Bianca squinted as the sunlight pricked her eyes, holding up an arm to block the offending rays. Qrow's footsteps were as rapid as they had been since they had begun their early morning trek, and showed no signs of slowing. He had barely said a word to her other than to wake her up and tell her they would be setting out to get to the bullheads. Thus began their hour long trek away from the welcoming arms of her bed. The branches at one point became almost a dense wall, but before she could burn them away, Qrow had sliced a path through with his weapon.
"Don't use that. Not in front of anyone else and not now."
Bianca's eyes narrowed and she replied in her best, most saccharine voice.
"Why not?"
Qrow didn't even turn before responding in the same automaton-esque voice he had employed all day.
"We don't know who could be watching"
Rolling her eyes, Bianca gave a huff of frustration as she grabbed Qrow's arm and turned him towards her.
"Why are you acting like you have a sweetroll up your ass? Least you could have done is thank me for saving you from the hybrids"
That got a reaction, as Qrow wrenched his arm free of her grasp. She saw his features that had been restrained for the entirety of the morning emerge as his face morphed into a scowl, his eyes drilling into hers.
"You killed that man" he spat. "His aura was depleted. He was at your mercy and you slaughtered him like a pig. What difference is there between you and him?"
Bianca stood her ground but she could see that the matter had kept him up all night. If it wasn't for the extraordinary circumstances surrounding her, she was sure Qrow would have attempted to move against her.
"I don't go around acting like I'm judge, jury and executioner, and I'm telling you now. I won't let you do that again." Qrow finished his diatribe as spittle flew from his snarling mouth.
Bianca couldn't help a snort as her eyes widened comically in surprise.
"What? That's what's got you bothered? First off, the difference between me and him is that I'm alive and he's rotting in a hole somewhere."
She moved forwards but to his credit, Qrow didn't budge. "Now tell me, if he didn't have aura would he not have been able to move? To pick up a weapon?"
It was her turn to growl now, and Bianca looked up into the man's eyes with fury etched on her features.
"I don't have aura. I don't get to take hits like you people can take and shrug them off" The dragonborn poked his chest, forcing him to move back. "And I definitely don't give people more than one chance to kill me. That man? He's one of if not the thousands, the hundreds I have killed" she paused, her nostrils flared and Qrow could feel the air around them become almost blisteringly hot.
Bianca would have continued her rant were it not for a sudden yell from behind Qrow that derailed her train of thought. Looking behind him, she saw a man wearing clothes that seemed to be a combination of a shirt and trousers but with no separation in between. His head was covered by a white object that changed to black over where his eyes would have been.
"Mr. Branwen, just in time" the man walked forwards, seemingly oblivious of the atmosphere he had just evaporated. Qrow replied with a grunt, making his way past Bianca who for her part was still stunned by the appearance of the new arrival. The man's lips curled in a smile as he waved towards her.
"You must be the passenger Headmaster Ozpin mentioned. Bullhead's behind me. If we hurry we can probably make it back to Beacon before it gets dark" the strange man spoke as he made his way towards where Qrow had left. Bianca followed in silence, her eyes staring at the back of the man's oversized head. Was the poor man born with it? Just when she thought she couldn't be more surprised by this new world Bianca entered the clearing the men were standing in only to freeze in her tracks. A massive construct enveloped the unforested ground and Bianca could see Qrow entering its belly via a ramp. The extremities were tipped with strange cylinders that appeared to be open from below while Qrow and the strange man were inside an egg like capsule between the two cylinders. The entire thing was colored a dull shade of grey and black that reminded her of a smithy.
"We need to go, get on" Qrow called out but Bianca found she couldn't even hear her own reply as a terrible sound began rumbling from the cylinders and smoke began to emerge from the openings. Giving the strange eldritch entities one final look, Bianca rushed to join the man inside the makeshift room.
"What is this thing?" Bianca nearly shouted as she made her way to a soft chair that didn't seem to have any legs.
Qrow had apparently regressed to an even more vacuous monotone and only replied with a single word.
"Bullhead"
Any further questions died in her throat as she felt the small room they were in lurch, and then a distinct sensation she had only felt one time before; when she was on the back of the dragon Odahviing as he rose to the skies. There were holes in the walls covered by a transparent material she could look through and Bianca could see the ground drifting away from them as the roar from the cylinders morphed into something that must have been fierce but was muffled by the walls of their capsule. Bianca simply stared out of the apparent window, wonder rimming her eyes. These people must have been more advanced than even the dwemer if they were able to bring all this to bear. The clouds below them were like a massive bed of foam and the sight led her to, for the first time in her life, envy the dragons.
Eventually the silence that she had failed to notice in her wonder became too taxing for the boisterous man at the helm of their ship, who turned around to address them. The black visor was gone and she could see his eyes and face now.
"It's an honor to meet you Mister Branwen. Never thought an old commercial pilot like me would get to fly heroes around" he said with a smile so wide Bianca was sure it would crack his face. In spite of herself, however, she smiled at him.
"You're not flying heroes."
Damn it Qrow.
"How far are we from Beacon?" he basically growled, and Bianca's heart broke seeing their jovial guide's smile disappear like it had been scrubbed off. The man cleared his throat and returned to his seat, before answering in a voice as timid as a kicked puppy.
"About ten minutes"
Any further conversation Bianca could have made had been strangled in the crib by Qrow's outburst, so she settled for looking out the window at the passing mountains of clouds. They were flying a bit too high for picturesque sights however and despite how absurd the statement sounded, one could only stare at apparently still clouds for so long before the mind started to wander. Wander towards thoughts of how she would actually get home. Bianca could only marvel at how desensitized she had become to occurrences like this ever since that fateful day in Helgen. Whether it was massive underground caverns untouched for thousands of years or alternate planes of existence where you could literally feel your happiness and soul being sucked out or where she found herself now; an entirely new world.
She hadn't seen any traces of magic so far other than the creatures that had attacked her when she had arrived, their sublimating bodies indicative of incredibly potent conjuration magic. And from what Qrow had told her, neither had anyone else except for the wizard responsible for these maidens that was. The clouds finally began to grow closer and she felt the craft descending from the feeling in her belly. It was like blowing away foam on the surface of the ocean to reveal what lay underneath, and left Bianca's eyes goggled once more.
A city larger and more resplendent than even Solitude, majestically seated on a lush landscape that put the best cities of Nirn to shame emerged from below the clouds. Like a king rising from his throne, and replete with structures taller than any fort wall she had seen, the city enthralled the dragonborn in childlike wonder. Bianca stared at the tiny beings moving around like ants, side by side with some manner of multi-colored craft that zoomed by at incredible speeds. That was when she saw it.
To call it a castle was to call a single room dilapidated hut a fortress. The gargantuan chateau was easily a dozen or more times massive than the Blue Palace and guarding a forest of lush green that extended as one single sea of shrubbery into the horizon. Marble white, with an expansive lawn that she was sure dwarfed the grounds of Solitude itself, let alone the Blue Palace, the massive citadel was topped by a single tower as tall as some mountains Bianca had seen, with windows tall enough for a giant to pass through on each side. Their guide's voice floated in as she saw the grounds of the massive castle grow closer.
"I radioed in just now. Professor Goodwitch will be waiting to receive you when we land"
"Is Ozpin not here?" Qrow snapped, leaning forward in his seat and Bianca could feel the poor mans' head lower further.
"I-I don't know, sir. They only told me Professor Goodwitch would receive you"
Bianca just moved towards the window, content to watch the approaching grounds of the majestic palace as they seemed to reach up to greet her. The massive engines of the craft lurched and tilted as the pilot slowed them down, their descent as steady as a bird's. Their landing was, to Bianca, flawless when compared to the lurch Odahviing had given her when they had all but crashed into the ground. The sound coming from the cylinders began to wind down like the last breaths of a beast, and Bianca saw their guide flipping off dozens of small sticks that he presumably used to fly the craft. Qrow simply made his way outside as soon as the ramp was lowered but Bianca moved through the length of the small capsule towards the forward windows. Their guide was still handling the multitude of levers and strange buttons, though it seemed like it was less a necessity than a way for the man to bide his time till the two of them left. Placing her hand on his shoulder, Bianca smiled at his slight jolt.
"My name's Bianca" the dragonborn said with a grin, and the man seemed lost for words before he lurched to his feet.
"Samuel" he tripped over his words to get out, clearly embarrassed at his slowness.
"Well, Samuel" Bianca spoke in her softest voice, "Qrow is just a bit cranky because of me. Don't go thinking it's because he hates you". The much more brutal fact was that Qrow probably hadn't thought about the poor man during the whole flight. Samuel's smile made the lie more palatable however, and she nodded once before descending the ramp to see a blonde woman talking to, no, at Qrow as he ignored her and made his way away from her. Bianca moved to her side with her hands behind her back, waiting for the blonde woman to suppress her anger as Qrow's form melded into the throng of people. With a short breath, the woman turned to her and held out a hand.
"Welcome to Beacon Academy. I am Glynda Goodwitch" she spoke in the same tone Urag employed whenever a new student came to his library.
"Bianca", the thane bowed. "Pleasure to meet you madam, though I feel like I must apologize for Qrow's ornery attitude. I'm afraid our clash of ideologies affected him more deeply than I thought it would." The mature woman gave her a puzzled look before beginning to walk while Bianca followed. If there was any doubt that the bespectacled woman was a teacher it vanished as soon as Bianca saw the students. Entire stretches of the student body would become as silent as a cortege while they passed, but Bianca couldn't help but stare at the large variety of colors, clothes and even body parts of the populace. Some milled about, while others lazed in the lawn soaking in the sun. It reminded her of her own youth when her father had sent her to a school to learn to read and write, except there were less than twenty students in total and all of the boys had bullied her relentlessly. She'd later learned it was because most of them were enamored with her. Her guide stopped at a set of metal doors before pressing a button that caused them to slide open. Bianca looked at the small room that was revealed with a puzzled expression, but stepped in when Glynda raised her eyebrow at her. The doors swung shut, and a ball of flame apparated into her hand. Was this some ploy to imprison her? Perhaps some room that stopped magic from working? It took only one look at the fire in her hands for her to dispel the notion, and be thankful that Glynda hadn't seen her frenetic posture. Any questions were laid to rest as Bianca's stomach galloped in response to the sudden lifting sensation she felt. Grabbing hold of a nearby railing, Bianca held on for dear life as the eldritch room made its ascent.
As soon as it had started, and before she could shriek at the woman and ask what was going on, it stopped. The doors opened leisurely to reveal a large room with massive windows. The towering walls were cramped with variegated time pieces, each one ticking forward as relentlessly as time. Bianca could see Qrow with his hands on a large wooden desk having an animated discussion with a white haired, bespectacled man wearing a rather comfy looking green shawl and a mainly black ensemble. That was when she felt it.
The first traces of magical power she had detected since coming to this world.
"- I'm telling you, that isn't possible. I'm not saying you're lying, just that even the best can be fooled from time to time" she heard him say as the two woman strode forwards.
Qrow looked back, and exhaled explosively in relief. Well at least he wasn't being as glum as Serana anymore.
"Finally. Show him what you showed me"
Bianca was about to flex her magical muscle when an idea slithered its way into her head. Was she really going to let Qrow get away with his brooding when all she had done was defend herself?
With a lurch, she gripped Glynda's skirts, eliciting a cry that caught in the blonde woman's throat.
"Please miss, you need to save me from him. He said if I didn't do what he said he would feed me to the Grimm! I'm but a poor country lass, and he seduced me and had his way with me." Bianca positively whimpered, pointing a shaking finger at Qrow.
Utter silence pervaded the room, and Qrow's eyes widened to become comparable in size to a mammoth's arse. Glynda's expression morphed meteorically from one of bewilderment and shock to one of fury and rage, her eyes as cold as a horker's tusk as she bored them into Qrow. She raised the stick in her hand, bringing it up to no doubt aim it at Qrow. That was when Ozpin spoke. Divines, she hated authority figures. They never let her have any fun. Whether it was archmages, jarls, or headmasters, they all hated her for some reason.
"It can't be."
Her little display had distracted Bianca, but now that she was no longer cowering the dragonborn felt it; someone was probing her magic.
"But how is this possible? I've never felt this sensation before, except with, with…"
The headmaster's eyes widened, and it was obvious what conclusion he was heading for. The cane he wielded as a walking stick now came up to form a weapon, and Bianca rolled her eyes.
"If I was the conjurer that was birthing all those creatures out there, why would I look like this?" she asked, even as Glynda's posture changed and she aimed her stick at the mage. Qrow seemed nonplussed, looking between the three of them. Ozpin's demeanor stayed the same however, and his eyes were focused and razor sharp. Qrow tried to move between them, but was swatted aside as a purple cloud seemingly shoved him out of the way. Bianca's eyes narrowed and she started moving back to give herself space.
"You're scared" she spoke, bringing the most even tone she could muster to bear. "And I can't really blame you. Mage academies and colleges are tinderboxes because you never know how a person's magic will react to another's. And to be honest, I should have expected this. This one is totally my fault."
Qrow groaned in the corner as he came to but neither Ozpin nor Glynda showed any signs of letting up. Her foot collided with something, and she lost her balance for half a second. It was half a second too long. Immediately Ozpin charged her, and it was a testament to his speed that she had barely finished her shout before he was on her.
"FEIM ZII GRON!"
She felt the weight of her clothes vanish as her form became incorporeal. And not a second too early, as Ozpin's thrust went through straight where her heart would have been. The man muttered a curse and lunged back, his eyes taking in her new form. Happy with finally getting a reprieve from the murderous intent, Bianca decided to try to convince them. For their own sakes.
"Now that you can't maim or kill me, let's talk"
A/N: I'm adding some magic principles of my own here. The whole magic detection thing isn't really present in Skyrim AFAIK but I thought it would make a good way to introduce Ozpin and Bianca. I hate how in some crossover fics Ozpin just accepts that someone from another world just came in. And I'm sorry for the delay, I've been caught up playing EVE and preparing for some exams. Please leave a review if you can, as those are a massive piece of motivation, whether they are positive or negative. Thank you.