AN: I'm still not sure how I feel about what I did with the last section of this chapter it was... it is rather, something that I needed to do for set up like I said at the start of the other these few chapters are mostly that, but it's not my best work.

Chapter Title: Something not quite right about that

Arc 1: Bubbles of Futility Chapters

A month and a half had passed since my call with my mother about quitting Beacon and my decision to take on her advice about at least sticking it out until the end of this year before I signed out of the school. Something big was coming up and because of it my team had been excited and looking forward to what was happening, more specifically Yang was riled up and bouncing all over the place making sure we'd all be showing up to the upcoming dance.

Blake had been getting almost no sleep and was hard at work trying to find out more about why that Torchwick guy was working with the fang and what he had meant by something he had said during his speech that I missed. I think Yang was going to be sitting her down and giving her a talk about slowing down, Pyrrha had been closer to me I guess you could say- I'm not really sure how to put it but I think she figured out that I was going to be quitting or was at least considering it and didn't want me to.

It was probably my breakdown where I apologized to her and flew off though.

As far as things went with Cinder I had seen her around with those two thieves and a smaller girl occasionally. She had attempted to approach me a few times but went ignored by me and I was saved by some of my more observant friends who knew my tells like Diarmuid or Nereius, both of whom I had spent more time with as a result.

My sessions with Anastasia had continued and we'd gone back to quid pro quo, since she had been bogged down with more work recently because of needing to handle the students coming in from the other schools. Other than all that was probably the smoking which had caused some issues with my team but wasn't really acknowledged since I did it when I was on my own and since I carried around mints and such my breath didn't reek of it and I was clean enough that the smell never seeped into my clothing.

"Solatium." a somewhat unfamiliar voice said drawing my attention to the imposing suit of black armour that would make Atlas' military wet at the thought of as my friend approached.

"How are you doing Hati?" I asked the man in front of me, his Half-face respirator, helmet and these glowing red goggles covered his face so I couldn't see it.

Though I suppose it was like my mask in a way, though he needed his to actually live whereas mine was something much less. From what he had told me he wore it because when he was very young he was in his fathers lab and he inhaled or ingested a chemical that seared the insides of his lungs so badly that he needed one to be replaced as well as the mask he wears now to help his body remember to breathe.

The armour was a different story for another time.

"I am well, there is a boy that looks like you waiting at the Airship dock." he said in his blunt way of speaking.

"Oh he must have arrived already with the other students." I commented to myself looking out a nearby window. "Guess I'll go save him from himself, I'll see you around Hati." With that I left him and he simply nodded.

Walking through the hall I quickly found the first door that led outside and leapt into the air using my wings to fly out over the school. Touching down out on the massive run up to the dock a group of people gave me a wide berth as I landed next to them, I didn't bother to apologise as I continued onward toward where I had spotted a large gathering of students in varying levels of uniform with bags and other luggage.

As I got closer I noticed an eagle flying high above circling me before it darted off, it was already weird that there was one to begin with considering Eagles were only found in Vacuo and northern parts of Mistral. It also looked similar to the one we had before moving to Valor when my brother was born. I watched as it descended and landed down just out of sight and my attention was drawn to a particular person.

My eyes locked onto the familiar appearance of my brother who was currently fending off Ruby of all people, it was probably because my brother was carrying a massive gun case. As for how he was dressed, he wasn't wearing a shirt but had a leather gorget that was embroidered with a Wesekh collar that contained a pattern of faience, gold, carnelian and turquoise. With that he was wearing a ivory white Shendyt, along with that he wore bandages around his feet and up to the middle of his shin and leather sandals.

He has long graphite coloured hair in a low ponytail with bits of it parted to either side of his face, his skin is slightly darker than olive similar to mine and he has a fair amount of natural muscle. His eyes unlike mine weren't layered rings of colour but normal sclera and the same glowing blue eyes of our mother and sister.

Castus definitely looked like he just came from the deserts of Vacuo.

"Finally you're here you birdbrained ass!" He announced pushing the red cloaked girl away ignoring her attempts to ask about his gun case.

"Hey Cas', Ruby." I said standing in front of them. "What are you doing here Ruby?"

"Ah well I thought he was you and I wanted to find out what was inside the gun case..." her voice trailed off looking at my brother's luggage presumably entranced at the opportunity to witness an interesting weapon.

Castus looked at me for help, I shrugged.

"I've known you for all of five minutes Ruby but sure if you're one of Az's friends then-" he put the case down on the ground and undid the locks on the easily two meter long case.

Opening it revealed a large rifle that I could only describe as something you might shoot at a Goliath Grimm or tank with, I'm pretty sure its an Anti-Tank rifle that my brother has altered to have a much larger box magazine for which lines up with what he had sent me the design of at the start of the year.

"This is Hauhet." he said with a smile that glowed with 'praise me' aura.

"Like the goddess?" I asked, realising he had literally just named his weapon after a deity that basically represented the infinite.

"Yeah" he was smirking "I thought it was a good name considering how much damage it can cause." My brother had a maniacal look in his eyes.

Ruby looked like she was about to explode with questions but instead began listing off features that it had and I took a step back baffled at the sudden change in the girl's demeanor since she was normally quite reserved. I knew weapons were her thing of course, but this felt like it was on another level.

Though she stopped when my brother closed the case and locked it back up.

The girl left when her Scroll rang saying that it was her team, once she was gone Castus looked at me and blinked a few times before shaking his head.

"Oh by the way whose Eagle was that?" I was reminded of the one I had seen that guided me to him.

"Eagle? What do you mean I haven't seen one." he said with faux confusion.

Then the Eagle I was referring to landed on his shoulder which added to my confusion.

"Moamyn." My little brother greeted a man who looked to be almost as old as me.

He had somewhat darker skin than either of us and something that stuck out was the leather bracer with claw marks in it, and the leather pauldron on his left shoulder with similar markings over very simple loose clothing.

Moamyn whilsiled in an odd way and the Eagle landed on his shoulder before he put his luggage on the ground next to my brothers.

"This is Azrael then?" he asked Castus, making me feel a little uncomfortable for a moment and I wasn't really sure why- maybe it was nerves or something?

"Looks like Mogu mistook him for me." My brother joked to his friend.

Humming to himself the man offered me a hand and I shook it. "I'm Moamyn Sharrukin the leader of Team Caesar.'' He spoke only in Sīn, which was a little bit more difficult for me since I had to make sure I had heard everything he said first before responding.

As if on queue two more people just sort of appeared and introduced themselves to me, there was a girl named Xian Sanzang and a boy Arash Deva both of which were about the same age as my brother. They were dressed very casually and in similarly loose fitting outfits like my brothers and their leader's.

After all the introductions were out of the way I showed them to where the visiting students from Vacuo were meant to be staying with a minor tour of the school for the benefit of my brother and his friends, while we were walking around we ran into Manus who basically took over the tour for me allowing me a chance to talk with my brother about some menial stuff until we reached their assigned room. At which point we parted ways.

[New People]

Once we showed them to their room I went with Manus to the dining hall where I talked with him. He was very up front with the fact that he didn't like my lack of commitment to becoming a Huntsman and I had spoken at length with him about my intention to leave.

He hadn't told the others yet and otherwise acted normal about everything, only showing his displeasure when it was brought up, so it wasn't like he was going around punching me through walls because of my choice. He seemed pretty understanding of it and at the very least had hoped that I did manage to find something to strive for once I was out on my own.

As I was parting ways with my tutor and friend I found myself in front of Hati again.

"Hey Hati how are you?" I asked like I hadn't seen him an hour or two ago.

"Well." he responded as I fell into step with him as he was walking around the outside of the dining hall.

There was a bunch of yelling that drew our attention and we looked into one of the windows in time to watch as Arc was thrown across the building and slammed into the window covered in food. I could see at least four or five teams in the middle of what I guess you would call a food fight on the highest level considering the fact that people were being sent all over the room. I was sure I could make out my teammates amongst the mess.

It definitely wasn't my thing to be in there throwing food and using my semblance on tables to do whatever it is that they were trying to achieve. I couldn't even begin to imagine what Hati's reaction to it was considering he was very stoic and the mask didn't help, because the only time he was 'emotional' I guess you could say was during combat exercises but that was just because his movements were like that of a wolf stalking its prey.

Hence his nickname around the school being Brigade's Wolf, though I didn't know his team at all because I just never got a chance to meet them the same way I did him.

Anyhow we passed by one of the side doors where a blonde haired Faunus and a blue haired human were walking into the hall as we turned onto the path that led to one of the main courtyards. The reason I was headed this way was because Nereius and Diarmuid wanted me to come and hang out with them and give them some help with an idea they had been cooking up.

And so I met up with my friends once again leaving Hati to his own devices finding them where they had messaged me to meet them at. When I walked up to them I was already confused because not only were they not in Beacon's Uniform but Diarmuid had a keyboard in front of him on a stand while Nereius was next to him with a lyre of all instruments.

"What the fuck are you two about to invite me to join?" was all I could ask.

"Want to join our band?" Diarmuid asked with a dead serious tone and expression.

I put my face in my palm as I tried to come to terms with the sentence he just said to me. I could hear someone laughing to the side of us and turning to it I found Pyrrha doubled over somewhat dripping with what I could only assume was food turned to paste that had poorly been wiped off her uniform.

"Enjoying yourself Pyrrha?" I asked my partner, deciding to ignore my friends and whatever it was they were going to drag me into.

Managing to find her composure she wiped away the water from her eyes. "I am." she responded with a bright smile.

"You aren't getting out of this that easy Az, do you want to join our band or not?" Diarmuid pressed as I rolled my eyes when I looked back at him.

"No, not really." I replied getting a very stoic and uninspired 'Dang' from my friends who afterward just shrugged and went back to playing a song together.

"Are you well though Azrael? You weren't around at all this morning..." her voice trailed off, she looked a little down trodden but I couldn't really see much past the food stains.

"I'm fine I just went and did some early training to get my mind off of some stuff." I said, blowing off her concern, she didn't appear to like that seeing as she frowned. "Anyway, why are you covered in food?"

I may have seen some of what happened when Hati and I walked by but I wanted to know the details of how they somehow managed to get into a food fight.

[Misplaced Meals]

While I was on one of my smoking breaks that displaced me from the sight of anyone I knew atop the tower of Beacon since it was the highest and most unlikely place for someone to be found since most people couldn't get to it- I overheard a conversation that was happening.

"So James will be arriving soon with Amity Colosseum for the Festival then?" the muffled voice of Ms Goodwitch said with that distinct strength to her tone making it easy for me to guess who it was.

"Indeed." an older sounding voice said that was obviously Ozpins."He has promised not to make a show of his arrival seeing as the Council is leaning heavily toward letting us deal with Security after Team Boysenberry's display against Roman Torchwick- The cctv in the area at the time showed a distinctly unmatched amount of cohesion and skill amongst the team making them more than impressed with what our students are capable."

"Will you be calling in every Huntsman that can spare the time or are we going to be relying on the presence of all the children foreign or otherwise?" the woman posed the question earning a minute long silence from the man.

"We'll see..."

"What of BYSN Ozpin? They still need to be reprimanded for the tens of thousands in lien damage they caused while fighting Torchwick, we also need to find out why they were at that rally in the first place-" Glynda stopped herself suddenly as a third voice cut in, it was raspier and unfamiliar.

"You're aware of the eavesdropper right?" This new voice questioned.

"What?!" Glynda and Ozpin said simultaneously loud enough that it wasn't muffled.

"Yeah I saw him on my way in- they were having a birdbath or sumthin'".

What? But no one should have been able to see me up here unless they were looking or above me and the only thing I've seen so far are birds…

Fuck.

Well my time here is done time to leav-

"Mister Solatium, would you mind coming in here." It was more of an order than anything else, he had opened up a window in the roof that doubled as an access panel to the room by the looks of it.

"Guess I can spare the time." I said back eye twitching under my mask as I followed the Headmaster down into his office on a ladder that appeared to be pulled down on to extend from the roof so it was out of the way.

As I stepped off the ladder and looked around the room I was met with the visage of a man that had his hair slicked back with the shadow of a beard growing, a grey tailed dress shirt, black pants and boots on with what appeared to be a sword on his back. Aside from his form though was the particularly stoic faced Ms Goodwitch who looked like she was trying to find a reason not to expel me from beacon altogether, and to be fair it was what they should do right now even if it was an accident on my part until I decided not to leave.

Goodwitch's eye twitched and the man next to her looked like he wanted to congratulate me for whatever reason.

"You understand that eavesdropping on private conversations between staff is a grave issue, Mister Solatium." The Headmaster said reaffirming my thoughts as he sat down in his chair and I said in the one I usually took when in here.

"I guess yeah." I wasn't really sure what to say at this point, I didn't really mean to get expelled like this before the year ended.

"Since you are here before I decide on a punishment I would like to ask you a question." He said, making me look at him with more than a little confusion. "We would like to know what your team was doing at the White Fang rally where you faced off against the Atleasian Mech."

Well I guess I'll just be honest.

"We were there because Blake had been running off and trying to find out why that Torchwick guy was working with them, and so Yang decided we'd confront her about this and help her so she didn't get herself killed or something-"

The other man in the room with the slicked hair cut in. "Yang?" he asked and I ignored continuing.

"So we made a plan which was for Blake and I to be the people who actually went in and pretended to join while the others were on stand by if something went wrong." I shrugged, not really sure what to say next.

"And this led to a fight that tore across the outer parts of the industrial district?" He prodded.

"I guess so, it's not like we planned to fight a robot- I didn't even know they existed until that night- I still have trouble with T.v's I didn't realise technology was so..." I motioned my hands trying to understand my own words.

"I'm aware of your lack of knowledge regarding technology, yes." the old man answered. "Atlas has made incredible advancements but it appears that they are not as safely kept as they would have people believe."

I was at a point where I was just looking to leave.

"Can I go?" So I asked.

Goodwitch looked like she was going to crucify me.

"You may after I give you your punishment for eavesdropping on our conversation." I was really just thinking of getting up and walking out when he said that, because I didn't feel like things could get worse than him expelling me.

"Until the end of the year you will have detentions with whichever Staff needs an assistant the most."

"What?!" I and Miss Goodwitch said at the same time, causing the other man to laugh.

"What do you mean detention? shouldn't I get expelled for this?" I asked very seriously.

"Do you wish to be expelled?" Ozpin asked back.

"..." I sat in silence for a moment before this was my out wasn't it? I mean I could just ask him to kick me out…

"Mr. Solatium?" The old man said with a raised brow.

"Ah yeah I'll be going to my class now, I assume I'll be messaged about who I have my detention with.'' Then I just left, leaving the thought in the air, I really didn't want to be here anymore.

AN: Next chapter is probably going to be the longest one for quite a while because a lot happens in it.