Adam sat in the ship in contemplation, wondering how he had allowed himself get into such a situation.
He turned his face towards his partner Blake , his blue eyes staring at her with an almost angry expression.
He shouldn't have let her talk him into this.
Although to be fair, she didn't do any talking.
xXx
The pair had just completed their battle against the Spider-Droid, and the redhead turned around to see that his partner was no longer next to him.
He caught sight of her on the car they had just left, running away swiftly into the forest.
Adam was confused, but only for a second, because he took a huge bound and ran after her, catching up to her in almost no time.
"Adam," she virtually gasped, not expecting him to catch up to her so quickly, she had always believed herself to be the faster between them.
"I can expl-"
Her attempt at an explanation was cut short by the bull faunus descending to one knee before her.
"There's no need for that, I know."
He had known for a while; he had seen the resistance within her, with every mission, her doubt grew.
Even when she hid her face behind the Grimm mask, it was visible as day.
"I've seen what the Fang has been doing to you; I've seen that it's been tearing you apart. I understand why you feel that you have to leave."
Blake was shocked by his apparent awareness of her thoughts; she had honestly not known he was this sensitive to her.
How much have I misjudged him?
"The Fang doesn't tolerate traitors," her words seemed to be some sort of reminder, as though reminding her friend to get off his knee and take her back for her punishment.
There was a tenseness between the pair upon her statement.
Her muscles were primed to attempt a mistake with the slightest move from him, although she now feared that her attempt would be futile in front of her mentor.
"You're right," he acknowledged her words calmly, rising to his feet slowly without ever taking his eyes off her.
Blake notice his flex his fingers, most likely planning to grab at Wilt.
Shit, she swore in her head as she prepared to jump back.
Crack!
The sound reached her before she could even move, showing the difference in their abilities.
Although Blake felt around her person for an injury, there was none to be found.
Instead, she saw a white powder fall from her mentor's gloved hands.
"However Blake, turning you in would make me the biggest traitor."
The red-haired rebel's face was exposed; the thing that had been crushed was his White Fang mask.
Words could not explain her shock.
What's he doing?
"I'm a soldier," he said, walking closer to her as he did, his hand still a safe distance from his blade hilt.
"But long before I took the oath of the Fang, I swore an oath to protect you. That first oath is the single most important thing to me."
"Please, allow me to keep it."
He had somehow ended up on one knee again, his head bowed down before her.
"So…" she began, unsure of what to say, and even further confused by the kneeling posture of the General.
"…What's next?"
xXx
So this is what was next huh?
He looked at her once more and his countenance softened; there was no regret in his eyes. He would follow her anywhere.
xXx
Shortly after, the pair walked off the ship and onto the academy grounds.
"It's impressive," he said, evaluating the almost exorbitant campus measuredly, "But that's the least to be expected from the land's most prestigious Hunstman Academy."
As he surveyed, his eyes caught once more Blake's bow.
He almost started, but restrained himself.
He had already seen it, so many times in fact that he had thought he would be used to it by now. But still, he felt genuine surprise whenever it occurred to him freshly.
He understood that she wanted to do her best to avoid trouble, indeed they both wanted to keep a low profile, but this… it was too much wasn't it?
Boom!
"What are you doing?"
Speaking of low profiles, the two ex-terrorists walked in the exact opposite direction of the noises they had heard.
Best to avoid that, they thought in sync, looking for the entrance into the hall for orientation.
The plan was solid in theory, but the reality of it was that everyone else was heading towards the commotion, and caught in the current of the crowd, the pair found themselves watching another pair arguing.
She seems to be from the Schnee Family.
This was Adam's assertion, referring to the girl dressed fully in white with a small scar on her face and a huge chip on her shoulder.
The other one seems a little small to be a student here, she must be a prodigy of some sort.
The "prodigy" was at this moment, being berated by the Schnee Family member.
This is getting annoying, Blake's patience metre was just about full.
She had been dragged by the crowd to witness this farce against her will, and leaving would mean forcing her way through, something that would drag a lot of negative attention towards her, the exact thing she was adamant about avoiding.
I'll just have to risk it then, she thought to herself, apparently prepared to risk the negative attention than risking the even worse option of interrupting the exchange between the Schnee who had her blood boiling.
Just as she decided to, she noticed that Adam had walked up to the two girls, apparently willing to intervene.
xXx
So much for a low profile.
Adam internally bemoaned that he was so suddenly creating a scene after arriving in the school.
He had however noticed that Blake was about to do something impulsive and therefore decided that he had to step up.
"Good morning ladies," he said with mock politeness, "What happens to be the issue?"
"Good mor-"
"It's none of your concern if you don't mind my being blunt."
The sharp response had come from the Schnee, who had interrupted the other girl as she made to greet Adam.
"You're causing a commotion and drawing a crowd when we're supposed to have been assembled in the hall. I'm sure you can see how the swift resolution of this... disagreement is the 'concern' of everyone here."
The Schnee's cold blue eyes stared into Adam's similarly blue eyes, a serious challenge clearly communicated in them.
"We had just resolved the matter," Weiss replied crisply, "Apologies for the inconvenience we caused."
With those words, she stormed off into the crowd.
The crowd slowly scattered, a few casting annoyed glances at the redhead who had called a swift end to their entertainment.
I'm in for it now, he thought, Although most of them won't make it past the entrance exams, so there's no need to worry myself about that.
In the midst of his thoughts, he barely noticed the person who was clinging to his person.
"Can I help you?"
The person in question was the girl who had just been in the argument with the Schnee girl.
"Hi, I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose. Thanks for your help back there,"
"It was nothing."
Aren't you a little... young.
Adam asked the question in his head, although he was curious, he had no intention of extending his conversation with her.
"You're probably thinking that I'm too young right?"
"Not at all, although I do wonder that you were careless enough to get into trouble on the very first day."
"Yeah," she acknowledged despondently, "This is honestly a little overwhelming. My sister abandoned me too."
Adam looked suspiciously at the girl, Ruby as she'd introduced herself, with a measure of suspicion; she was clearly attempting to make him feel sorry for her.
"I guess I could help you find her," he said ultimately.
He hadn't anything better to do, and he'd rendezvous with Blake at the hall so it didn't make much of a difference whether or not he walked along with her.
"Is that your weapon?" he asked his question after brushing off her many thanks; although his impression of her was that she was childish, he still believed that she could be some sort of prodigy and was therefore curious.
She placed her hand on the unique-looking bundle at her waist and it suddenly unfolded into a huge scythe.
"This is Crescent Rose," Ruby said with a smile of satisfaction, "Nice right."
She barely kept herself from getting into the details of the weapon, remembering what Yang had told her not long ago about being a weapon nerd.
"A High-Calibre Sniper-Scythe, impressive."
"Yeah," Ruby responded excitedly, surprised by his instant recognition of her weapon's nature.
"The recoil on it must be ridiculous," he noted as she returned it to its compact form, "Not to mention that the scythe is a rather complex weapon to use. You must be rather talented."
"Not at all," she said modestly, scratching her head nervously although she enjoyed the praise, "What about you? What's your weapon like?"
"It isn't anything special," he said casually as he drew out a katana, "It's First Gen."
First Gen weapons referred to weapons made early in Remnant's history; basic blades, firearms and similar weapons used back in the time of The Great War or weapons made in that style.
Ruby had personally never encountered this weapon, as most Huntsmen used Third Gen (the current style of weapons).
"Wow, that's so cool. It's rare to see someone who still uses weapons from this era."
It's rare for you.
Although the current age of weapons was Third Gen, Menagerie (which had neither a Huntsman Academy or any of the specialised organisations that supplied materials for custom weapon-making, so many used weapons in older styles.
Supplying such resources had beenone of his duties as part of the Fang.
Was, he thought to himself, remembering for what had to be the hundredth time, the White Fang.
They had been his allies and his home, and he had believed in their mission (and still did) and considered it to be his own even now... But he had betrayed them just like that.
Although he would not change his decision if asked a hundred times, he still felt regret that fate had led him here instead of on the battlefield.
Stop moaning, you have a responsibility here.
"Hey!"
Adam was knocked out of his thoughts by the calls of a tall, wild-looking blonde that was waving in his direction.
He was confident that he didn't know who that person was, and he was even more confident that he didn't want to.
The girl next to him turned into a red line, rushing towards the blonde suddenly and wrapping her in a hug.
That must be her sister, he reasoned, moving into the crowd; he had fulfilled his promise to help look for her, now he had to reunite with Blake.
xXx
Why does this keep happening?
The entrance to the auditorium was once again blocked by a crowd.
Adam massaged his brow impatiently as he watched them.
He had already disrupted one gathering, he wasn't looking to make a reputation. At the same time, making a reputation as an abrasive person could be beneficial and one more interruption wouldn't make him any more infamous. Besides, he wouldn't disperse it this time, he'd just walk through.
I guess I'm doing this then, he said as he pushed through the crowd.
"I'm sorry, but I have to get to orien-"
xXx
Well dang it, Pyrrha thought as she signed autographs of her fans.
She hadn't been expecting that so many fans would be at the orientation.
Although she was grateful to her fanbase, she really didn't appreciate them crowding her before she could even get into the auditorium.
Just as she thought that she'd have to formulate an excuse or risk missing the orientation, a tall young man broke through the crowd.
Another fan? She thought despondently.
But although he seemed shocked for a second, he assumed a passive face once more and seemed to want to push through.
He's the guy that interrupted the interaction between the Schnee and that other girl.
Pyrrha saw an opportunity.
She rushed at him and grabbed his arm and looked at his straight-on mouthing: 'Help?'
He was clearly confused, but he seemed to nod at her instruction.
The redhead grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out from the crowd, running into the auditorium and hiding behind a pillar.
What?
The entire thing happened in a second, Pyrrha was in the auditorium before she could knew what happened.
There's more than one way to skin a cat I guess.
"Your plan was... unorthodox," she said as she looked from behind their hiding place to see if they were chased, "But thank you a lot."
Adam gave no response and instead took out a bottle from his pocket and sprayed her with it.
"It'll mask your scent for a while in case there are any particularly 'zealous' faunus fans."
"Oh, thanks."
This guy had a knack for catching her off-guard.
"Well, I hope you have a way to hide during the orientation, I have to meet up with someone."
"Y-yeah, I'm Pyrrha Nikos by the way."
"Adam Vulpes."
That was his alias as a student of Beacon Academy.
She noticed that he had no reaction to her name.
Does that mean that he doesn't know who I am?
The red-haired celebrity felt something stir in her as she watched his back recede from her.
Adam Vulpes. There's... something about him.
xXx
What a troublesome first day, he thought to himself as he walked to another discreet corner of the auditorium, planning on listening discreetly to avoid further drama.
Pyrrha Nikos... there's something about her.
She had left a stark first impression on the taurine ex-General, and it was anyone's guess why that was. She was surely beautiful, but it was certainly something else.
He had a premonition that his school days wouldn't be nearly as simple as he hoped they would be.
Notes: Well, this is supposed to be me adopting "The Bull and the Amazon" fanfic by Alucard101. Since there's only one chapter, I took a lot of liberties with it and it's basically a different fanfic now. The decisions I made are based partially on my instinct and mostly on the reviews from the original.
The main feedback I got is that Pyrrha and Adam's relationship seemed to be moving quickly, so I've tried to make it move slower in this case.
I'll also be using concepts from my other RWBY fanfic, but I'll explain them here, so it's not like you'll need to read that as well, although that would be appreciated.
Feel free to leave a comment or review to share your thoughts on the fic. Ciao.