Author's Notes: I'm sorry this took a while to get out. I haven't been feeling well for the past month. This is a longer chapter than usual but read away.
Chapter 14
Deep in the snow-covered wilderness of Atlas, the sound of rapidly crunching snow could be heard. A middle-aged looking man, whose appearance belies his age, is running through dark woods being chased by creatures of grimm. On his right shoulder rests a two-handed sword, a zweihänder, with his right hand on the handle. He is a tall, muscular, handsome man. He has bright grey hair and blood red eyes. He wears a black trench coat and a brown armored leather vest underneath. Underneath the vest is a black button shirt. He also wears black pants and black snow boots. He wears metal rerebraces, vambraces on both arms.
Behind him the sound of crunching snow could be heard, a lot of it. The man could hear two different sets of crunches approaching him quickly. The lone hunter grabbed the handle with his other hand and turned around swinging his large sword. The sword met the black body of a Beowolf. The werewolf grimm was easily split in half. The sword continued its fatal arc and cut the other beowolf with ease. The man used the momentum of his swing to return to the original direction he was running and continued running.
"Ten," he said calmly in a rough voice. 'I know the briefing said there was large pack roaming around, but this is the largest pack I've ever seen, at least fifty of them, even just thirty is unusually high, but this ridiculous,' the seasoned hunter thought. He glanced behind him for a second. He caught the murderous red eyes of the Beowolves behind him. They were gaining on him. He then burst into a clearing, the light of the full moon illuminating the clearing. The man made his way halfway across the clear before turning around facing the pack. The abnormally large pack of Beowolf burst through the trees. The remaining member contained thirty-seven regular Beowolfs and three Alphas. The Alphas are twice the size of the hunter and have more bone spikes coming out its back. Most of the pack stopped except for three, which were the smallest members of the pack, barely stood four feet tall. The three grimm continued to charge the grey-haired man. 'Young ones,' he thought with a sigh. When the three werewolf grimm were within striking distance, the man took a breath. Then with insane speed, which one wouldn't expect with a large size of the weapon and man's body, he swung his blade and moved forward at the same time. The three young grimm were slain in just a couple seconds, their body split in half falling to the ground in front of the hunter. "Thirteen," the seasoned hunter commented.
After killing the three reckless grimm, a growl was heard and ten beowolf charged with an Alpha behind them. The red eye man readied himself. He held his blade by his head at a slight angle pointed towards the creatures of grimm. He sliced the head of a beowolf in half the second the creature entered his striking range. The hunter jumped back immediately to avoid a claw coming from his right. "Fourteen," he counted. Then grabbed the part of zweihänder he could grab, above the guard, and then stabbed forward, impaling one beowolf through the head. He shouted and inserted more force into his stab. He felt one more impact knowing he got another one. "Sixteen," he kept counting the slain. The grey-haired man was about to pull up when he force tugs forward. He looked over the grimm to find the Alpha holding his weapon. 'A seasoned Alpha, great, it recognized the threat and is making a move to get rid of it,' he realized.
The hunter was about to pull back when heard a growl to his right. He let go of his blade and leaned back. A black claw sailed in front of his face. The seasoned hunter displayed amazing agility for his size by quickly backflipping away from the grimm attacking him. The beowolf didn't let up and continued its assault. The man continued to evade the wild slashes the werewolf threw at him. The grim then tried to thrust its claw forward in an attempt to stab its supposed prey. The grey-haired man sidestepped it and clenched his fist. The hunter took his chance as the grimm was still reeling from its last attack. He channeled and refined his aura into his fist and punched the grimm in the head. The beowolf's head flew clean off its shoulders into the other members of its pack. The body slumped to the ground. "Seventeen," he said.
The hunter saw the Alpha tear his sword from its dead pack members and threw it far away. The man dropped his stance and moved his body to a position that looked like he was holding a spear. The Alpha grunted and the remaining member of its squad charged. The hunter concentrated and in a flash of green light and spear made of metal appeared in his hands. The spear that appeared to be seven feet long and is shaped like a European spear. Using the increased range, the man made three quick stabs at the grimm in front of him. The spear stabbed through the stomach, heart, and throat. "Eighteen," the man said. Immediately pulling out of the grimm, which dropped to the ground dead, he then slashes to his right. The head of the spear slashed across the eyes of the unfortunate grimm that was caught in its arc. The hunter jumped away from the blind grimm. The werewolf grimm yipes in pain and swings its arms wildly. It hit one of its pack that was nearby its claws sinking into its head. The blind grimm think it got the man stabbed its other claw into its fellow pack member's head and pulled. A horrible tearing sound was heard as the unfortunate beowolf's head was torn off its body. The Alpha saw this growled in anger and ran forward. It grabbed its blind pack member's head and tore it off. "Twenty," the hunter said. 'Seasoned, but a coward,' he thought.
The hunter swung the butt of his spear at the closest grimm knocking it over. He then proceeded to stab the other regular beowolf through the head. He pulled his spear out and turns it around to stabbed the grimm on the ground. The Alpha was already charging at this point. The man also heard some more of the pack approaching him. He held the spear in one hand parallel to the ground. He turned around channeling his aura into his spear. He threw it as soon as he faced the pack. The spear flew through the air with a green trail behind it. It went through the closest Alpha, right down the middle, and continued to fly at the charging Beowolves. It went through three more werewolf grimm before impaling the ground. "Twenty-six," he said.
The man held his hand above his head and shaped them as if he was holding something. He concentrated and then in another flash of green light a large two-handed double-sided axe appeared in his hand. He brought the axe down on the beowolf that ran into striking range splitting it in half. "Twenty-seven," the hunter said. He then quickly picked the axe up and spun it in his hands. The red-eyed hunter spun back and swung his axe catching three Beowolves in the deadly arc. The parts of the freshly slain fell to the ground. "Thirty," he counted. The man then lifted his axe up and winded it back. He then threw it at the second Alpha behind the charging pack. It hit the Alpha in the head. The force of the hit knocked it onto to its back.
The last Alpha roared as it charged with the rest of the pack following in suit. The seasoned hunter to a calming breath and spread his arms out. He closed his hands slightly to mimic as if he was grabbing a cylinder shaped object. In a flash of green light, two scimitars swords materialized in both of his hands. 'Twenty left, can't waste more than a second on one, even with my massive aura supply, if they overwhelm and pinned down it's over,' the thought crossed his mind. The gray hair man flipped the scimitar in his left hand. He then ran into the woods behind him.
He ran for a few minutes until he heard one of the grimm right behind. The hunter changed his direction toward a tree. The werewolf creature behind him gave chase. The gray-haired man ran up the tree. The Beowolf unable to see past the hunter muscular build didn't see the tree till the last moment. It slammed into the tree and slid down. It never got the chance to get up as a scimitar pierce the back of its skull. The red-eyed man then pulled his sword from the recently slain and turned for his dual swords to meet another creature of darkness. The blades sliced cleanly through the skull. The man shifted his body enough for the new corpse to fly over his shoulder. Another Beowolf that caught up swung a claw at the seasoned hunter. The veteran ducked under the strike and then moved under the creature. He then proceeds to punch and push the grimm over his shoulder on the ground behind him. The veteran quickly charged his aura into his foot and stomps the grounded werewolf, crushing its head instantly.
Then another Beowolf jumped at the seasoned hunter with an outstretched claw. The veteran dropped the scimitar in his right hand and began turning. He wrapped his arm around the outstretched limb and held on. He spun in a full circle and threw the creature at its fellow pack members. He managed to knock down four members. The gray-haired man crouched down to picked up his off the ground and slashed upwards to meet a werewolf grimm. He split the grimm in half and pushed off his back legs. The veteran pushed through the halves of the freshly split creature of darkness and extended the scimitar in his left hand out. He sliced through the head of a grimm right behind the corpse. He rolled as soon as he hit the ground. As soon as the red-eyed man was upright he threw the scimitar in his left hand with all his might. It pierced through the chest of one Beowolf and went through the head of another. A bark was heard as the Alpha came into view.
"Thirty-seven," he said as he stood up. The remaining grimm proceeded to surround the hunter. He sighed in response. Then the grey-haired man then proceeded to lightly toss his remaining scimitar. The sword dissipated in a flash of green light. The seasoned hunter held his hand in front of him parallel to the ground. He grabbed at the air and in a flash of light his original weapon, the zweihänder, materialized. The man then placed on his shoulder. He heard the Alpha growl in anger. The veteran smirked at the reaction. 'What, did you think that the last you had seen of my most beloved weapon,' he thought. Then the red-eyed man readied himself. The Alpha roared and the pack charged him at one time.
The veteran jumped high into the air and angled his sword perpendicular to the ground. The grimm stopped to look up at the man in the air. He then proceeded to fall and impale the Beowolf farthest from the Alpha through the spine. Grabbing his weapon in both hands lifted his weapon up with the corpse still on his weapon. He then slashed his sword at the Alpha viciously launching the dead pack member at it. The corpse hit the Alpha knocking it onto its back leaving it in a daze. The hunter charged the remaining pack members. The pack members snarled and charged in return. The grey-haired man jumped on the back if the closest werewolf grimm and then leaped off his back to slice the Beowolf behind it in half. Channeling aura into legs and using his powerful leg muscles he pushed off the ground with tremendous force. He held his blade parallel to the ground and sliced through the four creatures of darkness in the path of the blade. He turned around and slashed while turning. The blade met a werewolf grimm, slicing it to piece. The body parts landing behind the veteran.
The man spun his two-handed in one hand then held it up right angled slightly away from his head against his chest. The remaining six Beowolfs continued their charge desperate to kill the hunter. The grey-haired man waited from them to get within striking range. He waited till a few of them were relatively close to each other. He crouched down again and channeled aura in his legs then held his sword parallel to the ground. Once he saw thee within a relatively straight line pushed off at incredible speed. The blade slices clean through the three werewolves –like creatures landing a few feet behind the farthest. The remaining three regular Beowolf turned to meet their enemy. He then turned around to impale the closest Beowolf. He decided to keep moving forward and impale the second to last regular Beowolf. The veteran lifted his sword up throwing the corpses behind.
He then jabbed the sword into the ground and cracked his fist looking at his next target, the last regular Beowolf. "I don't need a weapon to take care of you," the veteran said. He then took a boxing stance and began bouncing on the balls of his feet. The werewolf grimm growled and lunged at the grey-haired man. The red-eyed man easily dodged the attack and charged aura into his fists. He then threw a couple of jabs with his right hand, then threw a left hook, and finally an uppercut to the creature's jaw. The enhanced force of uppercut sent the Beowolf into the air to land on its back. Before it could get up the seasoned hunter got on top of it and put his hand on the snout. The grey-haired man then pushed the snout into the head with a sickening crunch. The werewolf grimm's body spasmed for a second and then laid still.
The seasoned hunter walked over to his zweihänder and pulled it out of the ground. He then turns to the last remaining member of the pack, the Alpha. He points his large sword at the Alpha as it was getting up. After the creature of darkness got up, the red-eyed man threw his sword up, the sword spinning as it was flying upwards. Once it reached the maximum height it could go, the man jumped up to his beloved weapon. The Alpha recovered from its dazed look toward the direction it thought the veteran was at, only to find nothing. Before it knew what happen a figure came down in front of him and its vision turned black. The large werewolf creature split into two parts and the two halves fell to the ground facing opposite directions. The seasoned hunter sighed in relief.
"Fifty, well that's done," the seasoned hunter said as he pulled out his scroll. He walked over and leaned against the closest tree then stabbed his sword into the ground. He glanced around to confirm if it was safe for the moment. He spotted one of the scimitars still stuck in the dissipating corpse of a Beowolf. The veteran snapped his fingers and the scimitar disappeared in a flash of green light. 'Should still be within range for my spear to dissipate as well,' he thought. The grey-haired man opened his scroll. He punched in the code to unlock the security lock. The first message that popped was "Welcome back Douglas Evergreen."
"Open Notes, current hunt to do list," Douglas ordered. A beep came from the handheld device. Then the screen changed to a white screen with three sentences on it. He pointed the index finger on his right hand at the end of the first sentence. A blinking line with a virtual keyboard popped up on screen. "Okay," he sighed. "Large pack of Beowolfs, check, fifty members in total," he said as he typed in how many he faced. He slid his finger down to the next line to check his other kills. "Gathering of Ursa, check, a total of twenty showed up," he confirmed. He then looked at the last line of text on the screen. "Herd of Woolly Goliaths, check, fifteen of them slain, that's everything," he said with an upbeat tine at the end. The elderly hunter stretched his back.
"Finally, after half a week later in the frozen wilderness I'm done," Douglas said with a smile. He grabbed his Zweihänder and placed it on his shoulder. "I'm out pretty far," he commented. He looked at the stars. "If I keep heading east I should hit Glacial Cove in a day, then head south from there I should reach Evergreen city by sundown," he assured as he began his journey back to civilization.
Two and a half days later around midday, Hunter's Association
"Another amazing job, well done, Evergreen Sir," the female operator said.
"It's nothing I'm just doing my job," Douglas said scratching the back of his head.
"Well here's your payment, just sign here," the operator said as she placed an envelope and piece of paper that confirmed the job was finished on the desk. The veteran signed the paper and grabbed the envelope. He opened it to investigate the contents.
"All seems good," the elderly man commented.
"So where are you going now if may ask," the operator asked.
"Oh to my dear sister's to rest for a week, then I'm off to Beacon," the grey-haired man answered.
"Say hello to Lady Elizabeth for me," the operator sad waving her hand.
"Of course Jasmine," Douglas said waving back as he left. As soon as he left the building he got attack by a mob of people. There were so many different voices saying many different things ranging from an autograph for kids to pictures to hunting advice. He could barely hear all the questions do to the sheer amount of people. "People quiet," he shouted and the mob went silent. He sighed "I want autographs and pictures to my left and questions to my right," as he gestured to the spots and so two long lines were formed. 'I hate being famous,' he thought. He proceeded to answer questions while taking picture and sign autographs on various objects like pictures, toys, books, etc.
"Sir Evergreen, how do you do that trick with your weapons," was a random hunter's question.
"What trick," the legend asked back.
"Where you summon your weapon," the hunter answered. In a flash of green light, the zweihänder appeared in Douglas' hand for a second then dissipated.
"It's a simple trick really, but it only works with weapons you bonded with, what I mean by that are weapons you have either built yourself, or family heirlooms which of course react to blood relatives only, or have fought with the same weapon for years, that's the only condition, now once that filled you need to just imagine your weapon in your hand and concentrate your aura into the shape of the weapon, it's impractical at first and takes half an hour and a large amount of aura for your weapon to first materialize in your hand, once you get it down it only takes a second for minimal aura consumption, it just takes practice," Douglas explained. He took a second to take a picture.
"Is it true I can summon it from anywhere," the hunter asked.
"No that's a myth, the maximum range of this trick is thirty feet," the veteran answered.
"Why do you only go to Beacon to train hunters in training," a curious journalist asked.
"Preference really, I have trained students at Shade, Haven, and Atlas academy before, so don't say I only go to Beacon, just…," he stopped to find the right words. "I feel more at home there than I do anywhere else, which is funny cause I live here in Atlas, I guess those few years of being a professor there left quite an impact on me and I'm just comfortable there," the seasoned hunter answered.
"Thank you, sir," the journalist said as he was writing.
"Your welcome," Douglas nodded his head. After an hour of answering questions, autograph signing, and picture taking he was done. He had other things to do so he needed to end this, otherwise, the lines would only get longer. "People I'm sorry to announce that I'm done with questions and autographs for today," he shouted. The crowd groaned in response. "I need to make a run to the CCT for an errand, and then I'm going to my sister place to rest, I just got back from a hunt I would like my rest like any other hunter," he continued to shout. The crowd broke apart leaving the seasoned hunter alone. 'Finally, now to talk to Ozzy,' he thought.
Ten minutes later, in a private booth
Douglas sat in the lone chair in the small private booth. He already told the AI assistant what he wanted. It told him it would take just a minute once her closed to door. A screen pooped up on the terminal saying "Please wait." The veteran hummed for the wait till the screen changed to a man in green sitting behind a desk drinking coffee. "Oh Ozzy," he said happily dragging out the nickname. He could see Ozpin sigh with a twitch of his eyebrow.
"Douglas, how many times do I have to ask you to not call me by that ridiculous moniker," Ozpin asked looking up at the screen.
"I think it's in the thousands by this point, but what's wrong with a little nickname between old friends," Douglas said.
"May I ask the nature of this call," Ozpin asked.
"You may," Douglas said.
"Douglas," Ozpin said sternly with an unamused look.
"Sorry, but you know what I'm going to ask for, also what's wrong with me calling an old friend," Douglas said his smile dropping a bit.
"Nothing, but you have your moments, I'll send you the reports of the first years this afternoon, I have to end this call soon, I have a class to teach, so when are we expecting you," Ozpin said ending in a question.
"Thank you, I'm going to stay at my sister's for a week to rest from my latest hunt and then…," Douglas said ending early to think when he'll show up. "If I'm counting this right I should be in Vale either the last Sunday or Monday of this month so you can tell the student body I'll be there a little ahead of schedule, also before I leave any particular intriguing student among the first years," Douglas said.
"I'll be sure to inform them, there are a few students that stand out, also one or two that will bring up some old pain," Ozpin said with a sad tone.
"What do you mean," the veteran asked his face became serious.
"You'll see, all I can say is that I'm sorry," the headmaster answered taking a sip of his mug. Douglas opened his scroll to look at the time.
"Oh looks like you have to get going, please contact me later this way I can give my report on these first years," Douglas said.
"Of course, say hello to Elizabeth for me," Ozpin said as the screen turned black.
"Old pain," Douglas said confused. He got up and left for his sisters.
Hours later around 8 pm
Douglas stands in front of the green front door of a two-story house. The comment of old pain kept bugging him the entire journey here. 'I guess I'll figure out eventually, Elizabeth will bug me if I looked distressed till I say what's bothering me,' he commented in his mind. The veteran rang the doorbell. After a minute, the door opened slowly to reveal an attractive middle-aged woman. She has yellow eyes and long light blue hair that goes to her waist. She has fair white skin and a slender body. She wears a pale green nightgown.
"Hello dear brother," the woman said with a warm smile. She gestured for him to walk in.
"Hello Elizabeth, Jasmine from the Hunter's Association and Ozpin say hi," Douglas said returning the smile. He walked into the house. It's a modest home with nothing standing out.
"That was nice of them, I was just about to head to bed," Elizabeth said.
"I'm sorry for disrupting you," Douglas said apologetically.
"It's all good my dear brother," Elizabeth said locking the door.
"How's my niece doing, is she enjoying Atlas Academy," the veteran asked.
"She enjoys it; she became the leader of a team and is getting along with her teammates," the blue-haired woman said in a happy tone.
"That's good, well I'll going to stay up for a bit longer, if you ever need me, I'll be in the office," Douglas said.
"Of course, good night brother," Elizabeth said walking up the stairs.
"Goodnight Elizabeth," Douglas said. The veteran grabs himself a quick bite to eat before he heads to the office on the first floor. He turns on the light with it blinding him for a second. The office contains a wooden desk with two computer screens on it. On the right wall are two three-story bookshelves filled with different kinds of books. On the left wall was a widescreen TV. Douglas closed the door and walked behind the desk and sat in the leather rolling chair. He placed his scroll the desk. He turned on the computer and waited for a second for it to boot up. A screen popped up asking for a password to which he typed in. The desktop popped up with many icons filling the screen, covering half the screen. Almost every icon the screen was a folder containing information on various things like the types of Grimm, Kingdom histories and Statuses, Academy statuses, Amber's status, Rumors, etc. He clicked the icon on the screen that said messages. It pulled up a window that is separated into two shapes with many different options at the top. The shape on the right side is a rectangle with many different emails names and the right is a huge square displaying the entire email. The seasoned hunter spotted the new email from his old friend labeled "First-year report." He clicked on it and the square contained five folders named after the new teams of Beacon. The folders were named from top to bottom "CRMN (Crimson), GALE, CRDL (Cardinal), JNPR (Juniper), and RWBY (Special team and sorry)." The last one caused the veteran to tilt his head. 'I'll leave that one for last,' he thought.
He copied the folders to the desktop. Then began opened them up starting from top to bottom and study them. It contained their transcripts, combat records and short videos of them fighting during initiation picture of the person and their weapon of choice. The first two teams he didn't see much potential. 'Not bad teams to be honest, just mediocre overall, but I have been surprised before, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, I don't see much use in training them personally right now, though won't mind answering any questions they have,' he evaluated in his mind. He opened a text document and typed in his report and did so for the rest of the teams.
Douglas opened CRDL's folder. He saw the first document's name and groaned. "Winchester," he groaned. He was once hired by the Winchester family to tutor Cardin in combat. He agreed due to the very generous amount of money they paid and he saw some potential in the kid coming from a long line of soldiers. Sadly, what he got was an annoying disciple that wouldn't listen to anything sensible. 'Comes from a long line of warriors, so he's blessed with a nice A- rank aura, but the punk things the only thing that matters is power, while not a bad thought against the Grimm, but against a human or faunus with a modicum of speed, it fails. Well, at least the money I got could be compensation, and seeing him now he hasn't changed all that much, can' t believe the little punk is a leader now, a mace capable of causing explosions, nice weapon, but its effectiveness is halved thanks to its user's mentality rather than his build,' he thought. He checked the other members of the team. 'Russell Thrush, B+ aura rank, actually looks like a decent student and fighter from his transcripts, dual dagger wielder, looks like they hold dust in them, though not adept in tactics, looks like a punk like his leader, needs to focus on speed and precision strikes rather brute force,' he evaluated. 'Okay, note to self, this entire team looks like punks, it will be fun to toss them around when I get the chance, Dove Bronzewing, B- aura rank, swords with a gun in the guard or at the base of the blade depending how you look at it, allowing him to fight at range and weaken his opponent before needing to fight at close range, though it looks like the gun itself doesn't have much stopping power, oh well have some kind of ranged weapon is better than none, even if it's weak, as for transcripts and combat techniques, he's average,' he thought as he moved on. 'Finally, Sky Lark, weakest aura with a rank of C+, wields a combination of a halberd and a gun, the barrel and head of the halberd are on the same end, definitely fires a bigger round than his partner, but unsure how big, can slice and fire at the same time making sure the what every behind his first target will either dies or backs off, it will give him some space to ready himself for another assault, as one would expect from a C rank his combat skills are good, the only thing holding him back could be his mentality or a bad teammate or leader,' he ended his thought on the individual members. 'Average aura rank… B+, mostly simple weapons, that's not bad though and honestly I prefer simple weapons to weapons of today, a decent mix between speed and power weapons, would recommend drilling leader on how to effectively lead a team, only member that stands out, in my opinion, is Russell Thrush,' he ended his thought on the team.
Douglas closed CRDL's folder and that moment his scroll went off. He picked up his scroll to see Ozpin calling him. He answered it and immediately said "Give me a second Ozzy," the veteran said. He quickly hooked it up to his computer. The monitor he wasn't using now showed the image of Ozpin. "There we go," Douglas said with a smile.
"So am I late," Ozpin asked.
"Yeah, I got only two teams left, JNPR and RWBY," Douglas answered.
"Looks like I managed to show up at an opportune time, these are the one I wanted to hear from you personally," Ozpin said resting his head on the top of his hands.
"Well then, let's look at the leader, Jaune Arc, looks like the Arc boy is all grown up, son of Granite Arc and Grandson of Maximilian Arc, I've always been on good terms with the family, still never understood why they never asked me to train him, I guess they just had their own way, honestly he looks like a wimp, I think a fly is more intimidating than him," Douglas said scratching the bridge of his nose.
"Yes, he definitely doesn't have much of a presence, but I see potential," Ozpin remarked.
"I say yes and no," Douglas commented as he looked at the transcript and footage. "He does seem to have the ability to lead a team even against an enemy they can't even drive back, but…," he took a breath. "His transcripts and his actual ability to fight don't match up, he's mostly cowering in fear or on his ass and making my favorite student Pyrrha do all the work," he said turning towards Ozpin. "I think he lied on his transcripts to get into Beacon, then again knowing the family he's coming from, he has some expectation to live up to and probably felt some pressure to live up to them," Douglas said.
"Indeed, being born into his family sounds like a dream, but is a heavy burden of expectations to live up too," the headmaster remarked. Douglas returned to the report.
"Of course knowing his family, his aura rank doesn't surprise me, an amazing A+, also despite what I say about his combat capabilities, he was probably drilled by his father and grandfather, two amazing fighters, hell, Maximilian wrote a good book on swordplay, I digress, knowing his family, he is in fact an amazing fighter in the making, just need the right training partner and mentality, I know his weapon is more than likely his family weapon, Crocea Mors, just your basic shield and sword combo, but is still a very reliable weapon in the right hands," Douglas said. He leaned back with a small smile. "Though what are you gonna do, I still fairly sure he lied," the veteran asked.
"As long as he shows promise and does what is required I won't say anything," Ozpin said.
"Well, your school, you do what you want, but just make sure Glynda or Ironwood don't figure out or you'll end up in deep trouble my friend," Douglas warned.
"I'm fully aware, Glynda doesn't know and James will most likely ignore him," Ozpin assured his friend.
"Hmm, well it's his ass on the line here and plus yours if Glynda or Ironwood figures out you've known the entire time," Douglas warned.
"I know, now please continue the report, Miss Valkyrie is next," Ozpin said. His friend sighed to the headmaster's response.
"Nora Valkyrie, like her leader has an amazing aura rank, A+, wields a mix of a grenade launcher and a two-handed hammer, superb amount of power in that weapon, though needs to be careful where she's firing the weapon, because firing her grenades in a group fight could end up doing more damage to her teammates than to her enemies, plus with her…," Douglas stopped think of a word. He stares at the transcript and footage to find a word for Nora. "Unpredictable personality, there is a fair possibility of her causing damage to everyone, friend or foe, though this weapon has the power to fight off large grimm or distract them for a member of the team to land a crucial blow," the veteran evaluated. "Jaune has his work cut out for him," Douglas commented.
"He has help from her partner Lie Ren, the two are old friends from the way they interact and he should be able to keep in line," Ozpin said.
"Lie Ren, I'll get to him soon, now…," he stopped as he opened the next folder. A large smile formed on his face. "Ah Pyrrha Nikos, the champion of Mistral, one of my former students and one of my favorite, blessed with A aura rank, a great mentality when it comes to fighting, prefers skill and speed to raw strength, though not lacking in any strength, though in all the time I was privately tutoring her she has never beat me, an amazing huntress in the making with a bright future ahead of her," Douglas said with pride. Ozpin remained silent with a small smile on his face. "Her weapons of choice are Miló and Akoúo. Akoúo is small durable shield with bladed edges that can be throw, Miló is a weapon multiple forms, a javelin, xiphos form, and a rifle form, allowing her to fight at all ranges, her rifle can apply pressure and weaken a target from afar forcing an enemy to move in close forcing a close combat situation, her specialty, she can keep an opponent just out of reach with the javelin or perform a series of slash with her xiphos," Douglas evaluated.
"No mention of her semblance," Ozpin asked.
"She prefers to keep a secret for some reason. I guess that's the same reason you don't put semblances in your reports, some people don' want the world to know their semblance," Douglas said.
"Unlike you," Ozpin remarked.
"Find me a person who can stop me from negating their aura and semblance then we'll talk about me keeping it a secret," Douglas retorted. Ozpin didn't say anything. "On to Lie Ren," the veteran said as he pulled up Ren's file. Douglas was quiet for five minutes.
"Something wrong, did I forget something," Ozpin asked.
"No, I just feel bad for him, in a team blessed with high aura ranks, his B rank is out of place, plus with his small weapons, twin SMGs with small blades on the front means he lacks some serious power in firearms and melee weapons, he has plenty of speed though. He also lacks some durability and stamina, becoming easily tired and taken out with just a hard hit or two. I would recommend him to be used as a scout rather than be used on the front line. His aura usage is very good though but doesn't entirely make up his lack of firepower and a strong melee weapon. In long drown out fights against grimm, in my experience, you want to keep as much aura as possible to save you from fatal wounds. He does appear to a level-headed individual with the ability to come up with strategies so he could be the team's strategist if Jaune is ever knock out or killed in the worst case scenario," Douglas evaluated.
"So, how are they as a team overall," Ozpin asked.
"Average aura rank… A, only one member is lacking in offensive power, one could pose a danger to the team itself, other than that I don't have any real complaints, a good team overall with potential to grow, learn to effectively use its members and they should have no problems," Douglas ended as he closed the folder. He pulled up team RWBY's folder and saw six members. He raised an eyebrow and looked to his old friend.
"Like I said special," Ozpin said. Douglas went to the top file and his mode saddened. "Like I also said sorry," the headmaster said knowing what he saw.
"Ruby Rose, daughter of Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao Long…, she looks too much like her mother," Douglas said. He took a deep breath. "Following in her mother's footsteps are we," the veteran said. He looked away to a picture on the wall. It's a fairly old picture containing him when he was younger hugging four individuals from behind with a smile on his face. One of the individuals has a smile on her face and bears a striking resemblance to Ruby with a cloak similar to Ruby's except white. "Ten years since she died," Douglas said his voice breaking a bit.
"I know you and Summer we're close," Ozpin said sadly.
"Yeah, she was like a daughter to me," Douglas said rubbing his eyes. "On to her daughter though, like her mother has an amazing A+ aura rank, uses a giant scythe that also functions like rifle, fires huge rounds with great stopping power, combined with a speed semblance, she can cover a lot options and slay most enemies, that aren't heavily armored, staying mobile is a great thing for since scythes aren't good for defense, a little…," he stopped looking at the footage. He stares as Ruby charges a Death Stalker and watches her combating the Nevermore and Magaru. "Reckless, though is kind-hearted and won't leave her teammates for dead, her plan against was kinda of stupid, but it worked so I can't really complain, I see great potential in her as leader and hunter," Douglas evaluated.
"Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, Daughter of Fredrick Schnee, also a former student of mine," Douglas said. "Fredrick paid me good money to train her and her sister, Winter," the veteran said.
"For a person who is known not to be very social in public, is hired often for private tutoring," Ozpin said.
"I love to help the younger generation grow and I do enjoy helping people in general, I try my best to help them grow not just as fighters, but as people as well, it just up to the individual if they want to grow," Douglas said. "Back to Weiss, I really enjoyed my time with Weiss, has a great aura rank of A, she's smart, listens to whatever I said, improves quickly, and understands her strengths and weaknesses in a fight," the veteran said. "Her weapon, Myrtenaster, is made for speed and precision, with dust vial held in the revolving chamber, her ability to use dust makes up for lack of striking power in her weapon, plus her semblance is multipurpose, allowing for great mobility, offensive, like holding a foe in place, and defensive use, like blocking a strike, and she openly uses this with dust to improve its uses, she is already a good and smart fighter, but could still improve," Douglas evaluated. He moves onto the next document.
"Blake Belladonna, don't know why she hides her faunus traits but she must have her reasons, aura rank A-, amazing for a faunus, though being a black cat faunus helps. Very agile like one would expect of a cat faunus, doesn't seem to have much physical strength, but defiantly more than Weiss though, quite a unique weapon she has," Douglas said. He stares at the footage of Blake using Gambol Shroud. "A very complex weapon with multiple forms, the sheath is a cleaver as well, a katana, plus can still wield the cleaver along with the katana, also a kusarigama, with a pistol in the guard of the katana," he described the weapon.
"Quite an impressive weapon isn't it," Ozpin commented.
"Indeed, seems to have an answer to almost every situation, though her firearm is lacking in stopping power, it seems to fit for her, though I do worry if another member of her team has to wield that weapon if the situation calls for it, I believe there is a special class for that too, I see potential in her," Douglas evaluated.
"Yes, we hold it towards the beginning of the year," Ozpin said. Douglas moved onto the next document.
"Yang Xiao Long…," he sighed closing his eyes.
"Something wrong," Ozpin asked his old friend.
"Not particularly, just I know who she belongs too…," the veteran sighed. "If she's anything like her father, then she is a great fighter, but a bit of a brazen individual. I hope she takes more after her mother than her father though, looks like Raven with Taiyang's hair color. Though in Taiyang's case he mellowed out as he got older and right now is a bit depressing, understandably so, but still depressing," Douglas said. He takes a breath before his evaluation. "Well, takes after her father with an A rank aura, seems to rely more on raw power rather than strategy, her weapon seems to follow her style as well, a metal cestus with shotgun capabilities, great offensive power, almost no defense, loves her hair, I feel bad for those Ursa, unknowingly pissed her off by cutting off her hair, her father wasn't much different when he was her age, but I broke him to become more of a strategist, so I can break her as well, then she can really improve," Douglas said. He moved onto the next individual and sighed in a mix of happiness and sadness.
"Hitomi Viola Hunters, the lone fox faunus, she's grown up, so she's changed her name last name and added a middle name," Douglas said ending in a question.
"Yes, it appears she to love her adopted family well enough to change her name," Ozpin answered.
"A red fox faunus, the fox equivalent to a grey wolf faunus. She has an A- aura rank, weird fox faunus were usually an agile species of faunus, but here she is wielding a melee weapon twice her size, I can't complain about the rifle, packs enough punch to blow a grimm's head clean off its shoulders, a faunus should build their weapon and fighting style around their natural abilities, she should be using a lighter weapon instead of that nodachi, but those are my two cents, she can do what she wants, a good shot though, she seemed petrified of that dragon grimm," Douglas said.
"She was, its name is Magaru, the way she reacted, it's very possible it was among the grimm that slaughtered the fox faunus," Ozpin said.
"Well, I hope she gets over that, but she doesn't seem to be bothered by other species of grimm though, so that's good, one would think she wouldn't want to go down the path of a huntress after what happened to her, but here she is," Douglas said as he opened the next document. He just remembered that Ozpin said Magaru's name. "Wait, how do you know its name and it actually has a name," the veteran asked.
"Yes, intriguing that it has one and as for how, it attacked Beacon to get to the last member of that team, a very intriguing student," Ozpin said. His friend looked at the document.
"Micheal Canus Law, am I seeing this right Ozzy," Douglas asked with a surprised look.
"Yes, you are looking at a wolf faunus, not to mention a grey wolf faunus," Ozpin answered.
"Wow, where has he been and why hasn't been discovered yet," Douglas asked.
"Probably people's lack of knowledge on what wolf faunus really look like, or maybe he didn't want to be discovered, but now he has I put another video in there, this happened yesterday," Ozpin said. Douglas scrolled through the document until he found the video, a news report. Douglas clicked on the video and it began to play. It opened up with a woman with lavender hair and a black suit with a purple undershirt.
"This is Lisa Lavender with breaking news, a few days ago a photo was sent in with a piece of paper say that this boy…," she stopped for a second. A picture of Micheal and Ruby popped on the left side of the screen. It was a pretty clear picture that was obliviously zoomed in as the duo was oblivious of the photographer at the time and it was at an angle. It was Micheal talking to Ruby in their Beacon uniforms and appeared to be walking somewhere. "Is a wolf faunus, at first we didn't believe it, but we called in an expert shortly afterward to evaluate the authenticity of the claim, after a couple hours of studying the picture, the expert confirmed it was a wolf faunus, so to all you who are seeing this, one wolf faunus appears to have survived the dreadful tragedy of his kind and is currently at Beacon Academy…," Douglas cut the video off.
"We just had an unpleasant visit earlier today from multiple news teams and after some time and convincing from me they left, Mr. Law and Ms. Rose were completely uncomfortable at being suddenly interviewed," Ozpin said.
"Hmm, I can imagine, though this could be a problem if the White Fang or Queen sees this," Douglas said.
"I have a feeling Queen played a part in this," Ozpin said.
"I see, trying to put your Academy on a bad reputation for hiding him, though I wonder if the White Fang will try and kidnap him under some pretense of 'he belongs among faunus' as they hate all humans, damn extremists," Douglas asked.
"Sadly, we won't know until then, but can we get back to your report for the time being," Ozpin said.
"Right, we'll cross that bridge eventually, let's see, Micheal has a…, wow…, an S- aura rank, I mean I've always known grey wolf faunus have powerful auras, but even then, this is incredible, their usually at the most an A- like fox faunus," Douglas said surprised.
"Indeed, mind I tell you that his aura partially activated," Ozpin said.
"Strange, do we know the reason why," Douglas said.
"I had a talk with Mr. Law shortly after Magaru attacked Beacon in my office, which is how I learned the grimm's name and where I discovered the reason for a partially activated aura, Magaru said that there is a scar on his heart," Ozpin asked.
"Hmm, let's talk more about Magaru on another day for now let's finish this analyst," Douglas asked. Ozpin gestured for his friend to continue. "Let's see no transcripts, now that I think about it Summer's girl had no transcript either," Douglas commented.
"I invited them," Ozpin said.
"I see, well the wolf wields an oversized sword and shield that turns into an oversized axe, also has the ability to use dust with that weapon, making it a very versatile weapon, able to fight at close and far range, able to fight all manner of grimm be they large or small, is lacking in experience, he could have used the axe and cut off the Gigas' leg when it was trapped under the rubble with the axe, he had the right idea though, inflicting an injury to hamper its mobility allowing him the ability to set up for the kill, he did all this with an injured shoulder from what it looks like, activated his aura during the exam like the Arc boy, but unlike him has a better mentality when it comes to fighting grimm, able to remain calm despite what appears to be his first time fighting a grimm, boy shows potential," Douglas evaluated.
"A very promising student," Ozpin said.
"Yep, this team shows the most potential, the average aura rank is A+, being a six-man team gives an advantage other teams don't', having two more members means they can cover themselves more, the wolf oversized axe does pose the problem of accidentally hitting, and killing, a team member in its arc if trying to kill a grimm, the team's weapons overall do cover many possibilities, all the individuals all appear to have a basic grasp when it comes to fighting in their own way, a very promising team indeed, that concludes my report," Douglas said.
"So I take it you are most interested in team RWBY," Ozpin asked.
"Very much so, I will probably spend most of my time with them when I arrive at Beacon," Douglas answered.
"I'll see you the…," Ozpin tired to say his farewell.
"Ozzy, wait for a second, there is another reason I'm staying here in Atlas," Douglas said. Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "I didn't want to say earlier in case someone overheard our conversation, I didn't want to alarm the public," the veteran said.
"What is it," Ozpin asked.
"I've been hearing of rumors and sighting that an Elder Scourge is flying around," Douglas said seriously.
"I see, this could be a problem if they turn out to be true," Ozpin said.
"That's why I'm staying here and going to look into these rumors and sighting to see if it true, the only thing we can hope for is that it doesn't fly off so I can kill it immediately," Douglas said.
"Just try to do this as discreetly as possible, no point in causing panic among the public when investigating these rumors that could turn out to be false," Ozpin said.
"Of course, be sure to tell me as soon as possible if anything major has happens while I'm here in Atlas," Douglas said. His friend nodded and the screen turned black. Douglas leaned back in his chair. 'Things are getting interesting,' he commented in his mind. He looked at Micheal's document. 'Well little wolf, you've got an interesting life ahead of you, it's only a matter of time before either the White Fang or little Cinder makes a move to come after you, what will you do when that happens, I don't envy being born as a wolf faunus,' the veteran thought to himself.
Author's Notes: As always, criticism is good.
The main reason this chapter took so long because now feeling well made me lose interest in writing for the past month. I'm feeling better now. Once I felt better, I felt motivated to write this chapter. So I sat down and began writing it. I do try and keep a time frame of one to two months when publishing my next chapter.
This was going to be a part of the last chapter, but I realized it was going to be longer than I imagined. So I decided to make its own chapter to give, hopefully, more insight on Douglas, both in and out of combat. His inspiration is that he's kind of like a Lu Bu-esque, for those who play Dynasty Warriors or know about Romance of the Three Kingdoms, character in terms of skill, but is a more like a mentor in terms of a character.
Douglas is an anglicized form of the Scottish surname Dubhghlas, meaning "Dark River." Almost every use of the word dark is used with the color black.
Evergreen is a plant that blooms all year round, always green.