Richard raised an eyebrow. "You're calling my outfit weird? You're the one who looks like a washed-up wannabe playboy."
Qrow sighed. "You're the one in a top hat." Richard smirked.
"Fair point, but you gotta admit, it has some style." With a chuckle, Qrow took a sip from his flask.
"Maybe a little bit."
They'd been walking for some time now, after a rather tense exchange of words. After introductions, they decided that it wouldn't do any good to fight (Qrow was also rather hesitant to fight after the showdown between Richard and the Grimm, but he'd never admit it) and decided to walk together for no real reason.
"So, Richard…" Richard looked to Qrow with a raised eyebrow. "You seem like a Huntsman in training… Where ya from?" Richard frowned slightly.
"A Hunstman in training? No… As for where I'm from…" Richard trailed off for a moment, seeming to debate what to say, before smirking slightly. "I suppose you could say I'm from nowhere and everywhere."
"Some kind of nomad, then?" Qrow asked, his eyebrow raised.
"Some kind." Richard agreed.
Qrow sighed. This kid wasn't being easy to read, and that top hat hid his eyes with shadow with the current light. Eyes were usually a major source of tells. And saying 'no' to being a Huntsman trainee… Qrow didn't quite believe that.
"Kid-" Qrow started, before Richard interrupted.
"Don't call me kid." Qrow simply rolled his eyes.
"Kid, you say you're not a trainee, yet that sword and what I saw of your fight with the Grimm back there shows that there's something else going on." Richard looked down at the ground, while Qrow looked at him, eyebrow raised once more.
"I can't remember exactly." The top-hatted teen quietly responded, taking off said hat with a sigh and looking at Qrow. His eyes… Qrow almost wished that Richard would put his hat back on. Sure, they didn't look weird physically, just some dark blue eyes. Qrow wasn't looking at the eyes specifically, though…
The look in his eyes was many things at once. Exhaustion, melancholy, and something that could only be described as detachment. Now, Qrow wasn't a psychologist or therapist, but he'd seen his fair share of people with looks like that. Children whose home had been ripped away by Grimm, men and women who'd watched helplessly as people were killed, a couple Atlas soldiers… All of them had a look similar. But for his money, Qrow would bet that whatever Richard had gone through was worse. The kid's eyes were cold as he looked forward briefly, watching for threats, analyzing every detail with his freezing gaze, and then dismissing everything he saw as non-threatening.
Richard raised an eyebrow slightly. "Something wrong?" Qrow shook his head quickly.
"Nothing, kid, nothing… What do you mean by 'you can't remember'?"
"Exactly what the phrase means. I woke up in the forest near where I fought the Grimm. I remember how to fight and do all the normal things, but my last name, my past… It's simply gone."
"So amnesia…?" Qrow asked, suspicious. Richard was likely not being entirely truthful, but Qrow couldn't tell. If the kid played poker, he'd probably make a fortune, because his flat, expressionless face gave nothing away.
"Some kind of it, I suppose…" Richard shrugged, not seeming all that concerned. "So, uh, Qrow… What is a Huntsman, exactly? And those shadow creatures?" He asked, a questioning look on his face.
Qrow sighed. This was gonna take a while. "Second question first…"
…
"So Hunstmen like you fight those Grimm? Using weapons like that…" He gestured to Harbinger "...and... what was Aura again?"
"A protective field generated by you that's got something to do with your soul." Qrow responded, as they crested a hill and saw Qrow's (And now Richard's) destination. "Ki- er, Richard… Do you not have Aura?"
"I don't think so…" Richard trailed off at Qrow's look of disbelief. "What?"
"You took on a horde of Grimm without Aura?"
"Not much of a horde, but yeah, I suppose." Qrow raised his eyebrows disbelievingly and gave Richard a small punch on the shoulder. Richard didn't react beyond raising an eyebrow, but it was clear to Qrow now… The kid didn't have Aura.
"Well, kid… I'm gonna have to make a call when we get to that town. I think there's someone who'd want to meet you, and a school that's calling your name."
"A school?"
"A school for future Hunstmen. You're seventeen, right?" Richard paused for a moment before nodding. "Well, you're at the age that you can apply… It's a tough selection process."
Richard shrugged. "What's tough for others is often easy for me." Qrow shrugged, taking a long draw from his flask.
"I can put in a good word for ya." Richard frowned slightly, tilting his head in thought. "Something up, kiddo?"
Richard shrugged, sighing at the use of kid. "But what's the point of going to a school for fighting monsters when there's nothing to learn?" Qrow paused, for a moment. That seemed overconfident, but was stated in a flat tone… As though he believed he had nothing else to learn.
"Kid, you didn't know what a Hunstman was, what Aura did, or what the Grimm were called. Probably don't know jack about Dust either. So what makes you think there's nothing to learn?" Richard seemed to think for a moment.
"That's all details. Killing monsters is simple." Richard sighed lightly. "I suppose I'll try this school out if you wish. Should be easy." Qrow raised an eyebrow.
"Combat portions, maybe. The other stuff might be a bit harder." Richard smirked slightly and shrugged.
"Maybe."
…
It was evening now, and the sun was setting. Richard had gone off to walk through the town and explore, with Qrow going to find a spot with a decent signal to place a call to someone. This town had seen much, clearly. The walls were made of rather large bricks of stone that looked damn heavy for anyone not like him to lift. According to a statue in a park near the middle of the town, the walls were built by a huntsman with a telekinetic semblance years ago. While the town had certainly seen better days, but as far as they went, it wasn't bad. Now, it wasn't nearly as good as anything Richard could build, but his abilities far outweighed most, if not all people on this planet (Named 'Remnant'). And, of all things, magic didn't exist, despite Dust and semblances seeming to do the same.
He'd explored a library and sped through a few major history books, learning a variety of things and the existence (As well as continued mistreatment) of the Faunus, which explained the few people with different animal features he'd seen. As far as he knew, they didn't turn into werewolves (or werefoxes) on full moons. He'd gained a good amount of Remnant's currency (Known as 'Lien') just for selling off a few gold coins, not even dipping into his platinum coins. It seemed that precious metals were rarer than usual on Remnant, given that Dust was quite common in Remnant's crust.
All the more convenient for him.
He felt slightly bad about lying to Qrow about his situation, but meeting a powerful partial amnesiac was a bit more believable than meeting a nigh-invincible godkiller from a different… universe? Dimension? Whichever it was (Richard wasn't too sure on this), it probably wasn't a good thing to be mouthing off about. Richard thought momentarily about where he should go. Qrow would likely be in a bar after his call, he'd seen the flask. Probably an alcoholic.
It was a shame that Richard could only drink for the taste, as he could only really get tipsy, and that didn't really do much. He still thought clearly, moved well, and really wasn't how someone should be after casually drinking sixty mugs of ale. On the other hand, he didn't know the legal age to drink here, so he probably wouldn't be able to get a drink anyway. You win some you lose some, Richard thought with a sigh. He shrugged to himself and looked about before deciding to head back to the library.
…
Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy, was what many would call a mysterious, secretive man. It was true, yes, but it was still a rather irksome way to be known. It had been a long day, as the work he needed to do for all the enrollment and testing had rolled in last week and Glynda had pretty much forced him to do it. All for the best, he supposed. Sipping from his ever-present coffee mug, he raised an eyebrow at the profile in front of him on his desk.
"Glynda?" He called, the woman out of view doing something else. A few moments passed, and she walked into view with a sigh.
"Yes, Headmaster?" She asked, folding her arms and giving Ozpin a questioning gaze, frowning slightly when Ozpin turned the paper on his desk to face her.
"Tell me what you think of this, would you? I think Mr. Arc has a bit of an odd history of education." Glynda approached the desk and looked over the sheet. At first, nothing seemed off, but as she looked over it a few times, discrepancies were apparent.
"It seems he does. Forgery?" Ozpin steepled his fingertips and leaned back.
"It's likely." Glynda frowned slightly. "Glynda, he has an older sister who graduated recently, correct?" Tilting her head, Glynda nodded slightly.
"Yes, I believe there was. A favorite of most of the professors, and an exemplary student. The Arcs come from a long line of heroes." Ozpin nodded, thinking deeply for a moment.
"I'll allow him to enroll. He likely has potential, and this academy will make his potential into something workable." Glynda frowned again.
"If he truly has no experience, then this could be dangerous." Ozpin nodded slightly.
"True, true… I suppose we'll have to watch him carefully…"
Glynda nodded and turned to leave, before she heard a ringtone coming from Ozpin's scroll. She turned back with some curiosity. "Expecting a call?"
Ozpin shook his head, becoming even more confused when it was from a certain drunk. "It's from Qrow, oddly." Glynda raised an eyebrow.
"Want me to stay?" Ozpin shrugged, so Glynda made the executive decision to stand and listen to what their resident drunken bird had to talk about so late at night. Ozpin picked up the scroll and answered it, putting it on speaker.
"To what do I owe this call, Qrow?" He asked, taking a sip of coffee with a sigh.
"Found a kid you might be interested in. Take a look." The scroll then pinged a couple more times, before Ozpin picked it up and moved to the images. It was of a boy about seventeen with cobalt eyes, wearing a well-made white woolen jacket that went down to about the middle of his thighs, a cobalt blue shirt underneath, dark jeans, and black and cobalt blue running shoes. The boy was looking to his left, with one hand holding what appeared to be a top hat, while on his shoulder was the thing that made him stand out.
"Rather large blade he's carrying." Glynda said, when shown the picture. As she said this, Qrow chuckled slightly.
"Yeah, and the kid can swing it around like it weighs nothing. Cuts through Grimm like butter. Even armored elder Grimm go down easy with that."
"So why are you calling me about him? If he wanted to apply, he would have. Is he, perhaps, spoken for by another academy?" Qrow sighed.
"That's the thing, Oz. He says he's not a huntsman in training. He also doesn't know his last name, didn't know that the Grimm were called Grimm, or even what a Huntsman was. Apparently, he woke up in a forest near midmorning." Ozpin steepled his fingers and frowned, while Glynda raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't really matter, though. Kid's got skill. Took down a Grimm horde that a team of your fourth years would've been overrun by, without Aura." With that statement, Glynda's eyebrow was in danger of shooting into the sky.
"Impossible, Qrow. He would've been injured." Qrow sighed once more and could be clearly heard taking a sip from his flask.
"Glynda, trust me when I say that I did not see the kid take a single hit when fighting with those Grimm. Dodged it all, even Nevermore feathers." Glynda frowned slightly, while Ozpin leaned in and looked at the second picture. This one had the boy looking directly at the camera with a raised eyebrow, seeming to be like 'Seriously?". His cobalt eyes, however, were what stole the show.
"Glynda, look at this." Ozpin showed her the picture, and Glynda's face softened slightly.
"His eyes, Headmaster… They look-"
Qrow interrupted her before she could finish. "Haunted? Traumatized? Cold and calculating as all hell? It's worse in person. I almost wanted him to put that hat of his back on, it keeps ya from looking right at them."
Glynda sighed, but she agreed. The boy's eyes were something similar to what she'd seen in some of the older students who'd come back on failed missions, often with a missing member or two. But the look in his eyes was even worse than that. He could probably scare off thugs just with a glare. "...I suppose those are correct words to describe that, Qrow. Any idea on what could cause such a thing?"
"No. And he's not one to volunteer much information himself." Ozpin looked to Glynda with a raised eyebrow.
"We still have a slot or two, but he'd likely be assigned to a team of four, making it five. Regardless, anything else you need to tell us, Qrow?"
"He's strong as hell, too. Could probably give my niece a run for her money while she's using her semblance without breaking a sweat. And, well…He might've been using magic." Ozpin seemed deep in thought for a moment, and almost disturbed at the fact that this boy was possibly using magic.
"Qrow, would you unlock his aura for him and try and get a basic understanding of his limits? As for the magic… I'll have to see it myself." Qrow chuckled again.
"Alright. Oh, yeah… His name's Richard." Ozpin frowned slightly and wrote it down on a piece of paper. Glynda seemed rather impressed at Qrow's punctuality in this situation, considering his track record.
"He's going to need a last name, you know." Ozpin said, leaning back.
"We'll come up with one. What's gonna happen with him before the school year starts? Summer's coming soon, and he's gonna need a place to stay until fall." Ozpin frowned slightly.
"I'd like to meet him first. Then we can figure that out."
"You want to meet with the kid, huh? Alright. Now, I believe that the bar across the way is calling my name, so…"
"Goodbye, Qrow."
"See ya."
With that, Qrow hung up and Glynda looked to Ozpin.
"An interesting development, Headmaster." Ozpin nodded slowly, taking a sip of his coffee. "Why did you want to meet with this… Richard? You don't meet with every prospective student."
"Well, it's certainly a special situation, don't you agree? An auraless amnesiac who can fight large amounts of Grimm without getting a scratch, and he's possibly using magic… I feel like it would be important to meet him and see if all that was said is true. I'm going to look forward to Qrow's assessment of this… Richard."
AN: Chapter 2 in the bag! Read, Review, and all that good stuff! Now, I'll do my best to respond to the first few reviews per chapter… or ones that I find interesting!
Alby199800: You can let go of that breath now!
Bladerunner5146: I plan to go for as long as I can with this!