"…what the hell?"

Glynda gave a small hum of amusement, her pen scratching against the pad as Ren stared in bewilderment. The scale beeped as he stepped off, resetting as it awaited for the next job it had to do. His hands shook a bit as he stumbled a bit backwards, swallowing heavily as he tugged his green overcoat back on, struggling a bit to button it up over the offending mass on his abdomen.

A soft little chuckle left Glynda's lips, turning her head towards him slightly as he made a grumbling noise, tugging down the fabric when it bunched around his midsection. "Well now, Mr. Lie. That's slightly surprising coming from you. Hm…actually. It's not too much."

"I know, I know." Ren waved his hand towards the teacher, rolling his eyes as he awkwardly crossed his arms over his midsection, making his way past the line of the other boys and girls towards where his team was waiting for him, sitting beside Team RWBY.

Health tests like these were common, especially for future hunters and huntresses. At least one every month, to make sure a proper weight was maintained, as well as everything else was in perfect shape to function. All the senses were working in top order, and nothing that could possibly hinder a warrior's training. Usually prepared in a quick session; while groups were sparring, the other groups prepared themselves with these quick run throughs. Of course, a weight and height test was involved as well, unfortunately for the heavier individual.

It had spelled doom for Ren's health test, unfortunately. A rapid gain of body mass of that nature, it was barely a joking matter anymore. Yet, Ms. Goodwitch was able to easily snicker at his faults, despite the axiomatic fact of his dust addiction. Former addiction, one could muse at this point in time. The young man had been sober for a little past two months. Completely sober, not a single particle of dust having gone up his nose or past his lips.

The withdrawal symptoms were still heavy within Ren's system. Cravings were persistent and much more of a nuisance than anything. His anxiety attacks and depression were prevalent within his day to day life, at times having one or two a day; paranoia over the coming class, lack of confidence in a school project or activity, the times were numerous. Dreams would plague his mind of a horrifying nature, of a beast within himself destroying her, shrapnel ribboning him, or ending one way or another where he or her would end up dead and covered in gore.

Despite all that, especially when many would consider his fears insignificant, his team would strive to make him feel better. In ways that were astounding, their patience stretched, where their abilities would become even greater. Instead of arguing with him and calling his stresses pathetic, they would instead touch and rub his shoulders and back until he would be soothed, reminding him of their presence. Agreeing with him when he would almost come close to tears over his homework or a project, sit with him until he would finally get it right and overcome it. Or even just sitting with him and having coffee and some snacks until he was calmed. It was similar to coaxing an upset child to do an activity they despised, yet this was not a child.

This was their partner, Lie Ren. Who's stoic and powerful façade had dissipated away into a being of constant fear and disturbance. A young boy who needed his hand to be held, to be carried where he was needed, to guide him towards goals he believed were truly unreachable.

Slowly, Ren stood beside Nora, where she was happily chatting away to Ruby and Weiss about her own sort of dream she had last night. A small sigh left his lips, and he stuffed his hands in his pockets – when had they grown tighter too? He could barely squeeze his fingers in –listening intently to what was uttered from her happily chatty mouth.

Something about her and him fighting some insane creature that didn't exist? A norm at this point. He ignored the fact that she had not slept too much that night, having to console him after a vivid nightmare of some sort of beast that had attacked them in the Emerald Forest—

Wait a minute. Was that…? Nora…

"And then like, Ren punched the realllly tall Dragon Grimm in the jaw! He sucker punched him! Ka-pow!" Nora threw a few jab at the air, giggling softly to herself. "It was totally cool and totally weird. That's why I love dreams!" she paused, whirling around when she felt him brush against her, grinning a bit. "Speaking of the hero himself!"

Ren appeared flustered at that, the seven pairs of eyes fixated on him again. He swallowed a bit, giving a weak little nod to them. Nora latched onto his arm, chuckling softly as she snuggled up to his side with a small hum. Slowly, he sighed, wrapping an arm around her form to hold her closer, exhaling briefly.

"So, Ren." Yang began with a sweet little snicker, brushing her long, wild mane behind her shoulder. She placed her hands daintily on her hips, giggling softly as she managed to choke out between her loud chuckles: "How fat did ya get?"

"Oh shut up." Ren rolled his eyes, exhaling loudly as he felt Nora tug a little tighter on his arm. "I didn't gain any weight. None at all. What are you talking about?"

"Your gut tells another story, Mr. Defensive." Ruby snickered from where she stood beside Yang, giving her a high five. Ren just stared at them with a blank gaze, self-consciously placing a hand on his swollen belly, hating how it jutted out a bit noticeably now. No longer was it able to be hidden easily under his clothes, exposing the methods he was using to cope with his withdrawal.

Food. Glorious food. He never really had too much of a relationship with food, finding himself surprised when he immediately went to it for his nourishment and his comfort. Now he understood a bit about the concept of "comfort food." Oh boy was he comforted.

"What? I only gained a little bit of weight." Ren mumbled softly, Nora chuckling softly at his meek reaction, snuggling up to him. "What's that called…? Like uh…oh yeah! It's just the Freshman-fifteen. Everyone gets it. Besides, I'm not going to try to explain myself, anyways." A loud exhale left his lips, rolling his eyes. "It's no big deal."

"I told you this would happen!" Jaune whined slightly from where he stood beside Pyrrha and Ruby, crossing his arms a bit as he narrowed his eyes at his teammate. Like a little nervous kitten, the scraggly blonde feebly tried to make a point against the stronger, more skilled male. "You ate a few pound cakes, and gained a few pounds!"

Ren merely gave a small huff and rolled his eyes. In the grand scheme of things, it was truly insignificant, only evident by his naturally slim form. He felt no need to be upset over it truly. Especially not when in the depths of his withdrawal, he still needed the distraction of constant eating. Supposing he actually tried to stick to a stricter diet regime and fitness training, maybe he could tone himself one more.

Glancing down at Nora again, he blinked at her, the smaller huntress giggling up at him and hugging his arm sweetly, resting her cheek against his shoulder. A small smile tugged at his lips, letting her hang onto him as he looked up again at the other girls, quietly observing the conversations they had about the recent tests and other school work, the bouncing little red head piping in occasionally.

Though, he paused, eyes narrowing when he locked eyes with Weiss. Something about her felt…off with him. Her treatment to him, usually not exactly the warmest but…something had been different. Despite being sober for more than two months, and his relationship shaking but slowly reforming, he found that whatever was between him and the heiress had quickly nosedived for the worse.

Yang had informed him that this was similar to what had happened with the young faunus, but even she had remarked of the strangeness of the situation. She had quickly taken back her remarks of the white fang once she had realized the trueness of Blake's character, yet she would not stop with the cruel taunts and sneers towards Ren.

Not that it mattered to him too much, he realized with the roll of the eyes. Never did he care too much for her, and likely she didn't anyways. Everyone else was friends with each other, the two teams, yet he personally preferred Nora over others. Yet, considering it after a moment's thought, he realized that he quite like Blake's company. He could have a good book conversation with her, or a good chess game. Maybe he could try to be closer to her. Something he could take into consideration.

The brief moments to themselves were suddenly shattered, ending sharply as Glynda quietly stepped onstage. She walked briskly, clearing her throat as she began to list the necessary jobs and what had to be done for their next school assignment. A fairly easy one, they all assumed. Go and get fruit from the frozen lakes up in the North, a good few hours' distance. Despite the long journey, it would be a bit relaxing in the long run. Not many Grimm sightings, and the fruit was known to be delicious and ripe this time of year. Something they were all personally looking forward to. A break from everyday Beacon life.

The doors suddenly swung open, all heads turning towards the source of the noise disrupting Glynda. Her eyes narrowed a bit, and then rolled when she saw Professor Ozpin slowly hobble into the room, that all too familiar cup of coffee present in his hand. He gave a small chuckle when he saw her, winking a bit as he slowly walked up the steps to stand beside Glynda, all eyes now trained on him. The cane thudded soft against the ground with each step he took, finally resting at his side when he reached his destination.

A loud clearing of the throat was heard, Glynda hesitantly stepping off center stage to stand towards the side, watching him with curiosity, as well as the rest of the students. Silence overtook the gymnasium, as Ozpin scanned the room, focusing on the two teams in the back corner for a few moments, before smirking. "…now that I have your attention." He cleared his throat a bit, a smirk appearing on his face.

Glynda scoffed a little, soon approaching him again, but was clearly startled when his jacket was thrown at her face, the mug gingerly placed in her hands as he rolled his sleeves up. Stepping back with a heavy hobble to another side of the stage, he clutched onto the head of his cane, seeming to be preparing his body for something as he spread his feet apart. Ignoring his wife's fumes, he turned back towards the wide eyed viewers, that smirk still present on his face.

"I know you're all preparing for your field trip up to the Frozen Lakes. But, I'm sure you all have a minute, don't you?" he crossed his arms, standing up straight, the black vest clutching onto his long sleeved green shirt, bunched up at his elbows, forearms bare. "This is a brief exercise I do every year. I'll get right to the point—if a student can knock me down, no weapons, aura use, or semblance used, then there will be great benefits."

Ozpin's hand was raised when he heard the first wave of excited voices and wondrous eyes before him, struggling to receive again the quietness that he desired. Like that was going to happen, he mused with a roll of his eyes. "But, before all of you start getting excited, in all of my years of being the headmaster, not a single student has managed to knock me down. Not one. And ask any of your teachers, I have been here for quite a few years."

That lulled silence came back after his booming, echoing voice had spoken, a few students appearing a bit flustered at that. Even Glynda sighed quite loudly at that, obviously having not been informed of his arrival and sudden test on the students. The very brief eruption of chatter was now gone, the bright eyed young warriors mumbling to themselves before slowly looking back at the teacher, everyone frazzled and struggling to take in the concept.

Fight their teacher…? Win and get unnamed benefits?

"I'll do it!"

All heads turned towards Cardin, locked on him as he sauntered up towards the stairs of the stage, easily jogging up them and across from where Ozpin was. The professor tossed his cane over to Glynda, who still watched him with narrowed eyes. He turned back to the cocky young knight, who had that dumb smirk on his face, feeling as if he could easily take glory for his team, God's gift to the world.

Yet, his dream would quickly be demolished. No time was wasted to lunge forward, a fist raised towards the professor's head. Ozpin locked his knees, raising his hands as he stared at the incoming target, and without breaking a sweat, he caught the fist and palmed Cardin in the stomach, sending him stumbling onto his back harshly.

The older individual snorted softly, rubbing his hands on his vest as he looked towards the crowd again. That look of an impressive pride was now gone, replaced with slight annoyance. "Come on. I know that at a school for warriors, I would assume the strongest one of you would propose at least somewhat of a challenge."

Cardin slowly got to his feet, snarling a bit. "No fair! Do-over! Come on!"

The professor shrugged. "No. You had your chance. Now you be fair and let someone else go. You offered to go first. That's your own fault." He glanced off the stage again. "Who's next? Remember. Just knock me over. That's all. I'm sure one of you can do this."

"Ozpin. You do this every year. You're just wasting all of our time." Glynda huffed, rolling her eyes as she watched Cardin walk off stage in a huff, rejoining his group, who all laughed at him. "Every single year. It's ridiculous. You're a teacher, and they're just students. Why start something now? Come on down here, and put an end to this."

Ozpin's own eyes mimicked hers at that, huffing loudly. "Glynda. I know what I'm doing. I'm trying to convey a message here. Please, Glynda. I will not take up much more of your time. Isn't there anyone else who wants to try, at least? Come on. It's good training without your weapons, isn't it?"

A heavy cloud of despair overtook the room, a few mumbling to their comrades. The question hung in the air, wondering what the point of the entire thing was. A message? What was the point of this practice? Could anyone even win against a teacher with much more years of experience? Well…the honor of being the first one, as Ozpin had said, would be absolutely lovely.

After much consideration, another student volunteered, and then another, and a few more after that. Confidence bubbled up within the trainees, words of excitement and strength floating between them as they frantically began to line up at the steps, wondering if they would be the one gifted enough to take down the head of their wonderful school.

Exhaling loudly, Weiss shook her head, crossing her arms. "No one's going to get it." She mumbled to herself, watching as another young man was easily thrown across the room with virtually no effort by Ozpin. "I don't understand why he's doing it anyways. What do you think, Ru—" she paused, looking startled when she saw her partner scampering away from her and rushing up on the stage to try her own attempt at the challenge presented. The pale young lady rolled her eyes, Blake chuckling softly as she watched her step onto the stage.

"Here we go." Yang mumbled, turning to better face the display, and laughter exploded from within her when Ruby slid across the floor, Ozpin easily deflecting her attempts at the jabs at his side and countering attacking her. "That was fast! A record, probably."

Nora giggled softly, standing on her tiptoes to get a better look. Slowly, one by one, each of the students attempting the attack on their professor were staggering off the stage in dismay, sent back with a loss hanging above their heads, licking at their wounds. Ozpin didn't even appear to be breaking a sweat, standing up straight as he awaited for the next challenger. The entire debacle had barely lasted twenty minutes, the teacher surveying the area, debating on calling it a close for the day.

When the powerful headmaster took a step forward to dismiss himself from the theatre, Nora suddenly grabbed the arm she was holding, grasping Ren's wrist and thrusting it in the air sharply. His body jolted a bit, and she called out loudly,

"Ren wants to take a chance!"

All eyes turned towards the pair, Ren's face turning just as pink as his bright magenta irises, stumbling forward as Nora began to drag him towards the stage. He weakly mumbled and fumbled with his words, but it was ignored as she gave him a forceful shove towards the stage. Jaune immediately got out of their way, their leader having feebly attempted the challenge after Pyrrha, watching Nora place Ren in his place on the stage. The little red head giggled, patting his side before hopping off with a small hum, following the ruffled and slightly bruised blonde back to their group.

Ozpin stared at Ren, raising an eyebrow as he went back to his position across from him, getting in his proper stance. Appearing stupefied, Ren blinked a few times, staring back at Nora, who waved at him, before looking back at his new opponent, spluttering for a few moments. How in the world did he get himself in this situation now? He was fat, frustrated, and probably no match. Well, maybe his new weight would weigh him down enough so the enemy couldn't toss him like a javelin across the room, he thought sarcastically.

"Come on." Ozpin ordered with a slight grunt, spreading his legs apart and opening his arms a tad, ready to catch a possible tackle. "Go on. Attack me. Hit me. You've got a lot of anger in you, don't you, fellow?"

At that, Ren tensed up, staring at him with wide eyes. Anger…an anger? What…? He blinked again, not saying a word as Ozpin continued.

"You're angry, aren't you? I mean, all of your fun has come to an end. No more abusing drugs, no more freedom that all of the other students get. Hell, your guns are still empty, no ammunition. You have an earlier curfew, stricter guidelines compared to everyone else." Something of a smirk appeared on his lips, pushing his glasses on the bridge of his nose with his middle finger. "You're on probation, and that hasn't affected you at all?"

A pause occurred within Ren, his hands slowly curling into fists as he stared down Ozpin, wondering what in the world he was trying to get at. Was privacy even an issue anymore, or was that thrown in the shitter? Yeah, just announce all of his problems to the student population. That was just great.

"Are you trying to make me angry? Because it's sure as hell working." Ren finally snapped out, wary of a heavy gag burden overtaking the entire room again. Nope. Not when he was here, on stage, in front of all these people. Dammit, he was really starting to hate crowds. First that damn security camera, and now this…

Ozpin smirked a bit, his posture relaxing as his hand fell to his sides, watching him with an observant stare. His hands slipped into his pockets nonchalantly, flouting him shamelessly over his lack of an attack, and then he hummed. "The fact that just pointing out what has happened to you, means that you haven't come to terms with it." A slight frown tugged at Ozpin's lips only briefly, before his eyes narrowed again. "You've ignored the truth, haven't you?"

"I'm not talking about this now." Those eyes all focused on him, staring at him, burning into him made him begin to sweat under his tight overcoat, and he coughed a bit, awkwardly shuffling his feet. What was so interesting about him, anyways? Oh, he was just being stupid now. He wasn't dumb. They all wanted to see the headmaster kick the drug addict's butt.

Not today.

Turning sharply, Ren gave a huff as Ozpin opened his mouth to speak again. With a few quick steps, he leaped off the stage, pushing past the startled viewers as he headed back to his team. That was it. That was the end of the conversation. No more. No one was going to dare point out his flaws to him again, especially the man that had saved his sorry ass. There was a tough tightness in his chest, restraining his emotions, or else the potential of another breakdown would arise. That would make his day absolutely lovely.

Ren slowly moved to stand back next to Nora, no one in their circle of friends saying a word, no one looking right at him. He shut his eyes when he heard his partner mumble a small apology, yet he did not respond to her remark, quietly trying to will the stress rising in his throat away. Vaguely he heard Glynda announce orders for everyone, preparing to head out for the trip to the frozen lakes, Ozpin gone already.

This was perfect. Just what he needed as he tried to readjust himself to school life after the amnesty given to him following his crimes. He needed to just look like a damn idiot in front of the entire school again. Second time in two months. And now he was going to be plunging in the frigid, bone chilling air of the Frozen Lakes. His gosh-darn favorite weather.

What could possibly go wrong?