My eyes opened, my vision filling with a blinding light. I felt the familiar weight of my hat on my head and I let out a sigh of relief. They never managed to get my hat off, which means that they don't know what I am. I pushed myself up, and I saw rows of injured humans and Faunus lining the halls. I walked down the hall towards the front desk, but before I could reach it I fell to the ground. Suddenly several nurses and doctors rushed to me, but I waved off every one. I pushed myself back up, and many of the doctors begged me to go lay back down. I ignored them and finished my walk to the front desk. As I demanded my clothes, many of the doctors walked back. The front desk gave me back my clothes, and I quickly found the nearest bathroom to change in. A few minutes later, I was in my clothes and ready to leave. I pushed my way through the crowds of doctors, trying to get outside. When I finally made my way out, I was surprised. The roads were all decorated with streamers and banners cheering on the Vital Festival. They just brushed off the entire Grimm invasion like it never happened. I was furious, but I didn't know why.
I walked around the town for a while, collecting my thoughts. I soon found myself at the gate to Beacon, still protected by guards. As I approached, one of the guards raised an eyebrow to me, but he eventually spoke into his earpiece. Soon after, the gate to Beacon opened, and he waved me inside. "Ozpin is expecting you," he said to me, "Don't keep him waiting." I obliged, and quickly went inside. The gates slammed closed behind me. Why does this feel like a trap? I stood inside the entrance of Beacon, slightly angry of the fact that I had spent months trying to get in, but in the end, they just opened up and shoved me inside. The place was beautiful, but I had a feeling that the beauty was hiding something sinister. The airship that would take me to the main structure was waiting, filled with soldiers. Ooh fun, are they here for me? I sighed and entered the airship, the guards eyeing me as I climbed the ramp. I waved innocently, and they turned away. Soon later we were on our way to the school, and I noticed something, a table with a chess set on top, with the pieces all in their proper place, and a man, sitting on a chair. He wore a green suit, and a strange set of glasses. He motioned for me to sit, and I obliged.
"Hello young man. I'm Ozpin, I've heard a lot about you." He extended his hand, I reeled back for a second, surprised, but I reluctantly took his hand. He continued "I heard that you saved a couple of my students during the attack a few days ago, and for that I am truly thankful." I nodded, still wary about my surroundings. "I've also heard about your exemplary skill in the field, from the girls you saved and civilians alike. You saved that hospital, and many lives that day. But there is one thing that either group could tell me. Who are you?" He looked into my eyes, meeting my gaze. I sighed and pulled out my pocket watch, a memento from my days with the White Fang. He waited patiently as I flipped it over, showing the symbol Qrow is usually identified with. Ozpin smiled, "Ah, your one of his students, that explains it. What is your name?"
I stayed silent, contemplating my options. "The name is Rain." I said. He nodded and stood up, walking over to the window, the soldiers around us moved out of his way as he walked.
"Sorry about the escort, after the attack, Ironwood thought that I would need some extra protection, but he went a little overboard." He gazed out towards the gardens as he spoke. "I have a proposal for you, if you don't mind."
"Go ahead. Just realize I have the right to say no."
"Oh I realize that. My proposal is this, I would like you to stay at beacon for a while, as a student. Beacon would provide you a place to live and I could use a student like you there. This is between you and me," He turned and whispered in my ear, "I believe that Beacon has been infiltrated." I stepped back, surprised. "Think about it, I would love your decision by the end of the trip." He sat back down and waited.
I thought it over in my head, wondering about his reasoning. I ignored the passage of time as I thought, and soon, the ride was almost over. He stared at me expectantly, and I finally spoke up. "I will, but on a few conditions. First, I work better alone, so I don't want a team. Second, I expect free reign in my class choices. And third, I get to keep the hat." He nodded after each condition, and he let out a slight chuckle after the last one.
"Alright, that would be fine, but you will still have to work with other teams on occasion. That's just how Beacon works." I sighed, but reluctantly nodded. He smiled, "Good your room is already prepared, I will have some student lead you there." I nodded, but another thought came to my mind.
"This isn't a condition, but more of a request. I would like free reign to leave and enter beacon whenever I would like." He thought it over for a moment, but eventually nodded. "Alright then. That's all I have."
We soon landed, and Ozpin told me to wait at the landing pad, and of course I obliged. After a few minutes, I heard footsteps from nearby, and I swung around to come face to face with a blond boy. He fell backwards, letting out a little yelp. I shook off my caution, and I held out my hand. He took it, and I pulled him up off the ground. He dusted himself off, and held out his hand. "I'm Juane, nice to meet ya." I reluctantly took his hand and shook it. "Ozpin told me to lead you towards your room."
"The name is Rain, thanks for the help." He soon told me to follow him, and I did. The entire walk there, he spoke on and on about trivial things. I pretended to listen, only catching certain phrases here and there. Something about a juniper tree and a ruby, I didn't really catch much. Soon we were in a hallway, which I assumed was the dorms. He stopped in front of a door, and I started to listen to him again.
"Here we are, I was told that this was your room. My team's is right down the hall, so if you need us, just stop by. Team RWBY is right across the hall from us too, so if we're not in, they most likely are." I nodded, and held out my hand.
"Thank you Juane. If I ever need help, I'll be sure to stop by." He took my hand and shook it, turning around as he let go. I opened the door to my room, and found a clean slate, nothing out of place, everything where it should be. I loved it. I flopped onto the bed, with my eyelids fluttering closed. I don't know how long I slept, all I know is that the sun went down by the time I woke up. That was the most sleep I've gotten in months. I thought to myself. I sat up, and stared out of the window, staring at the crumbling moon. I sat there for what felt like hours, staring at the night sky, unmoving. What knocked me out of my daze, was in fact, a knock at the door.
I quickly stood up, the knocking at the door slowing. I walked over to the door, brushing my self off. As my hand reached for the door, it swung open, and four girls fell onto the floor. I jumped back, shocked. They started to push themselves up, laughing. I sighed, trying not to let out a slight laugh.
"Sorry about that," said the one dressed in red, brushing off her skirt. "I told you all four of us pressed against a door wouldn't end well, but no, we had to make sure he heard us." The one in the white clothes had a look of disgust on her face, trying to wipe off the dust as she spoke.
"Hey we thought it was a good idea at the time," said the yellow one, laughing as she pushed herself off the ground.
The other one was silent, and she was the only one to not fall to the ground. She wore black, and seemed to shy away from the door. Before I could speak, the red one jumped in front of me. She grabbed my hand and shook it, "Hello, I'm Ruby, leader of Team RWBY," She spoke quickly, and it was hard to understand. She pointed to each member as she spoke, "This is Weiss, this is Yang, and that is Blake." They waved as she pointed to them, the one named Yang smiling, Weiss scowling, and Blake staying emotionless. I wasn't sure if they recognized me, and that question made me curious about their motives. Soon all four of them surrounded me, unmoving.
"Are you ok?" Ruby asked, breaking the ice. "The last time we saw you, you were bleeding and near death. Now you are here in beacon, looking completely fine not even a week later."
"Im fine," I said, nodding. "I've been through worse." They all shifted at that, a questioning look in their eyes. I changed the subject quickly, "Nice work dealing with the last of those Grimm, ive heard stories." They all seemed to relax after I said that.
"Oh it was nothing, just team RWBY protecting the people." Ruby spoke quickly again, making it really hard to understand her. Yang slung her arm around Ruby's shoulder, hugging her tightly, "We had help, team JNPR was there too you know." She stared at me with her piercing lilac eyes, still with a smile across her face. They seemed to flash red for a second before returning to their original color, and I thought I must have been seeing things. Before I could respond, there was another knock at the door. I sighed and opened it and was greeted by a woman, or to be exact, the woman who I saw with the White Fang. She looked just as surprised as I did, though for a different reason. From her perspective, she just came face to face with one of the White Fang's most wanted traitors. "Oh, you must be the new student. Its good to meet you." She extended her hand, her expression showing care. I took it, my jaded expression still showing. "I should be off then, I just thought I would get acquainted." She quickly turned and left, rushing down the hall to two other students.
The four girls who witnessed that exchange stood there silently, shocked. Ruby walked over to the door, motioning for the others to follow her. "Sorry for troubling you. We should go."
I shook my head, "It was no problem, I'm glad I was able to meet the four who saved my life." That brought a smile to her face.
"Well, we will be seeing you," She said as her teammates left the room. She turned and left, closing the door behind her. I fell back onto the bed, exhausted. I made a mistake, didn't I?
