Flashback… a few days ago…

"Come on, Merc."

No matter how much Emerald tried, Mercury refused to budge.

"I can't go with you, Em," Mercury stated dejectedly and looked to the shining moon.

The pair stood in an alleyway. Anyone passing by would only see two shadows. It was well past midnight and a light drizzle dropped on their skin. Due to the chill, Mercury and Emerald had goosebumps.

To Emerald, it was obvious that her friend wanted to tag along with her. But for some reason, he couldn't. Something in his life was holding him back from moving on to a normal life outside the New World. A life that didn't involve aiding the deceased half-demon.

"Why're you always so stubborn?" Emerald asked in annoyance, although her voice swam with sadness and confusion. "Come back to Beacon with me."

"I can't," Mercury stated firmly for what felt like the millionth time. "Besides, how do you know it's not a trap?"

"Don't be ridiculous. They wouldn't do that," Emerald rolled her eyes as the water cascaded down her cheeks. "Not after all the hard work they went through to allow me to come back."

"Look, Em," gently, Mercury set a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe one day, I will come back. But for now, I have a few things to settle."

"Is it because you're afraid they won't give you a second chance, too?" Emerald hesitantly asked.

Mercury shook his head. "No, they probably would. They're… nice people, I guess."

Considering what Blake had done for his friend, he figured they weren't the worst people in the world.

"Look," Emerald began in a bargaining tone. "I have no idea why Blake spoke to Goodwitch on my behalf. It's beyond me. Especially after all I've done to them…"

"What we've done," Mercury corrected. "You didn't do anything on your own. We acted as a unit."

"Whatever," Emerald replied like it didn't matter. "Blake pulled it off and convinced Goodwitch to let me continue school there. I'll never understand their kindness, but that's not the point. I can lead a new life now. We can-"

"Get it through your thick skull," Mercury pointed to his temple. "I'm not going back. Not yet, at least."

Emerald heavily sighed.

For a moment, there was just a drizzle and the rain pitter-pattered.. The sound of cars drove by, and the lights occasionally reached into the alleyway.

"There's nothing I can say to convince you, huh?" Emerald asked, defeat in her tone.

"Nope," Mercury stated.

"Stubborn as ever."

Mercury sent her a deadpan expression like that was the most obvious statement in the world. "Do you know who you're talking to?"

From that, Emerald smirked. "An asshole?"

"Heh," Mercury held out a fist. "Set myself up for that one."

In return, Emerald fist-bumped him. "You sure did."

"I'll catch ya on the flip side."


Present…

"I heard Ozpin retired…"

"He did look kinda old…"

"Where'd he go though?"

No matter how much time had passed, the rumors didn't stop. Since Ozpin never gave a goodbye speech about how great it was to be his students' headmaster, people found that suspicious. He left without a trace and so suddenly, too.

The cover-up story was that he retired since that was the most believable excuse. It would be a huge slap in the face if Goodwitch announced that he had passed. Then the inevitable questions would come. For now, Glynda and the team decided retirement was for the best. Later, perhaps they will change the story.

Because the students liked Glynda Goodwitch, they didn't complain when she replaced Ozpin as headmaster. They were just understandably confused when it happened so suddenly. Despite everything that happened, Glynda took this with stride and conveyed her usual demeanor.

While the news spread, team RWBY also took it in stride. And even found it amusing. It was well-known that the girls interacted with Ozpin a lot in the past. More so than the other students. Probably because they were in the teacher's lounge the most.

It was odd adjusting to this new life, but worth it.

There were a few more minutes before class started. Apparently, there was a new teacher for this class. The one Goodwitch used to teach. Naturally, the students wondered who would take her place. Until now, Glynda taught this class until they found a permanent person for the position.

The day had finally come for the new teacher to arrive.

Since they had time, the students conversed. Nora was curious, so she leaned in and asked.

"Do you guys know what happened? Is it true he retired?"

Jaune eagerly nodded in agreement. "It's been driving us crazy."

The team glanced amongst each other. Might as well stick with the story they were given.

Casually, Yang leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed. "Oh, he retired alright."

Forever.

She said that with such certainty and amusement that it caused a few eyebrows to raise.

Pyrrha inspected her expression. "What does that mean?"

To help her out, Blake chimed in. "He retired. That's it," she shot her friend a challenging expression. Like she dared her to say one more word on the matter.

Understandably, Yang shut her mouth. She wasn't too keen on blabbing about the situation. Especially if she accidentally let a few confidential details slip.

Fondly, Weiss held her girlfriend's hand under the desk. "Brute."

"Love you, too," the blonde affectionately squeezed her hand.

Their friends went silent by the information. It seemed that the way Yang said that unsettled them, so they were worried.

Ruby caught their concerned expressions and addressed the matter. "Ozpin's probably having a blast right now."

Like she heard puzzling news, Pyrrha's voice raised a few octaves. "Is he on vacation?"

"Maybe," Ruby shrugged like it was no big deal. "I'm not sure."

Nora pouted from the thought. "If he went to Hawaii without me I'll be so mad!"

Ren lightly chuckled from that. "The poor man probably wanted to get away from us."

"We drove him crazy," Ruby agreed with a wide grin.

Yang nodded in agreement. "He definitely needed a break."

Forever.

Just then, the bell rang. On time, the headmaster strolled into the room with a clipboard in hand.

"Attention class!"

That snapped the students out of it. From her authoritative voice, some people whirled around with curious eyes. Understandably so. There was a shorter woman standing next to Goodwitch. She adorned a light blue blouse and black skirt. She also had medium-length auburn hair and held a clipboard.

"This is professor Peach," Glynda announced. "She will be teaching this class from now on. I don't have to tell you to treat her with respect."

With the last line, accusatory emerald eyes pried into Yang's soul.

In response, Yang flailed her hands in emphasis. "What'd I do?!"

Casually, Goodwitch faced the new professor. "She's a troublemaker. Don't entertain her."

"I'm sittin' right here!"

"Understood," Peach replied.

"Oh, come on!" Yang yelped.

From the exchange, a few students chuckled.

Blake mumbled under her breath. "She needed to be warned… about you..."

Yang heavily sighed. "Not you, too, Blakey…"

"Alright," Goodwitch nodded and faced Peach. "I'll let you do your thing."

With that, Glynda walked to the back of the classroom and sat down with a clipboard in hand. Probably to evaluate the new recruit. Beacon Academy had many standards to uphold. Professor Peach may have passed the interview process, but now the headmaster wanted to see her in action. Only the best of the best are allowed to stay in her school.

Because Goodwitch became headmaster at such an odd time, the class was in the middle of a unit. In a way, this was the perfect time to test the new recruit. Final exams were coming up, and now it was Peach's job to make sure the students were ready.

Like Peach had been in this classroom a million times, she pulled down the projector screen. A second later, a picture of a mostly-complete skeleton appeared.

"Can anyone tell me what this skeleton is?"

There was dead silence.

A pale hand shot up.

"Yes, you are-?"

"Weiss," Weiss answered.

"Right, I'll memorize all your names before next week," Peach promised. "What's your answer, Weiss?"

In the back of the class, Goodwitch perked an amused brow. Professor Peach addressed them by first names? That felt odd to her, but after Glynda began to do that, she felt more connected to her students. It appeared Peach naturally formed connections rather than struggle to make them.

"That skeleton is called the Nariokotome skeleton or Turkana Boy," Weiss answered knowingly. "It's only eighty percent complete because we haven't found all of his bones quite yet."

"Excellent answer, Weiss," Peach replied. "Do you happen to know what species the Turkana Boy belongs to?"

"Homo erectus if I'm remembering correctly," Weiss stated. "Homo erectus is much more heavily built than humans. More than likely because of their persistence hunting."

"That's more than correct," Peach was already impressed with this white-haired student. "Does anyone know which tool culture Homo erectus is associated with?"

Instead of raising her hand, Blake just spoke. "Acheulian."

Peach's auburn eyebrow perked up as she nodded. For some reason, she thought the black-haired girl would chose to be quiet. She had that aura about her. Peach was glad to be proven wrong.

The professor looked in the back at the headmaster. "You have very intelligent students."

"You have intelligent students," Glynda said with a smile.

So far so good. Peach definitely looked like she knew what she was doing. And the students were compliant. Not that she was expecting otherwise.

Leisurely, Yang stretched her arms above her head. "I know right? How are we so smart?"

From the comment, Glynda glared at the back of the blonde's head. Goodwitch then gazed at the entertained teacher.

"Feel free to give her detention."

The students burst into laughter as Yang's jaw dropped. Even Peach cracked a few chuckles.

When the laughter died down, Goodwitch explained herself.

"First it's one free pass, then a thousand more. If you're going to lay down the law, do it now. She needs to learn."

"Don't treat me like I'm a dog!" Yang yelped.

There were a few more giggles. Even Weiss had to laugh.

To comfort her pouting girlfriend, Weiss squeezed her hand and used a whisper. "She's just messing with you."

Yang sent her the widest grin. "Yeah, I know."

When it was quiet again, Peach continued to teach.

The room had finally calmed down.

Until Ruby's backpack began to wiggle. If it wasn't one thing, it was another.

Goodwitch thought that maybe Yang's sister would at least not cause trouble.

Since Glynda was behind the entire class trying to evaluate the new professor, it wasn't hard to notice sudden movements. She wasn't the only one who was blatantly gazing at Ruby's twitching backpack. A good half of the class stared with curious expressions.

The girl was blissfully unaware.

Blake, who sat next to her, glanced over her shoulder in suspicion.

"Ruby," Blake chided in a murmur. "You didn't…"

"Didn't what?" Ruby asked innocently.

Instantly, Glynda stood and sauntered over to Ruby. Silently, she grabbed the backpack that was wrapped around the back of her chair.

"Hey, wait!" Ruby tried to protest.

Oh, Goodwitch knew exactly what was inside.

"Ms. Rose," Glynda properly addressed. "I'd suggest you let me take this."

After Blake whispered something in her ear, Ruby calmed down.

"Okay…"

Overall, Ruby didn't want to cause an unnecessary scene. Especially because of what she had hidden inside.

After a sigh, Goodwitch adjusted the bag in her arms.

Peach was confused by the whole thing. What headmaster randomly grabs students' bags?

"Do I have to worry about her, too?" Peach asked jokingly.

After Glynda slung the bag around her back, she replied with a smirk. "Possibly."

"Aw," came Ruby's reaction.

"Rubes, what did you do?"

Yang's question lingered as Glynda left the room. When she knew the hallways were clear, she unzipped the bag with a frown. Just as she thought.

Salmon- one of the Mirrored- was in there. His fluffy white head stuck out of the bag. When the pup got a look at her frowning face, Salmon licked her cheek.

That earned a tiny smile.


Ruby brought Salmon to class! Anyone else not surprised?

Stay dandy,

~Toto