Chapter 12

Blake was careful with her footing as she circled her opponent, sizing him up. He was clearly a heavier fighter than her, and his tall shield covered most of his side, while his lance gave him decent reach.

Imperial seemed content to sit and wait for her, likely wanting to judge her skills for himself. But she couldn't help but feel that she was getting baited into a trap. One she didn't intend to spring. Her twin machine pistols twitched up, and she began firing away with her training rounds.

Blake had to hand it to Imperial; he at least had fast reflexes. By the time she'd pulled the triggers, his shield was already up and ready to block. He smiled at her from behind the shield, one of his brown eyes exposed. She simply aimed one of her guns down at his feet. He would be forced to drop his shield to cover and then-

She barely managed to twist and leap out of the way as he suddenly closed the gap between them. He spun to face her before she had even touched down, interjecting his shield in the way.

"Good job!" Imperial complimented. "You have fast reflexes!"
Blake was silent, inwardly seething at the fact that she'd let her confidence get the better of her. He clearly had some kind of speed-related Semblance, though how far he could go, and in what directions, were still unknowns.

"Go, Blake! Kick his ass!" Ilia cheered from the sidelines, sporting a broad grin.

I intend to. Blake didn't take her eyes off Imperial. For his chipper attitude, he at least took sparring seriously: a point in his favour. She hadn't been the most pleased when they were unpacking, but his suggestion to get to know one another through a sparring match was a great chance to vent her frustrations. Assuming I focus.

Blake continued to circle around the ring, noting that Imperial shifted to keep her in front of him. Inwardly, Blake wondered if he could only go forward, and decided to test it. Just as she set her foot down, she quickly leaped back, transitioning to a backflip that landed her off to his side. Springing forward, her blades flashed out, ready to strike his aura. But instead, she found air.

A miss.

She cartwheeled out of her charge, feeling the air where she would have landed narrowly whoosh passed her. Her feet found metal, and she kicked off Imperial to regain distance.

Once on her feet, she brought up her arms to block, but Imperial didn't press the advantage, continuing to simply watch her. Blake's eyes flicked behind him, where she could see the dust of the sparring field settling into place.

She hadn't seen his movement, but she could track where he'd been. He'd moved backwards away from her attack, then charged forwards to attack her once she'd overextended. So he could move forwards and backwards. Judging by the rigid way he'd jumped, that was probably the extent of his motion.

Which left her few options to take him down.

Once again, she fired at him, and he braced. When her muzzle dipped, he charged again. This time, Blake was ready. Taking a gamble, she only faded back slightly, and in a moment, her face was full of shield, but he hadn't extended. He'd predicted she'd dodge.

She could see his eyes widen even as she weaved around his shield, flicking her hand so that the ribbon of her gun wrapped around his back. Now he couldn't escape. Her other blade was quickly pressed to his neck, where his plate mail couldn't protect him.

"My victory," she said.

"I would say that is!" he said, smiling broadly, seemingly unconcerned with the blade next to his neck. Blake glowered for a moment, but backed off, only relaxing once he'd slung his lance on his back. He extended his hand towards her. "Good match."

"Likewise," she said after a moment, taking his hand firmly. The handshake was thankfully brief, and Imperial quickly ran it through his short brown hair with a sigh.

"Well, looks like I'll have to keep up my practice. But I do have to say, you're quite talented! You figured out my strategy quickly!"

"I have a lot of practice," Blake said simply, holstering her guns. She turned to look at Ilia, and jerked her head. "You want a round?"

"Sure! I could stand to unwind a bit!" Ilia said as she jumped up, then turned to look at their last member. "You wanna go?"

Sangria's crimson eyes quickly darted to Imperial, who quietly nodded, before she spoke. "Sure."

Blake followed Imperial off the sparring ring as their teammates took their place. Taking a seat on the bench, she watched as Imperial sat down on the far end. From within his armour, he withdrew a cloth, and began polishing his shield, wiping off the scuff marks and dust.

"So, you and Ilia are friends, from what I understand," he said laconically.

"Yep."

"That's good. I can understand that. Sangria and I worked together before we came here," he explained, glancing up at his companion.

Blake looked at the woman, trying to gauge her. Unlike Imperial, she had a quiet personality that Blake felt more comfortable with. Since they'd met in the dorm room, she hadn't said much that wasn't necessary.

Both her and Imperial were from Mistral, and worked together as militia before they came to Beacon. Lots of skirmishes with bandits and Grimm, both of which Blake could sympathize with. Imperial had apparently been some kind of local squad leader for his town, which is why he got landed with command.

Technically, Blake had enough command experience to probably rival with Imperial, but that was off the record. He was the natural choice for their team leader, even if she wasn't the happiest being under the command of a human. Still, she knew how to play her part.

"So, what's her story?" Blake asked, still sizing Sangria up. Unlike her partner, Sangria was lightly armoured, wearing camo-coloured leather armour. Her large, reinforced bow also contrasted their leader's. The only obvious thing they had in common was their military cut hair style, although Sangria had black to his brown.

"I'll let her fill in the details she likes, but she's been a member of the town guard for years. Ever since she came to town, really. Skilled archer and brawler."

The brawler comment caught Blake's attention, and that's when she noticed Sangria's gauntlets. She'd initially dismissed them, but now that she was paying attention, she could see the thicker leather around the fingers and knuckles. Not enough to inhibit archery, but enough to cushion her hands. The protective metal on the backs didn't hurt, either. At least, not her.

Blake was tempted to warn Ilia, but she also wanted to see how her teammate fared. Blake knew precisely how good Ilia was, and her matchup would reveal a lot about Sangria.

"Alright, I'm good to go," Ilia said, rolling her neck as she flicked her foil. "You all set?"

Sangria simply nodded, holding her bow at her side. Outwardly, she looked relaxed, but Blake could see the subtle tension she held in her body. Then, it was like a silent bell had been rung.

Sangria's draw was impressively fast, but Ilia was able to deflect it with her foil. Even so, Blake could see the look of surprise on her face, and her grip tightened on the foil. The arrow clattered to the ground; the head was surprisingly blunted, and a lot heavier than usual.

Blake didn't have time to ruminate on it as Ilia began her counterattack. She surged forward, her foil extending with only the smallest motions of her wrist, allowing her to put pressure on Sangria even from a distance. To her credit, Sangria caught on quickly, backpedalling even as she fired again and again. Each shot slowed Ilia down as she had to either dodge or brace to turn the arrow aside, but she was advancing faster than Sangria could push her back.

In a flash the momentum turned, and Sangria was in Ilia's face, taking advantage of the opening created by one of her arrows. Ilia's head ducked to the side of Sangria's straight jab, her fist dangerously close.

Ilia was now on the defensive, and Sangria pushed forward with a series of hooks and jabs, her bow extending her reach as she swung the reinforced limbs. During one swing, Ilia raised her foil, bracing it with both hands before smiling. With a quick twist, her foil had wrapped around the bow, and she yanked to the side, opening Sangria's defense. Ilia leaned back under Sangria's counterpunch, bringing her leg up into her side.

But Sangria barely moved, even as her Aura tanked the blow, and she brought her elbow down on the Aura above Ilia's shoulder, driving her to her knees, before a knee to the face finished her off. Sangria jumped back, still in a brawling stance while Ilia rubbed her neck, groaning.

"Even with Aura that smarts!" Ilia hissed as her neck audibly popped. "Not fun!"

"Sorry," Sangria said quickly, dropping her stance, suddenly looking a lot less confident. "That wasn't very sporting."

"Eh, who cares," Ilia shrugged, accepting the offered hand. "Sporting doesn't matter. Just wasn't ready for it."

"You'll have more opportunities," Imperial assured her with his usual smile. "I feel like we'll be doing a lot more sparring in the future. Sangria, good job."

Sangria nodded, slinging her bow back over her shoulder. Ilia, meanwhile, strode over and plopped herself down in front of Blake, leaning her head back against her legs. Whatever Ilia said, Blake didn't pay attention to. She was processing the fight.

Something had been off, but she couldn't tell what. The blunted arrows were strange, but she wasn't sure if that was the academy or Sangria's choice. What bothered her was how quickly Ilia had gone down. Sangria had only hit Ilia's Aura, and while they were solid hits, it shouldn't have been enough to make her surrender.

"How are you feeling?" Blake asked, interrupting Ilia's tangent. Ilia paused, glancing up at Blake with a confused expression.

"I'm fine. You worried about me?" Ilia teased.

"You could have lasted longer," Blake said simply.

"What can I say? She hits like a truck. Don't know why she bothers with the bow," Ilia said with a shrug.

Why indeed, Blake wondered.


Ruby took a moment to straighten her cloak as she stood in front of team MYDS' room. At first, she'd been worried about missing them, since it seemed like everyone was finishing up with their rooms and heading out to do activities before dinner. But judging by the boisterous voices on the other side, that wasn't a concern.

Maybe I should have left my hood behind, Ruby wondered as she fidgeted with the hem of her dress. The more she thought about it, the more childish it made her seem. But if she went back to her room, she might miss her sister.

The decision was taken out of her hands as the door opened, and she found herself frozen to the spot as a tall, platinum blonde woman looked down at her with confusion. All Ruby could think was that she looked vaguely familiar.

"Hey, Yang, ain't this your sis?" the woman asked, half-stepping to the side as she turned, allowing Ruby to see into the room. Compared to both her and Jaune's teams, the room was chaotic. Somehow, they'd already managed to make their beds messy, and there were already all kinds of posters and personal effects everywhere.

"Hey, Ruby! Come in!" Yang invited, sitting up from where she was relaxing on her bed. Ruby did so, trying to swallow her nervousness, even as the room made her eyes wander all over, and the music from their radio played just a little too loud. Yang threw up her arms with a broad smile. "What do you think of the redecorating?"

"It's...vibrant," Ruby managed, trying to summon the words.

"I'd say that's what we were aiming for," a male voice said, and Ruby turned to see the familiar face of Yang's friend, Dandelion. She'd met him a couple of times when Yang's friends swung by the house to pick her up. He was a little loud, but he seemed nice enough. With his loose shirt and baggy brown pants, he looked right at home amongst the chaotic display.

"Hey, Ruby, nice to see ya!" Maize greeted, and Ruby felt her anxiety lessen slightly at her gentle smile. Of all Yang's friends, Maize was the one Ruby felt most comfortable around, if only because she shared an interest in weaponry, and both constantly smelled of Dust. At least in Maize's case, the smudges of dirt and grime could be hidden by her darker hair and skin. "Yang told us you'd be here. That's pretty cool."

"Yeah, it's cool," Ruby parroted.

"Oh, right, I don't think you've met Saffron," Yang realized, gesturing to the blonde who'd opened the door for her. Now that she wasn't panicking, Ruby could take her in better, and she wondered how she could have missed the tie dyed shirt. "She's actually from around her."

"Kind of the local guide of the group," Saffron chuckled, straddling one of the chairs. "Make sure these idiots don't get lost when they walk out the door."

"That was one time," Dandelion protested, though he and everyone else laughed. Ruby just forced a smile, wondering what inside joke she was missing.

"So, what's up, sis?" Yang asked with a bright smile.

"Oh...just wanted to see how you guys were doing. See your room, you know?"

"Well, here it is," Yang chuckled, patting the bed. Ruby quickly moved to sit on the end, feeling a little bit more relaxed as everyone went back to...whatever it was they were doing before she showed up. "How's your room?"

"It's good," Ruby confirmed a little too quickly. "Weiss is great at organizing."

"I'd believe it," Yang snorted. "Just don't let her see this hot mess."

Ruby had to chuckle at that, partially because she was just relieved that Yang was actually acknowledging how messy it was. "If she did, she'd never let you visit."

"Good luck keeping me out!" Yang joked, lightly nudging Ruby's arm. "How about the rest of your team? Who'd you get?"

"Weiss is the leader, and we have Pyrrha too. Our last member's a guy named Alabaster. He seems nice enough."

"Oh my, a boy in my sister's room? How scandalous," Yang purred, and Ruby could feel her blush threatening to melt her face.

"W..what about you?" Ruby countered, glancing at Dandelion.

"Touché sister," Yang conceded with a shrug, falling back onto her bed. "How about that other kid? The one who was with you in the forest?"

"Jaune?"

"Yeah, the blonde dork."

Ruby snickered at the moniker. "He's got his own team too: JERN. Him and the other three that were with him."

"Cool. You guys all friends?"

"I...guess. I hadn't thought about it. We've only really known each other for a little over a day."

"Hell of a day. Still, it seems like you guys got on well. His team close to yours?"

"They're right across the hall."

"Even better!" Yang exclaimed. "You guys can hang out a bunch, then."

"Yeah, you're right," Ruby agreed, before nudging her sister. "You're welcome to hang out, too."

"Ha, don't worry. I will. Gotta keep me on the straight and narrow, you little teacher's pet you," Yang teased, wrapping an arm around Ruby. Ruby simply smiled to herself, enjoying the moment. She glanced around, and realized that the others seemed to be readying to go out.

"You guys headed somewhere?" she asked bluntly.

"Yeah, we were going to see the town before dinner," Dandelion confirmed.

"Classes are soon, so we thought we'd get it out of the way," Maize said with a sigh. "Once they start, there'll be no time."

"Oh...I should let you go then," Ruby said, jumping up from the edge of the bed. "I don't want to keep you."

"You sure?" Yang asked, glancing at her team. "We could-"

"Go have fun," Ruby insisted, smiling broadly. "You've been talking about hanging out with your friends for weeks!"

"If you say so," Yang agreed slowly. "But promise me you won't be a stranger?"

"Promise. Oh, speaking of, I was hoping I could drop something off later? See, with Pyrrha being my teammate and all…"

"Say nothing more," Yang said with a laugh. "You can leave your poster here. I'll take good care of it."

"Thanks!" Ruby said as she slipped out the door, leaving her sister to her evening plans. With a relieved sigh, she pulled out her Scroll, glancing at the time. She still some time left in the move-in block, but there was really nothing that needed to be done back at the room.

Instead, her mind turned to something else that had been on her mind, and she typed up a message to Weiss. Mind if I go talk to one of the professors before dinner?

To her surprise, Weiss responded almost immediately. Fine by me. Let me know if it runs long.

Tucking the Scroll away with a small smile, Ruby turned down the hall, following the exit signs before stepping out onto the campus. It took her a moment to figure out where she was, but it wasn't hard to spot the central spire, her destination. According to her dad, most of the professors had an office in the spire.

Hopefully Professor Goodwitch is in.

Ruby had heard her dad talk about a lot of the other professors, having been classmates with some of them, but she'd only met Goodwitch and Oobleck. Of the two, she felt like Goodwitch was more likely to be able to answer her questions.

As she walked towards the spire, she could see a few groups of students wandering around, likely either exploring the grounds or heading out to the town. But hardly anyone seemed headed in her direction.

Once she stepped into the building, she could immediately tell why. To call it uninviting was an understatement. The walls stretched up, towering over her at their peaks, with thin, high windows. Each step she took echoed through the empty hall, making her feel like she wasn't supposed to be there. Is this an administration building or a prison?

Still, she worked up the courage to head to the elevator, glancing at the directory before she did. Getting inside, she selected the floor for Professor Goodwitch, then took a moment to straighten herself up and breathe.

The elevator doors opened, and she stepped out, seeing the rows of doors, each with little name placards. Moving down the line, she glanced at the frosted windows, noting that most of them seemed empty, and was just beginning to doubt coming when she saw Professor Goodwitch's name, and the light on inside.

Tentatively, she knocked on the door, and was surprised when it opened only a moment later to show Professor Goodwitch sat at her desk. She had opened the door with her wand before she'd even finished looking up from the paper she was working on, and Ruby could see her expression rapidly shift from focused to questioning to a small smile.

"Hello, Ms. Rose. Come on in," she invited politely, moving one of the chairs in front of her desk with a light flick of her wand. Ruby nodded, taking the seat. "How may I help you?"

"Well...if it's not too much trouble, I wanted to ask about classes. We're supposed to pick them in the next few days and everything…"

"And you wanted to know which ones to take?" Goodwitch guessed, and Ruby nodded nervously. "I wasn't expecting students to come asking until tomorrow."

"If I'm being a bother I can-"

"It's quite alright," Goodwitch assured her quickly, holding up a hand to stop further protest. Ruby settled back into her seat as she continued. "I only meant to say that I was not expecting you. I am more than happy to help. The fact that you're taking initiative is admirable. Allow me a moment to look at your scores."

Ruby nodded as Goodwitch turned to her screen, adjusting her glasses. The room was silent for a minute, and Ruby rubbed her hands together, trying to swallow her nervousness.

"Here it is," Goodwitch said at last, leaning back slightly. "Compared to the rest of the students, your scores are below the average, but you're also two years younger, so to be in the same category at all is an achievement. The primary exception I'm seeing is your artificery scores, which are exemplary. Better than many entry students."

"I just like weapons," Ruby said lamely.

"I would say this says more than just 'like'. It appears you have a talent. Have you considered taking Artificery 201 instead of the introductory course?"

"I...hadn't thought about it. Wouldn't that be weird?"

"Ruby," Goodwitch said seriously, leaning forward to look at her over the edges of her glasses. "I would hate to think you would sabotage your education for such a reason. I think you have the potential to do well in the class."

"I...I-" Ruby stuttered. "I don't know...I'm already the girl who skipped two years. I don't know if I want to jump another year in a class."

"I understand. I'll make the exception so you can select it if you like," Goodwitch promised. "You have time to make your decision, and I'll be in my office if you have questions."

"Thanks...so what about the other classes?"

"As a freshman, you have many required classes. First Year Orientation, which you'll have with me. Grimm Studies with Professor Port. History with Dr. Oobleck, whom I believe you already met. Other than that, you have a few options. I'd recommend Dust Studies 101 for certain," Goodwitch listed, her eyes scanning the screen. She seemed to mull a thought over for a moment. "For high achievers, I like to recommend the Civic Engagement course."

"What's that?" Ruby asked, tilting her head.

"It's a course aimed at getting young Huntsmen engaged with the community. The students regularly shadow or otherwise meet with various members of the community."

"That doesn't sound bad. What kind of people do you meet?"

"Everyone from police officers to store owners to everything in between," Goodwitch said with a smile. "It's one of my favourite classes."

Ruby didn't have to think about it long. If Professor Goodwitch recommended it so highly, it had to be good. "That sounds great. I think I'll try and fit it in my schedule."

"It's mostly student-led, so you can slot it anywhere," Goodwitch explained as she tapped her screen. "I've sent two versions of your schedule to your Scroll, one with Artificery 201, and one with 101. That should make your decision easier. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"I think that actually answers everything. Thanks for the help!" Ruby smiled, bowing as she stood up. "I'll get out of your hair now."

"It's what I'm here for. Now go and enjoy. Class starts in a few days, and I don't want you slacking off," Goodwitch warned with a slight smile.