Alright, after a couple days I might as well put in this chapter. I feel like each new chapter I make I have less and less to say in these Author Notes. Oh well. Read on, fav and follow, leave a comment and Enjoy!

Chapter 10

It was now around noon as team SABL was struggling to get through their first day. Ask any one of them and all of them-even Anna-would reply it was not a very good day. First they all woke up 20 minutes before their first class, due to a lack of an alarm clock, which resulted in rushing to get ready and going faster to get to class on time. After that, they had two hours of Human and Faunus History with Professor Oobleck-a very hyperactive teacher that was always doing one of three things: quickly moving around the classroom, speaking at an exhaustingly fast pace, or taking a drink from the thermos he held in his hand.

What made it worse was the fact that the class was reviewing for a test tomorrow, and Oobleck was always picking one of team SABL's members to give him an answer despite this being their first class with him. They got a few right, mostly out of guessing, but the rest were answered by other students. After that, they were all given a study guide as homework and the class ended. After this, the team had Grimm studies with Professor Port.

Port was quite possibly the exact opposite of Oobleck: he took his time moving around the classroom and speaking to his students, and when he spoke he would get off topic and talk about his adventures of when he was a Huntsman. The class was painfully slow, and halfway through some the students were either falling or already asleep, silently talking with each other, or just messing around to entertain themselves. Sypher was getting bored already, resorting to watching the clock and count down every painful second that went by. He looked around to his team to see what they were doing to pass the time.

Benjamin had his head down using his arms as pillows, and every once in a while he would snore that made him wake up for a moment before he fell asleep again. Lizabeth was twirling her pencil between her fingers, staring off into space as she expertly moved them from one side of her hand to the other. Anna, contrary to what everyone else was doing, was actually making an effort to listen and write down notes.

"Now then, Mr. Woods," Professor Port's voice spoke up. Upon mention of his name, all four members of team SABL became alert and looked to the teacher. "As I understand it, most of your family was unfortunately killed by a horde of Grimm."

'Damn it, why'd he have to bring that up?'

He noticed his team was looking at him with different looks and Port continued, "Can you identify, using the diagrams behind me, what Grimm were present during the attack?" Sypher sighed and looked at the row of diagrams that blocked out the chalkboard. As he examined some of them he began to have flashbulb memories, ones that immediately get stored in one's long term memory and are triggered by emotional events; and these memories were very emotional.

He began to see the events from ten years ago play in his mind like he was watching a home movie. He could see the Grimm, hear his family's screams, feel the tug of his mother's arm as they fled. He stared at one of the diagrams, depicting a large wolf. "Beowolves," he said, remembering how several of them led the charge, and how the Alpha struck down aunts, uncles, and cousins-most of them younger than he was.

He then saw the one next to it, depicting a bear-like creature. "Ursa," he remembered how much of his family defended well against the creatures, but some were overpowered before they could finish one off.

His eyes finally stopped on the last in the row, a large black scorpion. "Death Stalker."

'Janice, take Sypher and Emily and run! Just go! GRAAAH!'

Sypher was silent as he stared at the Death Stalker diagram. He blinked a few times and noticed Professor Port and quite a few students were looking at him. "Well, it certainly is interesting to know which of these diabolical monsters are responsible for the destruction of your family. Do you...remember anything specific?" Sypher clenched one hand tight as his mind went back to his father.

'Take Sypher and Emily and run!' His father drew his short sword and shifted it into its crossbow form. 'Just go!' He shoved the three away, urging them to leave as he covered them. He shot a few Beowolves that came too close and the three ran off. Sypher spared one last glance as he saw his father turn his crossbow back into a short sword and charged into battle. He was eventually stabbed in the back by a Death Stalker Stinger, 'GRAAAH!'

'No!' Sypher shouted, pulling against his mother's arm in a futile attempt to save his father.

'Sypher we have to leave!'

'No, no! Dad!' Sypher could only watch helplessly as the Death Stalker tossed him into a now burning house. Once Sypher snapped out of his memories, everyone was staring at him, especially Anna.

"Well," Professor Port said, sensing the tension in the air, "I'm afraid we'll have to cut this lecture short. Class dismissed." The other students began to leave, but Sypher moved quickly to get out of the classroom.

"Sypher!" Anna called for him, but he was already moving out the door. "Sypher!"

Sypher quickly moved through the halls as he pushed past the other students, and eventually moved into an empty hallway. He rested against one of the walls and tried to catch his breath, the memories from that day putting a mental strain on him. He couldn't get them out of his mind no matter how hard he tried: the screams, the roars, they all continued to echo in his mind relentlessly.

Then there was a hole in his memories: it began to grow quickly, blocking out the noise and the pain that came from those memories. It wasn't long before all of those memories were gone, and it didn't take any longer for new, happier memories to surface. Reading Emily the fairy tales she loved so much, spending time with his mother when she was awake, and watching cartoons with Emily until she fell asleep. He was finally able to relax when he heard footsteps approaching him. He looked to where he had come from and saw Anna approaching him.

"Feeling better?" she asked, stopping an arms length away.

"Much," Sypher replied, nodding his head. Anna smiled, nodding as well.

"Good. Now come on, we'll be late for class and you left everyone else behind." The two made their way back, heading to their next classroom and meeting up with Benjamin and Lizabeth. For the rest of the day, Sypher felt much better than when he left Port's classroom. He was attentive during class, raising his hand whenever he could, and also gave a few suggestions of his own. His team was quite impressed with the change, but none of them questioned it. Their classes ended at four, and by then Sypher's boosted morale had returned to normal.

Once they had everything ready they made their way to Ozpin's office while everyone left for their dorms. Once they reached the door, Sypher knocked hard on the door and they heard a click. Sypher turned the knob, revealing it had been unlocked, and they all went inside. Ozpin sat at his desk while Glynda was standing next to the large window, and both looked up from their scrolls as soon as they came in.

"Ah, you've arrived," Ozpin said, setting his scroll aside and replaced it with his usual mug. He took a long drink from it as the four approached his desk, and then set it aside. "Alright, I'll get right down to the point," he said looking at the four students while Glynda walked over. "Sypher, your actions last night did not go unnoticed." The other three looked at Sypher, even though he had already told them what happened. "The people of Vale look to Huntsmen and Huntresses for protection. But when they see this," the windows darkened and an image appeared behind him: a news article with a mug shot of Sypher and the headline "Murderous Vigilante Caught", "they see something dangerous, something they can't trust. Unfortunately for you, that is now what people are calling you."

"I'm not a murderer, you know that," Sypher said.

"I do," Ozpin replied, "but people nowadays are more convinced by the media than they are by someone's words. They believe what they see, and what they see is a criminal." Sypher lowered his head, "Which is why we need to repair that image."

Sypher looked back up and saw a new article, "Vigilante the New Student at Beacon Academy!?"

"This happens to be from today, and many people have had mixed reactions to this news. Some say that by letting you come here, you are a danger to the other students and will gain more experience in the art of killing. Others say that this could help reform you into something better, turn you into a weapon against the real criminals."

"And what do you say?" Sypher asked, wanting to know where he stood.

"I say this is the start of getting you on the right path. For now, forget about what other people are saying about you; from this perspective it sounds like we're doing a publicity stunt, transforming a criminal into a soldier. What I need you to do is to trust me." Sypher nodded, as did the others, and Ozpin smiled.

"Good. I am going to be assigning you a mission. If you will take out your scrolls, please." The four took them out and Ozpin sent over some data to each of them. "Your first mission will be an easy one, a small horde of Grimm have been causing some trouble and they need to be taken care of. Use whatever you deem is appropriate for the situation, but keep in mind that you will also need to rely on your team mates. You aren't a lone wolf anymore, Sypher, you now lead a pack and it is your duty to bring everyone home safely." Sypher nodded and they were dismissed, leaving to go on their mission.

As soon as they left, Glynda asked him, "Sir, are you sure about this? There's no guarantee that it will work."

"I assure you, Glynda," he said, taking a sip from his mug and as a result finishing it off."It will work. Sypher is a good kid and he will learn that just because he lost so many loved ones, he is not alone: he is never alone."

That was Chapter 10, folks. Leave a comment, add it to your favorites so I know you like the story, follow it so you'll know when future chapters come out, and if you'll excuse me I need to go pass out from sleep deprivation.