Chapter 13
The First Day

The day started off far less dramatically than before, with a certain young heiress waking up to the comforting sensation of the morning sun. She was tempted to sleep in for a moment longer, but Weiss Schnee had enough discipline to dispel that notion, and with a tired groan, she began to collect herself. Today would be a-

GETTUP. At least, that's what she assumed the mysterious whistling sound was trying to tell her. She didn't have the time to question it, as the shrill sound was immediately accompanied by an equally grating voice. "Goooood morning Team RWBY!" Standing proudly above Weiss was her team leader, grinning childishly with a whistle clasped in her hand.

"What in the world is wrong with you?" Was this just her? After all, Weiss only heard her own voice yell out in indignation.

"Now that you're awake, we can officially begin our first order of business." Ruby would have none of her silly questions, it seems. Instead of explaining why she was striking a pose, the rest of her teammates followed up on her statement, all while ignoring the confused excuse me?! from Weiss.

"Decorating!"
"We still have to unpack."

Well, it wasn't the worst thing that could happen. Too tired to complain, and already sick of Ruby's incessant whistling, the lady in white finally agreed, and they ended up spending the better part of the morning arranging and rearranging their room. It was only after the precarious construction of their "bunk beds" that the girls took notice of the time.

"WHAT? Did you say 9 o'clock?" Well, technically, it was Weiss who took notice of the time first, but that still counted. "It's 8:55 you dunce!"

And with that, she sped out the door. It took a few minutes for Team RWBY to realize what had happened, peeking out the room of their dorm. Through a twist of fate, their friends in Team JNPR had the dorm room across from theirs, and the familiar faces of Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren peeked out at that exact moment. Silence hung in the air, the teenagers mentally processing their situation before Ruby's voice awkwardly sounded out.

"T-to class!"

And with that, the rest of Team RWBY sped off, with Team JNPR trailing far behind.

Glynda idly checked her watch, a tired look in her eyes as she followed the sight of 8 teenagers speeding through the courtyard. She hadn't expected them to be late on the first day, but what could she do? They were merely huntsmen and huntresses in training. It might be a problem later down the line, but for now, she simply sighed, throwing a tired glance at her companion.

Ozpin, on the other hand, was unperturbed by the rushing students, merely sparing a glance before his attention turned to his coffee. He had other things to worry about it, and he needed the coffee to deal with it. After all, rather than the students, there was one young man in particular that he needed to discipline.

"Glynda, I'd like to confirm one thing. Mr. Hall did not report to you before leaving his quarters today. Is that correct?"

"That's correct, Ozpin." It was odd, considering the young man in question showed such willingness to cooperate the day before. However, they had not seen hide nor hair of him since then. He was supposed to report to one of the staff for his duties, and yet, none of the teachers mentioned anything. At the same time, the skeleton security staff they had on hand didn't report any abnormalities beyond Port's usual Bullhead hijackings, so Glynda was worried what this meant.

"Has Bartholomew sent any word?" It was time to ask about his trusted web of contacts. Ozpin took another sip from his cup, his gaze drifting to the academy as his eyes drifted from class to class.

"He hasn't seen our problem student anywhere." Glynda checked through her scroll once again. All of the staff who responded all said they saw no trace of the "student". There were only a few people Glynda could think of who would be so brazen as to ignore orders the day after they were assigned. Especially after returning his bag as a gesture of good faith.

Not that his bag contained much besides books and miscellaneous junk. Everything remotely resembling a weapon had been confiscated, which amounted to one primitive sword and a few ornate daggers. Everything else was either clothing, books, or... stuff he foraged from the forest? Who knows.

"Hmm. And what of Peter?" Ozpin's gaze stopped at one particular spot of the academy building, squinting for a moment, his voice snapping Glynda out of her thoughts.

"He hasn't mentioned anything about Hall either." It took a few moments to bring them up, but the female teacher read over the two messages left by their colleague once more. The first was at 6 in the morning, where Peter informed them that he would be collecting specimens from the forest. The second came two hours later, where he informed them that he had returned... "... As well as thanks for lending him the assistance of such a skilled trapper?" She had skimmed over the message earlier, since it didn't seem relevant, but Glynda threw an inquisitive glance at Ozpin.

Ozpin took a sigh as he brought his mug up once more, pausing for just a moment to answer her unspoken question. "No... I don't believe we have a trapper on staff. I don't believe anyone besides peter even uses that term." And with that, he emptied the mug, before turning to the school. "I suppose we'll have to drop by his classroom and see if he's recruited our friend."

"You four are lucky that I'm in such a good mood today." The jovial voice of a certain middle-aged teacher was the first to greet Team RWBY as they entered the room. All eyes were on them as they paused in embarrassment. They were only 5 minutes late... it wasn't that big a deal, right? Still, professor Port was kind enough to let them off with a simple warning. "But do try to manage your time better in the future." And with that, he turned back to the class, watching the four huntresses take their seats as he began his lecture in earnest.

"Psst. Hey Ruby, isn't that your friend? What's he doing here?" Yang noticed the young man standing at the corner. Rather than seated like a student, he seemed to be acting as a teaching assistant, and no one paid him any mind as he stood at attention. "I thought they would've made him a student."

"Weren't you the one who wanted to tear his throat just a day ago?" Weiss was surprised by the blonde's sudden change of heart.

"Yeah, but if Ruby, the teachers, and even Blake trusts him, I'd look like a jerk for keeping it up, wouldn't I?" Yang replied in a care-free smile. Honestly, there was little doubt that she and Ruby were related.

"A-HEM." Their conversation was cut short by the professor, and after staring down the girls for a moment, he turned back to the class once more, his voice changing from annoyed to flamboyantly over-the-top. "As I was saying... Monsters! Deeeemons. Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of grimm have many names..."

And with that, he went back to his lecture, content on spouting exposition. The four kingdoms, the existence of grimm, the fact that the world consists only of said kingdoms and infinite grimm... All stuff they learned before, really. There was a disturbing part where he winked at Yang, but besides that, the lecture was less a learning experience and more of an exercise in talking. For the professor.

Great. Now he's talking about his life story.

To her credit, Weiss Schnee tried to listen to the Huntsman's lecture. After all, they were in Beacon, and it was a student's responsibility to learn as much as they could. Perhaps there had been some hidden story behind okay what is that scribbling sound? Annoyance was plastered on the girl's face as she turned to the source, only to see their illustrious team leader scribbling a childish caricature of their teacher. Rather than trying to take her job seriously, she giggled wholeheartedly while she was goofing off.

This little outburst was quieted by Port once more, but the incident stuck in Weiss's mind. At least, more than the exaggerated bow he gave after telling his little story. After all, according to their teacher, a huntsman must be honourable. Dependable. Strategic, well educated, and wise. All of these traits were what defined a true huntsman. And it was because of these words that had Weiss at her limits as she watched Ruby... be Ruby.

"So. Who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

That was a challenge, and Weiss would take it. Unlike Ruby, she had the education. She went through hardships to make it here in beacon. And at least she was trying to pay attention to the class. At that question, Weiss raised her hand. "I do, sir!"

There was a slight pause, and the students in the class could've sworn they heard Professor Port's tone change. "Well then. Let's find out." He gave an ominous eyebrow, turning to the spot where his assistant stood. The class followed his gaze, and were surprised to see the young man push in a darkened cage, his face devoid of expression as he stared back at them. Their attention shifted from the person to the cage, as ominous snarls began emanating from within. Finally, the class's view turned back to Weiss, as Port confirmed everything.

"Gather your equipment, step forward, and face your opponent." The professor gave one final gesture to the cage, the red eyes within staring back at the teacher, the metal bending as something slammed against it.

The Scholar was... amused by the lecture. Today had been an interesting turn of events, and if the sight before him was any indication, it would not be ending anytime soon. It was both entertaining and informative, and the fact that he stood in this hall was the result of pure unbridled luck.

As he expected, the Scholar only needed a minimal amount of sleep, so he had spent most of the night reading various textbooks, especially the one on Aura. From what he learned and observed, Aura was closely related to his Spiritual Power, as it embodied the concept of life. Just as he was born from the World Tree, so too was everything in Remnant tied to Aura. He had suspected that his communication problems were something more fundamental than a language issue, so he had intended to do some experiments.

Being a Scholar, he had the nifty technique of Soul Siphon. It was fairly innocuous in his world, as it was merely a method of draining a target's spiritual power, taking it as his own. If Aura and Spiritual Power were related, and if his problems were aura-based...

Well, that's why Professor Port had found him in the Emerald forest so early in the morning.

The teacher had not noticed the dead foliage near the Scholar, as he was more curious why the hall monitor was out here in the first place. However, the man came to his own conclusions when a wild Boarbatusk charged in only to be imprisoned by the Scholar's Fiber Lock. Magical webbing wrapped up the poor creature, keeping it in place long enough for the young man to skewer it with more magic.

"Oh, so Ozpin sent you to help me? Capital!" Professor Port nodded approvingly as he watched Hall deal with the Boarbatusk. It was certainly efficient, and it only took a few moments of observation to figure out how it worked. "And with such a useful Semblance. My boy, I think I could use someone of your talents."

The Scholar only smiled at those words. Not because the man's words were incomprehensible, but because they weren't. Absorbing aura seemed to help, and while he didn't understand the science behind it, he didn't need to. Having Port was the perfect cover, and he willingly followed the older huntsman as they went about their business in the Emerald Forest, trapping various creatures of grimm. Each time an interesting grimm appeared, the professor would ask him to lay down his trap, giving the Scholar plenty of time to cast a few other spells. He could Soul Siphon the ground where he planted his Fiber Lock without looking suspicious.

And when Port was occupied with forcing the grimm into cages, Hall had another chance to siphon aura. After all, people pay more attention to grimm populations than wildlife, and nobody would miss a tree or two. He'd just need to make sure the tree was "collateral damage", caused by a "rampaging grimm" first.

The two hours he spent in the forest were fruitful, and he happily followed Port as they made their way back to the academy grounds.

Considering how productive this morning was, Hall didn't expect to participate in such a useful lecture. Still, he was sure the students weren't as welcoming of basic information as he was, but that wasn't really his problem. The Scholar had many things to learn about this world, and the more things presented to him, the better.

Huh. And now, it seems that one of the students will be giving him more information. He turned his gaze to the lady in white as she stepped forward, ignoring the glare she shot his way. From what he could tell, the mage from yesterday had intended to challenge one of the grimm he had helped capture.

Let's see how she does.