traits back. But then AJ has no one to talk to because Neko doesn't become a voice in his head when he does this. So ya, THAT'S how he can hear the voice! Neko is a part of him.
Present Day
"I'm very glad you aren't mad about that, cause you have a right to be." AJ said looking down at the cat lying in his lap.
"I said its fine! I'm as understanding as you are so you'll get no trouble about that from me!" Neko said while enjoying being pet by AJ.
They enjoyed the next few minutes while AJ looked around at the other people in the airship, they all look different for some reason. He noticed he had never seen these people before and felt like it had to do with that thing he was forgetting. Then the relative silence was broken by an overexcited voice.
"Oh I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day EVER!" AJ looked straight ahead and saw a blond girl with the rest of her clothing being mainly yellow, squeezing the life out of a oddly familiar girl in red. Who tried her best to speak while being crushed by her older sister. "Please stoooop…." The girl in yellow finally released her. "But I'm so proud of YOOOOUUUU!" "Sis, it was nothing." The girl in red responded. AJ remembered the girl and thought 'I'd beg to differ, that was not NOTHING.' The yellow girl continued to talk loudly and remind AJ of Peter.
"What do you mean!? It was INCREDIBLE! Everyone at Beacon is gonna think you're the bees knees!" 'Did she really just say that?' AJ mentally and physically face palmed. The girl in red seemed distressed about this.
"I don't wanna BE the bees knees! I don't wanna be any kinda knees! I just wanna be a normal girl, with normal knees. 'Well that's one way to put it. Don't blame her though, probably hates the spotlight as much as I do.'
"What's wrong with you? Aren't you excited!?" Yellow asked.
"Of course I'm excited! I just, ugh." Red looked down at her feet in depression. Looking up through her black and red hair at her sister. "I got moved ahead two, years. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything." Yellow walked up and put her arm around her sister and AJ guessed at what she would almost certainly say at this point.
"But you ARE special." 'Freaking CALLED IT! But wait, she can actually have a soft and calm voice!? THAT I did not expect!' A few holoscreens popped up in front of the windows to show mug shots of an orange haired man with a few bandages and bruises on his face and still holding his smug smile despite that. It was a news report on Roman Torchwick. The quick alert ended on the note of "…Who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you Lisa." At this point AJ stopped listening because a certain cat decided to hop on his shoulder, he had no problem with this it just caught him off guard. Yellow and Red must have seen the motion out of the corner of their eyes because they were now talking towards him and he heard Red speaking to Yellow as they approached.
"Ya, this guy was there when he fought him, he was all. Woosh! Woosh! Blam! Blam!" They finally stopped in front of them and he realized this wasn't just so they could pet the cat.
"Hello there." AJ spoke to the sisters. "Hi there!" Yellow responded with a wave. "So my sis says you were there when she fought that Torchwick guy. That true?"
"Ya, your sister here did well against him but Glynda seemed to think otherwise didn't she?" He asked Red.
"Ya," Red responded sheepishly. "She didn't seem happy at all about what I did. Which isn't fair! What? Should I have let them get away or something!?" She clearly was mad at Glynda but it reminded AJ of a tantrum, she just seemed too young to be fighting.
"She made it seem like it was bad for the sole reason that you aren't a "professional." But remember she said she would send you with a pat on the back? When you are around her for long enough you see how she shows she cares and that was one time she actually made it obvious." AJ tried to cheer her up and it seemed to work. With Red smiling again Yellow spoke up.
"Oh, I'm Yang by the way!" "And I'm Ruby!" "Alright, Yang, Ruby, Yang, Ruby. I'm bad at names but I'll try my best to remember." Yellow now Yang, couldn't help but notice this brown cloaked boy with a cat on his shoulders forgot something. "Um, and your name?" "Oh, right! Sorry, I go by AJ." He finally said embarrassed. He didn't have to say his name much so he would forget that part of the introductions.
"AJ huh?" Yang spoke, clearly thinking of something. "Is that your first and last name?"
AJ didn't remember if it was his first and last initial but decided to make it interesting for no real reason. "First and middle initial actually." 'I could have just agreed with her but ok.' Neko had actually been hiding behind his head from Ruby, Neko could tell she would freak so he made himself visible to Yang and not Ruby. Then he slipped. Revealing a tail behind the boy's head to Ruby.
*Gasp* "What's the kitty's name!? Can I pet him!?" Ruby REALLY wanted to pet the cat. "His name is Neko and yes you can pet him." He said with a smile from how childish she was acting. She reached out quickly to touch the cat which caused the cat to flinch and AJ to quickly stop her. "If you don't calm down you will not get to pet him." Neko meowed at AJ, who looked at the cat and nodded his head like he understood, then looked at the girl who he still had a firm grip on her wrist. "And he would like it if you didn't call him 'kitty'." Then released her wrist, which she rubbed a moment before going to pet the cat much slower this time. This time Neko seemed perfectly fine with it and even started to purr eventually.
"Neko? Really?" Yang asked teasingly. "I'm bad with names ok!" AJ spoke annoyed that she just HAD to point out the name. The news was suddenly cut off by the holoscreens disappearing and then reappearing with a hologram of a certain caped blond with an unusually welcoming look on her face. It kinda creeped AJ out. "Hello and welcome to Beacon." The hologram spoke.
"Who's that?" Yang asked.
"That's-" AJ started but shut up when the hologram began speaking again.
"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."
"Oh."
"You are among a privileged few who have had the honor of being selected to join this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsman and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for the task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect our world." With her speech finished the hologram disappeared, showing everyone the view outside again, Ruby wow'd and looked out the window at the city below. "Look! You can see Signal from up here!" This got everyone looking out the windows and pointing at the small academy below us. Some of them were also saying "Look, I can see my house from here!"
"I guess home isn't too far after all." Yang put her hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Beacon is our home now sis." Yang saw that AJ was in his seat and not looking out the window with them, he clearly wanted to stay where he was, and Yang just couldn't let him have his way and sit with his cat. "Come here you!" She grabbed the boy, who was much taller than her, in a headlock and dragged him over to Ruby before putting her in a headlock as well. Both of them now yelling at her.
"Sis! Let go of me! You're ruining the moment!"
"Ya but I'm making a new one!" Yang responded.
"Yang let go of me I am not your little brother!" AJ yelled.
"You are not little by any means big man how tall are you?" Yang asked. Not letting go. Noticing the boy was strong and actually about to get out of her grip, she tried to keep him from being able to say he got out of the headlock on his own. "I'll let you go if you tell me!"
"Fine! Last I checked I'm 6 foot 3! Now let me go!" She released him and he jumped/glided backwards to the other side of the ship to his seat. "Damn son, you're tall. How old are you if you're that tall?" Yang asked while still holding her Ruby in a headlock effortlessly. "I'm 16." She suddenly let go of Ruby. "What!? No way! You're pulling my leg!" He shook his head to show he wasn't lying. "There is no way you are younger than me and still that freakin' tall!" She walked back up to him and Neko realized he needed to hide from both girls and hid behind AJ's cloak. Then while out of sight, morphed into his body by becoming a white mist of Aura that faded into his body, no one saw anything. But they are probably going to see his eyes change color. The tail will be wrapped around his waist like a belt and he kept his hood on so they won't see his ears. "Well I didn't really ask to be this tall. I just am. It's the truth rather you believe it or not." He shrugged. Yang realized he was telling the truth and went on to other matters. "So what happened with Torchwick?" AJ and Ruby both started to tell what happened so they decided to work together to tell the story. Yang throughout the story noticed how AJ was smiling while they talked, he had barely smiled since Ruby pointed him out. 'It's nice seeing him smile, he seemed like he wasn't the type to smile. Why did he smile though? Did he like telling stories? Maybe Ruby's smile is just contagious even for him? Maybe he likes Ruby? Oh no, he better not, he will be in a WORLD of pain if he tries anything with my little sis!'
A few days ago…
Ruby was excited, but focused at the same time. Having beat up a couple robbers at a dust shop she was in, then chased the leader of the group up a building after he shot at her then ran. He didn't expect her to follow but figured he would deal with her easily. His escape jet hovered up to the building and he climbed in, it was known criminal, Roman Torchwick, same orange hair and bowler hat but missing his smug grin for once. He called out to Ruby. "End of the line Red!" And threw a red, fire dust crystal at the girl and, when it landed at her feet, pulled out his cane and fired a shot from it, a large explosion appeared where the girl was and he laughed in triumph. Then glared down at the spot to see Glynda Goodwitch with a large purple glyph floating in from of her as she stood in front of Ruby. He retreated to the cockpit where the pilot was piloting the jet and warned her. "We got a Huntress." She understood what he was asking and set the ship to hover and went to assist Roman.
The woman stepped over to the opening at the ship so she had a view of her opponent, Roman at her side. Only her legs and the lower portion of her dress were visible with a shadow cast over her, but her eyes glowed through the darkness. Glynda realized this woman was dangerous and prepared. The woman focused her fiery Aura around her hands and palm-striked the air in front of her firing a shot of Aura and possibly dust at the Huntress, who placed a Glyph to block the shot. The shot was easily blocked but the woman suddenly thrusted her hand upward palm-up, the floor heated below Glynda and she back flipped, a pillar of fire shot out where she stood and disappeared quickly after. Landing on her hand, she finished the flip and took the debris from the shot and, using her semblence, formed the debris into a spear and shot it at the ship. Roman joined the woman in firing rounds at the tip of the spear until there wasn't a spear left. Then they both began firing at her, the woman fired her attacks much faster than Roman fired his. Glynda's purple glyphs couldn't take this many hits for much longer. Ruby saw this and switched her large scythe into its gun form and began firing at the woman, figuring she should stop the faster firing threat. The woman stopped firing and simply put her hand out in front of her and vaporized each shot that met her hand. Roman didn't stop shooting and the Glyph had large cracks in it and was about to shatter when a white blur shot out in front of her, leaving white feathers behind it, as it placed a slightly smaller white glyph that was simply a white circle with angle wings inside the circle. The tips of the wings touch the edge of the circle. She knew that symbol and wasn't happy about it. Even if it WAS blocking Roman's attacks. "You were supposed to stay out of this fight!" Glynda yelled at the brown cloaked figure, who was holding his right arm out in front of him with his index and middle finger pointed out. "You aren't ready!" She yelled.
The cloaked figure turned his head and she saw the vibrant green eyes but she wasn't close enough to see the flecks of reflective gold they apparently had. "You needed help, I'm not about to do nothing when someone needs help." AJ turned towards the ship and focused on his Glyph. Glynda knew you couldn't argue with him or he will show you how wrong you really are, so she focused on the ship and shot multiple purple magic missiles at it. The ship shook with each hit and Roman realized he needed to go keep the ship stable and went to the pilot's seat. The woman looked at this new opponent with little interest until he let his Glyph fall and shot his left hand out in front of him in a palm strike. He had no Aura build up on his hand like she did when she fired her attacks so she was surprised to see a white blast of Aura shoot out at her. She began copying the action, both of them switching between their left and right hand with each strike, and their attacks collided in the air but he fired his attacks much slower than her. (Imagine her fires as fast as Yang does with her gauntlets) Eventually one of her shots broke through and hit him in the chest and sent him back a few meters. She waved her arm in front of her in an arc and the floor below Glynda and Ruby heated up. With a wave of her wand/riding crop Glynda threw Ruby out of the way and jumped out of the way her self and when she looked up she saw the ship was leaving. Nothing could be done now so she looked at the red hooded girl before her and was surprised to see AJ standing next to her like he wasn't just hit with a powerful attack. 'He's getting better.' She thought, knowing that his Aura would minimize the hit but his standing up and walking back calmly he did on his own. She just hit him a lot so he got used to it, she supposed. "You're a huntress." The cloaked girl spoke. Then got really excited. "Can I have your autograph!?" 'Oh god,' AJ thought. 'She's fangirling.' Glynda just glared at her, grabbed her by the wrist, and started dragging her to the police station. If she didn't know AJ well, she would have grabbed him too.
Present Day cause I'm lazy…
Ruby told the part of her being in the station and getting yelled at by Glynda and questioned by Ozpin before being asked if she wanted to go to Beacon and she was like "Ya." and he was like "Well ok." But, AJ had other problems, he remembered what he had forgotten. 'Oh shit Ozpin is gonna be so disappointed in me…' He thought in terror. Then brought out his Scroll, a small black rectangle with a yellow diamond in the middle, which he pressed and the rectangle split in half and the halves slid away from each other showing the screen. He found Ozpin on the contact list and typed a message to him.
Hey Ozpin?
Yes AJ?
Did you say to get back on the ship BEFORE the new first years?
Yes.
Well I'm on a ship and I spoke with that Ruby girl which reminded me… I'm on a ship with the first years… sorry.
I suppose it isn't the end of the world, just head to my office as soon as you get back.
Alright, thank you Ozpin.
'Well he took that fairly well. At least he appeared too through the text. Which isn't saying much.' Story time had ended and Yang brought him out of his thoughts. "Hey you look distressed. What's up?" She asked.
"Oh nothing much I just realized I was supposed to be on a ship before the first years arrived."
"So are you a Beacon student that is really late right now?" Yang asked.
"Instead of going with that, no, I'm not. I don't have a home anymore, I woke up in a forest and Beacon staff found me and took me in so I live in Beacon now, I'm not a student at all." He looked down, depressed that he didn't get to hang out with these new friends he has.
"Really?" Ruby spoke with concern in her eyes. "That's terrible! No one should ever have that happen to them!" Her overly friendly nature mixed with feeling bad for the tall boy had her hugging him suddenly trying to comfort him, not realizing he wasn't sad because it 'hurt to remember.'
The boy blushed slightly at the sudden hug and Yang laughed at his embarrassment. When Ruby finally pulled away Yang stopped laughing and spoke. "You sound like you weren't that bad of a fighter for someone who isn't a student at an academy." "Yang, I live in an academy designed to train warriors, of course I can fight." Yang scratched the back her head and smiled sheepishly realizing he had a point. He didn't hide the tone in his voice that made her feel even stupider.
AJ looked to his right, his eyes widened and he suddenly grabbed Yang by the arm and pulled her towards him. "Whoa, AJ not so fast." She teased. "You're not my type anyway. You are kinda cute though." AJ tried his best to ignore her and pointed at the blond boy who had wallked past. "He looked like he was gonna throw up so I pulled you out of the way. There is a bit of puke where you were standing. That would have gotten on your shoe." "Oh, well thanks then. I can't help but notice how strong and fast you are. You seemed like a normal kid but clearly I underestimated you. Use that to your advantage in a fight." "Well, thanks for the advice Yang. I'll be sure to do that." 'She freakin sounded like Glynda.' He thought. Ruby wow'd again and he looked to see her looking out the window on his side now.
AJ and Yang joined her in looking out the window at the large lake they and the other airships were flying over. At the end of the lake opposite the city, there is a very tall cliff, at the top of the cliff was a few waterfalls falling down into the lake and large round platforms sticking out the edge for the ships to land. A large path went out from the landing pads to Beacon Academy, in all its glory, it looked like a massive complex even from here. AJ had taken this trip a few times so he wasn't as mesmerized as they were. "Oh I can't wait!" Ruby squealed. They looked out at Beacon as it got closer and closer. Then Ruby wow'd again. AJ turned towards the girl.
"What is it this time?!" He saw that she was looking straight at him. "Um…" She was just staring at him like he was some wondrous thing.
"You have really cool eyes!" She yelled. "They're really bright and there are these spots that reflect like gold or something! Why don't I get really bright green eyes like you!?" 'That's what she's staring at?' "How are my eyes cool!? You have SILVER eyes! That is MUCH cooler!" He argued. "No, my eyes are just one color, you have GOLD in your EYES! That's much cooler!" This was turning into a really stupid argument. "She has you there." "Shut up Yang you're not helping me here!" The argument ended just before the ship landed with the sisters having him look in a pocket mirror Yang had and he realized how reflective the gold flecks in his eyes really were. He had seen real gold, and this looked like REAL gold. So he gave in and agreed his eyes were cooler but not without saying that silver eyes deserve second place which Ruby happily agreed with. 'They never noticed the color change of my eyes. Good.'
They walked out of the ship now with everyone else except the sick blond boy who went to a garbage can to hurl. AJ stopped by and patted him on the back and said "Get well soon." Before continuing with the sisters out of the ship and looked at the wonder that was Beacon with the sisters wowing and AJ, standing between them, simply smiling at their reaction. He had almost forgot the groceries he had. The groceries were in his arms despite the sisters offering to help.
Yang finally calmed down. "The view from Vale's got nothing on this." She said crossing her arms. Ruby however was less… calm. "Ooh! Ooh! Guys!" She starts pointing at people walking by and turns into chibi form. 'Oh god she's fangirling again…' AJ thought facepalming. "That kid's got a collapsible staff! Ooh! And she's got a fire sword!" She started floating over to the other students before AJ appeared in front of her with white feathers appearing around him. He crossed his arms and looked at her with a raised eyebrow, he looked very disappointed with her. In fact, this was "The Look" that a mother gives when her child is out of line. Despite being a guy, he was REALLY good at "The Look" and Ruby felt like she was in a lot of trouble right now. Yang used the opportunity to grab her and pull her back, taking her out of chibi form. "Easy there little sis, they're just weapons."
"Just weapons!" Ruby shouted back. "They're an extension of our selves! They're a part of us! Ooh! They're so cool!" "Still fangirling.' AJ thought. Then figured he should help get her out of fan girl mode.
"Well why don't you swoon over your own weapon?" He said. "Aren't you happy with your massive scythe-gun?" Ruby brought out her weapon in the scythe form he mentioned. She was hugging it…
"Over course I'm happy with Crescent Rose! I just really like seeing new ones! It's like meeting new people! But better…" Yang laughed a bit and pulled Ruby's hood over her face. "Come on sis, why don't you try to make some friends of your own?"
Ruby pulled her hood back. "Why would I have friends when I have you and AJ?" She pointed at said boy who was standing at her left side, he looked at Yang wondering what her answer would be, and her answer definitely caught him off guard. "Well… actuallymyfriendsarerightheregottacatchupkseeyoutwobye!" And she dashed by the two with her friends who came out of nowhere, in tow. Leaving Ruby stunned and spinning at how fast they went by and AJ watched unbelieving as Yang just… left…
Ruby called out hopelessly as she spun. "Wait are we supposed to go to our dorms!? Where are our dorms!? Do we have dorms!? I don't know what I'm doing…" 'I live at the school just ask me! Oh, wait, I don't really know either…' AJ thought. Then heard a thud, then a few more thuds, and turned to see Ruby had fallen on a cart full of luggage, a bunch of white briefcases. "What are you doing!?" a unknown and bratty voice called out and AJ looked to his right to see some girl with a white and light blue dress, white hair in a ponytail off to the side, a snowflake symbol on her back, a pissed off look on her face as she looked at Ruby, she had a grey rapier on her left side, and AJ got the feeling she was some Princess, a bratty one. "Oh, I'm sorry!" Ruby called up to the girl from the floor. The girl clearly did not care that she was sorry.
"Sorry!? Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused!?" She yelled at Ruby as she got up and gave the girl one of her briefcases back. She suddenly lunged and took the briefcase from her anyway, ignoring any generosity. "Give me that!" She opened the case showing multiple glass jars neatly placed in the case, each filled with a color of some powder, or rather dust. "This is Dust! Mined and purified from the Schnee quarry!" 'Wait, Schnee? Sounds familiar.' AJ thought. Ruby was given a half second to respond. "Uhh." "What are you, brain-dead!?" The girl yelled again. "Dust! Fire! Water! Lightning! Energy!" She had picked up a jar filled with red fire Dust and shook it around as she spoke, the cap wasn't attached very well cause the Dust was leaking into the air and it was in Ruby's face, she was gonna sneeze at this rate! "Are you even listening to me!? Is any of this sinking in!? What do you have to say for yourself!?" AJ had enough of this AND he needed to make sure Ruby didn't sneeze. AJ thrust his hand through the dangerous cloud and grabbed the girl's arm that was holding the jar. She looked at him with disgust, probably wondering 'why anyone would dare touch me' or some stupid shit like that. "Look, brat! Do you not see that cloud of Dust! If she sneezes it's gonna create a fireball and it WON'T be her fault!" Turns out there was a bit of irony here, AJ didn't see something either, the Dust he touched had turned white and it was spreading through the cloud. "Ah, crap." "What did you do!?" "I may have neutralized your Du- *ACHOO* The sneeze turned the dust cloud into fire, but the moment the fire hit the Dust that had turned white, it went from a fireball to an actual explosion that sent the three flying in different directions.
The jar the girl was holding was sent flying at another girl, she was reading a book while walking (Don't try this at home kids) but her attention was pulled to the loud BOOM and the gust of wind that hit her and she saw something fly at her at high speeds, she closed the book and used it to block the jar and she caught it before it fell. She looked at the jar, which was cracked, and saw the Dust that was in it, she looked up at the large smoke cloud and saw it clear, showing three distinct figures on the ground, and there was large patches of fire, ice and there was lightning sparking throughout that made everyone present's hair stand on end. The first one to stand quickly had his back to her, a tall boy with brown hair and cat ears the same color- 'Wait what!?' the boy quickly, and I mean QUICKLY, pulled the hood of his brown cloak back on before anyone saw his heritage. 'Someone else who doesn't want some things known.' She thought. The next to stand at a normal pace was a girl in a white and light blue dress who she recognized immediately, she looked VERY angry. The last to slowly stand was a girl in a red cloak. They all looked like they just went through a serious fight, only the boy's clothes weren't damaged in any way, probably lined with protective dust. She walked over to the group and it looked like the girl in white was scolding the one in red and the boy but the boy seemed unafraid of her and was instead very angry at her, the girl in red was very afraid.
"Unbelievable! This is even worse than what I was talking about!" Ruby was pressing her index fingers together sheepishly. "I'm really, really sorry." "You complete DOLT! What are you even doing here!? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?" "Don't apologize to her Ruby. She clearly doesn't deserve it." AJ said, plenty loud enough for the girl to hear. 'This is also my fault not yours.' he thought. "And YOU!" She pointed at him and he didn't flinch. "You are too dangerous to be here! So why are you here!?" "You ask that like I have to answer to you or something." He then leaned very close to her and towered over the girl who was an inch taller than Ruby. "I'm afraid you are so, very wrong princess." He said in a very threatening tone.
"It's heiress, actually." An unknown voice said from behind Ruby and AJ, Ruby turned around to see a girl with raven black hair, a black bow on her head, and bright amber eyes with a bit of purple eye shadow. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." AJ had stopped leaning over the girl now known as Weiss but didn't bother turning to the newcomer, he kept glaring daggers at Weiss. He was saying her voice repeatedly in his head. Weiss TRIED to pretend he wasn't there. She smiled at the new girl. "Finally, some recognition." She then glared at AJ to get him to fear her power but instead he glared even harder and his eyes started to glow white (for future reference, when I say the eyes are glowing, I mean just the iris, and it glows white but you can still see the real color of the iris behind the glow, just helping with visuals here!) and she felt fear overcome her and she was forced to look away and settle for glaring at Ruby. 'That was new, since when could I do that?' AJ thought as he felt his eyes glow and saw fear come over Weiss's face. Then the black haired girl spoke again. "The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." Ruby began to giggle, AJ began to laugh, and Weiss didn't know what to say.
"What- how dare- the nerve of-" 'Oh! I don't think the Ice Queen can handle that burn! I hope she melts!' AJ thoughts turned violent without warning, probably because the cat part of him was usually more… excited, about things. Weiss glared at the girl, took her jar from the girl's hands and left in a huff. At this point AJ had actually turned to look at the new girl who got Ice Queen to leave. Ruby called out to the Heiress. "I promise I'll make this up to you!" She never even looked back and Ruby sighed. "I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day…" She then remembered the new girl that had joined them and turned to her. "So, what's…" She saw AJ and the girl were just staring at each other, they weren't blinking or anything, they looked shocked about something, then after a few seconds the girl looked at his hood and AJ looked at her bow, they both looked back at each other and nodded in understanding before she turned and walked away and AJ looked back at Ruby. "So… that was a thing." He said to her as if he wasn't just in a daze a moment ago.
Before she could ask what happened AJ's scroll vibrated, he pulled it out, looked at it for a few seconds and then sighed. "Sorry, Ozpin is getting impatient, I've been gone long enough and need to hurry, see ya later." He started to jog towards the school, then picked up the pace and disappeared in a trail of white feathers. 'Hey, just like my roses.' she thought. Then realized she was alone and sank until she lied down on her back and looked into the sky. "Welcome to Beacon…" She said depressed. Then saw a hand reach out to her. "Hey." A friendly voice called out to her and she saw a blond boy holding out his hand. "I'm Jaune." "Ruby." She said as she took his hand and he pulled her up. "Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?"
Now AJ was simply walking with Ozpin and Glynda as he was supposed to. They were heading towards the ceremony the first years must go through before they can explore the campus. AJ was walking to Ozpin's left and Glynda was to AJ's left. Glynda was, as usual, pissed off, but this time it was because AJ was late and not because of it being… well… Glynda. Ozpin didn't mind that he was late but reminded AJ what he already knew, that he isn't a student and he doesn't need to make friends with any, Ozpin has tried to find out how to get AJ back to his world but that isn't exactly something you figure out easily. Who do you even ask to help figure that out? As far as AJ knows, he just appeared here, he doesn't know that anyone or anything willingly brought him here. With all the strange, magical artifacts found on Remnant, maybe another unknown one did this? They really just don't know. AJ hated that he couldn't be friends with anyone, but he wanted to get home and there was no point in making friends here, that didn't stop him from wanting, and he had a plan for how he could be friends with the students and hang out with them, Glynda wouldn't like it, and Ozpin probably won't either.
They walked up to the stage and AJ pulled his hood down further so no one could see his face, he saw all the first year students below the stage and got stage fright despite not having to do anything but follow the two professors for protection, that includes when they are on this stage. He knew the sisters had to be here somewhere and he eventually found them in the middle in terms of distance from the stage, Yang really stood out after all. But someone else stood out, and that someone was next to the sisters with her usual scolding face and holding some sort of pamphlet. They had just started walking on the stage and he could already hear the conversation with his cat ears.
"Read this, and don't ever speak to me again." 'That bitch! Now I really hope she melts!'
"Look, uh, sounds like you two just got off on the wrong foot." Yang said, trying to calm down Ice Queen. "Why don't you start over, and try to be friends, ok?"
"Ya! Great idea sis!" Ruby holds out her hand to the clearly unimpressed Weiss. "Hello Weiss, I'm Ruby. Wanna hang out? We could go shopping for school supplies." 'She is way too naïve for her own good. This will never work.' AJ thought. Weiss suddenly sported a very creepily happy smile on her face.
"Ya! And we can paint our nails! And try on clothes! And talk about cute boys like tall, blond and, scraggily over there." She pointed over her shoulder at the blond boy that had been sick on the ship, who went "hmm?" in response to being mentioned. AJ's ears and tail were glowing at the point when the sarcasm started, it was so blatant and it made him just want to tear her apart. They were standing at the front of the stage now with Ozpin about to begin his speech. Glynda grabbed AJ's left arm to stop him. "AJ do not go down there. You have to calm down. Ozpin! Start before things escalate!" She ordered. "Before I escalate…" AJ spoke through his gritting teeth. Ruby had believed Weiss was telling the truth and she responded with a very stern no. AJ didn't hold it against Weiss that time, Ruby is just SO naïve! He still wanted to tear her apart. He also could have sworn he heard a large, metal chain being yanked on but didn't see any chains around so he decided to think about it later.
Ozpin turned on the mic and cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the room. Everyone looked up at the stage to see the headmaster in his suit of various greens and his cane, behind him to his left was a figure with a brown cloak, hood on and hiding his face in a shadow, the figure seemed to wear a black shirt under his cloak, he had black fingerless gloves on, wore light blue jeans and had brown boots, behind the figure and to his left, Glynda with her odd purple and black cape. The sisters and Weiss recognized the cloaked figure immediately, Weiss and Yang wondering what he was doing up there and Ruby was less surprised since he said he had to go find Ozpin, but still wondered why he was there. Ozpin began his speech.
"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. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge will only carry you so far… It is up to you, to take the first step." Ozpin turned and started to walk away from the mic and off the stage. The cloaked figure looked at Ozpin, then back at Glynda who walked up to the mic for her own little 'speech'. The figure continued to look between the two as if he was making a decision, maybe if he should follow or wait? Glynda spoke now.
"You will gather in the ballroom tonight after exploring for the day. Tomorrow your initiation begins, be ready, try not to interrupt any ongoing classes, you are dismissed." When she finished the cloaked figure suddenly ran in the direction Ozpin went.
AJ finally caught up with Ozpin as he walked down one of the many halls of Beacon. "Ozpin!" He called as he caught up to the headmaster, who continued to walk but turned his head slightly towards the boy. "What was that? You seemed like you were on autopilot. You were saying the speech but you must have practiced it a lot because you were thinking about something else entirely while you spoke. Care to tell me what was so grabbing for your mind that you had to think about it during a speech?" Ozpin seemed to think about this for a minute while they walked, then finally spoke. "You are very observant aren't you? Well, if you must know, I was thinking about your new friends. You seemed to get along with them, you wanted to protect them from people you didn't trust even if everyone would see it. I feel bad keeping you from them." AJ was surprised by this answer. He did really get along with Ruby and Yang, even if Yang liked to tease, and he hadn't known them very long. That was really what he was so focused on? "And I suppose I was still thinking about the initiation. Let's talk about my thoughts so far on it." AJ and Ozpin went up the elevator to his office all the while talking about the initiation and once AJ knew what it was, put in his thoughts on what they could do to make it interesting. After deciding finally on what the initiation would be, AJ realized this was the time to suggest his idea to Ozpin, Glynda wasn't back yet, she was part of the patrols to make sure the first years behaved.
"Ozpin?"
"Yes young man?"
"I have been thinking about my friends and how I can't hang out with them and I had an idea for how I could hang out with them."
"How? There is no time free in your training with Glynda to hang out. Besides, you aren't a student, they have things to do as students, they have teams that they are a part of, they… AJ no. Glynda would kill us both if I allowed that!" There was only one way, and Ozpin had figured it out.
"The initiation is tomorrow! This is my chance! I go through the initiation and I can become a student! I can be on teams, I can-" "WHAT!?" 'Oh no.' they both thought as Glynda slammed the door open. "YOU ARE NOT GOING THROUGH THE INITIATION! YOU AREN'T READY!" Glynda yelled.
"I AM READY!" AJ yelled back. "If you let me go through I can prove it. I'm better than you think. I'm fast, I'm strong, I'm smart, and I can easily beat a Grimm." Glynda believed he could probably make it, but she was not going to let him get killed by a Grimm if he wasn't ready.
"Ozpin you cannot allow this!" She yelled at the visually terrified headmaster.
"I can't allow AJ to just stay with us and never know anyone well in the school." He spoke in as calm a voice as he could, he actually sounded relatively fear free. "I am no closer to getting him home that I used to be. He should get to have friends at his age, hang out, he isn't an adult yet, none of them are Glynda. He could end up being in our world for YEARS, do you want him to be lonely for years when he could go through with this and be happy for those years instead?" Glynda realized Ozpin was right. She needed to let this happen, it was AJ's decision and he is very smart. His logical mind would say no to this if he thought he couldn't do it. She had to allow him, as much as she hated it. "Fine. He may go through initiation. But our supervisors will not pull you out unless your life is truly in danger. We must treat you like the rest of the students." AJ nodded in understanding. He knows the danger he's in.
AJ decided to head over to the training area and fight the training bots for as long as he could today, he needed to be ready. His enemies tomorrow will try to kill him, he can't hold back. 'Time to put practice into the many fighting styles I have, well, many is relative, more than others, how about that?' He stepped into the large arena, there were seats above the arena for people to watch, but no one is here right now, too busy exploring the rest of the school. The humanoid bot stepped out, "Suggested fighting level and fighting style." The robotic voice asked. "Level 8. One-Handed Sword." AJ responded and pulled out his sword from his sheathe. The sword had been changed slightly by his Aura, the blade was incredibly thin for fast swings, but wide to block easily. The handle hadn't changed, it was still dark purple with gold highlights. (Picture the glass sword in Skyrim but slightly wider, really thin, and has the color handle I pointed out already) He could only hold the sword one handed. The bot advised caution with such a high level then pulled out a simple sword. AJ had been given the sword skill of a real Huntsman, he could handle this. "On your move." The bot said.
AJ charged at the bot with a simple upward slash that the bot parried away and struck at the boy's chest. He dashed away from the swing but the moment he landed he jumped back at high speed and stabbed at the bots chest. The bot blocked it but found the boy on his left, opposite the bot's sword hand, and the bot spun quickly and blocked. AJ swung with his left fist and the bot leaned away before striking at his left wrist, right where his wrist guard was. Sparks flew as the sword hit and did nothing. AJ pushed the sword out of the way and sliced the bots left arm off. The bot jumped back to reposition before taking a lunge at AJ, who parried. The bot stayed on the offensive and struck fast. AJ easily blocked with his sword as the bot continued its assault. The bot at one point tried striking low and AJ just raised he left knee and his shin/ankle guard blocked the hit, sparks never stopped flying this fight. AJ switched legs, setting his left foot down as he spun and raised his right knee till he had his back towards the bot, his sword arm (right) went behind his back and held the sword flat against his back to block another stab, before leaning forward and extending his right leg back and kicking the bot, sending it flying onto it's back, it stood up quick as it could with one arm, but found a sword in its chest. AJ thought the bots stopped working when stabbed this way, he was wrong. The bot grabbed the sword, pulled it out, and threw it away. AJ now had to fight defensively till he had his sword back. The bot took advantage and attacked again. AJ blocked hits with his black wrist and shin guards or dodged entirely, if he was desperate enough he could move really fast and get his sword but used this as his chance to practice dodging. The bot may have moved fast but AJ was a blur with his movements. Eventually he saw an opening and blocked an overhead swing with both guards, grabbed the bot's wrist and threw it over his head into the ground, then ran and got his sword. He let a pulse of Energy leave his body and his Aura reacted, a white mist began flowing out. He needed to move fast for such a high level bot. He now took the offensive and charged at the wounded bot that didn't know how to slow down. He struck front, then there were only feathers as he appeared on the right, then behind, then left, he kept dashing circles around the bot, which kept blocking but couldn't keep up much longer, then the Aura mist dissipated, he really couldn't do that for long yet. The bot was easily able to block now and follow AJ's attacks. AJ jumped back seeing his advantage was lost and waited for the bot. The bot charged again, another overhead slice, he forced one more pulse of Energy, and therefore Aura, to flow out. The sword came down and hit air and a few feathers as the boy was next to the bot already spinning for momentum with his swing. The bot had swung hard and fell forward as a result and could do nothing as its head was taken off. "Alright. Next one." AJ said after slowing his breathing. Another bot stepped out.
"Fighting level and fighting style." "Level 4 Hands-only." The bot raised its fists to prepare. AJ did the same. He showed how tired he was after the last fight, body wasn't ready still. "On your go."
AJ dashed forward as he did the last. He looks like he never leaves the ground but he had just learned how to push off the ground while staying close to it, it's what really helps him move fast. He struck at the bot 3 times and the bot redirected each and socked him in the face, knocking him on his back. The bot looked down at the boy. "Move faster." Before slamming his foot where his face was at. AJ got one quick strike on the bot and knocked it down. He hit hard, but his style wasn't that great yet. He jumped on the bot while it was down and just missed it as the bot rolled out of the way, and hit AJ in the left side. He responded with a wide swing of his right and the bot ducked before grabbing his arm and throwing him into a wall. AJ stood up and began to charge the bot before stopping suddenly and palm striking, firing a shot of pure Energy into the bots chest. The bot fell when the shot exploded on contact. The boy and the bot met and exchanged a few blows before the bot got one, then another, then another on AJ and knocked him down again. "You're leaving yourself open." AJ sighed and got up again. 'This is gonna take a while isn't it?' He thought as training continued for the rest of the day.
AJ was tired, really tired, no point in stopping now though right? Pain attacked his face as he met the floor again… 'Okay maybe this should be my last match…' He got up and attacked the level 5 Hands only bot that was kicking his ass, it's probably because of how tired he is, he hoped at least that was the reason. The bot had its lower left arm ripped off, large dents in its chest from punches as well. The bot easily knocked him back again, but he refused to fall. He forced his Aura to flow out again, and he dashed at the bot, suddenly moving faster and hitting even harder at a cost. He was now easily able to block the bot, uppercut it in the jaw sending it into the air, then grab it by the ankle and slam it into the ground as hard as he could creating a small crater, then picking it up and kneeing it in the chest sending it upward again and taking his anger out on the thing by jumping up and hitting it back down, turning it into a comet of Energy, then landing again. He looked up to see the tour group that Glynda was apparently leading had seen his fight and were cheering and clapping, his Aura mist went away, and he passed out.
He woke up in a sleeping bag in the ballroom. He should have been out longer but it looked to be just getting to 'bed time' as first years were still walking around. His Aura must have helped him recover, which is odd seeing as it is what made him pass out in the first place. He should NOT have used it so much when he was just fighting bots, but it's what made him move so fast and frankly, speed was key to his fighting styles, which he only got to do 2 of… oh well. The more he used his Aura the more his body would be able to handle it next time. He looked around and saw that Yang and Ruby were next to him. They looked up at him and smiled at him, Yang spoke up.
"Hey! You're awake! You okay? Glynda had carried you in here while you were out. We saw your fight, you have some powerful Aura!"
"Oh, that what happened? Huh. Well, I'm okay, I haven't gotten to use my Aura like that very much and I pass out if I use it as much I did, and thanks, I know my Aura is awesome." He finished with a small smile. "So, since I just woke up here, where am I and what's going on?"
"This is the ballroom where all us first years sleep for the night." She said as she went over to her sleeping bag between AJ and Ruby's sleeping bags and fell down. "It's like a BIIIIG slumber party!"
"I don't think dad would appreciate of all the boy's though." Ruby spoke up while writing on something.
"I know I do." Yang purred and looked at all the guys in the room who were showing off by flexing or putting each other in headlocks while not wearing a shirt. Then Jaune walked by in a onesie… Yang looked away and looked at what Ruby was writing. "So what's that you're writing?"
"A letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going." Ruby explained. Which Yang found the need to tease.
"Aww that's so cuuuute!" A pillow to the face was her response from Ruby.
"Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends to school." Ruby said slightly angry. "It's weird not knowing anyone here."
"Why Ruby, I'm offended that you would say that!" AJ said with a fake accent. "Me and Yang are right here!" He said more seriously.
"Ya!" Yang said. "And what about Jaune? He's… nice…" "Who's Jaune?" AJ asked. Yang pointed in Jaune's direction. "Onesie." "Ah." AJ said. "Anyway, that's a 200% increase in friends!" Yang said.
Ruby rolled over and was looking at the ceiling. "Pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend."
"Ruby, there is no such thing as a negative friend…" AJ spoke up. Yang felt she had to finish. "Ya! That would just be an enemy!" *Earns another pillow to the face* "Look it's just been one day."
"Ya, I mean, everyone around you could be your friend, you just haven't met their friendly side yet! Use me as an example. I was just chilling out in a random seat in the airship, then you two came along! Now we're friends!" Satisfied that he helped he looked around and began staring at one point in the room, a light suddenly appeared in that area and the two sisters looked at that point and saw the girl with the black bow had lit a candle to read a book.
"That girl…" Ruby said.
"You know her? Yang asked.
"Not really. She saw the explosion me and AJ were in but left before I could say anything to her… and she and AJ were staring at each other at one point. Hey AJ? What was up with you and that girl?"
"What? I have no idea what you are talking about." He said avoiding looking the sisters in the eyes. Yang had a feeling, but wasn't sure what it was yet. But figured she could get Ruby to meet more people now, 'this is her chance!' So she grabbed Ruby despite her protest and struggle and dragged her over to the girl who noticed them approaching. Yang saw the girl take notice of her and called out. "Hellooo~" she sang. Now that she seemed to have the girl's attention, Ruby stopped struggling. "I believe you two may know each other!"
"Aren't you… that girl that exploded?" The girl asked. 'Off to a great start… Hey I was there too…' AJ thought and got up from his sleeping bag to join them. In a room full of people, he wanted to be near people he knew.
"Uh, ya!" Ruby said. Holding her hand out to the girl. "M-my name is Ruby." The girl did not shake her hand and instead went back to reading her book. 'I get that you want to be alone but at least shake her hand, or acknowledge her at all.' "But you can call me crater… uh… actually you can just call me Ruby." 'Oh god I wish I stopped her now…' AJ thought as he finally joined the sisters. He decided to speak up.
"So miss, what's your name?" He said. The bow wearing girl seemed shocked at the new voice and looked up and saw AJ. She went wide eyed for a moment before her face went neutral again. Seemed she practiced being neutral. "Blake."
"Well Blake, I'm Yang! Ruby's older sister!"
"And I go by AJ. I'm a friend of theirs." He pointed at the sisters.
There was silence for a minute while Blake and AJ, the quiet ones, waited for the sisters to speak. The sisters were trying to figure out what to say. Meanwhile, AJ and Blake were both staring at each other. Ruby finally had an idea to break the silence and went with it.
"Oh! Hey, Blake. Why were you and AJ staring at each other this morning? After the explosion." Blake suddenly avoided their eyes like AJ had done from the same question.
"What? What are you talking about? I don't know what you're talking about…" It hit Yang like a freight train.
"Wait a minute… ALREADY! You two like each other don't you!?" Yang teased. Blake looked at her like she was crazy and AJ turned to her.
"What!? NO! Of course not! What the hell Yang!?" AJ yelled, blushing slightly. Blake was now blushing as well, and for some, unknown reason, Ruby didn't notice the teasing as she was caught up in some crazy thought which she just HAD to say out loud!
"Oh! That would be so cool! You both have bright and pretty eyes! Your kid would have the most beautiful eyes!" AJ and Blake were both clearly blushing now.
"Ruby! Are you kidding me!?" AJ and Blake both yelled, AT THE SAME TIME. This wasn't helping combat Yang's crazy theory, and now Yang broke out in loud, obnoxious laughter. And where there is fiery fun, there must be an icy fun hater.
"What in the world is going on over here? Can't you see some of us are trying to sleep!?" Weiss (Ice Queen) Schnee had appeared. Her white hair straight down now instead of the sideways ponytail. Yang stopped laughing and saw Weiss, Weiss saw AJ and Ruby, and AJ saw Weiss. This led to AJ, Yang, and Weiss all yelling "OH, NOT YOU AGAIN!" simultaneously. Yet somehow this ended with everyone going back to their sleeping bags and no one was injured. AJ was very disappointed but Ruby was insistent everyone just stop arguing and go to bed. The initiation tomorrow is important for everyone here, they needed their rest.
Author note:
Suddenly, 11559 words! Don't get used to that! It will definitely be less next time. So, Canon story has begun! How will AJ survive the initiation? Will he kill Weiss in the process? Will I get good at fight scenes? Tune in next time, on Dragon Ba- wait nope, not going there. Anyway, have a great week everyone!
PS: I finished this even though I was sick and threw up so, you're welcome. I also had this weird idea where my OC fights Sera from Dragon Age inquisition while 'Sera Was Never' plays in the background but probably copyright there so that will have to just stay in my mind.