Yes yes it has been a while since I updated this particular story, but I did update other things in the meantime so please don't hate me. If you want more of Rebirth my P at re on is two chapters ahead of what is on here and costs only one dollar a month for access, more if you want a say in update schedules and want to commission something.
Also while I have you all I have a few story challenges I'm gonna put out there, if any of you want to write one please PM me when you post the first chapter, and if any of you want me to write one just let me know in a comment and I'll write a chapter to see what kind of responses I get. To read these challenges read the Author's Note at the end of the story or check out my profile.
Now that that's out of the way, please read, enjoy, REVIEW, follow, and favorite.
The trip to the headmaster's office was a quiet one. Cardin glared at the floor mentally going over plans to beat Xiao Long to a bloody pulp, Glynda was staring straight ahead upset about the whole situation and wondering how things could have possibly gotten to this point, and Natsu had his eyes locked firmly on his professor's ass at it swayed back and forth his thoughts split between fantasies involving the blonde and what he was going to say to Ozpin about the school's inaction policy.
Clearly there are many different kinds of people.
As Glynda led her two students to her friend and boss' office, she couldn't help but wonder how things got the way they did. Beacon Academy was supposed to be the shining light of Remnant, where future protectors where trained and all souls were treated as equals just as they were on the battlefield, yet here she was escorting two of her students to the Headmaster's office one for his attacks on others and one for protecting them when it happened.
If she were being honest with herself, Glynda knew she didn't want to be bringing the pink haired boy along to what could very well be a notification of expulsion, but she also couldn't give the boy any special treatment, he had attacked a fellow student and therefore had to be punished. 'Then why are you only bothering to bring in Winchester now?' A dark voice in her head asked her in a patronizing way. Cardin Winchester was not an exceptional student by any means, his grades in traditional subjects such as history and science were barely passing and in courses like her own Combat class he never truly stood out, the only reason many thought he was among the strongest of the first years was because he only ever spared against those he knew were significantly weaker than him; usually one Jaune Arc, though the blonde would likely surpass Winchester boy in a year or two if he keeps up his current learning curve.
In fact there were only two reasons that the mace user left any sort of blip on the radars of Beacon's teaching staff. One was of course his severe racism against Faunus which they had to regrettably let him get away with both to avoid the possible scandal that could arise should Beacon be seen as taking a side in the rather sensitive topic, and because of the second reason Cardin Winchester was on the staff's watch list; the boy's family. While the Winchesters weren't as big a name the Schnee or even the Arcs, they were a fairly wealthy family, with both political clout and a long history. If word were to get out that one of their own was expelled from a Huntsmen academy and could face serious criminal charges for assault the family could cause backlash on Beacon that could lead to not only Ozpin's forced retirement but also a withdrawal of funding and support from the government.
Stepping into the elevator the telekinetic was forced to admit to herself that Xiao Long- or Dragneel or Salamander or whatever he went by- was right. The Beacon staff had, in their decision to ignore acts of violence Cardin displayed, been condoning said actions. The White Fang may have been a group that responded to minor racism with major acts and extreme measures, but the fact remained that they needed to have a bases for their accusations, and that bases was people like team CRDL. If they had acted like they did to a human- or even a Faunus for a reason other than their race- they would have been smacked down immediately, but they had let extremists dictate their policies and responses to crime. They were fools.
Shunting thoughts of the messy world of politics aside Glynda stepped out of the elevator and began mentally preparing how she would deal with her two students and hoping that Ozpin didn't decide to implement any of his more… unorthodox, ideas on how to deal with the matter. She really wanted to forget about the time he sent that team with internal dating problems to spend a week in the Emerald Forest to 'learn to trust each other again'. Long story short days one through four were spent with the four of them yelling at each other so loud you could hear it from the school along with an absurd amount of collateral damage when fighting the Grimm that plagued the forest. As for days five, six, and seven… a… different, kind of screaming was heard from the team. Suffice to say Ozpin thought it was a huge success, even if they did have to turn off all the security cameras in the forest for the last three days.
Monty knew Cardin wouldn't survive if he and Dragneel were forced to be alone together in the Forest for a week. He would be lucky if there was enough ash left from his corpse to give him a proper funeral.
How that man can possibly be the head of one of if not the most important secret organization in all of Remnant is beyond me, but I can't deny that he is good at what he does. Goodwitch thought to herself as she saw the man in question look up from his work to see who had entered his office.
The man's face, which had just before been the vintage of utter boredom, hardened into the mask of the stern disciplinarian he sensed he would have to be when he caught sight of his school's second in command lead not only one of his most disliked charges- not that he would ever act as such or Monty forbid say so out loud, he was a professional after all- but also the student he had personal suspicions of.
Ozpin had yet to find any evidence that young Brand was a part of the group that had attacked the Fall Maiden, but that by no means meant that he was about to start trusting the boy, not only did he have far more Aura than should be possible for a even several teams of huntsmen to possess combined, but he also possessed an incredibly powerful and versatile Semblance that could very well be boosted by the stolen power from Amber Autumn. And even if the fire user wasn't in possession of Amber's stolen power, he was still an incredibly talented fighter that he didn't know the limits or full abilities of which made him a dangerous unknown as far as Ozpin was concerned, and Ozpin hated unknowns. Not because he wanted to control everything, but when fighting a terrorist organisation, murderous beasts of darkness that often got cult followings, and a full blown shadow war against a demon witch over the Relics of Life and magical season women one tended to want to know what pieces were on the board and who they swore allegiance to.
"Hello Glynda, to what do I owe the surprise visit?" Ozpin asked his colleague politely, pretending he didn't already know at least the basics of why she had come.
"Professor Ozpin," she started, "Roughly ten minutes ago, I had to step in and prevent what promised to be a rather heated unsanctioned fight between Misters Xiao Long and Winchester in the cafeteria. As you know I would normally have dealt them their punishment right then and there, however given the nature of the potential fight's cause, I thought it prudent that I bring them here for you to pass judgment on their actions personally." Glynda explained to the Headmaster with a no nonsense tone and a serious gaze.
"I see," Ozpin said while locking his fingers together in front of his mouth, "And may I ask just what the cause was?" He asked his deputy.
Instead of answering right away, Glynda half turned to the side and gave the two boys a hard look before looking back at her boss, "It would seem that Mr. Winchester had been spending his lunch period mocking a fellow student namely a Bunny Faunus by the name of Velvet Scarlatina. It was when his actions escalated into physical contact with the intention to hurt Ms. Scarlatina that Mr. Xiao Long decided to intervene. However instead of seeking out one of the staff to reprimand Mr. Winchester he decided it would be better to break his nose by punching him in the face, fortunately I was able to put an end to the confrontation before it could escalate into a full blown fight." She reported.
"You forgot to mention the fact that you and three other teachers had been watching Cardin for a good twenty minutes before I stepped in." Xiao Long spoke up from his spot behind the deputy Headmistress. With his hands folded behind his head and the patronizing tone he used the boy could have easily passed as Qrow's son instead of Taiyang's. 'As long as he doesn't start acting like his mother.'
"I see." Ozpin said to no one in particular, "While it is obvious that Mr. Winchester will be receiving full punishment for his actions, the question is how to deal with Mr. Xiao Long's own… Very well, Mr. Winchester you will be serving four nights of detention with Professor Goodwitch and will write a formal apology to Ms. Scarlatina for your actions. As for you Mr. Xiao Long, you will accompany Mr. Winchester to his first two evenings of detention and are required to reread the sections of Beacon's student handbook that deal with duals and bullying. Now return to your classes and be sure to be at Professor Goodwitch's classroom at seven tonight for your detentions. Dismissed." He told the two boys, ignoring Winchester's smug look at how lightly he got off.
Instead of leaving though Natsu snarled at the older man, his magic responding to his anger and heating the room to near suffocating temperatures. "That's it?" Natsu growled, "A few dull nights and a fucking letter? This guy has been harassing and assaulting people since day one for Mavis' sake and when you finally get off your asses and do something about it you give him a slap on the wrist!?" He demanded, "Are you against this bastard's actions or not?"
"Mr. Xiao Long you are out of line!" Goodwich scolded.
Ozpin raised his hand to silence his friend, "At ease Glynda." he said calmly. "Mr. Winchester, leave us." He ordered. The boy didn't need to be told twice, at this point the heat Brand was producing was making it difficult to breath, and he was pretty sure his armor was going to start melting soon if he didn't get out of there.
After seeing the elevator close Ozpin spoke to his other student firmly, "Tell me Xiao Long, what would you have me do?"
Natsu blinked at the unexpected question, to the point that he even stopped the output of heat he was giving off. "What?"
"What would you have me do in this situation?" Ozpin repeated, "You said yourself you have issue with the punishment I decided upon, so tell me, what do you think should be done?" He asked.
"Expel him! Suspend him! Give him repercussions that are more than what a kid at a normal school would have gotten for a freaking food fight!" Natsu told him, beginning to recover from his shock.
Ozpin's face did not shift from his calm look, "Do you not believe in second chances Mr. Xiao Long? In redemption? If memory serves during your time as the Fire Dragon of the Grimm Lands you left many killers and thugs alive for them to return as allies both to you and small villages around the world." Ozpin told him, "What difference is there here?"
"The difference Ozpin is that I didn't just let them off. I fought them, a talked to them, called them on their shit, and beat some reason into them." Natsu retorted, "Violent people aren't reasoned with with pitiful repremindes, they need actual consequences, they need to be shown that they are wrong not just told! Those people I let get away? I left them broken and bloody, shattered in body and world view. I proved them wrong and when I knew that I couldn't I took them down." the Dragon Slayer told him, "What you are doing is practically encouraging the bastard!" He yelled.
Ozpin let a deep frown break through his mask, "Violence is not always the answer Salamander. Things tend to be far too complicated and messy for that. A more subtle touch is needed more often than not." He explained to the younger man, "Words are a weapon that far to many seem to overlook."
"And action is a language that people tend to ignore when it gives them a moral high ground." Natsu shot back.
The two powerful men stared at the other unblinkingly for a long moment, the air thick with tension and shimmering with heat. The papers on Ozpin's desk began to wrinkle and darken.
"You are dismissed Mr. Dragneel." Ozpin broke the silence, "My punishments stand as they are."
Natsu's glare deepened, his eyes flashing green and slitted for an instant before the enraged teen stalked out of the office.
Glynda looked between the elevator and Ozpin, unsure what to make of the conversation that had just taken place. "Ozpin?" She asked.
"Glynda, I want you to keep an eye on Mr. Xiao Long, and an even closer one on Mr. Winchester. If either of them do anything that may endanger each other, another student, or Monty forbid the people of Vale I want to know immediately." The man told the deputy headmistress.
Glynda blinked at her boss' words, "Ozpin surely you don't think that one of them would do anything like that?" They are just kids, went unsaid.
"I may be forced into a box in the action I can take because of the law and council, but I am not powerless. I think it's time I start reminding people of that." Ozpin told her.
Glynda straightened her stance at the dark tone the man had taken on and nodded, "Yes sir."
Not too bad I hope? Please let me know what you think below. Also before anyone says anything, yes this is a remake of a pretty similar scene from the first draft, though you will notice there are some key differences beyond the timeline of events surrounding this meeting particularly the discovery of the existence of the Maidens and Natsu's talk with Acnologia. Don't worry, such events will take place in the future.
Now onto the challenges/prompts, be sure to tell me what you think about them!:
1) A Young Justice story: As we all know Dick Grayson/Robin/Nightwing is a ladies man and a bit of a player, what many of us know is that in the YJ universe he dated Rocket during the five year gap between seasons (a gap that still pisses me off) and as anyone who know's the story of Rocket knows, she has a child out of wedlock named Amistad. In the fic I am suggesting Amistad is the son of Nightwing without the acrobat knowing. This fic will be a drama type thing where Rocket confides in one of the girls, be it Artemis, Zatanna, Black Canary, or whoever else it does not matter. It would be about Rocket's struggle between letting Nightwing know about his child, not complicating her upcoming nuptials, not wanting to complicate her at the time good relationship with Nightwing and the hero community as a whole, and not wanting to put more pressure and stress on the former Robin as he is already leading a strike team and if you choose also the Titans, the Outsiders, and if you want being in an already existing relationship with either Barbara Gordon Batgirl or Starfire. You can even throw in Mar'i Grayson if you want. Heck you can even make it so this happens during a time traveling thing so she talks to people with the consciousness they have in season one to get extra shock value out of them.
AN: I came up with this one after watching a YouTube video about the YJ version of Rocket and watching a Law and Order episode where the mother killed the daughter she had from an affair without telling her husband (the baby had a slow acting very painful disease that would have killed her anyways over the course of like five years so it was a mercy thing but still pretty messed up).
2) A Harry Potter Fairy Tail Crossover story: As we all know Umbridge sacks poor Trelawney in book five and Dumbldore gets Firez to take over her class. In this story he instead went the extra mile and got a human fortune teller that uses a form of divination that can be taught by the name of Cana Alberona. This story would be a comedy story centering around Cana being awesome (as most FT characters are) and the fact that despite her dress code and alcoholism Umbridge can't fire her because the Card Mage gets too good results. Students and teachers interacting with Cana is also encouraged as that would no doubt also be freaking hilarious.
AN: I came up with this one when I reread a issue of Fairy Tail that mentioned Cana's future telling abilities and the music for Harry Potter came up on my randomized playlist.
Those aren't all of them but if you want to see more, weather for ideas or to ask me to write them check out my profile.
Thank you all for reading, hope you enjoyed it!
Wingd Knight out.
P at re on.c om (slash) wingdknight
ko-fi.c om (slash) sevenknights