Ch6: Homeschooling

Song recommendation: Faith no more – Evidence

Narrator: Fenrir

Cops came by about a half hour later. They damn near sent the whole precinct that day. Pigs still squealed when they saw us, two Faunus boys busted up, guns pointed like they were boars with tusks. Guess they got reports of the Fang in the area from other locals. Either way, after their blood boiled down, they took our statement and got Theo an ambulance. His cut wasn't too deep, thankfully, and some stiches made sure his aura would do the heavy lifting. We were sitting in the back of the ambulance when the airship landed. A familiar old man and a younger man dressed in green stepped out of the craft.

Peter port ran over to us. Theodore stood and smiled at seeing his grandfather. I was just eyeing the other guy. How can a man that young, have hair that white.

"My goodness. Are you boys alright? What happened?"

"We're fine grandpa. The White Fang attacked us. We think they might have followed Fenrir back here." Theo explained. His face was sullen from all that happened.

"What? Why would they want you boys?"

"I spoke to the police chief on the way here. Appears there was a Grimm attack outside of town, they had built a base, but it was destroyed. Perhaps another group of them returned and were looking for answers. The chief said you were out, and spotted hunters being attacked. Do you remember what those hunters were wearing young man?" The stranger was speaking to me.

"Yeah. Same outfits as the guys who attacked us. Creepy ass masks and all."

"This is terrible. I'm afraid we must leave immediately children. It's no longer safe for you here. Professor Ozpin has arranged for you both to stay at Beacon academy."
"Beacon? Why there?" Theo asked.

"We feel the safest place for you both is close to your grandfather, as well as the Huntsman that make up the faculty and your fellow students." The stranger's explanation left me with a lot of question, the first being:

"Wait, when did we sign up for classes? Who are you supposed to be anyway? The truancy officer?"

"My name is Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon. I already know who you two are, Fenrir and Theodore Arkades. It's a pleasure to meet both of you, Professor port has told me many things about you." The strange man outstretched his hand to me, I just looked at him like he was waving rancid meat.

"He tell you neither of us want to be Huntsman? You can't force us to be your soldiers!"

Ozpin only smiled as he put his hand down on his cane.

"It not a matter of force, young man, but a matter of choice. And I'm afraid you have very few options. You could stay here where you fought off men that know of your where abouts. Where you live, where you hunt, and most likely, where you work." That last line he said while looking at Theodore. I hated how sure his eyes looked.

"Or you can take the risk being my students. If you survived today, I believe you have what it takes to live at Beacon."

"Not chance in hell! I'll take my chances in the woods with the Grimm, thank you very much!"

"Fen!" Theodore looked at me with pleading eyes.

"It too dangerous for you to be here, both of us. I don't like it either, but we have nowhere else to go."

When he said 'We' he really meant him. I would've had no problem saying vamos to Vale all together but leaving him there would never guarantee his life. Not with what was coming. At least being on campus, I could pull him out when the day comes. I closed my eyes and breathed in, filling my lungs before breathing out a long sigh.

"Fine. Guess schools in for the fall." I crossed my arms and looked out to where I left that man. Guess I'll be seeing you soon. Port stepped forward and put his hand on my shoulder and his other on Theo's good one.

"Then it's settled. You'll sleep in a motel for the night. I'll pack your things over the moon and deliver them to your dorms."

"In the morning, you will start your initiation to get into the school. Professor Port will discuss everything else then."
"You serious? We gotta take a test to get in the school you're forcing us to go to? What the hell is this even supposed to be?"

"Witness protection." Ozpin said coldly. The firmness in his voice told me he'd lost his patience with me. I bit my tongue from licking the ice.

"I had hoped to tell you tomorrow when you had rested, but your shock ends today with what I must tell you next. You are both registered as Fenrir and Theodore Port, but as of now your surname will be Arkades. This means that you must go by this slight alias from tomorrow onward. We have already had incidents with our students and the White Fang, and we'd like to avoid any more if at all possible. Therefore, you must act if you had never met Peter port until your first day. I apologize greatly to all of you, but it's for the safety of everyone. Lies are never easy to tell, but if you never have to tell the truth in the first place, you'll never have to lie."

He had thought on those words for a second, now I was thinking on them too. I knew that phrase like the back of my hand, not that I ever heard it before, I just kind of knew. Theodore's brow was furrowed in frustration, eyes closed. Ports sadness was evident in his face.

"Fine. I just want to go to sleep now, okay? Fen, what about you?"

"Doesn't sound so different from the norm. Let's get tonight over with."

At the motel, Theo took a shower for about an hour before hitting the sack, I wasn't far behind him. Wouldn't blame him, because of me his life's a wreck now. Not that he would know, it's like Ozpin said. I guess things would only be back to normal in my dreams. That's the only other place I went to that night. Dreams. And nightmares.

Author's notes: Tried to experiment with a first-person perspective. Wanted to go for a kind of noir style narration. I like to think that Fenrir sound like Burnie Burns and if Burnie Burns dubbed over The Batman movie, I'd watch that.