'Now then, my dear. Let's see what you can do.'

The two squared off against each other, Emerald in a low stance, tightly grasping her kama-revolvers, and Dagrun in a relaxed stance, wide-open and not even trying to hide how superior she feels. She leaned a bit forward and lowered her head so she no longer looked down on her opponent and was instead looking up.

Not wanting to give Dagrun an opportunity for a first blow, Emerald used her semblance to create an illusion of her standing still while she sidestepped to the right and leveled the sights of her weapons with Dagrun's head. But as soon as she was about to press the trigger, her opponent ducked and made a mad dash in her direction, ignoring the illusion. Unable to properly react, Emerald just fired off a few shots, all of which missed and impacted the walls of the arena. Dagrun quickly closed the distance between the two, and before Emerald could block, dodge or parry, she threw an upward elbow strike to Em's solar plexus using her right elbow. Despite having aura protecting her, the green-haired girl got the air knocked out of her and reflexively bent forward. Using this opportunity, Dagrun striked Emerald's temple with her left palm, a hit that would otherwise be lethal, were it not for the girl's aura.

Too dazed to stay on her feet, Emerald was sent tumbling to the side, but she quickly recovered and was now standing on her knees and arms, looking at the still relaxed Dagrun. Realizing that the area is too small to properly utilize ranged weaponry, Emerald unfolded her kamas. She then dashed forward, only to stop midway and use her semblance and create an illusionary clone of herself that kept up the dash. As she watched Dagrun dispel the illusion with a knuckle punch that would have landed on the clone's chin, she once again used her ability to make herself invisible. She then proceeded to circle Dagrun while making her presence as small as possible. To her surprise, Dagrun spoke.

"Not a bad tactic, but I never said I couldn't use my abilities, and let's just say, two can play this game. LAAS-YAH-NIR!" Just as the whisper-shout left her lips, Dagrun was briefly cloaked in a purple light before vanishing.

Having cast invisibility and muffle on herself, Dagrun was quite amused. 'Did she really think such a tactic would work on me? Please, invisibility can be easily seen through. If you have magic, that is.'

Dagrun walked around the back of a glowing red humanoid figure in the center of the room. Silently stepping closer, she tensed her right palm, and as soon as she was within range delivered a knifehand strike to Emerald's right carotid artery with enough force to rupture it in any normal person. Although her aura protected her from lethal outcome or even falling unconscious, she still felt light-headed for a second, giving Dagrun enough time to throw a full-power, aura-enhanced knuckle strike to her opponent's C6-C7, completely shattering Emerald's aura.

Emerald felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck, followed by a feeling of her arms giving out, causing her to drop her weapons. Soon after she dropped to her knees, feeling literal heartache and having trouble breathing. But as soon as her vision started getting cloudy, her tutor shoved an open red bottle into her mouth, making her drink its contents. She felt a pleasant warmth wash over her body, taking away the pain and whatever immediate health concerns there were. After downing the strange liquid, she shakily stood up to her feet and looked at Dagrun.

"You said it wasn't going to be brutal."

"That wasn't brutal, you haven't seen me get brutal."

"I almost died!"

"Exactly, almost. That was the purpose of this fight, to show just how much you have to learn. Now, if you stop being a baby, we can go over your mistakes."

"But-"

"No buts! If I am to train you, half-hearted efforts won't do! You will get beaten within an inch of your life more than once, you will fail, you will get hurt, and you will improve. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Now get over here and get into a stance."

Promptly shutting up, Emerald walked to her starting point and took the same stance she did in the beginning of their fight.

"Alright, your stance is good, but try to lean forward a bit more."

Emerald followed the instructions.

"Now tell me, how do you think I was able to see through your semblance?"

"U-umm... you expected me to use it?"

"I did, but that's not the point. If you were fighting someone who didn't know what your semblance was, they wouldn't expect it, so we won't be taking that into consideration. Other ideas?"

Emerald thought for a bit before answering. "No, no idea."

"Alright, then why don't you step to the side like you did when we fought, only this time keep an eye on your feet."

She did exactly that, and as she took a side step, she noticed the dirt underneath her foot shift a little, as well as heard a barely audible sound.

"You saw the dirt move?"

"Yes. While it is true that my senses are better than a regular person's, or even most trained fighters, keep in mind that you won't be fighting regular people either. Some day you may run into someone who's senses are as sharp as mine, and then this little misstep, no pun intended, will be your unmaking. You should work on your footwork, learn how to tread lightly even during combat. This will also help you make less noise when sneaking, so it is an important skill. Don't worry, I'll be teaching you the art of stealth later. For now, let's move on. When I ran at you, you just stood there and blindly shot at me when you could have dodged into a more advantageous position. Why?"

"I guess I just couldn't react in time and did the next best thing I could think of."

"I see. Reaction time requires further training. Alright, now show me where I hit you."

As Dagrun approached, Emerald pointed to an area just below the sternum. "Right here. Knocked the wind right out of me."

"Indeed. Do you know what this area is called?"

"Solar plexus. I remember we were taught about vital body part and areas in combat school I went to."

"Yes, good. My entire fighting style is aimed at killing an opponent as quick as possible, or if my enemy is too strong for me to take head on, I instead focus on incapacitating them. It is effective and helps you avoid dragging the combat out. While I learned all the vitals from practice, you will learn them from me."

"That's nice and all, but my and your styles are kinda different, so I'm not sure how good of an idea it is."

"I'm not forcing my style on you, more like giving you a base that you can use to refine your fighting. Knowing where to strike for the most damage is important even if you don't do it. For one, you will know what areas to protect."

"Oh, alright. Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Let's keep going. My next strike was to your temple. Can you tell me why?"

"It's the most vulnerable part of the head. That hit could have killed me if I didn't have aura."

"Correct. And still, even despite aura, you became dizzy and lost you balance because of it. If this were real combat, I would not let you just roll away. Falling prone is often times fatal, so try to stay on your feet as much as possible. It's better to suffer an injury than die."

"No shit. But I don't think I could have done anything at that point. You pretty much had me stunlocked."

The two went back and forth, Dagrun pointing out Emerald's mistakes and giving her pointers on how to improve. The entire time, Dagrun could see Em nodding to herself, making mental notes on what to work on.

'Good. She is eager to improve. This will make it easier to teach her.'

As the two finished the revising session, Emerald had a thoughtful look on her face.

"Now that you know your mistakes, would you like to go for another spar?" Dagrun asked.

Emerald just sheepishly smiled. "Nah, not really. Not right now, my aura is still not fully recovered. And besides, my neck is still sore. How about I take a small break and then we keep going?"

"Hmm, alright. I had to inform the twins to come here anyway. Now that there is enough sleeping room, they can move in here."

Emerald narrowed her eyes. "Oh yeah, those two. Why'd you pick them to come here? Besides connection to a Mistralian crime lord."

Dagrun just smirked. "Call it a gut feeling, but I think they have potential. They could be great assets."

"No offense, but I think we don't need them. We're doing just fine without their help." Emerald said with a bit of apprehension in her voice.

Dagrun raised a brow in amusement. "Is that jealousy I hear? Oh don't you worry, they're not going to replace you, they are going to fulfill a wholly different niche." All this was said in her trademark playful tone.

"Wha- I'm not jealous! I'm just voicing my opinion! And what do you mean by 'a different niche'?" Emerald's cheeks were tinted just a bit redder than they usually are and her voice was raised.

"I know, I'm just teasing. As for your other question." Dagrun's smirk grew wider. "You said you won't kill, so we'll need someone who will."

"Okaaay..." Emerald droned on, her eyebrows raised. "So you want to turn them into assassins."

"Yes."

"Why... do we need assassins?"

Dagrun shrugged. "The more services you offer, the more clients you get."

"But... we don't have any clients."

"Yet."

"Yet..." Emerald dryly repeated. "Can't say I get the point, but hey" The girl shrugged. "You're the boss."

"I am, indeed, the boss. Glad you understand. Now then, go take a break, I'll call the twins."

"Okay."

"Oh, before I forget, are you by chance hungry?"

"Nah, don't worry about it." As Emerald said that, her stomach quietly growled. "Uhh... maybe a bit."

Dagrun chuckled. "Evidently. Remember, part of our deal was that I provide shelter and food. Do not be afraid to ask for food, or whatever necessities you may lack."

Emerald slightly blushed. "Right. Sorry, force of habit, I guess."

Dagrun walked up to Em and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Do not be sorry. Old habits are hard to break. I, of all people, would know. Now, let's not waste any more time."

The two walked back up into a room and Emerald seated herself at the table, already salivating at the memory of the food Dagrun presented her with last time. The vampire herself, meanwhile, opened up her satchel, fishing around for food. Soon enough, she pulled out a small metal pot covered with a lid and put it in front of Emerald, along with the utensils. Opening it up revealed it to be a rather thick stew, with pieces of red vegetables and meat floating in the broth. A delectable smell of garlic wafted off of it, mixed with barely noticeable smell of ash. Emerald started hungrily consuming the meal as soon as it was in front of her, while Dagrun pulled out more food.

'The stew itself should be more than enough, but there's just something endearing about her enjoying my cooking so much. And besides, it's not like I'll run out anytime soon.'

By the time she stopped her musings, on the table was a wedge of strong-smelling and equally extravagantly tasting eidar cheese, a flagon of soft and sweet, yet still intoxicating "White-Gold Tower", a still-steaming pheasant ragout with elves ear and mountain flowers and an assortment of desserts, from sweet and crunchy honeyed nuts to soft and fresh boiled creme treats. Emerald's gaze was dancing across the table, jumping from meal to meal, taking in the assortment of scents and colors. Hungry to taste all that was presented to her, she took small portions of each delicacy, her eyes going wide every time.

"Holy shit, I always thought moldy cheese was gross, but this is really good! And what's in this stew? It's so fucking good!"

"That is eidar cheese. It is popular in my homeland and is made using a variety of spices. And that is horker and ash yam stew. Ash yam is a vegetable that grows in soil enriched by volcanic ash. It is what makes the stew so thick, but its smell is somewhat unpleasant."

"Ah dun care 'bout the smell, 'is shtuff tashtes amazhing!" Emerald tried talking with her mouth full of pheasant ragout, but quickly ended up regretting that decision when she abruptly choked on a piece of meat.

Dagrun let a small smile, different from her usual smirks and grins, creep on her face. "I am glad you enjoy my cooking so much, but you can express it after you're done eating. And besides, it's best to savor the flavor."

Emerald cleared her throat. "Yeah *cough*, sorry. It's just... even at the best of times, I never had this much expensive food in front of me that I could eat. And the way us thieves live, you don't get much time for food or sleep."

Dagrun chuckled, her face gaining a somewhat sad, almost reminiscing look as she remembered her life in the Thieves Guild. "Not unless you're at the top. And that climb is a steep one. I would know." Dagrun shook her head, regaining her mirth. "But enough about that. You enjoy your meal, and I will call the twins. Perhaps they'll be in time to join you for lunch."

Emerald didn't look pleased, but nodded nonetheless. Dagrun pulled out her scroll and dialed the number she was given by her newest apprentices. After a short talk where they agreed to be escorted to the sanctuary by her thrall she hung up. Looking back at Emerald, she was already full and was just sitting at the table, looking over the leftovers (which there was, admittedly, little of). Figuring that the two new arrivals wouldn't be satiated with this much, she reached into her satchel and pulled out seconds, bringing the abundance of food on the table back to its original level. Dagrun could tell that despite being full, Emerald still wanted to eat all of those.

"Em, go practice some of the moves I pointed out to you while we wait for them to arrive. Focus on parries and dodges. I will go and make sure they get a nice welcome."

"Right."

And so, Emerald went back into the training room and Dagrun went to wait for and greet the twins when they arrive. Soon enough, the hatch down into the original basement was opened, and down descended the two sisters, still in their dresses and with their weapons. As soon as they stepped down from the ladder, Dagrun could see abject disgust on their faces as their noses scrunched up.

"Man, this place stinks! I hope that wherever you're taking us it smells better than this garbage." Melanie said in a nasal tone as she held her nose close with her fingers.

"Melanie, we're literally in a sewer. Of course it's gonna stink. She told us where her base was, so don't be all surprised." Miltia said in a similarly nasal and somewhat exasperated voice.

"Easy for you to say, Miltia, you're in a red and black dress! And what am I going to do if some filth gets on my white one!?"

"Well, you shouldn't have worn a white dress, Melanie. We have, like, fifteen dresses that fit us both."

"That's-"

"Enough. I didn't ask you to come here to argue. So, I expect there to be no arguments. Am I making myself clear?" Dagrun said in a loud and stern voice that wasn't quite yelling, but still loud enough to startle the twins. The two immediately shut up and looked at Dagrun with eyes filled with both skepticism and fright. They both nodded.

"Good. Now, if you would follow me." Dagrun lowered her voice and motioned the twins to follow her as she walked back to the main chamber. When they arrived, the twins' eyes slightly widened. Melanie cracked a small smug smile.

"See Miltia, it does smell better!" Melanie cast a glance around the room and her eyes narrowed in disapproval and cringe. "Though, now it's an aesthetic nightmare." She looked at Dagrun, who returned the glare. "Did you even plan this place? No symmetry, the furniture doesn't go together, and this TV in the center? Totally ruins the feel this place has going for it. Ugh. I swear, we'll have to hire you a designer to remake this whole place."

Suppressing a sigh of exasperation and mild annoyance, Dagrun spoke. "It's livable, so good enough. Renovations can wait. Also, you are not hiring anyone unless I allow it."

"Yeah, Melanie. Like, really? A designer? In a sewer? This is, like, the worst idea."

"Ugh, you two are going to be the death of me! Like, I don't even-! Ugh! You know what? Fine! But if I get a stroke because this place is so ugly, it's going to be your fault!" Melanie sounded frustrated as she flailed her arms in the air.

"If you get a stroke, I will be sure to put a blade in your head, just to make sure." Dagrun chuckled, letting some vitriol slip into her playful tone.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Melanie sounded more offended than anything, a look of indignation on her face.

"She means you're annoying as all hell, miss 'I'm-too-important-to-be-here'." Emerald called out, leaning against a doorframe of the entrance to the training area. "In fact, I'll give 100 lien just for you to keep quiet for five minutes." Emerald's voice was laced with amusement.

"Ugh, how dare-"

"Mel, calm down!" Melanie's yell was interrupted by Miltia putting her hand on her sister's shoulder. "She's just trying to get to you." She eyed the green-haired girl. "Emerald, was it? My sister has a short temper, so I wouldn't tease her if I were you."

"My temper is just fine!"

"No it's not and you know it."

"I-" Melanie was just about to yell, but was stuck deciding what exactly to yell. "I'm not short-tempered! I'll show you! I'm, like, the calmest person, like, ever!"

"I'm sure you are. Now, if you're done yelling, the food is waiting." Dagrun said in her usual voice, though sounding just a bit more exasperated than normal.

"You got us food?" Miltia looked at Dagrun with a slightly expectant expression.

"Yes, it's already on the table over there." Dagrun pointed in the direction where various Tamriel cuisines were laid out.

Apparently offended at being suddenly ignored, Melanie just hm'd in indignation. "Great. I was starving anyway." The look on her face as she seated herself could only be described as a poorly disguised pout.

Miltia looked at Dagrun apologetically, as if saying sorry on behalf of her sister. As she made her way to the table and seated herself, she looked over the dishes available to them with uncontained surprise.

Emerald meanwhile just shrugged and went to seat at the table as well, though she knew full well that trying to stuff more food into herself was a bad idea. Instead, she leaned back in her chair and took to watching the twins.

"Just so you know, after you're done eating we'll start training, so don't overeat. Other than that, enjoy your meal. Come down to the training room when you're done. Emerald will show you the way." At Dagrun's look Emerald nodded in acknowledgement. After her little announcement, the vampire went down to the training area.

As their soon-to-be mentor went down the dark hallway, Miltia let her shoulder relax for the first time since she got here. Seeing the woman that can ruthlessly murder so many people acting so casually was somewhat unsettling, and Melanie's temper was not putting her at ease. While she knew that Melanie was by no means trying to be annoying, the 'tough girl' persona she constantly put up has rubbed off on her actual personality, leading to things like this. And the fact that both Dagrun and Emerald seemed dead set on poking fun at her only worsened the situation.

But, Miltia decided that dwelling on such matters now would do no good, and instead focused back on the food in front of her. What Melanie said about starving wasn't a joke, they haven't eaten for a whole day. So, her mouth started salivating at the sight of all the food.

"Is that Stilton? Man, I haven't eaten it in, like, forever! How'd she get her hands on it? This thing's expensive." Melanie said, and she wasn't wrong. The last time either of them ate any sort of blue veined cheese was during a girl's night out they planned with the money they got from Junior a few months back.

"That's eidar cheese. It's from her homeland, apparently." Emerald added helpfully.

"Eidar? Never heard of it. What kind of backwater is she from?"

"Mel, that's just rude. Though yeah, never heard of it. You think it's somewhere in Vale?"

"My bet is Atlas. You seen how pale Dag is?" Emerald chipped in.

"Eidar, eidar, eidar... sounds Mistralian. And you see those flowers in that pot? That's so Mistrali cuisine. Mil, you remember that Mistrali restaurant that served their food with flowers?"

"Yeah, totally. Though, her name is weird. Dagrun, hm... sounds either Valean or Atlassian. Emerald, you've been with her the longest, do you know what her last name is? Cause, like, it's gotta be a color, right?"

"Uhh... now that you mentioned it, I don't. Huh. Gotta ask her sometime."

"Ugh, who cares! I'm starving!" Melanie said as she took a slice of cheese and put into her mouth.

"That stew is good stuff, just try it." Emerald supplied.

"If you say so." As soon as Miltia tried it, her eyes widened just a little bit. "Hm, this is good. Is this something Vacuan? I can kinda smell a bit of ash."

"I dunno. She said it's horker and ash yam. No idea what either of those are, but Dag said that ash yam grows in places with a buncha volcanic ash."

"Yeah, that's totally from Vacuo. That's, like, the only place on Remnant that has volcanoes." Melanie took a sip from her own bowl. "Hm, yeah, totally Vacuo. Though I don't remember seeing this on the menu in any Vacuan restaurants, do you Mil?"

"No, maybe it's an original recipe? Idk. It's good though."

"Yeah."

The rest of their meal went similarly, with the three discussing different things and getting to know each other.

Dagrun was doing light exercise to keep her muscles warm (or as warm as a vampire can be) when her three apprentices came down to the training room.

"Ah, I see you've eaten. How did you like it? I hope my tastes suit yours."

"It was good. Thanks." Miltia answered.

"Anyway, we're going to train, yeah?" Melanie asked.

"Yes, this first training will be a spar. You against me. You may use your weapons and semblances as you please."

The twins looked between each other, a slight blush creeping on their faces. "...right." Miltia quietly said.

Picking up on it, Dagrun raised a brow. "Is something the matter?"

"...we haven't unlocked our semblances yet. And don't you dare laugh!" Melanie piped up, her voice rising the longer she spoke.

Dagrun merely chuckled. "I'm not going to laugh. In fact, if it makes you feel better, I haven't unlocked my semblance yet either. I have, however, unlocked my aura." Dagrun raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "Have you?"

"Uhh, duh! We were bodyguards in Junior's club, of course we have our aura unlocked!" Melanie sounded offended.

"Very well. Now then, you two will fight me two-on-one. I will be unarmed. Emerald, you will watch and take note of the moves each of us uses."

"Right."

"Alright." Dagrun walked to another side of the room and stood against the twins, Miltia brandishing her claws and Melanie in a low stance. "Let's begin!"

As she said that, the two sprang into action. The first one to reach her was Miltia, her claws already drawn back for a wide slash. Dagrun merely sidestepped the attack while delivering a knuckle jab to Miltia's liver herself. The girl visibly winced but didn't let that stop her, swinging her claws backwards, intending to hit the vampire with another side of her weapons. Dagrun just ducked and thought about throwing an uppercut, but was forced to roll away when Melanie came in, intending to hit her with a low kick. No sooner did Dagrun look up from her roll than she was forced to dodge another kick from Melanie that was intended for her head. Tilting her head to the side to barely avoid the blow, Dagrun then grabbed the girl in white by her ankle and smashed her fist into Melanie's knee with a sharp uppercut. However, that was all she could do before Melanie twisted herself within Dagrun's grasp and delivered a kick to her midsection with her other free leg. Dagrun was forced to let the girl free of her grab as she slightly staggered, just enough time for Miltia to come barreling at her with claws at the ready. While Melanie picked herself up with a quick and agile movement, Miltia was throwing many hooks and swipes at Dagrun in an attempt to damage her, only for the vampire to weave between her hits, not retaliating and seemingly letting the girl in red get closer. Suddenly, Dagrun threw a backfist at Miltia's solar plexus, stunning her for only a second, which was still enough for the vampire to sidestep the girl and smash the back of her heel into her opponent's Achilles tendon, forcing the girl to lose balance for a split second. Dagrun would have followed up on that, if not for Melanie launching herself at the vampire and delivering a series of quick low and mid kicks. After momentary stepping back to avoid the blows, Dagrun then quickly threw a backfist aimed at Melanie's head, only for her to duck. Using that moment, the vampire kneed the girl in the face, forcing her to stand up, slightly dazed. Not wasting an opportunity, Dagrun swiped the legs from underneath Melanie, forcing her to fall on her back. Dagrun then dropped on top of her with all her weight, planting a knee in the middle of girl's sternum. As soon as she did, the vampire was forced to roll away from the onslaught of slashes and swipes from Miltia. Quickly regaining her footing, Dagrun decided to wrap this fight up. Casting Dragonhide on herself, she watched in pride and amusement as a slash that was aimed at her neck harmlessly bounced off, her spell combined with her aura rendering the attack completely useless. Using Miltia's confusion, she rushed in. In but a few seconds Dagrun delivered a flurry of aura-enhanced knuckle strikes to the girl's chin, throat, liver and solar plexus before grabbing her head and spinning around as she once again smashed Miltia's Achilles tendon with the back of her heel. As expected, the girl fell. Using the acquired momentum, Dagrun slammed the girl's head into the floor, breaking her aura in the process. At this exact moment she felt a slight itch on the back of her head and heard a sound of metal striking metal. She turned around. As she expected, she saw Melanie, off-balance due to her trying to kick Dagrun's head and subsequently failing because of the spell. Capitalizing on her lapse in concentration, Dagrun quickly rose and slammed a backfist into Melanie's chest. The girl couldn't withstand the sudden impact. Falling on her behind, Melanie regained her senses just in time to see Dagrun's foot flying toward her face in a football kick. Next second, and bam! Melanie felt her aura break as she was sent skidding across the floor after getting her nose kicked in. The girl came to a halt after hitting the far wall.

Exiting her battle trance, Dagrun turned around, only to see starry-eyed Emerald looking on with her jaw hanging slightly open. She then turned back around. Looking over the two near-unconscious girls laying on the floor, a single thought crept into her mind.

'They leave a lot to be desired. But, even I started somewhere. Let's see what I can do with these three.'

A/N: well, this was a bitch to write.

Archangel Xireon Chaos God: oh yeah. we're not at that point yet, but oh yeah, Dag is going to have veritable army of people and creatures. as for Miraak... eh. I mean, didn't the last dragonborn just nom his soul at the end of db? if so, bringing back Miraak would mean taking away a part of her aura, and it would also mean that she can bring back other dragons, like Sahloknir, Vulthuryol, Mirmulnir, etc. and that's some Alduin level shit that I'm not ready for. Durnehviir? sure. Odahviing? idk, maybe. Paarthurnax? again, idk. anything else? sorry, nah. and yeah, a lot of bad guys of RWBY are going to be recruited (duh)

Jctherebel: thanks!

The Baz: I mean, aren't those a pretty big deal? imagine, say, Salem finding out about Auriel's Bow? a relic of the god of light, can probably one-shot any grimm and can, under the right circumstances, just black out the fucking sun. pretty important if you ask me. can you imagine what kind of panic would a single shot with a bloodcursed arrow induce? that's the fall of beacon level negativity minus the pain-in-the-ass planning. or if Ozpin read about dragons? just frantically pulling all his resources to locate the burial sites that don't exist. a single scroll could change their agendas and turn their focus elswhere infiltrate beacon when you have a prophesy that will do all the work for you?

StormMarine: ...are you a psychic? cause, that's alarmingly close to what I envisioned. the lore goes deeper than this, but the general gist is kinda similar. congratulations! you win a cookie!

hope you enjoyed!