RWBY: The Redeemer
Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum.
Beta-read by Starlight's Poet
Chapter 3: Beacon Initiation (I)
Claude Rose ran on the streets of Vale Commercial District after his visit at Junior's Club for obtaining information. After some 'persuasions' from Claude's part, Junior Xiong had told him Roman's exploits for the past 20 years.
The final piece of information was that Roman actually just paid the club a visit to hire some of Junior's own subordinates, not long before Claude came. Looking at Roman's past history, as well as the number of armed men he hired, it was safe to conclude that Roman was planning another heist on some Dust Shop.
It was already rather late at night, and very few stores and shops remained operating at such hour. Few prodings later, there was actually one more Dust shop that was still operating, and his mind began to race when he learned the name of the shop as 'From Dust till Dawn', which was located at few blocks away towards the north east of Commercial District.
It was the very same place that Ruby was heading. Without another word, Claude dashed out from Junior's club and began heading towards the location, hoping that he would still make it in time.
In the midst of running, jumping, even scaling some buildings and other structures to shorten his distance via his Semblance; Claude's mind drifted to two people in particular; his old partner, and his niece. "Rome… Ruby…"
oXo
Roman Torchwick had a list in his head, which he named 'Top Shittiest Moments'. As the name suggested, the list contained the unfortunate things that had befallen Roman ever since he left his old academy. Dwelling into the entire list would take forever, but there were few recent moments that managed to get spots on the list for the past few months.
One of the latest 'shittiest moments' was, encountering a pyromaniac, femme fatale that could not handle rejection; then forced to join her and her cohorts in some dodgy campaign against Vale… And/or perhaps more, judging by the task he had been assigned for.
Here he was, robbing the only Dust Shop that was still operating at this late at night, ran by some poor old man; with some goons he hired (with pretty amount of lien) from a certain acquaintance beforehand. During the robbing phase, Roman simply kept his eyes on surroundings, especially the shop owner and his goons, making sure that his current heist would finish without any incident.
It was not like he had any pity towards the owner; sure he had no problems in stealing and robbing people, sure he had no qualms of hurting people if he got something in return, but the quota his new employer/business associate had set for him had become ridiculous.
Just when Roman thought that he could have a nice and simple night, he found another event that landed a spot on his Top Shittiest Moments.
Some Red Riding Hood was browsing at the books corner, and began kicking his goon's asses left and right, until she crashed out of the shop when dispatching another man - a huntress in training, and a skilled one to boot despite her young age.
The first thing that Roman registered in his mind was the huge mechanical scythe that the girl was sporting. As a matter of fact, however, some people playing hero to interfere with his job, was not enough for Roman to classify it as a shitty moment; what made him believed that his list just gained another one, was when the girl's hood fell off and revealed her face.
Roman thought for a second that he was looking at a ghost - black hair with red accents, fair skin and a pair of silver eyes. No, she looked way too young to be her; and Roman remembered that woman never used a scythe, especially one with that size. It was not that hard to put the pieces together, and when his mind arrived at a conclusion, Roman took a long drag from his tobacco and breathed out the smoke in exasperation - it was as if karma and his past were coming to haunt him.
Roman then reluctantly ordered the rest of his goons to gang up on the girl, and for some reason, he was not surprised when he found the goons were no match to the young girl in red before him. Looking at the last goon knocked out near his feet, he shook his head and sighed in resignation. "You were worth every cent... Truly, you were." Roman said mockingly to the unconscious goon.
Roman then turned his sight at the young girl - seriously, the resemblance was uncanny that it unnerved him. He looked back to the shop and saw the owner have called the police over the telephone.
He turned his gaze back at the girl in red - he probably could make a quick work on her, but did not see any point to; he could no longer pull out his heist without any extra hands. Not to mention, those silver eyes brought up some unpleasant memories; he would rather not dealing with her, at least not for any time soon.
With the next course of action planned in mind, Roman flashed a smug smirk as he addressed the girl. "Well… Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening. And as much as I'd love to stick around, I'm afraid this is where we part ways."
Let's see how she reacted to this; Roman decided to make a gamble as he pointed his cane weapon - Melodic Cudgel, at 'Red'. The base end of the cane raised an aiming reticle, and from the muzzle came a fiery projectile being fired at the girl.
The girl used her scythe to block the projectile, preventing her from taking a direct hit, but the impact of the ensuing explosion was still enough to knock her back few feet away. Using the explosion as his cover, Roman quickly made a run towards a nearby building across the street, the ladder on the wall, to be precise.
From what he had agreed with his benefactor, there was a contingency should things went awry; all he was told was to find a high ground for an extraction. Roman could only hope that his benefactor was aware that the operation had been busted. He ran towards the other edge of the roof, only to heard someone else arrived at the rooftop.
"Hey!"
Hearing the voice of a young girl shouting at him, it was easy for Roman to tell who it was. "Persistent…"
Roman growled as his mind drifted back to a pair of silver eyes.
Just like her mother.
Fortunately for Roman, his evac had also arrived - in a form of a bullhead hovering to the sky above him. Wasting no time to get on board, Roman turned to look at the Red Riding Hood; his cane could not fire the same round like earlier, thus he fished out a red crystal from his pocket.
"This won't kill her…. I think." Roman thought then he grinned at the girl. "...End of the line, Red!" he then tossed the red crystal - Fire Dust near the girl's feet, and fired another round from his Melodic Cudgel.
BOOM!
As soon as the bullet hit the Dust, an explosion occurred and engulfed the spot where the girl in red was standing on. However, when the smoke settled, Roman clicked his tongue as another player had arrived on the rooftop, protecting the girl in the process with some kind of energy shield.
"...The night is just getting better and better!" Roman spat out under his breath sarcastically, as he narrowed his eyes at the sight of Glynda Goodwitch.
With a flourish of her riding crop, Glynda sent some Dust rounds flying and exploding at the aircraft, the shock caused Roman to stumble on his feet inside the aircraft. Roman knew that he was outmatched, thus he turned to the cockpit and called at his 'associate' piloting the craft. "We got a huntress!"
The pilot - a woman in red dress stood up from her seat, leaving Roman to take control of the ship, to respond to Glynda's continuous assault.
The battle between two women ensued, as Roman was struggling to maintain altitude and trying to get the aircraft to fly away from the scene. Seeing a rain of ice from dark clouds, with one shard almost pierced his head; a massive javelin made out of debris via telekinetic Semblance, that almost pierced through the entire aircraft if not for Roman's quick reaction; and fire dancing around in the sky; made Roman silently chuckled - he kind of missed seeing the witch's power at work.
In the end, his female ally managed to create an opening for him to take off, finally able to leave the scene of the crime. On his way back to his base, Roman completely missed another person who just ran on the street below the bullhead.
When Claude arrived at the front of From Dust Till Dawn, he found a few police cars were surrounding the place. The officers were questioning the shop owner, arresting the men in suits who were collaborating with Roman, and investigating the area in search for leads.
However, Claude stopped searching when his eyes landed on Ruby who was being escorted by Glynda into one of the patrol cars. The young girl's expression was looking dejected, at least her hands were not in cuffs, while the latter's was as stern as ever.
"Ruby!" Claude called out as he approached, causing the two females to turn at him. When Claude's eyes met Glynda's, he nodded at her. "...Professor Goodwitch." he said with polite tone - it was part of his ruse, after all.
"Sterling?" Ruby did not expect to see her latest acquaintance. "...What are you doing here?"
"I saw several police cars ran past me and I decided to go have a look." Claude looked around and his burrows furrowed slightly. "...What happened here? And where's your sister?"
"Oh, I actually asked Yang to drop me off here… And some time after that, the store was being robbed..." Ruby replied, but she was interrupted by Glynda.
"This young lady decided to recklessly take matters into her own hands." Glynda interjected. "...She was lucky that I was happened to be around." she narrowed her eyes lightly at Ruby, who shrunk under the glare.
"I see…" Claude gazed at Ruby with small approval in his eyes. In honesty, he should have seen it coming, considering who her mother was. "...Is she in any sort of trouble?"
"In a sense, yes; but otherwise, she's fine." Glynda replied. "I'm… simply taking her for further questioning."
Claude narrowed his eyes slightly at Glynda, feeling that there was something else behind her words. "...Speaking of the case, what about the perpetrator of this... robbery?"
"Escaped, unfortunately. It appears that he has some allies to back him up." Glynda replied again, as she fixed her glasses. "Come to think of it, I believe you should come along as well, Mr. Cole. There might be something you'd like to learn."
Claude blinked at the summon, and he noticed that Ruby was giving him a questioning glance. Shrugging at her, Claude then nodded at the blonde lady. "...Alright, lead the way."
Thus, Claude, Ruby and Glynda hopped into the car and drove away into the night.
Claude was watching Ruby being roasted by Glynda inside a private room of Vale Police Department, from the neighbouring sound-proof room that was bordered by a wall and a two-way mirror.
As Claude was listening to the conversation inside the room next door through tapping device, the door to his own room was opened, revealing Ozpin with his signature cup of hot cocoa in hand. The older man nodded at Claude, who returned the gesture, and stood next to him, watching the 'lecturing'.
Few seconds later, Claude began to speak. "Glynda is still a hard-ass as ever." he said with small amusement. "...Not that I don't understand her point, though."
Ozpin raised his eyebrows slightly at Claude, somehow finding something behind what he said. More importantly, when Ozpin noticed Claude's eyes on the young girl in the room next door, he could not help but to let his own amusement being shown. "You only met young Ruby around yesterday, and you are already overprotective on her?"
Claude only glanced at Ozpin briefly before he scoffed. "Hardly. I'm actually already seeing this kind of thing coming from her." his eyes gained a slightly fond look at his niece.
Ozpin smiled knowingly and decided to move the subject along. He tapped on his scroll and showed its screen playing a video at Claude. "This is a footage from the road security camera around the crime-scene."
Claude looked at the screen to watch the recording of Ruby easily taking down a bunch of goons in suits. He hummed slightly while raising his eyebrows at the performance; that was impressive for a 15 year-old. "Well, damn… I guess Qrow does have a knack in teaching in combat school, after all." Claude commented.
"I believe the young lady's talent also played factor in her development, Mr. Rose." Ozpin put in his two cents. "...You of all people should know that."
Claude only huffed with a dry look at Ozpin. The headmaster then chuckled lightly before he walked towards the table in the room; the table was filled with some cookies and few drinks to accommodate staff and officers in late shifts.
Ozpin prepared a plate of cookies and a glass of milk, then he headed back towards the door with the treats on his hands. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have few things to discuss with your niece." he said before he finally left the room.
Claude then watched the conversation unfold as Ozpin joined the conversation with Ruby, showing various reactions at the interaction.
He could not help but chuckle at the sight of Ruby stuffing her face with cookies like a squirrel.
"Heh…. 'Dusty old crow'..." Claude also snorted and almost laughed when Ozpin was making remarks about Qrow.
Interesting and amusing words and banters were exchanged, until Claude's smile faded away when he saw Ozpin leaning in, asking Ruby if she knew who he was. However, Claude's eyes widened slightly when Ozpin offered Ruby an enrolment into Beacon Academy, and the girl accepted with enthusiast.
oXo
Ruby was finally released and allowed to go home. Ozpin and Glynda returned to the room where Claude was waiting for him - arms folded and his expression demanded no games.
"So…" Ozpin decided to approach the topic. "...Anything you'd like to say, Mr. Rose?"
Claude took a breath before speaking. "Okay, I don't know what you're playing at, but don't you think it's a bit too soon for her to attend Beacon?" he said while furrowing his eyebrows.
Glynda whispered to Ozpin, albeit her voice was still audible enough for everyone in the room to hear. "...I told you he won't be too thrilled about this."
Ignoring his right-hand woman's comment, Ozpin stood his ground as he took a sip from his mug. "We are running out of time, Claude; and we will need every capable hands when that day comes."
"...By recruiting a 15 year-old?" Claude immediately replied. "She's still too young to get involved in this!"
"And I told you we have no luxury to go at our own pace." Ozpin replied with heavier, yet calm tone. "The White Fang are becoming more radical in their campaign, the Fall Maiden's power had fallen into enemy's hand, Roman Torchwick might be affiliated with our very enemy as we speak... And all of that are probably just the tip of the iceberg."
Claude's expression went even sourer at the mentioning of his old partner.
At the sight of Claude's sombre mood, Ozpin's expression softened slightly. "I don't like involving children in this either, believe me. But your shared lineage with Ruby will beckon her to join the fight sooner or later. We might as well get her ready while we still have the momentum."
Claude closed his eyes in contemplation, mulling over Ozpin's argument. Few seconds later, Claude sighed as he opened his eyes. "We still have around few weeks before the initiation, right?"
"We do need to finalise Ms. Rose's paperwork." Glynda interjected.
Taking the words as the sign that they still had time, Claude then met his eyes with Ozpin's. "Okay, Oz. I'll go along with your plans…. But under one condition…. Or more, depending on how things go from here."
Ozpin then grew a small smile at Claude's proposition. "I thought you'd never ask, Mr. Rose."
It was on the very next day, where Claude Rose and Peter Port were standing on top of Beacon Cliff, overlooking Emerald Forest, a location which could be viewed as, 'Beacon Academy's giant backyard'; both of them were also equipped with their own combat-gears.
"Sir, are you sure about this?" Peter turned to his leader.
"Yep. We need to prepare the venue for the initiation, after all. Ozpin has given me the green light to do this quick operation." Claude said as he was inspecting the edge of his Shatter Storm, making sure that his weapon was in tip-top form, before he glanced at Peter. "...Rather, are you sure you want to join? Don't you and Barty have your own job and preparation to do for the new school term?"
In return, Peter only smiled behind his mustache. "Our work is mostly done, and the rest can wait. Both I and Barty are actually looking forward to work with you again, Claude." he said as he hefted his rifle-axe hybrid on his shoulder.
Claude stared at Peter for few seconds before he chuckled. "Yeah… Just like the old times, isn't it?" he then smiled. "...Thanks, pops."
Peter nodded at the gratitude and the two shared a quick fist-bump. Claude then sheathed his sword into his shield as he did one more stretch. "Well… We just need to wait for one more person, and we're good to go."
"One more person…? It's not Barty, I take? I remember you told him to stay behind." Peter asked.
"Oh, no. Barty will still be our rear support for this, I'm talking about Qrow; I just messaged him last night after I sealed the deal with Oz, so… I think he should've arrived… Anytime by now?"
"...What's up, you two."
"Sunnuva-!" A sudden voice made Claude jumped as the two huntsmen turned their heads to see Qrow Branwen standing before them. "Qrow! Sheesh, man, you scared the crap outta me!" Claude scolded as he took a quick breath to calm himself down. "...Where the hell did you come from?" he honestly could not sense any human presence at all, until Qrow letting himself known.
"I have my ways." Qrow only chuckled and gave a knowing smirk as he took a quick sip from his flask. "So, what are you calling me for again?"
With another breath Claude decided to focus on the matter and calmed down. "Basically, we are going on a hunt. Slaughter as many grimm in Emerald Forest as possible until sun down."
Qrow stared at Claude for a second before he rubbed the back of his head. "...Okay, not that I mind too much, but what's with the sudden occasion?"
"Did you get the word from Oz that your niece - both of your nieces are going to attend Beacon?" Claude asked first in return.
"...Uh-huh."
"Well, I basically made a deal with Ozpin regarding the initiation, and following the said deal, I'm going to make this big-ass initiation venue here…" Claude gestured at the forest below. "...To be as student-friendly as possible by the day of the test; hence the mission we are having now."
"Okay, but if there's no grimm, the initiation won't be much of a test, will it?" Qrow asked back. "...Zapper, are you trying to make the test easier for Ruby and Yang?"
"Oh, dear me, no." Claude replied while putting his hand on his chest playfully. "...It's kind of the opposite, actually. I just want to make sure that there will be no grimm interfering when I assess the girls."
"So you're participating in initiation, then? Okay, I think I'm catching your drift." Qrow asked, his eyes started to gain some understanding, then he looked around. "By the way, where's Barty?"
"Barty? He's not joining us here." Claude replied. "No offence to the guy, but we can't burn down the test venue, can we?"
Qrow then remembered Barty's choice of weapon and the fact that they were going into trees. "...Oh. Right." However, he suddenly remembered something else as he eyed Claude warily. "One more thing, are you sure you want me to tag along? You do know that my Semblance…"
"Alright, stop right there." Claude held his hand up, interrupting Qrow. "I honestly still don't know what your Semblance actually is, but I… don't really buy about what you call it."
Qrow blinked at Claude before he grew a small smile. "...Is it coming from you alone, or is it due to your baby sister's influence?"
"A lil' bit of both." Claude shrugged, then his eyes grew a slight far-away look. "...Although I'd like to believe that I'm leaning more towards the latter."
Few seconds later, Qrow sighed as his smile grew. "...Don't mind if I do, then."
"Glad to have you on board, buddy." Claude returned and the two shared a fist-bump as well. "...So, with that out of the way, anymore question?" Then, with a clap of his hands, Claude stared at both Qrow and Peter, and when there were no words coming from them, Claude continued. "Good! Now, as I was saying; me, Peter and Qrow will hunt down as many grimm as we can take in Emerald Forest until the sun is low. Barty will be our eyes and ears from the sky." Claude then fished out an ear-piece that was wirelessly connected to his scroll. "...Barty, do you copy? You know what to do?"
[Loud and clear, leader! The cameras on the surveillance drones in the air are working without problem as well. We are good to go.]
Claude then glanced again at Qrow and Peter, who just put on their communication ear-piece and nodded to him; then he slammed his right fist onto his left palm as he grinned at the forest. "Alright, boys! You know the drill; eyes and ears open, kick some ass, keep cool, and look completely dope while doing it! Let's go!"
[Alright, everyone! I detected movements of several hostiles around 1 mile to your north-west! Threat level B-rank! Happy hunting!]
With Barty's intel, Claude then ran and jumped off the cliff towards the mass of trees below, followed by exasperated-looking Peter and amused-looking Qrow.
oXo
Time flew by, after further discussion about Claude's terms and conditions with Ozpin and Glynda, finishing the last-minute paperworks of Ruby's enrolment to Beacon, as well as final preparations for the initiation; it was finally the day of the prospective first-year students arriving at Beacon.
Yawning as he walked through the corridor, Claude - clad in formal suit per Glynda's insistence, entered to the teacher's office of Beacon Academy for morning sortie.
"Good morning, y'all!"
Upon entering the room, he was greeted by Glynda, Barty, Peter, and what appeared to be an old woman in white coat, with greyish pink hair. The said old woman was drinking a cup of tea on her seat, and when her eyes met with Claude's silver orbs, she involuntarily gasped as she dropped her cup.
Glynda, Barty and Peter, who were minding their own business, turned their heads when they heard the sound of a cup clattering, but their expression softened in understanding, even Glynda dutifully cleaned up the mess that accidentally occurred.
Claude was also looking at the stunned old lady, his eyes blinked as he was not sure how to approach the old woman who was now walking towards him with disbelief look.
"Claude Rose…? Is that you?" the woman asked as soon as she was within arm's length.
At the voice, Claude blinked again at the wrinkled face until his eyes widened in realisation. "...Professor Paestil Peach?"
"Oh, dear…." the old woman - Professor Peach put her hand over her mouth while the other hand was clutching her chest; her eyes began to water. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! Yes, it's me! My word, Claude…. You're back!"
The older woman suddenly enveloped Claude into a hug, a gesture that the latter returned wholeheartedly. "Yeah, it's good to be back, Professor Peach." he smiled as he softly patted the old lady's back.
When the two broke off the hug, Claude asked. "So you are still teaching science at Beacon?"
"As well as biology, young man." Peach replied with surprising vigor despite her old age. "But… But what happened to you? You've been gone for over 20 years, yet you still look the same."
"Unfortunately…" Barty and Peter also had joined the conversation as soon as the question was raised. "...That is something that nobody has yet to figure out." the history teacher elaborated.
"I see…" Peach looked dejected for a second before her expression brightened up again. "...But we can think about that later. I'm more curious of what you are doing here."
The three members of CBPR chuckled in amusement at the old lady's demeanor. "Simply put, Ozpin offered me a teaching position here." the leader replied.
Peach offered a mock gasp while her face turned mortified with playful look remained in her eyes. "...Good lord! Has Ozpin gone mad?!What would the student become if Claude is to teach them?" she turned at Barty and Peter, who were doing their best to hold down their laughter.
Even Glynda was clearly amused, as she listened from the other corner of the room.
"Wow, I can definitely feel your faith in me, Professor Peach." Claude dryly retorted, before he sighed in defeat. "...But if it makes you feel better, I'm currently still a teacher in training. Oh, another thing; my name here is Sterling Cole. I hope you don't mind calling me that, at least in public."
"Noted." Peach smiled. "So, teacher in training, eh? That honestly did not do much in dissuading my fears, by the way."
"...Ouch." Claude gave a dry glare.
"But I think you'll do fine if given time." Peach laughed as she patted Claude's shoulder. "...So I'll be looking forward to work with you, Mr. Cole."
"Likewise." Claude finally smiled in return.
Few seconds later, Peach's eyes scrunched up when she took a closer look at Claude's state of dress. While he was clad in formal suit, he was not exactly a tidy one when it came to wearing appropriate dress-code. It was proven at the fact that Claude's tie was lose around his neck, with his shirt was not fully buttoned up either.
With a pout, Peach wordlessly reached out and fixed Claude's suit, buttoned up his shirt, and tightened the tie around his neck much to his chagrin. "Err… Peach…?" Claude asked with slightly strangled voice.
"You are going to set a good example to your prospective students, Mr. Cole; and your appearance will serve as a good start." Peach said with stern tone as she nodded at her handiwork. "...Now, don't you even think of loosening that tie. Because you bet that I and Glynda will see it through."
Feeling discomfort around his neck, Claude turned to see Glynda was giving him a smug smirk. Returning her smirk with a dry glare, Claude then turned to his teammates. "Um, Barty? Peter? Little help?"
"I'm sorry, Sterling. But I have to admit that Professor Peach has a point." Barty said as he fixed up his glasses while sporting an amused smile.
Claude gave a betrayed look at the historian before he turned hopefully at Peter, who only smiled knowingly.
"...You look dashing, Mr. Cole." those words alone was enough to tell Claude that the grimm studies teacher had no intention of siding with him.
"...Fucking traitors, both of you." Claude said while glaring at Barty and Peter, who simply grinned knowingly at their leader.
"Language, young man!" Peach immediately slapped on Claude's rear, eliciting a small yelp from the latter.
"Now, now..." However, before the things could have escalated further, Glynda approached to intervene with the group. "The rest of the staff and headmaster will arrive here soon enough. Just take it easy for now because we have a long day waiting ahead." then she turned sharply to glare at Claude. "...And please keep up with that look, Mr. Cole; at least until the end of opening ceremony."
Claude only groaned and grumbled into a random seat he picked, as the occupants of the room wrapped up the conversation.
oXo
Claude was now standing at the front courtyard of the Beacon Academy, overseeing students - old and new, as well as teachers, walking by; with tugging on his collar to give his neck some room every now and then.
To pass time and distract himself, Claude observed and took in as many information he could get from the students. He had to admit, the technology had truly advanced for the past 20 years that he could not really tell what sorts of weapons and gadgets the students were bringing by one glance alone.
He also saw some of the more… 'interesting' fellows. He noted there was quite a unique pair - a boy and a girl, latter was talking about almost anything like a machine gun, while the former simply listened without giving much reaction, all cool and collected 24/7.
There was also a young woman with vibrant red hair tied up in ponytail, her outfit was pretty much a set of light armour in bronze and light-brown colour. Claude recalled seeing her face in news during his past research, but he did not really look into it.
Then, among the students, Claude's eyes finally spotted a couple of familiar faces - Yang and Ruby. From the looks alone, Claude could tell that the sight of Beacon Academy alone worked wonders on them.
Then, the younger sister, Ruby's eyes suddenly sparkled at the sights of gadgets and weapons of other students around. Claude could not really make out the words she said from where he stood, but the sight of the young girl swooning over weapons brought back past memories.
Oh….! Look, look! That guy has a great sword! And that girl over there has a gun attached on her spear!
The image of Ruby was overlapped by the image of a similar girl in white hooded cloak getting excited and fired up over weapons, until a hand grabbed her hood to keep her in place, much to her disappointment.
"Easy there, little sister… They're just weapons."
Claude returned to reality and he found himself already walking to close the distance between him and the sisters; just when the older one - Yang said those words.
"Just weapons?" Ruby argued. "...They're extension of ourselves, they are part of us! Oh, they're so cool…" she ended with a giddy tone.
"Well, why can't you swoon over your own weapon, then?" Yang retorted. "...Aren't you happy with it?"
"Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose!" Ruby said in return, brandishing her beloved mechanical scythe to show her point. "...I just really like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people, but better."
"Ruby…" Yang sighed a little at her younger sister's attitude, but she then playfully pulled Ruby's hood over her face. "Come on, you need to try to make some friends of your own. Give it a try, will ya?"
"But… Why would I need friends when I have you?" Ruby pulled her hood off as she asked her sister with innocent tone.
"Well…." giving a quick, awkward look around, Yang was suddenly surrounded by a group of students. "Actually, my friends are here, gotta go catch up, 'kay? See ya, bye!" she and the group immediately dashed away, leaving Ruby spinning behind.
On that note - in a hurry, Yang had completely missed Claude as she marched past him with the rest of the students.
"Yang, wait! Where are you going!?" Ruby shouted with her vision running around. "Are we supposed to go to our dorms!? Where are the dorms?! Do we even have dorms!?" Once she stopped spinning, she wobbled in her steps as her head was overwhelmed with dizziness. "I don't know what I'm doing…" she mumbled as she stumbled back towards a luggage cart behind.
However, before she could have fallen, a hand shot out to grab hers, preventing her to lose balance. When Ruby's vision returned, she blinked the dizziness away to see a pair of silver eyes staring at her. "...Sterling!" she greeted upon recognising her saviour.
"We meet again, Ruby." Claude smiled and he let go of Ruby's hand. "...So I take your sister just ditched you?"
Ruby pouted cutely as she remembered what Yang had done to her. "Yes, and I can't believe her! Make some friends of my own, she said…"
Claude only chuckled, and he took a breath before speaking to Ruby. "If anything…. Your sister got a point."
Ruby then gave a confused, if not slightly betrayed, look at Claude.
"I'm not saying it's right for her to ditch you here, but she's right about you getting to know new people." Claude explained. "Huntsmen job is not just about fighting and killing monsters and bad guys, Ruby. It's to understand the world around you as well, and that includes people."
"But I'm no good in dealing with strangers, it's just… awkward." Ruby reasoned. "...Not to mention I'm at least two years younger than everyone here." her expression became crestfallen.
"Is that so?" Claude quirked an eyebrow. "I think you're doing fine when we first met."
"Well, it's because Yang and dad were there to back me up, and…" Ruby gave a small smile. "...And you seem nice, and you're good with weapons! So I'd say you're pretty cool in my book."
"Thank you." Claude smiled at the compliment. "...But let's see if you can still see me as 'cool in your book' once the school starts." he grinned.
There was a hint of fierceness in Claude's expression when he said the last line, and Ruby began to question if the man before her was actually 'cool'.
However, her musing was interrupted at a foreign female voice. "Would you please move? You two are blocking the way."
Both silver eyes blinked and turned to see a pale-skinned young girl with pale blue eyes and long white hair pulled back into an off-center bun tail on the right side, and pinned with an icicle shaped tiara. She also wore a thigh-length strapless dress with a faint color gradation from white to pale blue at the hem. A small piece of black lace sat in the front of her neckline and the hem of the dress was scalloped and stitched to resemble snowflakes, with layers of white tulle under the skirt. Over this she wore a bell sleeved bolero with the same color gradation as her dress from shoulder to wrist, lined in red and with a ruffled collar. On the back of the bolero was a crest that resembled a snowflake.
Claude stared at the princessy-looking girl for a second, who was standing rather impatiently, and his eyes trailed off to the luggage cart behind Ruby. Putting the two and two together, he knew what the new girl was insinuating. "Oh, right. Sorry about that."
Claude, followed by Ruby, stepped out of the way to allow the white-haired girl to strode towards few suitcases on the cart. While she was looking over the contents, her blue eyes glanced at Ruby. "...Aren't you a little too young to be attending Beacon?" she suddenly asked with somewhat accusing tone.
Like a deer caught in a headlights, Ruby tensed up as she immediately went panic at the question. "Well, I…"
However, before Ruby could have said what she wanted to say, the girl began ranting in haughty tone. "You should know that this isn't your ordinary combat school. There's no practice or spars, we're here to fight monsters! So-!"
"Alright, I believe that would be enough."
The girl's ranting stopped when she felt a hand was placed on her shoulder. She turned around to lightly glare at Claude, clearly showing that she did not appreciate the interruption.
"Look, princess. If you have time to tell other people off, you definitely have enough time to put your luggage and go to the amphitheater. The opening ceremony will start soon enough." To be honest, Claude did not really like the way the girl behaved, she was acting as if she knew everything - he had encountered this kind of girl, and those types were usually the ones to bite the dust early when they were sent out to the field.
"How dare you!" the girl lashed out, brushing Claude's hand off her. "Do you even know who you're talking to?!"
Claude narrowed his eyes and was about to retort, yet another new voice joined in. "...Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."
The trio turned to see a girl dressed in black and white - she had a fair skin and a pair of amber eyes with long, black hair tied with a ribbon with big bow on top of her head. She wore a black buttoned vest with coattails and a single silver button on the front. Underneath this was a white, sleeveless, high necked, crop undershirt and white shorts with a zipper on the front of each leg, emblazoned with a logo of oriental style zipper manufacturer. She was also wearing black low-heeled boots and full stockings with a color gradation of black to purple at her ankles.
The said girl in black was walking while giving a nonchalant glance at the girl in white - Weiss, whom seemed to have a mood improvement ever so slightly,. "Thank you! At least there is some recognition." she smiled smugly.
"...The same company that is infamous for its controversial labour forces and questionable business partners."
And with one last remark from the girl in black, Weiss' mood dropped down. "Wha-! How dare-! The nerve of… Ugh!" she was seething - angry enough that she was lost for words. She then turned her anger at the man who talked back to her earlier. "...Who are you, anyway!?"
Claude sighed, and he revealed his staff/name-tag from inside his suit jacket. "Your teacher, should you make it out of the initiation." He gave a small, smug smile when he saw Weiss' wide eyes. "...Sterling Cole, at your service. And as I told you before, if you have time to vent and tell people off, you definitely have time to join your peers at amphitheater."
Weiss growled as her face reddened in anger and embarrassment, but thankfully, she knew better than picking a fight with a teacher on the first day. Thus she huffed out and angrily stomped away, leaving her own staff to carry her luggage.
Seeing the heiress got further away, Claude sighed. "...Well, that could have gone better."
Ruby chuckled as she also breathed out in relief. "Yeah, and it's only the first day…" she then recalled there was another girl who joined the talk, she turned around only to find the girl in black had also walked away.
Unknown to Ruby, Claude was eyeing at the retreating form of the said girl, and he could have sworn that the black bow on top of her head just twitched. However, he chose to pass it off as the breeze playing tricks.
Seeing Ruby's dejected expression, Claude placed his hand softly on her shoulder, receiving a look. "You know, it might be too late for me to say this, but… Welcome to Beacon."
Ruby's face cheered up slightly, and suddenly another voice was heard yet again. "Um, excuse me, sir…"
Claude and Ruby turned to see a tall teenage boy with dark-blue eyes that are emphasized by his short blond hair messily layered on his head with the right side of his hair nearing his right eye and the left side swept back. He is quite toned, having strong muscles in his arms, shoulders and upper chest. He wears a white diamond-shaped chestplate cut off above his lower abdomen and white spaulders with rerebraces set under them.
"Yes, can I help you?" Claude asked when he found that the young man was addressing him. On that note, for some reason, Claude found his face familiar.
"Yeah, I kind of don't know my way around here…. I heard you said about amphitheatre, where is it again?"
Claude then checked the time on his scroll, and he smiled. "Well, lucky you. I'm about to head there myself. Come on you two, follow me." he gestured both Ruby and the man and walked off.
As the two students followed him, Ruby was the first to start another conversation. "Say… Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?" she said to the young boy, whom groaned in return.
"Okay, look; let me tell you first that motion-sickness is a lot more common than people let on."
Ruby then held her hands defensively while giving apologetic smile. "Okay, I'm sorry. But still, you were very impressionable with that motion-sickness of yours."
"Well, I-... You know what, nevermind…" the boy decided to drop the topic of his motion-sickness altogether. "...Anyway, my name is Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue - ladies love it." he introduced himself with confident tone.
"Do they…?" Ruby said with skeptic tone. "...I'm Ruby Rose, by the way. Nice to meet you." the two then shared a handshake.
Ruby and Jaune then found Claude slowed down his walk so he was now between them. His eyes were honing on the boy. For some reason, the way Jaune introduced himself to his niece, his tone sounded… somehow flirty, and Claude did not like that.
Not to mention the surname – Arc; now Claude knew why he felt he had seen Jaune's face somewhere.
In any case, Claude decided to ignore that one and spoke to the boy. "Sterling Cole, at your service, and welcome to Beacon." he offered his own hand and Jaune shook it. "So… you are from that Arc family?"
"You know about it?" Jaune's eyes gained a spark of interest.
"Can't say I don't." Claude replied with a shrug. "...Especially when you have a history nerd for a friend." his mind was having an image of a certain history teacher. "Another thing, actually; while you're not wrong about the motion-sickness, you'd better do something about it. Because once you are a huntsman, there will be a lot of travelling in airships. Can't have you to go sick when you're about to fight a bunch of grimm and monsters, can we?"
"Heheh… Yeah, I'll figure something out." Jaune laughed nervously while scratching the back of his head.
"Hey, what's this about Arc?" Ruby caught up with curiosity.
"Simply put, vomit boy's ancestors were heroes, way back during the great war." Claude jerked his thumb at Jaune, who was baffled at his new nickname, but decided to keep quiet since he was dealing with a teacher.
"Oh…." Ruby's eyes were glittering at Jaune. "That's so cool! Are your parents huntsmen and huntresses!?"
"My father was, sort of, as far as I know. My mother… I think? While I did hear a lot of stories about my dad, I didn't hear a lot about my mom… But I'm pretty sure she was also a huntress, although she has chosen to retire." Jaune ended with a shrug. "As my sisters…. They vary."
"Oh…." Ruby muttered in comprehension. "Well, my families are huntsmen too. My father and uncle are huntsmen teaching at my previous school, my older sister is studying to be a huntress here, and my mom…" Ruby's eyes dimmed slightly. "...Was a huntress as well!" she pushed her smile through, refusing to ruin the good mood.
Jaune blinked at the pause, and nervously replied. "'Was'...? So she retired as well?"
The seemingly innocent question from the blonde boy only made Ruby's expression went bitter, and before any words could have spoken, Claude placed his hand on Jaune, whom turn to see the older teen shook his head without a word.
Thankfully, Jaune blinked and he immediately got the cue. "Um… Sorry, forget that I asked." he said while looking downcast.
"...It's okay." Ruby quickly put up a smile, appreciating Jaune's sentiment. Then, to keep the mood bright, she decided just to change the subject. "So… I got this thing." she brandished her Crescent Rose - the blade dug into the cemented pathway.
"Whoa! Is that - is that a scythe?! It's huge!"
Jaune was surprised, as well as amazed at the sheer size of the scythe; while Claude giggled in amusement. It was natural for Ruby to show off her weapon to him during their talk on the previous night, since he brought up the topic himself, but now? It was just out of the blue.
"Ruby, if showing off your weapon is your way of making first impression, we really need to talk about your social skills."
"My social life is work in progress and already good enough, thank you very much." Ruby pouted at Claude before she smiled at Jaune's reaction. "...And yes, it's a scythe, as well as customizable high-impact sniper rifle!"
At the description, Jaune only gave a confused look. "...A what?"
"...It's also a gun." Claude dutifully provided, and Ruby cocked her rifle to emphasize the point.
"...Oh, okay! That's cool!" Jaune responded with an awkward grin.
Before the situation could have gone more awkward itself, Ruby pressed on with curiosity in her eyes. "So…. What do you have?"
Jaune then realised that it was kind of his turn to show his card. Quickly looking over himself, then he brandished his sword out of its sheath. "Uh, well, I got this sword!"
"Oooh….!" Ruby and Claude observed the blade with keen eyes. While the former did not bother to hide her reaction, the latter did not say anything as he simply stared at the weapon with concealed nostalgia in his silver eyes. Additionally, he was also (still) impressed; the blade was well-smithed and refined, and the looks alone was enough to tell that the blade had seen countless battlefield and survived until this day.
Twenty years had past and Crocea Mors still looks the same as ever.
Satisfied at the girl's reaction, Jaune smiled proudly and he held up the scabbard, which extended and transformed into a shield. "Yeah, and I got this shield too!"
Claude actually hummed at the sight - a sword and shield, the combination was similar to his Shatter Storm. "So…. What do they do?" he asked out of curiosity.
Jaune found himself fumbling, knowing that his weapon was nothing as fancy as Ruby's scythe. "Well… The shield shrinks into a scabbard, so if I got tired carrying it around, I can just… put it away." he said while demonstrating its 'features'.
Ruby quirked her eyebrows skeptically. "But… wouldn't it weigh the same?"
"...Yeah, it does." Jaune said dejectedly.
"Hey, don't be so down." Claude interjected, receiving looks from the kids. "...While it may weigh the same, the size alone allows you to carry it easier. Not to mention, smaller size also allows easier and more flexible storage." he smiled knowingly at Ruby. "...Remember my Shatter Storm? I wish my partner had a similar feature as Jauney-boy got here. The weapon's rather as heavy as it looks."
"Oh…" Ruby gained looks of comprehension on her face, after contemplating 'Sterling's' argument. "...I guess you got a point there."
Jaune was more intrigued about Claude's weapon. "...So you are using a sword and shield too?"
Claude nodded with somewhat smug smile, before Ruby interjected. "Well, Sterling's weapon is kind of bigger and heavier than yours, judging from its materials. The weapon seems to have special features as well, but he didn't want to show me when I asked…" Ruby then pouted lightly again at Claude. "...Stingy."
The man himself only shrugged while his smug smile remained, then Ruby huffed and she kept her conversation with Jaune. As the three were approaching their destination, Claude narrowed his eyes at the young teens, particularly at Jaune. His awkward behaviour aside, the way the young boy moved, and carried himself in general, they felt off.
To put it simply, while Jaune was physically (barely) fit, Claude could not help but feel that Jaune did not have this air… that even Ruby had - the air that belonged to a fighter, someone who at least had a fair share of combat, training or not. In other words, in Claude's eyes, Jaune looked more like a civilian who happened to carry a weapon.
However, the most defining trait was their aura. If Claude focused a bit more, he could see a faint red glow radiating from Ruby's frame, it was the sign that her body was coated in aura - manifestation of one's soul, a life energy that helped not just huntsman, but any other warrior to combat the Creatures of Grimm aside from using Dust.
In case of Jaune, however, his body was not emitting even a drop of aura, which meant his energy had yet to be unlocked from his soul.
Strange, every huntsman in training should have had their aura unlocked prior enrolling into any huntsman academy. As far as Claude knew, there were two ways of unlocking one's aura. One was via proper training since early days; pushing one's physical body to its limits through sheer discipline could naturally unlock the aura.
The second method was by the help of those who had the knowledge and experience in unlocking aura via a quick incantation; the words chanted could be considered as prayer for one's aura to manifest its energy. While the body still required training, the process was not as strenuous as the first method as long as there was a veteran present to unlock your aura afterwards.
This brought back the case of Jaune Arc - his aura had yet to be unlocked. Did his previous combat school not unlock his aura? Did his father not unlock his aura? Every combat school would always unlock their students' aura at least by the end of the first semester of the first year, and Claude did not believe that Gilles Arc would be irresponsible enough to let his son to attend Beacon without his aura unlocked. What school did Jaune attend before Beacon? Did Jaune attend any combat school at all in the first place?
Then again, recommendation and qualification by a primary combat school was only one of the more 'official' ways to enrol into Beacon. While unconventional, it was still possible to attend Beacon without graduating from any combat school, as long as you had enough skills to support the claims in your transcript. Claude was not foreign to the concept of someone fighting grimm without aura, but such case was unlikely when it came to Jaune.
Something about Jaune Arc smelled fishy, Claude made a mental note to look into his records later.
The trio finally arrived at amphitheatre, where students had already picked spots for themselves before the stage. "Well, here you are. Just pick a spot and wait until the headmaster makes his appearance. I gotta go join the other teachers." Claude addressed Ruby and Jaune before he walked away with a salute.
"Got it! Bye, Sterling!" Ruby waved at the older guy.
"Thanks for the help!" Jaune replied as well.
Claude gave one last smile before he finally left the students to their own devices and headed towards the corner of the hall, where Barty, Peter, Peach and other teachers were standing together.
"Welcome back, Mr. Cole." Peter was the first to greet him, not forgetting to keep up the ruse when they were in public.
"Yeah, I'm back. How long do we have until Ozpin got up to the stage?" Claude took a spot next to Barty.
"You actually just arrived in time, Mr. Cole. Headmaster Ozpin will start his speech in few minutes." Barty fixed his glasses. "...By the way, what do you think of the batch of students you saw outside?"
Claude hummed for few seconds before replying. "Well… there are several that caught my attention."
"I see…" Barty nodded, even Peter also glanced in interest. "...Caught your attention in a good way, or bad way?"
"...A little bit of both." Claude said with a knowing smile. Soon, everyone ceased the talking as soon as they saw Ozpin standing on the stage, with Glynda Goodwitch dutifully standing behind him.
Once the headmaster confirmed that everyone was paying attention to him, he began to talk to his microphone. " I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction." At this point of speech, the students began to whisper among themselves in confusion. "...You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."
And with that line, Ozpin finished his speech and stepped away from the microphone, with Glynda taking the reins. "All of you will gather and rest in the ballroom tonight, please be ready for the initiation tomorrow. You are dismissed."
When everyone in the hall began to fill out the room, Claude chuckled as he walked with his old teammate. "Short, cryptic, and mysterious…. Classic Ozpin."
"I can't disagree to that." Peter put his two-cents, with Barty nodded in agreement.
"Say… Do you think I can get access to the students' records? There's something I'd like to look into." Claude then asked.
"I'm afraid you have to talk to Professor Goodwitch or Ozpin for that matter, but… as long as you don't have any questionable motives, I'm sure they will give you the permission." Peter replied.
"Questionable motives? Please, pops. Who do you think you take me for?" Claude snorted, only to receive deadpanned looks from both Peter and Barty, whom paused on their tracks.
In return, Claude only gave his own exasperated look. "Oh, come on, guys… I can't be that bad!"
Barty and Peter exchanged glances for a second until they relaxed. "I guess he has a point, Peter." the former quipped.
"Thank you!" Claude said with great relief at the history teacher.
Peter sighed eventually. "Just… be careful with the records, the rules of privacy stated that they're supposed to be confidential."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be extra careful." Claude rolled his eyes and waved at them. "...Just go and finish your paperwork, you pricks. I'll catch you guys later."
Seeing their leader walked off to do his own thing, Barty and Peter finally giggled to themselves. "...It's really good to have him back, isn't it, Barty?"
"Yes it is, pops. Yes, it is…"
It was late at night, and the new students were preparing their sleeping arrangements before turning in for the night. Ruby and Yang were all clad in their sleep-wears, which basically consisted of a tank-top and pair of pants - more like long sweatpants for Ruby and shorts for Yang. The former was writing something in her sleeping bag, while the latter was lazily lying on her own sleeping bag, eyeing and purring at the sight of several topless male students, until she decided to divert her attention from Jaune wearing a childish onesie.
"What's that?" Yang asked when her eyes looked at the sight of notes Ruby was writing on.
"A letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised all of them that I will give them updates about stuff happening at Beacon."
"Aw, that's so cute!" Yang swooned at her little sister, only to receive a pillow to her face.
"Shut up!" Ruby said in embarrassment. "I didn't get to take my friends here to Beacon. It's weird not to know anyone here… Actually, I did know someone; from Patch, at least." she blinked after a pause.
That got Yang's curiosity. "...Really? Who is it?"
"It' Sterling. He quickly came to my aid as soon as you ditched me." Ruby replied while smiling at the memory.
"Wait, you actually met Sterling? He's really teaching at Beacon?"
"Yes, right after you ditched me, and he's a teacher in training, remember? But…" Ruby suddenly looking dejected again. "Then again, he's a teacher, so I guess he doesn't really count as my friend…"
"What are you saying? Of course he counts as a friend!" Yang argued back. "Think about it! Once Sterling is a real teacher, and you stay friends with him, who knows what kind of favour you can get from him! You can ask him extra credits, even answer keys to the test!"
"Yang, I'm not cheating my way to graduate!" Ruby shot back with indignant tone.
"Okay, okay, I'm just kidding, anyway…" Yang then glanced around. "Going back about making friends, what about Jaune? He's…. Nice! There you go, Sterling and Jaune. Two friends in one day! All you need to do is meet more new people!"
"I guess….?" Ruby conceded, yet still unsure about Yang's words. Then, the sisters noticed someone at the corner of the room, lighting up few candles at a nearby stand to provide light for her reading.
"That girl…" Ruby blinked as she recognised the girl with black hair.
"You know her?" Yang asked as she did not know about the girl in question.
"Well, when I was with Sterling, there's this one girl…" Thus Ruby re-telling her encounter with Weiss Schnee, and the appearance of the girl in black, to her elder sister.
"...Huh, okay." Yang nodded before her eyes lit up. "Then now's your chance!"
"Huh!? Wait, what are you doing!?"
Ruby was suddenly pulled up by Yang, and was forced to follow as the sisters approached the girl who was reading a book.
"Hello~!"
The night went on, as the sisters ended up in an awkward conversation with a girl known as Blake Belladonna, and the re-appearance of Weiss Schnee - four girls that would make an unlikely team.
oXo
Meanwhile, Claude was relaxing on the bed of his own room, holding a tablet with several records of the students that caught his interest - courtesy of Ozpin and Glynda.
Claude went to have a look at Jaune Arc's records first and foremost; and upon a single look, he immediately could tell that the entire transcript was fabricated. What was written did not suit what Claude had observed from the young boy; not to mention the dates and events recorded were out of place. Then again, Claude knew that Ozpin was not a fool who would be tricked by simple fake papers; there was a reason why the headmaster of Beacon Academy would allow Jaune Arc to attend the initiation.
Looking back at the history of Arc family, perhaps Jaune was the type who would bloom on battlefield, or other desperate situations? Besides, if he looked from another angle, Claude had to admit that Jaune possessed enough guts to blatantly cheat his way to Beacon. While he thought that he might be some kind of bully, Claude wholeheartedly would love to see how Jaune would fare in one of the most prestigious huntsman academy on Remnant. This might be fun.
Looking up at the ceiling from the records before him, Claude's mind drifted to the topics about Arc family, particularly a certain man called Gilles Arc, who was actually Claude's senior by a year, and team CBPR used to hang out with his team before STRQ until Nicholas graduated.
If his memory still served him right, Gilles Arc was…. Unique. Every time he spoke to women whom he found attractive, they would find his words to be corny, cheesy even downright creepy for some – words that little girls tend to find in fairy tales about a knight and a princess. However, interestingly enough, Gilles said those words and acted upon it with a pure, genuine admiration from his heart toward women folk.
Called him a pervert, a flirt, whatever, but Gilles Arc would always be the first to act whenever he saw a woman in trouble. Besides, he got better as the time went on in his academy years.
"How's he doing, I wonder?" the last time Claude recall before that fateful day was, that Gilles just got himself an actual girlfriend and planned to introduce her by the time team CBPR and STRQ returned from their mission together.
Returning to read the records, his fingers then tapped on the screen, rolling the screen down on the next student - well, a pair of students, to be precise.
Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie; the reason Claude looked at both of their records because they were related in some way. From what he learned, Lie Ren was originally from Kuroyuri, a village on continent of Anima, located outside the borders of Mistral Kingdom. The village was destroyed in a grimm invasion, leaving Ren as one of the sole two survivors.
Nora Valkyrie, on the other hand, had not much to offer on her papers. It was safe to assume that she was orphaned since young age, hence the lack of background information; and the interesting part was, that she was found together with Lie Ren in the wake of Kuroyuri's destruction. Both orphans were taken in by a retired huntsman who was passing by, and the said huntsman wrote a letter of recommendation and applied the children to Beacon many years later.
For the two to receive a recommendation from a veteran huntsman, they must have had possessed some considerable skills. Nevertheless, Claude looked forward to see what the unlikely duo had in store.
The next list, however, caused him to raise his eyebrows - Pyrrha Nikos. A top graduate from Sanctum Academy in Mistral, hailed as 'Invincible Girl' for winning a championship in Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row. Perfect in both academics and manners, her fame and popularity even offered her to be a mascot of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes cereal.
"Come to think of it, we do have a Pumpkin Pete cereal in the teacher's lounge, don't we?" Claude's mind drifted briefly at a cereal box with Pyrrha's picture attached on it.
Nonetheless, Claude grew a small grin as he wanted to test what the girl was truly capable of, after all… Nothing is invincible.
Speaking of celebrity - compared to the previous three, Weiss Schnee's records did not contain anything 'juicy', other than the fact that she was a top graduate from Alsius Academy of Atlas Kingdom before applying to Beacon, as well as the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. For some reason Claude looked forward to work with her for the next four years, judging from mischievous smirk that grew on his lips; the girl seemed like the type with lots of buttons to push.
Moving on, Claude's eyes narrowed slightly when he read Blake Belladonna's record. He originally just skimmed her papers out of whim, and what he found made his curiosity peaked. There was no records of her attending any of primary combat school, but her transcripts were genuine; legally speaking, she was allowed to enrol into Beacon.
However, one of her records said that she was born in Managerie - an island on the southeast region of Remnant. The thing was, Claude recalled that the population of Managerie was 99% made of Faunus.
Suddenly, the image of Blake's twitching bow-ribbon flashed in his mind, and that made Claude went into further thinking. Few seconds later, however, Claude decided that he could look into her further later; twitching accessory alone was nowhere nearly enough to jump into any conclusion.
Finally, Claude arrived at the profile of his two nieces - Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose. Both of them used to attend Signal Academy; the elder sister had graduated while the younger one skipped two years through recommendation by Headmaster Ozpin himself. Yang's academic was more or less (barely) average, yet according to her transcripts, she was one of the best contenders when it came to practical lessons - in other words, combat class, among her peers. Ruby fared slightly better than her sister in academics, and under Qrow Branwen's apprenticeship, she was also regarded one of the most talented students among her peers.
However, there was some catch when Claude read their school rapports. While there was not much problem with Ruby, aside from her social awkwardness, Yang had been placed under multiple counselling sessions and detentions from getting into fights with her schoolmates. According to eyewitnesses, however, most of the fights began when Yang saw her sister getting picked on by local bullies, or if she herself was being harassed in the first place.
Claude could not help but snort at the records since he could relate. After all, he did remember getting involved into bunch of fights whenever someone was harassing Summer. Then again, it did not take long for Qrow and Taiyang to join his bandwagon when it came to her.
Believing that he had seen enough, Claude put the tablet away and prepared himself for bedtime. However, instead of tucking himself into the blanket, he rolled onto the floor and began to do some push-ups. A quick work-out before bed had become one of his habits to help himself sleep better.
Tomorrow would be the day when he would test what the future first years were capable of.
Claude was now standing together with Ozpin and Glynda on Beacon Cliff, overseeing the first year students standing on top of silver tiles. Aside from their combat gears and attires, each of them was also sporting a small bag on their backs.
However, they could not help but see Claude to be 'out of place' compared to Ozpin and Glynda. Unlike the adults who were standing with proper and dignified posture, the younger man was standing rather…. Casually; his feet seemed to fidget, his hands were tucked inside his pants, his eyes were wandering around the scenery beneath the cliff instead of the students, and he did not bother to hide his yawning when Ozpin began to speak.
"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin spoke and he glanced at the scenery beneath the cliff.
Glynda then alternately took over with her own instructions. "Now, I'm sure that many of you have heard rumours about the assignment of teams. So, we will put an end to your confusion; your teammates will be decided… Today."
From the corner of his eyes, Claude could see that Ruby was visibly distraught.
"These teammates will stay with you for the rest of your time at Beacon. So it will be in your best interest if you pair up with someone with whom you can work well with." Ozpin put his own two-cents. "...That being said, the first person you make eye-contact with after you are sent out there, will be your partner for the next four years."
For some reason again, Claude could hear metaphorical sound of glass-shattering from Ruby, much to his amusement. "See, I told you!" He could also hear the girl with orange hair - Nora Valkyrie, excitedly whispering to her companion, Lie Ren, who only shook his head knowingly.
"However, I have to inform you first that the initiation this year will be a tad… different." Ozpin said while the corner of his lips twitched upwards in anticipation. "Previously, we usually had the initiation in a form of treasure-hunt. However, your initiation will be more akin to be… A Fox Hunt."
The last three words caused everyone to perk up. Ozpin then gestured his hand at Claude. "We have hired this gentleman here – Sterling Cole, to be your 'fox'."
As if on cue, Claude flashed a goofy grin as he nonchalantly waved his hand at the students. "What's up, folks." he gave a quick wink and knowing smile at the amused Ruby, Yang, and Jaune; although the rest of the students - especially Weiss, were not that impressed.
"...Although to be precise, your objectives are the relics strapped on his person." Ozpin continued.
When the students spared Claude another look, the young man was sporting a simple dark grey sleeveless armour with what appeared to be black and white chess pieces attached on his torso. Ruby and Yang noted that the velvet red coat was not on him, and her arm and leg guards were… replaced by segmented metal braces covering his legs and forearms.
"Those relics will serve as your tickets to enrol Beacon Academy." Ozpin added. "...And each pair will be tasked to… retrieve a relic from the fox and return it back to Beacon, or keep a hold on it until the initiation is over."
Weiss then raised up her hand. "A question, professor… If you don't mind."
"Of course, Ms. Schnee, what is it?" Ozpin actually expected at least one question regarding the initiation.
"How long do we have to… complete the mission?" Weiss asked as she eyed her 'target' warily.
"...The time limit is six hours." Ozpin replied. "Make the best of that time to find your partner, as well as completing the mission in hand." He then noticed another hand was raised. "Yes, Ms. Nikos."
"How do we know if Mr. Cole won't stay completely hidden from us?" Pyrrha turned to Claude awkwardly since she never heard his name.
"A good question, Ms. Nikos." Ozpin smiled a bit wider. "…A tracker had also been placed on Mr. Cole, if you check on your scroll, a map had been sent to you and his position will be updated to you every 30 minutes."
The students then fished out their scrolls – and they noticed that their maps had been updated with several dots.
"The blue dots indicate yourselves…" Glynda then took over the briefing again. "The green dots indicate your allies, while the yellow dot indicate Mr. Cole."
Most of everyone kept their eyes on their scrolls, taking in Glynda's points and noting the dots' positions.
Then, Ozpin spoke up, garnering everyone's attention once again. "Now, while we have taken several measures, you will expect some… additional obstacles standing in your path. Do not hesitate to destroy them, or you will die." The headmaster's expression was not joking for few seconds before he grew a small smirk. "…The same goes when you are confronting Mr. Cole, although I highly doubt that death will be your consequences in this particular case."
Some students tensed up as their expressions hardened, taking in Ozpin's words into hearts; while some others seemed not amused at the attempt of small joke.
However, another hand raised – belonged to a tall armoured boy with short brown hair. "You know, about this Fox Hunt thing… don't you think it's a bit unfair for us first years to fight against a qualified huntsman… If the guy over there is actually one." He said as he sceptically starred at 'Sterling'.
"Your concern is understandable, Mr. Winchester." Ozpin nodded. "But I assure you that we have placed several… restrictions on Mr. Cole, so you people will have a fair chance to pass this test."
The man – Winchester scowled lightly, but he did not say anything further in return.
"While us instructors and teachers won't intervene on your behalf, your performance will be monitored and graded for the duration of initiation. Be sure that you or your partner are at least holding a relic when the time runs out." Ozpin then finished his briefing. "With those out of the way, per rules of Fox Hunt, Mr. Cole will be given 20-seconds head start."
"Wait, 20 seconds?" This time, it was 'Sterling' who turned to give questioning glance at Ozpin. "Uh, headmaster, sir? Don't you think it's a bit too short for me to cover enough distance?"
Ozpin only smirked knowingly, an expression that was surprisingly shared with Glynda. "You don't need to worry about that, Mr. Cole. The platform you're standing on will take care of that."
'Sterling' blinked and looked down to see he was actually standing on the same tile as everyone else. "Okay…? How does this hel- EEEP!"
All of sudden, the tile beneath 'Sterling' suddenly sprung up, launching the man towards the sky in the process. The students watched their fox screamed while flying to the air, and they immediately knew how they would catch up.
Approximately 20 seconds later, Ozpin turned back to his students. "…Now, if there's no more questions, take your positions."
Everyone obeyed the instruction given and took their stances, with the exception of the still-nervous looking Jaune.
oXo
"Ozpin, you old reincarnating son of a bitch!"
Claude cursed as he barely managed to fix his position mid-air. He wished there had been a little warning before Ozpin fucking launched him into the air. As soon as he could see the nearest tree getting closer of hitting him, he quickly had his shield right in front of him - allowing Shatter Storm to take the brunt of the impact against canopy of multiple trees.
He crashed into several trees until he plummeted into the ground like a comet. Grunting, he slowly stood up and shook the dizziness away from his head – a lesser man would have broken a bone or two. It was thanks to his aura that Claude managed to survive the fall.
He could talk to Ozpin and Glynda later, at the moment he had a job to do. He then fished out his scroll and his earpiece, which thankfully stayed intact despite the crash. "…Barty, pops, do you copy?" he said while placing the device on his ear.
[Copy.]
[Crystal.]
Barty and Peter's voice were heard through Claude's link.
"Okay, while I would've wanted to have Qrow with us as well, the guy had to leave on another mission, so it's up to you both alone to secure the parameter. Report for now." Claude instructed.
[No grimm on sight so far.]
[Clear on my side as well, sir.]
"Got it. Keep vigilant, we prefer to have this initiation to go without a hitch. Update me if anything happens."
[Yes, sir!]
[Claude, while we have decreased the grimm activity for this past few weeks, their numbers grew faster than us decimating them. Please expect that Emerald Forest will be still infested by grimm, especially those that escaped or hid from our radar.]
"I know. Thanks for the memo, Barty. Over and out…." Claude then turned his attention back on his job at hand.
As he decided to run off, Claude chose to turn on his communication again. "Barty, pops, one more thing, actually…"
[What is it?]
"Since when has Ozpin gotten this idea of launching people off a fucking cliff?" Claude did not bother to hide his annoyance.
Few seconds later, Claude could hear subtle giggling voices from his comm.
[I take you've had your first flight, sir? How was it?]
Claude snorted as he knew the tone Peter was using. "Oh, it's exhilarating, alright. Really a once-in-a-lifetime experience." he replied sarcastically.
[I know you'd enjoy such experience, Claude. Reminding you of good ol' days, isn't it?]
At Barty's remark, Claude scoffed. "Maybe, but for the record, free-falling and being launched into the air are two completely different things."
[If you say so.]
Peter and Barty's responses came simultaneously, causing Claude to sigh. "...Anyway, I guess we gotta go back to our jobs again. Catch y'all later." he then sped up his running away from the students that should have been sent out to his way by now.
Back to the cliff - after seeing Jaune Arc screaming above the sky, Ozpin took a sip from his mug as Glynda tapped onto her tablet.
"You seemed to be in better mood, Glynda." Ozpin suddenly said while keeping his eyes on the forest before him. "...Does it have anything to do with Mr. Cole's 'deployment' earlier?" he glanced back while smiling knowingly.
Glynda starred from her tablet at the headmaster for a second before her own lips grew into an imperceptible smirk. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about." she said as she walked to stood next to headmaster. "...Although I admit that the sight of Mr. Cole's reaction of our deployment method was… mildly amusing."
Ozpin only nodded in return as he took another sip from his mug. "Then again, headmaster…. Are you sure about this?" Glynda suddenly asked again. "With the proposal and agreement we have made with Claude, and how the initiation will develop, we might end up not having any first-year students to attend Beacon."
"Fear not, Glynda." Ozpin replied with confident tone. "The arrangement we have set up with Mr. Rose will not only affirming more promising future huntsmen and huntresses; we can confirm if Mr. Rose's skills can still be contributed for our long-term cause, as well as proving him that our decision regarding young Ruby's enrollment was not without basis."
Glynda seemed to ponder over Ozpin's words, but her face was not completely convinced yet.
"...Besides, we have placed handicaps upon him, have we not? I'd say that Mr. Rose will be having quite a hard time himself." Ozpin added.
Glynda only sighed in return, seemingly had accepted her superior's reasoning, at least for the time being. However, there was still skepticism in her eyes. "To be honest, sir? I think we should have placed more handicaps on him."
"...Perhaps." Ozpin chuckled in return at his secretary's last comment. "In any case, let's just see how things will unfold, shall we?" he finished with a hint of eagerness in his eyes, hidden by his grey bangs and the black lenses of his sunglasses.
Omake
"Wait, so that night on our first semester break together – when I found myself getting smashed while floating on the local public swimming pool, everything was all your doing!?"
Qrow said incredulously as he just decapitated a Creep with his weapon – a great sword that had seemingly transformed into a large scythe. His remark garnered several laughs, particularly from a young man who just jumped and impaled a bear-like grimm right through its nape.
"On my defence, it was all Rome's idea." Claude hopped off the disintegrating carcass. "…And for your information, your team was also involved, especially Tai and Raven."
"Wha-, but-!" Qrow then turned at Peter. "…And you didn't do anything to stop this numb-nuts leader of yours?"
"Qrow, do I need to remind you that both me and Barty were just as drunk as everyone else in that bar?" Peter retorted with a sigh, while easily blasted a Beowulf's head off. "…In fact, I must admit that I recall myself laughing when the spiked drink Claude and Roman concocted… finally took effect on your person."
Qrow's lower jaw was hanging, but he decided to sigh in defeat. "…You guys are bunch of assholes."
Peter looked apologetic enough while Claude only barked a laugh in return. Then, they heard statics on their earpieces – someone was joining their communication channel.
[Team CBPR and Huntsman Branwen, this is Glynda Goodwitch speaking. Do you copy?]
Considering that there was no more grimm in their immediate vicinity, Claude tapped on his link and responded. "Copy, Goodwitch. What can we help you with?"
[Right, I'd like to speak with Claude about this bank statement I just received this morning…]
At Glynda's words, Qrow and Peter noticed that Claude mildly froze on his position.
[There are…. Few online orders and purchases for merchandises and goods… Which I deduced to be related to you.]
For some reason, Glynda's last word was laced with noticeable amount of venom.
[So, my question is; Claude Rose, did you just somehow hack into my online bank account and used my money for online shopping?]
Qrow and Peter saw Claude began to sweat as he rolled his eyes awkwardly. "Err…."
[Claude….!]
Glynda's tone in their channel also sounded that she was running out of patience.
"Oh my god, Glynda, we've been ambushed! We're surrounded! They're everywhere! Oh, no! Oh go-!" Claude then prematurely turned off the channel. "….That could've gone worse." He sighed and turned to see Peter was giving him a not-amused expression, while Qrow was looking at him with raised eyebrows.
"Heheh, err…. Whoops?" Claude awkwardly said.
Qrow only rolled his eyes while Peter sighed in resignation. Then, Barty's voice was heard on their channel.
[You know what, Claude? Roman really is a bad influence on you. On that note, Glynda's expense will be reimbursed from your salary.]
In return, Claude was the one who looked surprised. "…Wait, am I actually getting paid?"
Meanwhile, in a secluded place within the City of Vale, a certain thief suddenly sneezed, spooking a young girl with dichromatic eyes next to him.