Dimension Travelers RWBY: Reverse/Rebirth
Weiss' POV
I've heard it said that some people are born under a lucky star. Given what I know of Remnant, I doubt there's a lucky star anywhere in the night sky. Still, luck isn't the be all end all. Skill, preparation, and knowing the right people shouldn't be discounted. Knowing the right people…what a hilarious thing for a Schnee to say. Still, I can't deny that meeting my friends at Beacon ended up being a pivotal moment in my life. Now if only I could go back in time and tell my younger self to be a little more grateful…
Despite what had happened the night before or maybe because of it, I slept rather soundly the night Team RWBY-D was formed. So you can imagine why I was less than pleased when I was treated to a whistle being blown in my ear as I woke up.
"Cheese and crackers, Ruby!" I shouted angrily. My exclamation got a round of chuckling from my teammates and I swear I heard someone mutter 'sheltered rich girl'.
"Sorry Weiss Cream Cone, we told you we were gonna be redecorating this morning. We already let you sleep in," Yang gave me an apologetic smile. True to her words, everyone else had already changed into their school uniforms. I also noticed Blake was wearing that infernal bow of hers again, but I decided it was too early in the morning to start a fight.
"How long until class starts?" I asked wearily as I shook my head to clear the last of the tinnitus from Ruby's whistle blowing stunt.
"Under normal circumstances, we have half an hour. Fortunately, a minor temporal distortion is well within my capabilities. Of course, it probably wouldn't have been necessary if a certain sleeping beauty hadn't overslept," David said teasingly, an easy grin on his face.
"So I was a little tired after initiation, sue me," I pouted and crossed my arms in a huff. This behavior earned another round of chuckling from my teammates as David turned and scribbled some runes in chalk on the wall. When he was done, it flashed a pale gold.
"Alright ladies, we've got a little over four hours to do what needs to be done. But first things first, this room ain't big enough for five people. With that in mind-"
"Bunk beds!" Ruby cut him off with a giddy exclamation.
"I second the motion!" Yang was instantly behind her little sister's idea.
"I…suppose that's fine," Blake agreed hesitantly, "It only makes sense to use the space available as efficiently as possible.
"And I suppose it hadn't occurred to any of you that just throwing our beds on top of each other is incredibly dangerous? Never mind that the roof isn't high enough to accommodate a third layer, which means someone's going solo regardless?" I tried to play the voice of reason as I gathered my uniform to change into. Yang turned to David.
"I know a thing or two about construction and I'd bet good money you know a thing or two more," Yang noted.
"Yang, the only thing you've 'constructed' is your motorcycle," Ruby deadpanned.
"Exactly! If I can put together a motorcycle, a bunk bed shouldn't be a challenge!" Yang replied with supreme confidence, her face lit up as she pictured her beloved motorcycle.
"Woodworking isn't exactly comparable to being a mechanic," Blake noted as she started unpacking.
"Who said anything about woodworking? Just stack the beds on top of each other and nail them together or something," Yang waved her off.
"I officially refuse to sleep in any bunk bed made by Yang!" I declared firmly. This statement got Yang to pout at me and Ruby to start giggling.
"I suppose a deathtrap would be a downgrade from a four poster bed," Blake snarked.
"How did you know I have a four poster bed at home?!" I demanded to know before realizing how silly I sounded. Even I knew that bed was a real life stereotype.
"What, really? You actually sleep in one of those things?" Blake asked in surprise as she started shelving her book collection.
"I like my bed," I sulked, shooting a weak glare at the Cat Faunus.
"Sure, sure, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, even if the only true way to sleep is in a hammock," Blake waved me off without looking in my direction.
"No way!" Yang protested, "Water beds are the best!"
"Dad tried sleeping on a water bed once. His claws punctured it and he woke up soaking wet," Blake recalled, thoughtfully tapping the spine of a book on her chin.
"So I guess that morning he was a wet pussy," David joked. The room froze as David looked entirely too pleased with himself. Yang was first to react, completely cracking up. Blake followed up a second later by throwing a book at him.
"That was awful!" She complained, even if I could see her lips twitching with poorly contained amusement.
"MY POOR INNOCENT EARS!" Ruby cried dramatically as she clapped her hands over her ears. This only got Yang to redouble her reckless laughing.
"I'm surrounded by uncouth barbarians!" I shouted. This was the straw that broke the camel's back as far as Blake was concerned. With a snort of laughter Blake started giggling earnestly.
As I watched Blake and Yang falling to pieces while Ruby bemoaned her lost innocence to the devil in our midst I felt something. It wouldn't be until sometime later that I realized what that feeling was. It was contentment. Our team was bonding over a dirty joke of all things. And somehow these four perfect strangers were already feeling more like family than my Father, Mother, or Whitley ever had.
"Jokes aside, I do have some solutions for our lack of space that don't involve bunk beds of questionable safety," David said as the others calmed down.
"Hey!" Yang protested good naturedly.
"An Undetectable Expansion Charm will give us all the space we could want. If even that proves to be not enough space, I can look into installing some tech to make this room dimensionally transcendental, which would give us practically infinite space," David said something so outrageous as if it were just an everyday thing to him. Which it was, I would later come to realize.
"I still like my bunk bed idea," Yang pretended to pout.
"Your idea?!" Ruby squawked with protest.
"If you can get someone to share, I don't mind raising the roof and making a bunk bed that won't double as a coffin," David offered. Yang immediately turned to Ruby, who promptly turned her back on the blonde traitor with a haughty 'humph'.
"Shouldn't have bitten the hand that fed you," Blake smirked.
"Oh, woe is me!" Yang cried dramatically, one arm thrown over her eyes, "Will no one agree to bunk with me?!"
"I'll bunk with you, you giant ham," Blake told her and Yang visibly perked up.
"Thanks, Blake!" Yang grinned like a dope before turning to David with and expectant look.
"Yes, yes, gimme a second to think about if I should just use a permanent sticking charm on your current beds, give you a bunk bed I probably have lying around somewhere, or just make a new one.
"I don't think the school would like it if you mutilate or steal their beds," I pointed out as I finished changing.
"There's nothing 'mutilating' about a sticking charm, but I don't suppose the school would see it that way…whatever, the school can EAT MY SOCKS!" With those words he lifted Yang's bed on top of Blake's and I can only assume he cast the permanent sticking charm. It's not like I can go back and examine the bed now to determine what spell he used exactly.
"If Goodwitch asks, I'm throwing you under the bus," I declared. This response evoked a hearty laugh from him.
"Let's see how much trouble I can get into in the first week! Let's swap Ozpin's hot coco for coffee!" He crowed.
"Wait, he's not drinking coffee?" Yang asked in surprise.
"Nope, definitely hot coco, occasionally spiked with whiskey," David answered smoothly.
"Whiskey?" I wasn't sure how to handle that revelation.
"Well, obviously coffee isn't smart to take with alcohol. The caffeine counteracts the depressant in the alcohol so if you're not careful you can end up a lot more drunk than you realize and it's not unheard of for people to accidentally alcohol poison themselves that way," David rattled off.
"That's not what I meant and you know it!" I protested, "You're insufferable, you know that?"
"I've been told I'm occasionally hard to deal with, yes," He admitted somewhat contritely.
"Is this safe?" Blake asked, trying to gently shake the newly made bunk bed. David walked over and picked up the bed with little trouble and began shaking it while it was sideways.
"It'll take some pretty serious 'convincing' to break these beds apart without the counter spell. When they added 'permanent' to the name, they meant it. I got really bored a couple million years ago and tried to experiment with it. Over two million years later and the control sticking charm is still holding strong," David assured as he put the bed back down in the upright position.
"Good enough for me!" Yang decided as she jumped up onto the top bunk.
"You're going to ruffle your uniform," Blake noted.
"Whatever, no one's gonna care. This is a combat school, not some rich kid boarding school," Yang waved her off before stopping and then looking at me awkwardly.
"What? It's true," I said as I rolled my eyes.
"Well, now that we've got our beds taken care of, let's decorate!" Ruby declared. Of the four hours David had requisitioned for us, we ended up only needing an hour and a half of that. That's not to say everything went smoothly, however.
"RUBY ROSE, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" I yelled. The young inventor had just sliced the curtains diagonally using Crescent Rose.
"I- uh- well- you see…I thought it was too dark in here and it felt like a good idea at the time!" Ruby finally spluttered out.
"Just open the curtains then!" I shouted.
"I know!" Ruby shouted back.
"So we've got one count of misappropriating school beds, one count of vandalizing school curtains, and one count of whatever David did to the room. We're shaping up to be a fine team of troublemakers," Blake deadpanned.
"You're going to have to replace that curtain, Ruby," Yang added.
"I know," Ruby sighed, looking down at the ground and wringing her hands.
"But maybe not right now…" Yang trailed off as she observed the curtain and put a finger to her cheek.
"What do you mean 'not right now'?!" I demanded to know.
"Well, it does look kinda cool and so long as Ruby replaces it by the time we graduate, I don't see the problem," Yang shrugged and would that we had graduated, maybe things would have turned out differently. Oh well, no sense dwelling overmuch on such things.
"Yang's not wrong," Blake opined. I opened my mouth to say something but Blake beat me to it, "Yes, yes, I know, cats and scratched furniture and/or curtains. You're so funny."
"One, I wasn't going to say anything about that and as your Faunus trait is ears, it would be silly, boorish, and horribly misinformed of me to say you needed a scratching post for claws you clearly don't have. Secondly, what I was going to say is that this isn't worth fighting over and if Ruby gets in trouble for it then on her own head be it," I huffed. I took some small amount of satisfaction in how my response completely wrong footed Blake.
The rest of the redecorating passed quickly with a few more minor incidents, including Ruby accidentally discovering some of the 'reading material' Blake had brought. I still have pictures of how red she turned when she realized what she was seeing. I'm not telling you where, I'm not risking Ruby trying to burn the evidence while I'm asleep.
"I hereby declare this redecorating effort a complete success!" Ruby eventually announced proudly. I gave the room a critical once over. Given the big personalities on the team, I was surprised the room didn't clash more than it did. Honestly, it was a lot better than I had initially expected.
"Well, with that over with, who wants breakfast?" David asked. As if his question had reminded her stomach, an audible growl came from Ruby. She blushed and raised her hand.
With that decided, David took down the temporal distortion and we all headed to the cafeteria. I have to confess that at the time, I could have found myself getting very used to having an extra hour or two in the morning to wake up. Alas, such a luxury never materialized.
With how the day had started out, breakfast was a surprisingly mundane affair. Ruby got after Yang about her meds and David ate a couple of unidentified gray cubes that I wasn't brave enough to ask the origin of at the time, but that was the extent of the weirdness. The scrambled eggs were even, dare I say it, acceptable. Although I fully admit that might be nostalgia talking.
After breakfast our first class of the day was Grimm Studies with Professor Port. A class, I feel the need to note, Team JNPR was almost late for. Yes, I'm aware of how events usually play out. Yes, I'm aware it's mostly my fault for oversleeping…shut up.
Once class started, the whole class quickly realized something: Professor Peter Port was filled with more hot air than your average zeppelin. Port's a good man, don't get me wrong, but when that man gets started on a tangent suddenly you've lost a good half of the class period. He opened his first class with a long story about his capturing a beowolf and a grandfather that smelt of cabbages.
After the first five or so minutes most of the class had tuned out. I, being such a good little teacher's pet at the time, found such 'blatant disrespect' wholly unacceptable. I got especially peeved when I saw Ruby doodling. Looking back, I can see how much of that annoyance was jealousy. I thought I had worked oh so very hard to get where I was and was jealous of how easily everything seemed to come to Ruby.
"…The moral of the story? A true Huntsman must be honorable, a true Huntsman must be dependable, and a true Huntsman must be strategic, well educated, and wise. So, who among you believes yourself to be the embodiment of these traits?" Port asked the class.
"I do sir!" I exclaimed, raising my hand high into the air.
"Then step forward and face your opponent!" Port declared as he unveiled a cage containing a boarbatusk. Steeling myself, I walked onto the auditorium floor and raised Myrtenaster. My team cheered me on, but I was in no mood to accept their well wishes.
"Miss Schnee, are you ready?" Port asked and I nodded, "Then let the match begin!"
Port, using that ax-blunderbuss hybrid of his, chopped off the padlock of the cage, freeing the boarbatusk. It immediately charged. I was honestly surprised by how fast it got up to speed. I managed to slip to one side and score a glancing blow on its hide.
"Weren't expecting that, were you?" Port asked, clearly having caught the expression on my face.
"Weiss! Boarbatusks have a top speed of 40 kilometers per hour and like to zig zag!" Ruby shouted at me.
"Shut up, I'm trying to focus!" I shouted back. The Boarbatusk charged again and I tried to meet it head on. This proved to be a mistake. Not only did Myrtenaster deflect awkwardly off of its armor, leading to it getting stuck between its tusks, but I got thrown.
"What will you do now without your weapon?" Port asked as I barely dodged another charge. The Boarbatusk missed me by inches and plowed right into the seating. That gave me just enough time to recover Myrtenaster. At this point the adrenaline had fully hit and my nerves were on edge.
"Weiss, go for its belly! It doesn't have any armor there!" Ruby informed me, her arms waving wildly. I was sorely tempted to yell at her for distracting me again, but the Boarbatusk got up and rolled into a ball before somehow spinning up to speed and trying to bowl me over.
At the last moment I summoned a glyph that the Boarbatusk slammed into. The glyph held and the Grimm fell onto its back. Thinking fast I infused a second glyph with gravity dust so I could jump up, plant my feet on it, and use it to stab Myrtenaster right through where its heart would have been on a real animal. Even still, it was a fatal blow for the Grimm and it began fading away.
"Well done! It seems we really are in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training!" Port congratulated. I was still riding the adrenaline high and panting heavily, so I didn't respond. Port was good enough to understand and dismissed the class after giving us the assigned reading.
"You did it Weiss!" Ruby cheered as she rushed from her seat to congratulate me.
"Ruby…Ruby don't do that!" I snapped as I slowly got back on my feet.
"Don't do what?" She asked in concern.
"You were shouting trivia facts at me while I'm fighting! You distracted me and I could've gotten hurt!" I barked and Ruby wilted. I dread the day Ruby learns to weaponize that look. I felt like I had kicked a dozen puppies.
"I'm sorry…I just wanted to make sure you knew…" Ruby said sadly, her hands worrying at her skirt. Yang, Blake, and David caught up with Ruby and Yang came bearing a towel, which I gratefully took.
"You're gonna have to get used to listening to people in the middle of a fight Weiss Cream. Most folks aren't telepathic, so they're gonna have to get important info to you somehow," Yang pointed out as I wiped off my face with the towel.
"I…I suppose you're right," I admitted, "And don't call me 'Weiss Cream'," I sulked.
"Whatever you say, Weiss Cream," Yang smirked and I rolled my eyes. The adrenaline was still processing and my hands were beginning to tremble. I know a lot of stories like to make adrenaline out to be some sort of wonder chemical, but no. It takes a couple of minutes to get going and it'll be at least 20 minutes and up to an hour before you'll fully calm down, if you don't know how to meditate. At least, that's how it is for most humans and Faunus.
Sorry, had to get that mini-rant out of my system.
Thankfully our next class was history with Professor Bartholomew Oobleck. It was the perfect place for me to finish calming down. Although putting the words Oobleck and calm together is usually an oxymoron. I've heard it said that Oobleck missed his true calling as an auctioneer. I find that statement incredibly unfair. I won't deny Oobleck has a motor mouth like few others, but he's also a brilliant man. I like to think of it as his mouth trying to keep up with his hyperactive mind.
As it was the first day of classes, Oobleck kept it to handing out a syllabus and going over what we'd be learning for the year. Even with something as basic as that his love for his subject shone through. It was endearing.
The only other thing of note for Oobleck's class was that, for some reason, there was a second year rabbit Faunus girl attending class with us. I remember wondering what kind of simpleton needed to repeat History. I should probably apologize to Velvet for that. She's very much cut from a similar cloth to Ruby. Anesidora, her weapon, is a technological marvel. Unfortunately, Velvet also has some of the worst time management skills I've ever seen.
Velvet can tell you more when her turn comes up. For now, it was time for the first years to head to Weapon Building and Maintenance, taught by Professor Samuel Vermillion.
What? Did you think six classes a day across four years of students was handled by only three teachers? Why Port, Oobleck, and Goodwitch are the only three that are ever shown in the TV show inspired by Remnant's events is a mystery to me.
"As a Hunter, your weapon is your life. For some of you, your current weapon will be your lifelong partner. For others, as you grow in experience and knowledge, you may find a weapon better suited to you. In either event, proper creation and care of your weapon is the difference between life and death on the field," Vermillion stated firmly. He was a tall man and while not overly muscular, he was clearly in good physical shape. His hair had gone gray before his time and his eyes were a steely blue. One of his defining features was his exceptionally thick eyebrows.
"In this class you will be learning how to do just that. For most of you, the first year of class will be little more than refreshers from what you learned in your primary combat schools. For those of you coming from the public school system, you will be learning the essentials for one of the most important tools in your future career. I will also be overseeing the forges on Saturdays, for those of you who need to create their own weapons," Vermillion announced.
The rest of the class period was spent going over general safety and behavioral guidelines. Most of us had come from primary combats schools and knew all this, but as he had said, there were a handful of students from public schools and for them such lectures were invaluable.
After that was a reasonably uneventful lunch, so uneventful that I can't even remember what was served. Once we were finished, we headed to our next class, which was Hunter Ethics with Professor Mary Ardit.
Ardit was pretty much the textbook definition of a sweet little old lady. Her silver hair was done up in a bun, wireframe bifocals, and kind green eyes. Yet despite her clearly advanced age, she stood tall and proud.
"Welcome, dears, to Hunter Ethics. Now, in a perfect world, all a Hunter would concern themselves with is the slaying of Grimm. Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world. Hunters must interact with civilians, local peace keeping, local governments, and other Hunters, just to name the most obvious. It is also not uncommon for Hunters to be hired to help deal with criminals. As the name of the class suggests, I will be striving to teach each of you how to ethically deal with the myriad of situations a Hunter may find themselves in," Ardit explained.
After that she passed out the syllabus she told us how the curriculum would be broken down into several units, each one focusing on a specific type of interaction. It reminded me somewhat of the etiquette lessons I was forced to endure as a young girl.
Our second to last class of the day was taught by Professor Celestia Peach and her class was Dust Studies. I thought it was going to be an easy class. After all, I was the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. I would learn to rue my hubris in that class in particular. However, that is a story for another time.
When Celestia Peach entered the room she captured everyone's attention. She was conventionally beautiful, yes, with her luscious peach colored hair, stunning rose-red eyes, and a good figure, but there was more than that. It was like there was a spotlight on her, something magnetic that was hard to define. Her attire of a lab coat over what looked like a heavily modified female cut tuxedo and stockings leading into thigh high boots were also eye catching. Speaking of eyes…there was something wild in Celestia's eyes. If Ruby was the absentminded inventor then Celestia was the mad scientist.
What do you mean, 'do I have a crush on Peach'? Don't be ridiculous! I'm perfectly capable of appreciating someone without there being romantic feelings involved! …She's too old for me anyway. THAT IS NOT DISSAPOINTMENT IN MY VOICE!
Anyway, we're getting a bit off topic. Celestia moved to the front of the room before surveying the students. Her gaze was sharp, but not quite predatory. It almost felt like she was looking for something. Whether she found it or not, I couldn't say.
"Dust…we rely on it for so much, both in civilian life and in our endless crusade against the Creatures of Grimm. Yet for all that we use it, we know shockingly little about it. Where does it come from? Why does one type of Dust produce flames while another type of Dust warps gravity? Why do certain Semblances interact with some types of Dust but not others? So many questions and desperately few answers…for the first year course, you will be learning the basics of what answers we do have. The types of Dust known to us, proper storage of each kind of Dust, their applications, and how to safely mix Dust will be the main goals of this year's course in Dust Studies," Celestia laid out.
Class proceeded as usual; with the syllabus handed out and a brief lecture on safety that Celestia seemed to loathe giving before she dismissed us to head to our final class of the day.
Professor Glynda Goodwitch was in charge of Combat and Semblance Training. Goodwitch was and still is a firm believer that the best way to learn is by doing.
"Welcome to Combat and Semblance Training. Today's class period will be spent assessing your baseline strength and capabilities with your Semblance," Goodwitch informed us in her usual no nonsense tone, "There is a station set up for each team. Once you find your team's station, you may begin. The computer will track your performance."
So we all filtered by team to our assigned spaces. However, before our team could begin, Goodwitch tapped David on the shoulder with her riding crop.
"Not you, Mr. Thomas. I'd rather not have to replace the equipment trying to get an accurate read from you," Goodwitch said and walked off to oversee the other teams. Judging from his bewildered expression, he wasn't expecting it any more than the rest of us were.
"So I'm guessing you didn't tell Goodwitch about your little secret?" Blake asked, her eyes trailing the older woman.
"Nope, but if Goodwitch knows then there's good odds Ozpin knows. What exactly they know remains to be seen, but it looks like I'm going to have a chat with him sooner rather than later," David replied, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Anyway, are we just supposed to punch this thing or what?" Yang asked, examining what looked to be a slightly modified punching bag. There was a button next to it.
"There's a note here," Ruby said, removing a piece of paper taped to a nearby desk, "It says to press the button before punching as many times as you can in a minute, then one punch as hard as you can, and then a punch with your Semblance if applicable. After that you hit the button again."
"Sounds good to me!" Yang exclaimed, "Anyone mind if I go first?" We all shook our heads and Yang squared up against the punching bag. She tapped the button and started pounding away at the punching bag as fast as she could. A minute later and she paused for a moment before rearing back for a haymaker.
"It's a shame my Semblance won't help much here," Yang grumbled as she turned it on, her eyes going red and her hair shimmering as if on fire. She landed a second haymaker before hitting the button.
"At least your Semblance is useful. My shadow clones would only be helpful for the flurry attack," Blake groused.
"I think Weiss' might be the best of ours from a cold start," Ruby observed, "All she's got to do is use some gravity Dust with her Semblance and she's hitting like a truck."
"Wouldn't your speed Semblance let you get off a really good hit too?" Blake asked.
"I'm afraid not. I just don't have the mass to compete with Weiss unless I have a lot more room to get up to speed," Ruby admitted with a shrug.
"The more you know," Blake remarked as she stepped up to take her turn. She tapped the button and landed a flurry of blows on the punching bag. As I watched her complete her test I couldn't help but find it odd how, excluding David, Yang and I were considered the 'heavy hitters'. 17 year old me was about 50KG soaking wet. It truly is wild how much a Semblance can do for you if applied properly. Outside of my Semblance, I was the physically weakest of Team RWBY-D. Yes, even the 15 year old Ruby was capable of beating me at arm wrestling, as I found out one very humiliating evening.
After Blake finished it was Ruby's turn. After a quick reminder not to use her Semblance on the flurry, she got down to business as well. As Ruby used her Semblance, I noticed something distinctly odd about it. I had seen a handful of other speed Semblances before at that point in my life, Winter having worked with a prime example in Harriet Bree, but none of them behaved quite like Ruby's. At the time I simply dismissed it as a visual quirk of her unique Semblance. Such things weren't unheard of and I put the thought from my mind. Maybe if I had been paying more attention…ah, well, no use crying over split milk.
With Ruby's test completed, I stepped up as the final member of our team. I admit I felt more than a little embarrassed by what I felt were feeble efforts in the flurry and single punch attempts. Fortunately I more than made up for it in the Semblance assisted hit.
"Not bad, Snow Leopard, not bad at all," Yang said as she clapped me on the back. I rolled my eyes.
"It's nothing that special. If I had complete mastery of my Semblance I would've been able to hit even harder," I admitted.
"Good work today class!" Goodwitch spoke up, "You are now to spend the next hour in self-directed sparring before going to dinner."
Upon that announcement Yang instantly turned to David, "Fight me!"
"Well that took a whole millisecond longer than I expected," He snarked as he stood up, "Any particular rules?"
"Hand to hand only, Semblances allowed," Yang replied as they moved to one of the prepared sparring mats.
"Do you even have a Semblance?" I asked him from the sidelines.
"Nope!" He replied blithely as he faced Yang.
"Oh. Well, I guess no Semblances then," Yang said, sounding disappointed.
"No, you're free to use your Semblance. I want to see it in action," David said and Yang predictably perked up.
"Alright, but don't come crying to me later," Yang smirked as she raised her fists.
"Your confidence is admirable…but foolhardy," David took up his own combat stance.
"Ready?" Ruby called out, "Begin!"
Yang, as was her wont, immediately rushed forward, trying to get the initiative. David slid around behind her as she threw her first punch. David then tried to take her off her feet with a leg sweep. Yang jumped over his attack and countered with a roundhouse midair. This was blocked by his forearm. He then turned this block into a grab and threw Yang down hard onto the mat.
This was enough to get Yang's Semblance in gear. She sprang up off the mat, eyes red and hair ablaze and went on the offense. At first it seemed David was content to stay on the defensive, just weathering Yang's powered up punches. Then Yang threw a punch she clearly intended to finish the spar with and David simply wasn't there anymore. He had gotten behind her again, this time faster than I could keep track of. He grabbed her arm that was overextended from her missed punch, hooked his leg around hers, and the two fell forward, ending with David pinning Yang to the mat.
"Do you yield?" He asked. Yang struggled against the pin for a few moments before relenting.
"Yeah, I give," She said around heaving panting. David let her go and helped her up.
"Good fight. Who taught you?" He asked.
"My Dad, mostly," She said as she rolled her shoulder.
"He taught you well. A few more years to polish your style and you'll be a menace in close quarters," He told her.
"Thanks. How'd you take those hits? I've never seen anyone take so many of my punches even with my Semblance only partially activated," Yang said
"Mostly it's the same answer for why you can do what you do: Aura. Of course, my Aura functions differently from yours, but it comes from the same source. I also have a lot more Aura to work with than you do. Add that to my biology naturally being built tougher than what you'd find on Remnant and it's becomes exceedingly difficult to take me down with conventional means," David explained, "Mind you, a Kryptonian under a yellow sun is still pound for pound tougher."
"You were making so much sense up until you started spouting gibberish," Blake quipped.
The rest of the period passed unremarkably. Blake and Ruby sparred and then Yang and I sparred before the end of the hour.
We all made our way to the cafeteria for dinner. Once we were seated, Ruby cleared her throat.
"I, uh, I'd like to congratulate you all on a good first day of class," Ruby said stiffly.
"Aw, my baby sister is trying to be a responsible leader~" Yang giggled.
"Yang!" Ruby pouted, her 'serious leader' façade crumbling in an instant.
"Don't worry about it Ruby. Not everyone can be George Washington," David comforted with a wan smile. None of us knew who he was talking about, but the context was pretty easy to pick up.
"Ruby, we've only known each other a couple of days and I can already tell that serious isn't really your style," Blake remarked as she started on her pork chop.
"I can to be serious!" Ruby's pouting increased. I shook my head with more affection than I would have admitted at the time.
"Ruby, as your partner, I advise you to quit while you're ahead," I told her, which caused Ruby's pout to escalate into full sulking as she turned her attention to her own meal.
"There, there, Rubes," Yang ruffled her sister's hair.
"See, Jaune? Not every leader needs to be serious and gruff all the time!" Nora exclaimed as she sat down next to Blake. The rest of Team JNPR quickly followed.
"It seems our local leaders have been having similar woes," David quipped as he popped one of those cubes in his mouth.
"Pretending to be tough all the time is seriously overrated," Pyrrha grumbled as she speared the meat on her plate with a little more force than necessary.
"So speaks the local invincible girl," Yang said.
"Ugh, I hate that moniker," Pyrrha sighed.
"Well think of it this way, in five years you'll either be the invincible woman or that girl that was on all the Pumpkin Pete's boxes," Blake joked dryly.
"Oh no…" Pyrrha buried her face in her hands as the rest of us cracked up. Even Ren cracked a smile.
All in all, our first day of classes at Beacon Academy could have gone a lot worse. I refuse to let my nostalgia blind me to the fact that those days weren't perfect. But they were nice, all things considered.
That's all from me for now. Velvet's turn is next I believe, after a brief interlude from a certain former headmaster.
Ozpin's POV
I understand that my reputation is not necessarily the best. In more recent times, I've even come to understand why that is. For all my vaunted experience and so called wisdom, I found myself falling into the same pitfalls over and over again. I was introduced to a delightful quote 'the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results'. That pretty much sums up what I had been doing.
Of course, there is a whole story's worth of build up to that bit of self-discovery. Far be it from me to deprive you of finding out all the juicy details. That means, of course, it is time for me to describe my actions in this whole sordid affair.
I was standing in my office, looking out over the horizon as the last vestiges of twilight left the evening sky. As I took a sip of hot coco, Glynda entered from the elevator.
"Good evening, Glynda," I greeted mildly.
"Evening, Professor," She returned, "Mr. Thomas wishes to speak with you."
If there's one thing I never tell Glynda enough it's that I appreciate how much her grounded, no nonsense personality kept our little conspiracy from falling apart at the seams. In my more poetic moments, I might even liken her to the rock upon which all my plans had been built upon in that time period.
"Send him in, please," I requested. Glynda nodded and turned to collect him. A few minutes later the elevator returned and Glynda escorted Mr. Thomas to the chair in front of my desk. I move to my own seat and sat down.
"Would you like some hot coco? Or perhaps you'd like something a little stronger?" I tried to play the role of a good host.
"You know, Ozma, if you had just asked I would've agreed to meet with you. You didn't have to go through this song and dance in some strange attempt to try and make me feel unpressured," He said plainly.
"Forgive an old man his foibles. I have been looking forward to this meeting for…quite some time," I confessed.
"And that brings me to my first question: why were you expecting me? I don't exactly keep a schedule or make appointments," He said with a bit of apprehension in his voice, as if a part of him didn't want to know the answer.
"A long time ago a young woman came to me. She told me a hero in the guise of a young man with blackest hair and eyes of amethyst would appear in Remnant's darkest hour. She told me that his power would be unlike anything Remnant had ever seen before. She also told me to tell you 'it will be time for a good man to go to war'," I recited her message.
"Goddamnit Alice!" He immediately reacted.
"You know her, I take it?" I arched an eyebrow.
"Alice Baskerville, my adopted younger sister. Unfortunately, she also has a terminal addiction to drama. Did she tell you anything else?" He asked sounding entirely too weary for his appearance.
"I'm afraid not," I replied.
"Well, that's something at least," He sighed. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked to be an informational pamphlet, "This should give you a general idea of what's going on and what I'm capable of. For now, I believe curfew is approaching."
"I'll be sure to study this closely," I said as I accepted it. He then stood up to leave.
"Oh, and Ozma, I won't air your dirty laundry, but I firmly believe that if you keep your cards too close to your chest, then even you won't be able to see the cards," He said and then left. I already knew Glynda was looking at me smugly.
"I believe I've said something similar on more than one occasion," Glynda said, sounding very pleased with herself. I sighed and drained my mug.
"Your concerns are noted, Glynda. I believe I'll be retiring for the evening. I'll look at the pamphlet Mr. Thomas left with fresh eyes in the morning," I announced.
"Understood. Goodnight, Professor," Glynda said and left, leaving me alone with my thoughts once more.
The ending of Volume 8 sucked. That is all.
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