Quartz was in the library, filling his mind with the words of a book of poetry. The author was someone he was very familiar with.

"Ah grandpa, you were gone too soon." He mused as he put one book away and started another. "Hmmm…Using a Nevermore as a metaphor for madness….intriguing."

"Hey kid!"

Quartz looked over his book to see the bullies at breakfast standing in front of him.

"…Yes?"

"What're you doing in here? The baby section is that way." The leader, Cardin, Quartz thought it was, pointed.

"Than why ae you here?" The boy asked

"…You talking to me, brat?" Cardin hissed, over the book. "You should know nobody talks to Cardin Winchester like tha…"

"…are you trying to intimidate me?" Quartz asked as he flipped a page, clearly not impressed. "Because you're failing miserably. That armor makes you look pathetic by the way."

He then returned to the book, only for it to be pulled out of his hand by a boy whose eyes were closed. The blue haired boy then skimmed the contents.

"Poetry?"

"What a loser."

"Better than an ignorant philistine like yourself." Quartz mused, his hand stretched. "Now hand that back over, it was getting to the best part."

Cardin's eyes then went to the blade at Quartz's side

"Hey kid. School rules say you can only have yuour weapons out during combat training."

"….do they?" Quartz said. "Well, I like to be prepared at all times. And by the way, you do realize that Grimm can smell armor, right?"

Evidently, CRDL was not aware of that.

"You might as well be wearing 'eat me!' shirts or blaring police alarm lights on your heads. How you haven't died yet is beyond me."

"Well look at the big boy, here!" Russel sneered. "Think you're better than us, don't ya?"

"No." Quartz assured them. "I know I'm better than you. From the way you carry yourselves, you have yet to actually overpower and kill a single Grimm. I killed one when I was eight."

Team CRDL's faces were shocked for a second before Cardin's arrogance kicked in

"Well then, you'd be able to prove it, eh junior?"

The younger boy looked at him as if he were an idiot.

"Right here, right now? In the library? While others are reading and trying to get work done?"

"What's the matter? Chicken?"

Letting out a sigh, Quartz turned to the wannabe bullies. He then put one finger to his lips and with his other hand, ushered a 'come get it.'

"Let's make this interesting." The bully added. "I win, and I get that blade…"

Quartz's eyes narrowed

"That blade means more to me than my life. You want it? You'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands."

The bell soon rang, signifying another class. With a deep sigh, Quartz took the pile of books to the desk

"Yeah that's right, walk away you baby!"

Team CRDL laughed as they made their way to class, but their victim played them no mind.

"I'm so sorry about that commotion. Could you check these out for me, please?" He then realized something. "I…don't have my student ID car…"

"Sweetie." The librarian smiled gently, shutting him off. She then scanned each of the books to 'repair' before handing them to the boy. "On the house. Enjoy and brng them back in a week."

Quartz smiled and quickly ran back to his room to drop off his reading material before class.

XX RWBY XXX

It was now combat training, a class everyone looked forward to.

"Did I miss anything?" Quartz asked as he joined his team at the front of the class, pulling out a scroll and getting ready to take notes.

"Nah." Kale mused. "Port just rambled on and on. How's the library?"

Quartz frowned slightly.

"It was fine until…"

"Well lookie here fellas, it's our pal the bookworm."

"…They showed up."

Team CRDL sneered at the new boy and his friends, who paid them little mind.

Glynda then came to the front.

"Today, were going to try something a little different. Isntead of one on one fights, we'll have a single team battle. Any volunteers?"

Nora raised her hand animatingly, as did Yang

"Come now….No one ELSE is going to volunteer?" She smiled playfully. "Well then, how about Team CRDL vs…..Team QORK?" Glynda suggested.

"Bout time!" Ondreji beamed, leaping from his seat and dashing to the center. "Come on, fellas! We ain't getting any younger, ya know!"

"Looks like it our lucky day boys!" Cardin smirked. "We get to teach the baby how the big boys play."

"Yeah, but whose the baby here?" Kale smirked. "And FYI, a lot of the best started out as late bloomers or stand-outs. Take Ruby over there."

"That shrimp?" Cardin smirked. "Please, we could take her and her team no prob. And Team JNPR? Their leader's an idiot! We're the bets here."

"…I didn't even mention Qwan, but…"

"BEAT HIS STUPID FACE, TEAM QORK!" Juane, Yang, Weiss and Ruby shouted together

"And its Juane, pronounced Jean!"

…

"Really?" Quartz asked. "Then why is there a 'u' in it?"

Juane just retreated deeper into his chair, Pyrra gently patting him on the shoulder.

"Anyways…" Glynda started. "Both teams ready?"

"I was born ready, teach!" Ondreji smirked.

"Let's get the blood pumping, shall we?" Kale licked his lips.

"Bring it." Cardin smirked back.

"And…begin!"

Rey found himself being attacked by Sky Lark, casually blocking his halberd with a bo-staff,

"Magician's Red." Rey calmly explained, pushing back on his foe and hitting him in the stomach and sending him wheeling back from a kick. "That armor hinders mobility. Not that it would do you much good."

Sky growled and leapt upwards in an attempt to take Rey out. The fox Faunus, a bored look on his face, simply pointed Magician's Red upwards and pressed a wrapped button. Instantly, a hail of fire dust came from it and Sky was soon on the ground, slightly burnt but still alive and unconscious.

"Too easy,"

Russel had rushed to Ondreji, trying to slash at him. The other boy kept leaping backwards, eventually reaching into his jacket and flinging two objects at his opponent. Russel blocked them away, only to be hit in the back of the neck and feel a bit of blood leave his arm. Ondreji then caught the two objects…boomerangs.

"Viridi Signum." Ondreji smirked. "Or in easier to understand words; Hierophant Green. These boomerangs not only hit their target and come right back at me, they double as knives and can fire a big bang if they hit right. Since this is sparring, I'll go easy on ya."

"That sounds incredibly inefficient." Weiss said aloud.

"Well nobody asked ya, rich girl." He smirked back, seemingly unaware that Russel was sneaking up behind him with the intent to strike.

CLANG!

One of an uninterested Ondreji's boomerangs had meet the daggers and causally kept them in place.

"What did I just say?"

Russel quickly leapt back and threw one of his daggers, which was blocked and tossed aside.

"You're an insult to long range fighters, mate! Where I came from, you'd been snuffed in yer bed f ya pulled a weak move like that!"

Russel, like anyone, became enraged at the process of being deemed weak and rushed to Ondreji like a madman, seemingly dedicated to ending his life.

"You ever wonder why I'm always covered in dirt?" Ondreji smirked as the dagger neared him….

Only to shatter on impact.

The class was shocked; Ondreji's face was now completely covered in rock, save for his eyes.

"That must be his semblance." Blake noted. "Some type of earth or dirt augmenting armor."

"That's right, kitten!" The boomerang user smirked, winking at the Faunus girl before turning his attention back to his opponent. "Now then…"

Russel, realizing his weapon was broken, began to back up, only to be grabbed by a rocky hand and pulled to see Ondreji's smirking, now rock free face.

"Lemme ask ya a question, mate." Ondreji smirked as the rock that had been on his face moved down to his free hand. "What looks like a loser, feels like a loser, smells like a coward…and ain't going to be getting up before breakie?"

"…..M-me?" Russel whimpered.

Ondreji smiled.

"Clever girl."

And with a single punch, Russel was eliminated.

"Well…that was a blooming disappointment." HE looked over o Porter. "Hey teach! Got any strong drinks here?"

Meanwhile, Kale bobbed and weaved between the attacks of Dove and his short-sword.

"Missed me, missed me!" Kale smirked, delighting in the irritated face of Dove, who grew more and more desperate to land a hit.

"Stay still!"

"Oh, he does talk!" Kale smirked. "I honestly thought you were mute! Oh well, this makes it all the more fun!"

"Kale, stop playing around." Rey called from over in his seat.

"Fine, mom." Kale smirked standing perfectly still and letting Dove swing like crazy. "A oney and a twoy and a you know how to doie!"

Kale's keft leg then shot up and disarmed dove before the right hit him square in the jaw. With bond legs in mid-air, Kale cruched them onto his opponents body and flipped, sending Dove skywards.

Kale tehn clicked his ankles together, and lines of barbed wire erupted from his boots. Stepping carefully and the leaping upwards, Kale sent the wire to grab Dove by the armor, the buckled his knees yto drag him towards him.

A head-butt sent Dove to the floor uncouious.

"Well…that was lame." Kale whined. "Hey Quartz, you almost done?"

The leader of Team QORK and Team CRDL had their weapons in an intense lock...at least that's what Cardin thought, Quartz just seemed bored.

He brought his free hand back and rammed it into Cardin's stomach, his foe almost dropping his mace and struggling to catch his breath.

"Come." Quartz growled. "Face a real Hunter…baby wannabe."

The leader of team CRDL, his honour insulted, raced towards his foe and readied to slam his weapon onto the boy's face.

He then realized that his foe was behind him and that the straps of his armor had been sliced off, as had the handle of his mace.

"Do not ever bother me or another student again." Quartz growled as he sat back down to countinue reading. "For scum like you, I'd be fine with staining my blade with human blood…not that you could even make me draw it."

"Wait…You're…" Cardinal asked.

"Yes, I took out your armor without drawing my blade." Quartz sighed, pulling out one of the books he'd checked out. "Doing that would imply either a level of respect or danger. If you're done stating the obvious, shut up, get back to your seat and let me countinue reading. Now, where was I….? Oh yes, 'take thy beak from off my bust.'"

The class was in shock for a few minutes before Glynda composed herself.

"Now…can anyone tell me what went wrong with that?"

XXX RWBY XXX

"So that's Quartz Poe, eh?"

"You've heard of him?" Weiss asked.

"A little." Blake explained. "I'm more familiar with the Poe family name. The Poe family is rather famous….Especially in Tarot."

"Tarot? Never heard of it." The sisters said

"It's the only still functioning state in Mantle." Weiss said. "Techically its part of Mistral."

"I think I've heard of them actually. They've worked with the Polendina weapon designing family a few times." Ruby remembered. "Whenever he gives an interview to Weapons Monthly, General Ironwood speaks pretty highly of them."

"For good reason too." Weiss added on. "My family's company often hired them to design factories and weapons for us."

"And how about Quartz?" Ruby asked, a little too much interest in her voice.

"Oooh…." Yang smirked. "Does my little sister have a crush?"

Ruby's face soon matched her name

"No! I mean…he seems nice, he took down Cardin without breaking sweat and he like scythes and he's kind of cu…WHY AM I TELLING YOU THIS?"

"Cause I'm your big sister; it's what I do!" The blonde smirked, before a realization hit her and she became a little downtrodden. "So I'm the only one out of the loop on who those guys were?"

"Not nessacarily, Yang." Weiss noted. "The Poe family all but vanished off the face of Remnant four or five years ago."

"As we heard through Kale at breakfast; Quartz is a first year like Ruby and already making quite a name for himself." Blake explained, missing Ruby's eyes sparkle in delight of someone like her. "A genius in Grimm hunting and apparently creator of a three mode weapon that has a lot of developers following his future. His teachers describe him as 'brilliant beyond his years,' but apparently he's also a real loner. No close friends."

"Aside from us."

The girls all looked around for the source of the new yet familar voice, but couldn't find it.

"Down here. On the ledge."

Yang looked over to see Kale, his feet apparently planted to the bottom side of the ledge.

"Could I get a little help, please?" He asked embarrassed. "My weapon doesn't allow for rapid firing and I can't seem to swing over as I usually could. Gonna have to check it later."

"Give me your hand." Yang motioned.

Kale's face turned red

"Oh…um…that….can't happen." He confessed. "I have no arms."

….

….

….

"What."

"…Just get me up, please?"

Weiss and Ruby helped him onto the roof.

"Purpura Eremitae." Kale explained. "Or, in layman's terms; Purple Hermit. Ankle mounted brace that shoots out garret wires for fighting and transport."

Ruby was already gawking over the weapon

"So, you're a puppeteer in battle?" Weiss asked.

"I can be." Kale shrugged. "Sorry, but until I know you better, I'm not telling you too much about me or my team's combat strategies."

"A sound reason." Blake noted.

"Cool fight, by the way." Yang pointed out before Ruby butted in

"The way you took out Dove…you were all!" She started making karate sounds, to which Kale chuckled

"She do that often?"

"Only when she's excited." Weiss sighed.

"So that's a yeah?"

"So not to sound rude but…" Yang asked.

"What's it like to live without arms?" Kale cut off with a smile on his face. "Honesty, I don't know how you answer that. Never gave it any thought. I wanted to climb a mountain? I climbed a mountain. I wanted to fight? I fought."

"Maybe we could spar sometime." Yang suggested. "Been meaning to work on my defense against a kicker."

Kale smiled.

"I think I'd like that."

"Not to intrude on this moment, but what are you doing here, Kale?" Weiss asked

"Honestly?" He asked. "Spying and trying to find out more about you gals."

"You could've simply asked." Blake noted

"Yeah…" Kale realized. "But…my little bro wants to catch up on schoolwork and…kind of forbid me from doing this."

"Why?" Weiss asked, Kale ignoring her and looking at Ruby.

"Honestly, you're getting it easy: My little bro is usually a little rough around the edges." Kale explained. "That…and I like you gals. Seem like a great team."

Team RWBY smiled at his words.

"Now, if you lovely ladies will excuse me…" Kale smiled as he readied Hermit Purple. "I'm going to explore via the bird's eye view."

He then shot a wire into one of the towers and let it pull him forwards. Before firing another into a tree and being pulled in that direction.

"That also seems incredibly counter-productive and boarderline useless." Weiss noted.

"After what he did in class?" Ruby pointed out.

"And besides." Yang pointed out. "Just shows how skilled he is."

Ruby looked at her sister

"Why Yang…do YOU have a crush?"

Yang just shrugged.

"Maybe. Maybe not."

XXX RWBY XXX

"Blake Belladona."

After dinner, the female Faunus turned to see her QORK equivalent following her, a tension in his form promising pain.

"Rey. What can I do for you?"

She was not preapared for the answer:

"Die."

…

"Excuse me?"

"You can die….former White Fang Operative."

Blake froze. How did he?

"Do you remember a small village in Tarot named Packadermia?" Rey asked, not giving her a chance to respond. "White Fang came to it and gave the Faunus a choice; either join them and kill all the humans present, or be killed along with them."

Blake had not actually been involved with the incident, but she'd heard of it; the commander of that incident had been fired and sent to be put down, but from the way Adam and the other high officials had been acting, they'd apparently gotten away after killing several soldiers.

"I was there." Rey snarled. "I watched as your comrades butchered my friends and family for refusing to go along with ther demented view of the world. If not for Quartz and Shamira I would've died too."

"Rey…" Blake tried to choose her words carefully. "I…I know this won't mean much, but I'm sor…"

"You don't get to be sorry." Rey growled, reaching behind his back and revealing his weapon.

"I don't know who did it." Blake responded as she slowly reached for Gambol Shroud careful not to alert Rey.

"Regardless…" Rey said. "Your very existence is an affront to all those who have suffered at their hands."

Magician's Red then fired a blast of Red Dust that hit Blake dead on…but she dissipated,

"So…a clone based Semblance." Rey mused, sensing Blake above him with her whip now ready.

Blake's whip threw the weapon away and she prepared to slice Rey unconscious, but the fox boy gave her not chance to enjoy this tiny victory as he rushed to her and delivered a brutal palm strike to her mid-riff.

Blake stopped herself from completely falling only to loose track of Rey long enough for him to grab his weapon. She quickly shifted Gambol Shroud into katana mode and raced to meet him, their weapons struggling against each other before she kicked him away.

"Stay back and stop fighting me!" She said. "I don't want to hurt you, Rey!"

"A shame." The Fox growled, placing his hands on the center of Magician's Red. "Because the only way you're getting out of this….is when one of us lies dead!"

The weapon then splintered into multiple parts. While she knew she shoud attack, Blake was shocked when Rey converted the staff into a crossbow, fully loaded with Dust enchanced arrows.

"Get ready to become extinct, White Fang scum."

He unleashed an arrow that Blake narrowly dodged, but fell onto the ground when she saw her legs were frozen and Rey was marching over.

"If it will make you feel better…" She sighed. "Take my life. But please…Leave Sun and Team RWBY alone."

Rey had a surprised look on his face, but straightened it.

"I have no plans to harm them unless they support White Fang. Say hello to your victims for me."

He then leveled the crossbow directly over her head….

"BLAKE!"

"REY!"

The fox Faunus paused to see the young leader of his team pressing the sheathe of his blade against his own weapon, an angry and hurt look in his eyes. Over his leader he could see the rest of team RWBY getting in formation to protect their teammate.

"Stand down, Rey." Quartz commanded.

"No, I will not." Rey growled through his teeth, putting all his strength in pushing the surprisingly strong 14 year old back. "She needs to be put down! For the good of all that White Fang have hurt, I will not rest until she…!"

"STAND DOWN!" Quartz snapped, his thumb noticeably reaching for one of Chariot's handles.

Rey saw this and with an angry growl, deactivated Magican and stood down.

"Now apologize to Team RWBY for your actions." Quartz commanded, surprising all in the area.

"What?" Rey snapped. "Never! Blake doesn't…"

"Apologize!"

The two boys and Team RWBY turned to see Glynda and Shamira walking over, angry looks on their faces.

"Girls, take Blake to your room." Glynda ordered.

"Quartz, you go back to Team QORK's room." Shamira followed in suit. "Rey, come with me."

Before departing, Rey shot Blake one more hate-filled look.

"You won't always have someone to protect you." He growled. "There will come a time when it'll be the perfect opportunity. And when that time comes, I suggest you watch your back, murderer…because I'll be ripping it apart."

XXX RWBY XXX

Shamira was a proud Huntress of near legendary fame. She had seen and done things most would never dream of even before becoming Headmistress of Platinum Academy and….the incident. It took a lot for her to lose her temper, but when she did….

"WHAT IN MONTY'S NAME WERE YOU THINKING?"

She was bloody terrifying.

"I-I.."

"Don't speak!" Shamira snapped, only to calm herself down. "Rey, you have every reason to hate White Fang for what they've done to you and others like you, I will not deny you that. But Blake is a student at Beacon and you tried to kill her!"

"She is scum!" Rey snapped back in defense. "All of White Fang needs to be stomped out, even those who are only assiocated with it! It's the only way to destroy them, I would've been doing the world a favor!"

"And after what you did, what does that make you? I heard her story from Oz and the rest of her team, Blake's trying to turn her life around and feels no more love for the organization than you do. If anything, maybe you should give a chance, she might help…!"

"She doesn't deserve the chance!"

SMACK!

….

Everything went quiet for a full two minutes.

Shamira's handprint stung the young Faunus's cheek

"Not once have I ever struck a student." Shamira sighed. "And I certainly never imagined it would be you, Rey. If anything, I should've struck Ondreji at least 50 times this year already. You're better than this. You, more than any student I've ever had. I'm…. I'm disappointed in you, Rey."

Rey hung his head in shame

"You're lucky Oz is letting this go. In any other circumstance, you'd be on your way to prison…and I hate to sound like Ondreji but…do you know what they do to Faunus in prison?"

"Please don't answer that and simply tell me my punishment."

"Very well; as punishment for your actions, teams RWBY and QORK are temporarily exchanging members. Blake will be part of team BORK. And to make sure you behave and keep your anger in check, Quartz will be taking her place in Team RWQY. If you step out of line, even once….he will be expelled along with you."

Rey was shocked and by this and spat out his water.

"But Headmistress, you know Quartz is…not the most sociable person…."

Shamira surprised him by smiling.

"Is that so?"

….

"Why am I filled with dread?"

Shamira simply smiled.

"Oh my Monty, Kale must be having a fit." Rey sighed.

XXX RWBY XXX

"EEEEEEEEEEE!" Kale squealed while jumping up and down. "Nieces and nephews, here I come! You hear that, mom and dad? Quartz has a girlfriend and not only is she adorable, she's a Huntress!"

Ondreji simply took a sip from a bottle he'd smuggled into his room.

"…That you care about that more than gettin' a babe of ya own says so much about ya, mate."

"SILENCE IGNORANT BOGAN! You will not ruin this for me!"

To be continued…

Read and Review, would ye kindly? And offer suggestions on where the story should go!