Chapter 6: Extracurricular Activities

Rainier sighed impatiently, tapping his leg against the elevator as it rose quickly upwards, towards the top of Beacon Tower. After seemingly millennia, it slowed to a stop, beeping obviously, before the doors slid open, the faunus stepping out into Professor Ozpin's office. His metallic leg was gleaming platinum, free from the battle-damage and use that the other one had taken over its tenure.

Sitting at the desk, sipping at his drink, was Ozpin himself. Goodwitch stood to one side, while Ironwood stood to the other- they looked like they had just finished an argument.

"Ah, Rainier, good of you to join us." The professor said amiably, leaning back in his chair.

The faunus nodded his head after a moment of hesitation. "Ah… good to be here, I suppose. This is about the night of the ball, no?"

Ironwood nodded. "And the encounter you had last night. We just need you to recount what you remember."

"Aha. Have you spoken to Ms.-"

Ozpin waved him off. "Not yet. But we will. Right now, we just need you to try and remember everything that happened."

Rainier sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Truthfully, I missed most of the excitement, if… that's what you could call it. I arrived in time to kick… something out of the air. Other than the Queen chess piece, nothing of importance sticks out to me. The encounter with the man, well… I was having a nice walk with Shinai, when we noticed him spying on us. We reacted accordingly, and put a stop to that. He didn't appreciate it and we had a skirmish. He was… twenty-ish? Dressed in brown and Gold, quite heinous. He did something to Shinai's arm, and his sword cut through my leg- the robotic one- like butter. Other than that, he seemed simply interested to watch until we attacked."

The trio of huntsmen shared looks, before Ozpin nodded. "Very well then. And, Mr. Platina, what you did was very courageous, rushing towards the danger at a moment's notice, both times. I commend you."

Rainier nodded, but didn't turn to leave.

"You have a question."

The faunus sighed. "Professor… the chess piece… what was it about?"

Ozpin's eyes shot over to Ironwood. "What do you mean?"

"This… woman, that man… whatever it is they're is doing… it's not White Fang. I'm asking… what is going on?"

"Truthfully… we're not entirely sure," Ozpin said with a sigh. "But we will keep you, and the others involved, informed. You have my word."

"Just…" Rainier trailed off, looking away in slight shame. "Me and mine didn't sign up to fight a shadow war, yes? I simply… hope that this is not something that our lives will be thrown away for." He bent his legs and twirled his hands, bowing, before turning to leave.

"Mr. Platina, you students mean everything to me. To us. To the world. Don't think that that means nothing. In the meantime… don't let your mind get too clouded with distrust or… obsession," That made the faunus turn back to the professor quickly. "Your team are your family, Rainier. Don't turn your backs on them just yet."

The faunus opened his mouth to speak, before slowly nodding, leaving the tower.

"Capital of Vacuo."

"Vacuo City- easy-peasy."

"Atlesian motto."

"'In Might, Progress. In Progress, Security. In Security, Might.'"

"Largest recorded Grimm."

"Uh… Nevermore- no, Goliath- no! Megaladon."

"Largest island belonging to Vale."

Lance stared at Oracle dumbly. "Uh… bugger, I don't know."

"Patch." Shinai called over evenly from his bed, reading a book. Wrapped around his arm was a thick layer of white bandages, his hand flexing every so often as if in pain.

"How'd you know that?"

"Because I come from there."

Oracle gave the blonde a disappointed look. "Don't even know the captain's home. Shame, shame, shame."

"Whatever, we're not taking the test anyway."

"We're coming back eventually."

"Yeah, but who knows how long? Who knows how long anybody's trip could take? We could be out for days, weeks- months, even!"

"No. We won't."

"Ye- shut up."

Ulysses held up three fingers on one hand, one on the other, without opening his eyes, earbuds plugging his- well, ears.

Lance glared at his partner, while Oracle fist-pumped victoriously. "The gap widens, hon!"

"Bias! Bias!"

Shinai closed his book, sighing in irritation. "Do you not have anything better to do?"

Lance leaned back, crossing his arms. "Like what?"

"Strike out with Copper?" Ulysses grumbled.

After a few beats of silence, Oracle burst out into laughter, beating the desk as tears filled her eyes. Shinai simply cracked a miniscule smile, before quickly schooling it.

Zaffre made a face, flapping his lips. "Oh, yeah, sure, pick on Lance!" That simply made Oracle begin laughing harder. "Whatever, I've got my pride and my good looks. You can't take that away from me."

"Take away one, you take away the other." Shinai toned in evenly, face dead-set in stone. The gunslinger began laughing even harder, wheezing as she fell from her chair to the floor.

"What is happening!" Lance yelled, shooting to his feet. "Both of you?! And someone help Oracle, I think she collapsed a lung."

The aforementioned cackling girl went to say something when a knocking at the door interrupted her. The team leader rose to his feet and walked over, throwing the door open. Standing in the frame was Yang, hand raised to knock again.

Shinai raised an eyebrow silently.

"Yeah, hi, you guys know how to turn Daria off?"

Team SOUL was silent for a moment before Lance let out a snicker.

"…Pardon?" Kyani asked.

Yang stepped back, pointing to the side. The samurai leaned out of the dorm room, following the blonde's suggestion: standing down the hall, was indeed Daria- stomping and cursing, kicking the wall hard enough to leave dents, and more or less throwing a tantrum.

"THAT STUPID-" Kick. "ASININE-" Kick. "SELF-CONCEITED- AGH!"

Kick.

The gathered four teams watched Copper rage silently, the huntress stalking back and forth around the pavilion, kicking things at random.

Pyrrha leaned towards Nash. "What is her problem, exactly?"

The boy's face was cast in shadow. "Rainier's being a douche."

"May you… expand on that?"

"Daria!" Nash yelled, making the gathered huntsmen jump as the DRGN team leader turned her attention back to them. "What'd Rainier do?"

Copper stalked back towards them, huffing in anger. "I'll tell you what he did. That friggin' faunus-"

"Attempted to apologize and failed miserably." Rainier said.

Wide eyes turned to the mentioned faunus.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." Yang muttered to the group.

Daria turned furious brown eyes to him. "Apologize? APOLOGIZE?! You call that an apology?! You walk in without telling me about the gold guy, with a new leg, and try to apologize NOT EVEN FOR THAT?! THAT'S YOUR DEFINITION OF AN APOLOGY?!"

Platina shrugged. "A miserable one."

She stormed towards him. "You ditch me at the dance-" She punched him in the stomach, making him double over. "You fight terrorists by yourself- again!" Another punch. "And then you act like nothing happened for days! And then- and then you finally apologize, and make it sound like it's not your fault!" She swung for his head, only for him to duck it and backstep out of reach.

"Yes, yes, all very valid points. And… none that I have any excuses for," His eyes shot over to Shinai, before turning back to his team leader. "I realize that I have been vacant, and absent, even at the worst possible times. And I realize that in turn, I have been hurting you three. My excuse, even if it would hold any weight for you, is not… well… an excuse for my actions. I hurt you, without meaning to even hurt you, and I apologize, from the bottom of my heart. My… goal has been all-consuming, and I promise it shall change from here on out."

The huntsmen stared at him, as Daria's fury slowly ebbed. "Yeah… well… good. I still don't forgive you and don't you ever- EVER- try to make a move on me. I will castrate you." She stormed past him back to the gathered huntsmen.

"Well, I did come here to tell you that we've been summoned to the auditorium by Ozpin."

And like that, Copper snapped back around towards him. "You came here to-"

Lance's head fell back as the teams rose to their feet, a groan escaping his lips. "…BRO!"

Daria stormed towards the auditorium by herself, pushing past Rainier as she did. The faunus dropped his head, shaking it with a sigh. The gathered 14 all gave him mixed looks of pity and shame, heads shaking at him.

Pyrrha put a hand on his shoulder as she passed. "Forgiveness is not easy to come by. You just have to work at it."

"Quiet!" Goodwitch called out over the heads of the students from all four schools, all four kingdoms, the auditorium packed full; Vale students in their red suits, Atlesians in white uniforms, Mistrali in black. And the Vacuoan students, dressed simply as comfortably as possible. "Quiet, please! Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin."

Ozpin stepped forwards on the stage, clearing his throat. "Today we stand together, united. Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The four kingdoms of Remnant. On this day, nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression," He nodded and gestured to the students broadly, cane held between his arm and chest. "And as you are well aware, that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself: color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither were the generations to come. And it was a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity through diversity,"

"As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, huntsmen and huntresses will work to uphold it. As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional huntsman or huntress on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the kingdom for several days. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best." With that, he and Goodwitch stepped away, and the students began filing out of the auditorium.

Lance sighed, throwing his hands behind his head as they entered a large, circular room, tall hologram tablets lining the walls, available missions listed in them as they detailed the different quadrants of the entirety of Vale. "So whattaya guys wanna do? Something in the cities? Something out in the wilds?"

Team SOUL exchanged looks, silently waiting for a suggestion.

"What are the options?" Oracle finally asked, drawing an approving nod from Shinai.

The blonde huntsman leaned forwards towards one of the screens. "Eh… search and destroy, scouting, village watch, escort-" He screwed his nose up in distaste at that. "And… oh. Observance? What's observance?"

"What's it say?" Oracle asked, leaning towards him.

"'Observe what the-' oh, no. Nonono. Nope."

"What?"

"Like, watch civilians do their thing."

"Oh. Ew."

"Right?"

"Perhaps," Shinai cut in. "If you finished reading it: 'lowest level available mission. It is important to remember what you're fighting for.'"

The two huntsmen looked at their leader, before back at each other, frowning. "Ah," Lance finally said. "Yeah."

"Search and destroy." Ulysses said, making the trio turn to him quickly.

"Uh…" Oracle began. "Okay?"

He said nothing else.

Lance tapped the button and typed in 'Team SOUL', it glowing green as the request went through. "Quadrant 3 then. East central. Ooh, coast. Cool. Let's go find our huntsman then."

Nash jogged up to Rainier as the faunus perused the available choices and quadrants. "Hey, do you know where RWBY's going?"

"Ah, no?"

"Oh. Cause Ozpin just let them do a suuuper dangerous mission. Any ideas?"

Platina shook his head. "Not one, sorry. Perhaps…" He trailed off. "Hm. I shall look into it. You have my word."

That made the boy frown, opening his mouth to say something before stopping, walking back towards Gail and Daria.

"God, Rainier, just pick something." The latter said.

"How about… scouting?"

"Scouting, sure, awesome." She said, irritated.

Rainier sighed and tapped it, typing in the team name. "There we are. Quadrant 6. Most southern quadrant, at the tip."

"Awesome." With that, the leader began walking out, the other two following her. After a moment, the faunus followed suit.

"Hey, Team CFVY is back!"

Team DRGN turned towards where the student was running. Indeed, CFVY was limping in the direction of the school, looking worse for wear. Team RWBY had already walked up to them, Blake checking on Velvet.

Daria frowned and jogged forwards to Coco, placing a hand on the girl's upper arm. "Hey, are you guys alright?"

The CFVY team leader chuckled tiredly. "Nothing we couldn't handle. Just… bad mojo. Lots of grimm. The use," She noticed the hand and chuckled again. "It's fine, we're fine. You first-years are just followin' huntsmen, no need to worry."

Daria's hand lingered for a few moments before she tentatively pulled it away, nodding. Coco gave a weak, two-fingered salute before following after her team. Copper sighed, rubbing her own arm as the rest of her team joined her and Team RWBY.

"Woof."

All eyes turned to Ruby and her backpack, the silver-eyed girl blinking in confusion as it bulged out- towards Rainier, the bulge pulling her backwards a bit.

Rainier blinked and perked up, looking at the bag. He stepped forwards and threw it open and-

A corgi popped out, looking up happily at him.

The faunus stared at the dog for a few moments before snatching it out of the bag, holding it close to him. "You brought a dog! A very adorable dog!"

Ruby slowly turned her head towards the dog. "…Zwei get back in the bag." She whispered.

"Rubes, you brought Zwei?" Yang asked.

"She brought Zwei!" Rainier called back, cuddling the dog.

Weiss trembled for a few moments in a failing act of self-control before shooting over to the dog and faunus like a bullet, also showering the dog with affection. "She did bring Zwei! Yes she did! Yes she did! Isn't he such a good boy?!"

Rainier grinned. "My dear, he is the best of boys!"

The two teams watched the two pale-haired huntsmen cuddle the dog for a few moments. "Uh, guys?" Daria finally asked.

Weiss and Rainier froze. "Yeah?" They asked in unison, Zwei barking in support.

"You guys wanna… let their dog go?"

The duo shared a look, before turning to the dog- who barked again, wagging his tail excitedly. "Nnnnooo?" They drawled out slowly, yet again in unison. They shared a smile before Ruby ran over, snatching the dog out of their hands and stuffing him back into her backpack.

"No one's supposed to know he's in there." She whispered, as if Zwei hadn't been completely on display.

"A tad too late, no?" Rainier asked.

"And why would you hide the wittle baby from me?!" Weiss demanded, drastically missing the tone she had been shooting for.

Yang sighed. "Oooh, why do you both love our dog."

"Because he's the bestest boy-"

"-Because he's a good dog, Yang."

The blonde sighed again. "Awesome."

Team SOUL walked forwards nonchalantly towards their designated bullhead.

"Who do ya think it's gonna be?" Oracle asked, looking for suggestions.

"Probably Qrow Branwen." Lance said, nodding.

"HAHAHAHAHA."

"No, seriously! I mean, it's a scouting mission! That makes sense, right?"

"Sure, the legendary Qrow's gonna babysit a bunch of kids travelling across the kingdom. How ridiculous would that be?"

Ulysses rolled his eyes. "No."

"Okay," Lance said. "How about… Ramsay Bulwark?"

"No."

"A detective?"

"No."

"Oh! What if it's Ozpin himself!"

"No."

"Okay, wise guy, why not?"

"Because I see him."

They all turned to the direction Ulysses was pointing and-

Professor Port raised a hand. "Children! Come along, come along, we mustn't wait any longer! It's going to be a long couple of days travelling after all!"

Shinai took a deep breath in, before letting it out, walking towards the professor.

Ulysses, having already come to terms with the situation, simply walked forwards with his trademark scowl.

Oracle and Lance shared looks before letting out mirror groans, dragging themselves forwards.

"Don't be so down- I imagine it'll be quite a time we'll have!"

"Doctor Oobleck, huh?" Nash asked, watching Team RWBY dejectedly climb into the bullhead with the eclectic, fast-talking, annoying teacher.

"Could be worse." Gail said quietly, fidgeting.

"Yeah?"

She pointed to the side, a handful of bullheads off- Team SOUL was standing next to Professor Port.

"Ooooh-no!" Nash cried, wilting in place. "We're going to get someone terrible too! Oh, I bet it'll be a teacher! Someone terrible, who's not cool, and doesn't have any cool tricks, and- and- and-"

"And?"

They all turned to the voice, and their eyes widened.

The huntsman was tall, and lithe, a tattered, dark brown tricorn hat ornamenting his head, a half facemask covering his face. The majority of his body was dressed in a heavy, classical, tattered trenchcoat, the same color as his hat, and his chest was protected with dark silver body armor over a black body suit.

And strapped to his back was an enormous silver greatsword, separated in segments running down either side of the center piece of the sword- a glowing green sliver, specks of light coming off it.

"And…" Daria began, shaking her head from the trance. "Who are you?"

The huntsman bowed. "Sise Tsuki. Formerly of Team CRMS. Your huntsman for the excursion."

Nash let out a high-pitched squeak of giddiness.