{Dawning}
With the thunderstorm dismissed by unknown means, sleep came to RGDS easily. Their energy spent and in need of a well-deserved recharge. Classes would start in the morning, and the real schooling would begin. So, they would need all the rest they could get.
Ray woke up exactly four and a half hours after he decisively went to bed, fully rested, the need to stay beneath his covers was fulfilled.
It was boredom that convinced him to get up and have a shower, quickly slipping in and out just to ease the process of waking up. After that, the boy found his uniform, already custom tailored to fit him perfectly, inside the cupboard in the bedside table he shared with Scarlet.
As quietly as he could manage, he slipped into his uniform and made his bed before sitting down and waiting for the day to begin.
Given it was quarter to four in the morning, he suspected he would be waiting a while.
Pulling out his scroll to quell the boredom was a force of habit, but not necessarily a bad habit given his choice of livelihood.
Ray was still undeniably curious about multiple things that had occurred over the previous day. The Affinity user, the school's operating procedures, and the student that died during the initiation.
The former two couldn't be searched up so quickly, but the latter, that was a different story.
Doing his best to stay discrete, Ray managed to remotely hack into school records, showing him only academic information on students in the school, including himself.
A lot of information had yet to be processed, including all the most recent applicants. Those that made it into the school had yet to be separated from those who didn't.
So, to find the student, Ray had to scroll through the 200 others that applied to join, let alone those that were allowed into the initiation.
His eyes scanned the list of names and faces fervently, never once blinking to avoid missing the individual he was looking for. Ozpin was so lazy, he didn't even bother to list them in alphabetical order.
However, it wasn't long before Ray found the boy he was looking for.
Maroon Alister. Vacuan. Seventeen years of age.
Deceased.
A silent breath escaped through Ray's nose as he analysed Maroon's student application.
Exceptionally skilled in close quarters combat, acrobatics, and experienced martial artist. This kid was stacked with achievements.
A brilliant mind in the classroom and an even better one on the battlefield, it was almost inconceivable to think this boy had died to Grimm.
Ray cross-referenced the cited achievements on Maroon's résumé to the officials that issued them and found that all were legitimately earned, none of them forged or emphasised in the slightest.
In all honesty, Ray couldn't believe the hard evidence in front of him, his mind working up a storm of its own trying to work its way around the issue that presented itself before him.
If this boy was so well-equipped to handle the cakewalk of the initiation provided by Beacon Academy, how the fuck did he die?
It was statistically impossible, the records and scores preached that to no end.
There was something missing, and Ray had an idea of where to find it.
The Emerald Forest was littered with cameras, Ray still had the one he dismantled in his messenger bag. They tracked the students based on their individual scroll signals and stored all footage in Beacon's servers for reviewing the student's performance.
Unfortunately, Ray didn't have access to the servers on-hand.
Now, to get to the servers, that required a trip to the CCT, so Ray can manually patch himself into the network and the servers by proxy.
But to sift through potentially millions of other files in the span of a few short seconds?
Even for a mind that's half-machine, that's impossible. These files aren't merely stored on the server, they're more than likely encrypted too. Ray would have to bring in some very big guns to complete such a task, luckily for the hacker, he had a few tricks up his sleeve.
Sighing, the boy took his eyes off his scroll for a moment and blinked, immediately feeling the sting in his eyes from staring intensely at a bright screen.
He wiped his eyes with his hand before glancing over to the alarm clock Scarlet had set before she went to bed. The time was 4:21AM, far too early for anyone else to be awake. Well, anyone that didn't have any nefarious intentions, or the need to get up early.
Sometimes Ray cursed his metabolism, others he blessed it. Only requiring half the amount of sleep as the average person gave him so much more time in the day to be productive, or slack off.
It all depended on what he felt like doing, but the principle is all the same. However, it also left him bored a lot of the time. Even if he was drinking. It would mean that he would be drunk and still bored.
Which is never a healthy combination anyway.
The boy sighed, glancing at the time once more. 4:23AM. Only 2 hours and 37 minutes to go before Scarlet's alarm went off, at least he'd have someone to make conversation with then.
He turned to the girl sleeping peacefully next of him, watching as her chest rose and fell in a blissful rhythm. Her hair was cascading in waves of glorious crimson beauty and her face was buried into her covers, revealing only her closed eyes and small, freckled nose.
At least she wasn't snoring. Neither were the others for that matter.
Ray noticed how one of her slender, pale legs was protruding out from underneath her quilt, exposing her smooth, toned thigh and calf to the cool, open air. The hem of her shorts had also risen above her hip too, shamelessly revealing her porcelain curve.
Upon closer inspection, Ray noticed how her exposed leg had gooseflesh running across its light surface, indicating her body's need for warmth.
Now, the last thing Ray was about to do was climb into her bed and warm her himself, the boy was uncomfortable with physical contact in any form, however, his eyebrows furrowed slightly before he stood up and approached the girl.
He blinked once, giving her sleeping form a once over before gently pulling the cover over her leg. His violet eyes lightly glowing in the dimly lit room as they scanned over her comfortable slumber once more.
When her leg had been shielded from the chill, he returned to his seat on his bed, but his elbow met something on the bedside table in the process.
A cold, wet sensation quickly trickled over Ray's left arm and soaked through his freshly washed uniform.
"Dammit…" he cursed under his breath, quickly working to rub away the glass of water he hadn't seen before.
It was a fruitless endeavour, one that would end up only creating more mess than necessary. Sighing, the boy grasped the glass and set it up right to avoid its inevitable journey to the carpeted floor. He set the glass down with care, as to avoid waking his teammates by accident.
They'd need all the sleep they could get for this piece of shit school.
Ray didn't take long to stand back up and grab one of the spare towels from the bathroom, returning to his bed to dry up most of the moisture before throwing the thing in the nearby hamper.
Running out of things to do, the boy turned to the kitchenette. He hadn't examined the thing since RGDS were assigned their dorm room, so he figured now would be as good a time as any to check it out.
Since it was an open floorplan, the boy only had to walk to the other side of the dorm before he reached the kitchenette. Debating on whether or not to turn the light on, Ray turned to his sleeping teammates and sighed, opting to not wake them up with intrusive bright light.
That was the sun's job anyway.
Ray found himself rather impressed, the kitchenette wasn't much different in size than the average kitchen, and had enough appliances to cook a full meal to good standards.
Thirsty, the boy explored the cupboards for a clean glass before he found exactly what he was looking for. He pulled out a pint-sized glass and approached the sink, filling the glass with tap water and downing the entire thing in a few short moments.
He courteously washed the glass clean once he was done with it before setting it down on the drying rack. He then sighed and leaned back against the dark granite worktop, slipping his hands inside his pockets.
"Seems there isn't a whole lot to do here, is there?" he whispered to himself, "I suppose I can plan out how I'm going to get that part but…"
He brought out one of his hands and ran it through his damp hair before wiping his face.
"Fuck it. What's the point? I'll just cross that bridge when I get there. I don't even know if the piece is here yet."
Ray sighed once more, letting his hand fall and slap against his thigh as he propped himself up and headed straight for his bed.
As he sat down, he picked up his scroll resting by the pillow and opened the device up, wondering if Lylac was available to speak.
'Ly, are you awake/available?'
Ray gave the girl a few minutes to respond, but unfortunately, it appeared as though she was also asleep.
Or just ignoring him…
Wouldn't have been the first time after all. He was used to her wanting her own space by now.
Who could blame her though? She'd raised him since he was 11 years old. Hell, the girl had barely started puberty when they ran away together.
The discovery of her menstrual cycle was a nightmare that still haunted him from time to time.
Gone was the kind, funny, loving cousin he was used to, replaced by a merciless, ice cream-addicted bitch.
Ray shuddered over that thought. Ly with PMS could make a grown man cry.
That wasn't something he'd like to experience again any time soon.
Either way, it didn't look like she was going to respond to him at the moment, so he did the next best thing.
He put his violet canvas shoes on, tucking the laces in down the sides, placed his scroll inside his blazer pocket, and approached the door. A little exploring couldn't hurt anybody.
Unlocking the door as slowly and as quietly as possible, he slipped out into the hallway and closed it behind him. He used his scroll to activate the locking mechanism, since all students were given access codes to their own dorms, and silently tiptoed his way down the corridor, making his way outside.
Beacon surely had a lot to show for those willing to search it. A school as old as this surely had its secrets, some of which more hidden than others.
Ray was not searching for any secrets this early in the morning, he was aiming to quell his boredom.
The rainstorm that had hit the previous night soaked everything right down to its core.
While no fan of the naturally occurring substance, Ray couldn't deny that having it fall from the sky was far worse than treading on a puddle.
It also helped wash away the musky feeling in the air, and the stench of disappointment clogging the hacker's nose.
Desperation leaked from every student here like pheromones, sadly, given Ray's enhancements, he can practically smell those too.
Not like he enjoyed the pungent odour either, faunus in heat were quite possibly the most disgusting creatures on the planet.
Thank the gods someone produced medicine for that. Pills designed to counteract the hormones in a faunus' body were a godsend for someone like Ray, who could pretty much taste their libido.
Too bad the rain couldn't wash that smell away.
Ray shook his head to dismiss that repulsive train of thought away, focusing on his self-appointed task of finding his bearings in this massive academy.
His first destination was the cafeteria, getting a better look than he did when spending time with Scarlet before the initiation.
When he approached the doors, they were locked, however, those responsible for school's security had been stupid enough to install digital locks on nearly every entry way, each with varying levels of encryption to them.
Ray had breached into far worse than this.
With a single swipe of his scroll, the boy's device made use of its near-field communication and advanced processing power to effortlessly punch its way through the door's security.
"A four-digit encryption? What is this? Practise?"
The boy shook his head as he pushed his way inside the silent, derelict canteen, amethyst eyes sweeping over the four rows of wooden benches students occupied every day to meet, greet, and eat with their friends and fellow classmates.
Disgusting.
Ray hoped they had at least used a strong enough detergent to rid the tables of microorganisms before each meal. Else, he'd be spending every lunch hour cooking his own food back in his dorm.
Which was too time-consuming to be considered a viable option.
Though, the boy relented in the fact that he had nothing but time while he was stuck here.
Ly would have his head for leaving without getting what he came for, and with Kyzal's stunt giving their team infamy on the first day, he was sure to be in Ozpin's sights by now.
It never really dawned on him beforehand, but as Ray walked straight down the middle of the cafeteria, the thought that Ozpin might already recognise the boy meant many, many troublesome things were headed his way.
The man had been searching avidly for him for a little over half a decade, Ray wouldn't put it past him to keep his eyes on the prize, especially when said prize walks right through his metaphorical front gate.
A sneaking doubt wormed its way into Ray's psyche that Ozpin wasn't going to give the last piece away without Ray doing something in return.
If only Ray knew exactly where it was. He'd take the fucker right now and never be seen again.
A sigh escaped through Ray's pursed lips as he stopped walking dead in the middle of the large hall.
Perfectly straight teeth ground in his mouth as the boy frustrated himself just thinking over every worst-case scenario.
He made one thing quite clear to himself though, if getting that final piece meant staying at Beacon for four whole years, then he'd just fuck off and leave it here.
No fucking way was he going to endure the four years of bloodcurdling torture that is Beacon Academy's Huntsmen training program.
He'd rather go for a swim in liquid metal.
And this is exactly the reason why Ray wished he could sleep just like everyone else. To prevent him from getting wound up thinking over hopeless potential situations.
Envy struck him like a bitch as he wordlessly stormed out the way he came, quietly slamming the doors behind him and locking them as he aimlessly wandered somewhere else.
He who angers you, conquers you, and Ozpin was on his merry way to practically branding the Chroma heir as Beacon property…
Scarlet's waking ritual involved a tiny, almost mute yawn, combined with stretching her little form with contortionist levels of flexibility. Not exactly something to be proud of, but the girl's muscles had to be warmed up somehow.
Her first destination in the land of the living was the toilet, because good heavens did she need to pee.
After Scarlet had performed her deed, her next objective was to polish the inside of her mouth. The girl approached the bathroom sink and stared unamused at the mirror mounted just a head height above her.
She was small, something that she was painfully made aware of every day, but to be mocked by a looking glass was just insulting.
Frowning, she picked up her toothbrush and delivered a pea-sized amount of paste before beginning to passively-aggressively scrub her mouth.
She ought to get a stool or something, maybe even wake up one of her teammates for them to lift her up so she could she the damage to her appearance caused by the villain known as sleep.
Her bed-head was not a friendly sight.
While not too picky over her appearance, RGDS had already made a bad name for itself thanks to her partner's alcohol problem and Kyzal's complete disregard for the most basic of manners.
She really ought to do something about those two. As the leader of this team, it was Scarlet's duty to shape them up into respectable individuals, even if it-
A dull snapping sound emanated from the inside of the girl's mouth, shaking her from her reverie in an instant.
Scarlet pulled out her toothbrush to find that the brush head itself was no longer attached to the handle.
Sighing internally, Scarlet opened her mouth and plucked out the brush head, spitting the residue inside her mouth out afterwards.
"Why me?" she quietly bemoaned, sighing as she dropped the broken toothbrush into the trashcan by the door.
Her delicate hands quickly grasped a black and red toiletry bag sat on one of the shelves to her right, and plucked out a brand-new toothbrush, once more giving it a small amount of toothpaste and continuing where she left off, vigorously brushing her teeth to the point where they squeaked.
It didn't take her long to achieve that either, since the first brush she used did most of the work, the second only had to add the finishing touches. A rinse out with mouthwash then finalised her morning oral hygiene session and left her breath smelling minty fresh.
Well, she hoped so at least.
Bad breath was very unflattering.
As were the messy crimson locks obscuring the left-hand side of her vision. Diving once more into the bag on the sink, she brought out a hair brush, and luckily for her, a small vanity mirror.
She held both in her right hand as she opened the door with her left. Immediately making her way to the desk by the kitchenette.
Her mirror had a ring of lights around the frame that allowed her to see what she was doing without being too invasive to the two sleeping boys behind her.
Gently, she begun to run her fingers through her hair to separate it and soon followed through with a stroke of her hairbrush, repeating this cycle until her hair was no longer the unkempt mop it was previously.
She had washed it recently too, so it was already smooth to the touch when she stroked it.
Satisfied, she set her hairbrush down on the desk and turned her mirror light off before she made her way to the uniform neatly folded inside the bedside table she shared with Ra-
Hold on...
Where is Ray?
Looking around she couldn't see, nor hear him, which meant he was either A: More silent than he appeared and had the ability to turn invisible – something not as uncommon as most people believed, Semblances can be pretty crazy nowadays. Or, B: Not here.
He couldn't be in the kitchenette, because the girl in red was certain she'd see him, and he most definitely wasn't in the bathroom.
Scarlet bit her lip anxiously, at least she hoped he wasn't in the bathroom... she didn't check behind the shower curtain and if he was behind it and she did check, then that would have been very embarrassing...
Her cheeks burned a little at the thought of such a heinous situation...
Scarlet's head suddenly whirled around at the sound of a soft click coming from the door. When her eyes focused, she could just about make out a familiar Ray-shaped silhouette staring back at her with softly glowing violet eyes.
There was a still, tense silence in the air before the girl's lungs quickly drew in air to surely scorn him for leaving, but before she could even utter the first syllable, Ray quickly closed the distance between them in an instant, and clamped her mouth shut with his hand, soon followed by a sharp hushing sound.
"The last thing you wanna do right now, is yell." Ray's distinct, monotonous voice gently carried its way to Scarlet's ears before the girl slowly nodded.
Ray then pulled his hand away from the shorter girl's face and moved past her to sit on his bed.
"Why are you even awake, Scarlet? It's half 5 in the morning." the boy questioned, glowing irises still glued to her own.
Scarlet shuffled her feet a little before sitting down on her own bed, facing her partner, "I could ask you the same thing!" she whispered, though still trying her best not to escalate her soft voice.
"I don't need to sleep for as long as you do, it's a part of my Semblance," the boy lied straight through his teeth, but it was easier to conceal the truth than explain it.
The boy paused however, narrowing his gaze but still focused wholly on his leader, "but I doubt you have the same quirk, what woke you?"
The girl shifted in her seat and turned her gaze away for a fleeting moment just as she mumbled something just out of Ray's hearing.
Though, much to her surprise, and embarrassment, the boy still figured it out anyway.
"You needed to use the bathroom, didn't you?"
His muted, colourless voice barely pierced the silence, but Scarlet's eyes still widened in alarm as she vehemently attempted to deny it.
In response, Ray did what any other normal person would: deadpan.
"Scarlet… you left the light on."
Scarlet's eyes traced in the direction of Ray's pointing index to the light breaching through the crack under the bathroom door.
"You're as predictable as the twelfth hour, you know that, right?" Ray asked, watching his leader crumble like the wet cookie she was.
Sighing, the boy leaned back into his pillow before muttering another comment, "I don't see why you're so ashamed of a normal bodily function, but do as you see fit. You're already awake now, so you might as well put your uniform on," He paused, craning his neck to glance at the alarm clock on, "no point in you going back to sleep if you only have an hour and fifteen minutes to wake up."
Scarlet nodded as she bent down and pulled her uniform out from the cupboard. She held each neatly folded article in her arms as she slowly stood up and trekked all the way to the bathroom, entering quickly to avoid exposing the room to too much light than necessary.
A few short minutes passed before the girl emerged again, donning the flamboyant, yet admittedly stylish uniform that fit her like a glove.
Ray wouldn't be caught staring at her though, he was for more interested in staring at the ceiling before she cleared her throat.
"How do I look?" her soft voice barely glanced past Ray's ears, though in contrast with the deafening silence, it was as loud as the thunderstorm from earlier.
"Like an accurate representation of the perfect student," the boy replied in monotony, giving her a once over, "how… predictable."
Scarlet's eyebrow furrowed in a moment of concern before she blinked those feelings away.
"What do you mean by predictable...?"
"I mean, it's predictable because, from what I can tell, you're a fantastic fighter and excellent strategist. Having so many respectable qualities makes looking the part equally as important. I have a strong feeling you'll do well here - regardless of whether or not you intend to."
The crimson warrior's face contorted into an expression of confusion, she wasn't quite sure what to make of Ray's answer, in fact, she could positively admit that it only brought more questions than answers.
"Is…is that a compliment?" came her hesitant reply as she lightly pulled at the hem of her plaid skirt.
"Take it as you wish, I was only stating the truth."
Ray confused her. There wasn't many she knew that could speak their uncensored opinions without fear of scrutiny or judgement, yet this boy… this anomaly… he spoke as he saw fit, never once dreading the response of others.
He established himself in her mind as someone who cared very little for others' views on him.
And she wasn't sure if this was a good trait…
…Or a bad one.
Author's note:
[Insert excuse for delayed upload here]
Sorry for the wait, but I lead a busy life (mostly.) However, hopefully this chapter will remind those of you that read it that I'm in fact, not dead, just taking my time because fuck it XD
Anyway, I'm still in the process of writing the next chapter, so god knows when that'll come out.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, writing scenes that only contain Ray is a hell of a lot of fun. His sardonic outlook on pretty much everything is something I pride myself in.
As for Scarlet, I thoroughly enjoy writing about her daily struggles with mundane things, she really is a mess.
On that note, for those that have forgotten or don't know, in order to understand what the hell is going on in this story, you need to read Rogue Huntsman by Xera Stark, and on top of that, for another great story about the same plot, go and read Knights of White and Black generously brought to you by andy2396.
I hope you enjoyed this story, please feel free to give it and myself a Favourite, Follow, and a Review.
Have a good one!
-Hydra
(P.S. If anyone would like to remind them that we need to play Dark Souls 3 again, that would be greatly appreciated.)