"So are we going to keep our name?"

"No." I immediately answered. "We want a complete rebrand."

I was sitting with my team around my table. It was a cloudy Sunday, but my team was being sent on a mission to shadow a Huntsman tomorrow. I would take the opportunity given to spend some time with them.

Not that I was worried at all. They were perfectly capable. I just didn't know what it was truly like far from the city.

"But I liked Juniper…" Nora pouted, but in a way I knew she was joking. Of all of them, she was surprisingly the most on board with my idea.

"Well I like Dovahdein but that doesn't make any sense here so it's also off the table." I took a sip of the hot beverage that had been bought for me. In fact, my cupboards were full and my fridge was stocked. After Richard learned of the state of my fridge, he'd insisted that I not spend another cent until I'd taken care of myself. So, Pyrrha had taken Ren and Nora grocery shopping while Richard dropped me off at my apartment with a case of beer. I wasn't the biggest fan of it, but he insisted. It was more bitter than I would like, but went down smoother than mead and left a pleasant tingling in my mouth.

The drink I had this morning was something called 'hot chocolate' which was slightly confusing to me. Was it still hot chocolate if you froze it? Regardless, it was sweet at first but I came to enjoy it as well.

"Whatever our name becomes, it needs to represent us." Ren said sombrely.

"It's gotta be cool!" Nora countered.

Pyrrha lowered her mug. "It should reflect our goals. Which are?"

"Easy." I replied, before realizing it was far from it. I wanted to get stronger and defeat the Grimm, and give others the means to fight for their own fate. Would I necessarily limit my team to those before me? I rubbed my stubble in thought. "Or not. We should keep the option open to add to our team, so I think that making something out of our initials is just short-sighted."

"Let's figure out what we're trying to do, specifically. From there, our path should be clear."

"Alright Ren, let's go for it. Our main goal is to defeat the Grimm. Anyone object?" I stated.

Silence for a brief second. "Wonderful. We're going to do that in three ways to start. We'll kill them ourselves, we'll teach others to kill them, and we'll help them kill themselves."

"Our team can't be focussed around killing." Pyrrha frowned. "I understand that it may sometimes - in incredibly impossible circumstances - be necessary, but we would attract the wrong people."

"Fine, I'll reword it then. We'll defeat the Grimm by construction, instruction, and eradication. People need to know that we aren't the Hunters and Huntresses. We're people."

"But we are-"

"Nora, you know better." I scolded lightly. "What's the difference between us and civilians?"

"Training and Aura. And awesome guns." She listed off, counting each point on her finger.

"So if I can unlock a civilians Aura and give him a weapon, would he still be a Hunter if he went and trained with a tribe of bandits?"

She genuinely contemplated this as Ren stepped in for her. "It would depend on his intentions. Does he plan to use his power to help others?"

"Does it truly matter? He has all the strength and power of a Hunter, but without anyone calling him a Hunter. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"That we're nothing special." I went to counter Pyrrha but at the look in her eye as she stared into the dregs of her mug, I held myself in check. She had more to say, as much to herself as to us. The room filled with her ruminations.

"As people, we are. Each of us has a story, some of us two." She glanced at me for that one, but continued quickly. "But at the end of the day, four others could have ended up in our positions, four others could have done what we have done, and four others could be sitting here, discussing what we're discussing right now."

Ren and Nora were particularly affected. I resisted the urge to tell her that it was very unlikely that anybody could do what I did - Velvet was proof enough that I was wrong.

"But it is us. We were given the opportunity to unlock our Aura, to train and discover our Semblances. We became strong enough to make it to Beacon." Her voice caught. "Now we're strong enough to leave it behind." I hope went unsaid. "It doesn't make us inherently special. What we decide to do from here on out is what makes us who we are, and what image those that follow you will be agreeing to bear."

"Just because we aren't in that school anymore doesn't mean we won't still try to do good things. It just means that if we have to do bad things for good reasons, we can. It means we won't have anyone telling us what to and not to do while we try to do good. That doesn't stop any one of you from being a hero. It will just be harder." The word 'hero' always left a sour taste in my mouth. A ring on the door had saved me. I did not know what I was going to tell them next.

A glance at my TV showed me that it was Ruby, and Weiss surprisingly. Ruby was wearing a backpack.

"Come in!" My front door unlocked and swung open courtesy of the new motor I had hooked up to my apartment. There was a ridiculous amount of things you could do with your voice if you bought the right things. Ruby strolled right on in while Weiss peeked around the corner of the door, looking for someone and raising a finger as if to question, before huffing and strutting in. With 6 in here, it was starting to get a little bit cramped.

I leaned over the back of the couch so I could see the door and waved them over, standing and offering my seat. It appeared that the meeting was on hold anyways.

"Cool door, Torga!"

Weiss' head turned around to watch as the piston slowly let my door back into place with a gentle click as it locked. She looked slightly uneasy at that.

"Thanks." I got off the couch, offering my seat. "Want some hot chocolate?"

Five minutes later, myself and Ren were standing in front of the balcony as the girls sat and talked about classes and teachers. I felt sort of left out, but in the way a leader feels apart from his troops. Not left out, but separated. I shook my head to get that thought out of my head. This was not war, not yet. I was glad I had the allies I did though, especially with the directions I'd seen them growing in.

"Thank you for coming back." I muttered to him.

"You couldn't handle Nora." He said by way of explanation. We both knew there was more to it than just that, but we left it unsaid, something I appreciated more than any words. Ren is remarkably similar to some of the men I'd fought and bled with, and it reassured me where I didn't realize I needed reassurance. Calm and surety, two qualities I'll take over drive and focus any day.

I burst out laughing as Ruby pulled a miniature dog out of her backpack, who proceeded to let out a yip. Pyrrha and Nora lost all semblances of the crushing warriors I fought beside and broke down, squeezing over it in the way old crones crooned over their grandchildren. Ren moved over to stop Nora from squishing it in a hug as I shook my head and poured water out of the whistling kettle into two mugs. Soon Ruby and Weiss had their drinks.

I turned to Weiss, who hadn't said a word to anybody other than the dog since she'd arrived. "So to what do I owe the pleasure?" I made sure to make eye contact so that she knew I was asking her.

"If you must know, I'm just here to keep Ruby company."

I turned my head to the mentioned Huntress, and before she could open her mouth, I walked over and pulled her into a hug. She protested weakly, but I let go quickly. "Thank you for the weapon, Ruby. It's a work of art."

"Well I figured-"

I held up a hand to stop the tirade of exactly why she had made it. I had a pretty good idea. "Thank you."

"...you're welcome." She looked around awkwardly for a second before something came to her.

"Wanna look after Zwei while we're gone?" Ruby held her dog in outstretched arms, reminding me again of her strength as her arms did not waver. The dog cocked its head and stuck out its tongue playfully. I bared my teeth, uttering a low growl. To a canine, this would be a challenge. To Zwei, it just made him cock his head the other way and bark. I chuckled at the odd looks I was getting, not bothering with an explanation.

"How long?"

"We… don't really know. All we were told is that we leave at 8 AM tomorrow for Mountain Glenn, for Grimm extermination. What about you guys?"

Mountain Glenn...I thought to myself as Nora explained their team's mission. Unsurprising, considering she had chosen it. They would be heading up north to help a Huntsman solve some sort of issue.

Mountain Glenn was one of the things I'd learned about that told me the Huntsman system didn't work. It was a tragic story. A failed attempt at expansion, thousands upon thousands killed. Yet, there were not enough Grimm to overcome Vale, due to the walls.

I didn't understand how Mountain Glenn had fallen. The people had the advantage in numbers, weapons, intelligence, and terrain, yet still could do nothing but die and flee. It was sickening. The official reason?

Not enough Hunter support to reliably push back Grimm for a sufficient amount of time.

Whether that was because they weren't assigned to that mission, or were busy, or sitting on their asses with a thumb in their mouth at home, I didn't know. I did know that one-on-one, most of Skyrim's youth could take on a wolf. There's no reason that civilians in Vale shouldn't have been able to hold back the Grimm, besides for the one I kept drawing back to Ozpin.

All Huntsmen and Huntresses were under his control. Ozpin was the single most powerful man I'd ever met, simply because of the force at his disposal. Take Ozpin and any that would follow him and pit that group against the Empire, even in their prime, the Empire would be exterminated. Hell, given the opportunity to go back with my current strength, I was certain that instead of brokering a ceasefire I could have just defeated the Stormcloaks and the Empire and declared myself High King. A grin spread across my face as visions of Nords with Aura stormed the Summerset Isles with hammers the size of anvils.

"Torga?"

I looked around quickly. "Hm?"

"Thank you for your… Hospitality." Weiss said from where she and Ruby stood near the door. Odd, I had thought they would stay longer. Also odd that I was too caught up and didn't see them move.

"Any time." I replied absent-mindedly. "Have fun."

"We will!" Ruby waved as my door opened itself for her. I turned to my team to see Pyrrha also getting up. Nora and Ren shared a look.

"We should be going too." The redhead said, walking past me and into my entryway.

"Got some training to do?"

"No." Pyrrha replied. "Research and relaxation. Beacon's got a huge library, it couldn't hurt to sign out a couple of books."

A memory came back to me in that moment and I all but pushed my team out the door, preparing to dive off of my balcony to get to the street and take off for my destination.

Then I realized how much money I had spent to ensure I wouldn't have to do that, and called up Richard instead.

He answered, with the sounds of laughter and clinking cutlery briefly making it through his scroll before the background-noise filter kicked in. "Hello?"

"What's up, Richard?"

"Eating with my family, can I call you back?" I opened my mouth to rush him, then thought better of it.

"Take your time." I hung up without waiting for a response. Now it was just myself, an inquisitive pup, and a stack of canned dog food I had somehow not noticed. "What to do with you…."

I scratched my stubble in thought. "You trained?"

He barked once.

"Good. If we go out, will you run away?"

The dog actually shook its head then barked again.

"Fucking crazy…." I muttered, equipping shoes and locking the leash around his neck. I got a sad, puppy-dog look for that, but I didn't relent.

"Alright, pup. Let's go for a walk, then." At the sound of the word walk, he did as dogs are wont to do, and started scrabbling at the door.

"Heading out!" I called to nothing in particular. My door unlocked at the verbal command, swinging open and pushing Zwei back. I cut myself off mid chuckle as, appearing from a hole the size of a pin and swelling to fill the space in less time than I could even comprehend. I was lucky my eyes had jumped right to the pin sized hole, this odd thing that was not attached to anything but had no other side and it was there and-

The hole disappeared with a little pop as if someone had popped a balloon two rooftops away. I was left with nothing to look at but the mundane brown robes of Jakkins Turner.

With a wave of his hand, my dog disappeared, and with another I found myself at my table with a cup of coffee in my hands.

The mug got thrown to the ground, shattering the cup as I leapt back from my table, glancing over at my closed door and back to Jak who was sitting calmly, cradling a cup at a small table that had never been in my apartment.

"What the fuck!" Those words summed up my mental state perfectly. Gamer's Mind brought me down quick, but my heart was still pounding. "What in Oblivion did you do?! Why are you even here?! Fuck off!" I continued ranting and cursing long after I had calmed, but Jak just sat there, tea cupped in a hand and the other resting on his chin.

Eventually, I glanced down at the mess of beverage and fired ceramic on my floor, cursed again, and bent low to pick up the pieces. Jak waved his hand. 'Prestidigitation'. He mumbled, though I couldn't prove it; My head was under the table and out of his sight.

The mess vanished. "Are you done?" Jak muttered.

I very nearly punched him, but I remembered what had happened last time. With a growl, I took my seat -my fucking chair- and glared at him. "What. Why."

"Teleportation, Time manipulation, and a little bit of enchantment. Mostly for fun. Can we get to the point now?" The bastard was grinning, which nearly set me off again.

Besides the horrifying realization of underestimating someone I had thought I was already over-estimated, I was calming. I wiped my face of emotion, something I'd learned to do in the early days of my adventuring career. "Talk."

He raised an eyebrow. "You know, I'd think you'd be a bit more hospitable to the man who both broke into and bought you your home." He did glance around. "Arthur talked you into the entertainment system, I see."

I remained silent, a classic tactic to make the other person continue explaining.

Jak burst out laughing. "Idiot. Social and political tactics don't work on a mind-reader. I can tell you're losing patience, though. Fine. I'm only here to give you a little bit of advice: Ozpin knows exactly where you are. You aren't hidden. Now, your new garage -which is a piece of garbage, by the way- I managed to keep out of the hands of his data analysts. You're welcome."

"Where's the pup?" I asked, processing this new information. If Ozpin knew where I was, and I wasn't being Hunted… Why? Why send a- I cut my thoughts off, wary of the mind-reader before me.

Jak raised an eyebrow under the lip of his hood. "Not too shabby. I was wondering where you were going with that but I guess I'll just find out later. Of course, I could trap you in a windowless box until you had the thought yourself and then violently tear it from your mind, but I won't do that. Your mutt's on your balcony. Where'd you get a Hunting dog?"

"I'm looking after it."

"Great job you're doing."

"Thanks." I responded, teeth still grit together. "Is there anything about me you don't know?"

"Why would I answer that?" He chuckled again, and with a snap of his fingers was gone, leaving me with one less cup, and a small dog scratching at my window to get back in.

I had to leave Vale. There were too many players, too many pieces, too much moving right now for me to understand. I needed INT, which would only be found at my school… unless…

O

"Shh, boy." I mumbled, atop my building I had chosen. I was within the city of Mountain Glenn, and while I had been set upon by a few Beowolves, I still hadn't gotten to really try out my new sword-thing. It was almost criminal, carrying such an incredible, versatile weapon and not knowing how to properly use it. My Longsword Mastery kicked in when I had the weapon in that form, but I was out of luck for the others.

We were stalking a pack of Beowolves, who seemed to be sniffing around but heading in a certain direction. That was odd, I had found, and so I had followed. Team RWBY should be somewhere in this city, which would draw Grimm if they were negative. The only one I could think of as being actively negative was Blake, so another part of me thought that a civilian could be in trouble. Part of me wanted to leave this hypothetical civilian to his fate, but he would die and nobody would see it so that's a terrible way to make a point.

So, Zwei and I followed. We kept to the rooftops, and Zwei seemed to actively enjoy Featherweight when I used it on us.

Safe from mind-readers once more -I shuddered that I would now need to find a way to prevent that from happening again- I spoke to Zwei. It was easier for me to reach conclusions when I was speaking to an advisor, and the pup would have to do.

"So, friend, it would seem we're in a bit of a puddle. Ozpin wants to- No, that's not right. Jak's team told me that Ozpin wanted to 'get rid of me', for some obscure reason. I need to entertain the possibility that they weren't telling the truth." I kicked a piece of rubble, sending it skittering across the third story roof. "The best thing to do would be get a hold of Ozpin, and figure all this out. Assuming that he would tell me the truth. What I wouldn't give to have an Illusion mage with me right now…" I was startled by a noise in my right ear.

"How's it going down there?" A gravelly voice came through the 'earpiece' that Richard had bought for me. He'd gotten a set for the whole team, stating that the Huntsmen reliance on scrolls was 'idiotic'. He'd tried to explain short-range radio to me, but the technicality of it passed over my head.

I pushed the button that was on the awkward black collar I wore. "Just following a pack of Beo's. They're tracking something, I'm going to find out what. How's the ship?"

"Could use a TV or something, this is a lot of waiting." The sound of something clattering came over the earpiece. "Damn, one second." I heard the hiss of the door sliding open, the loud crack of a firearm, then the hiss again. "Stupid Nevermore's. Check in in 30 minutes, okay?"

"Will do. Dovah out." I replied, pushing past the awkwardness of radio-speak. I idly set a timer for half of an hour on my scroll, setting it to vibrate so I wouldn't draw attention.

A growl by my ankles caught my attention. The pack was moving on, but something odd was happening, and Zwei was as put off by it as I was.

The last Beowolf in the pack wasn't following, no, it was staring straight at me. I knelt down and put a hand on Zwei's head to calm him, keeping eye contact with the Grimm. I didn't feel anything particularly negative, but this wolf was allowing itself to be separated from the pack.

I entertained the idea of running over and cutting it down, then resolved myself to only do so if it acted violently. If I attack one, then the fight would draw the rest of the pack at least. Still not an issue, but when there's one pack of Grimm, there's others around and I didn't want to risk getting into a running fight among these buildings.

The Grimm shook its head, then ran off to join the others.

"Hm." I was perplexed by its behaviour, which is why I followed it. That, and it would be stupid to stop after I'd already been tracking the pack it was with. Scooping Zwei under my arm, I leapt to the next building and continued following.

Mountain Glenn was not quite in complete ruin, but many of the buildings were crumbling. The place was not fit for residence, which is why when I saw one of my targets get it's head blown off, I was initially shocked. It sprung the rest of the pack, though, and they took off down a perpendicular street. I reached the building on the corner.

I had finally found team RWBY, it seems. They were accompanied by… Professor Oobleck? That man's a combatant? I shook my head in surprise and ducked down, setting down Zwei. They were a few blocks away, far enough that I needn't worry about being spotted. I had no idea why I didn't want to get spotted but-

"Long time no see, Mr. Arc."

I jumped and scrambled to pull my sword out wheeling around to see said Professor standing on the roof with his ever-present drink holder. Upon seeing him I stopped my draw, though my hand stayed on the hilt and my fingers were ready to press any of the buttons I needed to.

"Not hardly," I replied, letting the Gamer's Mind cool me down yet again, "It's been what, a month maybe?"

"Around there." He took a sip from his drink, and with barely a blink he had converted his drink holder into a very large mace. Almost looked like a club. A club with a hole in the end that was pointing right into my face. Down the hole, I could see the swirling, glowing energy of Red Dust, meaning he had a means to incinerate me in an instant. I could do the same to him, but the speed and precision with which he handled his weapon reminded me that this man is a trained Huntsman and so not to be fucked with. "Might I ask why you are here? This is no place for a child to go alone."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm out here gardening, Professor, what does it look like?"

In another blink, a burning blaze of heat pushed into my face as a fireball was held in the air in front of his weapon. "Clearly." The man had lost his intellectually jovial nature, it seemed. "I meant, why are you stalking my students? Ozpin said you had left the city."

My hand tightened around the sword. I really did not want to get into a fight with him, but I wouldn't be burned to death, oh no.

"Ms. Rose left me with her dog." I lied. "I ran out of food and needed to ask her where to buy more."

"Bad answer, Mr. Arc. Try again."

I gritted my teeth. "Ozpin recruited me as a sort of security guard to watch over them."

He outright laughed. "Really? Ozpin said that you were to be captured on sight, Mr. Arc. Why might he tell his staff to do something like that I wonder..? Certainly not to recruit him. Unless you had already been captured since the time we left Beacon. I'll admit, it is not impossible, but unlikely. One more try for talking, and then we move on to other options." Violence, the word he left unsaid.

I thought for a moment, putting together my story. "I needed to get out of Vale. This place is relatively safe compared to the forests, so long as I stick to the rooftops. I needed to leave because I was being stalked. Then I remembered that Ruby and her team were coming out here, and for lack of better things to do, I came out to do a little bit of watching. They are the team of their year, right? Well, if I can't go back to Beacon to learn about Grimm, then I'll have to learn from observing those who have."

"Pursuit of knowledge. That is something I can find myself relating to. However, who's stalking you?"

"Were you around when Team MRAJ was in Beacon?"

Oobleck scowled and retracted his weapon into the drink holder. "If they've taken an interest in you…" His eyes lit up. "When's the last time you saw Mr. Turner?"

"Who?"

"Jak."

I shrugged. "Few hours ago, why?"

"Because, he's an international criminal."

"So? He hasn't done anything to me. Catching criminals is the job of the guards, or whatever you call them here."

"Police, and Huntsman." He shot out, answering my question on instinct. "So, just to get this straight: You were frightened at the prospect of criminals coming after you and had to escape the city. You came here to Hunt Grimm, and to see a Huntsman in action. You're hoping to learn more, despite having dropped out of Beaco-"

"I didn't drop out, I was kidnapped and told Ozpin was looking to kill me."

"Jak says that to everyone. He's not a fan of the Huntsman program. He says that from the moment you walk through those doors, Ozpin is trying to kill you." Oobleck rubbed his forehead. "We can bring you back and get this all sorted out."

My hand tightened around the hilt of my sword and I pulled the entire contraption off my belt. I didn't point it at him, just held it by my side. "You still have a mission to do, if I'm not mistaken. As do I."

"And that would be?"

"Kill Grimm." I replied, as if it were obvious. Which, to be fair, it should have been. "That, and get a few workouts in."

"We're investigating the area, as well as killing Grimm. You're welcome to travel with us. I'd feel safer if I could keep you in my sight. Besides, I think your cover might be blown anyways."

My eyes shot wide and looked around, with Zwei nowhere to be found. Small yips echoed through the street as I realized that the pup probably smelled Ruby and went to her.

I grit my teeth. "Sure."

The team of women was not happy to see a guy their age show up, surprisingly. Ruby was, but Blake just looked tired and Weiss had on her usual haughty air. Yang, well she appeared to be deep in thought, and didn't do much other than wave.

And so I found myself strolling through the ruined streets of a desolate city, occasionally dispatching a Grimm or two while Oobleck looked at seemingly indiscernible cracks in the walls and piles of rubble in the streets. The girls got tired, eventually. It wasn't due to a difficult fight, but the Grimm had kept coming all day and I was sure that none of them had fought for anywhere close to an hour. Hells, the entrance exam was probably the most harrowing experience they went through, and all they had to deal with was a giant bird and a scorpion-thing.

Two conversations of note occured before we stopped for the night. The first was one of the only actual conversations I had with Blake.

Bored and looking to mess with someone, I had walked up alongside her, grabbed her arm, and yelled "Ahh!"

She didn't react, giving me a glare and turning back to staring down. I raised an eyebrow. "Who put a bee in your bonnet?"

"None of your business. Why are you even here?"

"Well, when a woman and a man love each other ver-"

She huffed in disgust and turned her head away.

"Seriously though, what's bugging you?"

She wheeled around. "Take a good look around you, and maybe you'll figure it out." She stormed off, her shoes clacking against the ground as she did so. She didn't go far, just a bit ahead of the group. I used Featherweight and jumped over her, coming down lightly in front.

"Ruined city, lots of people died, is that it?"

"How are you so callous about this? An entire city was killed!"

"I know."

"Thousands of people, dead!"

"Yep." I grinned.

"Do you even have a heart?"

I shrugged, pulled a dagger out of my inventory and stabbed where my heart would be. Pulling it out and seeing no damage, and only a very light dent in my HP, I grinned again. "It would seem like I don't."

Her eyes were wide and her bow had flapped back. "Wha… How… What is wrong with you?!"

"It's a long list, my feline friend, too long for the amount of daylight we have left."

Her jaw shut and eyes narrowed. "Just… Stay away from me. I know Ruby likes you, which I can't see any reason for, but that doesn't mean I have to."

"Since when was I trying to get you to like me? I just want to know what's wrong so we can fix it and you can stop pulling in more and more Grimm. I might be able to but your team can't fight all night."

Her eyes went wide again as the sharp crack of Ruby's rifle rang out. She was a very facially expressive person, I found. Blake, that is, not so much Ruby. That's why when her face turned to a grimace, I knew she had finally realized I was right.

"I'll deal with it." She muttered, then walked further away, shooting down a street as she did so.

Ruby tapped my shoulder. "Could you ah… not stab yourself again?"

"Sure. Just trying to get Blake out of her head."

Yang strutted past to catch up with her. "Watch and learn, old man."

I spluttered in indignation. Old? I mean, technically yes, but that was no reason to-

Oh. I grinned. Yang had this handled.

My second Conversation was with the Professor. He had taken each of the girls aside to ask them why they decided to become Huntresses. Now, it seemed it was my turn.

"Why did you come to Remnant, Torga?"

"I was bored."

He lifted an eyebrow and motioned for me to elaborate.

"I'd told you about the Dovahdein, right? My mercenaries?"

"You'd mentioned something of the sort, yes."

I sighed. "Well, they got too good. I originally formed it as a way for instant backup and a stream of income. Then they got better and better until I could send one to three men and have the issue solved almost overnight. I didn't have to go out anymore. There was no prophecies left for my time, there were no fabled enemies left in my country, there were no more bandits anywhere close to us. We had done our jobs too well, and as the leader of said company, I should have been immensely proud, satisfied, and taken my fortunes and retired."

"You didn't." He observed.

I gestured around. "Clearly."

"Why not? It sounds like you made your land safe and had more money than you knew what to do with."

I sighed. "I visited my mentor, Paarthurnax. A dragon. See, on my world Dragons were a myth, until they weren't. I won't go through the history of the Dragon War, but mortals were almost exterminated. All of them. Exterminated or enslaved. A few heroes rose up, learning to use the power of the dragons against them. They sealed Alduin, the World-Eater, the Mortal-Bane, in a place outside of time. I was lucky enough to be born in the era where he returned and began resurrecting his old followers. See, the dragons are in and of themselves a form of immortal. They can be killed, yes, but their souls remain with their bodies. Meaning with enough healing, they get back up right as rain. Due to their innate magical resistance, it would be impossible for a man, or most elves to do so. Alduin didn't have that problem, and used his magics to raise the dead.."

"You're saying that your dragons had souls, and they still tried to wipe you out?"

"Yes, Professor. Your world, if it works the same way, doesn't know anything about souls other than how to weaponize them. And to think you all thought I was the savage."

"Comparatively, and cultur-"

"Yes, I know, we're behind. I've been thinking about that actually. I believe Magic is what held us back. The dwemer ruins are full of technological wonders, and they vehemently opposed magic in almost all of its forms."

"Right. Alduin?"

"Well, I'm a special case. Every so often, and I'm talking maybe every few generations, the mortal races give birth to one blessed by Akatosh, one that is called the Dragonborn. I was one of these. When I killed a dragon, I absorbed it's soul and merged it with my own to become more powerful. I was the only one that could permanently kill a dragon. Because my soul was so influenced, I could not stop. I craved violence, I was greedy, I became more like that which I killed. No greater rush did I feel than the one that came from slaying one of those foul creatures, and I had killed them all. See, in the original Dragon War, the Dragonborn of the time had spent his life killing all of the female dragons, then travelled to the land of the Aldmeri to die in combat. One very powerful Nord against the Summerset Isles. Would you believe that he almost made it to the capital before the elves managed to open a volcano around him, dropping him deep into the earth?"

"Why would he do such a thing?"

I smirked. "We must die in combat to go to Sovngarde, our eternal resting place. Anyways, what this meant was that I only had a set number of dragons I could kill. I killed them all, save for one. He slowly fell to hating me. I had no goal anymore, no purpose. Do you have any idea what it is like to have a fate ordained by the Divines, to complete that fate, and then… nothing. The drive was still there, but was directionless. Now, I have a direction again, a seemingly impossible enemy to overcome, and the ability to become even more powerful than before. So why did I come to Remnant? Boredom. But I stayed to fight, and defeat my enemies. Maybe make a couple of allies along the way, who knows?"

"A valid reason, though an unsettling one."

A sigh escaped my lips. "I thought you would think so. This land doesn't have much in the way of battle-lust."

I had to quickly end the conversation, as Richard was trying to get a hold of me. With a muttered excuse of 'getting the high ground to scout', I leapt atop a building, staggering slightly when I knocked part of it loose.

"Tooooooooorgggaaaaa, where aaaarrrreeee you?"

I shivered at his sing-song tone. "I found a few Huntresses, I'm gonna stick with them. You're good to go for the night, but try and be back here around mid-afternoon tomorrow to pick me up. I want to go see how my team's doing as well."

"Aye, Captain." His sarcasm was fun to endure. "You figured out how to make some money yet?"

I grimaced. I could always go back to the Forever Fall… But I didn't want to. "It's a work in progress, I'm still open to ideas, though."

Eventually, after getting off the radio and tucking the equipment into my inventory, I got some practice in with my rifle form. I ended up with another Mastery skill, which just increased the effective range and accuracy, not the damage.

I kept that up until the sun set, and Oobleck decided it was time to bunk down for the night. I took every watch, as I didn't need to sleep. I was about 4 hours into my silent training when Ruby awoke and came to sit next to me.

"Nightmare?" I asked, hands together with a shifting mass of Red Dust between them. She stared at it, then shook her head.

"Haven't slept yet. It's hard to, out here on the ground." She mumbled.

"Yea, it will be for a while." I sympathized with her. "Wanna go for a walk? We can leave Zwei on watch. It might get your mind off of whatever's bugging you."

She sighed. "Sure, let me just get him u-" Her voice turned into the harsh whisper of someone who wants to yell but still needs to stay quiet. "He's gone! Torga, we have to find him!"

I stood, now excited.

[Quest Alert:] Here, Boy!

Help Ruby Rose find her dog! You were supposed to be looking out for him. Great job!

[Main Objective:]

-Find Zwei

-?

-?

[Reward:] REP+ with Ruby Rose, 15000 XP, Skill Book: Fire of Youth!

[Failure:] Zwei's death, REP- with Ruby Rose

That was enough XP to level up, and a new skill too!

"Grab your things." I whispered as I accepted the quest. "We'll find him."


A/N: My house flooded and my laptop was a victim. This chapter was written and painstakingly edited in mobile. Please have patience while I try to get my situation figured out.

For any who don't like the direction I'm taking, and the lack of reason behind certain character's actions, realize that this story is mostly from the perspective of Torga. Meaning, you know what he knows. As for leaving Beacon... Well, that's a big old political shitstorm happening behind the scene. Have some faith.

Keep it real,

~HHR