"Everything alright, Glynda?" He asked
The witch rolled her neck "Fine Peter just a bit tired, Sen's pretty much taken over my bed so I've been sleeping on the couch as of late"
Port nodded. They were in downtown Vale, it was suny and bright. Glynda had dediced to start her search for Sen's real home while Oobleck stayed behind to 'examine' the girl back at Glynda's apartment. Port offered to join her and now they stood at the first orphanage closest to the school, which was halfway out of town. In her pocket Glynda had a crinkled list of every orphanage, care house and child related service in the city and she intended to search all of them before the day was through. The building itself was grey and dreary, it's shadow hung over the street in a dark omen and a wrought iron fence surrounded it.
Port stroked his mustache thoughtfully "Hmm how... intimidating" He mused
Glynda pulled her purse further over her shoulder and pursed her lips "Come on" She said
The doors opened to a long hallway. The walls were charcoal brick and the floor had a long rug leading to a desk at the far end. A woman who was typing away at a computer smiled as they approached "Good afternoon" She greeted cheerfully "Are you here to adopt?"
Glynda looked to the side "Uh, no" She said awkwardly "I was hoping you could help me identify someone, a rat faunus" She pulled out her scroll out and brought up a picture of Sen. It was hard to keep her still long enough to take it especially with her hatred of being touched. Eventually Glynda had to resort to distracting her with the T.V and taking the photo around the corner without her noticing. She handed it to the woman "Her name is Sen"
The took examined it closely "Hmm, Sen huh" She said quietly, she brought the scrollcloser to her face and scrunched up her nose. Finally she shook her head "No sorry, I don't recognize her" She handed back the scroll
"Do you know anyoneone that would?" Port asked
The woman shrugged "I don't even recognize the name. All the children here are in the database, I could look for you but I doubt it'll come up with anything, especially without a last name"
"Could you check anyway, just in case?" Glynda asked
The woman nodded and start typing away at the computer. After a minute a beeping could be heard "Nope nothing" She said solomnly, her face falling "Sorry"
Glynda sighed 'I see, thank you"
Suddenly the woman clapped her hands together "But we do have a little mouse faunus boy his name is Thomas, he's a delight. Shall I get him?" She smiled expactantly
Glynda saw Port stiffen and she shook her head "No, thank you" She said politely "Thank you for your time"
She grabbed the Port's shoulder and dragged him out of the orphanage. When they were outside Port breathed a sigh of relief "This week has been saturated with nothing but rodents" He grumbled
Glynda pulled out the list "Well suck it up, we got alot more places to check" She adjusted her glasses and gazed at the list "The next place is on the opposite side" She opened her car door "Come on"
Port shook himself back to reality and followed suit. Glynda set her jaw, she wasn't going to give up that easily. There had to be someone that would've at least heard of her and she was going to keep her hopes high.
As the day wore on however, that hope seemed to diminish. Every place that they went to had the same answer, they hadn't even heard of her name. At the last place Glynda was getting desperate, threatning to sue that the stubborn care home owner if she didn't relent, that got them both kicked out. By the time the day started to wind down they had gone through the entire list and had nothing to show for it.
Glynda let out a defeated sigh as she and Por sat exhausted on a park bench on the outskirts "I don't understand Peter" Her voice softended 'We've been all over the entire city and no one has even heard of her. It's like she doesn't exist"
Port stroked his chin "Hmm, maybe were looking at this from the wrong angle" He offered "Maybe she wasn't from a care facility"
Glynda threw down her hands with a groan 'Then where is she from?" She demanded
It was Port's turn to sigh "Prehaps we should call it a day for now, we won't get anything accomplished if we go around in circles"
Glynda rubbed her eyes "Maybe your right" She relented
As much as she hated to give up, they had no more leads and she couldn't leave Sen alone forever. They were about to pack it in when Port caught a glimpse of green from down the street and looked up in surprise
"My word, is that Ozpin?" He asked
Glynda looked up as the silver haired man strolled over to them, holding his cane and mug. "Professor Ozpin, g-good evening" She stuttered.
Ozpin looked at her curiously "Something wrong, Glynda?" He asked "You seem rather frazzled"
Glynda smoothed her hair, trying her best to look presentable "It's nothing sir, it's just odd to see you outside the school"
"How exactly did you find us?" Port interjected
Ozpin took a sip of his mug "I was taking a leisurely stroll when a rumor caught my ear" He said, his voice neutral as always "Apparently you two have been going in and out of adoption agencies all day, so I decided to track you down to see these rumors for myself. Care to explain?"
Glynda sighed, taking off her glasses and rubbing her eyes "Take a seat, Professor, i'm afraid it's a rather long explaination"
Sometime later, Ozpin sat in silence with his hands on his cane "This is disheartening" He muttered "You say that Professor Oobleck is watching the child currently?"
Glynda nodded "That's right, he's been there since this morning"
The headmaster stood "Then I feel it be best if we return" He stated "I wish to see this child for myself if you don't mind, also" He chuckled "I imagine that Oobleck isn't to experianced with children"
Glynda smiled "Of course, sir"
The sun had set as they piled into Glynda's car. They sped off and pulled onto the freeway just as a scroll started buzzing.
"I believe that's your scroll, Glynda" Ozpin stated from the backseat
The witches heart skipped a beat. She had given her number to Morty in case anything happened and no one else would be calling this late. She grabbed her purse and started rummaging through. After a minute of shuffling she pulled it out, pressing speaker.
"Marty, is everything alright?" She asked quickly
There was a pause on the other end
"Not exactly" Marty's relpied hesitantly
Her heartbeat quickened "What do you mean?"
"It's dificult to explain but it appeard we've had a setback" Oobleck said "How soon can you get back?"
"We're heading back now, we'll be there soon" She answered "Also we ran into Professor Ozpin he wants to meet Sen"
"Ozpin" Oobleck said relieved "Good, he should help us uncover this mystery"
"What is it, man?" Port asked
"I'll explain everything when you arrive" Oobleck said quickly "I have to go"
"Bu-" Glynda tried to intercept, but the connection was cut before she could say anything more The adults looked to each other, it wasn't like the green haired teacher to leave things ambiguous. Glynda set her jaw and stepped on the gas, she needed to get home.
Oobleck was sitting in the living room when they got back. He stood as the other three professors burst through the door. Glynda looked around, but Sen was nowhere to be found "Where is she?" She demanded
"She's in the bathroom" Oobleck pointed
Glynda's heartbeat quickened. What happened while she was gone? Was she hurt? Did she get sick again? Did she try to run away? All these thoughts swirled in her mind as she wretched open the bathroom door, Port and Ozpin peered in behind her. Sen was standing in the middle of the room, her back turned to them. In her hand she held a pair of scissors, her long black hair was sliced short, it ended just below her shoulders in a tangled mane. All around her were strings of hair scattered all over the floor. Glynda looked over the floor in shock 'How did this happen?' She thought. Port and Ozpin stood still behind her, Port's eyes were wide and Ozpin's eyes were glued to the child. Glynda shook her head back to reality, she'd wonder about that later right now Sen needed her. She reached out, the girl's back was still turned to her. "Sen, are you oka-"
Suddenly Sen turned to her and Glynda froze. The child's hand whipped out, aiming the scissors at them like a knife, but that's not what shocked Glynda the most. Her eyes, which were usually so lifeless, were burning with fire. Her face was drawn into a scowl but her eyes looked so cold and empty, almost murderous. The minutes turned into hours as she looked at them the glare on her face unflinching. Glynda could barely breath as she stared into Sen's piercing gaze. Then the child dropped the scissors, pushed past the adults and ran out of the room. Glynda's hand flew to her chest to calm her beating heart "What.. the hell?" She muttered. She looked back to Oobleck who was still in the living room. She adjusted her glasses and met his eye
"What happened?"
