Wish I could have messaged back the guy who reviewed saying I could have named YBWR LBWR instead, as in for Lover. Definitely would have made things a lot easier when it came to naming the damn team Lol. Sadly, even if I knew that I probably would have just kept YBWR because there's just a ring to it that I for some reason cannot get over. But know this Mr. Anon reviewer, had this been an alternate universe I may have well went back to change it.
Beta: CrowSkull
YBWR
Chapter 8- The Great Lecture
Yang watched her partner's reaction as their class professor said the name. Ben Belladonna. Clearly, they were related, and Yang could assume safely that it was due to her being a descent of said Ben Belladonna. Her expression was strange, Yang couldn't read it even as she tried hard to. Did she seem proud of her ancestor? Ashamed? If it was the latter, how could she? According to what Watts had said, he was the man who lost a war, and yet still someone reaped the riches of it and changed the world for the better. If he were her ancestor, she'd be damn proud of it.
"His full name is Benjamin Banner Belladonna. But for the sake of simplicity, I shall commonly refer to him as simply Ben or General Belladonna. He was the first 'King' of Menagerie after declaring the isle of the faunus as it was previously called the fifth Kingdom of the world. Atlas, which is what Mantle was named before a new form of government took over after the monarchy was dismantled, took great offense by such an act as Menagerie was formerly a territory of the Kingdom." As Watts continued his lecture, the hologram being projected by his rings shifted and expanded, forming a wide bright map across the chalkboard that all the students knew right then and there would see very little use. It might have been the coolest way to ever give a lecture that may and would have put some people to sleep at the mere mention of it. Here, Yang found herself not only wide awake but entertained as Watts gave them their first lecture.
"A war against Tyranny and for the independence of faunus-kind, Ben declared. His audacity impressed most other kingdoms of the world, but only one of them dared to come to his aid. I am sure you all have heard of this one unprecedented and disregarded kingdom as it has become quite a tale in the past century. I presume most of you are from this very kingdom. Does anyone know pf which I am implying?"
A student that Yang didn't recognize raised their hand. She had green hair, dark skin, and red eyes, but that was all Yang could make out before she spoke. "Vale, professor. Out of all the kingdoms in the original four that existed before, Vale was the only one to answer the call for aid."
"Correct, Miss Sustrai," Watts said with a please smile. "I do expect that she will not be the only one to answer any questions that I ask you all. But to continue on my point, yes, out of the other remaining three kingdoms, it was Vale that came to their aid. At the time, Vale was also under a monarchy, a Queen whose name has long since been erased from history as to protect her descendants. I am sure you could imagine why. The former royal family may have been potential targets for assassinations and other heinous acts."
"It was called 'The Unlikely Alliance', and for good reason. No one would have thought that Vale would have come to their aid after constant skirmishes between unruly troops and corrupted government officials. But the fact that it did gave Menagerie a chance, albeit small, to compete against Atlas and their staunch ally in Mistral. As the most advanced kingdom even to this date, they would and were a powerful enemy to make." Watts went on to shift the holograms again, shifting insignias to a snowy tundra of a landscape with two armies on either side. The banners and colors of Atlas and Mistral on one side, and the same but with Vale and Menagerie on the other. Ben Belladonna was seen leading the charge, a spear in hand and riding a massive stallion. Behind him, a woman wearing a helmet with a closed face mask followed him. Two armies at his back, against two other armies of undoubtedly superior strength.
"Ben was a fantastic tactician and knew how to win the hearts of the men and women fighting at his side. Yes, I said women. On both sides of the war, women had been given more rights and even if it came out of necessity, became equal to the status of men. All you good ladies in the room may as well thank this man for drawing on such a worldwide act."
"Through many battles all over the world, Ben lead the charge of every single one. He bloodied his spear, got wounded alongside his troops, and recovered with them. He became the first General to lead an army of purely faunus, who back then was referred to as abominations. Many false tales and lies had been told about them around this time, calling them to spawn of the Grimm, abominations, and other downright ridiculous lies about their kind. It is said that in this war, they earned the respect of humanity." Watts flicked one hand forward and the hologram changed once again, this time to Ben standing alone beside the injured Queen of Vale as he held his weapon still against the still remaining men of Atlesian forces.
"After many years of never losing a single battle and outsmarting his enemy at every turn, Ben fell to the same unfortunate depths many men fall down eventually after such a long string of victories. He became cocky." Again, the map appeared. "His plan was to take the capital of Atlas, Mantle, and win the war after capturing the Atlesian King. However, as the popular saying went, no plan survived contact with the enemy… or Grimm." The hologram changed once again as Watts weaved out the best personification of a historical event she imagined would ever be weaved. Grimm, the greatest enemy of all men and women, surrounded the remaining forces of both sides. "Something that neither side ever predicted, but should have known was an eventuality. So much war, bloodshed, and chaos for so many years only made the Grimm stronger as time passed by. They waited for their chance to strike, and while the four armies were at its weakest, they attacked without mercy."
It was a disturbing scene that came without warning. Grimm attacked from all sides, killing men and women no matter if they were human, faunus, man, or woman. Yang had never seen a dead body in person before, and though falsely that the more gruesome video games she had played may have prepared her for such a sight. But this was different, it was almost as if she was there on that battlefield at that very moment. It may have been a side effect of Watts' semblance making her feel that way, but it just looked so real that she felt like if she jumped into the hologram she would fall right into that historical battlefield.
"It would have been a massacre, and the forces of humanity, including the faunus, would have been wiped out in the most gruesome way possible," Watts said grimly. His mustache twitching as he reached up to stroke it and shake his head. "However," He said suddenly as all his students started to feel hopeless for a good ending. "The one kingdom that had once sworn to remain neutral in the Great War, had come to assist."
Again, the hologram changed and some of the students even cheered as a new army came into the fold, a fifth. This one belonging to the sandy kingdom of Vacuo.
"To this day, no one knows why the King of Vacuo broke his own promise to remain neutral. Only that if it weren't for his forces, however inexperienced and unproven, gave humanity a fighting chance against the estimated hundred thousand Grimm that had attacked all too suddenly. Atlas no longer saw their once enemies as such and opened their gates to let them into the capital. Faunus and humans fought side by side in the longest and bloodiest battle the world had ever seen. Differences were set aside, commanders who once battled against each other now worked together, even the rivals Benjamin Belladonna and Nicholas Schnee worked together on the battlefield."
Schnee? This time her eyes strayed to Weiss, who seemed just as surprised as everyone else to hear the news. Thankfully, it didn't seem anyone else knew who Weiss was, it was more Blake and her last name that was known amongst the student populace. Still, Yang thought it was crazy how she ended up on a team with not only a Belladonna, but a Schnee as well. Even if she didn't know either of them were as famous as they apparently are until now.
"And in the end due to another unlikely alliance, humanity prevailed," Watts said, raising a hand and commanding silence throughout the room. The fact that he had already gained such control over his students in just the first class went to show. That was it, Yang officially decided, he was an awesome teacher. "That is the summarized version of the Great War, and over the course of this semester, I will teach you more and more about the intricacies of the war and the lessons that we could all learn from it. As our ancestors did, faunus were given the rights they desired as did the female gender. In the end, Benjamin officially surrendered to Atlas, as he no longer felt confident that he could stand a chance with the men he had now. The surrender was accepted, and although Menagerie never managed to gain their independence, it was hardly a defeat."
"After the Great War, it was unanimously agreed upon that monarchy's were no longer a reliable form of government, and so they were dismantled worldwide and gave birth to the council-election democracies we have today. After this, the first council of Atlas officially renamed the kingdom Mantle. The Queen of Vale proposed the idea of the four great academies to train special soldiers specifically trained to cull the population of Grimm around the world, and again a decision was unanimously agreed upon throughout the world. After the Grimm nearly wiped out every standing army on the planet in a single attack, they all needed able bodies to defend not only the kingdoms but humanity as a whole."
"And the rest, as they say, is history," Watts said, turning off all of the mechanical rings with another flick of his hands. As he turned back to face them, all of the rings floated right back into his pockets. "And therefore on, Benjamin Banner Belladonna is and forever will be remembered as the man who lost the Great War, but changed the world forever, and for the better. Now," He peeked at the clock on the wall, checking the time. "Is there any questions?"
Just about every hand shot up in the air, all except Blake and Weiss. Watts chuckled as he looked at each hand and considered his options. Eventually stopping on Ren of all people.
"What happened to the other Kings and Queens of the other kingdoms?" Ren asked when Watts told him to pipe up.
Just as Watts opened his mouth to reply, the bell rang.
"Oh dear," Watts snidely remarked as his students stared at each other with shocked looks in their eyes. "It seems that we are out of time for this class. It seems that I'll have many questions to answer next class." It was almost impossible to believe, had they really sat through forty-five minutes of lecture already!? "Read the first chapter of your textbooks tonight for homework, I will ask questions about it tomorrow so please, don't make it harder on the both of us and just read the book. You are all dismissed. Good day."
"It's over already!?" Yang asked, slumping forward on her elbows as she held her head in her hands. "How?! I feel like we just sat down!"
"No clue," Blake stood up suddenly, grabbed the textbook, and stuffed it into her black backpack. "Let's get to our next class, we have ten minutes to get there. More than enough time to get ourselves situated."
"Ah- wait!" Yang exclaimed, grabbing her own book and chasing after her partner as she brushed past her and made her way to the exit. "Why are you rushing out of here - come on guys, let's go - just sit still!"
Blake sighed explosively as she stopped outside the exit for the rest of her teammates to catch up. Though Yang was the first to follow after her. Her purple eyes met hers and Blake already knew what she was going to ask. "Yes, I'm his descendent, I'd thought that was obvious given that we have the same name."
"No kidding? I didn't notice." Yang joked, chuckling as Blake rolled her eyes. "How come you look like you don't like being the descent of such an awesome dude though? If it weren't for him, the world may be a really different place, and he also made the faunus accepted by everyone!"
"It's not as simple as that," Blake said, for once not seemingly annoyed by her. The way she looked at her said that she didn't know everything. Yang tilted her head and frowned, put off by Blake's sudden contentness with her.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Yang asked, stepping closer to her partner. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Blake said, running a hand down the scar over her eye. "Let's just get to class, okay? It's nothing for you to worry about, my family history is something I know very well already."
"I guess it might have been a little overwhelming having all that attention on you, huh?" Yang asked suddenly.
"What do you mean, human?" Blake asked, narrowing her eyes at her.
"I mean that you don't seem to like having that attention on you," Yang guessed. "You looked uncomfortable as hell as Watts went on to explain everything Ben did in the past. All the other students started looking at you and you kept doing that thing where you touch your brow there."
Blake snapped her hand away from her face as she pointed that out. "Oh? And you suppose you know how it feels now all of a sudden, hm?"
"No, no, I'm not saying that." Yang knew she had pushed a little too hard and took a step back. "Just saying that I'm paying attention. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, and even if I'm right I'm not going to force you to tell me anything."
Blake looked at her like she had two heads on her shoulders. But Yang took it as a victory that it wasn't a look of anything negative. Blake wondered what to say, but eventually, something on the border of polite thanks came out instead of whatever else if Yang had pushed again.
"Come on," Blake said, stepping forward and turning her shoulder to her. "We have Grimm studies next. I know the way."
Yang internally cheered happily.
"Whoo!" Ruby exclaimed as she came out of a burst of rose petals, Weiss at her side and with her hair now in a much more unkempt manner. Probably due to the fact that Ruby had just taken her along for a ride in her semblance. She didn't look pleased. There was a good reason why Yang never wanted to let Ruby take her along for a sprinting run, and that was it. The thought of her hair becoming a tangled mess… infuriated her.
"We made it, sorry about that! Weiss got stuck-"
"I did not get stuck!" Weiss shouted as she patted down her clothes and fixed her hair. "You got too impatient and kidnapped me all the way here with your stupid speed semblance!"
"Haha, oh Weiss, you're hilarious." Ruby laughed, patting her on the back even as Weiss looked at her with the promise of dying her cloak a color no girl liked. "Also, Schnee? As in Nicholas Schnee? Don't tell me that's just a coincidence, is it?"
"Hmph," Weiss crossed her arms. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Hah! No wonder you and Blake had hate at first sight. Even your ancestors hated each other!"
"Excuse me!?" Blake and Weiss shouted at the same time.
"Ugh…" Yang stepped past and grabbed Ruby by her hood, dragging her along with her as she decided to make the leadership choice of going on to their next class. "No arguing before class, new team rule!"
"Whatever." Blake and Weiss said, looking away from each other as they followed their respective partners.
They are more similar than either of them is ever going to admit… Yang slowly realized.
Unfortunately, Yang didn't see Pyrrha and her team get into the classroom that she and her team were now in. It was sad, but she supposed that they couldn't have every class together. At the same time, Yang wondered what was going to happen in this class after the amazing show that Watts put out for them before. Was every professor going to be like that? Most of the other teams that Yang recognized from the last class seemed to look forward to what this next class was going to teach them as well, so she wasn't alone.
"Hey, we got here like, five minutes early, right?" Ruby asked, breaking the silence within their team.
"We did," Blake confirmed. "The professor is late."
"And on our first day, no less." Weiss huffed. "And here I thought every professor in Beacon was going to be as amazing as Mister Watts."
"Pft, don't let him catch you calling him mister," Yang teased. "He might give you detention for it."
"Oh, please. As if he could hear me from all the way back in the other classroom."
"Hey, with all that magic ring stuff he was pulling, I wouldn't be surprised if super hearing was part of his kit," Yang said.
"Kit?" Weiss asked, raising a white eyebrow.
"It's video game terminology," Ruby came to her rescue. "Sorry, it's something I never really had the chance to fix. Sucks that she figured that out first instead of how to raid Howlan, the Claimer of Souls-"
"I figured it out eventually!" Yang indignantly pointed out.
"After hours and hours of wiping and looking for a team that accepts scrubby noobs."
"Hey!" Yang glared at her older sister. "After classes are done today, we are totally one V one-ing and I am going to destroy you."
"Heh, we'll see about that!"
"I'm stuck with this team, I cannot believe that I am stuck with this team," Blake murmured to herself, rubbing a hand down her face as she lamented the night that was already on its way. She knew she'd have to sit through it and watch or at the very least get distracted away from her homework. And if they asked her to join in? Bah, she didn't think she'd be able to make it.
A few minutes of idle chatter later, and even Blake started to get a little impatient. Twenty minutes out of the forty-five minutes per class had already been spent, which made that practically half of the entire class just simply waiting for whoever the teacher was to finally get there to actually give them a lesson. Coming out of the amazing first lecture that Watts had given them just before, this certainly made for quite the buzzkill. It got to the point where people started taking out their scrolls and talking amongst themselves, Blake was even tempted to check the reply that Adam had sent her just a few minutes ago, but instead went to check on the class schedule just to make sure that they were actually in the right class. After triple and later quadruple checking that she and her teammates were in fact in the right class, Blake resigned to resting her head on her left hand, propped up by her elbow.
"Twenty-five minutes later…" Yang echoed as she dribbled a steady beat on the desk before. "Did something happen to the teacher or did we just get really lucky and they just forgot that today they were supposed to teach a class?"
"They couldn't have forgotten," Ruby said. "Even at Signal, a training school, the teachers were never late nor did they ever late. There was only one instance where any teacher in my life was late, and that was mom, Yang."
"Hehe, oh yeah, I remember that." Yang chuckled. "Uncle Qrow finally convinces her to get a job to try and provide for her kids in more ways than just being a huntress, and she didn't even make it to the second class. I think she was doomed to get fired anyway since she apparently scared half of the class she taught into deciding against becoming a huntsman."
"And Uncle Qrow henceforth forbid her from getting any kind of job that worked with small children again. Or any job at that." Ruby laughed alongside her sister. "Good times, sometimes I wonder how we turned out as good as we did."
"Hah! Me too sis, me too."
"Me three…" Blake thought to herself as she sighed through her nose. Well, every place had its ups and downs it seemed, even Beacon Academy itself.
SKKKRT!
Blake's cat ears twitched in the direction of the sound of a big metal box scraping on a concrete floor. Blake had been to her father's factors more than enough times to know exactly what that sounded like. She along with just about every other person in that lecture hall turned their heads to the entrance to the classroom, waiting eagerly to see what would cause that kind of commotion in a place like this.
The sound of a roar had everyone on guard, some even getting out of their seat and backing away from the entrance as the double doors flexed outward as if something big and heavy was pushing on it from the other side. Blake noted that the door was a pull one and not a push, and it seemed that whoever - or whatever on the other side realized that as well.
A muffled curse later, and the doors were kicked and slammed off their hinges. Blake only knew that it was a kick from her angle because she saw the boot that reeled back just as quickly as it pushed in. Following that, a large metal cage holding a Grimm of all things was shoved through the destroyed doors and down the steps that would usually lead into the student seating but instead crashed through the wall down into the wide area that the teacher stood in order to give their lecture. The cage came to an excruciating halt as metal ground against concrete, and as a Grimm Boarbatusk screeched and tried its damnedest to escape the cage, finally did their professor arrive.
"Hello, children!" A man came with a bruise around his eye, bloodied cuts all over his exposed upper body, and a long scorpion tail swinging wildly behind him as he stomped down the steps with no such care in the world. Faunus, Blake realized a moment later. Lunatic quickly after. "I so dearly apologize for being so fashionably late as I am right now!" The faunus exclaimed as he jumped down the last few steps, landing on his tail in the center of the arena with a wild manic grin stretched across the features of his face. His eyes were a bright yellow like hers, but also smaller and more narrowed. His brown hair which might have been combed and cleaned up at one point splayed out in every direction as a flapping ponytail waved behind his back and around his shoulders with each swing of his head. Beyond that, he was dressed like a man who had just woken up. Blake had to narrow her eyes and blink several times before making it out that the man was wearing literal pajamas rather than any kind of formal uniform. He was also barefoot, and as previously noticed, without a shirt as well.
"My good boys and girls, my name is Tyrion Callows!" The faunus exclaimed happily, propping himself up on his stinger and bowing through the air. "I am going to be your Grimm Studies teacher for the next four years, so I certainly hope that you are prepared for me! Hehe, you!"
Blake flinched and nearly fell out of her chair as the man jumped from his position in the center of the room, directly on top of her desk. Yang, Weiss, and Ruby actually did fall from their chairs, a lot more startled from such an unexpected action.
"Belladonna!" Tyrion tilted his head as he watched her. "Interesting, very interesting! I know your father! Good friends, him and I, good friends indeed!"
"W-What?" Blake asked, put off even more than she was before.
"You may call me Uncle Tyrion whenever you'd like!" Tyrion proclaimed, backflipping his way off her desk and back onto the stage below. "Now, where did I leave off? Oh, of course. Allow me to formally introduce myself! Ahem."
The man stood on his two feet and assumed a regal stance. One hand behind his back, chin tilted up, legs pushed together and tail wrapping around his waist. If his only clothes were a pair of pajama pants with little Grimm faces on it, he might have looked the part of a professor.
"My name is Tyrion Callows," The faunus repeated in what sounded like a voice that wasn't insane. "I am going to be your Grimm Studies teacher, I was taught in Mantle Academy some time ago and blah blah blah and I apologize for my oh so unprecedented tardiness! I swear that I shall not fail you all again! I shall forever remember to set my alarm for midnight, not one in the morning. Hehe, being a scorpion faunus is fun, I don't really choose when I get to sleep." The deep, dark bags under his eyes told the class how he felt about that. "I can be up for weeks at a time and not feel tired at all! And then when I do sleep I lose track of time oh so easily. Hmph. Anyhow!"
Tyrion stepped back and slammed a hand on the cage behind him. The Boarbatusk took one look at him and tried to break the cage open in his direction. Though the cage didn't budge even an inch as Tyrion simply held it shut like it was no problem. It must have taken so much strength to so easily be able to overpower a Grimm like that, especially something as aggressive as a Boarbatusk.
"For this first class, I quickly went into the Emerald Forest and hunted one of these magnificent creatures down. It took a moment and I had to set my own firstborn child down as a trap in order to lure it in but lure it in I did!" The way he maniacally laughed after saying that didn't make it easy for Blake to decipher whether or not he was joking, or that he actually set a trap for a Grimm using his actual child. "But boy, did I get more than I bargained for! I was quickly surrounded by not only a drove of Boarbatusks but a pack of Beowolves as well and without any weapons or armour! All I had to defend myself was my aura, grit, teeth, and nails! And of course my stinger as well," Tyrion punched the Boarbatusk in the face with a said stinger, sending it slamming into the other side of the cage with such force that it knocked the entire thing over on its side.
Blake looked to Yang as she helped herself up and she merely shrugged back at her. Was he being serious? If so, the fact that he looked beaten up and bloodied made sense given his situation. But when had such a thing happened? How? Why!? Was this even allowed here?
"Don't look at me," Yang whispered back at her. "I'm not understanding this at all either."
"Which now brings us to this class's very first assignment!" Tyrion bellowed, stretching his arms out to the sides as if presenting something grand and important. "One of you is going to come down here and show us the weak spot on a Boarbatusk and demonstrate in front of the class how to exploit it! Now, do I have any volunteers? Any at all?"
Perhaps it was the suddenness of the situation that discouraged the students from raising their hands. Perhaps it was the fact that their maniac of a teacher looked injured and was bleeding and yet was acting as if nothing was wrong. But it was probably the caged Grimm, snarling and slamming around in the cage on top of everything else that did it. No one wanted to step into the same ring as that thing, much less alongside their new faunus professor.
"No volunteers?" Tyrion prompted, looking over the class with a hand over his eyes. "Good, that means I feel less bad about this. Belladonna! COme on girl, I know you want to prove yourself! Come, come!"
"WAIT!" Tyrion exclaimed as Blake stood up out of pure instinct. "You need to get your huntress gear first." He suddenly pointed out. "Go, go! Class ends in exactly fifteen minutes and forty-seven seconds and I have to go fetch another Grimm for my next class by the time five strikes! Go on girl, go!"
Blake had no time to think. Yang dove out of her way as she vaulted over her partner and practically sprinted to the locker room that she deposited her weapons in after initiation. She nearly ran back out after just grabbing it, but knew that all she'd be doing fighting in her school uniform would be tearing and damaging it. She never got dressed in her huntress outfit as quickly as she did just then, and made her way back to the classroom with still minutes to spare.
"Good, good!" Tyrion clapped as she jumped down three steps at a time. "I lied, by the way, you had an five extra minutes. But it's good to see such a sense of urgency in the coming generation of huntresses!"
Blake glared at the professor as she stopped at the edge of the stage. She wanted to say something, anything, but she stopped herself as soon as she felt her voice vibrate in her throat. Frankly, she didn't think it was a good idea to say anything to this man, even after what he just pulled on her.
"Woo, you can do this Blake!" Yang exclaimed suddenly. Blake looked over her shoulder to see her leader - and just thinking about that made her want to throw up - alongside Ruby and even Weiss, waving little flags matching each of their colors with their team letters stitched into them.
"When did you make those!?" Blake asked, thoroughly embarrassed as she pulled her sight away from them.
"They didn't!" Tyrion answered for them in a laugh. "I brought them with me in preparation for such a day! Don't ask how I made them, let's just say I asked a favor that shall never be repaid."
"Ugh…" Blake hardly even knew this man who was apparently acquainted with her father, Ghira. Somehow, after looking at the scorpion tail wrapped around his waist, she had a good idea on how exactly they came to get on good enough terms for Tyrion to single her out like this in an effort to prove herself early to her classmates.
"Now, now, I am sure you know where the weak point of a Boarbatusk is," Tyrion said as he stood back next to the cage, one hand on the lever to open it while the other remained hidden behind his back. "But how will you exploit it, I wonder? Do be sure to explain to the class how you did it, you will get graded on it as well, just so you know."
"What!?"
"And begin!" Tyrion slammed the lever down and the Boarbatusk came rushing out in a screech.
Wow, that ended just at the perfect moment hm? I don't want to take away from Watts's history lesson but having Blake go through her Boarbatusk moment right away. No need to rush things, ring? This is book writing stuff, I don't need to rush. It just means more content and damn, did I have a surprising abundance of it just now Lol. Don't really know how all of that came out of my brain, but it did and now here we are.
T w itter . com (slash) genatools
P a treon . com (slash) Genatools