RWBY: We Were Family
Beacon Academy
(1 day after the Beacon Dance)

"Ugh, your kidding me right!? Cole groaned as he walked behind his brother inside the long passageway. "I can't even hang out with Velvet, because of this!"
"Keep your voice down, we're in the presence of higher authority" Kyle huffed angrily. "Prof. Ozpin called us to speak with him, it may be something important!"

"DO YOU KNOW HOW THAT LOOKS IN THE MIDDLE OF CLASS!?"

"Stop yelling, or I'll give you a reason to" Kyle said raising his fist.

"S-Shut up…" Cole growled under his breath.

They made their way down the corridor before stopping outside a hallway near Glynda Goodwitch's office.

After several minutes passed, they heard footsteps clacking as Glynda came by. "The Headmaster will see you now" she told the brothers. The two stood up before walking to a rather large door.

"Thanks, " Kyle replied. Glynda smiled before turning to walk off. Cole stepped forth and promptly shoved the door open.

"Ah, gentleman...please. Come in" said a voice.

Both of them froze as they saw Professor Ozpin standing behind his desk.

"Don't be shy now"

In front of his desk were two leather seats,

The Voltio brothers made their way in before sitting down in separate chairs respectively.

"What can we do for you Professor?" Kyle asked.

Taking a sip from his mug, he looked over them and smiled lightly.

"I believe the matter is more of what can I do for YOU"

"How so?"

"I've noticed that you two registered under the team name MECK."

"Yeah, sweet right?" Cole asked abruptly.

"But…..you are the only ones who seem to be actively partaking on missions, combat , and the overall duties of huntsmen in training" Ozpin said sternly.

There was a long pause.

"What does this mean?" Kyle asked. "Is it a bad thing?"

"Hmm…." Ozpin thought.

He took a sip of his drink before walking around his desk, slowing pacing around the room.

"I've decided to make an acception." He concluded. "The two of you will be on a new team"

"But…..team MECK!?" Cole cried. "We're awesome!"

"I know what I said, and I was mistaken" Ozpin said firmly. Your teammates hail from another school, Haven Academy"

"Well...now that you point it out Professor, it does seems pretty sketchy to me. They don't seem very social, and I haven't seen them hang around with the other students much" Kyle said to him.

"Hmm, they are quite mysterious. Mercury and Emerald was it?" He replied. "We don't have anything on file about them anywhere"

"Uh...sir?" Kyle said.

"Kyle likes her!" Cole yelled, grinning as he turned to look at his brother.

Ah, I see…" Ozpin nodded slowly. "We've all been there before"

"That's not…" Kyle began. He gave up, clenching his fists. He would let Cole play his childish game for now.

"I know you two may be somewhat disappointed, but see this as an opportunity" Ozpin told them.

"We don't work best as a team" Cole said.

"Work as a pair and build your strength and knowledge of each other's abilities." the Professor advised.

"Well…..okay then" Cole said. "I still want a cool name though!"

Kyle was getting tired of Cole's uncouth outbursts.

There was an incident last evening at the CCT Tower….a data breach possibly" Ozpin stated. "If, you don't mind me asking...when was the last time you saw your 'teammates' alive and in the flesh?'

"I….I don't remember"

"Neither do I…..but...very observant, Professor" Kyle stated.

"I wanted Cinder to be on our team….."

Ignoring his brother, Kyle embraced the brief silence in the room before speaking again.

"Just…..the two of us?" .

Ozpin took a long sip from his mug while his looking out his window. It overlooked the entirety of Beacon, if not Vale.

"No" he finally replied.

Breathing sighs of relief, both of them did their best not to show any content.

Smiling, Ozpin turned back to sit at his desk.

"Other than that, you two seem to be model students….well for awhile anyway.

"Huh!?"

"S-Sir?

"Hmm…..where should I start?"

Kyle and Cole both looked at each other uneasily.

"I see both of you were enrolled at Signal Academy….I'm not how much that is true, but it seems only you sir mister Kyle were able to get any real primary combat d of course I see you had already made your weapons" Ozpin went on, reading from his scroll.

"Uh, Prof. I'm not feeling too good…" Cole said standing up.

"SIT" Ozpin commanded.

"Now, the two of you have always down well enough in physical endurance and fitness tests...especially you, Cole."

"Heh...gee thanks." Cole gushed. "What can I say? With muscles like th-

"But your academic scores are absolutely dreadful!"

"HUH!?"

"Seriously son, have you not studied a book before...these are very painful results…"

"I, uh…..like the comic books?"

"As do I, but those were from Signal, In which you all flunked. Your Beacon classes all have far better grades ...any reason?"

"He's never accepted my help" Kyle quickly added.

"A secret admirer perhaps?" Ozpin quipped as he drank his coffee.

"No, just..uh, my friends…" Cole lied, knowing it was useless as he had been caught.

"Your grades have suffered IMMENSELY. All you had to do was accept your brother's help...and you could be well off."

"As for you Kyle, you've done exceptional work in all fields, well done" Ozpin said looking at him."

Kyle looked over at his brother, who looked like he might breakdown any second.

"Well...thank you sir, The first semester here has been great and all but Cole has really shown me how to come out of my shell and make new friends"

He looked over at him confused.

"What the hell ar-"

Kyle kicked him softly in the foot.

"So…..you too are working together as often as you should, on and off the battlefield?"

"We'll trust each other" Cole said.

"But you two lied about graduating Signal academy, that isn't a quality of a huntsman.

"I left to be with my mother" Kyle said. "It was during a family crisis"

"Give me a good reason I shouldn't expel both of you then"

"We passed the Initiation" Cole blurted out.

The room went silent.

"Hmm...that you did." Ozpin replied nodding.

After a few minutes of quiet reflection, Ozpin stood up.

"You've both done admirable work at beacon…...helping other teams and each other grow strengthen" he began.

" will help you find two new teammates. I've got many other things to attend to"

"THANK YOU PROFESSOR!" Cole cried leaping out of his chair and groveling at his feet.

"Thank you, sir" Kyle said while remaining seated.

"Think nothing of it, ….just don't disappoint me now boys. The future of Remnant lies within this generation"

Before Professor Ozpin took his leave, he whispered in Glynda's ear...who had entered the room.

"Hello Gentleman, I'm here to find you two of the best candidates for joining your team" Glynda announced walking in.

Cole sat quietly in his leather seat with a dispirited look on his face.

"They must be enrolled or wanting to enroll at Beacon" she continued before walking over to Ozpin's desk.

"Hello . What are the possibilities of having teammates from Beacon?" Kyle asked enthusiastically.

"What's the matter ?"...you look bothered about something" She asked ignoring the question.

Cole remained silent momentarily before opening his mouth to speak.

"He's pouting because he got told off by the professor for his poor grades"

"Am not! Cole yelled at his brother.

"Ozpin can be tricky. Think of his advice as...constructive criticism" Glynda said.

"Huh?"

"He's trying to help you"

"Well..okay. If you say so" Cole sighed reluctantly.

"Oh I know so . It's just your choice but to let him"

"Awesome,what are the options?" Cole asked relaxing in his seat.

Glynda opened her scroll and pulled up a list.

"Well….only two it seems. Liam & Levi Ivanhoe."

"Wha..!? Cole gasped

"THE Ivanhoe brothers?!" Kyle asked, also fumbling himself.

"It appears so"

"Their family legacy is such widely know, they probably were idols at their school." Kyle stated. "But why would they possibly choose Beacon over Haven?!"

"I have no idea...:" Glynda replied. "And a compelling question, but this list shows that they are both enrolled..present or not present."

She continued reading, a worried tone in her voice.

"Liam Ivanhoe has sent approximately twelve letters in hopes of attending beacon. In them, he states he had a falling out with his audacious twin brother Levi. His brother wanted to attend Haven together as they had previously planned. Liam said he wanted to go someplace new, make new friends and take a break from the fame that his surname brought him. Liam told him that he had enrolled them here at Beacon, sparking an argument"."This caused him to be left behind by the last airship at Sanctum Academy, inbound for Beacon" Glynda concluded.

"DAMN! I knew Sanctum was a nice school but…"

"Filter…." Glynda scorned as she squinted at Cole.

"Uh...yes, s-sorry "

"Why hasn't anything been done?" Kyle asked. "Where is he!?"

"Well, I'll put it simply. He is most likely alone, we had no idea where he was until we received his messages. And Initiation had already passed. Yes...he is from a lineage of noble warriors...but please understand nothing mattered until now...we didn't have a team to put him on, It's a puzzling situation."

"Why not just message him back?" Kyle replied.

"I did, he thinks I'm a fangirl stalking him…..or something of the sort"

"Lucky…." Cole whispered.

"Well….what do we do now?" Kyle asked.

"Whatever approach we must be a slow one" she told them. "I doubt he's in the mood to be smothered with attention, he obviously wants a fresh start here at Beacon according to his letters"

"Then what are we waiting for!?" Cole cried. "Let's go find him!"

"Hmm….we're not exactly sure where in the world he is…" she replied in her normal, calm demeanor.

"I know but can't we have the slightest idea where to start?" Kyle asked.

"Vale…"

"Um, that's a rather large area.." Cole replied.

"Guess we better start somewhere…" Kyle added quickly.

"By tracking the messages he last sent on his scroll, I was able to find that he last sent them somewhere in between sky pier three and ten."

Cole promptly leapt out of his chair.

"Well what are we waiting for?! Let's go find him!"

"Well..alright. But please you two be CAREFUL. I know you're only going outside to Vale but it's still a dangerous place at times. Be on your guard."

"Thanks ….we will" Kyle told her confidently.

"You two take the day off..but be smart now. One day's plenty, don't go cutting class " Glynda told them.

Vale

"We've been searching for almost two hours now, this is pointless!" Cole cried.

"Well this is the last alleyway next to sky pier ten." Kyle told him bluntly. "All we need to do is ask around then leave"

"What's the point…"

The kept walking but out of desperation until suddenly they saw a strange sight.

It was a large sewer grate without a manhole.

Suddenly Cole and Kyle felt two hands grab them by the ankles as they fell in.

"No..Augh!"

"Whoaaa!"

"Who are you!?" screamed a voice.

It was dark, but eventually they were able to make out a face.

It was him.

"I'm Kyle Voltio, and this is my brother Cole" Kyle told him calmly. " We were sent by the Beacon council to find you for our team"

"Like that's gonna happen" he scoffed.

Cole could not contain his excitement in meeting the celebrity...but somehow how managed to keep a respectable distance.

"But we're students like you, we want to help you" Kyle told him.

He only shrugged.

"We already know your name. Liam Ivanhoe right?" Kyle said trying to get him to speak.

"Big whoop, so does everyone else and their mom"

"What happened to all your Lien?" Cole asked suddenly. "Shouldn't you be packed full?"

"I've got hardly any left...most of it was stolen right before my eyes" Liam said reluctantly.

"I was being swarmed by the usual mob of fans, And a hooded figure approached me from behind and kicked me to the ground...stole my bag with all my Lien and scroll in it"

"How dare they!"

"They were quite nimble, I tried using my semblance and quickly threw my sword..but the thief evaded it."

"I assume they fled?" Kyle asked.

"They didn't even look back. I've been asking for handouts and living in this part of this sewer since then. I'll never take advantage of my fame...I'll carve my own path as a huntsman from now on."

"Damn...that is one big awesome sword" Cole said looking at Liam's weapon.

"It's a great sword, but thanks." Liam said. "It also weighs two tons"

"Huh..?"

"Try lifting it" he said smirking.

Cole grabbed the hilt and tugged as hard as he could.

"I can't" he said.

Liam then picked up the massive sword effortlessly, resting it on his shoulder.

"Relax, I'm not some super buff dude...it's really two tons. It's my semblance."

"What...is your semblance?" Kyle asked out of a mixture of fear and interest.

"Well funny you asked...I can increase and decrease the weight of solid three-dimensional objects. I can even negate it, making it weightless.

"So...gravity?" Kyle asked in awe.

"Uh...not exactly. I'm not sure anyone can actually control gravity itself. It's more of a weight manipulation. The moment it leaves my hands it stops however. I like to call it…'G Forcing'…" Liam said smiling proudly.

"Do you ever get tired of this place?" Kyle said.

"Whoa….what the hell!?" Cole snapped looking at his brother.

"Yes...but I don't feel safe yet. Too many people." Liam said. "And I'll never be partners with my brother again"

"Come on, there's a place for you" Kyle assured him. "We can protect you at Beacon. It's safe."

"Yeah right...it'll be the same...just like Haven. Crazy and in your face. Lights and cameras. I want to help people, that's what a huntsman does...not entertain them"

"We'll help you...no matter what" said Cole.

Liam stopped to think before letting out a deep sigh.

"Okay. I'll accept….but on one condition" he said.

"Of course..anything…!" Cole shrieked in a high-pitched voice.

"If my brother shows up here….I want nothing to do with him" he said with a solemn tone. "And I'm serious"

"What?!" Cole cried out.

"You two are brothers and partners, why the sudden change?" Kyle asked, taken aback as well.

"He's always been so self-centered...and a complete snob."

"But...you two, are Ivanhoes! Your family comes from legendary heroes!" Cole protested.

Liam remained silent.

"Sounds like someone I know" Kyle thought to himself as he looked over at Cole.

"Maybe he'll come around… " Cole told him with a unwelcome shoulder pat.

"I thought that at first, but there's almost nothing we can see eye-to-eye on anymore."

"Geez, kinda harsh don't you think?" "He's your only sibling, You two must be awesome in battle together!"

Kyle looked over at his brother his surprise. Who was this compassionate human being? Why did he even care? Sure Liam was famous and all, but if keeping this guy away from his problematic,snooty brother was what they needed to do to have another teammate...then that's what it was going to take.

Regardless the three all came to an agreement, and Liam promised to stay and be their brave team member until graduation if all was in accord.

"We PROMISE" Kyle finished as they both shook his hand. "We won't accept him on our team if he comes here. Maybe he'll even come begging to have you by his side"

Liam suddenly gave a familiar,reassuring smile that they had only seen in pictures of him and commercials.

"Good,because he's as good as dead"