A/N: Yay. New chapter... after weeks... it's gonna take me a while to get back into the groove of things. Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and if you don't celebrate that, then I hope you had a wonderful normal day.
I'm so very sorry for the slow updates. I won't abandon this project. I've wanted to write this for so long, it'd be a crime for me to just up and leave with so few chapters out. Again, sorry for the delay. Anyway, I watched Vol. 1 and 2 again in the meantime. I also watched some of Vol. 1 with the Japanese Dub. Some voices are hit or miss to me, but I really like Weiss's voice in that dub... for obvious reasons... Oh, and I've watched Vol. 4's intro so many times. I love the song so much!
"Okay... this sucks."
Sable was currently leaned up against a tree in the courtyard of the academy. In his hurry to get to the Grimm Studies class listed on his schedule, he neglected the fact that he was unfamiliar with the layout of the campus and was now lost. With an exasperated sigh, he ran a hand through his hair. After spending a couple minutes lamenting his luck, he decided again to try and find the class. But just when he was ready to go, he was stopped by a familiar voice.
"Lost, are you?" Turning around, Sable was met with the Headmaster, whom was accompanied by a woman.
"Professor Ozpin, sir. Why're you here?" Sable's eyes set onto the woman beside the Headmaster, whistling slightly as he did so. "And who is this beauty?" She was dressed quite nicely. Wearing a white long-sleeved, pleated top and a black, high-waist skirt. Along with black heeled boots, she wore a small black and purple cape. Shifting his gaze higher to admire the rest of her features, he was met with the woman's sharp eyes glaring directly at him. Before he could say anything, the top of his head was introduced to her crop.
"Eyes front." The woman said; her voice was stern, demanding much authority. She almost reminded Sable of a certain sister to a certain heiress he works for. "Keep that up and I will have to reprimand you further." With a crack of her crop, Sable did as was ordered; a bead of sweat rolling down his face.
"Yes, ma'am." Ignoring the little spat, Ozpin drank from his mug he carried with him.
"This is Miss Glynda Goodwitch. She is to be one of your instructors here at Beacon." Upon hearing the introduction, Sable took a step backwards, looking back to the blonde teacher.
"Oh... crap." He began laughing nervously while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Um... so, I pretty much screwed my chances of getting a passing grade, huh?" Not responding to the question, Professor Goodwitch only readjusted her glasses and stepped back to stand beside Ozpin. "Is that a no or...?"
"Is there any particular reason you're wandering around the campus alone?" Ozpin questioned, further ignoring the small quarrel. "If you so desired, I could have given you a tour of facilities."
"Oh, there's no need for that, Headmaster. Although..." Sable paused for a second to think. "Actually, I take that back. I'd appreciate it if you could help me with this." He pulled out his schedule and showed it to the professor. Specifically, the class at the end list.
Inside one of the many lecture halls of Beacon sat a certain white-haired heiress. She sat quietly, jotting down in her notes about the lecture the professor was giving. Or rather, she was trying anyway. Weiss Schnee was seated at the front row along with three other girls. And of those three, the two to her left were rather distracting. A girl with black hair with a red tint and a girl with long blonde hair. Both of these girls whispered and giggled to themselves as they passed weird doodles of their classmates and professors to each other. While that was happening, the girl to Weiss's right was staying completely silent. Though, she was silent for a different reason. The black haired girl had her face buried in a book of a questionable nature.
Weiss sighed. This was definitely her team. She decided to continue being the responsible one and focus on the class. However, that wouldn't happen as she saw one of the drawings the girl in red was holding. Weiss quickly snatched the paper out of the girl's hands.
"Is this supposed to be me?" She whispered harshly.
"I don't know." The girl threw her arms up in a panic and pointed to the girl next to her. "I got it from Yang."
"Hey, don't try to pin this on me, Ruby. I'm totally innocent in all this." Ruby turned back to face Weiss only to be met with fierce glare.
"I swear I didn't make it."
"Then who did?"
"It was me!" Suddeny, a girl with orange hair popped her head in between Weiss and Ruby; a big grin plastered on her face. She grabbed the drawing and pointed out each detail on it. "This is your little tiara, this is your scar, there's your tail, and-"
"Why do I have a tail?!"
"It's not complete without it."
"I told her the tail wouldn't work." The boy who sat beside the girl commented, his attention still on the class and his notes.
"But you know it goes with the wings and claws, Ren." The orange haired girl whined.
"Don't you think that's a bit...excessive, Nora?" A girl sitting to the left of Nora spoke up. She took the paper and gave it a look, the blonde boy next to her did the same. "Admittedly, it's not such a bad drawing." She handed the paper back and saw Weiss's glare directed at her. "B-but you should apologize right away." She quickly added.
"Fine." Nora groaned.
"Uh, guys... you wanna do this after class? 'Cause everyone's looking right at us." The blonde said as he looked around nervously. The others stopped their bickering to find everyone in the class looking over at them. An awkward silence filled the room before someone muttered a quick insult as they faked a cough to hide it.
"Team RWBY. Team JNPR. I do hope I'm not interrupting anything." The portly instructor asked as he walked in their direction. Both teams straightened themselves as he came.
"Not at all, Professor Port. We were just talking about how much we love this class and your lectures." Yang flashed a smile.
"Ah, yes. Of course. All aspiring Hunters and Huntresses tend to." The man laughed heartily. "Then I'm sure one of you would like be delighted to explain to me the intricacies of the moral of my story." Yang's smile disappeared and the rest of her team quieted down, panicked as they each tried to think up an answer. Sadly, none of them could come up with one. "Come now, Team RWBY. I eagerly await your answer."
"It seems they're at an impasse." A new voice entered the room, which directed everyone's attention to the source. The headmaster of the academy stood at the door, accompanied by Glynda Goodwitch. "Perhaps it would be for the best if you retell your story to the class. Maybe then, they'd find an answer."
"Ah, Professor Ozpin. To what do I owe the honor of your visit? Perhaps you've come to listen in on my tales of heroism?" Professor Port laughed, which garnered a chuckle from Ozpin.
"Not today, Peter. Maybe another time. Right now, I'm merely giving a tour of the grounds to the new student who will be attending from here on." He looked behind him and said, "If you may." As instructed, the new student entered the room. A silver haired boy, dressed in the academy uniform, stepped up beside Ozpin.
"New guy, huh? He's pretty cute. What do you girls think?" Yang said as she turned to her team for their input. However, she noticed Weiss was staring blankly in the direction of the new arrival. "Hey, Weiss. You there? Hello." She waved her hand in front of the her friend's face. Though no reaction was had.
"Right then." The boy smirked as he laid eyes upon what he came for. He stepped forward and took a bow. "Greetings." He spoke aloud and gave his voice an obvious, faux-fancy feel. "Sable Hart, age 18, at your service. I've transferred from Atlas Academy to attend this prestigious school of Hunters. It is a pleasure to be here alongside such talented individuals."
This introduction garnered little reaction from the class, aside from some whispers and someone faking a cough to hide an insult.
"Maybe should have dialed it back a bit." Sable whispered to himself. He stepped back to join Ozpin and Goodwitch.
"As he has said, Sable will be joining us this semester from now on. I do hope you all welcome him to our academy with open arms." The headmaster said as he looked over the students in the class. His gaze rested briefly on a certain heiress before he looked away. The bell signaling the end of the class suddenly rang.
"Ah, it seems that's all our time for today." Professor Port announced as students began to leave. "Remember to complete the assigned reading. You will be tested on it next week."
"Terribly sorry to have taken up your time, Peter." Ozpin and Glynda approached the man, leaving Sable to his own devices.
Sable leaned up against the wall to stay out of the way of exiting students. He ignored the looks of some of the people passing by. His attention at the moment was solely on the white-haired girl who's face was currently buried in her hands.
"Weiss, what's wrong? You're acting kinda weird." Ruby asked. Weiss's teammates were gathered around her.
"It seems like it has something to do with the transfer student." Ruby's black-haired teammate answered. "Maybe she knows him."
"Blake might be right. Weiss isn't usually like this, so it kinda adds up." Yang said. "Well, only one way to snap her out of it." Both Yang and Ruby exchanged looks and nodded.
Ruby grabbed Weiss's shoulders and proceeded to shake her.
"Wake up, Weiss!"
"Would you stop that, you dunce!"
"Yay! She's back!"
"What are you even talking about?"
"We thought we lost you when the new guy showed up." Yang answered, pointing in Sable's direction. "By the way, he's coming over here."
"It's been a while, milady."
Weiss spun around to come face to face with Sable, who was sitting on the desk with a smug grin on his face.
"Yo."
"Did he just call you-" Yang cut her comment short as Weiss grabbed the boy's arm and ran out of the room at a blinding speed, leaving her team very confused. "...What just happened?"
"She just ran out the room with the new guy." Blake answered.
"Weiss, wait up!"
"Ruby, wait!" Yang pleaded as she chased after the girl. Blake watched the two in amusement before deciding to gather up her teams belongings and follow them out.
Ozpin smiled briefly at the scene before returning to the conversation he was having with Goodwitch and Port.
"It seems this semester will be getting a little more interesting."
Ruby and Yang burst out of the room and into the student-filled hallway. Before Ruby could get any further, Yang grabbed the girl's red cape and pulled her in.
"Ruby, where are even going?"
"To find Weiss."
"We don't even know where she went though."
"Maybe we can ask if anyone saw her." Blake suggested as she joined up with the two. "She couldn't have gotten that far."
"I think we saw her heading to for the rooftop." The three girls were approached by Nora and her team. The one in the group who had answered their question was Ren. "Did something happen? She looked like she was in a hurry."
"That's what we're trying to find out." Blake said. "She took the transfer student and ran."
"So she's that way then! C'mon, sis!" Ruby ran for the stairs leading up, followed by Yang. Several students walking the halls quickly moved out of the way as the two made their way though the crowds.
"I should get going as well." Blake said as she began to follow her friends, leaving the members of Team JNPR alone.
"Wait, she went to the roof? Alone? With the new guy?!" The blonde yelled.
"Seems like it. Oh, I wonder what they could be doing up there, alone, with nobody to bother them." Nora smiled playfully. Before she could say anything else, the blonde started sprinting for the rooftop.
"Jaune, wait! Don't do anything rash!" The red-haired girl ran after the boy, trying to stop him. Ren and Nora were left alone as the others went to find out what was happening.
"Let's go to the library and-"
"C'mon, Ren! Let's go see the drama!" Nora ran for the rooftop as well, dragging her friend along the way.
"Ow. Didn't need to pull my wrist so hard."
Sable rubbed his sore limb. Weiss had dragged him away immediately after he had walked up to her and her team. He was now currently up against the wall with the girl interrogating him.
"Why are you here?"
"Oh, that?" Sable looked away nervously from the angered girl. Attempting to form an answer that wouldn't make her angrier. "Because I missed you?" He smiled sheepishly as he gave her an answer. Though his reply was met with Weiss's ice-cold glare. A look that, while not new to Sable, told him that she was not going to stand for any of his jokes and the price for doing any more will be steep. "Okay, jeez. No need to kill me." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his Scroll to show her the article about the White Fang in Vale from a few days prior. "Your father's a bit... worried. So he sent me to keep you safe."
"By having you enroll in the same academy?"
"Probably so I can keep a closer you. Who knows what the Fang'll do if they get their hands on you here." Sable said with a shrug. "Look, I don't really know. Your old man kinda sprung this on me at the last second."
"Listen here, I don't need his help. And I sure as heck don't need yours." Weiss said as she pushed her finger against Sable's chest. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."
"I know that, but it's just as a precaution." Sable said with a sigh. "Plus, I'm still your bodyguard. I have to do what I can to keep you safe. Whether you like it or not."
"Well, I don't. So why don't you call and tell him I have everything under control?"
"Yeah, not gonna happen."
"And why is that?"
"Because those are your father's orders. You know I can't disobey him. And..." Sable paused in the middle of his sentence. He took a deep breath and looked at Weiss; his expression changed to a solemn one. Without hesitation he began to lean closer towards her. "I wasn't lying when I said I missed you." Weiss's face grew red upon hearing such a statement.
"Wh- what are you-" She grew more flustered as she attempted to move away, but she was stopped when Sable got a hold of her hand. The boy moved closer to the point where their faces were just inches apart.
"Relax." He whispered into her ear. "I'm just giving them a show." He calmly stepped away from Weiss, smirking at the girl's flustered expression. He looked away and spoke aloud. "You guys know eavesdropping on a private conversation isn't exactly model Huntsmen behavior, right?" He then kicked the wall to open it up all the way which caused the intruders to fall out. "Huh, didn't expect that to work... Hey, aren't these guys your-"
Quickly regaining her composure as she heard the grunts, Weiss guided her view to where noises came from. She instantly recognized it as her teammates.
"Ruby! Yang! How long were you two there?!"
"Hey, Weiss." The red-hooded girl meekly greeted the heiress as she and her sister recovered from their fall. Just as they got up, Blake walked onto the scene.
"Blake too?" Before anything could be said, another person appeared from the door. The person being the blonde-haired boy from class.
"Don't do it, Weiss!" He was bent over panting, clearly exhausted from running all the way up to the spot. When he looked up, he noticed nothing was actually going on. "Oh... uh, hi?" Immediately after, another person arrived. This time being the red-haired girl who was chasing after the boy.
"See, Jaune? There was nothing to worry about."
"Hi, Jaune. Hi, Pyrrha." Ruby happily greeted the two.
"Just how many more people are going to show up?" Weiss asked, seemingly irritated at the number of people intruding on a once private affair.
"Let's go, Jaune! Kick his butt!" And as if on cue, Nora loudly burst out from the doorway while dragging Ren onto the scene with her. However, like Jaune, she quieted down when she noticed nothing was going on. "Aw, did we miss the drama?"
"I don't know why I bother asking."
"See, this is why you don't just drag someone away out of the blue." Sable said to Weiss. He then looked at the group before him. "I think introductions are needed here. It might help sort this situation out faster."
"Let me." Weiss sighed. "Everyone, this is Sable... my bodyguard. Sable, these are my friends and teammates."
"It is a pleasure to meet you all. I must thank you all for putting up with my master for these past couple pf months." Sable bowed deeply to the group.
"Just what do you mean by 'putting up with me'?" Weiss asked as she nonchalantly grabbed a hold of her servant's ear.
"Owowow! I didn't mean anything malicious by it, milady!" Sable cried. "Please let go! I thought we agreed on no more ear pulling!"
"Should we... maybe help out or...?" Jaune asked as he and the group watched the bodyguard's misfortune.
After that little interaction and getting Sable personally introduced to the others, the group began to sort out the misunderstandings. The sun had begun to set when they moved over to the benches overlooking the courtyard below. Jaune and his team had chose to leave due to Pyrrah feeling that they would be intruding on Team RWBY's personal affairs if they had stayed.
Sable leaned back against the railing while the others sat at the bench.
"Wow, so you've been her bodyguard for four years?" Ruby asked.
"Actually it'll be five years soon." Sable said as he held up five fingers.
"That long, huh?" Yang said before a mischievous smirk appeared on her face. "Then that must mean you knowa lot about her."
"I'd be a bad bodyguard if I didn't. Why do you ask?" Sable smiled at Yang as if he knew exactly why she asked.
"Oh, just wanting to get to know a friend better."
"Then I'm going to need some kind of payment for that info."
"And what kind would that be?" Yang's tone turned quite seductive. She had also begun to lean closer to Sable as the latter did the same.
"How's a date sound?"
"Sounds like a price I'd be willing to pay."
Right before things could get intimate, Weiss broke in between the two, pushing them apart.
"Okay, that's enough out of you two. You're making me sick." Weiss said. Her face showing a clear expression of disgust. "Also, you're scaring Ruby." She pointed to the girl, whom was currently hiding her face with her hood.
"A-are they done yet?"
"Don't get so worked up, Princess. I'm just having fun." Yang said.
"Yeah, I guess we should get back on topic."
"You were just telling us why you were here." Blake said, trying to get the conversation back on track.
"That's right. Long story short, Master Schnee enrolled me here to keep an eye on his little girl in case the Fang tries anything funny."
"And this was all because of the incident down at the docks?"
"Correct. So, starting from now I am an official Hunter-in-training alongside milady and her friends."
"Ugh. Don't remind me." Weiss groaned.
"Well, any friend of Weiss is a a friend of mine!" Ruby exclaimed happily as she jumped out of seat. "Welcome to Beacon, Sable!"
"Yeah, Ruby's got the right attitude."
"We're glad to have you with us, Sable."
"Heh, thanks for the welcome, girls." Sable smiled at the team. Weiss sighed is response.
"Fine. I might as well get used to having you around again." She said, turning her head away from the boy.
"Oh, don't be so cold, Weiss." Yang said as she wrapped an arm around the heriess's shoulders. "You gotta learn to loosen up, y'know!"
"Hey, get your hands off me!"
Sable watched in amusement as Weiss and her teammates bickered amongst themselves.
"So these are Weiss's friends?" He then turned around; his gaze changing toward the setting sun and the sight of both the academy below and the city off in the distance. "Guess things are going to get a lot more interesting from here..."
