DISCLAIMER/ I don't possess legal rights to Halo or RWBY


Chapter XXII: Spartan's guidance


"Ignorance of all things is an evil neither terrible nor excessive, nor yet the greatest of all; but great cleverness and much learning, if they be accompanied by a bad training, are a much greater misfortune."
-Plato


Tuesday, January 14, 2527 [MILITARY STANDARD TIME/5:58]

"This isn't funny." Weiss muttered. After being ripped out from their dorms and driven to the deepest parts of the emerald forest she was expecting an explanation. Not only was she denied that but denied access to speak entirely without being threatened to be zapped by a cattle prod like device that glowed a blue with a line of electricity following it. The brutality shown by the men's voices and tones told Weiss it was wise to stay quiet for the time being.

Now, she was open because once they were dropped off they were met by none other than the Chief himself. Who was standing 40 feet above them on a branch to a tree.

"It's not a joke." The Master Chief replied to her. Her question was so simple and he had given her a dumb remark to her question just to see how long it would take to get her to snap at him.

"So this is your version of training? I don't think I'm up for this." Yang wheezed out. Trying to keep up with everyone while getting forced out of her room before 5 was an all new kind of horror she hoped never to endure again.

"You don't have a say in the matter." The Master Chief pointed out. "For the remainder until the tournament you're all under my watch."

"This is impossible." Blake said to him. "The schedule-"

"Has been altered. But only if you think that way." The Master Chief replied.

"I wanna go home." Ruby whined.

"This is your home until training is complete." The Master Chief said as he stepped down from the upper part of a tree branch. "From now until sundown,." He kept a hand on a branch to keep himself balanced since he was over 45 feet above the ground. "Fall in line."

"As if." Weiss said as the Master Chief jumped down. She took a step back since he had jumped in her direction and when he landed on the ground she felt the dirt shake. He slowly stood back up after bending his knee and looked down at Weiss, who now resembles a child about to get scolded by an adult with their height difference.

'superhero landing.' Nora thought with her same dazed smile. She was still tired but tried to keep her happy attitude.

"Pick your words carefully." He said to Weiss who looked at him with a steady glance. "I want you all to line up. Single file."

All of the disgruntled teens did what they were told. The Master Chief came up in front of them with another group of marines lining up, all carrying their weapons like their signature weapons.

"From Ozpin, Glynda, and my report. You are all unfit for the Vytal festival. Me and another training instructor shall help you." The Master Chief began.

"Who?" Pyrrha asked.

"Me." An older rugged voice called out. When the teens looked at the end of the field, they saw a decorated UNSC combat instructor with a solid green cap with a golden eagle that sparkled.

Franklin Mendez.

"ATTENTION." He spoke as he stood out in his standard marine uniform. One that was more decorated though and cleanly pressed. "I am Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez, former trainer of Master Chief petty officer, 117."

"So?" Yang questioned while scratching her armpit.

"So you should be lucky he didn't kill any of you when he did. One of the finest recruits I've ever gotten to know. Always willing to learn. Also, have another outburst like that and I'll toss you in the pit." Mendez said as he folded his arms behind his back. "For the next couple of weeks you will bleed. You will cry. You will be broken beyond repair. Once you are broken you will be put back together, only to be shattered once again. And again. Repeatedly until I see you're hard enough to take a hit and walk it off without moving."

Weiss raised her hand.

"What is it trainee?" Mendez asked.

"Where are our weapons?" Weiss asked rather snidely. "We're from a fighting academy and need weapons to fight with."

"Weapons have been confiscated until the end of session 1; Unarmed combat. You're going to lose a weapon in combat; then what? You'll be given a chance to show us your most dangerous weapon: by using your wit. Most of you rely on weapons and can not take a punch. Some of you think you're all that. Me and Petty officer 117 will prove you wrong very quickly." Mendez said as he looked at Jaune. He looked the more afraid than any of them.

Time to scare the fear From him.

"From your reports Jaune Arc, you have the lowest skill in every way. You will be first up."

Jaune looked at him with shame filled eyes. Not liking the fact everyone knew he was the lowest scoring student. However his embarrassment was easily replaced with fear when he was called up first to go against the superior boy. He gulped. "Uh, can we-

"I SAID YOU!" Mendez howled as Jaune shook in fear at the voice that was shot at him. "Refusing to abide the rules will automatically have you sent back to Beacon, where you will be not allowed to participate in the Vytal tournament. If I were you, I'd take my orders and follow them to the details. Any questions?"

Pyrrha raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"Is our semblance allowed?"

"No it is not. Your powers won't be there to save you all the time. Especially your shield. If all get's worse you must know an alternative to escape. It might save your life. So to re-clarify, no weapons, no armor, and no aura. Failure to follow," Mendez snapped his fingers, and a few marines exited from behind the trees. All carrying shock batons that glowed blue. "You get the rod."

Nora grinned.

"First up, Jaune Arc."

Jaune, shaking with his heart up to his throat, stepped into the dirt circle with John-117.

John raised his fists.

(5 seconds later after match starts)

"Unproficient." Mendez said. "That was very inadequate Arc. Fail. You're endurance is below average. No recognized style of combat. Breathing is... Non-existent. The most important part of combat in breathing. You forget how to breath. It's better to have the next breath versus the last breath." He finished as he saw Jaune pick himself up after nearly being tossed into a tree. He walked back into the lineup before another name was called on.

"Nora Valkyrie, fall out." Mendez read off the name and looked for a girl matching the description he was looking at. A petite girl with orange hair, green eyes, and one uncanny grin.

"HIYA!" Nora suddenly shouted from behind the line and bounced forward into the circle. "Let's rumble!"

The Master Chief shrugged his shoulders before locking his stance.

(1 minute later)

Franklin Mendez was burning.

"YOU WALKING PILE OF GARBAGE! Do you have any idea or know the military ordnance price of that barracks you just demolished!" Mendez screamed in Nora's face as she held a stupid grin. Some of her hair blew back from the ferocity of his voice.

"Yeah! Wasn't it awesome! I wanted to make the sentence with more sparkles and add a bit more-"

Mendez responded by signaling for a marine, who was holding a stun-rod to 're-evaluate' Nora.

"Don't interrupt trainee!" Mendez screamed as the marine stabbed the rod forward in Nora's back...

"Hehehe..." Nora suddenly giggled as her eyes blinked once. "Nora goes vroom vroom."

"Son of a... what the hell?" The Marine said as Nora stood completely up after being dealt with at least 30 milliamps. Enough to lock up a full grown man 4'xs her mass. Nora turned at him with a grin full of pearl teeth that looked like little diamonds and eyes filled with electrical currents before saying. "Nizzzeee to meet you!"

"It would seem some of our personal weren't listening during the briefing of some of the abilities these children hold. Nora Valkyrie is like a lightning rod." Mendez said as Nora laughed. "Get the pepper spray."

Nora's smile dropped. "Get the what-AHHHHHH!" She roared as Chief came up behind her and shot her in the face with pepper spray. While she was distracted he made a chopping motion to her in the shoulder, giving him enough time to knee her in the face and sending her flying out of the ring.

"Next." He read off the sheet as he pointed to the red haired huntress. "You Nikos, in the circle."

"Ohhhh, okay who want to go double or nothing?" Yang replied as she and the rest of her team sat around to watch. Pyrrha made her way to the circle, and eyed the Chief who was out of armor. She gave a confident look on her face, which he returned with a soft smile. A smile no one had seen before.

'This... I don't know.' Blake thought. She had once layed eyes on a smile like that before. Ones that were usually very sure of themselves.

"Forward!" Mendez launched out as the Chief and the two locked eyes on eachother.

There was about two seconds of a pause before they both launched at each other quicker than most of the students could see. Pyrrha launched the first attack with a spin kick, but what surprised her wasn't the speed at which he grabbed her at, but the follow up grapple his arm displayed. He managed to throw a reach that grabbed the back of her neck and kneed her in the stomach. Pyrrha sucked in her breath before jumping back and keeping her arms locked in place. Her abdomen ached as if someone took a sledgehammer to her. It was an alien like feeling.

He hit her.

He wouldn't be able to do it again.

She had to duck under a punch and a kick, skidding towards the side as she shoved him back but almost got dirt kicked up in her face from him. He took advantage of the attack and quickly grabbed the back of her thigh before wrapping his leg around her waist, yanking her towards the ground. He wrapped both his arms behind hers before using both his legs to hold her arms down. She fell face first in the dirt and began to panic. He grappled her and soon realized she was stuck.

She couldn't move her legs. She couldn't lift her arms. She couldn't grab anything.

And she was slowly losing air.

He'd beat her.

So quickly.

"How the- Hey! He cheated!"

"Does the fact he cheated tell you something?" Mendez questioned.

"Cheating isn't right!"

"The enemy will cheat, then it's best you cheat before they do." He looked down at the scroll. "Nikos, you exhibited above average combat skills against the Chief. You've lasted longer than then the last person who fought the chief outside of armor."

Pyrrha coughed then glanced over to the CPO. "How long was that?"

"It was less than a minute... The three of them didn't last long." Mendez said as Pyrrha's interest perked.

"I'm sorry, but I think I heard you just say there were three against one." Yang questioned.

"You heard me correctly, three. Three to one. Only one person walked out of the ring." Mendez told them without adding the fact two of them died and the third one was crippled for life and wouldn't be able to have children any time soon.

Pyrrha felt the Chief's near iron grip around her arms and waist loosen, before vanishing as she was helped up by him.

"I don't understand, three on one? Why would your team put you to that?" Pyrrha questioned rather unsurely. Chief knew he had to make up a story. "That would be pretty mean of them." She added.

"My team wasn't there at the time, I had to handle that alone." He told her. "There are reasons to be mad, but mine was being considered AWOL. They would have resented me, but they gave me another chance. That chance was all I needed." He told her. "Because friends give friends second chances."

"Absolutely. We'll definitely have to have a re-match. I hadn't been pushed like that in years." Pyrrha commented as he nodded. She soon left before Mendez looked back down at the scroll and said. "Lie Ren, you're next in the ring."

The silent ninja nodded before stepping towards the circle.

He brushed a lock of hair out of his face before getting in a stance.

Mendez blew the whistle.

They both launched launched themselves at each other.

Lie Ren had seen nightmares before his very eyes. They spoke of sleepless nights that were the cause of unforeseen circumstances that were way out of his control. He strove to be stronger. To be silent. TO show his enemies that while he lived and breathed their wouldn't be a night that they would take away any more from him... He saw that very same look in the Chief's eyes when he slipped back to avoid the first punch. Lie Ren counted a series of jabs with his knee and then his elbow.

The Chief didn't back down from and dropped his elbow but Lie maneuvered around it and replied with a volley of punches up the Chief's tight to his ribs. The Chief grunted as he felt the jabs and back handed at Ren who backflipped and rushed back to deliver a flying kick that Chief pushed off with his forearm. Ren shot a volley of kicks that were a blur and pounded against the back of Chief's forearms but didn't move him back. The Chief's eyes caught sight of Ren doing a spin in air to catch him off guard but this didn't work when he used the back of his fist to block it before latching onto Ren's ankle and spinning him out of the ring.

"Next." The Chief said as Ren spun in the dirt. Nora whistled when she saw Ren land on his butt before getting up and getting the dirt off his clothes.

"Ruby Rose, step into the ring." Mendez yelled.

"But-"

"I SAID NOW! DO YOU KNOW WHAT NOW MEANS OR DO I HAVE TO SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU!" He barked as Ruby appeared right in front of Chief. Physically shaken by the tone of Franklin's voice.

"Uh, put em up?" She said while raising both hands.

Chief shrugged his shoulders. Mendez blew the whistle and Ruby was the first to act. She threw a punch, a slow one at that. Very slow to his eyes even. It was so slow in his eyes it resembled the speed of a snail wanting to take as long as possible at traveling.

Any experienced fighter would have been able to block or even counter it. But he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of that. So he let that one hit him. Right in the cheek without fear or flinching. Her speed in punching was poorly predictable. Almost as if her arms were only primarily meant for her weapon.

Ruby yelped as she pulled her hand back and moaned in pain from the force behind his cheek. She felt as if she punched a brick wall!

"When punching, throw your weight. Keep your back foot firmly planted behind the other, or you'll lose your balance. And keep your elbows loose. Like this," Chief moved his hand to loosen Ruby's arms. "It's all in the wrist."

"Wait, why are you helping me?" Ruby questioned as everyone had the same question.

"Jaune was expected to lose and everyone else can put up a decent brawl. Your strength relies in weapons. Fist fighting needs work." He told her before getting again. "If you don't fight as if your life depends on it, you'll be wishing you had." Then he stood back a bit.

"Okay." She then punched him in the face, the same cheek. "Like that?' She said while rubbing her now numb knuckles.

"Straighten your arm, and lower the other one." John said. "Also, keep your legs positioned and throw your weight around. Punches must be precise, and quick. Tensing up makes you tire quicker."

Ruby followed a few more, and John blocked most of them with his hands put up.

"Your hands are so rough!" Ruby whined as she got punched in the stomach, and flew back.

"On your feet." John said. "You need to keep your eyes open. Be quicker."

"How?" Ruby questioned.

"Move your hips in rotation," John said as Ruby got up and did what he told, only to be backhanded and thrown back. She got up while rubbing her cheek.

"Be sure to bring your hands back to protect yourself."

"Now you tell me." Ruby complained as she got up again, and began smacking John with both hands.

John raised an eyebrow, before one of his hands caught her by the wrist, and he lowered himself to flip her over on her back in return. Ruby slammed into the ground before seeing stars.

"Relax. Staying relaxed helps you think more clearly."

"You're telling me this after you beat me!?" Ruby yelled as John knelt down and looked at her into her silver eyes.

"Pain teaches you not to repeat it." He said. He held a hand out which she took, and was pulled up to her feet.

"Sometimes you won't be able to hit the head because of your height. Since your short-

"I'M NOT SHORT YOU'RE JUST TALL!" Ruby yelled.

"Ignoring that, you'll have to rely on body strikes. If you look, there are 4 places you can hit me to lower my guard. The stomach, the neck, the side, and the lower region." He said to Ruby who looked exhausted.

"Okay. So where do I hit you?"

"I'll let you decide." He said to her. Ruby nodded while using her right arm to hold up defense, and swung a chop at chief's side, which he blocked, then used his leg to pivot her.

"I should mention that lower defense is important as well." He noted.

Ruby groaned.

This wasn't going to be easy.

"Weiss Schnee, you are next." Franklin told off to the heiress.

"Just hand-combat?"

"That's what I just said!" Weiss nodded without making note of the harshness in Franklin's words. She felt her palms grasping an imaginary weapons since she had always dualed with one. Now that she was without a weapon she'd have to improvise.

The Chief as first to go as his feet went across the dirt in a flurry of running. Weiss had to act fast as she was almost hit from the side by a fist and almost kicked in the chest. After dodging for a few moments which seemed to be almost an instant in Weiss's mind she went into offensive and punched him once near his neck that hit him, but got her a few vicious chest strikes from him. She seethed in pain as her chest burned but it didn't stop her from there. She became angry and kicked him at his knee but this didn't help her as it felt like kicking a column of marble.

Even for a small stature Weiss did have a little power. He felt the kick at his kneecap and had to give her some credit for aiming there. She was strong. Just not enough to harm him.

Weiss felt her eyes go wide when the Chief put between her legs and another over her shoulder and felt her feet leave the ground. Holding her shoulder with the left hand he brought her down to the dirt, making it kick up before grabbing both her ankles and twisting them.

"Your out. Next." Chief told her before she growled.

"I feel this combat training is uncalled for. We're at a limb because we have no aura or weapons!" Weiss yelled at him. The Chief looked over his shoulder before sighing.

"Alright, if you believe so." He looked at Franklin. "Sir, permission to suit up."

"Permission denied. After today's course you'll be able to compare combat in suit and with weapons to your arsenal. We don't want the recruits dead." Franklin then looked at the black haired assassin. "Belladonna." He called.

Blake came into the ring and kept her pace silent. When entering the ring she kept a careful glance at Chief's form, taking mental notes of any possible openings and disadvantages to her taking. She already knew he was fast and strong, but just how long could he be able to keep that up?

"Begin."

Blake and Chief began to circle each other at the outline of the ring. They didn't give each other more space or close proximity between them but stayed at the same distance. Chief noted her stance, not too stiff nor to lose but in a balanced state. Her feet were a good distance apart and her breathing was fluid.

Chief saw Blake's left hand move, and soon her whole body followed motion. Her left hand formed a fist and she swung it in a reversal backhand that Chief counted with an elbow block and uppercutted toward her stomach. Blake jumped up, wrapping her legs around the Chief's neck and holding on while pulling back by using her weight to make his head bend forward then chopping at the back of his neck. Blake felt a hard grip his her throat and toss her to the ground. She was quick to get up and lunged at Chief, moving her head back from a hook and kicking Chief in the lower back at his kidney. She heard a grunt but had to move again when he almost caught her.

He was fast. She noted. Out of his armor he was much quicker. Too quick because one moment she was standing and the next she was on the ground and moving her head out of the way from Chief's fist slamming in the dirt. She used her legs again as a weapon and wrapped them around Chief's arm before squarely punching him in the forehead and palm striking him in the jaw. Chief brushed the two off before shoving his knee into her stomach and twisting her arm with both hands in a motion that would have snapped her elbow.

Blake growled in a pained frustration. Twisting her arm the way Chief had it going she managed to escape his grapple and let a kick fly toward the side of his neck that bounced off him, but managed her to get out of his hold. Chief stepped back when she jumped in the air and landed behind him and kicked at his knee, but this was as futile as the first and she was met with a bodyslam to her stomach before being picked up and thrown from the ring.

Blake gasped at her stomach as she rolled in the dirt, before she was helped up by Yang he heard her partner whisper, "My respect for you has gone up! You managed to hit him!"

Franklin watched as Blake got up to her feet and began. "Belladonna, you've exhibited satisfactory combat skills, escaping measures, and handled injuries accordingly. You need to however learn to maneuver weight rather than take it all at once and without your emotions taking your attention. Until then you're in the red zone." He then looked to the yellow dragon.

"Xiao Long, up."

"Bout time." She cheered when coming into the ring with the Chief. After seeing him for the first time without his armor or anything covering him she was quite frankly, shy at his complexion. She was expecting something under it but she sure as hell wasn't expecting some rookie looking guy underneath all the bulky armor.

Then again, she didn't know what to expect. But it sure wasn't that.

Yang came to the ring with Chief seven feet away and she began doing stretches. He raised an eyebrow but exhaled.

"Ready green?" Yang made a few handgun gestures while saying 'pew' a few times.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Scared that I might actually beat you?" Yang questioned while flexing her arms. "These guns beat yours."

Franklin shook his head. Teenagers.

Menendez went into deep thought after remembering Yang's file, or rather her temper that was on UNSC file. Her attack on the Master Chief in the club couldn't be looked over and kept tabs on her. Then another was recently opened her mother Raven Branwen. Attempts to keep this low key were important because with how delicate relations were now between the UEG and Remnant weren't only crucial but benefactor to them.

Franklin looked down at the roster before crossing Yang name off. "Okay, on second thought, I think this one can be skipped."

Yang tilted her head. "Why?"

"More recent reports suggest you're in the top classes almost in leagues with Pyrrha in hand to hand. No testing should be involved with you. However, there are still objectives that need to be fixed. Next, you'll run instead !" Mendez barked with his arms behind his back. He kept an eye on the most promising of the group, that being Ruby Rose. Even with a small stature she had a body who was built like a runner. Small and quick. Just like one of his older recruits Kelly-087.

"That's it?" Yang questioned.

"You will run until I say stop." Mendez finished as Blake had the urge to slap Yang with a brick. "In order for you to be in mandatory condition you will have to run until your feet bleed. Run until your knees break. Run until your legs are about to shatter. Until your lungs feel like they're going to burst at any second." He began then nodded.

"Better yet, since you've never been pushed this far. I've taken the liberty of setting a waypoint. On the other end of the Forever falls is a pelican dropship. You all must make it aboard. Last one on gets to walk all the way back to camp. You will not be allowed any weapons, or be allowed medical attention unless I say so! Lastly, you will be accommodated to this." Mendez walked over to a medium sized pack fitted with dozens of pockets. "This bag will symbolize a person. Since this is introduction, I will make it easy on you. Each bag is fitted to match a quarter of your body weight."

"Great." Weiss muttered.

"First up, Yang Xiao Long. Take your pack." Franklin told Yang while picking up a green double strap duffle bag.

XXXXXXX

"This isn't so bad." Ruby said as she slugged the straps over her shoulders. It wasn't bad to her. What really made her upset was the fact that she had to leave crescent rose back at her dorm. She hoped that maybe they could issue weapon, or at least marksmanship training.

"You're... Lying!" Weiss panted as she nearly fell over face first. Her hair was now tied behind her head to stop it from getting in her face. But it didn't help her keep her cool. It was hot today. About 85 degrees today without a soft breeze. She was still trying to get used to Vale's climates since Atlas was much more different in climate.

"At least you're wearing support!" Yang shouted back with her front pack swinging. Since she didn't wear a bra her assets were flying all over the place, and it hurt. Some men might find it sexy but women would know how painful it was. It wasn't sexy. And it wasn't fun.

"Come on." A familiar voice said behind them. When they turned, or had to catch sight of the said speeding blue, they instantly knew it was the Master chief.

"Keep up." He said as he passed by them.

"Why are you-"

"Training. You." He said as he sped on.

"That's not right." Blake muttered.

"What? The fact he's not sweating or look like he's having a bad time?" Yang said.

"Who cares." Weiss said.

This went on for 10 more minutes. It was grueling as the minutes began to approach the first hour. The sun that was once high in the sky slowly began to reach its highest peak and finally at the highest day, it felt as if the ground were on fire.

As the group of teens ran like their lives depended on it, a warthog humvee drove off to the side keeping watch. There were three men in the vehicle and held their weapons off to the corner of them. One was an ODST out of armor, and the other two were marines.

"A spartan, training? Wouldn't be the first time. Saw a few of before. More.." The ODST muttered. Every time he was appointed to some objective, he would wind up being near that Spartan. He couldn't handle the sight of him, let alone tolerate his presence. But he was more at distaste with the creator of him. The ones who bred and built them.

"Did you come from Reach? I saw a few of them there." A young man replied. The man simply went by Brimley. His full name was Liam Mason Brimley, but he went by his last name instead. He was 6'2" with short blond hair. He had joined the UNSC a few years prior as a marine, but was looking into becoming an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, more specifically the newly formed 105th Shock trooper division.

"Guys, we can't be talking about-" First sergeant Charles Dewitt said, but was cut off.

"Dammit Dewitt, I thought you said you were done talking. I'm talking." The young ODST muttered under his breath. He was 21 years old and tired as hell with no action whatsoever. "One, I've seen him. Two it's that same guy." The ODST breathed out.

"He can't be more than 16." Charles uttered.

"He said he's 17, but I don't buy it. He was on a ship with me and my team. Months ago. 2 years by now." The ODST muttered.

"Wait, no. We're not talking about this." Brimley lectured.

"He did it. I know it because I was there in the gym. He killed them." The ODST whispered dangerously.

"Anthony, seriously. That's classified shit you're wanting to spout off." Charles said to the ODST, who was in reality; Anthony Petrosky. Anthony Petrosky was born in the year 2506 on Earth. He joined the Marines when he was 16 and soon became part of the ODST when he was 18. When he was 19 and on the UNSC Atlas, that's when he learned of the Spartan-II's combat capabilities first hand.

"It's not classified when an entire ship heard about it, or that dick head CPO Mendez spouting off like it was a training match. He pummeled them to death. He just beat them around the room like they were pillows. I was across the room when he did it. Langston and Haroldson both died. And Cyle, he's stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. His X-ray's over his pelvis looked like a jigsaw puzzle. He punched Langston in the chest that it... Burst it with one punch. He then punched Haroldson in the face...Oh god Haroldson. I think he got it the worst." Anthony trailed off.

"How bad?" Charles questioned.

"His face was just a hole." Brimley replied. He too was in the gym, or at least arrived when all three ODST were wheeled out.

"Damn... What the hell did that kid eat? Are you sure you're telling the whole story?" Charles asked. The man, or boy running with them had a body that resembled several years of dedication put into investing towards lean muscle. Yet the face was wrong. It looked like the face of a young teen. Something wasn't adding up.

"I'll be damned if I didn't. I saw it. 5 other people saw it, hell that same SCPO ordered them in the ring! That same one with him!"

"Mendez? You're saying he, second most decorated combat instructor, put a kid in a ring with trained ODST's?" Charles questioned with absolute shock. "He's a kid for christ's sake! What the hell is he thinking?."

"Little shit needed a lesson in respect." The young ODST swore. "Those guys have served in the navy before that kid was even a gleam in his dad's eye. And he thought he had a right to talk down to one of us, nuh uh." Anthony swore. "And need I remind you what that little freak did? Two ODST's, dead."

"Why does Mendez want that kid teaming these other kids?" Charles asked while pulling out a stick of gum. "What's his name anyway?" He asked before unwrapping the candy.

"Meat. That's what we called him. He's got more meat on his face than a newborn baby. His real name, meh I don't know." Anthony brushed away as he uncapped his canteen and took a sip. "If I did know then I'd know what to carve in his grave after what he did."

"Come on, but me if I'm wrong but that's a kid? Dude shouldn't be that buff. Is he on something?"

"Me and the others were talking about it. ONI can try and hide it but some of my friends were talking about it. They knew." Brimley spoke as he remembered his last conversation while in quarantine to get on Remnant. "My friends Jiles and Simmons say they were loaded up with drugs. Not Rumble though."

"Spartan training? Oh you mean the program?" Anthony answered.

"Keep it down. ONI says that shit will get us locked up." Charles whispered.

"ONI and all those bureaucracy pencil necks can shove it up to third base for all I care. That kid ain't human, and I really think having him tangle a bunch of newer kids isn't the best idea! It's like taking one serial killer and putting him in a room with potential serial killers." Anthony spat out like he nearly swallowed poison.

"Systematic oppression, what'll think it'll' happen?" Brimley asked.

"Same thing that happened to my friends." Anthony trailed off.

"Let's drop the subject." Charles uttered.

"Don't lecture me about anything motherfucker." Anthony cursed.

"Hey, you want to get caught and put in the rig with him," He snapped his fingers at the running Spartan-II. "You maybe right, he has no remorse. None of them do. Is that what you want?"

"...No." Anthony answered.

"Then shut it." Charles finished as he looked at the blond girl trying to keep up. She was the most eye-catching from the rest of the group. The supermodel body and golden locks that went down her back made her stick out. Not to mention her eye color. Then again though there was a girl running somewhere in the group with silver eyes.

The planets biology went off somewhere, or a mutation occurred in the gene pool he thought.

Back to the blond haired girl though she caught his eyes. Or more specifically, her bouncing chest that made her stand out from the group.. 'Damn, kids these days grow up so fast.' He thought.

Even though he had a girlfriend who worked in logistics he still hadn't seen her in over 2 months. Seeing the mounds of unbound flesh grew to a controlled urge that he suppressed. Was it scandalous he was feeling small lust for the Beacon student? Yes. Was it seen as unapproving for his superiors? Absolutely. Was he about 15-20 years too old for her? Most definitely.

Weiss was the first to fall behind at the 35 minute mark. Her face was drenched and her hair was matted with a few twigs. As she began to falter, she saw Ruby begin to slow down a bit. Her breathing was burning in her lungs and her legs felt like they were about ready to shatter.

"Hold!" One of the marines shouted. "Take 5."

"THANK OUM!" Jaune shrilled as he face planted in the ground. As Jaune ate some dirt, the Chief left them and carried on into the brush. The rest of the teams (besides one) didn't pay much attention to him.

"This has to be illegal." Blake gasped as she bent down to let the sweat drip off her in the gallons. She was lucky to not have worn her yukata in this otherwise it'd be ruined. Ruined just like her pride today with the hand to hand combat.

The Master Chief trotted towards the river before slumping down. He began scooping the water in his hand and swallowed a few mouthfuls of it.

He suddenly heard a rustle in the bush behind him but ignored it. He heard a quite feminine panting before he heard a large splash in the water.

Looking up he half expected yang, Ruby, or even Weiss. He was wrong though when he saw an orange haired head exit the water.

"Hiya era!" Nora greeted loudly as she shook her head, waving the water off like a dog would.

"Nora." Chief greeted the bubbly girl before taking another sip of the water before chugging it.

"Thirsty? I can get thirsty too after running for more than a few hours. But I sometimes drink so much water that I feel sick afterwards. I can even hear the water swirling around my stomach. I feel like a water balloon!" Nora chatted off and on like some caterwauler. "Then after that I have to go pee!"

She did enjoy maple syrup, which was just packed full of sugar.

"You have a lot of energy." The Master Chief noted as Nora was skipping through the water like a dolphin.

"I sure do!" Nora replied as she jumped out of the water on all fours, before shaking herself off like a dog. Causing the water to fly in every direction imaginable. The Master Chief just sat there, dripping now with the water that was on Nora threw onto him. She sighed happily before lying against the tree next to him. "So, what's on your mind? Oh, it's an animal isn't it!"

"No. I'm not thinking about that." The Master Chief replied as he tied the laces on his boots. "Trying to figure out the best point out of this forest training."

"I think it's great so far! I haven't felt my calves burn this much since when I accidentally burned myself on our stove. Don't ask!" Nora quickly defended the claim quickly.

"I'm not sure though what the next phase is. How to properly guide ourselves out." The Chief admitted. Feeling like he had made a mistake.

"Hey." Nora said in a softer tone. "Me and Ren didn't know our parents. They died a long time ago in a Grimm attack." The bubbly character that defined her whole personality switched over to a more softer tone due to years of sadness and grief. Chief looked at her and noted with the wind pushing her hair to the side, her face showed a different side to her. A side new to the Chief and something not a lot of people would see unless she opened up about it.

The news from her, or how she delivered it was shocking to Chief in a sense. She wasn't one to drop all her happiness like a light-switch. It was a bit disturbing in fat.

"I'm sorry for that." He told her while staring at the waters gleam.

"But I want you to know that you're exactly like a soldier who helped us. Well, he wasn't exactly a soldier but more along the lines of a hunter."

"I'm not a hunter. I don't fall in that category." The Chief defended.

"Hunters and the military are just silly titles, like pancakes and syrup."

"How does that make any sense?"

"They're both sweet and warm goodness that slides down my throat like a heaven waterfall." Nora thought out loud as she salivated. "They to me, are what makes breakfast delicious."

"I don't comply."

"They're the same."

"Hunters and the military are quite dissimilar."

"Kinda, but kinda not. They both protect people. Just like pancakes defeat my hunger every morning. And they make me happy."

"That's, a strange system to say it."

"Don't be so down though, I became a hunter because me and Ren lost our parents in an attack in a village. We were both young and we don't remember much of them. But I'm surrounded by something that makes me the strongest Hunter out there... And those are my friends. With that, I'll make sure no one ever loses their mom and dad."

"I'm sorry to hear-" He first began but stopped when Nora suddenly hugged him.

"No, don't be sorry. Be happy, be happy that you're doing what you're doing now." she told with her head against his. He was taken back by it and was having a hard time what to do in response. All he did was breathe in deeply, and caught the scent of Nora... Which nearly made him gag.

She stunk.

Nora let go of him and looked down at the Chief once more, tilting her head.

"Do you wanna hug again? I think it makes you feel better." Nora suggested.

"No." Came from the Master Chief. He wasn't only a person who detested physical contact of any kind unless for medical purposes but this girl smelled like a corpse that had just released it's bowls.

"Aw come here." Nora through caution in the wind (even if there wasn't any to begin with) and wrapped her arms around Chief's neck again.

"You're also like A sloth! I mean Ren! They don't say much but they sure are cuddly to hug!"

"Please let me go. I don't like hugs." The Chief told her.

"No. not until your softer."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because the tree told me."

"You need to let go."

"Seriously I think you and Ren could pass off as brothers."

"I wasn't born with any siblings." He told her.

"Neither was I? At least I don't think so." Nora thought as she finally let go. "Do you wanna be siblings?" she asked excitedly. "We can hit hands and you can protect me from guys wanting to take advantage of my innocence!" She stated boldly while looking back at Chief.

I don't even know what that means.

"But here's the bigger question... Who's the older sibling?" Nora thought out loud as she rubbed her chin.

XXXXXXX

(30 minutes later)

They all made it to the Pelican. Which had landed on the end of a cliff right at the very tip of the forever fall which gave them a clear view of the massive valley below them filled with its signature crimson trees as far as the eyes could see, and/or muster if you were colorblind.

"About time trainees." Mendez noted as he stepped out of the back of the Pelican with crossed arms. "Congratulations Arc, this might just be your lucky day." Mendez said as he watched the blonde boy fall forward into the pelicans cargo hold. Mendez is brown eyes then glared at the final form coming up with the rest of the team. "Master Chief, I expected better from you."

"Force of habit." The Master Chief spoke to Mendez from afar. Everyone was up to the front before him, even team CRDL.

"Very good. You have all made it this far in your introduction faze." Amended as the remainder of the teams entered the Pelican. " Now the final step for today is in motion."

"Final," Yang panted between sentence. "Step?"

"Yes." Mendes answered shortly before looking at the pilots. "Take us down the mountains, just over the river."

The Pelican's engine rutter bellowed the dirt around them before lifting off of the mountain.

"Where are you taking us?" Ruby asked the superior officer.

"We're headed to a LZ that's at the bottom of this cliff. It just so happens your next objective is to make it back in once piece using your wits." Mendez replied.

"Uhhh, how are we getting back up?" Jaune questioned with mild concern.

"That's up to you boy. Like I just said, just try to get back in one piece."

XXXXXXX

3 and half hours later

"Water levels, gone." Jaune choked out as he fell face first, then the rest of the team following in suite.

"Kill me...(huff) now." Blake huffed as she fell over with Yang falling next to her. Her hair was matted in sweat and dirt, and the bruises on her cheek felt numb now.

"Good work trainee's, for your dedication, you receive... NOTHING! That was the worst you all put out there!" Mendez yelled. "Get back to Beacon, and prepare yourselves for next week."

"Next week?!" They all shouted.

"Every week. This isn't a daycare center!" Mendez howled. "You are going in a world where there is not only Grimm, but defecting huntsmen and huntresses who will end you. They don't rely on powers but know the perimeter better than you. If they have the upper hand in strategizing, they have already won the battle. Countering with sheer unpredictability will win the tide of battle. Dismissed!"

Team RWBY groaned as they were covered head to toe in sweat. Yang lifted her arm to take a sniff, and nearly passed out at the horrendous odor. Ruby stood up and rubbed the dirt off of her face after being knocked into the ground for who knows how many times. Weiss got up and rubbed the bruise that had formed on her rump after being shoved down one too many by the marine instructors. Blake was in worse for wear as she now sustained a black eye. It would be a reminder to duck quicker next time.

"Arrrggghhh! This isn't a military academy! I came to Beacon to avoid that type of near body-throbbing ignorance!" Weiss nearly wailed as she had never felt so dirty in her life. She was pouring sweat down every nook and cranny imaginable and her hair was either soaked from the sweat or blood from having to rush through bushes and trees without her semblance on.

The Master Chief came up and looked at them. They all took a glance at him, gaining mixed reactions.

He had taken his shirt off and walked up to them, or in a better sense past them. His shirt had gotten filthy with a few tears in it, mostly around his arms and neck. Not to mention it was sticking to him. He walked over to one of the crates to put on a fresh one, but was getting a study down by Team RWBY. Who were predominantly looking at all the wounds and surgical scars he was covered in. A few dark blotches on the side of his frame told them he was shot there once, and the horrendous burns on the left side showed he survived some type of horrendous fire.

"Ignorance?" He questioned Weiss who stared at his form. More along the lines of the deep permanent scratches that would stay on his skin forever. He gestured to the massive burn mark where his heart was. "This is what ignorance will get you. If you don't know the enemy, they will take the shot at your weakest point. Mendez was right, your all in need of some REAL work." He said, breaking the girls out of their sightseeing.

"Those look too much like a surgical scars." Weiss mustered. She had just been administered her shots after her medical roster was briefed over. Just to put it in simple terms, she wasn't happy of where she was poked with a needle. "Are those from Grimm?" She questioned.

The Chief rolled his arm and glanced at her. "Whatever happened to your eye?" The Chief asked.

Weiss scrunched her nose a bit. "What does that have to do with the question?"

"I asked first."

"No you didn't. You're-"

Weiss beat him. "First of all, I've been trained by some of the best proctors Atlas had to give. Second,-"

"Then they are in need of some re-educating." The Master Chief said as he placed a clean shirt over his head. "We're training you to fight off against the Insurrection, Grimm, and other awol hunters."

"The who?" Team RWBY asked. Pyrrha lifted her head and gained a odd look as well.

"Rebellers. Violent ones." He said making Pyrrha gain a grim look. "Franklin Mendez gave you all a data link to a list of attacks they've done to numerous systems, and what they're doing here."

"What do they do?"

"Same thing the White Fang dreams of doing. Blowing up public transports, stealing military grade equipment. And it's been going on for as long as I could remember." The Master Chief said as he placed the final item in his rucksack. He looked back at them before saying, "Once you know who you're up against, it'll be safer."

"Safer? You're afraid of them?" Yang inquired. "Never thought you'd be afraid."

"It's not them I'm afraid of." The Chief told her.

"Then what?"

"You're afraid that your restrictions will get us killed?" Ren questioned the man who took on many beasts without aura. Yet his words made that said man, who was actually a teen stop dead in his tracks."Is that why?"

The Master Chief stared at the canteen in his hands, and looked down to notice he was shaking. He closed his eyes before taking a deep breath. He turned towards the eyes of the teen before starting. "I've come to learn that being a soldier meant one thing. There are things I've come to not know." The Chief said as he slipped his older shirt over his body, earning some rather odd stares. From the girls respectively.

From the girl's feelings he wasn't ugly, not the most handsome either, but approachable. Being classified as a thuggish brute or even an intimidating figure could be put under him, but his face along with the way he carried himself described stiffness.

"How I would lead, how you would fair, but CPO Mendez told me to know your allies, but know your enemies better. But I am not him. Never will be." The Master Chief told them as he took a sip of his canteen.

"Are you saying, you've actually come to know us pretty well?" Ruby questioned him. He nodded. "Well," Ruby began, not so sure what to say. "I've really liked getting to know you chief. I'm sure you'll be a better leader than all of us!"

"It's not my job to be a better leader, it's my job to make all of you are leader material in case it were to ever happen." The Master Chief said to them. "You're all needed for a medical check up there." He pointed at the massive tent in the further center of the camp.

"Medical check up? Why weren't we notified of this previously?"

"Did you read the scroll?"

"I'm guessing that it was sent to us." Yang muttered under her breath.

"Yeah, I'd get ready. Everyone in, you'll be assigned to gender based tents." The Chief told them.

"Sounds good to me." Yang mentioned as she left with RWBY close behind.

"Don't worry Jaune, it can't be that bad." Pyrrha assured Jaune as he left.

The Master Chief looked back at the team before going back to his weapon cleaning. When he looked down at his arm, he could still smell the chemicals from the medical base when he got his augmentations.

Their presence reminded him of the screams and breaking bones he heard.

"Just remember something Chief, don't ever forget who you're fighting for, or what your willing to die for."

"I've made my decision for that, but have trouble telling the difference."

"That's understandable, but you should know that there's nothing to be ashamed of for wanting to take a break."

"I'm needed."

"We're all addicted to something to take the pain away; but risking your life over and over isn't good for you. Or your team." Franklin said to Chief. "Your thought of them?"

"Sir?"

"What's your thought of them?" Franklin asked again.

"They all need help." The Chief replied truthfully. "They're dangerous together, some of them that is." He mentioned while,thinking of Blake's selfish nature.

"Besides that, who's a risk and who's not?" Franklin questioned. "Something tells me they've changed you. After reading all the data reports about them you've gotten some better insight than any ONI operative. I don't know if I should be intrigued or worried."

"I wouldn't, but we need to be more secured. There's too many openings here."

"Does this have anything to do with Neapolitan?"

"Yes sir."

"She's not human." Franklin expressed as he took a stroll forward with his hands brushing his forearms. "Biologically, she is by my assumption. In my eyes though I'd be weary of crossing paths with people like that. In our profession were the young men and women die, you have to be careful around the older ones. They'll become difficult to bargain with in order to survive, even to a point of pure unimaginable barbarity, but after so many things you see, sacrifices of your men under you to the civilian casualties it affects you less. It changes you to be more grateful for life. Almost numbs you after countless times. I've seen the video where she killed those guards. She watched them suffer and she didn't stop smiling throughout the entire thing. Not to mention she did it while looking away, she wanted to think it without visualizing it. She's more dangerous then any field operative I've trained under."

"She's hard to hit, bullets and fists didn't work. I was lucky to hit her hard enough to knock out half her aura."

"You still didn't answer my question, who in this program should I be weary of?"

"Blake Belladonna." The Chief told him truthfully.

"The Criminal, it seems Beacon hires anyone." Franklin noted. "Few people have a chance to use their gifts, and those few use them for their own personal purposes."

"Unfortunately. She believes she can get out of her consequences by forgetting about them and running." The Chief said. "I tried to forget my mistakes, but they only caught up quicker."

"You can't change the past but you can let it change you. Our mistakes broaden our depth perception. They give us life. Sometimes though change isn't good. When people change they don't have different behaviors. A perfect predictor for future behavior is the past."

"I'm unsure about her. She's adamant about forging a new path."

"How is that progressing?"

"She's been lying to her friends since the years begun. She's a Faunus." Chief told him.

"You're joking." Franklin told his cadet with him frowning. "Then what is it? Self defense for denial of her lineage, this is real life and death situations. Not a chopped up fairy tail. I care less of what she is but care more on what she's doing. What she's fighting for."

"Our side, but for the wrong reasons. And all seem to think so sir." Chief told him. "They'll learn, will they?"

"We all do, sometimes we're given review lessons to not make the same mistake twice."

"She's not the only one I'm weary of." The Chief told his superior. "Yang's mother is a criminal."

"How did you get this information?" Franklin questioned.

"I was abducted and she revealed herself to me. I'm not sure I can tell her."

"John. While it's compassionate of you to not want to hurt her, it's unwise to withhold vital truths like that because from all my years in the military, there's one thing that I can tell you right now that will save you trouble." Franklin looked at the Chief and said. "Women always find out the truth and react more differently than we do. It's a bomb just waiting to explode in your face." He said as he left the Chief who stared where Franklin once stood.

XXXXXXX

"Do we really need those?" Ruby questioned as the doctor pulled out a case. He was an older man with a balding head and medium build.

"Yes. I cannot allow you to return back to Beacon for quarantine reasons. Since you don't have these immunizations you pose as a threat to any officials out of this system. Vise versa as well. The last thing we want is an outbreak to occur here in Vale and or on one in our fleets. Since you've been around other soldiers who were born from other colonies you're more at risk of catching something and spreading it."

"Like?"

"Diseases that will kill you." The Doctor told her as he pulled out the first set of needles. "Or some that will make you wish you were dead. Ruby gulped while Blake held her posterior protectively.

"But haven't you like, eradicated all of those viruses?" Yang questioned as the doctor chuckled.

He looked up to her face with his face stretching back to show his teeth past his beard. "A virus and disease are two different things, It's like comparing a circle to a square. A virus attacks your body to make it not function properly. A disease makes it so part of your body isn't functioning at all. All the same though there still are sickness that haven't been cured yet and these will keep them at bay." The doctor told them.

Ruby took a glimpse at them and felt her throat run dry quicker than a bullet exiting a chamber of a gun.

"First I'm going to need to draw some blood." The doctor told them. Blake nearly felt her hands squeeze the life out of Weiss who grabbed it for support. "The tests results will be handed over to your current physician in 4 business days. It's a good thing you didn't eat today or otherwise we'd have to wait."

"I don't mind waiting to tell you the truth." Blake said to the doctor while Weiss tried desperately to pry the cat fauns hand off her own.

Weiss besides her fidgeted a bit. Sure she had gotten shots in the past from her family's personal line of nurses, but the unknown man with needles unsettled her.

Blake was afraid of a few things. Cold water. Dogs. The White Fang, and failure to save her friends. Needles weren't her biggest fear, but they were on the list.

Yang, she wasn't in any mood for injection. Not to mention blood being drawn.

"So, any of those have to go in the butt?"

"About..." the Doctor began but stopped mid-sentence. Not really giving a good answer Yang grew impatient.

"About?" Yang almost felt her blood run cold. A needle in her butt? She didn't know where that needle would be poked into. She wasn't some airheaded fool and had assortments amount of knowledge of human health, but concerning a needle in her ass, she didn't have a clue where it would end up. How deep would it go? How long would it be? These questions made her start to make her nervous.

"Was going to say 3, but since you have no vaccines records for pneumonia, so 4." The doctor told them as he called for one of his nurses. He wasn't going to give the shots but instead write down the medical records so they were up to date.

"!" They all internally screamed. A few nurses of mixed race entered inside. Two of them were men, one was a skinny mid-height one with japanese lineage and the other was a average height dark skinned male. While the other two were caucasian women. The first woman had dark blond hair with a few graying strands and the other was a green eyed dark brown haired younger nurse.

"So we all have to-" Ruby questioned while her cheeks were dusted a bit red.

"Afraid so." A stocky woman with dark blond hair told her. "If you would lift your skirt and bend over I promise you won't feel a thing. It's all going to be real quick honey, don't worry."

Fuck me. Yang thought as she got a male nurse. He was a young man with a clean shaven head. He had a serious look in his eyes and wore an odd outfit for a nurse. She frowned at him and he simply stared at her with the tray of needles.

"Which of those goes-"

"This one, it's penicillin." He told her while laying the tray down. He wore a standard UNSC Medical corps tag on his shoulder and a chestplate that was lined with small vials.

"Are you a field medic?" Yang asked as he nodded.

"Yes, and this one is also a buttoks administer." He showed her as she flinched. He lined the needle in the injector gun and pulled back the nozzle.

"Is there-" She asked but was cut off.

"I'm afraid not Ms. Xiao Long. This one is a large dose and needs to go into your buttoks since that's where you have the largest muscels. It's a bit thicker than the rest and will sting a bit. But with some medication you'll only feel a bit of soreness there for 3 to 4 hours." He told her while she kept her arms crossed. He simply lowered his glasses. "I'm not really authorized to say this but, I need you to bend over." He said to her since he assumed she knew what was going to happen next.

"No." She told him.

"Please Miss Long, I have a busy schedule and yours isn't going to be the only one I see." He told her while talking in a more stoic tone. Blake got one of the nurses and had already complied with what they said and held an arm out to get the blood removed. Yang shook her head again.

"I said no."

"Yang, please don't freak out." Ruby pleaded as the nurse lined the shot with her butt. She clenched her eyes shut.

"Miss Long, I've seen more buttoks than I can remeber. Your's isn't the first nor will it be the last. In fact you don't have to pull it all the way down. I'm going to administer it to the top left portion. Your buttoks muscles are divided into four sections and if I gave it to you in your arm muscle I would need to leave it in your arm longer." The doctor told her as she huffed, but soon stepped off the bench and unclipped her shorts. She turned around and slowly lowered her draws just to the point the top of her butt crack was seen. He took the first needle and placed hi left hand on it before aiming the needle.

He lightly tapped her rump, making Yang growl.

"Hey what're you-"

"Miss Long, I'm getting your muscle to flex or otherwise I might hit your sciatic nerve. If I hit that on accident I could potentially cut off all blood flow through your leg." He told her as he primed the needled just centimeters away from her skin. "Alright, then let me inform you of what-"

"OUCH!" Ruby cried out.

"You guys are OW!" Weiss said as she got her 3rd shot. She didn't like them but wasn't going to act all overly dramatic about it.

"Okay Miss Belladonna." The nurse said. "Since your a faunas there's another dose I have to give you." The woman said as Blake grimaced.

XXXXXXX

A few minutes later as the Chief neared one of the medical tents to check on the team, he caught Ruby placing a new shirt over herself while grimacing. She rubbed her arms, and then her butt... She turned to see him before a smile graced her face and she waved at him.

"Heya Chief."

"Rose." He replied.

"Why my last name?" Ruby asked.

"Force of habit for professional purposes."

"Oh... I can be professional too. Do you have a last name?"

"It's classified."

"There's always something classified about you. Why don't you want to spill your secrets?" Ruby asked him. "I can tell you a few of my secrets."

"It can get people hurt and no thanks. Where is your team?"

"They're in the other room." Ruby replied simply.

"Doing?"

"Ouch! Watch where you jab it!" Yang shouted from the other side of the tent.

"She's gotta get her shots." Ruby explained while a bit nervous.

"Is that safe?"

"Kinda.

He was in need of his own booster from the planets, but not today.

"Did those hurt?" Ruby gestured to the scars on Chief's arms. The surgical wounds were his graduation to being a Spartan. Hurt was an understatement to the stress he was put forth. The physical pain he was put under for the median of his Spartan training was prolonged but worth it in the long run. His capabilities were his best chance for survival against the incoming threats.

"A little but." He admitted. He should have covered them but had completely forgotten too. While he was at liberty to ignore most of her questions he didn't want to be the center of attention for those type of things concerning the augmentations. Otherwise his cover could be punctured by peering eyes.

"Are they permanent?" Ruby asked the Chief, even so much as running a hand on his arm. The Chief forearm stiffened at the contact her hand made, and he almost attempt to pull his hand away but didn't due to Ruby's aloof nature. It would be seen as callous on his part.

"So far." The Chief replied. He didn't know if the wounds he sustained would heal properly over time or grow more prominent. "These are what can happen to you if you aren't using your wit."

"I know, when I was practicing with Crescent rose I got all sorts of cuts. But we managed to love each other in the end." She cheered.

"If you treat your weapon well, it'll do the same." Chief said himself.

"Have you ever used a scythe?"

"Not my style."

"What is your style? Since your big and a brawler like Yang, I think something using your fists would be good for you."

"What's your thought then?"

"Ummm, I wasn't saying you... uh needed one or anything-"

"No, I mean what would you recommend?

"You're thinking of getting a weapon?!"

"Maybe. But I don't know how to build one."

"Ummm... maybe I know someone."

"Who?"

"Her silly!" Yang shouted as she jumped out from behind the tent and grabbed her sister in a crushing hug, pulling her sister in her more endowed chest. "My little sissy wants to build a weapon for a boy!"

"N-no I don't!" Ruby protested. "I just don't want to see him hurt anymore!"

Boy? Did Yang just call him a boy. Meaning did she just indirectly call him a child? While it was true he was biologically 16 ( a few months earlier he was put on ice to venture to Harvest so technically speaking he was 15 in a quarter) it was supposed to be thought he was an adult to him. He couldn't allow them to suspect of his true age.

"I'm right here." Chief replied. "And I don't need one, I'm considering it."

"And?" Yang grinned at him while momentarily strangling we sister with her chest.

"I'm weighing my options." He said.

He slung it over his shoulder before tossing it in the back of the warthog. He hopped into the driver's seat before revving the engine.

"Get in." He ordered.

"Oh, night on the town?" Yang suggested. "There actually was this one music store I saw across the hotel where we could-

"Now." He finished. Ruby stood up first, before begrudgingly managing to get herself in the back. Her entire body was sore and her aura levels were nearly depleted.

[Beacon Tower]

After releasing them back to their dorms the Chief was called back to Ozpin's office to deliver the news of the first day of training. The talks were not as planned, or how he wanted to happen but in both cases both parties were satisfied. As he was leaving he was met with a certain raven haired ex-con.

"Chief." Blake greeted.

"Blake." Chief replied back.

"Can I talk to you?" Blake asked earnestly. "I need to, say a few things."

"Regarding?"

"What's happening and what's going to happen." Blake said while curling her fingers. "Can we meet somewhere else?"

"What's wrong here?" Chief asked.

"It's nothing just... Follow me." She said while turning her back. He followed her close and no words were exchanged. After a few minutes of walking they came up to the main dormitory hallway, leading to one of the towers. She went in first and he followed soon after.

The Master Chief followed Blake up the flight of stairs with her in front. The hallway towards the top was rather cramped and he had to stay a few feet behind, otherwise he would've wound up sticking his face where it shouldn't have been. As the made it towards the door, which slipped open, he and her both came towards the ledge of the school. The wind blew into Blake's ebony locks and gave her skin goosebumps. She looked over at Chief before asking.

"You risked a lot for us. But I still don't know why." Blake told him. He looked back to her without leaning against a wall and nodded.

"I enlisted for it." he lied.

"You're not that kind, but you're, different." Blake spoke while her bow twitched. "Ever since I was born I've always been ridiculed for how I looked. Or was made up to be. All the hate and anger just made trying to be nice more, complicated."

Chief turned away from her before saying. "People didn't see you as a person, they judged you over who YOU are." The Master Chief told her. "In the military we don't see anyone like that. It based off all our actions, some good and bad. In the end, you're just like the rest of us."

"I believe that. About that ODST who made fun of you? Mocked you" Blake asked him and he looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Why would he do that? Your part of his squadron."

The Chief shook his head "It comes like that. Always has and always will." The Master Chief said to her, gaining a tilt of her head. "We're not though. The Orbital Drop Shock Troopers have always not liked the Spartans for reasons."

"Like what?"

"For being different."

Blake nodded. "You're right about that. I haven't made the best impression on my team. I was scared of what they would think of me. Because I was different" Blake told told him. "Faunus have always been lower to society and I wanted them to see me as me. Just Blake." She uttered the last part while rubbing the front part of her neck. "I wanted that." She said while trying to keep more of her own personal information private.

She was interested in doing what was ethical. But for a minimal cost effort was hard.

"Being a Faunus is what you are, there's no agenda when it involves race." The Master Chief told her.

"I've been acting like a human when I never was to begin with. What will change now?" Blake debated. "The media says the UNSC are very discriminatory to people's rights on Remnant. I don't think what they're trying to prove is going to help any of us." Blake said to him. He stared ahead without giving her eye contact. He couldn't' fully agree with her since he didn't pay much attention to discrimination on race, but saw discrimination on people with different abilities.

"Sometimes we're given choices we don't like but have to do them anyway." The Master Chief interjected.

"That's biased towards everyone though." Blake argued back. "We have our right to make our own choices, and what's right is treating fauna with decency. We are all given that easy choice."

"Not all of us." The Master Chief concluded. His life was privatized prior to this. What his name was. What name he was to go by. What he was addressed as. Where he would eat, sleep, shower, walk, or where he was allowed to talk. The greatest gift was a privilege to him. That being freedom of choice.

Blake didn't know that though.

"That's exactly what a human would say." Blake scorned suddenly.

"Weren't you just telling about discrimination and being insensitive?" The Master Chief questioned her rhetorically.

"It seems though humans can point it out faster than a faunus can." Blake replied snidely.

"Making a wrong won't make a right though. You'll end up like-"

"Don't switch the argument and try to cover it up. It won't clean up what either of us have done." Blake protested by pointing at him.

"What have I done to you that you haven't done to someone else?" The Master Chief questioned with a bit of vexeness. "You've taken orders, and so have I. To them you're just like me."

Blake narrowed her eyes at him. "I saw the light. You killed people Chief. Pyrrha told me." Blake renounced with a deep regret in her voice. "I thought I could trust you."

"Trust isn't what you think it is, and what did she tell you?" The Master Chief expressed in interest. "And why are you-"

"That you killed two White Fang members in the woods." Blake nearly spat out. "I could've known them... They-"

"Blake," He stopped her and without missing a beat he added, "they're terrorists. It's kill or be killed with them. You should know that by now since your master's one of em." The Master Chief responded with a ephemeral harshness. "They have to be stopped, be it captured or killed."

"Trying to exchange past bad news for current bad news isn't going to clean your streak." Blake disapproved with a closed body posture to the Chief. "You're a war monger to the Faunus and you should accept it. The White Fang's values aren't all the same just like the UNSC isn't either."

"You know that what I'm doing is for the better of my comrades. Men and women who are dying by your former group of psychopaths." The Master Chief pointed out with a tightness in voice. "I'm doing this because I enlisted to answer my call of duty. You, you chose this path."

"I did it because of the same reason!" She nearly shouted. "You shouldn't keep saying that to yourself, you might start to make people think like that. All that hate and violence, the death. It just makes people snap." Blake felt the wind pick up a bit and blow her hair back.

"Your right. When we are exposed to much of it-"

"It will turn you into a beast." Blake finished for him. "Your becoming something like that. The look Adam had." She stopped talking before glaring over the school. "He wasn't always like he is. He used to be happy and would read to me. He'd, hold my hand and tell me everything we were doing was right. He was my reason for joining. He then changed. It didn't happen at first... It happened over time." Blake looked at him. "He turned into something worse than the Grimm."

"You don't know me." The Master Chief uttered. "I was born into the military. You were molded by criminals."

"No I wasn't and I left the criminal atmosphere!" Blake screamed at him. Finally fed up with the Chief's know-it-all attitude she continued, just meters away from him. "All ties with them are gone and no one will stop them except me. I left and will stay gone. I want to stop them without killing. You'll only end up making them want to take revenge on innocent lives." Blake spoke louder. The Chief didn't say anything or even move, he stood there and allowed her to vent.

"Just because you're against evil doesn't make you good. Your being ordered by killers to kill people who hurt the men and women you work for. If you can't see what your doing is creating more tension between us then fixing it, then you know nothing of leadership." Blake finally simmered down.

"There's only one way to counter a future attack, and that's by getting them first before they get to us. The best way to predict future behavior is to look at what they've done in the past. The White Fang must be stopped. By being captured or killed." He repeated again.

Blake leaned against the ledge and looked down to her feet. Feeling almost embarrassed about her latest outburst. "I want to accomplish that, but killing isn't the solution to curing that." Blake believed with much solemn. "It'll only cause more of them to join, recreating the cycle."

Chief shook his head. "Too late for that. With Roman on board he'll make more join their cause. I kill to save lives." The Master Chief said unyielded. "We may have a leveled relations now, but it won't stay that way. I don't like to but I have no choice."

Blake leveled a glare with him but seemed to calm a bit. "I know. What it's like to be in a position to be without a lot of choices. It's just that with everything that's gone on. I'm having a hard time trying to think clearly."

"Have you been taking any type of sleep medication?" The Master Chief questioned her. Blake shook her head.

"What- That's none of your business." She said rudely to him.

"It's my business when you're with me. I don't want to see you hurt. Please Blake, I want to help." He asked more calmly. "I don't want this to go on."

Blake looked down, and nodded to herself mentally. "No. It's not what I want or need now. I need something that will actually calm me down."

"We can probably consult with a specialist on base. There's people who can help you." The Master Chief told her. Blake avoided his softened gaze, noting she felt her chest flutter a bit at how quickly he was to ask for an understanding about her rather than jump to outrageous conclusions.

"I," Her voice was caught in her throat momentarily, but only for a second, "Opzin's already giving me a preliminary counseling every few weeks, it's enough." Blake told the Master Chief as he crossed his arms.

"I think though, maybe you should see a certified professional." The Master Chief told her.

"Look, I can't get that kind of help. I especially don't trust them."

"Who?"

"United Nations Space Command." She replied.

"Do you trust me?" The Chief questioned. "I know you said no, but can you?"

Her mouth formed in a thin line before she remembered seeing him under that container. The same one that was meant for her. He took it. That, along with a sizable cut to the face that should have killed him if not for Yang breaking the guy's jaw. She breathed deeply before she answered. "I've been able to tolerate you. But they're nothing but a global dictatorship waiting to happen and take us all into some kind of slavery."

"Blake, that's not, no. That's off."

"How are we so sure? Why was the Insurrection created in the first place?"

"Because we had to maintain control. There are people who want to be free, but freedom isn't always the option."

"Everyone need's options and we should be allowed to make that our own right decisions." Blake told him as he sighed.

He wasn't getting anywhere with this.

"What was the reason you brought me up here. I'm tired of the berating."

"I, need to get this across. I don't know when it will happen, but I just need to get this off my chest before it eats me alive. Have you ever been in love?" Blake questioned chief. The Spartan in return stopped looking vantage point and started forward. He played with the word in his head for a moment too long. He'd heard it on more than on one occasion. Sure, he knew the words actual meaning. But the true meaning of it was an absolute mystery to him. He'd had aquamarines which soon became friends and soon they became special to him that he thought of them as family. After that he'd never venture any further.

"No." He said unsurely. "Have you?"

Blake moved her cheeks around while glancing at her feet for a moment. Not sure how to approach the subject at first. "I'm not sure." Blake replied.

"Adam?" Chief questioned.

"At one point, maybe. When we were younger." Blake admitted. Chief thought of being younger, back in Eridanus II, and instantly thought of one individual.

"There was someone who I said I would marry." John replied, laughed a bit at the end of the sentence. Blake's FULL attention was back at him now. Marry? That was pushing it a bit. Why was the Chief sharing something private like that?

"Ok... Why are you telling me this?" Blake questioned.

"Because I trust you. I trust Yang. I trust Ruby. And I trust Weiss. I don't want there to be anything that will cause internal harm to you. Any of you." He answered, then knew of a way to break The ice with her. "The girl I wanted to marry was a friend. Her name was Parrisa."

"Lucky girl." Blake noted while still trying to shake off the disbelief she was feeling. The Master Chief, probably one of the most dangerous and just as antisocial person than she had ever come across. Who could survive blasts from Yang's gauntlets to wrestling a full sized Grimm with his bare hands and all without the use of aura or a semblance, was almost close to tying the knot with someone.

How old was he anyway? From her point of view they were about the same age, maybe early 20's give or take.

"We were about 7. She got too far out in a lake and almost drowned." Chief remembered distinctly of that day.

"Did you save her?" Blake questioned.

"Yeah. After that I said I would marry her one day." Chief said nearly making Blake choke on the air.

"That's nice." Blake suddenly said. "Whatever happened to her?"

"Don't know." Chief lied. "Complications mainly."

Blake breathed deeply. Feeling the soft breeze touch her skin. "For Adam, things became incredibly complicated. He's gone. He was much more different when we were younger. He was wise, and some points the only adult figure in my life I ever had. Everyone else was not there. But as time went on, he began to become more dark. Twisted."

"Your parents, were they there for you?" Chief questioned.

"I don't want to talk about it." Blake answered quickly. She did have her parents support for most things but they eventually became more passive after Adam became more cruel.

She wasn't going to tell the Chief much of their history because she feared they wouldn't rest until they found their way back to her. She wasn't ready to see them.

"Sorry," Chief told her.

"It's fine... As I said, Adam is-"

"A terrorist." Chief butted in.

"Yes." Blake shared as she felt the sides of her eyes pinch. "Which... Is why I want you to." Blake stopped for a moment. "Did... Did Adam ever threaten or... No." Blake stopped herself before she could say anything. She already knew the answer to what she was about to ask. Asking the Chief, who was directly up to date with Adam's blood lust knew exactly what Adam was capable of. He knew he would be more than willing to kill anyone to achieve his ends, and would wind up being targeted.

"Excuse me?"

"Never mind." She said with her voice hitching mid sentence. Chief could tell Blake was having a hard time to talk about this since her stance had changed from defensive to a more loose one, but fearful. Blake looked off to the side and said, "When you see him next, if you do," She almost felt like throwing up at herself for acting like this. "Promise me you won't kill him. He's suffered too much."

"Blake, you know I can't promise that. If he attacks in obligated to defend myself." Chief responded.

"I know chief... But please. For everything, don't make him go through anymore pain. He's been through enough. It would be only out of mercy. For both of us."

"I... I'll." Chief stopped for a moment but took a glance at the stars above. He was at a stump here. He knre that for a fact. In order for him to unlock the fullest he had to gain a bit more trust with the students of Beacon. He wasn't going to by acting hostile towards them but at the same time he couldn't express it enough that it would have to go both ways. Blake was probably the most comforting and less than friendly of Beacons populace.

As the old phrase goes, 'you don't know what people go through until you walk a mile in their shoes' and he could identify her stance. Her reason for wanting change for fauna and to stand for them after the way they were looked down upon in the community. What she failed to understand though that in order to gain equality it was something that had to go both ways.

Chief would regret this because whenever he made promises he always kept them. He hates himself for saying this but he couldn't lie.

He would do what he had to do.

"Alright." He muttered the last part. Loud enough for her to hear of course. He heard her sigh in relief before feeling weight lifted off of her shoulders. As the Chief made his departure he heard her say.

"Chief." Blake said loud enough. He turned to her."Thank you." She said with a sad rare smile.

"..." The Chief remained silent to her, but he nodded as he turned to leave.

He came to the first stair before hearing a snicker, he quickly turned to see Yang.

"I should've warned you that it was her time of the month." She joked.

"Wait, it's her what?"

"It's, nevermind. You wanna talk?" Yang asked with a shrug.

"Not really. Ill be keeping you posted. Bye." He soon left quicker than he came in before a pun could come out of her mouth.


AUTHORS NOTE: So... Almost a year without updates. (cringe) Sorry for that. On the bright side, 1001 Reviews! Even if they're constructive criticisms I'll take what I can.

On a side note how is everyone? The virus is scaring people and I feel it's been blown a bit out of proportion. I can't even go and buy toilet paper without getting swarmed by a pack of angry shoppers. All my classes have been put towards online courses and my neighborhood might be put on lock-down. I might have some time now to update since I'm not going anywhere for awhile, hope everyone is safe as well as healthy.

Also, some stories of mine have been abandoned. I've come to the conclusion that this does make me happy, even if the reviews are flames, this is what I like to do. I feel happier now because a wise person once told me, "1 negative thing said shouldn't undo 100 positive things". This story might be rebooted to fit with the current direction the show is going in... which I don't really care for to be quite honest. This season kinda sucked if you want my opioion. Also, NO POLITICS. The only thing political in my story you'll see is how untrustworthy government is. That is all.

All the time to myself has left me thinking... What else kind of stories could I plan. I originally had an idea for a GAME OF THRONES crossover but was stuck between STAR WARS FORCE UNLEASHED to WITCHER after watching the new series on NetFlix. (I liked the show A LOT)

I was also considering doing a STAR WARS FORCE UNLEASHED CROSSOVER with Galen Marek, also known as STARKILLER taking on Remnant.

Then there was this idea I had with John Wick and Soul Eater... but that one got a little silly.

I will be re-relasing Daily life with a spartan once it's finished being PROOFREAD. Thank you all for being patient and considerate in this time, it's much appreciated.

The NarutoXHalo story will be redone and have a more... SINISTER perspective. One where Chief is part of Akatsuki. Hopefully this story will grant not only a definitive tone for the Chief, but a proper ending.

To close this, thank you for sticking around and giving me motivation to write/create. I'm not the one who makes these stories but orchestrate them to make sure everyone gets a good yet satisfactory feeling, and an escape from the current world. This is what the site is for. An escape and a somewhat pathway to escape reality temporarily and grant us a feeling of solace through a good story. Pleas stay healthy, safe, keep your loved ones close, and never let them go.

Have an amazing day.