The following sunrise would turn out to be the beginning of an interesting and regrettably unforgettable experience for the guardian. He also feared that it would set the tone for his experiences here at Beacon. While Ghost made sure to explain in detail everything he had observed while he slept, up to, and including, the quantitative number of individual snores he had tallied in his boredom by order of student's gender, suspected age, and developing psychological profile.

Ghost appeared set on utilizing his guardian's forced socialization as a means to entertain himself.

Cassiel simply tried to get through the morning.

This began with his attempt at breakfast.

The dining hall of Beacon outshone even the grandest establishments of the legion, and would have made for a pleasant place to eat, if not for the fact it was packed to bursting with other students chattering loudly amongst each other as they speculated on what test they would soon be facing. It was a lively, familiar attitude, a ritual not unusual amongst the guardians at the tower as they prepared for missions and discussed various interests between patrols.

Beacon, in a way, was much like a school for young guardians. Of course that was if each student had been a born again warrior from an important moment in human history. Considering where he was and the overall unusualness of Remnant compared to Earth, he took this comparison with a grain of salt.

Guardians he had easily made friends with, despite their appearance of age, they were mature, hardened warriors unafraid to act the part of children if it pleased them, anything to alleviate the pressure and stresses of their positions. Those that looked young were the products of what guardians called their true life, the one before they rallied to The Traveler's banner. Most were from periods in Earth's history, such as the medieval and classical ages, where age was not so much important as duty.

These people, he pointedly reminded himself as he scanned the cafeteria, really were children.

Unwilling to even attempt to interface with his fellow trainees, he traversed the buffet line and assembled his platter though minimal interaction with the other occupants of the cafeteria. On his way to the back the room he noticed Miss Rose and her sister sitting at a table with a small collection of students he considered strange, even for their profession.

And as he watched a young woman decimate a plate stacked high with pancakes in the time it took for him to realize what it was he looked at, he reaffirmed his belief in remaining aloof from his compatriots for as long as he could.

It was probably for the best.

So when an excited and overeager Ruby tried to flag him down as she wildly flailed her arm in his direction, the guardian nodded a polite greeting her way, though he made a pointed effort to seek refuge at the only table that did not possess a moderate crowd. He hoped he had not insulted or otherwise hurt the young girl's feelings. She was cute, in a fledgling adolescent unaccustomed or ignorant to the harsh realities of the real world, kind of way. And he, in matter of fact, was somewhat fond of her, if that made sense given the brevity of their two interactions.

The guardian had hardened his life with necessary cynicism to avoid disappointment and to distance himself from the harsh realities of his occupation. So when someone like her came along, it was a refreshing change in pace.

Had the headmaster not distinctly asked him to keep an eye on her, he might have simply out of personal preference.

Cassiel greeted the table's sole other occupant with a terse greeting as he took his place, the young woman replying in a correspondingly concise reaction as she pored over her novel and tucked into a plate of baked fish and various fruits.

Biting into an apple, the guardian brought up the school issued scroll he had been given upon his acceptance, studying its applications in an effort to familiarize himself with technology he had never bothered to use before. Ghost made such a device useless, yet he could not rely on his companion in a public environment like this. As a soldier, he abhorred the idea of not understanding his equipment. As a rather bored immortal, he welcomed the opportunity to entertain himself however briefly.

Perhaps it would help him understand his peers?

After all they appeared entirely addicted to these small devices.

Pfff… antiquated garbage. That's what that is.

The guardian masked his reaction at Ghost's sullen tone with a shallow cough, and he noticed the bow twitch atop the head of the girl across from him. Before he could dwell on its significance, the communications device in his hands beeped softly, a message forwarded by the Beacon Academy Automatic Alert System.

I could have told you that… thirty minutes ago. Ghost mused sullenly.

It would appear as if all the students had been summoned to the cliffside in an hour's time, and they were to be dressed in their combat apparel. The guardian hurriedly finished his meal, discarding his trash in a bin by the table with the intent to prepare as quickly as possible. He would admit that his haste was perhaps double-sided.

He hoped to finish rearming before the eventual tide of students would all leave the cafeteria with the same idea. Yet when he arrived at the changing room, he realized that he had not been the only one with that idea.

Setting his duffle bag down on the bench in front of him, Cassiel made a concentrated effort to take no notice of the young woman divesting herself off her clothing, a suit of leather armor hanging on a rack in the locker before her.

He had no interest in conversation.

The guardian followed suit, exchanging the pants Jaune had given him and readjusting his leather breastplate with a careful eye, ensuring that none of the straps would interfere with his movement or otherwise impede his efforts in whatever trial it was the headmaster had concocted. From the impression he had gathered from the man, he doubted it would appear as easy as it may seem once revealed.

As he finished, the man eyed the longbow in his hand with a conflicted frown. At times it was frustrating to work with equipment that only held him back, and he briefly wondered if it was truly wise to forgo the implements of his legacy. But he had made a promise after the war to leave everything behind after he had realized his duplicity in the campaign.

The man sighed, slinging the bow across his shoulder. He had not needed his armor and weapons in over ninety years and he would not have need of them now.

Cassiel had done enough harm with the armaments of a titan.

The past was better left buried.

"Um… excuse me?"

He turned away from the locker he had taken for himself, noticing that the girl from earlier - now dressed in her armor and girded with her spear and shield - was now standing a short distance away. In that brief moment as he evaluated the girl in front of him, he formed a dispute with himself.

Her posture was one with skill. She carried herself with grace befitting a warrior with experience under her belt and she appeared quite at home with the weapons she held. Her figure as well had visibly benefited from rigorous training and he knew immediately that she would perhaps be the most capable combatant of all those he had encountered insofar. Yet… her expression, the way she looked to him, gave the guardian an image of somebody so utterly out of their element.

The only err he could see with her was an unusual lack of confidence.

"Yes…?" He replied with a curious tone, wondering what it was that she wanted from him. As far as he was aware they had never met, though he must admit that he may have forgotten already. A few other students had approached him since his arrival, and he had hardly bothered to remember the names of the few that genuinely interested him.

She seemed to falter, as if not expecting for him to react so casually. Her eyes, wide and green and probing, searched his expression for… something, he could not tell what. It gave him the distinct feeling as if this woman expected some recognition.

"Can I perhaps be of some assistance Miss?" He offered uneasily, now noticeably off put by this unusual girl.

"Do you… not know who I am?" She asked, her lips, a shocking red amidst the paleness of her skin, twisted in the faintest specter of a hopeful smile.

Why she would hope he did not was a source of even further confusion for him considering she had started this dialogue.

The guardian shrugged apologetically. "I must admit to my indignity, that I have not the faintest clue Miss…?"

A quiet, perhaps slightly maddened, giggle erupted suddenly from the girl as she grasped his hand and shook it hastily, though he had not extended it in offer. "Pyrrha Nikos, but you can just call me Pyrrha if you'd like."

"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Nikos. Cassiel Aurelius, though you may call me by whatever you prefer, I care little." He watched as her smile grew somewhat strained by his instance to adhere to formality and lack of personal preference, though she did not seem to react more than that.

He sighed.

"But my friends call me Cassiel." He offered with a reluctance he hoped would not be too evident. It was true, to an extent. Had he friends, he would have liked for them to call him by this name, for he much despised the other.

Her smile returned to its full luster, and he would grudgingly admit that he himself had returned it, though on pure reflex.

"Pyrrha Nikos!"

He watched win consternation as the girl before him visibly winced, her smile turning forced and premeditated as she turned to the next person to enter the locker room.

"Ah, Miss Schnee, a pleasure."

The irony was not lost on him when he noticed that she spoke with the white haired girl much like he carried himself amongst his fellow students.

Uttering a quick apology, and much to Pyrrha's apparent disappointment, he excused himself from the impending conversation. He knew by this Schnee's glare of dismissal, that he was not wanted. This played in his favor as he had no desire to remain longer.

He departed the changing room, readjusting his belt as he made to follow the corridor down to the academy grounds. From what he saw by the map, it should take him to the cliffside terrace, where the rest of the initiation was to be held.

If he hurried he might be able to-

"Hey Adonis!"

…depart before more students arrived.

He paused, more from the familiar tone than from reaction to the title, as he stopped in the middle of the hall, a frown curling his lips part way before he schooled his expression into a friendly grin.

How unfortunate… he had almost made it.

"Miss Yang…" He offered the approaching woman and her sister a respectful tilt of his head. "I hope the morning has started well for you both."

The blonde haired teenager chuckled throatily, though her smaller sister cut him a friendly smile.

"I was wondering if you acted like that all the time. Mistral really did a number on you huh?" She asked with a curiously perched eyebrow. "Oh and my full name's Yang Xiao Long. If you're gonna be calling me miss or mistress, I just thought you'd like to get it right."

"My apologies, Mistress Xiao Long, I'll endeavor to keep that in mind." His head ducked part way in an expression of regret, he paused at the louder peel of laughter coming from the girl, and the mortified yelp that came from her sister as she assaulted the taller more well developed woman while screeching her name, pale face flush with embarrassment.

The guardian could only watch in confusion, waiting for the pair to cease their bickering before testing the waters uncertainly.

What had he done now?

And why was Ghost being quieter than usual?

"Have I erred, Mistress?" He knew his grasp of modern English to be somewhat archaic at times, and it had become somewhat of a point of amusement for his fellow guardians and his ghost on many an occasion. He tried to keep to proper etiquette as often as he could however. After all, the legion had taught him more than skill at arms, it had taught him respect.

A snort of delight came from Yang; though a harsh elbow to her side stifled what he was beginning to suspect would have been a jest on his part. "No…. No…" She assured him in-between her laughter. "You haven't… erred, Cassiel. Just feel free to call me Yang. And if not… well Miss Xiao Long works well enough."

"Very well Miss Xiao Long. I shall strive to remember this." Confused and feeling hopelessly out of place, the guardian quickly bade them pardon before he was swept up in any more incomprehensible conversation. He e would be better put on focusing for the test they would all soon be facing.

He was starting to regret coming here more and more.

Much to his relief however, he was able to find the location for their test with little else going wrong. It was an unusual place for sure, and he could not yet discern the reason the headmaster had insisted he stand on one of these strange tiles, but he did not think much of it at that time.

He was not here to wonder, he was here to work.

Yet as the rest of the students arrived and Ozpin began his speech, and as he watched the man's lips twitch with the barest traces of a smile, as if he was the insider to a joke no one else could understand, Cassiel began to worry.

The guardian had learned when that man smiled; it was always followed by something where he would not.

Wait… had he heard that correctly?

Teams?

Eye contact?

Partners for the next four years?

Landing strategy?

He looked to his feet; at the ominous square tile he stood upon, what was he realized the first in all the rows of students. A sharp pop met his ears, the sound of spring loaded mechanism activating.

This… this was nothing like a school for guardians.

A low growl escaped him, and he matched the headmasters amused stare with a pair of silver eyes that burned with promised vengeance as he felt gravity relinquish its hold on him.


"CASSIEL!"

Yang smirked as Ruby cried out in surprise, the both of them watching as the young man catapulted into the sky, his expression free of wonder as it was instead darkened by a grimace that promised death to his enemies.

Which, by his look in that moment before he vanished from sight, could have included everyone present, even the headmaster.

All the students present paused when they heard an uncharacteristic chuckle come from the well-dressed, peculiarly enigmatic man himself, though his assistant looked anything but amused.

"Ozpin…" She muttered darkly, eyeing the man that sipped from his mug far too smugly.

"An unforeseen and entirely unpreventable accident. Whoever calibrated that plate must have put the setting too high."

The woman's eye twitched. "I thought that you were the one tha-"

'Remember students." The man interrupted, a flash of mischievousness visible but for a split second before he disguised himself with a tip of his mug.

"An unforeseen and entirely unpreventable accident."

In that moment no one was inclined to disagree with him.


Well… I happen to think that was pretty funny.

Cassiel ignored the tickled tone coming from his companion as he climbed out from the bottom of the smoking crater he had made with the force of his arrival into the forest. Flash fried dirt warmed his palms as he scaled the ten foot rise ahead of him. The temperature of the immediate forest had risen several degrees, enough that his leather hunting clothes were marginally uncomfortable.

At the lip of the crater he vaulted upwards, finding his balance at the cusp of the hole as he admired the burned trees and scorched grass several hundred meters in either direction.

This was perhaps not his greatest moment.

The guardian could not tell if he was impressed, or infuriated.

He was genuinely impressed that Ozpin had been able to get a leg up on him, and he was furious that the man was, for the moment, free of the risk of reprisal.

"That… wasn't very nice." Cassiel muttered with a frown as he unslung his longbow and tested the string, making sure that it had been unaffected by his arrival. Thankfully his shield protected his weapons and apparel from the threat of incineration during his miniature reentry.

The traveler's gifts were as varied as they were wondrous.

I've set a nav beacon on the ancient temple the headmaster mentioned. Your… deployment has put you in a somewhat disadvantageous start compared to your peers. The structure is nearly forty kilometers due south, southwest.

Ozpin really was a bastard, wasn't he?

Guardian, movement in the trees, eighty meters north!

Following Ghost's directions with his eyes, he watched as a small group of beowolves slowly emerged from within the shadows of the forest left unharmed from his impact. The pack, led by a particularly large and armored alpha, eyed him with hungry eyes.

He would not have been surprised to learn that they had been drawn by the horrific cacophony his crash had created. He would have been even less astounded to discover they had simply been following his negativity. Cynicism, in his life as a guardian, had been his coping mechanism, it was how he could come to terms with his existence.

Here on Remnant it served little more than to make him a particularly savory target, which was why he would imagine they pack of beasts were salivating as much as they were. He must have appeared quite the tempting meal.

He would need to dissuade them.

Cassiel sighed, drawing the full weight of his bow as he realized that the day was going to most assuredly be a long one. And yet… he could not recall the last time he had felt so driven. He would excel at the headmaster's test, if only out of spite.

Perhaps sensing his spike of anger, the alpha howled and the pack charged.


"I'll notify the bullhead pilot of Mister Aurelius' location." Glynda's tone was only slightly concerned as she pulled her scroll up to connect with the airship fueled and ready to react to any unforeseen problems that might arise during the initiation.

"No need Miss Goodwitch." Ozpin assured her as he took a carefully measured sip from his mug of coco. The man was looking entirely all too smug as he examined the camera feed. "Their services will not be necessary."

If she was marginally troubled before, she was blatantly furious now. "Not necessary…?" She hissed darkly. "You launched a student thirty kilometers off course! We hardly even have visual coverage that far into the wilderness. It was a miracle he landed anywhere we can even see him. I like to think it is a fair bit more than necessary!"

If troubled by the facts she pointed out, the headmaster showed no inclination of this, instead watching as the student in question retrieved the spent arrows from his encounter with the beowolves.

"I feel as if I must interject in favor of Glynda on this one old friend." The rather stout and heavily moustached professor beside them added somewhat concernedly. "The lad is a tad bit… misallocated at the moment."

"Thank you, Peter." Glynda sighed gratefully that at least someone nearby possess a remote form of intelligence.

"Of course that would have been no problem for myself, even back when I was a young lad. Why I recall a particular story that may be relev… is something the matter Glynda?" He interrupted one of his best stories in concern for the woman standing beside him and her fit of near apoplexy

As he attempted to ensure that she was not in the middle of a stroke, a tall reedy man with a head of shockingly green hair moved to stand by the headmaster.

"I feel as if I must ask, but is there something special about this one?" Of those present, Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck was perhaps the most observant of the faculty, despite his erratic behavior and worrying addiction to anything that possessed even a milligram of caffeine.

"Perhaps…" Ozpin mused cryptically.

"This, my friend, is a test of a different sort."


"Wow that was crazy! Did you see how we flew on that nevermore? It was all like cccaaawww! And you were like aaaaahhhhh and I was like YEAH friendship bonding!" The young girl with the red hood made sure to give her partner a dramatic play-by-play of their encounter as they reached Beacon's cliff, her arms writhing like a King Taijitu as she tried to recreate the action packed events of hours prior. They continued to follow the path until they soon arrived back at the assembly hall where the rest of the students had started to gather.

"Yes it was a most… memorable experience." The other girl agreed, a greenish tint overcoming her face as she remembered not enjoying nearly as much as Ruby had. She was in point of fact still trying to understand what had happened in the forest. Nothing she had learned had prepared her for teaming up with such an… unusual character.

"Clearly we have very different memories." The third remarked from her place in the back of the group. "The sooner I forget the better."

"Oh don't be such a flake Blake." Yang admonished her partner with a smile that only grew wider as the other girl groaned at the pun. "What? Don't be yangry."

"How much do you love your sister?"

Ruby turned to Blake and made a so-so gesture.

"RUBY!" The blonde terror cried out in shock. "You traitor!"

"YOU LET ME FALL!" The girl in the hood wailed as she turned her ire upon her sister. "I fell right next you." She harrumphed adorably, like a child that had been promised a treat, only to find out it did not exist. "And you didn't catch me."

Yang chuckled nervously. "Come on Rubes, I was a little busy with that deathstalker." Had she taken her eyes off it probably would have made a very unattractive hole in her chest. She had an image to maintain after all.

"You. Let. Me. Fall." The aura of cuteness around the girl receded as a dangerous gleam flashed across her silver eyes.

"It was an accident." Her older sister pleaded, her words unheeded against the unrelenting intensity of the stare.

"Mercy?" She whimpered.

Yet the eyes told her there would be none.

Those around the group dissipated, perhaps sensing the rise in murderous intent. Even Blake and Pyrrha had vanished, leaving the two sisters alone to deal with their problems. Yang looked for someone, anyone to save her, but upon seeing she had been abandoned by her newly acquired acquaintances, and everyone else in a forty meter radius, she folded.

"COOKIES!" She relented with a desperate yell, throwing her hands up in front of her face to block her vision of the fiery demon she called a sister. "I'll make a fresh batch of cookies. Just please don't give me that look!"

A switch was flipped.

"Okay!" Ruby squeaked, pirouetting with a happy giggle. "But they better be super deluxe double chocolate supreme, with extra sugar!"

Yang might have argued, knowing what would happen should Ruby ever gain possession of such confectionary power. But while world might suffer for the monster that would unleash, she at least, would not.

And Yang was a selfish girl.

"That was handled well."

"Yeah, and where were you when you're partner was turning into the next Grimm overlord?" Yang leveraged an accusing stare at Pyrrha, which while lacking in the unbeatable power of her younger sister, was enough to shake even the most stalwart of individuals.

Pyrrha was a quick witted girl.

"Well I was… the thing is… Oh look! It's Weiss and her team. I better go talk to them!" Cutting an excuse as finely honed as any blade, the Champion fighter of Mistral used her impressive agility to weave through the crowd.

"Oh no you don't, no one escapes The Yang that easily!" The fiery blonde forewarned as she chased after The Invincible Girl, who in that moment as she raced to escape the vicious noogy that would befall her should she be captured, did not feel quite so indestructible.

And yet, she still had a smile as she mercilessly pushed a smaller student out of the way. Her choice to transfer to Beacon seemed to have worked out for the better, even if she was under threat of mild inconvenience if the blonde got a hold of her.

Yes everything was turning out perfect; at least until her shoe caught on the leg of the student she had bulldozered.

"Greetings Pyrrha, it's a-" The soft spoken teenager she had met during initiation would never come to finish his sentence as a wildly spinning Mistral Champion smashed into him with the full force of her escape vector.

Both collapsed in a pile of bruises and low groaning.

"COOL, it's a pile party!" The girl that had been standing next him let out an uproarious and slightly unhinged chuckle as she leaped skywards, clearing an impressive ten feet with a single bound.

"Nora no…" Half way back to his feet, the pink eyed youth's calm voice only cracked slightly as he gazed up at the orange meteor screaming down upon him with a resigned sigh. That he showed a fatalistic acceptance of the impending collision spoke volumes of their relationship.

Not necessarily in a good way.

"PANCAKES!"

The unusual battle cry caused even Yang pause as she watched tragedy in motion, though her smug grin malformed into a beatific and sparkling chortle. Her revenge was second had, but no less sweet for it.

Three bodies now occupied the pile of miserable humanity between the two respective parties that had come together to watch it all unfold. And while Ruby and her new friends seemed more than delighted as the red hooded girl giggled and helped her partner from the heap of broken students, one amongst them was not.

"I… have no words." Weiss's opinion was carried on her face, the heiress having firmly placed a thumb and forefinger on the bridge of her nose.

"I happen to think it was pretty funny." Jaune interjected unhelpfully from beside his partner.

"Of course an… individual of your standing would find humor in this slapstick travesty." Weiss murmured with poorly contained irritation. "It was just my luck to be partnered with someone that did not even have their…" She paused, her retort slowly fading as she eyed the young blonde with a perplexed eye.

Jaune winced when she turned away, leaving the rest of her disparaging remark unspoken. He was grateful, and yet somewhat sad at the same time.

Yeah… their first meeting had not been his best moment. In a way he owed her his life, which only made it worse that she was a beautiful heiress to a massive multibillion lien company.

His famous Arc misfortune appeared to have come to him in full force lately.

"Wow that was a blast, wasn't it Renny?" The orange haired girl jumped to her feet, dragging her partner with her as she bounced erratically in place, as if suffering from a permanent sugar rush.

"A memorable experience." He agreed, sighing as he dusted his clothes and tried at least to retain his dignity amidst such a disaster.

"Yes." She mused thoughtfully, a pipe appearing in her hand after she reached into her jacket. "An experience like this should be commemorated. I know, it shall be dubbed hence forth as Pile day! We'll make it a Remnant wide holiday, a day where everyone converges in one giant pile." She sighed wistfully, as those around her took measures to stand apart. "That would be great."

"Yes I'm sure it would be a… great idea." Ruby assured the unstable orange haired youth as she scanned the assembly hall, jumping in place in an attempt to look over the crowd of taller figures. "Hey Yang, have you seen Cassiel anywhere? I can't see him anywhere."

He older sister stepped away from Pyrrha, totally not intending to pile driver the unsuspecting girl as she added her efforts in trying to find the curiously polite boy from before.

"Oh, you have met Cassiel?" Pyrrha perked up excitedly, turning to the pair of siblings with an unreadable gleam in her emerald irises. The Champion fighter had not forgotten the peculiarly well-mannered teen she had met in the locker room. She herself was intent upon seeing him again. And her interest was certainly not born of the fact he had been unable to recognize her at all.

Nope, not one bit.

"Yeah we know him." Yang crowed complacently, noticing the way the celebrity figure next to her seemed to liven up at the mention of his name. "We spent the night together in the ballroom." She added with a grin. "And let me tell ya, he's certainly not your everyday herc-"

The blonde spluttered as a paper airplane landed in her open mouth. Lilac eyes widened in shock as she suddenly found her tongue used as an impromptu landing strip.

"No, bad Yang." Ruby scolded, even as she hurriedly stuffed a ream of paper back into her book bag.

The quietest member among them finally made a noise, the dark haired anti-socialite chuckling softly at her partner's expense.

The blonde brawler ripped the paper from her mouth and looked ready to shove it in the now cackling hole of the girl next to, before her attention was expertly diverted by the one in imminent danger herself as she gestured towards the floating holo-screens spread across the chamber.

"The screens have been playing footage from the initiation since we entered the building. And there's only one student left unaccounted for. I imagine that is the boy you are speaking of."

Yang paused, crumpled missile falling from her uncurled fist as she realized they were the only ones holding a conversation in the entire auditorium. The rest of the student body had been quiet while they had their dispute, watching the floating displays with rapt attention.

"Oh…" She muttered softly in realization.


"Fututus et mori in igni!" The guardian snarled, slipping into the lowborn slang often tossed about in his days of roughhousing amongst the legion. He did not often relapse into Latin, and certainly not to curse and swear. He was, as a general rule, far more reserved than that. Such occasions were usually only as a result of overtly strenuous circumstances.

It just so happened that this was one of those times.

His last arrow snapped, the broadhead point deflecting off the plate overlaid breastbone of the alpha beowulf that howled and charged at him, its arms swinging wildly as it tried to remove his head from his shoulders. This was perhaps the third or fourth of its kind he had encountered since the start of this farce of an initiation. He wasn't sure which, he had killed so many Grimm that he had not really bothered to remember.

Cassiel ducked underneath its untrained swipes with ease, rolling to the side as it continued forwards heedless of his practiced agility. Grimm were unintelligent as a rule, and easily manipulated by the experienced. This was a trick he had used often, and it always worked.

He had a long time to become skilled at the occupation of Grimm slayer.

In the end they died like any other creature of the dark.

Painfully, and in agony.

The guardian jumped forwards, digging his fingers deep into the thick fur spanning the heavy hide across the monster's back. As expected, the beast instantly stood up straight, reaching its arms backwards to pry away the man currently riding its shoulders. Whereas an intelligent adversary might have had enough presence of mind to thrown themselves on their back and crush the individual jockeying on them, the alpha approached the situation with a fatal simplicity.

A howl had been rising from its throat, a bid to summon more of its pack to the fight, yet before the warbling call could reach high enough decibels to be heard across the forest, the Grimm suddenly found its airways constricted by the bowstring garroting its throat.

Cassiel leaned backwards, utilizing both his weight and the effects of gravity as he strangled the towering creature. And as a clawed paw smashed against his shoulder, the guardian delivered a deadly hammerfist to the back of its skull, a terse growl of fury erupting from his throat at the exertion.

Hot blood splashed across his snarling expression as its cranium violently exploded underneath his light augmented strength. Hands that had been empowered to tear through steel plate and crush shields ensured that a thick skull would be little challenge.

The Grimm dropped to its knees like a doll with its strings cut, and the man stepped off its corpse and slung his bow across his back, the weapon no longer viable in the situation he now faced.

Guardian we are only ten kilometers from the temple.

He sighed as he wiped the Grimm blood from his face, even as it evaporated into the air. Three hours and ten times as many kilometers through an emerald forest teeming with the creations of darkness.

He had killed more Grimm since the commencement of the initiation than he had in the last eighty years. And the man could feel the soreness of muscles he by rights should not be feeling given his predisposed condition.

If there was ever a guardian that could be called out of shape, he'd probably be it.

Cassiel drew his knife, studying the now pitted and warped steel of the blade that had been responsible for so many dead Grimm. And in that moment he knew he could not rely on such weapons forever, not if he was going to take a more proactive approach like the one Ozpin had offered him.

A snort of disdain passed through his lips as he tossed the knife to the dirt and once again followed the nav point laid out by his ghost. His fists would make for a better weapon than anything else he might scrounge up in this light forsaken forest.

He cracked his knuckles, anticipating the chance to return to the bare fisted brawling he had been so fond of back in his youth. While centuries in the past, his taste for more primal means of combat had not waned. He was ever still a fan of pankration, his favorite blood sport.

Not even the coliseums and their games had been able to elicit quite the same feeling of excitement as when he had fought another man for coin, the meaty thwack of fist against flesh, the roars of the crowd, and the smell of blood. It was thoughts like that drew a melancholic sigh from the guardian.

He would always be fond of recalling the days when he had been the pankration champion for his legion. They were simpler, less complicated times.

A boarbatusk emerged from a bush, the stout beast snorting a challenge as it scrapped the ground with a cloven hoof. It was foolish to think it could harm him, even disarmed as he was, but the man would be glad to humor it for however briefly it would remain alive.

Cassiel grinned, planting his feet firmly as it let loose a mighty squeal and bore down upon him in a berserker charge. And when it did impact against him, the battle did not turn out as the beast might have expected.

The full inertia of its assault was stunted as its curved horns, sharp enough to punch through the strongest of Remnant armors, slammed into the unyielding pressure of his open palms, and the Grimm nearly flipped end over end as it still propelled itself forwards, the plates of its face cracking as it shrieked in surprised pain.

The guardian did not give it long to realize its mistake before he lifted the boarbatusk over his head and slammed it into a nearby tree with enough force to snap the spire of wood in half with a sharp clap of noise. Whatever bones it had in its body were shattered as he utilized the immense strength of a titan to propel it through solid oak.

But he was not yet finished.

Cassiel wrenched his right arm, and with a sickening crunch of bone, he snapped the first of several inches from the tusk in his hand, finishing the beast with a powerful uppercut that lodged the shard of ivory deep into its chin and up through into its primitive brain.

The animal went limp in his arms and he let it fall to the forest floor.

It was with supreme effort of will that he controlled the climb of elation he felt rising in his chest as he looked down upon his defeated foe, having been moments away from releasing a cry of victory that would have echoed through the trees. This was not the legion… this wasn't the legion. He reminded himself as he took a step back and banished the memories of better times.

No.

This was not the legion.

This was a forest populated with untold numbers of mankind's enemies.

This was not Earth, nor Mars, or even Venus.

This was Remnant.

And he was not here by choice.

Guardian… please. Control yourself.

He nodded, more for Ghost than himself as he walked away, eager to put distance between himself and the beast that faded into the wind.

He no longer felt like smiling.

It had not been well known amongst the humans of Earth, but a guardian's ghost did more than guide them through their missions. Their ghosts were also to help keep them rooted in the present, a force to guide their minds as well as their lives. To live as long as they did was not without trials, it was often easy to slip into memories, to forget the present in favor of the past.

It was not a secret they liked to share.

Their protectors were more broken then they realized. To fight the darkness was to invite insanity.

The past was usually easier to bear.

Are you alright, Guardian?

A loaded question to be sure, one that asked far more than what was implied. Was he mission capable? Yes without a doubt, he was always ready to fight. He was a guardian. But was he psychologically sound? No, perhaps not.

But since when had that mattered? He mused in a chuff of amusement.

It's just another two kilometers now. Then we can get out of this place.

It was telling that Ghost was eager to finish as well, a sentiment of shared disagreement that reminded him of their more pleasant days, back when everything made sense and the world wasn't mad. Ghost did care about him, despite how he acted unfairly at times when his mood was at its darkest. The machine was as much a part of him as an arm or leg, perhaps even more vital than that. And he was happy at least to know that it knew he felt that way, because he was far too prideful to admit when he was wrong.

The guardian stopped.

Ghost went silent, nearly unnoticeable amidst the backdrop of his mind as he felt his muscles tense with anticipation, his body noticing far sooner than his mind.

The forest was silent.

He could feel it now. With his thoughts no longer distracting him with their torment he could sense the overbearing darkness, the atmosphere of despair. A true creature of the dark had entered the field, a beast of the likes he had not fought in nearly an age, of such strength and power that he could feel it from even this distance.

Guardian… Cassiel… we need to leave.

He did not respond, only listening as the creature approached, the reverberation of its lumbering gait echoing through his chest with the force of its presence. This was something actually worth his effort, this was something that might finally do what the rest could not.

Guardian… please.

Ghost's pleas went unanswered as Cassiel watched the titanic beast's arrival with rapt attention. Eighteen feet from the snout to tail tip, the Grimm monstrosity towered over the guardian, tufts of fur barely visible between the sea of deathly white panels that covered its hulking frame, the plates of bone thicker than tank armor. Claws as long as swords and thrice as deadly, gleamed in the beams of sunlight cutting through the forest's shadows. And a pair of yellow eyes, cold and calculating, regarded with disdain the man that dared to stand in defiance of its majesty.

Its lips curled into a dangerous, knowing smile as it stepped forwards, the weight of its foot pressing deep into the soft earth. Muscles as dense as iron rippled as the Ancient Grimm ponderously leaned its great bulk downwards, its eyes drawing level with the figure of light before it.

"Ave, bellator luminis."

The words, gruff and near unintelligible, yet spoken, however crudely, in the language of his birth, carried more curiosity than ill intent as vibrant yellow irises studied the guardian intensely.

And far away, in the halls of Beacon, the world spiraled into chaos.