Author's Note:
I have gotten a lot of great feedback so far, and I would love to get more. If you could tell me what you think so far, what you might like to see, anything like that i would love to see it. Thanks!
Jaune pointed to some street side store and started talking about something Naze didn't care about. Something about the food being good. Ruby dropped back from the front of the group and fell into line next to Naze, giving him a timid look. After a few seconds of thinking what to say, she asked "Yang wasn't too rough with you, was she? I tried to tell her to lay off of you a bit, but she…" her voice trailed off before she finished "…she's really protective of me."
Naze shook his head and said "No, its fine. You don't need to apologize for her. I understand her worries. I caused some major issues with you, and I fixed them in a way that she couldn't explain. If she feels the need to fight with me over something like that, then I'll be glad to retaliate, but I can promise I won't start anything." Ruby shook her head as he finished speaking and said "No, don't blame yourself for what happened to me! It was an accident, right?" he nodded, and she said "Then there's nothing to worry about." Naze smirked and said in a snarky voice "Your sister is the one to talk to about blame, not me." Ruby let out a tired sigh and dropped her shoulders, saying "I know. That's not going to be easy."
Her eyes drifted over Naze and settled on the sword on his back for a moment before looking back to him and asking "What is that?" Naze hefted the blade up slightly and said "This is a kind of weapon commonly known as a sword." not letting the sarcasm bleed into his voice. Ruby rolled her eyes and said "I know that!" exasperatedly before dropping behind Naze to get a better look at it. "What is it made of?" she asked, tapping the blade lightly and tracing a few of the inscribed runes with a finger.
The girl with white hair and a much paler complexion than the others, Weiss, if he recalled correctly, also dropped back to examine the blade and asked "And how did you do that… thing that helped Ruby?"
Naze knew that they were asking some very sensitive questions. Luckily enough, the books he had read in Ozpin's office had given him enough information to be able to lie more convincingly about things like this. "It's my semblance." He drew the blade from its sheath on his back and held it up, pointing at the crystal of domination. "I can bounce power from myself to this, and back again, and when I have enough power I can use it in a few ways. My father taught me a few things that he said I would need if I wanted to take the blade as mine, and, at the time I thought they were useless. They were things like how to erase a traumatic event from someone's memory, like I did to Ruby, or how I might block myself from feeling physical pain. Like I said, these seemed pretty useless to me at the time, but I've realized why he taught me those things now. I just hope I don't have to use them again anytime soon."
Weiss looked at the runes, and after a few experimental touches said "What is this? It isn't dust, but I saw a few of them light up several times during your fight with Pyrrha." Naze nodded and said "Yes, it isn't dust. They are some kind of symbols that help form power into specific affects. I don't know how they work, and neither did my father."
Ruby asked her question again, bristling slightly at being ignored. "What's it made of?" Naze gave a heavy sigh, trying to make it sound as real as possible, and said "There's a lot about this thing that I don't know. It's an ancient family heirloom, so forgive me if there's a bit of a lack of information on the thing."
Weiss started to move back to the front of the group, and Pyrrha moved back to take her place. She gave Naze a smile and said "That really was a good fight. I don't think I've been knocked around like that for some time. To be honest, I didn't think you would be much of a challenge at first." He smiled at this. He knew he wasn't a particularly imposing figure, but he might've hoped that she wouldn't think he would be an easy win.
The boy dressed in green, and with the pink stripe in his hair, Ren, was the next to ask Naze a question. He moved back to walk beside him, and Naze started to notice that without walking any faster than the others he was steadily making his way to the front of the group. He asked "Do you know anything about your name? It strange, I've never heard it before."
Naze looked up to the sky as he thought briefly on the question. He had a lie already prepared, but found it an intriguing question to apply to himself. Did he know anything about it? Naze. It wasn't a word that held any particular meaning in any language. As far as he knew, his name was just a random sound produced by his mother when she had been asked what his name should be.
Ren was asking because Naze's name didn't mean or allude to a color, in his language or any other. He had read about the cause of this trend. The goal of annihilation of individuality seemed quite a lofty goal, and it was no surprise that the ones who sought it had failed.
"No." he replied. "As far as I know, it doesn't follow the tradition. If I had to guess why, I would say that my father had a general distain for everything that happened in civilization. That's why we lived out in the middle of nowhere. He never really told me anything about how the rest of the world worked." They gave him a few sympathetic looks. From the way he was talking it was clear that his "father" was no longer with them. If he could get a bit of pity out of them, he would take it.
There was a silence in the group as this settled. This silence was interrupted quite abruptly by the short redhead, Nora, who said rather loudly considering the last thing that was said "Is anyone else hungry? I could go for some lunch right about now."
The members of her team gave her somewhat indignant looks, the members of Ruby's team smiled. Naze was glad that she wasn't deterred too much by the talk of someone being dead. It was something he always appreciated when he found it in the living. Most people looked at Naze with questioning looks, and he shrugged, saying "I'm not hungry, but I would gladly accompany you." Nora and Jaune started heading the group, pointing out different restaurants and talking about what kind of food they wanted.
He decided that they had asked him enough questions, and that it was his turn to get a few answers. That was, after all, the whole reason he was here. "Enough about me, what about you? Most people aren't as willing to take a newbie like me under their wing. That gets me a bit curious as to your stories. You-" he said pointing at Pyrrha "-what's your deal? Obviously you're one of the best in the class, but has that… I don't know, taken you anywhere before?"
This question seemed to indicate that he was, in fact, very out of touch with the modern world. Everyone reacted to this, giving him strange looks and looked at each other like they were wordlessly communicating about him already being a lost cause. The most radical of these reactions came from Weiss, who fixed him with a disbelieving gaze and said in a voice mirroring that "Are you serious?" Naze raised an eyebrow and said "Yes… why? Should I know who she is?"
Weiss started to respond, but was cut off when Pyrrha stepped between her and Naze and said "Oh, I've won a few tournaments here and there. Nothing much, really." Naze got the distinct feeling of modesty from her words. Whatever she had done, it was clearly something that distinguished her from the rest. But, if she wanted to downplay it, he wouldn't push.
"What about you?" he asked, looking at Ruby. "Certainly you are more willing to share about your past than her, right?" Ruby rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly and said "Well, yea, I suppose. There isn't really that much to tell, really. Yang and I grew up on a small island off the shore of the continent with our dad. I went to Signal Combat School for a while, and then I came here at the beginning of the year." Yang spoke the first time since threatening him. She looked back over her shoulder and, with a combative glare, said "She graduated two years ahead of her class."
Ruby seemed to withdraw a bit, folding her arms and hunching slightly. "Oh, that's… it's no big deal. I'm just like everyone else here, just… just a little bit younger." Naze looked from Yang to Ruby and back again, wondering if she had known that Ruby would react like she did. Yang broke her steely gaze and looked at her sister, a look or regret on her face. She dropped back to walk next to her sister and put an arm around her shoulders, leaning her face near her and whispering apologies. This did seem to perk her up slightly, but she still seemed unhappy.
Naze took a measured look around him during the pause caused by Yang's whisperings. They had walked through a large section of the campus. The cemetery that he and Penny had "visited" during the night was within sight now, and there were two men who looked like they were examining the graves for tampering. Naze wasn't the only one to see this, as Blake pointed and said "What's going on over there?"
The attention of everyone in the group was directed to the fenced off yard, and the groups path started to change towards the cemetery. He didn't have any real aversion to revisiting the scene of his trespassing, it had been far too dark and obscured by the rain for anyone to have seen him, even in a security camera. He hadn't seen any such cameras though, and he was sure that there had been no living witness but Penny. If she could be considered living. He still wasn't sure about that.
The group approached the gate, not entering for fear of disturbing what the two men were doing. Yang knocked her knuckles against the iron bar, producing a strange quavering sound as the vibrations made their way from Yang's hand out across the fence. A few seconds after the wave started quaking its way through the fence Yang called out to the men, calling "Hey! What's going on here?"
The two men looked at each other before one nodded towards the group, indicating that the other one go talk to them. The one who was given this task made a rude gesture to the other before walking over and, with a heavy sigh, said "What can I do for you?" in an irritated voice. Yang peaked past the man at the other one who was kneeling over one of the graves and doing something with the soil on top. "What happened?" she asked.
The man, Naze now assumed a police officer of some kind, shook his head like he was disappointed and said "Someone broke into here last night, and we've got to check all the graves to make sure that we don't have some kind of grave robber on our hands." He shook his head again before saying "Man, I just can't imagine what someone like that's got to be thinking. Something's got to be wrong with them for sure. Messed up in the head or something."
Yang turned back to the group and, after taking a few steps away from the fence and making sure that the officer was walking back to his partner, said "I guess we can be pretty sure it wasn't the White Fang." Naze cocked his head at this, and asked "The White Fang?" in a puzzled voice. He had read about them in the books Ozpin gave him, but the perspective of schoolchildren might be interesting.
Blake was the one to answer this query, speaking up from behind Naze. "The White Fang are a misguided group of Faunus who turn to crime to try and get equality." That statement was enough to make Naze think that she was at very least sympathetic to their cause. Deciding to play with the topic a little, perhaps finding a little more out about Blake in the process. "Don't they kill people?" he asked as innocently as he could, keeping a cold scrutinizing gaze on her, watching for any minute reaction. A single brief expression of anger flashed across her face before being immediately replaced by a carefully crafted mask of neutrality. "Like I said" she responded "they are misguided."
Naze would've laughed if the situation permitted. If being misguided was any valid defense against murder, than millions of years of fighting and dying, genocide and murder that Naze had seen were all merely misunderstandings. He decided to argue the point a little further, replying "Don't they kill a lot of people?"
The angry expression came again, but this time lingered a few seconds, not able to be as easily dispelled as the last time. "So they are very misguided!" Another ingenious argument for the pureness of the civil-rights-group-turned-terrorist. He was about to retort with a question about the law when he stopped himself. Maybe the bitterness and cynicism that accumulated over the millennia were starting to show. Instead, he simply nodded and stepped back from the girl. She didn't look happy.
Pyrrha was the next to speak, apparently trying to unite the two on a point of commonality. "White Fang aside, who could have broken into a graveyard?" Naze looked at her, and was mildly surprised to find that she looked genuinely offended at the notion. No one spoke after that for several seconds, so Naze stated what he thought would be accurate even if it wasn't him who had done it. "Someone who had some business with the dead, I suppose."
Pyrrha shook her head sadly and said "Why couldn't they just leave them in peace?"
The old anger over misconceptions of the most basic facets of death started to rise in Naze's mind, but he resisted the temptation it whispered to him. Nevertheless, those who should've been left in Pyrrha's "peace" were back at the ziggurat, continuing what they hadn't been able to do in life. He provided a peace that they could not get idling around in a graveyard, waiting to fade into the void that awaited all souls.
He closed his eyes and let the feeling dissipate. It wouldn't be entirely fair to expect someone living to understand. He let it go, and opened his eyes again. Nora and Jaune had apparently picked a place that looked good to them, and were asking if there were any objections. They asked Naze if the restaurant was good, and he sold them that he didn't have any objections. The group started following them again, being led into a somewhat dirty looking establishment. It was at the threshold of the establishment that someone tapped on Naze's shoulder. He turned, and found himself facing a man with blasted back green hair and large circular glasses, wearing an untucked white shirt. He looked Naze up and down before asking "Are you the young hopeful for Beacon?"
He nodded, and the man pointed over his shoulder with a thumb, saying "The headmaster sent for you, young lad!" he looked past Naze at the rest the group, saying with a smile "Hello students! I didn't know that you came here! Do you mind if I join you?" The hesitant looks of the rest of the group seemed to suggest that they didn't look forward to the man's company, but that was not Naze's concern now. He gave a small wave as he turned to leave, making his way back to the school. Ruby called out from the group as she was being herded in by the man "Bye Naze, see you later!"
As he walked, making a beeline for the large tower in the distance that served as Ozpin's office. The transition from large group to him being by himself made the silence all the more comforting. Naze withdrew his attention from the body, keeping only enough of it in focus to keep it walking, and turned the rest of his power elsewhere in the orb of domination. Slowly, the vision of the shade lingering in Ozpin's office became his, and he peered around.
Ozpin was sitting behind his desk, examining a small pile of papers that Naze recognized as his tests. Ozpin took a sip from the coffee mug in his hand before standing up and looking out the window behind him. Glynda stepped forward, through the shade's body, causing Naze a small amount of surprise. Without turning around, Ozpin said "It doesn't make sense. You're sure that the systems were functioning correctly?"
Glynda nodded and answered "Yes sir. It would seem that our new student is… without vital signs." Naze cringed when he heard this, cursing his foolishness. At some point they must have had some kind of scanner on him. The most obvious time would be during his fight with Pyrrha. He should have anticipated that. He should have taken measures to prevent his detection. Especially after Penny found out. Glynda continued, asking "Is that possible? How can something be alive without…" her voice trailed off as Ozpin turned back around and took a few steps to his desk. Indicating the papers with a wave of his hand, he said "At least his test scores are good."
Glynda raised an eyebrow questioningly, and Ozpin sighed. "Perfect scores on every test. No one has ever done that." There was a pregnant silence between the two before Glynda asked "You aren't going to let… it… enroll, are you?" Ozpin gave her a mildly surprised look and said "Why not? His scores are perfect, and he has demonstrated exceptional combat prowess. I'd say that qualifies him rather nicely. And besides, do you know anything about the boy? You yourself said that his current state shouldn't be possible, and yet it is. We could learn from him."
She looked like she wanted to argue, but couldn't. After a few more seconds she said "What if he's dangerous? What will you do if he turns out to be a threat?" Ozpin's gaze darkened, and he said than I will deal with him as my Huntsman duty demands." He turned back to the window, gazing out over the city. "But there's no indication that he will be."
The conversation between them quieted and stopped. Naze looked around the room in the silence, examining anything that might've changed in his short absence. Nothing seemed out of the place, so he turned his attention back to the two. He moved over closer to them, the shade's form twisting slightly as he focused more on what it was seeing.
Almost instantly, both individuals reacted, turning their heads in the direction of the shade and casting their eyes around the room suspiciously. This caught Naze's attention, and he focused more, trying to figure out what they were looking at. When he did, their eyes flicked up to the shade, and both snapped into ready stances, ready to fight. The two, shade and living, simply stared at each other for several tension-filled seconds before Ozpin spoke aloud, saying to the woman at his side "What do you suppose that is?"
Glynda's eyes narrowed and she took a few small, cautious steps forward before extending a hand out slowly towards the shade. Its eyes, burning yellow and smoky in consistency, followed the hand, feeding information to Naze the whole while. She hesitated just a half an inch away from the opaque black surface of the shade before reaching just a little bit further and waving the back of her hand through it. There was another pregnant pause as she pulled her hand back and examined it for changes. Finding none, she let her stance fall into a more relaxed state and said "Well, I suppose whatever it is, it doesn't mean to hurt us."
Ozpin nodded in agreement before saying "Though, I must wonder; how long has it been there? And why can we see it now?" Both individuals were clearly not comfortable contemplating these questions. For his part, Naze was also puzzled as to why they could see the shade. It had something to do with his attention being diverted almost entirely to the shade, that much was obvious, but beyond that he wasn't sure. As his gaze fell to the shade some of the magical energy that kept the thing's soul bound to Naze was strengthened, allowing control of it, and it was possible that the increase was detectable by their aura. Again, something rather uncomfortably similar to the abilities the paladins once held. Paladins hadn't been the only ones with this ability of course, but it was something that had made them all the more irritating.
Glynda gave another few waves through the shade's body before saying "Well, it doesn't seem to be a Grimm. What should we do with it?" Ozpin stepped forward and waved his cane through it a few times, testing it for himself before shrugging and leaning forward to examine the shade closer. "I don't know that there is much we can do. We can't touch it, and I would be hesitant to try using aura on anything we know so little about. I think we should wait. It sprang up out of nowhere, perhaps it will return of its own accord."
Naze glanced back to the puppet body and saw that it had almost returned to the tower. Assuming that their ability to see the shade would disappear with his focus, he let the shade go and turned his attention back to his puppet body. He was just outside of the door, pushing it open. After a few clumsy steps reasserting his control over it he was comfortable controlling it again. He hit the button to call the elevator and leaned against the wall, waiting for it to come. While he waited he held a hand up in front of him and cast a small spell of electricity, causing small sparks to dance between his fingers as he thought.
He had been found out by two people now. By no means was this the stealthiest undercover operation he had even done. And, worse still, one of those people had clearly demonstrated that they didn't mind telling others about him, or at least certain others. But was that a bad thing? The bustling necropolis below the ziggurat that housed them would be found out eventually, and when it was it would be quite beneficial to already have a somewhat positive name. If he was going to set that name up, than people would have to know that he was undead.
The elevator door opened with a ding and he walked in, continuing his thoughts. A consensus had not been reached among his comrades. He would've been informed immediately. They usually didn't take this long to reach a common ground on a decision. But it was an important decision. The less rushed the better. Naze's only fear was that the optimum time for the revel would pass before an agreement was reached. If that were to happen than he might have to take matters into his own hands, and run with the consequences. There wasn't anything that they could really do if he decided without them, but he didn't want to do that. To him that was not only seizing power, but abusing it. Something that he had avoided with every fiber of his being. If he started doing that, than there would be nothing to stop him.
The doors slid open again with another ding, and Naze stepped out into Ozpin's office again. He and Glynda were both still standing around the spot the shade had been located. The shade had since moved to the other side of the room, demonstrating that they could no longer see it.
Both looked up at Naze, surprise briefly fliting across their faces before they reordered themselves and moved back to the desk. Ozpin gestured to one of the seats in front of his desk, and Naze sat. Ozpin cleared his throat, and with it all the thoughts of what had just happened. "Naze-" he said, leaning forward on his desk "-if I were to ask you a mildly personal question, would you answer?"
Naze raised an eyebrow and replied "I suppose that would depend on what you asked me, sir." Glynda's expression changed to reflect a bit more annoyance than before, but Ozpin merely nodded. "What are you?" he asked and sat straight up. Naze raised an eyebrow again and said "Sir? I'm not sure I understand the question." With that Ozpin stood up and started walking slowly around his desk. "While you fought with Pyrrha Nikos, you were monitored to be sure that your aura did not drop below safe levels. Also being monitored were your vital signs: pulse, brain activity, body temperature, all for your safety, and all measured by a system with such a large amount of redundancies that it is near inconceivable that an error in the system would register for more than a second." He passed behind Naze and continued talking "Yet, in spite of all of that, not a single reading was detected from you. Do you have any idea how this could be?"
Naze considered his options for a moment. If he admitted to being undead, that would raise questions. He couldn't exactly deny it though, they had fairly solid evidence. He put one leg on his knee and leaned back in the chair. "I suppose that it could be that I have no readable vital signs." Not the most solid thing to say, but it was better than making up another lie about having a semblance. His webs tended to get tangled up enough without adding conflicting lies in the mix.
Ozpin circled back around, now making his way back to his starting point. "Perhaps you could tell me then how it is that you are able to function without those vitals?" Now was when explaining got difficult. Instead of answering his question, he would ask his own. A time honored tactic. "What do you know about death, Professor?" a surprised look came across both Ozpin's and Glynda's face, and they looked at each other in surprise. Naze continued, amused by this response. "Not just the process of dying; the shutdown of the body, I mean real death. You have an aura, what happens to it after you die?"
Ozpin gave him a slightly confused look and asked "So… you're dead?" Before Naze could answer his question, Glynda interrupted, saying "That's preposterous! You can't really expect us to believe that you're-" Ozpin held up a hand to stop her before looking back to Naze and saying "Death has often been regarded as the beginning of a great adventure; the transition from this realm to the next. To answer your question, the aura of the deceased can linger for a short time, but will invariably fade. This fade is believed to be the transition from this world to the next."
Naze shrugged. It wasn't too far off. Closer than most got anyways. "And what is it that you believe lies in this other world?" Naze would find his input interesting. He always did when learning of customs relating to something as resolutely stubborn as death. Ozpin didn't answer at first, a faint smile flickering on his lips before he said "Another adventure." in a confident tone.
A sweet answer, perhaps even poetic, but still not quite correct. The dark void of death that swallowed up the souls of mortals gave them one saving mercy, and that was sleep. Those who allowed themselves to fall into this sleep rarely woke again, forever to drift in nothingness. Naze had been told that it felt very peaceful. He wouldn't know. Binding his soul to the phylactery deep beneath the necropolis he called home took its toll, and were it ever destroyed than so to would his soul. There was no rest for the wicked, he supposed.
He gave a small smirk to Ozpin and shrugged, saying "I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise." A bit immature? Yes, he answered himself, yes, he could be, but what other defense did he have against the crawling insanity of the many, many years?
Ozpin sighed, and paused before saying "And how is it that you have returned to the land of the living? Surely if you can do it, others can to." Naze shrugged again, this time offering an answer that held no ambiguity. "I don't entirely know. Perhaps the secrets of how to have been forgotten." a more thoughtful look came over his face, and he said "Perhaps I ought to share them. It would make things more interesting, certainly."
Ignoring the last part of Naze's comment, Ozpin asked "And why is it that you want entry into my school? What could one such as yourself hope to gain from all this?" Naze gave the man a doubtful look and answered "Knowledge, of course. What am I to do with myself now, if not learn?" This didn't seem to satisfy Ozpin, and he asked "And when you graduate, what then? Would you fulfil the duties required of a Huntsman, and pursue other knowledge on the side, or would you forgo your duty and dedicate fully to another study?"
Naze saw the trap in the question, and had no doubt that it had been set on purpose. If he answered either way, he would be swearing himself to what he said. In such cases it was better to say nothing at all. "I suppose that depends on what I learn." was all that exited his mouth.
Ozpin sighed and looked down, taking a seat on the edge of his desk. He thought for a few minutes quietly, eyes flicking around rapidly as he considered different possibilities. After a long time of thinking, he looked up and said "You may be allowed to attend my school." Glynda raised her eyebrows and looked at him in surprise "However, because of your late entry you will not be placed on a team, but used as an auxiliary member on missions. You will be assigned a schedule according to that of a first year student, and you will be expected to abide by all the same rules." Naze nodded. All acceptable terms, nothing less than he had expected. Ozpin continued however, saying "In exchange for this provided service, however, information must flow both ways. I assume that you possess a knowledge that we don't, and I expect you to share it in exchange for that which we will provide you."
Naze nodded again. He had hoped to avoid owing anything, but it couldn't be helped. There were many things that he could share with them, but very few that he wanted to on such terms. Ozpin sat in his chair and put his elbows up before saying "I assume that the story about your father, the Grimm, the sword, all of that was made up?" Naze smiled and replied "Naturally." Ozpin nodded and leaned back in his chair before saying "I'm afraid that the exchange will have to begin with you. Think of it as a gesture of goodwill."
Naze cast around the room for inspiration of something he could give them information on. He could lie, of course, but there was simply no need to. His eyes fell to the paladin tome on Ozpin's desk, and he pointed to it. "That book is incredibly old. Older than you think." Ozpin raised an eyebrow, and Naze kept talking. "It is a book written by the paladins, a group devoted almost entirely to destroying things like me."
Glynda asked "Things like you?" in a skeptical tone, and Naze replied "The undead. Individuals returned from the grave. I can't say that I blame them for forming and doing what they did, but I can say I hated them for lying about us."
Both Ozpin and Glynda caught onto what he said, and Ozpin asked "Us? Are there many of you?" Naze shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and responded "I don't know, there could be. You people only have four human cities across the planet, right? With so few people, I suppose anything could be out in the wilderness hiding from you."
Ozpin fixed him with a stern gaze, and Naze saw that there was no getting around it. It was simple yes or no question, however, not requiring any elaboration. "Yes, there are. I'm afraid I couldn't say where though." The two were clearly not happy with this answer, but Ozpin seemed to accept it. He stood from his chair and said "Thank you. I will have a more specific list of questions I would like answered delivered to you. You will be assigned…" his voice trailed off and he started running down a list sitting on the top of his desk "…a dorm on the third floor of building B, room number three forty eight. I'll take it that you'll want some privacy in there for whatever you may need to do as someone of your… unique biology, so I'll provide your scroll with the only authorization to unlock the door." He looked away for a second, pulling up a screen and tapping a few buttons before looking up and asking "Do you have a scroll?"
Naze assumed that he wasn't talking about a rolled piece of paper and shook his head. Ozpin glanced over to Glynda and nodded before turning back to Naze and saying "It will be delivered to your room along with the list." He clapped his hands together softly and asked "Is there anything else to be discussed, or are we finished here?" Without hesitation, Naze responded by indicating the window and saying "A lot of the people out there think less of an entire kind of person because the might have an extra set of ears, or a tail. That doesn't exactly inspire confidence in these modern people. I want the fact that I'm dead to stay between us. If you tell anyone, I'm leaving."
Ozpin nodded "Of course. It is regretful that you lack faith in us. The living, that is. Perhaps, with time, we can restore your belief that we can be accepting." Naze gave him a small, somewhat insincere smile. "Perhaps you can." he said as he stood from his chair.
As he turned and began to walk out of the office, Ozpin spoke out to him, saying "I think we both look forward to this… mutual learning experience, Mr. Naze!"
He snorted as he pushed the button and the elevator doors slid open. "Mr. Naze". There was something very strange about it, rolling around awkwardly in his mouth. He much preferred his real title, Naze the Eternal, but introducing himself as such would likely get him more than a few strange looks. As he hit the button to go to the ground floor, and the doors started sliding shut, the paladin tome on the table started to emanate its peacefully painful songs and light again. He was glad that he had left when he did. He couldn't help but feel that he should've done some permanent damage to it, but it was too late for that.
Instead of dwelling on what he might've done, he let his focus drift to several of the shades in the area. One was still up in Ozpin's office, one was slowly stalking the streets, looking for anything worth watching, and another was following penny through the streets as she seemed to wander aimlessly. The last shade that he fell on was with Ruby's group. They were back in their dorm room, doing what looked to be homework. He felt the twinge of curiosity start nipping at his mind, and offered no resistance.
His focus on the shade increased until it was about the same that it had been when Ozpin and Glynda had seen it. With its power increased, Naze looked around and peered intently at the girls. Each one reacted, but not nearly as much as the two adults had. Each one turned to another and simply exchanged puzzled looks before shrugging their shoulders and going back to their homework. An interesting result. They obviously hadn't worked their auras up to the power that the adults had. He would've expected that to be one of the biggest areas of importance.
Somewhere distant, a bell dinged, and metallic doors slid open. He returned his focus to the puppet body and walked out, now intending to find his room. If he were going to attend like a regular student, he would like to set a few things up. A runed gateway would be convenient if he needed some replacements for damaged gear or something like that, but if someone were to gain access to his room and somehow accidentally activate it, the results would be somewhat disastrous. He would also like a store of Morgana's brews just in case there was some incident that required them. They would be highly toxic though, and wouldn't be worth the trouble of making sure it didn't kill anyone.
It only took a few minutes to find his new room. A piece of paper and a small bag was hanging off the handle. Naze took the paper first, and found smooth inked writing, saying "Enclosed is a list of inquiries I would like answered by the end of the week. You may answer them in any manner you see fit. Also included is your new scroll, please carry it with you from now on." Ozpin's signature sat at the bottom of the paper. Naze crumpled the paper up and shoved it into a pocket, knowing it was of little importance. Next he removed the bag and looked in. The first thing he pulled out was a small handheld device that he assumed to be a scroll. He tapped a button near the bottom of its interface, and the screen lit up with a small holographic display, large white letters reading "Setup". He put it in his other hand and pulled another paper out of the bag. It was folded and sealed tightly with a wax seal over the fold. He inspected the seal first to ensure that it had not been opened by someone other than him before opening it himself. The handwriting inside was the same as the other note, the smooth lettering of Ozpin. It was a list of questions, and with a quick glance over it he saw that they were mostly things that could be answered both truthfully and be uninformative, questions like "how old are you" "how did you return to the earth" and "have you ever met another like you". He tried to turn the handle of the door, but found it locked. Remembering what Ozpin had said about his scroll opening his door, he passed it in front of the handle, which gave a small click in response.
He smiled as the handle turned and the door opened, allowing him in to what would soon be an adequate-enough lair. There were alterations to make, equipment to procure, and other things to set up. He pulled a piece of chalk from his pocket and walked into the room, looking for an optimal place he could put a sigil down that would allow things to be transported from the ziggurat to his room.
Ruby looked up from the assignment that Professor Excalibur had assigned her to Yang, somewhat dreading the conversation they were about to have. She cleared her throat meekly before saying out loud "Hey, Yang?"
Her sister looked up from her scroll with a smile and said "Yea?" Ruby sat up and turned her body towards Yang before asking "What did you… uh… say to Naze today? I heard a little bit of it, and it sounded like you weren't being very nice." Yang continued flicking through her scroll for a second as her smile slowly faded before she looked back up to Ruby and gave her a slightly hurt look. "I'm only trying to protect you." she got up and walked over to her sister's bed, taking a seat next to her. "He did something to you, or at least something he had did something to you. It hurt you. And I'm not going to let something stupid like that hurt you again."
Blake and Weiss looked at each other, knowing that they should stay out of this conversation. Ruby gave her sister a sympathetic look before saying "I get that, but he fixed me! There's nothing wrong with me anymore! I trust him, he seems nice!" Yang looked down to the floor, feeling guilty. Ruby didn't want to hurt her sister's feelings, so she quickly said "I don't expect you to just drop what he did and forget it, but he fixed it to. You've got to give him a chance at least."
Yang sighed heavily, than nodded and put an arm over Ruby's shoulders. "Alright, since you asked nicely, I guess I can give him one more shot. Just be careful, ok? I don't want to think about what I would do if he hurt you again." Blake looked over from her bed and, slightly hesitantly, said "You saw his fight with Pyrrha, right? And remember what happened when you tried to hit him last night? I don't know if there is much you could do." Yang shot her a dirty look, but quickly let it go. She was right. Yang had tried to threaten him, and he had literally laughed in her face. It was going to be awkward, but perhaps she could deal with, and maybe even forgive Naze. She hoped he wouldn't hold her initial behavior over her head.
Than all at once, all four of their scrolls buzzed at once. Ruby reached for hers quickly, and turned the screen towards her. On it was a text message from the central office of the school, reading "A new student has just been accepted into Beacon! They will be assuming a regular schedule. Please extend every courtesy to them and make them feel welcome!" Below that there was another message "Students in building B; room 348 is now occupied, please refrain from intruding in that room."
Ruby looked to Yang with a large smile and said "Maybe we could go and talk to him!" A small feeling of dread sprang up in her chest. She had been hoping to bump into him in a nonchalant way, like walking out of a class or on the street, not going to his room. But Ruby's smile was simply too large to resist. She sighed heavily and stood up, accepting the possibility that she might have to swallow her pride. She looked to Blake and Weiss, hoping that either of them might be willing to go with them, but both were looking very intently at their studies. Whether they were actually dong any work or faking it, Tang couldn't tell.
Ruby stood up and took Yang's hand, leading her out of the room. Once they were out of their room, Ruby looked back at her scroll to see what room had become occupied. "Oh, three forty eight! That's right over here!" she said happily, motioning to the room next to team JNPR's. Yang rolled her eyes and said "Great" in a very unconvincing voice.
Ruby walked closer and noticed that the door was ajar. She turned back to Yang and said "Maybe he's already here?" before turning back to the door. They could both hear light sounds coming from inside, but neither could tell what they were. Ruby pushed the door open from its crack and peaked inside. She kept staring, and that made Yang nervous again. She stepped behind her sister and looked over her shoulder. Naze was standing in the room close to the wall, making wide circular marks on the wall with a piece of white chalk. It looked like he was drawling some kind of mural, with so many different small lines intersecting and crossing that it almost unfocused their eyes to look directly at it. It was made up of what looked like a square, with numerous smaller lines and circles filling its interior. In spite of this complexity, Naze's every movement was solid and steady, like he was used to drawling this immense symbol.
Ruby knocked on the doorframe, and Naze stopped dead. "Uh, do you mind if we talk a little bit?" Ruby asked curiously. Without responding, Naze carefully resumed his slash across the wall, making one more mark added to the already convoluted collection. As the chalk left the wall Yang whispered in Ruby's ear "See? He's weird."
Naze turned to the two, eyes flicking between Ruby and Yang several times before he said "I suppose I've a few minutes." Ruby gave him a smile and said "Good! Go on and tell him Yang." while at the same time pushing her sister ahead of her. Yang gave an angry look over her shoulder before turning back to Naze and brushing her fingers through her hair awkwardly. "Well… I just wanted to… sorry. For how I treated you earlier. That was… kind of a kneejerk reaction on my part. Thanks for not making a big deal about it."
Naze raised an eyebrow. Ruby must've had more influence over her sister than he had originally thought. He doubted that many other people had received such apologies from the girl before. Naze nodded and said "Apology accepted." flatly before turning back to the chalk and making a few more diagonal slash marks. Yang took that as a sign that she was off the hook and turned to leave, only to find Ruby blocking the door. "He's a student here now! You have to get used to him!" She whispered, spreading her arms and grabbing the doorframe so Yang couldn't simply push past her. Yang gave her sister a look, first angry, then pleading "I will get used to him, later!"
Ruby shook her head and nodded towards Naze, saying "At least try and learn something about him!" Yang gave a defeated sigh and turned her back on her sister, frustrated that she wouldn't let her out. The thought didn't escape her that this was essentially the same thing that she herself had done to Ruby when introducing her to Blake. She took a few steps towards him and said "So, uh, What's-" but was cut off as Naze finished another series of quick strikes on the wall and said "Something my father taught me about training the precision of my strikes. You don't particularly want to talk to me alone, I get it. How about I swing by your room in a few minutes?"
Yang was about to state the lack of need for such a generous offer, but Ruby stepped in, saying "We would love that! Just come on over when you're ready!" and giving a small wave. Without looking, Naze waved back with his free hand, and the two girls slipped out, the door clicking shut behind them.
Naze finished the last few strokes, and stepped back to examine his work for flaws. The rune of translocation seemed adequate, but useless as it was. A mirror of it would have to be made back at the ziggurat, than a power source would have to be supplied to both before they could be used, but none of those things would be particularly difficult.
He looked back to the door, wondering how exactly Ruby had gotten her sister to apologize. It couldn't have been easy. Then there was the question of how much that apology would really matter. It had seemed sincere in front of Ruby, but people lied very often. He was sure that Yang was no exception. The possibility did exist that she would follow through, and try to get to know him at some point, but it seemed unlikely.
He also made a mental note to somehow weight the door so that it fell closed by itself. He didn't want any more intrusions into his business. If someone found their way into his room like that again, they could die fairly easily with the kind of things he was planning to have. After a minute spent staring at his creation, he turned and walked towards the door. He had said he would go, so he didn't have much choice. The topic of what they would talk about fluttered through his mind, and he quickly answered it. He would try and learn about classes, and what being an auxiliary on a mission meant. The door closed with a solid click behind him, and he walked across the hall and one door down, knocking firmly.
