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Requested by:

Scrublord Yoda

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"To the ancient peoples of the world, be they Faunus or Human, there were a few things that defined life. That defined survival, even." The Headmistress said, voice carrying around the great circle of the training arena with a practised ease and cool authority.

As she paced her small circle, she met the eyes of those in the stands, to better keep them all quiet and listening. A few quiet, already muted mutterings died down as she went, but for the most part, no one had been willing to risk talking in the first place. And as always, he found it so very impressive that a 'mere peasant' could engender such command and discipline from so many nobles and aristocrats.

Hopefully, when the time came, he'd have learned some lessons from her…

"Chief among these were weapons of worth to face the Grimm." She went on, ignorant of his musings as she spoke and paced. "Spears, swords. Axes, arrows. Archaic options and, at the time, primitive to the extreme. Roughly shaped iron and bronze, turned on beasts twice the size of the men and women facing them. But we all know how potent these relatively simple weapons can be. Many of you even today rely on them, and do so to great success."

Quietly, he rested an appreciative hand on Mort's hilt and heard them cackle, "Love you too, bud."

"But as history has shown time and again, force of arms and the skill, and will, to use it do not not, and cannot, alone guarantee victory against the great enemy." In one smooth and practiced motion she turned on a heel and snapped a hand, and her crop, out and to the side. A simple crate in the center of the arena rocketed to the side as she did, propelled by thin wisps of violet energy, and shattered on the stone of the wall.

"Aura, and Semblance." She explained simply, returning her weapon to her waist and turning back to them. "Beyond weapons, beyond armor, even beyond tactics and skill and all else, a Hunter's greatest tools are their Semblances and their Auras. Their proverbial sword and shield, if you will, and one that is far more difficult to have stripped away from you. And today, and through the week, at the Headmaster's request, I am going to test each of you in your usage of it."

"So, then." She folded her hands behind her waist, "Who would like to go first?"

That brought exactly as many unsure murmurs and anxious glances between team members as Goodwitch must have expected it to.

He might not have been the most informed on the matter, but even he knew that few people liked to advertise their Semblances. And not merely because it could be embarrassing, since most of them would either not have their Semblances mastered just yet. Or might not have them at all, as Jaune himself didn't. But it could also be dangerous for young nobles to do that, as they would be advertising their strengths and weaknesses to many people that might one day want them very dead.

He flicked a look across the arena to Winchester, who met his gaze for a moment and then scowled and looked away. So he had been thinking the same thing…

But such wasn't a problem for non-nobility, obviously, and so the obvious person shot to her feet, bouncing on her heels and almost shouting, "Oh, oh! Me first, me first!"

"Ah. Miss Valkyrie." The Headmistress just barely managed not to sigh. Smiling, the woman nodded and waved for her to come down. "Very well, please come down and show us what you can do."

"Um…" The woman hummed and rocked on her hips, "I kinda… Need stuff to use mine?"

"I have an aid in each of the locker rooms responsible for supplying such." The headmistress assured her, and all of them as well. "Let them know your needs, and I assure you, we will have them fulfilled."

"Kay~!"

"So…" Jaune started after she'd bounced away and vanished around a corner and into the hallway that led to the locker rooms. "What's her Semblance, exactly? Just curious."

"Nora can absorb electricity, and use it to make herself stronger." Ren explained with a quiet sigh after the briefest moment's hesitation. Waving a hand the way Nora had gone, he went on. "She and I were walking along the high ways, along Mistral's eastern coasts where the forest falls away into sheer cliffs over the ocean. We were chatting, and she lifted the old sledge hammer she had back then, and… Got hit by lightning."

"She…"

"...Got hit by lightning?" Pyrrha finished for him, sounding surprised and a little… Confused by the idea. "As in, actual lightning?"

"Mhm." He nodded, smiling wistfully at the old memory as he recalled it. "It split the cliff, too, and nearly tossed us down into the ocean. Nora managed to get us out of the way, in the end, but… It was certainly a crazy thursday."

"I bet…" Mort rasped in his ear, "Grimm's blood, but Semblances are ridiculous sometimes. What next, someone who gets stronger if you shoot them?" Idly, he looked down a couple of rows at the back of Yang's head, and heard Mort sigh sufferingly. "Right…"

A few minutes later, Nora paced out into the ring, Magnhild extended and laid across her broad shoulders. She had her hands draped lazily over the weapon's shaft, and a wide, lazy, but eager grin. Which contrasted nicely with the pair of baton wielding droids pacing along mechanically behind her. He heard a handful of murmurs around him from the watching crowd, wondering what she was up to or what the droids were for, but they fell silent when Goodwitch cleared her throat.

"Well, Miss Valkyrie…" The Headmistress paused, as if looking for the right words, and then went on, "Would you like to explain what you can do, or get on to the test?"

"Eh, I was always told 'show, don't tell'."

"I'm fairly certain that was not in regards to this, but…" The Headmistress sighed and shrugged the matter off, "Proceed."

"Yes ma'am!" Nora nodded, turning to the woman and measuring the scant food or two between them with her eyes. Then she smiled and brought her hammer around, resting its head on the ground and waving for the older woman to back away. "Don't want 'cha to get caught up, ya know."

"Please, do not destroy my arena…" Goodwitch sighed, turning and marching to the other end, where she leaned against a wall.

"Alright, ladies!" Nora crowed in her best drill sergeant esque voice, grinning ear to ear and resting a foot on Magnhild's head. Spread her arms wide, she leaned back and said, "Hit me with your best shot! Let's get zappy in here!"

"Oh for the love of…" Ren groaned, hiding his face in his hands, "And this is why I don't let her buy games without telling me what it is first."

"I'm confused…"

"As am I."

"Thirdsies."

Regardless of their confusion, Ren was not in a hurry to explain the context. But judging from his flushed face, maybe that was for the best. Whatever might have been the case, a ragged, energized scream yanked his attention back to the arena. And drew his hand to the pommel of his sword, as well.

Both the droids had driven their batons into Nora's stomach, and she was doubled over for it, body spasming as currents of electricity arced through her. One hand still held Magnhild's handle, and the current carried through it, sparking out over the ground. The machines holding the weapons weren't faring terribly well, either. Whatever the hell kind of stun batons those were supposed to be, they were overloading from the continuous use. And the electrical arcs were crawling up and through the machines. Dull grey armor sizzled and turned red and then white while circuits sparked.

Before either of the machines could finally spark and die, Nora turned, heaving Magnhild around in one hand faster than she ever had in two. The heavy instrument slammed into each of the machines and crushed them easily, and then carried down, cracking the concrete under her for the force of the blow.

"Whooooo wee, what a rush!" Nora crowed, straightening and planting the head of the weapon back on the ground. Her chest was heaving, and her hair was standing on end in places, but while anyone else would have died from that kind of treatment, she only looked energized. She hefted her hammer in one hand and turned, pointing it at team Cardinal and calling out, "Wanna try an' mess with my team now, little man?"

"Miss Valkyrie-"

"Cuz I can bench press a car right now!" Nora went on, slamming the head down into the floor and pacing forward with her arms spread to either side. "C'mon, winny! Lemm crush that head o' yours! I'll even let ya pick, hands or thighs!"

"Miss Valkyrie, that is more than enough!" The Headmistress finally snapped, stalking forward and flicking her crop to yank Magnhild, and thus Nora, around to face her. "You will stop this provocation right now."

"Oh yeah?" Nora grunted and so did Goodwitch until the Headmistress suddenly staggered back and Nora brought Magnhild up to rest on a shoulder, apparently free of the older Huntress' Semblance. Grinning viciously, she asked, "And who's gonna make me?"

"Uh oh…" Mort hissed, "Arc, get closer. I can Calm her with a spell."

Jaune stood but, as if he'd been there all along, Ren slipped to Nora's side and laid a hand on her shoulder. She blinked and stiffened, and then suddenly went limp and staggered to the side. She landed on her knees with magnhild in front of her and held onto the weapon for dear life while Ren got between the two women.

"Apologies, Headmistress Goodwitch." The apparently incredibly fast man said, bowing his head and straightening smoothly. "Sometimes, if something is bothering her and she takes too much energy in, she can… Lose her head, like that."

"A side effect of her Semblance?" Ren nodded and Goodwitch sighed, slipping her crop into a loop on her waist and flicking a look to a still confused looking Cardin. When he realized she was looking to him to dismiss the threats, he pursed his lips and flicked a look to Jaune.

Jaune, for his part, stood and laid his hand on the top of Mort's pommel in a more than obvious threat.

"If she couldn't help it, I guess I can be the bigger person." Winchester finally waved the matter off, either unwilling to risk fighting Jaune or unwilling to risk fighting Pyrrha. Crossing his arms, he called over, "So long as Lord Arc can at least keep her hands well enough away from me, that is."

"I can." Jaune promised, taking his seat and grumbling under his breath. "And her thighs too, sick bastard…"

"I do not think he was implying he'd like to be crushed by those either, my lord…" Pyrrha murmured confusedly. "After all, who would?"

"Not even gonna say it. Nope." Mort rasped, "It's too damn easy."

"Yeah well… You're probably right, I guess." Jaune supposed he'd been online more often than Pyrrha, then, even with his wanderings. Whatever the case, "At least it's settled."

"And in a rather peaceful way, too." Pyrrha smiled, and then flushed a bit when Jaune turned a look on her, one brow raised questioningly, "I… Well, I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen today."

"Like….?"

"I fear I do not know." Pyrrha answered quietly, "It was only a gut feel-"

"Lord Arc!" He blinked and stood on instinct borne out of years of training under a tutor who would regularly call on him in such a way. The Headmistress' lips quirked at that, amused, but she ignored it and simply waved for him to join her on the arena floor. "Your teammate made a good showing of herself, sans the ending drama. So perhaps it would be in order for you to be the next?"

"I…" Really didn't want to, for a litany of reasons, but he didn't feel like this was one of those questions he could say no to. Instead he shrugged and turned, heading down the steps and calling out, "As you like, my Lady."

It took him less than a few minutes to get into the locker room and pull on his armor. He didn't need the equipment, of course, but putting it on gave him time. To think, and of course, to talk.

"I still think something like Fire Wall or Fireball would be the best." Mort muttered while Jaune tugged on his mail, making sure the fastenings would hold. It was an obvious waste of effort, frankly, but habits were habits. "And we have shown off Fire Wall before, so that probably won't impress many people."

"I'm not worried about impressing people, Mort." He said, glad the aid had left when he asked him to so he could get changed. "I just want to show off something good enough not to shame the name, and get it over with."

"Hey, that rhymed…"

"Could you focus, please?" He sighed, shaking his head and drawing the sword. Looking at it like he often did before he needed to use it, he said, "This is important."

"Fire Ball." His friend answered quietly after a moment. "Impressive enough to make a good showing, but not too impressive."

"You sure?" He asked, brow furrowing as he sheathed the sword and set it on his waist. "It doesn't sound very low noise, if you know what I mean… And I don't want to have to answer any hard questions. I'm sure you don't, either."

"I don't." Mort agreed, "Last time I had to, I… Well, let's just say it didn't go that well for me, and leave it there."

"As you like, Mort. As you like." Mort had a lot of secrets, and a long, sad past, Jaune knew. He didn't know exactly what had made it either long or sad, but he wasn't going to press his friend for stories they weren't ready to tell. Resting his hand on the grip of his weapon, he sighed, "So… Fire Ball?"

"Just channel." They ordered quietly, "I'll handle the rest."

"Yep." He nodded as he turned to leave, "Just like the norm."

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"Yep." The young man's voice, laced in static from the hidden camera but nonetheless recognizable even without the grainy footage that was broken up by the grating on the unused locker. "Just like the norm."

"So… What?" His most trusted field worker grunted, sitting in a spare chair with his feet resting on Ozpin's desk. Which annoyed him, but then, Qrow wouldn't be here for that long. So he could stomach it. "Kid has a strong Semblance 'n uses nerd talk to describe it."

"And talks to his sword." Ozpin added, smiling. "A sword he uses the exact name I said he might use for it."

"Mort Noire is a known thing." Qrow argued, folding his arms over his chest and frowning deeply. "S'not the most famous Arc sword, sure, but it's there in the records. And why would he give it a new name?"

"Qrow…"

"Look, Oz, my job's investigating things for you." The man grunted, dropping his feet onto the floor with heavy thuds and leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. All the better to meet Ozpin's eyes. "Investigation means you don't jump to conclusions. So sorry, but I ain't convinced by a name s'been known for a century at least, and a convenient Semblance."

"And if I am?" Ozpin raised a brow, "He showed off some remarkable power in the training session I arranged as well.

"Then I'll tail the kid like you want." Qrow shrugged, "But my job is to advise you, yeah?"

"It is, yes." Ozpin nodded. He knew what was best, of course, or at least better than the young man did. But it went a long way in keeping them on side, hearing out his allies' concerns and aiming them at what best aligned to their own desires and beliefs.

It was manipulation, of course, but… Well, it worked, typically.

"But I will need you to trust me when I say this is what I told you it was, and that Lord Arc needs an eye kept on him." Ozpin argued quietly, leaning back in his chair and steepling his fingers in an old, familiar way of prayer that had long since vanished into the oblivion of forgotten history. Even he'd forgotten its origin… All he knew was it was comforting, for some reason. Refocusing, he went on, "And I mean that in his own interests as well. If the great enemy hears of its presence…"

"She'll send someone sniffing for it." Qrow nodded, "Yeah, I know. I get the idea, but I just… I dunno. I feel like I could be doin' more movin' than I can followin' some kid around."

"If it helps, this is aimed towards our Fall concerns as well." Ozpin offered, "Arc has two young women on his team. Miss Nikos wants to be free of the Arena. And Miss Valkyrie… Well, she wants to protect her friends and eat sweet food."

"A simple girl." Qrow nodded, "But simple ain't bad."

"No, no." Ozpin chuckled, shaking his head and tapping a foot aimlessly. "Simple isn't bad at all. It's rather good, actually. Someone looking for wealth and power is easily swayed to her side."

"So." Qrow grunted, "Keep an eye on the little Lord, and scout his lady friends out for candidates?"

"Indeed." Ozpin nodded, turning to look out his window and watch the clouds drift by. "Do favor Miss Nikos, though. She's a more honor focused sort, and an adept combatant besides. Miss Valkyrie is more the brawler of the two."

"Arena'll do that, among a fuck ton of other shit, yeah." Qrow nodded, standing, "I'll get on it tomorrow, if ya don't mind. Gonna visit Ruby tonight."

"And Miss Xiao Long…"

"I mean, yeah." The man scoffed, shaking his head and heading for the elevator. "They live in the same dorm, Oz. Duh."

Ozpin only rolled his eyes and not for the first time wondered how someone so obvious could also be such an adept agent...

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Oooooh.

They plottin'.

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Mog the Gnome :

I work with what CRWBY gives me, lol.

Smokey Panda :

Nora best girl confirmed? No, wait, Weiss exists…

Screaming Stuka :

Crocea Mors is tied to the backstory of his disinheritance. It will come up eventually, no worries!