Chapter 4: Taking flight.

Man's true nature is unsightly, primal. We have put shackles of civility to contain the beast within us, but it does not mean it's not there. It rages deep within our hearts, its maddened wailing and frenetic thrashing finding their reflections in intrusive thoughts and impulses. And should it ever break its bonds, it will rage with twice the anger than if it had never been shackled in the first place. It's a vicious cycle.

"Oh, I know! We could have a distress signal! Or… oooh, a secret signal so we could find each other in the forest! Can you imitate a sloth?"

"Nora…"

"Yes, Ren?"

"I don't think sloths make a lot of noise."

It had occurred to Blake multiple times that Hunters were bound to be a rather diverse bunch of individuals, oftentimes venturing far into the realm of odd. Mayhaps this was one of the factors that drove her to apply her candidature to Beacon. Yet to witness this firsthand was turning out to be an outright dazzling experience that would leave her questioning just how in the world does something like this come to pass. Take the duet of a redheaded girl that seemed to have overdosed on methamphetamines and the boy clad in green attire accompanying her, his black hair dashed by a streak of purple, who seemed to be the complete opposite of her, for instance. For the several minutes Blake was involuntarily eavesdropping on their conversation, thanks to her superhuman hearing, the two had been discussing ways to ensure the two of them would end up paired together in spite of whatever algorithm the school management had set in place. The discussion, however, was turning out to be quite one-sided, with the girl hatching enough plans and schemes to overthrow the councils of all four kingdoms in one night at a speed that would make a member of Atlesian Intelligence jealous, while her companion kept refuting her suggestions with a heavy dose of common sense. It was obvious the two had known each other for a very, very long while, as the two appeared fully comfortable at communicating at ranges varying from one and a half meters away to touch distance. How the two ever came together, or, to be more precise, why the boy had not run away screaming from the girl within the first hour of their acquaintance, Blake could not even imagine.

As the conversation shifted to the vocal capabilities of sloths, she couldn't help but agree with the statement of the guy. She knew a boy who was part sloth back in her days with the White Fang. Coincidentally, he was probably the mellowest dude she ever happened to come across, if not much of a fighter. Lowering her head, she looked at her reflection in Gambol Shroud's dim-black sheath. She pulled away to reveal a pistol with a long bayonet knife attached along the length of its barrel, checking its integrity. Satisfied with the result, she pushed the pistol back into the sheath, lightly tapping some tune on it. She didn't know where she heard that tune and she didn't really care. She was simply enjoying the quiet, knowing it wouldn't last long.

Wonder where Darius is? He didn't look like the kind to sleep until the last possible moment.

And indeed, the familiar clanking of the steel boots reached her left ear, the sound accentuated much more on the tile floor than on the wool carpet yesterday. Turning her head in the direction of a sound, she saw the figure in the same black cape he wore when the two first met, a smile on his lips and a spark in his eyes. Darius raised his right hand and greeted his acquaintance with a slight wave.

"Morning, Blake. I'm afraid I'm in the same situation I was yesterday, although there isn't a book anymore for me to make up excuses. Mind if I take a seat?"

The irony of the situation lightening up the mood, she, again, slightly shifted on the bench, providing enough space for him to sit down near her.

"You are content with not leaving me alone, aren't you? Can you at least pick such a way to do it that doesn't trigger déjà vu?" The sarcasm in her voice was palpable, but Blake decided she did not mind company for now. He wasn't trying to get any personal information out of her and generally did most of the talking, although the fact that she was fine with just listening to him talk immediately made her question her attitude.

Whatever's gotten into you? A guy decides to talk to you more than once and you're already losing your head? Yes, a pretty attractive guy, but still. Get a grip!

"I will admit I can be a little bit intrusive at times, although this might as well be written off as being persistent. However, if that is what you want, I will apologize for the inconvenience and leave you alone. It's just… Where else am I going to find such a wonderful human being to talk to?" With innocence beaming from his eyes and smile spanning the width of his face Darius slightly moved away from Blake, throwing his hands up in a surrendering motion.

"That's not what I meant." You have no idea, do you? Slightly taken aback by the compliment, her next phrase was slightly delayed as she collected her thoughts. "I'm just… not really used to company. I could use some. Not like there's anything to do other than polishing weapons for the next 15 minutes or so."

"Or, alternatively, gossiping about our fellow students," the boy quietly laughed. "Although I imagine you're not really the type to do that. Talking about weapons though…" His gaze fell on the Gambol Shroud. "Is that… a cleaver? Looking at you, I can't really imagine you just go around and hack monsters to death with that thing."

"You'd be surprised." Such reaction wasn't uncommon for Blake to witness. The sheath of her weapon definitely hinted on a brute-ish approach to combat. "There's more to this weapon than just the sheath." With a click she removed it, revealing a long, slender blade attached to a pistol. "While the sheath can still be used in combat, this is what I generally use. Light, fast and can be attached to this…" she pointed at the long ribbon around her right arm: "…For additional functionality. Does require a lot of open space though. Not something to show you here."

"That is… that's pretty awesome, I must admit. Never seen anything quite like this." Darius seemed genuinely impressed. "You... call it anything in particular?"

"Technically, it's a…"

"All first year students, please report to Beacon cliff for initiation. Repeat: all first year students…"

"Sounds like time's up." Darius stood up, opening one of the buttons on his cape, revealing a breastplate made of almost pitch-black material, two scythes hanging at his waist. "Shall we?"

"We don't have much of a choice…" Blake sounded slightly disappointed. She may not be as much of a gun geek as Ruby, but even she wouldn't miss an opportunity to talk about weapons, particularly her own.

"Oh hey Darius! How ya doing, man? Mind… picking me up?"

The voice interrupted her thoughts as she saw a young man in white armor sitting on the floor, being rapidly approached by Ruby and Yang. As the two neared them, the smaller girl of the pair said: "Come on Jaune, let's go… Oh hi guys! Can you… maybe help me with him? He's a little heavy with this armor."

"Surely not much heavier than that scythe you never let go of." The boy in the cape smirked, but complied. "Yeah, alright, I see your point. Jaune, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but that's not armor. You might want to lose a little weight."

"It's not fat… It's my heart, heavy with grief and despair. My dad said all women looked for is confidence. Where did I go wrong?.."

"Snow Angel… Probably wasn't the best start," Yang said, never missing an opportunity for a snarky remark. Correctly interpreting Darius' and Blake's puzzled look, she elaborated."Right. You weren't here. He's been hitting on Weiss. Again. This was the result."

"I see", Darius nodded. "Then I'll agree with Yang, that's a terrible pick up line. That, and the other thing is that there's a fine line between confidence and bravado, Jaune. Unfortunately for us two, women are way too good between differentiating the two."

"Yeah, we're standing right near you, thanks. Are girls really the only thing guys talk about?" This one was from Blake. Darius turned at her, eyes wide like a golden Lien.

"You make jokes?! I thought it was deadpan with you all the way through!"

"It's hard not to start cracking jokes when seeing the two of us drag him like that." Ruby was growing tired of the masquerade. "Darius, could you duck or something? You're not helping!"

"Why are we even carrying him?! He's conscious, isn't he?"

"Well… yeah. Ditch him off a cliff?"

"Agreed!"

"Alright, alright! I'll walk, you monsters!"

"For years you have trained to become warriors. Today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Standing on the edge of a cliff, along with about twenty other people, Darius could feel the wind blowing in his face, almost as if whispering something. To the left of him was Blake with Gambol Shroud, as she called it, at the ready. To the right he saw a young man in a green coat and a purple stripe in his otherwise black hair take his position. Darius took a moment to sneakily examine the eyes of the neighboring candidates. Neither of them seemed worried: the only emotions he managed to make out of their gazes are focus and determination.

Good. We will need this in what follows. Whatever it may be.

Meanwhile the principle overtook the initiative, continuing the briefing:

"I'm sure many of you heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates. Today."

Even though Darius stood almost dead in the middle, he could still hear Ruby quietly having a meltdown on the far right side of the rank. Yeah, it's not going to be fun for her. Dark help her if she gets teamed up with Weiss… And knowing the Lady or the local management, I can't shake off the feeling that's exactly what is going to happen.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time at Beacon." Ozpin again. "So it is in your best interests to get paired with someone you can work with."

As Ruby's meltdown intensified, Darius kept listening, waiting for his cue.How is it that we find teammates? How do I avoid it?

Although… For the first time, he felt slight regret regarding his decision. If not for the deal, he was very much looking forward to teaming up with Blake. However, the choice was made. He was not to interfere.

"That said, the next person you make eye contact with will be your teammate for the next four years."

As he said that, Ozpin turned to the left, seemingly observing the left half of the roster, but in reality locking eyes with Darius. He, in turn, produced a barely visible nod, just enough for him to understand he has acknowledged the mission's parameters.

Well… I am supposed to be doing black ops for the Academy, right? I suppose this is my first infiltration mission.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You WILL meet opposition. Do not hesitate to destroy anything your way, or you will die."

At the mention of opposition, Jaune began to tremble and nervously look around. Darius, noticing his nervousness, caught his gaze and gave him a thumbs up, slightly reassuring him, even if he himself was beset by terrible doubt.

This is so wrong. He doesn't even have his aura unlocked, how was he accepted and allowed to participate in the initiation? Dark help him.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of the initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path, containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, then return to the top of the cliff. We will guard the item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately."

Scratch what I said about infiltration. It's asset recovery. Whatever the mission was, at its core it remained the same. Darius was not to be seen until he found another pair. Or until the pair found him.

"Are there any questions?"

A whisper reached Darius left ear:

"You're going to follow me there too?" As he looked upon Blake, her eyes slightly narrower than usually, a sly spark deep inside, he shook his head a little.

"I'm afraid not this time. But I do wish you good luck."

"Very good. Now, take your positions!"

With a sigh he took out his scythes and assumed his usual combat stance. Left leg forward, knees bent deep, hands behind the back. If I counted right, I should be ejected after ten seconds. Ten…

Blake looked at him in surprise, but said nothing, instead assuming a low stance, almost like a cat getting ready to pounce. The similarity was incredibly uncanny to Darius, making him blink in confusion

Nine…

He took out the mask and put it on. With a quiet sound, the electronics within came to life, showing the UI, including the wearer's biometrics, aura levels, armor condition, energy levels in the boots and data on the stims in the breastplate.

Eight…

"All systems nominal." A lifeless voice reported on the condition of all the subsystems.

Seven…

"Engaging life form scanner…"

Six…

"Engaging navigation…"

Five…

"Abort." I'm not cheating my way past the entry test. Even if having a radar on the ready would make it much easier to get to the temple, Darius was confident in his ability to find his way through the forest. How hard can it be?

Four…

A large, bulky man in full plate armor standing next to Blake got ejected. Thoughts went rushing through Darius' head. Just how hard do those things eject us?!

Three…

Blake took off, leveraging the fractions of a second that she's still on the pad to give herself even more starting velocity, probably buying about a minute of air time.

Two…

"One hundred and fifty percent power to the boots." Sure, it was dangerous to operate them for a long time like this, but doing that for a single leap wouldn't break them.

One…

He bent his knees even lower and closed his eyes, concentrating.

Now.

The sound of the spring unfolding beneath Darius' legs pierced his ears, as well as forming a knot in his gut. He straightened his legs with all the force he could muster as the sound of the wind in his ears became deafening. In mere seconds, Darius sped up to two hundred fifty kilometers per hour according to the software in his mask, soaring over the land at the height of three hundred forty meters. This, however, was not enough. He pressed his arms as close to his body as possible, losing some more friction and speeding up even more. If I want to get through this forest unseen, I should gain as much distance on everyone else as possible. So far it seemed to be working.

A series of loud bangs made him slightly turn his head to see Yang blasting past him full speed with the assistance of her Dual-Ranged Shot Gauntlets. Ember Celica, as she called it? Regardless, Darius could see she was having a blast of a time maneuvering in the air without losing any attitude whatsoever. However, she definitely chose her flight course poorly as a massive tree fell under the impact. Poor tree…

"Velocity relative to ground at: two hundred sixty kilometers per hour. Vertical altitude: two hundred ten meters. Recommend bracing for impact. Vertical altitude: two hundred four meters. Recommend…"

"I know, damn it! Abort countdown." It had been about five minutes since Darius had been ejected from the cliff overlooking the Emerald forest, and it would seem it was his stop. Time to land and take a hike. Taking a deep breath to concentrate, Darius imagined his energy flowing through his hands and into the cape. As the air behind the figure thickened, the material of his cape became engulfed in liquid darkness, serving as a hang glider of sorts. One of the first things an apprentice of the Order learns is finding and controlling the Darkness that is within them and around them. It is the foundation of their abilities and something anyone can do: from a footsoldier to a cleric to an Avatar. Naturally, the best moment to train that is at night when dark is prevalent, but even in broad daylight the rites of initiation ensure the apprentice possesses the necessary energy to hone their craft.

Shortly after Darius began to scrape the tops of the trees of a forest that seemingly had no end. At the very least, he hadn't seen it even at the apex of his flight. It was certainly going to be a long walk. With a slight tilt he gained the last little bit of height, letting the cape return to its normal form afterwards, pulling out the scythe and slashing away at the tree in front of him. Cracking, the old bark began to fall, letting Darius continue his rapid descent. Sheathing the scythes, the exo-boots hit the ground, a loud "thump" echoing through the woods.

Landing was successful, now to recon the area. Attempts to locate North through the moss on the trees were an immediate failure, as one tree was fully engulfed in the green substance and the others had moss growing on the contradictory sides. Darius recalled the briefing. Back at the Beacon cliff, Ozpin seemed to indicate that the temple they were supposed to get to was in the direction his hand was pointing, meaning he just had to find the cliff itself and head in the opposite direction. Quickly scaling a tree, the boy immediately saw the landmass of Beacon. Jumping back down, the candidate took a long breath and started running.

Grimm come in all shapes and forms. Even between the species, there can be massive differences in size, behavior or even habitat. For instance, the Nevermore currently floating carelessly above the Emerald Forest was one of the more common forms of Nevermores, about a size of a cow but much deadlier.

However, no deadliness will help you when you don't see the enemy coming, like this one didn't. Within a heartbeat, a red projectile crashed into the bird, breaking half of its bones in an instant, sending it spiraling toward the ground. An apologizing cry could be heard: "Birdy, no!"

However, worrying for Grimm's well-being was the last of Ruby's concern, as she currently was speeding towards the ground. Action had to be taken, fast. Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose, activating its rifle form and shot a couple of rounds. The ridiculous knockback of the weapon slowed Ruby just enough to let her keep her arms intact as she transformed it into the scythe to grapple on one of the tree's massive branches. After a couple of flips, Ruby abandoned the acrobatic exercise and finally landed on solid ground, immediately picking up pace, thoughts rushing through her head akin to those of a cornered animal.

Gotta find Yang, gotta find Yang…

Alright, let's see: who else can I team up with if I'm too late to find Yang?

Well, there's Blake, all cool and mysterious. Can't imagine getting her to talk to me though. Besides, Darius probably called dibs on her already. He looks like the only guy she doesn't mind. Weirdly so.

Speaking of which: Darius could work, he's pretty cool. But these eyes… They creep me out. Yeah, he can have Blake.

Who else… Jaune's there. He's… pretty funny, right? Although I don't think he's much of a fighter… No, gotta find Yang.

The thoughts overwhelming her, Ruby had long since stopped paying attention to where she'd been running this whole time. The world of Remnant does not approve when someone stops paying attention to it. Eventually, a white spot came into Ruby's field of view. Paralyzed with the terrifying realization, she shut her eyes as hard as she could and slowed down in desperate hope the white spot wasn't who Ruby feared it was. Unfortunately, Remnant is fond of playing jokes as cruel as this one…

Jaune was weighing his options, the window of opportunity getting narrower with each passing thought. As of right now, he was hanging on the trunk of some tree, impaled through his hood by a spear, which was simultaneously his savior and his jailer. Less adept at navigating through air than his comrades, he'd been saved by a spear thrown by Pyrrha, a shot so precise he didn't even want to start thinking how many circumstances she had to factor in when aiming. The matter of fact was: he was stuck. His only options were to either attempt to pull the spear out of the wood and brace for impact, or to wait for Pyrrha to come fetch her weapon and maybe him as well. Neither prospect seemed particularly exciting as falling from this height would most definitely amount in some broken bones and getting saved twice by the same girl would put an end to his reputation before it even began. So now he hung, his mind being torn by indecision and his coat by gravity.

"Could've at least waited another year before trying to enroll here… What am I supposed to do now?!"

A bush began emanating an unusual amount of noise as he heard footsteps. Here she comes…

To his great surprise, it was not Pyrrha striding out of the bush. It was Weiss, her face twisted with rage as she was clearly trying to get away from someone. That's even worse!

"Hey Weiss… Could you maybe help me down?"

The face of the Schnee Dust Company heiress distorted even more as she walked back into the shrubbery, dragging something behind her and muttering something, her voice almost unheard under a loud squeal that shook the forest.

"Well great. Who's going to get me down from here?!"

"Ja-a-a-aune?" Ask and ye shall receive. "Do you… have any slots left on your team?"

"Very funny."

As Darius was jogging through the countryside, if this forest could be named so, the only sounds he could hear were the rhythmic thumps of the steel boots on the ground and his own heartbeat, with occasional birds chattering around. At some point, even the birds went silent. Wait, what?!

The sudden realization stopped him in his tracks and had him run immediate diagnostics of the armor integrity. I'm in a massive forest full of life. The rhythm of the ecosystem cannot be interrupted unless the local inhabitants, including birds, sense danger abound. One man does not constitute enough for it to be the case…

The world tends to change dramatically under the effects of an adrenaline rush. The trees, previously welcoming and pierced by sunlight, now appeared cold, spanning in a maze as far as the eye can see. Every single bush Darius gazed at looked like a perfect lair for a monster of Grimm to lay in wait until an unaware traveler comes across… Worst of all was the silence. Heavy and thick as oil, it presses on you,dampening every sound you make, suffocating you… In the end, you will die alone, and none will be the wiser.

Even worse, however, was the anger. Even now, the mere suspicion of hostile presence was sending him into overdrive, awaking something base and vile in the darkest depths of his mind. Wave after wave of blind fury, washing against the fragile shore of his consciousness and stripping it away, piece by piece. He gripped his scythes and and swiftly took them out of their respective holsters, channeling his aura through his hands, making the runes engraved deep within the metal shine with the void of the cosmos itself, dripping black mist onto the ground as the blades shifted their angle to almost perpendicular to the grips. He could feel the very core of his being tremble as liquid fire spread through his veins and into his entire body, evaporating any semblance of complex thought, tempting him to chop and slice at anything that had the misfortune of stumbling into his line of sight.

A loud ping attracted his attention and somewhat eased his struggle against impending madness. As Darius looked at the bottom left corner of the UI, he saw that the life form scanner was picking up something. He had calibrated it this morning to track anything larger than a dog, otherwise it would never shut up in the forest. This time, however, it had a reason to scream at him. One ping. One dot on the radar. Another one. Three dots. Third ping.

Fifteen dots.

"Tranquilizer. Full cube," he muttered, his voice just a hair away from being a growl, as opposed to human speech. Yet as the needle pierced his neck, he could feel his thoughts clearing up just enough to reasonably process his situation as the drug rapidly dissolved in his system, the sped-up metabolism provided by his aura be praised. He readjusted the grip on his scythes and looked around, scanning every suspicious shadow with great attention. Once again he looked at his pseudo-radar as it picked up yet more signals. This time there was no less than two dozen dots… but one of them was right behind him.

It took him less than a heartbeat to slam his scythes together and turn around, putting the straight end of the weapon in front of him like a pike while slamming the other one into the ground for support. Before he knew it, a massive black creature impaled itself on his scythe, white bone-like protrusions covering its canine skull and stretching along the full length of its spine, as well as protecting its paws that it had stretched out in hopes of clawing Darius' face of. Utilizing the momentum of the beast, he tilted his weapon in the direction the Beowolf was jumping, slamming the creature into the ground before ripping the blade out of it and slicing it in half with the curved blade of the scythe. As more and more similarly looking creatures had left the woodwork and entered his view, he split his scythe in two again and assumed his usual combat stance: left leg slightly in front, spread about one-and-a-half shoulder widths and bent almost parallel to the floor, arms slightly behind the back. A tightened spring, ready to unleash all of its energy in a blink of an eye.

Eventually he found himself surrounded by Beowolves, their sizes ranging from slightly larger than your ordinary wolf to towering giants that could look an elephant dead in the eye without even standing up. One such specimen, adorned with bone protrusions far thicker and paler than his smaller counterparts, as well as being much more extensive, featuring, for instance, spikes covering his spine that were the length of his forerarm, looked at Darius with its lifeless red eyes, before raising its head to the skies and howling, soon followed by the others. An Alpha leading his pack into the hunt.

I've run into a pack of Beowolves. Just my luck.

He then heard a similar howl, much deeper in its tonality than that of the smaller Beowolves, behind him as a monster of similar size echoed the motion of the first Alpha, accompanied by about fifteen more creatures behind him.

Two packs. Brilliant.

Blake was certain she was wandering these woods for a solid thirty minutes. Thirty minutes of running and occasional walking and not a face in sight. Or a change of scenery, at least. For as far as the eye can see, trees littered the horizon. How big is this cursed forest?

She sighed and sped up yet again, causing the leaves at her feet slightly ascend with each step. Blake was thinking. She couldn't understand the sudden change of attitude with Darius back at the cliff. What she also couldn't understand is the reason she even cared about this.

If anything, he is persistent. Somehow he managed to get on my good side within the two times we've ever met and now suddenly he runs off?

Has he decided to team up with someone else?

Who? That Jaune guy? The only similarity between them is their hair and the fact they're both guys. Besides, that girl Pyrrha already laid her eyes AND her spear on him before we even landed. She's probably fetched both by now.

Ruby? He said they'd met, but then again, she's probably scrambling to find her sister and vice versa. Who else is there?

Weiss?! He hasn't even talked to her! I don't know something about this situation…

And while we're talking about the things I don't know… Why do I even care?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a pained growl echoing in the distance somewhere. Sounds like an Ursa. I suppose it's my chance?

She sped up even more, her silhouette blurring in the eye of an observer. Two minutes of running led her to a small clearing featuring: an Ursa, a dead Ursa and a very angry Yang, eyes burning red and hair blinding even more than usual. Without slowing down, Blake hopped on a branch of a tree, using it as a spring to give her some momentum. Taking out the Gambol Shroud, she swung as she flew right past the Ursa, gracefully landing before Yang, soon joined by an ursine head landing slightly less gracefully.

"Showoff."

"Sure. Could you maybe stop glowing?" Blake asked, covering her eyes with her left hand. Even for a normal eye the sight would cause irritation, and felines were much, much more sensitive.

"U-u-u-uh, yeah, okay," Yang complied.

"Thanks. So… I suppose no introductions are necessary? Let's go?" A confused silence drooped over the two girls. Go where? Go for how long? The only thing clear to them was: they had to go somewhere before the others nicked all the relics.

"Look, Blake. That bit yesterday was… a little awkward, don't you find?" Something's clearly been brewing in Yang's head, as indicated by her furiously scratching it. Blake nodded after a second of contemplation.

"So-o-o-o-o… Maybe we could forget that anything ever happened yesterday and start over?" Without waiting for Blake to answer, Yang stretched her hand in a gesture of salutation, "Hi, I'm Yang. Glad to meet ya."

We don't have time for this… but I suppose a couple seconds won't ruin this mission. "Hello then. I'm Blake. You have any idea where we're supposed to go?"

A loud howl pierced the woods, only to immediately change to a squeal of pain and then fall silent.

"Not a clue. But maybe someone over there does?"

"Sir. The last pair has been formed." Glynda's hand slid across the tablet, enlarging one of the videos, "Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. Poor boy. Can't imagine them getting along too well."

"I believe they'll get along just fine." A smile crossed Ozpin's face. "How is Darius doing?"

A couple more clicks and drags and the tablet showed the overview of the scene. A figure in a cape and a hood, surrounded by three Beowolves and observed by at least ten more. The entire pack had gathered for the hunt. On the ground, four corpses lay atop each other, all covered in a sizeable layer of cinder. The fight had been going for quite a while. The largest specimen of the pack was covered in wounds and missing one of its eyes, but still somehow stood, leading the assault. Standing up on two legs, it swung in a cleaving motion, but Darius dove under the strike and rolled behind the pack leader, sweeping its leg with one of his scythes. As the Alpha fell, too clumsy from its injuries to get up quickly, Darius blocked an attack from one of the other Beowolves and jumped in the air, landing right on top of the Alpha, conjoining scythes and driving the resulting weapon through the beast's skull. This appeared to buy him some time as the pack stood confused. However, the time bought seemed to last mere seconds…

"Not well. He's fighting an entire pack of Beowolves. The combat mastery is admirable, but eventually he'll just get overwhelmed. Although…" She looked at the neighboring window. "Backup is on its way. Tell me, Ozpin. Why did you not at least convince him to change the name? We both know what kind of reception he'll get after the ceremony. Especially from… Well, you know whom. He may not be what his name implies but the others will not know it. Why even let him join this year, with our new demographics?"

"And what would change the next year? Or the year after it? What he'd have to do to fit in here, what he'd have to change, is the exact reason I wouldn't be able to persuade him to change that. Pride, conviction, stubbornness. All qualities of a Silva. Furthermore, this is also why he applied here in the first place. He, as well as almost half of this year's roster, is here to write his own history instead of having his life written by it."

"Which is also why you decided to make him an even blacker sheep than he already is by making sure he'll be the only one not to have a team officially backing him up?"

"I'm certain he'll manage to figure it out."

"But…"

"Glynda." Steel could be heard in headmaster's voice. "I am certain that Darius, as well as whoever it is he decides to fight with will be able to work out their differences. Especially if it is going to be who I think it is going to be. After all, this year's applicants are mostly misfits. And misfits have to stick together, don't they?"