"..."

"..."

"..."

Ren, Nora, and Jaune sat in front of me in a circle on the carpet in our new dorm room. They all looked at me with their full attention. Expecting me to have some kind of leader-like plans which, unfortunately...I don't.

'Please, SOMEBODY say something...'

After killing the Deathstalker, I decided to give this Huntsman thing another try. I didn't expect to be made a leader. I'm honored, don't get me wrong, but I can't help but have doubts about my actual ability to lead. I was able to succeed last time because I already had inside knowledge on everyone, but if I'm put in a situation with nothing to work with, who knows what'll happen. Crap, I'd better say something to break the silence already.

"So..." I said, almost testing out the word. "Here we are...Team ARJN..."

"Yep!" Nora seemed immune to the awkwardness that had permeated the air. "Today's our very first day! I wonder what we're gonna do first!"

'You and me both Nora.'

"Well, I guess we should go in a circle and introduce ourselves to our teammates. Give your name, semblance, and maybe something about yourself you want to share."

Of course this introduction wasn't for me. I knew plenty about every person in the room, probably even things that they didn't know about themselves. "I'll go first. My name is Aero Cairn, I like video games and sweets. I don't know what my semblance is and I'm a little unsure about being the leader of this team, but I'll do my best. Nora, your turn."

She intently stared at me and raised her hand.

"You don't have to raise your hand, just...say something."

"Aero, you forgot to mention that you're psychic."

"Wait what?" Jaune and Ren looked at Nora with unusual expressions. "Psychic? You mean you were actually serious about that? I thought you were joking."

Not this again.

"I WAS joking. I didn't forget to mention being psychic, I didn't say it, because it's not true."

Nora put her hands on her hips and frowned. "Liar. You said you were psychic. You knew what Weiss's semblance was before you saw it. You even put it in your plans to stop to the Deathstalker without telling her."

"Now that you mention it..."

The other two teammates turned their gazes at me.

"Lucky guess." I said waving my hand dismissively.

"Aha!" Nora said continuing. "You also knew my weapon was a grenade launcher, that it could shoot lots of grenades at once AAAAAAAAAND that they just so happened to make a heart shape without ever seeing it used! Was that luck too?"

I guess I really wasn't very subtle during the exam was I? Anyone would be suspicious if someone they just met suddenly had a wealth of information on them. Unfortunately, lives were on the line, and me being subtle wasn't an option. I don't see any other way out of this. Either I lie and say I'm psychic or the other option being...

"Fine whatever, I'm psychic."

I know what you're thinking, but honestly what other option is there? Hi guys, your daily lives, life and death encounters, and personal struggles are all a form of entertainment for higher beings outside of your universe and perception. Yeah, I'm sure that conversation will go over REALLY well.

Nora happily squealed and lightly clapped her hands. "I knew it, I knew it!"

"Seriously?" Jaune got up to his knees and scooted closer to me, now much more interested in the conversation. Ren remained where he was, but he looked surprised as well. "Does that mean you knew what was gonna happen in the exam?"

"Well...more or less. I knew that the Deathstalker and Nevermore would eventually show up, that Team RWBY would form, and that you, Nora and Ren would end up on a team." What I didn't know however was that I'd replace Pyrrha as one of its members. "Anyway, enough of this topic for now."

"Oh! Oh! What am I gonna do next?" Nora asked excitedly

"You're gonna introduce yourself to your team, now come on."

"Okay..." She was sullen for a moment but quickly returned to her cheery self. "My name's Nora Valkyrie, I like fighting, and pancakes and..." she glanced at Ren for a moment. "I guess that's it. My semblance lets me get all charged up like a battery and then I can do incredible things!"

"Charged like a battery? So wait, are you like bionic man!?" Jaune asked excitedly.

Well, I suppose one benefit of saying I'm a psychic means I don't have to pretend not to know things. They can just assume: Oh! He knew it because he's psychic.

"Nora can resist electrical attacks and absorbs electricity to boost her body's performance."

"Exactly Aero! You're good at this." Her eyes lit up. "Wait, what if YOU introduced everyone using your psychic skills? Could you imagine how funny that would be?"

Actually that would be pretty funny. "Problem is though, it'd kinda defeat the whole purpose of opening up to each other." Also, I don't think Ren would be too keen about me knowing his history...

"My turn." said Jaune nervously fidgeting a little. "Hey everyone, I'm Jaune Arc, I came to this academy to be a huntsman. But uh, I guess everyone's here for the exact same reason. Suppose I wanna continue the family tradition, my family's always kinda been heroes. Anyway, I'm not really sure what my semblance is, or what a semblance is for that matter."

"Ah, right. Jaune hasn't unlocked his aura yet."

"WHAT?!" Both Nora and Ren both shouted at the same time. "Jynx!" Nora pointed at Ren and grinned. Ren rolled his eyes and returned the smile before speaking.

"So in the Emerald Forest, Jaune could've..."

"Died at any time? Yes. Anyway, a semblance is a unique talent or ability that varies from person to person. You heard how Nora's semblance basically makes her a chargeable battery."

"Oh!" Jaune said snapping his fingers. "So it's like a superpower then!"

"I...guess that is one way to put it, yes. If a semblance is a superpower, then aura is like a force field. That's why Ren was okay when getting hit by the Deathstalker while you could've died. This is kind of why we need to fix this problem as soon as possible."

"I believe I can help with that." Ren said interjecting. He stood up and walked across the room over to Jaune. "Close your eyes, I want you to try and picture something."

"Alright." Jaune said nervously closing his eyes "What am I supposed to see?"

"I want you to try and see an ember, floating in the dark." Ren closed his eyes as well and his body faintly glowed with a soft magenta light. Placing both hands on Jaune's head he continued "A small flickering light that seems like it could go out at any moment, but still burns strong. Can you see it?"

Jaune didn't respond, his eyes still shut as if he were in a trance. Soon after, his body started glowing with a white light, and Ren's aura dimmed down in response as if feeding directly into Jaune. Finally Ren opened his eyes letting go of Jaune.

"It is done, your aura is now your own." Ren let out a weary sigh. "However, I did not expect you to have as much aura as you did." He sat back down in our circle on the rug. "Well, now it would make it my turn to talk about myself right?"

"Yes, your name, your semblance, and anything else you feel needs to be said."

Ren took a deep breath and held it in for a moment before slowly exhaling. "My name is Lie Ren, I want you all to know I'm honored to be able to work with you all. I will do my utmost to ensure the best possible trust and teamwork between each of us." He gave a small smile. "Please take care of me."

"Uh, yeah..." 'That was a little unexpected.' "And your semblance?"

Ren nodded, allowing his eyes to become serious and focused. All of the sudden, the color drained from Ren's body and his clothes until he was a dull shade of gray.

"My semblance allows me to mask negative emotions. This allows the affected to remain composed during virtually any situation. While under this influence, you are far less likely to be detected by grimm. It also has the side effect of desaturating the colors of the affected as well."

"Wait, that's your semblance?" I thought it was invisibility.

"Yes."

It has to be understood that the show isn't always clear on the details that occur. You could see an event that happened, and still misinterpret it. I thought Ren's semblance was simply invisibility. It did seem to fit what happened in the episode he used it. But if his semblance masks negative emotions then I have two gripes. Number one, it seems like he can't move too much while using it. When using his semblance on Nora, and then later on Qrow, both times he didn't move after activating it. If Ren could be invisible to the grimm AND move at high speeds, then he wouldn't have had such a hard time against the Deathstalker, or any grimm at all for that matter.

Gripe number two, how hell does a grimm's vision work? Ren masking his negative emotions makes him invisible to them? I'm like 90% sure grimm can see people with their eyes and don't rely entirely on sensing emotions. Either I'm not understanding something, or there's more to Ren's semblance than he realizes.

'So, half of the team's semblances are only useful in certain situations, and the other half doesn't even know what their semblances are. I can't say this bodes well for the strength of this team. These guys should at least know what they're getting into by having me on their team...'

I felt a nervous lump rise in my throat as I prepared for this next part. "Okay, guys?" I said after taking a deep breath and turning to my team. "I'm gonna level with you. I'm not exactly overflowing with leadership ability, I don't have that much experience. I'm not even that sure what I should be doing. Just...thought I should let you know."

All of a sudden the room got quiet. As I scanned the faces of my teammates, I saw that they were taking this news...unusually well. Rather than surprise, the three of them looked at me with mild confusion before Nora snorted and started laughing.

"Why are you laughing? This a big problem to have!"

"Okay, okay..." she said trying to stop herself but still giggling a bit. "If anyone here has real experience leading people, raise your hand."

We all looked around the room, but none of us had our hands raised. "See?" Nora said shrugging. "No big deal. It's not like we're expected to be perfect or anything. I mean, I'm a good fighter but I can obviously improve, silly. If we already had all the necessary skills to be a huntsman, then there wouldn't be a point to coming to Beacon in the first place."

"That...actually makes sense..." When Nora puts it like that, it kinda makes me feel stupid for not noticing it myself.

"She's right." Jaune said putting a hand on my shoulder. "Just because you're the team leader doesn't mean we expect you have all the answers, and especially on your own. We'll all do what we can to support you."

'Easy for you to say Jaune, when you were the leader you flipped out at first and started acting like a jerk, cracking under the pressure...'

"Uh guys..." Ren pointed to the clock which read 8:54 am. "Classes start at nine..."

"We're gonna be late for class!" Jaune, Ren and Nora bolted towards the exit, throwing open the door and running out.

"Shit, I haven't unpacked yet!" Not yet having put away Aero's items, I grabbed the entire briefcase and sprinted after the three of them.

.
.

It was a nice and peaceful day in the dining room of the Count's Cafe. Customers sat back leisurely eating their food and engaging in conversation. Sunlight flitted through the blinds of the shop which were partially open, and there were faint clacking sounds every now and again as waiters set down trays of food, making sure nothing was required of them. All in all, the Count's Cafe almost seemed as if it were completely peaceful and still. However, anyone who's ever worked in the food industry will tell you the kitchen is almost always the opposite.

"We're out of eggs!"

"Table four needs their check!"

"Got an accident near table seven!"

Many employees rushed around the kitchen, miraculously managing to not run into each other as they went about their individual tasks. Today was Easter and they were absolutely swamped taking care of the extra customers.

"Yes sir, I'll be sure to get it to you right away."

A manager by the name of Maurice had been mistaken as one of the waiters. He didn't complain, taking their order and handing it off to someone else. Every seat in the restaurant was filled. Friends and family sat in burgundy leather-covered seats next to the edges of the restaurant with deep purple curtains. The bar stools each had someone in them as the patrons drank alcohol on the ebony-colored counter, chatting and laughing. Every so often, someone would get up and walk over to another group and ask to borrow the extra chair at their table. With so many customers, they'd have no shortage of dirty dishes and this made the manager worry. Maurice quickly looked around for an employee who wasn't already busy and saw Aero leaving the restroom.

"Nathaniel, you take care of the bathrooms yet?"

"Yep, spic and span." Aero said nodding.

"Great, go take care of the dishes then." the man replied dismissively, turning to leave.

" I've already taken the liberty of doing them sir."

"What?" Maurice stopped and gave the employee a sidelong glance.

"They're done." Aero repeated. I finished them not too long ago."

Maurice raised a brow. "Really? Let's go see then." The two of them went to go check up on the aforementioned work and he saw with mild surprise that the dishes were indeed cleaned and put away without the manager having to ask.

"What do you want me to do now sir?"

Aero's unusual answer caused him to pause. The employee in front of him wasn't known for his work ethic. Nathaniel's work was by no means bad, but it was never great either. It was acceptable, and that's all it ever was. He would come in to work, and do exactly what was told to him, never more. He never stayed extra hours when they were short-staffed, but it's not as though he was OBLIGATED to. His work was the bare minimum.

"Okay..." Maurice said slowly "Then go chop the vegetables."

"You got it." he said nodding with a smile and rushed off leaving the manager scratching his head.

"Chopping veggies..." Aero grabbed a head of lettuce next to him and skillfully twirled the knife in between his fingers before setting off to chopping. "This job thing isn't so bad, I mean it's a little annoying, but I get to do whatever I want afterward. I could probably use the money to start a few hobbies too..."

Having finished chopping, he began scraping the lettuce into a large silver strainer when one of the employees lightly bumped into him.

"Ah." Aero's hand recoiled to his chest after feeling pain on his hand. Opening his palm, he noticed a small cut on his index with blood lightly coming out. Aero stared at his finger with a mixture of amusement and confusion. How long had it been since he'd last seen his own blood? A couple of years at the very least. With his aura in place, Aero could take considerable blows and remain relatively unharmed. He came back to his senses when he realized something.

"Shoot, I can't chop veggies like this." Aero stealthily took the knife with him as he left not wanting to leave evidence of what happened. Fortunately, the rest of the employees seemed far too busy on their individual tasks to pay any attention to him. He probably could have ridden around the restaurant with a motorbike and they still wouldn't have taken notice. Returning to the bathroom, he placed a sign on the front of the door.

*Busy cleaning, apologies for the inconvenience*

"This is bad." Aero irritatedly grumbled to himself as he rinsed off his finger. The blood kept coming back a few times before it finally stopped leaking. "Shoot...now what? They won't let me handle any food with a band-aid on my finger. And if I don't wear one, then the cut will just reopen if I go back to chopping." He shook his head "Never realized just how useful aura was."

Aero paused for a moment, deep in thought. "Could I...unlock my own aura?"

There were two different documented cases when someone would have unlocked their aura. The most reliable means was having an experienced aura user unlock it for another. While very often strenuous to the person unlocking it, this was a reliable method. The other option was rather different. The user must go through some kind of experience, usually an event in their lives that often leaves an impact on them. This sort of mental change caused the spirit to react as well, unlocking the aura.

"Okay..." he closed his eyes, blocking out the noises from outside. "I can do this."

There was an obvious reason why no one was able to just unlock their own aura at will. They would have to HAVE aura in order to be experienced with it. And there was no such thing as someone who was experienced with aura while not already having it unlocked...until now at least.

Aero's face became visibly contorted, beads of sweat visibly formed on his face. He clenched his jaw and grabbed the ceramic sink to keep from falling over as a burning pain came from his chest.

"Come on." Aero grunted. "Come...ON!"

With one final exertion, the final barrier inside his spirit cracked and shattered, causing him to feel a warm soothing feeling sweeping throughout his entire body. Aero took a moment to catch his breath, watching a weak gray aura coating his body.

"Good grief." the former student took a seat on the toilet to rest and held up a still trembling hand. "The amount of aura that this 'Nathan' has in this body is pitifully low. It's a good thing he's not a huntsman."

Aero narrowed his eyes as the cut on his finger slowly disappeared on it's own as if it were never there in the first place. "Alright." He picked up the bloody knife from before and stabbed it down onto Nathan's hand with a smile. There was a loud clacking sound but the aura protected his limb, and there wasn't a single scratch on the palm.

"Perfect." Aero said satisfied, standing up and dusting himself off. "Let's go chop some veggies."

.
.

Hey, I know this is kind of obvious, but Professor Port talks...like a lot. Let me explain.

Me and the rest of team ARJN quickly hurried across the schoolyard after realizing how late it was. Cutting through the grass, leaping over fences, doing anything we could to make it to class on time. Craning my neck, I could just barely see Team RWBY ahead of us, apparently in the same predicament. The very second Ruby and her team made it to the classroom, the tardy bell rang.

"Cheer up guys, it's not that bad." I reassured them. "This is the first day of class, I'm sure Port will take it easy on you."

Well...I was right. My teammates were fine...I wasn't.

Professor Port spent the next two minutes lecturing me in front of the class on how: 'A true team leader is more diligent when managing his team.' While pretending to listen to his rant, I discretely snuck looks around the classroom I'd seen on the show. The professor stood at the front of the class. Behind him were various detailed sketches of various grimm. To his left was...oh good grief, he has a statue of himself. It's like Professor Port is his own biggest fan. I swear, the only reason he let me go was because I reminded him the more time he spent talking about me, the less time he'd have to talk about himself.

"That's rough..."

"Took one for the team..."

Jaune and Nora gave sympathetic looks on my way back to my seat.

"Alright class, open your notebooks and lend me your ears!"

At his words, the rest of the students pulled out their notebooks and writing utensils. I quickly opened the suitcase next to me hoping not to make a scene.

"Dang it, I knew I should've gone and unpacked! Come on, there's gotta be something in here to write on! This freaking suitcase weighs a ton!" While digging around, my hand fished out an old brick-colored notebook. "Whatever, beggars can't be choosers."

"Now you may be tested on everything mentioned so pay attention. Our story begins when my father..."

'Dang it, slow down!'

I noticed with mild irritation that page after page of this notebook had already been filled in. I must've turned over a hundred pages and there still wasn't been a blank piece I could see. Frustrated, I went to the last page of the notebook, and something caught my attention. The very last page was blank, save for a couple of sentences in the center.

"This last page is for future me. After everything you've experienced, everything you've written, what has changed about you? Are you the same as before? I'd like to think I've become a better, wiser person since my first entry. I can hardly wait to reach this last page and look back, but I suppose that just makes it all the more exciting when I do."

~Aero

"No way..."

"But of course, that wasn't my aunt at all!" Port continued in the background. "Imagine my shock when..."

I quickly flipped over to the beginning of the notebook to see what it said.

Entry #1

"Hello journal, seems I'll be writing in you from...ugh. I really don't see why I'm doing this, mom seems to think keeping track of my thoughts will be a worthwhile experience. Whatever, if a week passes and I still don't like it then I'm free to go. Anyway, today was..."

This isn't a notebook...it's a journal.

Entry #7

"I hate to admit it, but this journal thing is finally rubbing off on me. The details of my day, my own personal experiences, they're all safe in here from prying eyes."

I lightly winced at those words before continuing.

"This journal lets me go back and revisit days of my life. It's really fascinating because it's almost like I'm not the person who wrote this. I can see myself from an outside perspective and even remember events that I'd forgot. Now of course this doesn't mean-"

"And that's why I decided my weapon would be an ax. Now then, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah..."

After skimming over a few sections, my eyes stopped on a particular journal entry.

"A good way to do this is to hold the front of the spear with your left hand and your right on the back. As the attack comes, move the spear to the right of the attack and carefully match its speed. If done carefully, you can parry the attack and use the momentum to slam the opponent with the back of the weapon to briefly stun them."

Sweet heavens above, there IS a god...

"This journal has spear lessons!"

"Aero!"

"Wha?" I shook my head snapping out of my reading, before seeing Port giving me a stern glance.

"Aero, were you listening to my lecture?"

"O-of course I was!"

"Good." the professor said giving his beard a light stroke. "Then you won't mind repeating what I just said."

Dang it, I gotta stop getting chewed out before my reputation goes down the crapper.

"You said uh, you said..."

"I'm waiting Aero."

"You said...blah blah blah blah blah blah blah."

The class went silent as professor Port took a step forward, I gulped as his massive eyebrows scrunched together, like two dragons ready to attack as he studied me. All of the sudden his expression softened and he gave me a small nod.

"Very good Aero, just making sure you were paying attention." Port turned his attention to the rest of the class.

"Now as I was saying, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah is exactly what we might as well sound like to the grimm. So far there has been absolutely no success in peaceful communication between the two of our species. So far it seems the grimm's only desire is to destroy all sentient life. Yes, they really are...Monsters! Demons! Prowlers of the night. Yes the creatures of grimm have many names. But a skilled huntsman such as myself merely refers to them as prey!"

Port let out a cheerful shout at his own joke, rousing Ruby from her sleep. Unfortunately, he seemed to be the only one who found his joke funny. Lightly coughing, he continued.

"And you shall too, upon graduating from an academy such as this! Now, as I was saying:" With his arms behind his back, Port lightly strolled around the front of the room. "Vale, including the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love absolutely nothing more than to tear you all to pieces! And that's where we come in."

Oh shoot, I remember this part. This is where Port winks at Yang. I know he doesn't mean anything by it, but it's creepy in more ways than one.

"Huntman! Huntresses!"

As professor Port readied his finger gun and his oversized brows began the monumental effort of lifting themselves off of his face, my hand shot up.

"Professor!"

Port stopped and looked at me with a surprised expression. "Yes?"

"I was just wondering, we've heard about your father, but what about the striking huntsman who's teaching our class right now?"

"An excellent question!" Port said happily. "What better shining example of the ideal huntsman is there other than myself?" Port cleared his throat "The story of a young, handsome man... Me! When I was a boy..."

As Port droned on, I noticed Ruby giggling, drawing something on a piece of paper and holding it up. Immediately eliciting giggles from Blake and Yang. Weiss for her part looked a little ticked off.

"AHEM!"

The four of them quickly straightened up as Port gave them a stern look, making sure he had their attention.

"In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero!" he gave a dramatic bow before continuing. "The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honorable!"

Ruby was too busy playing around to listen. Balancing an apple on a book with her pencil held only by her finger while making a silly face. And while I was impressed at that amazing level of coordination. Weiss definitely didn't appreciate it.

"A true Huntsman must be dependable!"

"A true Huntsman must be strategic!"

"Well-educated!"

"And wise!"

With every sentence from Port, I saw Weiss's face before more and more angry. Finally reaching a point where she was actually SHAKING with fury. Nora lightly elbowed me, holding up her notebook in front of herself as a makeshift shield as Mount Weiss threatened to erupt. "She's gonna explode..." Nora whispered, looking at the white-haired student.

"So, who among you students believe themselves to be the embodiment of traits such as these?"

Immediately Weiss's hand shot up and she stood to her feet. "I do, sir!"

"An immediate volunteer. I do believe the future of this class is bright." Port said proudly. "Very well, come forth..."

He gestured to a cage that was rattling back and forth, emitting low growls.

"...and face your opponent."