Hey guys. So this week just went from slightly difficult, to very interesting and even more difficult. I'll update a new chapter as often as I can. Anyway on to chapter 10!

Chapter 10: Ozpin

A few weeks past and I adapted quickly to the schedule of school. I did my best to avoid Ozpin at all costs. I visited Shay on the weekends when I could and our relationship was really growing. The most recent visit had been our first date. I had taken her around town and ended the night with a walk along the edge of forever fall under the moon. She had never seen it in person so; Saturday night I had taken her.

I can't get the look on her face out of my head most of the time.

Back at Beacon, Velvet and I had been working hard, studying and training with each other at the end of each day. Velvet and I had quickly fallen into our old routine as childhood friends. I taught her all of the different skills that she needed to use her fans and how she could adapt them to her fighting style while she taught me more hand to hand combat.

In Goodwitch's class I had now seen Weiss, Nora, Blake, and Pyrra fight. They were all incredibly skilled and their semblances made them all incredible. At the moment I was watching Cardin and Juane fight in the arena. Ruby, yang Weiss, and Pyrra were right next to the stage as they watched their friend fight. It wasn't going well for Juane.

Cardin was toying with him. Juane would attack and leave himself wide open. Cardin would block or dodge his attack easily and counter with a decisive enough hit to drop Juane's aura quite a bit. Juane stood catching his breath while Cardin let out a short mockingly laugh. Frustration flashed in Juane's eyes before he rushed forward again.

With a short battle cry he swung his sword wildly. Cardin sidestepped and let Juane stumble past before turning and slamming his mace into Juane's unprotected back, sending him sailing through the air. He landed hard but got back up; his shield had been knocked from his grasp. Taking his sword in both hands he charged again and this time made contact.

Cardin blocked the attack easily enough and held Juane in place. Pushing against Juane as he spoke. "This is the part where you lose." Juane struggled against Cardin as he replied.

"Over my dead-" he was cut off as he gasped painfully from Cardin kneeing him in the stomach. He collapsed to the ground holding his stomach. Cardin stood over him with his mace held over his head, getting ready to deal the finishing blow.

Suddenly the buzzer rang and Glynda stepped onto the stage. "That's enough." She said as she walked in between the fighters. Cardin stepped away from Juane as she continued. "Students as you can see, mister Arc's aura has dropped into the red. In a tournament style duel, this would indicate that Juane is no longer fit for battle, and the official may call the match." Looking down at Juane, who was still laying on the ground. "Mister Arc it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your scroll during combat. Gauging your aura will help you decide when it is appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more defensive strategy."

Juane was looking at his own scroll now and sighed at Glynda's words. "We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a beowolf, now would we?"

Cardin lifted his mace onto his shoulder as he walked off the arena platform. "Speak for yourself." He muttered as he went.

"Remember everyone; the vital festival is only a few months away. It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale. So keep practicing, those who choose compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale." She finished as the Bell rang. From where I stood Ruby, Weiss, and Yang were clearly excited for the festival. Pyrra leaned away slightly as Ruby leaned back and kicked her feet.

But she immediately went back to looking at her leader, who still lay on the ground, defeated. I felt slightly bad for him, but at the same time I was curious. He was either putting on a really good act, or doesn't have the faintest idea how to fight competently. All of his strikes had been sloppy and uncoordinated. He threw what weight he had around so carelessly that he was constantly off balance and therefore unable to block counter attacks effectively.

I left with the flow of the crowd, choosing to forget about it for now as I headed for my next class. I had realized that the dress code allowed for students to wear their armor as a replacement for the uniform, so I just wore it all the time, having finally fixed the plates on my armored pants. As I walked through the hall to my next class I ran into Velvet in the hall.

"Hey Ike, how is your day going?" she fell into step beside me as I headed for Professor Port's Grimm Studies.

"Interesting, I watched the leader of team JNPR fight today and was not at all impressed. Based on what I've seen of that guy since initiation, he really isn't on a high enough level to be here." I said as we rounded a corner and nearly walked into the last man I wanted to see. We stopped for a moment so I didn't hit him.

"Good afternoon team IV, I was hoping to find you," turning to Velvet he continued. "May I speak to Ike alone please?" He said to Velvet. It sounded like a question but the way he voiced it was more along the lines of an order. Velvet blinked before nodding.

Turning to me she touched my shoulder. "I'm heading to lunch; I'll see you after class." She said before heading back around the corner. I watched her retreat before turning back to Ozpin.

"Come I need to speak to you," he said, leading me out onto a balcony. I followed and waited for him to speak. What does he want now?

"How is that girlfriend of yours doing?" he asked without looking at me. I narrowed my eyes at his back before answering.

"She is fine the last I saw her. Better than fine actually." What is he on about?

"Good to hear, I see you have disregarded my advice to forgetting about her. Well in the end I don't have any control over that." he took a sip of his coffee. "I'm glad I took your advice about Ruby Rose. She has turned into a fine leader for her friends as well as gaining the support of Mrs. Schnee. But I'm not here to talk to you about Team RWBY, I'm here to talk about our... relationship." He turned and met my eyes, his expression neutral.

I narrowed mine and waited for him to speak. "You were born and raised to become the best hunter, even going so far as to having the most advanced peace of Technology/ aura hybrid equipment surgically attached to your spine as a four year old. Since that time you have learned to make it a part of yourself. Your entrance to this academy after never going to any formal combat school proves that you will become one of the pioneers for the future of our world." He sighed and took another sip of coffee. "You were sent away to learn to fight the way that the original hunters and huntresses did; through experience. And while I have created one of the best hunters that will ever walk the earth; I realize I should have done it all differently. As a mentor to hunters and huntresses I did the right thing, but as a father I have failed you."

I was shocked at the man that stood before me. I had told him in a letter never to think of me as a son again. That if he thought he could just abandon me then he could also abandon being called a father. Yet here he was referring to me as his son after so many years.

"You never treated me as a son, the moment I was old enough to hold a sword in my hands you trained me to fight. If it wasn't for my mother teaching me to be compassionate then I wouldn't have Velvet. I would have Shay. They are the only family I have left with mom gone." I turned my back to him to head for my next class. "You may have loved me as a son, but I never felt it. Even as a young boy. For that you have denied yourself the title of 'father'. I don't care hate you for gaving me wings. I don't care that I have been on my own for so many years. Hell, I understand your motives and even admire you for it because you taught me to do the right thing no matter what." I faced him one more time. "I am my own man. My mother disappeared, Velvet came back after so long, Shay came into my life and makes me happy, but my father. He stands before me, the headmaster of Beacon Academy, the man who has made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on the planet, and I accept that we are no longer on the same page. You have your path, and while I have no problem with helping you when the time comes; I have my own path I must walk."

I turned and walked away at that, heading to my next class, leaving Ozpin behind on the balcony. As I reenter the hallway I cast my senses onto him before he was out of range. He lifted his cup to take another sip and hesitated, smiling slightly. "Then you have become the man I always dreamed you would be." That caused me to freeze mid step. His words had frozen my mind. But my shock only lasted a moment before I continued on. If this was what you wanted me to become, then that's fine with me. I thought, taking my seat as the Professor started lecturing, but my mind was not in the classroom.

I had stayed cool headed throughout the conversation with my father. I was finally ready to allow myself to remember him as my father. That had been a hard thing to do for a long time simple because he didn't deserve it I never felt that he wanted to be known as a father. But it was clear on that long list of mistakes he has made that I ranked up there on the top of it. However even now that I was back under his wing, I wasn't ready for him to try to become a dad to me. I didn't need that kind of support anymore and I didn't want to be tied down by the emotions that would eventually form with that connection. If I'm going to be all that I was meant to be, all that I trained for my whole life, then I needed to stay away from as many emotional ties as I could.

NO! Some part of my mind screamed as I thought. It was like a mental slap in the face. You already have emotional ties to Shay and Velvet. If you get rid of those ties you will only get weaker. You are were you are because of the people around you. An image of Shay under the red canopy of Forever Fall popped into my mind from my last visit. Her eyes were closed and a smile danced across her face as she listened to the leaves rustle in the breeze. The moonlight shined on her face, making her glow in absolute beauty. She opened her eyes and looked at me and I forgot I was in a classroom.

"Mister Ike!" the Professor raised his voice to get my attention. The image immediately disappeared and I stood up.

"I'm sorry sir, My mind was on something else. Could you repeat the question?" That earned me a raised eyebrow from the man.

"The question was what you would do if you were suddenly attacked by a Nevermore. As someone who doesn't have a very practical anti-air weapon, how would you proceed?"

I thought for a moment, factoring out my wings as I did so. "I would try to find any sort of cover so that it couldn't attack me with its feathers, and try to slip away when it couldn't see me." I paused for a moment. "However, if there was no cover to be found then I would wait for it to attack before trying to attack myself with my throwing knives." I answered before sitting down.

Professor Port nodded and started stripping apart my strategy for the class. "It is a good idea to try to escape the larger beast in that situation. Especially since Nevermore's are known for being one of the most difficult to kill. An excellent strategy indeed, thank you Ike. However, you may want to rethink your strategy of attack because of how powerful Nevermore's can be, you might not be able to pierce its tough skin with your knives if the range is too great. Now moving on…" he continued his lecture until the bell rang. Everyone turned in their paper that they had to write about one of the creatures of Grimm before turning to leave.

I did the same and headed for history with doctor Oobleck and was surprised when I saw Velvet leaving from the lunch hall, her hand on her head as she left. Curious I caught up to her. "Hey Velvet, you okay?" she immediately dropped her hand and turned to me.

"Ike," she seemed surprised that I was there. "Uh ya I'm ok." She said looking away. "Just a little tired is all. She tried to keep walking but I grabbed her hand.

"Velvet, what happened? I've only ever seen you hold your head that way when you did something to your ears." I said, curiosity really nagging at me now as I thought about what she could have done. Most of the scenarios I thought of made me want to laugh but I suppressed it, waiting for her to answer.

She didn't look at me and pulled her hand out of mine before walking away. "I'll be in the dorm studying." She said as she left. I took a few steps back and peaked into the cafeteria. I saw Juane leaving as well, Pyrra watched him go with worry in her eyes. What's the matter with everyone today? Is it just a really bad day or… that's when I saw him. Cardin was sitting on a bench with his team, watching Juane leave. His eyes held the look of an animal that was hunting for his next meal.

The memory of Cardin pulling on Velvets ears during initiation filled my mind for a moment and rage immediately flooded my veins. I took a step forward and stopped. I can't, there are too many people and I have class to get too. I looked at Cardin one more time before turning and rushing to history. Cardin Winchester, I'll make you regret hurting Velvet. I swear I'll make sure that you won't ever hurt her again.

*Cue epic music* Sorry I couldn't upload a chapter yesterday, but with school starting and my possible transfer to another school. I have a lot on my plate that needs to be sorted out by the end of this week. But as always let me know what you think, likes or dislikes, concerns or phobias. Submit reviews it really helps me out to know what I could do better. Write to you guys later. Eternal out.