Adora watched the students pile into her classroom now, since she had the last class of the day. The purring of Catra, however, was what made her turn her head and look into the colorful crowd. The kitten was smirking as she approached and Adora knew she must've pulled something just from the look she was giving. And that one brawny-looking guy nursing his jaw like it was kicked.
"What did you do?" Adora asked in a deadpan. Catra snorted.
She purred, running her tail across Adora's nose and turning toward her, leaned back on the wall with crossed arms, before asking "Why do you always assume I did something?" and turning her gaze to Cardin. She stomped her foot onto the ground and the boy took three steps back, hands raised defensively. The reaction was priceless. As was Adora's, really, considering she was staring at her with disappointment. Catra poked her girl on the nose, then explained "I just taught Winchester why you don't mess with me."
"Did he have to go to the infirmary?" She squinted at Catra, who shook her head.
"Nope. I just took his Aura out."
"So it's a real thing?" Adora whispered, with Catra giving a nod. Adora hummed, then nodded approvingly. Catra, too, figured it was better to know that Aura was a real thing, instead of... Well, whatever. They were on Remnant for the time being as a sort of breakaway from their Galactic scouting mission. And she liked being a teacher, even if it had just been one day where she showed off.
"Alright." Catra put a hand on her shoulder. "Gonna leave ya to it. Just tell me if Winchester gives you a hard time." She flashed a toothy grin at her "I got him."
"Thanks, Catra. Oh, by the way, Ozpin and miss Goodwitch said they wanna see you. Don't know about what, though." Adora nodded, noticing a slight wince, well-hidden by Catra's usual facade. She asked "See you later?"
"At the apartment, yeah." Catra winked, then pecked Adora on the cheek and added in a sultry voice "I'll go see what the old man and the prof want. See ya, lover-girl."
And Adora blushed, adding a weak "Yeah. Bye." as she watched her girl strut away. She smiled, feeling her cheek, before she strode into the classroom, a smile on her face. Team RWBY, she noticed, was sat at the front, with team JNPR right behind them. She nodded to the kids that had gotten them safely out of those ruins and back to Beacon, before setting her Scroll tablet on her desk.
"Hello, everyone." She took their attention to her, fast enough that the chatter stopped. Some of the boys and even some of the girls around looked at her with wide eyes and smiles, trying to suppress blushes. She chuckled at the reactions, still dense as a brick about what any of them would mean, then continued her introduction "I'm Adora Spinner, your new teacher in the arts of wilderness survival. Now, I'm new to Beacon and... Well, Vale as a whole..." not to mention Remnant, but need-to-know basis and whatnot "And I'm gonna need some help to get acquainted to everything and everyone. So, while I'll teach you boys and girls the skills I've been taught, I'm gonna need you to do me a favor and teach me about the place."
"So, I'm gonna call a few of you by name and stuff, because I'm pretty sure that's what a normal teacher does to get to know their class, and you just answer with 'Here' or however you feel." She walked up to the front of the class, holding the Scroll tablet with all the students' names on it, to some chuckles from the class. She scrolled up to the top of the list. It was arranged by team names... She landed right on team RWBY and smiled "Alright, team RWBY! Ruby Rose, please stand up."
Ruby stood up happily "Here, miss Spinner!"
"Good to see you're ecstatic, Ruby." Adora kept her friendly smile on "By the way, thanks for the pick-me-up back in the Emerald Forest, both to your team and to team JNPR. Hope we'll get along." and she turned to the next student and said "Weiss Schnee. Heh, your name sounds like a princess's." before seeing Weiss shooting a light glare at her through some of the students' chuckles and explaining herself with a slight stutter "T-That's a compliment coming from me, Weiss. Don't worry about it."
Now, instead of anger, Weiss's look was of slight confusion. Adora sighed, then followed up "Alright, now that we've seen Weiss... Blake Belladonna."
Blake raised her hand and spoke calmly "Here, miss Spinner. Good to see you're okay."
"Thanks, Blake." Adora nodded, then quipped "I'd have thought you'd be more surprised that a gal you found in the middle of ancient ruins with her cat girlfriend and the other cat pet wound up your survival teacher."
A few chuckles in the classroom, one from Blake as well. She answered "Oh, I am. But still, it's good to see a friendly face."
"That it is." Her teacher returned, "Right. Finally, Yang Xiao-Long."
"Yup! Right here, missus S!" Yang raised her hand joyfully, then pointed 'finger-guns at Adora' "Lookin' good, by the way."
"Thanks. You too, Yang." Adora awkwardly made the finger-guns gesture back at her fellow blonde, before going down the list to team JNPR "Up next, the other four-pack of kids that found me, Melog and Catra in the ruins... Team JNPR. Jaune Arc, ya here?"
"Over here, miss." Jaune raised a hand slightly awkward.
"Good to see you as well, Jaune. Happy to see you're polite." She offered, nodding. "Alright, next... Nora Valkyrie!"
"Hey, Teach!" Nora waved happily "Good to see you again! And as a teacher, no less."
"Likewise, Nora. I see you're still hyper." Adora noted, smiling at the enthusiastic Valkyrie. The ginger giggled happily, while Adora continued with the roll call, getting to... Ah... "Pyrrha Nikos. Miss Nikos?"
Pyrrha raised her hand "Here, miss Spinner."
"You're hard to miss, Pyrrha. I love the circlet, by the way." The blonde girl complimented Pyrrha. The redhead beamed at her, before leaning down under her desk and preparing her notebooks. To that, Adora continued, reaching the final student of team JNPR "Lie Ren... Huh, you're the first one here whose family name is written in here, Ren." and she eyed the ninja boy.
"Indeed. A good day, miss Spinner." Ren nodded. Adora proceeded to go through the rest of the list of students, including getting the disgruntled responses of team CRDL, before they went on to the basic theory on survival training. To the surprise of everyone, survival training did have basic theory one needed to learn before going into the more advanced stuff. The blonde heroine had been on-point for most of the lesson, delving into every basic bit from acquiring water, to boiling it to rid it of anything harmful and to actually learning how to track things and find shelter. And the kids seemed pretty decently interested in it. Well, sans team CRDL, but Adora chose not to butt in.
"Alright..." Adora pulled up a holographic display in the last few minutes of the class. "Let's run over the most important points of the lesson now. Before that, though, any questions?"
Silence. Adora nodded, then started repeating several points regarding making and masking the fire you make and where to get water, as well as tidbits about hunting to hint at the next lesson. The end of the school day came with a loud ringing of the bell. Adora thought she did a good job for a first day. She hoped Catra was okay, though... She could easily assume what this was about. More specifically, her pummeling Cardin hard.
She winced. God, she hoped Catra wouldn't say something stupid.
Ozpin's office.
Glynda paced back and forth behind a seated Catra, while Headmaster Ozpin reviewed the images from one of the classroom's security cameras. He was replaying the fight over and over, until Catra got the message. She'd gotten it in the first replay, but the grin on her face told Ozpin she was just enjoying reliving the moment. The Headmaster sighed, touching a button on the holographic keyboard ahead of him. The video shut off just as Catra delivered that somersault kick into Cardin's jaw, before he leaned toward Catra and asked "Do you mind telling me, miss Clawdeen, why you beat one of our students around on the first day?"
Catra leaned forward, meeting Ozpin's glare with her own, calm, joyous gaze as she spoke "Well, dear headmaster, Shitbird had it coming. If you review the audio in those cameras, the kid continuously disrespected me and failed to listen to what I asked him to do, instead preferring to mock me and my heritage." She flicked one of her ears to make her point, then continued "As a teacher, I took the matter into my own hands and figured it'd be best to see if the machismo was matched up by his brains and brawn."
"As disgusting as his behavior toward your seemingly Faunus heritage was, calling mister Winchester that nickname and assaulting him wasn't an answer, miss Clawdeen." Ozpin noted "At least not a good one."
"Headmaster, tell me, you ever dealt with his type before?" Catra returned and got a nod as a response, before continuing "So you know he's the bullying type. IF he isn't put in his place early on, he'll hurt other students in the process, lowering their ability and desire to stay and learn in Beacon. Doubly so for Faunus students, who seem to be at a disadvantage here compared to humans."
Ozpin let out a sigh, then said "I will admit to that, yes. Disappointingly, mankind learned very little in the century that passed since the Great War and the Faunus Rights Revolution."
"It's still no reason to beat a student down like you did. And after goading him into it, no less." Glynda responded angrily as she stopped her pacing, before walking up to her side and looking to Ozpin, "What do you think we should do about this? Winchester's father is high up in the Vale Council. He might be angered by this little display from one of your newest hires, Headmaster."
"Councillor Winchester knows he has no power over my decisions, miss Goodwitch, no matter what threats he may throw my way." Ozpin returned, pressing his fingers together and looking at Catra again "The young man has a politician father. You can understand how that can lead to a... Less than optimal... Development in his childhood, especially regarding the Faunus, since Councillor Winchester is a conservative man."
Glynda sighed and murmured to herself "I can't believe I grew up in the same neighborhood as that man..."
"Oh, that type." Catra pursed her lips "Huh... My point stands, though, just like yours. You can't let this kid roam free without some sort of punishment if he messes with other students. You know what I mean, right, Old Man?"
Ozpin wanted to correct her, but instead chose to let it pass. He sighed, then said "I know, Catra... Is it okay if I call you that?"
"No problem on my side." Catra shrugged, "What's after the unspoken 'but' by the way? Because I know speech patterns like that." She then smirked.
Ozpin chuckled at the catgirl's antics, then simply nodded and continued "But corporeal punishment of this type, combined with belittling students? It isn't healthy for any party involved. Have you not had any experience of this sort from a person that was supposedly 'above' you in ranking?"
Catra thought for a moment, her mind wandering back down the annals of her memories, before several instances flashed in her mind. From Shadow Weaver's manipulative behavior to Hordak himself and Horde Prime, Catra was manipulated, used and bullied by those higher in ranking than her. It was one of the main reasons for her descent into madness that had led to her downfall... And later, to her rebirth. She rubbed her arm, averting her gaze from Ozpin's as her ears drooped. She nodded, then said sadly "I've had my fair share of it, yeah..." And she snorted, letting a sad chuckle escape her lips "Even when we were little, though, Adora was the only one who actually cared enough about me to do the whole 'positive reinforcement' thing... And I didn't have her around for a bit, but... Yeah, I know how it feels to be dismantled like that by authority figures."
"So? Do you wish to bestow that upon a student who is meant to become a defender of mankind and the Faunus against the ever-encroaching darkness, Catra?" Ozpin asked, looking at the girl with sympathy. He didn't know what the girl had gone through. He hadn't the faintest idea about it. A shake of the head confirmed to Ozpin that Catra had meant well... He smiled, then said "Good, miss Clawdeen. It's good you understand... Even so, we can't let you get off scot-free."
While Catra seemed nervous now, probably expecting some sort of nasty punishment, Glynda looked more sympathetic to the girl's own problems than before. Ozpin looked to her, seeing this, then nodded to Glynda, who sighed and shook her head. Of course, Ozpin would put the work of figuring out a punishment for one of their newest colleagues, but the look he gave her told her it was meant to be a light punishment.
"Well..." Glynda shrugged, then suggested "She could very well work in the Cafeteria kitchen as a cleaner for a month?"
Catra raised a brow at that, confused as to how that was a bad enough punishment for someone who beat a kid's teeth in. Then Glynda added "Of course, she could issue an apology to mister Winchester if she wanted to, instead."
And the Catgirl shook her head "Nope, I'm taking the cleaning lady duty. I'll apologize to Winchester if he winds up listening and behaving. Speaking of..." She grinned "I still need to be able to punish him and other students if they get outta line outside of tearin'em down... Any idea?"
"Well, there is detention..." Glynda counted on her fingers.
"Cleanup duty after class." Ozpin added, smiling at Catra.
"Revoking certain privileges like access to certain facilities or departure from Beacon grounds..." Glynda continued
"Or even putting in a request to expel the student if a teacher considers that they prove a liability." Ozpin finished off. And with each added thing Catra could do, minus downright kicking Cardin's ass all the way back to the stone cave he crawled out of, her devious cat grin grew yet again. Ozpin knew he hit a soft spot with giving Catra the ability to threaten people with certain worse things than a beatdown.
"So... Do we have a deal, miss Clawdeen? Will you behave?" Ozpin asked, extending his hand to Catra. Catra looked at it, spat in her own hand, then, before Oz could retract it, she shook it. A visible shiver ran up Ozpin's spine, while Glynda stared on with horror in her eyes and Catra burst into a happy, loud and boisterous laugh at the sight. One that was almost a trademark to her.
"Yeah, well, I'll see you both later, Old Man, Prof. Like I said, I'm gonna take you up on the cleaning duty, but right now, I gotta go meet Adora back in our room." She smirked, then said "Buh-bye." and walked off to the elevator. Glynda rolled her eyes, a half-smile on her face as she turned to Ozpin. The elevator's doors shut and Glynda felt free to release that sigh of exasperation she'd been holding onto for a while.
"This is one of the many things Catra will do... I just know it." She murmured.
"We will deal with things as they come, miss Goodwitch." Ozpin returned, chuckling. "She's rough around the edges, but I know she means well. I have seen someone similar to her before." And he looked to Glynda when saying that. Glynda sighed. Indeed, miss Glynda Goodwitch had once been somewhat of a delinquent. Back when she and another Beacon professor were two of the meanest girls on campus.
"... Please, headmaster, not that again. I didn't do what she did as a teacher." She sighed.
"I am just stating the facts as they are, Glynda. You did it as a student, so... Let's give her a chance." Oz offered, getting a sigh as response, followed up by a nod.
Trust was a fickle thing. And Ozpin knew he didn't have Catra's or Adora's yet.
He hoped to change that. For his sake and that of his students.
Beacon Teachers' Dorms.
Catra strolled into her and Adora's apartment and immediately heard the pit-pat of Melog's feet as it came to the door to greet her. It sat itself down in front of her, then meowed. She smiled at it, petting it behind the ears, before going for the coffee brewer in the corner and pouring herself a cup. She heard footsteps and felt Adora's arms wrap around her as she poked her head over her shoulder.
"Hey, Catra." The blonde smirked.
"Hey to you too." Catra turned her head, pecking her on the cheek. "Sooo... How was your first class, miss Survival Expert?"
"Oh, it was great. The kids are great listeners." Adora noted, taking a step back and sitting herself down at the table, a bag of chips in hand. "How about you?"
Catra snorted "Pfft. Aside from Winchester being an ass and me getting a stern talking-to from the headmaster and Prof, everything was fine." and she got a concerned look from Adora. She waved it off by saying "C'mon, Adora. I get in trouble all the time. What's it different with me being a teacher?" and taking a sip from her warm, strong coffee. Jeez, this thing was harsh... But it was good.
"Did they give you a nasty punishment?" Adora asked, worried more, not by the fact that Catra had literally kicked the living shit out of a seventeen year old, but by any punishment that the girl may've received. Sure, she cared about Cardin getting his ass kicked too, but she was more worried over Catra, because she knew her well enough. And that did get a genuine, loving smile out of Catra.
"You're an idiot..." She murmured, then chuckled "They gave me kitchen cleaning duty. Which, to be quite honest, I'm quite surprised they could. I'm a teacher after all, I was half expecting them to just dock my pay. Oh, we're getting paid, by the way... Just found that out." and that was a lie. She, too, expected punishments like those good old Shadow Weaver, or hell, Hordak, used to give out before, when the Horde still had them as leaders.
"Ah, well." Adora chuckled "Am I gonna see you in a maid outfit now, going there and cleaning?"
Catra blushed, then grinned "Oh, you wish, dummy. I am not putting on a skirt for anyone in the world."
"Hey, we don't know Drunk Catra yet. You may be persuaded into one." Adora smirked, sliding the bag of chips toward her after taking one. Catra caught it, sat down at the table, then started munching on the chips while she ate. Adora then leaned forward and said "Hey, listen. I know we've been here for less than a day, but I figured we could go out into the town, to get our bearings and maybe some answers."
Catra tried to say something with a mouth full of chips, getting a giggle out of Adora, before she chewed them up and swallowed. She spoke again, this time clearly "Sounds good to me. I don't wanna be cooped up in here forever."
"Alright, so it's a date." Adora winked at Catra, before standing up "We can actually get proper clothes once we get our paychecks."
Catra looked down at her old clothes, then asked absentmindedly "What's wrong with my clothes?"
"That you only have one set. You gonna walk around naked if they're in the washer?" Adora returned, putting on her red jacket to prepare for the little excursion into town. Then she grinned "Oh, by the way, we have an actual washing machine in here. Same for dishes... Oooh, we also have dishes of our own!"
"Wouldn't mind it. Just as I wouldn't mind seeing your cute butt all the time." Catra seemingly ignored the second half of Adora's address to her, getting her to blush fiercely. The catty cat giggled, then stood up and walked toward the bedroom. She looked out the glass door that lead out to the actual balcony they had(a balcony. Cool!) before taking her jacket off and setting it on the chair next to the desk. She looked to their wardrobe, which was annoyingly empty, minus the ironing board, iron and an extension cord with multiple scokets.
They had a double bed too, which was nice.
The girls did a final prep-up for their trip out into town. As it was later in the day, the shine of the sun wasn't quite there anymore, but they could still see enough to walk. The girls had left their apartment and walked to the Landing Pad, to take one of the many airships called bullheads down to the city. Of course, the flight took them over the massive Beacon Lake and over the gigantic Vale City itself. Compared to cities like Bright Moon, or even the Fright Zone, Vale stretched on for miles, covering a massive surface area that the girls felt they couldn't scratch in a single day.
"... And I thought Beacon was huge." Catra murmured, watching as they came in for a landing near one of the many town squares. And right next to a statue that portrayed people carrying weapons in a relief that was sculpted in steel. A plaque below had names on it, of the people. It was a monument to honor the fallen. The girls disembarked from their aircraft and walked toward the flower-lined monument, to read what was written at the top.
The First Fusiliers Regiment
"The Royal First"
Lest We Forget
Adora and Catra exchanged looks of surprise, then turned to see a man marching toward them. He was wearing a simple uniform, with a cap. The soldiers in the relief wore similar uniforms, but with rounded steel helmets and a lot of extra gear, including what looked like some sort of firearms. A man clad in an officer's uniform was at the front, a saber and a pistol in his hands as he led the men.
Adora stopped the man and said "Hello... Sorry if this may seem like a dumb question, but... What's this monument about?"
The man smiled "It's no problem, young lady." And he motioned to the monument "This is the monument to one of our most heroic units from during the Great War and subsequent Faunus Rights Revolution."
"Faunus... Rights Revolution?" Adora raised a brow, turning to Catra.
She shrugged "The Headmaster mentioned it too... I assume it was a pretty big deal for the Faunus."
"Oh, quite! It was the fight that got them their own land and the rights they looked for... Well, mostly." The man sighed "Man is still off with what he does not understand, sadly."
"What about the Great War? Why's it called that?" Catra asked, crossing her arms. The man gave a sad smile.
"Do you girls not read your history?" He asked, arranging the uniform. "The Great War was the most brutal conflict fought among the four Kingdoms. Untold millions died during a fight that was a petty squabble over pieces of land that was habitable and defensible, where humans and Faunus alike could thrive despite the threat of the Grimm. Nobody knows who fired the first shot, but... It's the conflict that drove us to vow never to raise a weapon against our fellow man. And the Royal First was Vale's finest. Armed with the most modern weapons and trained to be the best, from a unit of conscripts, these men and women saw the Front Lines of every major battlefield, even the final year of this decade-long massacre, in the burning deserts of Vacuo..."
Adora and Catra looked to one another again as parallels began to form between this war and the war between the Horde and the Rebellion. 10 years of a brutal slog between men and Faunus, fighting for different countries. There was more than Vale out there, it seemed... Catra looked to him, then said "Sorry, we're not exactly from around the bend... How many kingdoms are there?"
Despite the look of disbelief he gave them, the man was quick to answer "Four. Vale in the center and Vacuo in the west, on the continent of Sanus, Mistral in the east, located on the continent of Anima and Atlas in the far North, located on Solitas... Are you girls well? Do you feel sick?"
"We're fine..." Catra murmured. "Four kingdoms at war... Four countries housing how many people?"
"We... Never had official censuses regarding population. Some estimate that a great many live in the capital cities, at around forty million per city, with oddly distributed numbers here and there between minor settlements, coastal cities and the rare new village that appears." The man shrugged. "Say... You look... Different. To other Faunus, at least. That's a lot more traits than one would normally have."
Catra sighed, then looked at him and lied "I'm a bit of a... 'Special' type. Really rare mutation of some kind." before turning to Adora as if she was looking for approval. Her blondie gave a nod, before Catra turned again to the man in the uniform and said "Thanks for answering our questions. Name's Catra and the girl beside me's Adora, by the way."
"A pleasure, ladies. I'm Argent Alb." He smiled. "If you have any more questions about the Great War, or even the Faunus Rights Revolution, feel free to ask me when you're around... I tend to stay near the monument, keeping watch over it."
"I see. Thanks, Argent, we'll keep that in mind." Catra responded. "Know any place we can get some answers here? Maybe some... I dunno, books to read about Remnant as a whole? We come from Beacon, but haven't hit up the library yet."
"Ah! Why, yes! There's a fine book store just a ways down this road! It's called Tukson's Book Trade, Home to every book under the sun! And he charges a fair price." He answered, all peppy and chipper now. Adora noted down the route in her mind as the boy turned toward the monument and saluted it proudly. He seemed the historian type, so yeah, any questions about the military past of the world would go through him.
"Thanks. We'll come back if we have any questions." Adora smiled "Be seeing you, Argent."
"Farewell, miss Adora, miss Catra. May I see you in good health." He tipped the peaked cap he wore at them, before turning back and marching down to a bench. Catra and Adora shrugged to one-another and started their long walk down the Main Street of Vale, past boutiques, food and newspaper stands and other assorted stores to the bookstore that the man had pointed them toward.
And indeed, in the span of 30 minutes permeated by stops next to store windows, the girls had finally gotten to the rather impressively large store. A double door with glass windows flanking it as the facade, with the sign up above and the motto written just below the store's name. The two girls looked to one-another, shrugged and approached the double doors, with Adora pushing them open. The bell above the door rang and a voice came from the back room.
"Be there in a minute!"
Catra smirked, then walked toward one of the bookshelves and picked a book. From the history section, mind you. Adora chuckled as she approached her girlfriend and asked "Since when do you care about learning?"
"Buzz off." Catra elbowed her in the shoulder "Knowledge is power and all that, right?"
"Fair enough. Still surprised. What did you do to old slacker Catra?" Adora quipped.
Catra shrugged, then joked "Horde Prime probably mind-controlled the slack out of me."
And at that, she blushed and started "Sorry, I..." as she saw Adora give her a sad smile. Adora lay a hand on Catra's shoulder, then shook her head. No need to apologize for a joke. The Catgirl sighed, then propped open the book, which was on the history of the Faunus, at one of the pages about their physiology. Both girls read intently, learning more than they ever thought about this extra humanoid species... Catra also came to the realization that the Faunus weren't like her people, if her people even existed still.
"Hmm..." Catra sighed, closing the book "So, now we know what the Faunus are."
"You okay?" Adora looked to Catra, who was staring at the cover of the book. She nodded.
"Yeah... Yeah, but I kinda figured..." She sighed
"That the Faunus may actually be your origin point?" Adora asked. Another nod... And Adora continued "Catra... Please, don't take this the wrong way, but... You started caring where you came from?"
"A year with you guys did that to me..." Catra snorted "Sure, I'm an Etherian like you, by citizenship, I guess... But where are my people? Do they even exist, still? Tell me that you haven't thought about finding First Ones too and I'll call your bullshit out, Adora."
"No, I have..." The blonde admitted, rubbing the back of her neck "I mean, we're all still humans, right? Just highly advanced... And Horde Prime did say he wiped them all out." and the blonde bowed her head, sighing.
It was Catra's turn to be supportive, putting a hand on Adora's shoulder and saying "We don't know that. That bastard lied about enough to his clones... Hell, remember where we found Melog? How distraught Wrong Hordak was when he found out that his mighty Horde Prime actually lost to a planet full of magic-wielding Shapeshifters? Heh, poor guy didn't stop crying for a while."
Adora answered with a smile "Yeah... You're right."
"Plus, you've got questions for those asshats." She elbowed Adora with a catty grin "Want me to claw their eyes out if they don't give the answers to you?"
The blonde chuckled "I'll keep that offer in mind." Then she stopped as they heard footsteps. They turned around, to gaze upon a muscular man in a burgundy with a quarter-zip, black shirt and jeans. His hair and sideburns were a deep raven color and he had amber eyes. For a moment, he stopped after seeing Catra and he narrowed his eyes at her with distrust.
Catra, wide-eyed, went and put the book in her hand back on the shelf, before taking a step back with Adora.
Adora waved awkwardly "Hi?"
... And that was when the man calmed down, upon seeing Adora. He sighed, relieved, then said "Hello, girls... Sorry, I thought... Nevermind. I'm Tukson, owner of Tukson's Book Trade. What can I help you ladies with?"
"We were just browsing, actually." Adora said, approaching the counter. She extended her hand, then said "I'm Adora Spinner. Girl behind me is Catra Clawdeen... We're teachers in Beacon."
"With a bit of a memory lapse." Catra quipped.
"I see." The man nodded, "Mind if I ask a question before we go browsing again?"
The girls shrugged at one-another, then nodded. Tukson then pointed at Catra and asked "How do you have so many traits? Even the eyes and tail are there. And the claws, from what I can tell."
Catra winced "Why do people keep asking that!? It's..."
"A long story." Adora shrugged "One we... Did Ozpin ever tell us not to say anything?"
"Even if he did, I wouldn't listen... Should've probably thought about that when we answered this question." Catra shrugged "Look, Tukson, it's a bit much to wrap your head around."
"Oh, try me." The man leaned onto the counter "I'm pretty sure with how I run this store, that I've read every type of story that can be out there. Yours shouldn't surprise me."
Adora and Catra then looked to each-other, then Catra sighed and shook her head "Maybe at some point later, Tuk." before grinning "We'll be around Vale a while, really, so we may pay visits often... When we do get our paychecks."
"I'll count on that. Catra and Adora, was it?" He smirked. "Show me your scrolls."
The two girls pulled out their devices and extended them to Tukson, who waved his own over them. A ringing came to them and Tukson said "I just added my work number to you. You want to order books you can't find in Beacon's Library to you, send me a message or a call and I'll arrange them to be delivered. And if you girls do feel the need to talk to someone that isn't Ozpin or a Beacon alumnus or teacher, feel free."
"Thanks, Tukson. That's very nice of you... Doubly so since we just met." Adora noted, slightly confused, but thankful.
"My pleasure." He nodded. "And Catra? I know you may not be an actual Faunus, but..."
"Yeah?" She raised a brow, crossing her arms.
"Don't mind the humans around. They can be pains in the ass to deal with, but generally, they will either keep to themselves or tend to be friendly. There's the rare asshole in the street, though, so..."
Catra smirked as she flashed her claws "Don't worry. These babies aren't just for show."
"Good." He nodded, grinning back "Now, is there anything else you girls needed or..."
"I think we're okay for now. Thanks a bunch, Tukson." Adora returned. He nodded with a smile, then waved to them, before turning around and walking back into the storage room. The two girls waved back, then stepped out into the street again. Adora stretched, then looked to Catra and asked "What do you wanna do now? We still got some time before the last Bullhead leaves for Beacon tonight."
"Well, we did say we were gonna scout around." Catra smirked, then she gasped "Ooh! Let's go find a restaurant with fish dishes or something."
"... Catra, we still don't have money." Adora deadpanned, trying to stifle a chuckle at the Cat in Catra surfacing again.
"Oh, I know." She smirked. Adora glared at her, to which she chuckled and said "Don't worry, dummy, we ain't gonna steal. We're just scouting out places we can go to when we got free time and money. Jeez, you'd think you know a girl." and she stepped off, leading Adora along and down Main Street, with Adora protesting certain pit stops they made. Although they didn't know, a young girl stared at them from the corner near by Tukson's.
She smiled, then murmured "Miss Catra and miss Adora, huh?" before arranging her black bow "Hope they and Tukson got along... Now, to go buy the second volume... Ugh, I can't wait!"
The doorbell rang yet again and a voice called out "Hey, Tukson!"
"Ah! My favorite client!" The man smirked, poking his head through the back door. "Give me a sec. I got your order right here. Ninjas of Love Volume 2."
"Thanks." She chuckled. "What were those two girls doing here?"
"Apparently, they're from Beacon and they don't know a lot about the Faunus and Remnant, I'd think. Why?"
"Eh. Just asking..."
... She'd need to have a talk with one of them. Preferably Adora, since miss Catra didn't seem that... Trusting.
Later, though. Book time now.