"So... Dust... isn't just plain dirt like I thought."

The Dust Theories class with Peach was certainly more interesting to Tiella than she'd initially expected. She thought it would be like the previous classes where they did nothing but sit down and listen to the Professor babble, with the occasional questions to some students.

Peach made it clear to her—and likely all her students—that if they don't pay attention in class, things could go from 0 to 100 real fucking fast. Case in point, the shattered beakers and burn marks on the desks.

"From what I got, Dust is highly volatile. I wonder what would happen if I mixed it with gunpowder?"

Tiella wondered about possible ways she could use Dust with her kit while returning the lab equipment back to their respective shelves.

"30k a month for carrying a bunch of stuff around. This is easier money than I thought it'd be."

She dusted her gloves off and walked back to where Peach was sitting, which was by her desk.

"Though it's only the first day. The other two didn't really ask me to do anything yet, just letting me observe."

"That'll be for today, Tiella, good work!" Peach said while compiling papers from the class.

"Thanks, Professor," Tiella said, giving the professor a casual smile.

"I know you're my helper and all, but if you have questions about Dust, I'm your go-to girl!"

"I'll keep that in mind Professor. Thanks again." Tiella turned to leave after giving Peach a casual wave.

Tiella left the room and continued down the hall where she believed the Combat Class was.

She was deep in thought, trying to process everything she learned in the previous class. There were a lot of things that went over her head, but it was understandable in her case as she not only joined a little later than the students did, but also because nothing like it can be found on Earth.

"Dust... huh," she said contemplatively.

She thought about Dust and how to implement it to her own style some more until she shelved it for a later date, deciding that she knew too little to start experimenting on her own about it. She remembered that her next class was to be Glynda's Combat Class, and figured she'd play a harmless prank.

So, she hurried back to her room and grabbed a little something, dismantled it, emptying its contents on an empty bottle she found in the small cabinet under the sink. She then cleaned it up a bit and reassembled it.

After making sure that the little thing was emptied thoroughly, she pocketed it and hurried over to Glynda's class with a big toothy grin.


"Running late on the last class of your first day already?"

Glynda said, arms akimbo, as she watched Tiella enter the room and walk to the center of the stage where she stood.

"Sorry Glynda, I ran back to my room for something. Real important."

"Never mind that, stand over there and introduce yourself."

"Yeah, I'll do it in a bit, but first..."

Tiella walked over to Glynda, grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around so they had their backs facing the class, which got the entire class confused and bubbling into low murmurs. She whispered in Glynda's ear as softly as she could, making sure that not even any nearby Faunus could hear her words.

The students couldn't tell what they were talking about or what they were doing, only seeing that they were whispering animatedly.

"No!" Glynda whispered in a very anxious voice. "That's dangerous! You can't just do something like that!"

"It's why I'm asking permission, to let you know first!" Tiella said, grin reaching from ear to ear. "Come on, Glynda, it'll be a good test!"

"And what is this test supposed to achieve?"

"It's gonna be a real valuable life lesson."

"..."

"..."

"...are you positive that you've emptied that thing?"

"Yep. It's still a little damp on the inside, too."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Super sure?"

"Super sure."

"I can't believe I'm letting you talk me into this."

"Yes! You're not gonna regret it!"

"I already am."

The class saw the tall girl do a little fist pump before turning to face them with a casual smile. They were confused at first but then they saw Glynda's tired look and began wondering what they'd been talking about, but more importantly—what sort of relationship the two had.

"Uh, guys?" Jaune said in a low voice to his friends and team. "Is it just me who's nervous about Tiella right now?"

"What do you mean, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked from beside him.

"I just have a bad feeling, I guess," Jaune said, slightly anxious. "I remember seeing that same expression before she took care of Cardin and his gang."

Pyrrha wondered what Jaune was worried about, trusting in her leader's instincts. Though before she could wonder any further, Tiella caught her attention.

Tiella eyed the students on their seats with a casual smile on her face, hiding the fact that she was also excited to see how Beacon's batch of first years would do in spars.

Standing coolly with her arms akimbo, still keeping the casual smile up, she reached to her back, removed a pin, then swiftly tossed the little something she'd been hiding into the middle of the classroom before shouting,

"GRENADE!" in the loudest and most serious voice she could muster. A strong commanding tone that brought tension to everyone in the room.

Time felt like it had slowed down to every student in the room for the duration of the grenade's short flight.

Everyone's eyes widened in panic, some already in the middle of jumping away from the anticipated blast radius.

Some students screamed in fear before they could get to move. Very few had a hardened look on their faces as if thinking of another way to deal with said grenade other than jumping away and take cover from where they were.

Some students were already running to catch the grenade to throw it out the window.

And the one student that caught the grenade... hid it under himself.

"Run!" the boy yelled in an extremely distressed voice.

"Go away!" His cowering figure could be seen hunched over,

"Take cover!" shaking nervously in anticipation for the blast that never came.

There was silence in the classroom. Everyone that jumped away and hid peeked to where the boy was hunched on the floor. They all shared looks of confusion with each other, then back to the boy on the floor.

A short moment later, their attention was taken by loud clapping sounds accompanied by jovial laughter at the front of the room.

"Bravo, Jaune!" Tiella walked over to the still hunched Jaune, though his distress was instantly replaced by confusion. "You have the makings of a wonderful meat-shield," she said after taking a knee to put a hand over Jaune in an attempt to calm him down.

"Wha-?" Jaune said shakily. "So... it was a fake?"

"Nah, that's a real grenade," she said nonchalantly.

"What!?" and Jaune unintentionally threw it back to Tiella, who caught it before it hit her face.

"Relax, it's a dud," she said while pocketing said grenade.

"A-... A dud?" Jaune asked incredulously.

"Yep." popping the 'p' sound. "I emptied it earlier just for this one moment. And I gotta say Jaune, what you did was pretty hilarious."

Jaune shifted postures on the floor, now leaning on his hands placed behind him for support. "It was just a prank..?"

"Kinda?"

"W-What do you mean, 'kinda'!? That was scary! People could have gotten hurt an-"

"And you saved everyone by being a fucking idiot. Bravo, Jaune!" Tiella said with a big grin on her face, patting the Jaune on the head. "You could've just kicked the 'nade out the window. Hell, you could have just waited for your faster friends to do just that for you. Ain't that right teams?"

Tiella said while giving team RWBY and the rest of JNPR a look.

"But you didn't. You instead played the hero."

"I-I panicked!"

"Granted your Aura could have protected you buuuut..." Tiella drawled, looking to Glynda to address her. "What are the odds of survival when shielding a grenade like this with your body?"

Glynda coolly answered while adjusting her glasses, "On an average individual's Aura, there's a fairly high chance of instantly being drained just from the blast force."

Jaune swallowed thickly from what he'd just heard.

"And that doesn't include the shrapnel, now does it?" Tiella asked, her casual grin turning to a mad grin with slits for eyes as she looked back to Jaune.

"Some of the shrapnel would shred the remaining dredges of Aura left after the blast, leaving you with little to no defense against the remaining shrapnel that will inevitably plant themselves into your body," Glynda answered sternly.

Jaune's voice was caught in his throat, not knowing how to react.

"Leading to a very high chance of death by blood loss." Glynda finished grimly.

At this point, Jaune could hardly breathe from the prospect that, had it been a real grenade, he would have already died then and there. He looked at his hands that were shaking uncontrollably and felt cold sweat drip down his neck and forehead.

"It would be a slow and painful death depending on the number of holes. As befitting of a stupid meat shield." Tiella ridiculed in her mad, mad grin.

Jaune could only stare into the golden slits of the mad woman before her, not knowing what to think or do. On one hand, he was terrified of what had just happened—or what would have happened had it been real. On the other, he tried to understand what Tiella was actually trying to pull other than a laugh for herself.

"But he tried to save us!" Ruby said, standing in front of her desk in a challenging manner. "If that had been a real grenade, he would have saved us!"

"You're absolutely correct, Ruby," Tiella said in acknowledgment.

"Then why are you ridiculing him like th-"

"Because it was a stupid move." Tiella immediately interrupted, the casualness and amusement all but left her voice.

"Bu-" Ruby tried to argue.

"It's okay, Ruby," Jaune said while standing up. "She's right."

"She's right. It was a stupid move." Jaune thought, chastising himself, realizing that he definitely could have done things differently had he stopped to think. "Just like she said, I could have left it to Ren or Pyrrha, or even Nora to swat away the grenade. But I just had to play the hero. And it would have been the end of me if she was serious."

"But Jaune!"

"Really, Ruby, it's okay." Jaune gave Ruby a sincere look. One that gave Ruby no choice but to follow his words.

Ruby looked down after seeing the look on Jaune's face, resigned to doing nothing but clench the hems of her skirt tightly in frustration, as he requested.

"Because next time, I'll be sure to do the smart thing," Jaune said in a smile, faking confidence as he dared to stare back into Tiella's sharp gold.

Tiella looked back with her casual smile at Jaune once more and said nothing for a short moment. Then she extended her hand in front, holding it for Jaune to take.

"I'll hold you to that," Tiella said in a voice that was uncharacteristically gentle of her and an even more uncharacteristically warm expression.

This caught Jaune off guard for a moment, mesmerized by the tall girl's sudden show of sincerity. He stared face flushed for a moment before realizing the proverbial olive branch that was the extended hand that was offered to him, which he graciously took.

The moment Jaune took her hand, she grinned, back to her usual casualness and chuckled.

The front row students along with Team RWBY and the rest of Team JNPR watched the exchange in mild shock, wondering if she really did all that just for a prank as she said so.

Not a moment later, Glynda coughed into her hand to catch everyone's attention.

"It's nice to see that you'll be striving to improve for the better, Mr. Arc, but we've wasted enough time already." Glynda finished as she gave Tiella a glare.

To which Tiella only looked away from with her hands on the back of her head, whistling a random tune casually.

"And the same goes for everyone here. Acts of heroism need not always end in self-sacrifice." Glynda said coolly while adjusting her glasses and gave a long hard glance around the class.

"There is always a better way."


As soon as everybody's gotten over Tiella's prank/lesson, everyone returned to their seats.

Beside Jaune, Pyrrha leaned close and spoke in a soft voice, "I'm proud of you, Jaune. Thank you for saving us." in her ever gentle tone, while taking her partner's hand into hers.

"Yeah, Jaune! You did great!" Ruby said from a few seats away in a sort of loud whisper. "You were just like the heroes in my books!"

Jaune looked back to his team and found Nora giving her two thumbs up while saying, "You're the best. Leader. Ever!"

while Ren simply gave him a grateful nod and smile, "Thank you, Jaune."

"Yeah, thanks, Vomit Boy!" Yang whisper-yelled from her seat which was a little further from Ruby. Blake also joined in by giving Jaune her own grateful smile and nod.

Even Weiss dropped her usual act to express her own gratitude... "It would be greatly unbecoming of me to not express my gratitude for your attempts to shield us from harm." ...somewhat.

"So, thank you, Jaune Arc. I will always remember this day." she finished in a small, grateful smile.

So she can drop the act after all, what a sweet Ice Queen.

"Quiet, you!" was Weiss' sudden irrational thought.

And surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, even the students behind them who he never really spoke to before expressed their gratitude as well.

"Yeah, thanks, Arc!"

"Don't listen to the Professional Bully, Jaune."

"Yeah, Arc, you were actually pretty awesome back there! And I thought you were just a chump!"

Jaune was caught off guard by the sudden outpour of appreciation that he was still in the middle of receiving. He looked back to his partner, who gave her another warm smile in response.

"So, be proud of yourself too, Jaune. Like we are of you." was all Pyrrha said.

It was at this point that Jaune couldn't help but well up in tears, holding himself back from crying in his seat so as to not be a sobbing wreck in class.

"T-Thanks, guys," Jaune said while his voice was nearly caught in his throat from the swell of emotion.

"Thanks, Tiella."


Tiella was standing next to Glynda as they both watched the class shower Jaune in praise and gratitude.

"Can you believe this sap-fest happening right in the middle of your class?" Tiella said to Glynda in a voice low enough that only they would be able to hear. She then scoffed and continued,

"Kids, am I right?"

Glynda didn't answer. She only pinched the bridge of her nose, inhaled deeply, and muttered the words under her breath, "This is what I get for letting you talk me into this."

"Oh, come on! Isn't it great? You now have one less kid with a hero complex!"

"Just introduce yourself already, please," she said, exasperated already.

"I'm pretty sure all of them already know me as the Professional Bully," Tiella said teasingly, but then she saw the glare of pure rage in Glynda's eyes and the way she held her riding crop tightly on one hand.

"But yeah, you're right, introductions are important." she swallowed thickly and hurried along to the middle of the stage.

Tiella made one loud clap to catch everyone's attention and also to stop them from making a sobbing mess of Jaune.

"Uh, I'm sure you already know me." She said, giving everyone a glance in the room. Unsurprisingly, she got irked reactions sent her way. "But the name's Tiella. I'll be an assistant to Professor Goodwitch in some of her classes, much like with the other professors."

She separated her hands and spread her arms in a sort of welcoming gesture. "Though, during this class, I'll also be in the roster for spars from today onwards."

Pyrrha's eyes widened at the news. She, as the four-time Champion of the Mistral Regional Tournament, was very interested to see what she saw this morning against an actual opponent. More specifically, her.

When she was doing her morning training in the gym earlier, she saw Tiella walk in with the bunny girl Faunus, who she believed was called Velvet, and she had a good look at Tiella's lithe build at the time. It wasn't the type to heavily rely on muscle mass for explosive power as Nora or Yang did.

In fact, you could say that Tiella seemed quite slim. Though even that couldn't mar her shapely figure.

What she saw from Tiella was similar to what she saw from Ren. A speed and agility based build that puts emphasis on quick strikes for disorienting the opponent, leaving them open for a devastating blow to finish. Though, based on what she did to that punching bag, she was a lot less graceful and elegant with her moves—opting a more straightforward approach. She also seemed to pack a much larger punch by a long shot.

She couldn't understand at first how simple jabs, hooks, and straights using only short to mid-ranged windups could hit so hard, so she observed her movements for a while and found something incredible.

Tiella would spin, ever so slightly, from her toe, going up to her sole, then ankle, followed by her leg, then knee, thigh, hips, waist, chest, shoulder, elbow, forearm, and finally her fist.

It was the same principle of striking she would sometimes use, but it was on a whole other level to what she was used to seeing. She'd seen masters pull the same thing off easily and at a much more refined form than Tiella did, but it was only during one hit demonstrations on wooden dummies. Never on live combat and chained in combos.

And the speed of which she struck with the technique! It was no exaggeration to say that she must have repeated those very same moves tens of thousands of times upon thousands of hours. It was at rates that seemed blurry even to her trained eyes!

How someone just slightly older could reach a level far beyond her peers already was a mystery to her, but it was something she was very willing to explore and experience for herself.

And so, quietly where she sat, her blood pumped. Eager to have a chance to dance on the same floor against the infamous Professional Bully.

And unbeknownst to her, just a few seats away to her left, a certain blonde brawler felt just the same, if not more.

"I heard her talk to Goodwitch about fighting some invincible monster for hours in a battle of attrition in her room. So, if what she's saying is true, then she's one hell of a monster herself." Yang thought with a ferocious grin, eyes wide in anticipation, unconsciously clenching her fists and bouncing her leg in uncontainable excitement.

"So, with that, I'll be in your care," Tiella said with a big wide grin, finished with her introductions.

"Now that introductions are over, we will begin with the first match of the day," Glynda said coolly, back to wearing her professional face while holding on to a large touchscreen tablet.

"Again, for our first 4 matches, it will be random selections," she said as two large holographic screens appeared behind her. "And after that will be the Volunteer matches until the class ends."

The holographic screens showed two blank frames that started shuffling as she explained.

"Is everyone ready?" Glynda asked while adjusting her glasses.

The first image showed Cardin Winchester.

And almost immediately, Cardin stood from his seat and cheered with his team.

During team CRDL's sausage fest, the second screen kept shuffling until it produced the first match's second contender, which drew excited murmurs from the student seats.

Celestiella V. Margory.

As soon as Cardin saw the image, he immediately glared at the person herself. Still remembering the pain and embarrassment he suffered through while unconscious just yesterday.

He rushed to the locker room behind the stage to prepare for his revenge against the giant red bitch. He'll be the one doing the humiliation this time.

Meanwhile, Tiella was just happy she gets to go first. So, she sauntered off to the locker room and changed into a more spar-worthy attire.

After a couple of minutes, Cardin came out of the locker room in full battle attire with his signature armor and mace. Tiella on the other hand...

"Hey! Weren't you the boy I thrashed yesterday?" she said arrogantly, walking out the locker room wearing her signature big grin while doing light stretches.

Glynda stared at Tiella with a blank expression, unsure of what to make of her attire.

The class stared at her for a moment before they erupted in cheers.

Particularly the boys.

And some of the girls.

For Tiella's sparring gear, she chose her sports bra and shorts. She'd taken her gloves off as well as her pants, boots, and socks, opting to go both barehanded and barefoot.

"Tch. You'll be the one getting the thrashing this time, you giant bitch." Cardin responded, wielding his mace threateningly. "You just got a lucky shot from behind, you fucking coward!"

And the crowd goes "Ooooohhh!".

Tiella sighed in response, faking tiredness of the situation. "Better buckle the fuck up boy because you're going on another ride on the Tiella-Go-Round."

"Where's your weapon?" Cardin asked. "Wouldn't want this to end quickly for you, now would we?"

"Weapon? In a spar?" Tiella looked to Glynda curiously. "Do you take spars seriously here?"

"You're free to fight however you wish, so long as you won't regret it," Glynda answered coolly.

"I'm good, then."

"Ooooohhh!"

"You fucking bitch. Is that your excuse for when I beat you to a pulp?"

"I dunno, but it sure sounds like most of the bitching's coming from you, little boy."

And the crowd goes "Ooooohhh!" once more, followed by jovial laughter.

"Now, students." Glynda chimed in before the match instead becomes a full-on trash talking battle. "We all know the rules. There is no time limit and the first one whose Aura dips into the red loses. Nothing short of fatal and crippling attacks can be used, other than that, you may go all out."

Glynda eyed both fighters critically. "Are both fighters ready?"

Cardin was glaring at Tiella until she walked closer to him and extended her fist towards him, which then made him both angry and confused.

"Come on, kid," Tiella said, inviting Cardin over with a wave of her head. "Don't you show sportsmanship around here?"

"Go fuck yourself." Cardin all but spat.

Tiella looked at him with a blank face for a second, before pursing her lips and nodding her head. "Suit yourself."

Glynda watched Tiella go back to her place and take a fighting stance, and not a moment later,

"Begin!"

Cardin was about to go charging in with an overhead swing of his mace but paused when he saw Tiella do some more stretching and flexing of her arms, legs, and back.

He was insulted for a bit, thinking that this bitch wasn't taking her seriously at all, but then he saw the chords of steel that were apparently her muscles popping up as she tensed her body, conditioning it for a fight. His eyes hardened, refusing to let the show intimidate him.

She then stretched her neck while doing the same with her chest and back, and then cracked her knuckles before speaking.

"Alright, I thought you were just a chump but looks like you have manners after all." She said with a wide grin.

"No excuses for when you lose, bitch."

"Well?" she taunted, inviting him to come at her with a few waves of her hand. "Let's go, baby."

And Cardin charged as he originally intended.


Tiella was easily dodging Cardin's swings with minimal movement of her body, barely stepping away from where she stood.

"Figures. A big weapon and heavy armor equal sitting fucking duck." she thought boredly, observing her opponents every move and mannerisms before making her move.

She ducked slightly, moving out of the way of a swing that nearly caught her head.

"This poor sap doesn't know how to fight another person."

She thought for a moment while looking at Cardin's face that was steadily getting angrier and angrier.

"Stop running and fight back you stupid bitch!"

"I wonder how hard my Aura can handle?" Tiella thought, so she stood there, bracing herself for a swing that went for her midsection. "There's gotta be a reason why they allow actual weapons in spars, right?"

The strike sent her flying across the stage and skidding on the floor.

Cardin smirked, glad that he was finally able to land a hit on the slippery bitch, though his minor celebration didn't last long.

She stood back up with a kip up and checked herself all over for any injuries, ignoring Cardin who was already charging at her, holding his mace with one hand for a large swing from the right.

"Amazing... that should have broken my ribs along with my arm and back already! But I felt nothing more than a forceful bump!" Tiella grinned madly while giving herself another once-over.

"Aura's..."

And without looking, she took one big step close into Cardin's range where his mace would miss and any swinging would be harder for him. She gave him a wide-eyed grin which sent "Oh fuck" signals to his brain, making him reflexively move out of the way, however it was already too late.

She partially covered his field of vision with her open left palm, then sent an uppercut with all her might using her right, surprised to note that it was far faster than she ever expected she'd be able to do, testing the upper limits of how much her passive Aura enhancement raised her physical speed and strength.

The blow sent Cardin flying dozens of meters straight into the air, before landing on his head just a few meters where Tiella stood.

"...amazing," she said to herself while looking at her hands in that ever-present battle-mad grin, in no small amount of astonishment.

"I've created a monster."

Was Glynda's only thought as she coolly watched Tiella grinning crazily in place. She silently feared for the boy's remaining dredges of dignity as she watched Tiella walk over to Cardin who was groggily getting up from the floor.

"Oum bless his soul."

Tiella tightly grabbed Cardin by the shoulders and helped him up, dusting his armor off and then giving him a friendly pat on the shoulders. The still groggy Cardin couldn't understand what was happening, so, he was left watching Tiella sending him a friendly smile...

"You know, little boy... I didn't need Aura to beat you..."

which then turned into another mad grin as she took a step back, took a large wind up with her back, left arm relaxed and fist partially closed.

"But now I'm gonna fuckin' tear ya a new one!"

At that moment, she was akin to a machine. A high-powered, well-oiled machine that spun from her large right toe all the way to the relaxed fist that was hurtling itself at blinding speeds towards Cardin's chest armor.

Cardin couldn't see the incoming attack, but he knew where it would be landing, so he raised his mace just in time to block the blow.

Her muscles were relaxed.

Her mind was calm.

She needed to be if she wanted to reach greater speeds.

And so, starting from the ever so slightly rotating toe, up to her half-closed fist, she was without tension.

Up until just before the moment of impact, when her fist crashed into the shaft of Cardin's mace.

Her toes gripped the floor tightly, her legs and thighs tightened, her butt clenched, her abdomen stiff, her chest hardened, her back and her arms up until her fists firmed. Chords of steel rippled through her body, springing all the tension she'd collected during the motion to release it all on one point.

The blow sent the weapon flying away, even as her fist continued to rush into Cardin's chest plate.

There was a loud clang that was heard from the stage, followed by a loud thud on a nearby wall.

Cardin was off the stage and partially planted into the wall, already unconscious with a visibly large dent over his plate armor.

Glynda's eyes were wide. She was stunned as she barely saw the whole thing happen, only registering the punch as soon as she heard the sound and saw Tiella's form instantly relaxing not even a second after making contact with Cardin's armor—her left arm pulled back close to her body.

The entire class was quiet for a moment, not understanding what had just happened. They watched silently as Tiella stood relaxed, arms akimbo, then suddenly reaching her right arm slightly to her side with an open palm, catching Cardin's mace that they hadn't even noticed was sent flying.

Team RWBY didn't know how to react, it was their first time seeing someone in class knocked out after two punches.

Team JNPR also didn't know how to react, it was their first time watching a match where they couldn't see or understand how the finishing blow worked.

Glynda eyed Tiella confusedly, then Cardin worriedly. Then she remembered that she was supposed to be officiating the spar, so she looked at the Aura levels of both fighters.

Tiella was at 79%, still in the green. Cardin, as she feared, however, was at 0%.

In a stern and loud voice, Glynda yelled, "The winner is Cardin Winchester! Celestiella Margory is disqualified!"

The class was confused by the verdict, so they immediately looked to Cardin's image on the first screen.

"Team CRDL," Glynda yelled to get the boys' attention and continued in a commanding tone, "get your leader to the nurse's office immediately! Now!" urging the boys to action.

Glynda then angrily walked over to Tiella who was standing slightly wide-eyed at the verdict, already understanding what she'd likely done wrong. She grabbed Tiella's arm tightly and spoke in a hushed, angry voice.

"You. You're coming with me after class ends."


AN: Hello Again!

That's one week of uploading one chapter a day of Lost Star.

I'll be taking a couple days break to get back on some of my other hobbies while at the same time collecting material to continue more of Tiella's Slice of Life story in Remnant.

Reviews, please!