Another day, another series of classes ended. Adora and Catra were walking toward the Beacon Staff Room. After many weeks here, the girls were surprised it took them so long to visit. It was a short trip from the classrooms to it, as one would expect, since teachers did need to get around quickly. So, the girls had let miss Goodwitch know they were finally popping in to meet the rest of the staff.
And as the door propped open, the fresh smell of a strong blend of coffee came to the girls. And immediately, two men, one short, rotund and bearing grey hair and a rather stuffy, well-combed mustache and the other with very odd, green hair, messy clothing and foggy glasses, greeted the two girls.
"Ah, greetings!" The green-haired fellow smiled broadly at the two new arrivals "You must be miss Clawdeen and miss Spinner! Welcome! And may I say, strange names!"
"U...Uh... Thanks?" Catra didn't know what to say.
"My, it certainly has been a while since we've had any new faces join Beacon's faculty." The old man played with his mustache, giving a wink as he added "Especially two fair maidens such as yourselves. Welcome to Beacon. My name is Professor Peter Port and I am the teacher in the subject of Grimm Studies! The man beside me is Bartholomew Oobleck, our head of the history department and a good friend of mine."
"Uh..." The two girls looked to one-another, confused, before nodding.
"A pleasure to meet both of you..." Adora offered, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Calm yerselves, boys, this is no way to greet ladies." A woman said from the back, her accent thick, bearing a smile on her face as she poured herself a cup of coffee. The machine was on the right, on the counter in the corner, alongside what looked like an oven, a stove and a microwave. The woman that spoke took the attention of almost everyone in the room. Everyone but Glynda, of course, who was helping her. The orange-haired woman had olive skin and amber eyes and wore a fairly flash lipstick. She also had a blue labcoat on her back, a cream shirt with a floral design, a long black skirt and... Black lab gloves?
"Ah, sorry Violet, you're quite right." Port nodded, with Oobleck arranging his glasses. They bid their goodbyes to Catra and Adora, before going together to a table, to sit down and talk. The woman gave a wink to the two, before taking her cup of coffee and motioning toward the other table. They sat themselves down there, while Glynda stirred in her own cup... A little bit of an awkward silence formed as the two girls tried to process who the woman chugging hot coffee was. She set the mug down, half-empty, then nodded approvingly, steam wafting off around her lips.
"Hi." Adora waved. The woman smiled, then waved back.
"Hello. I'm professor Peach." She nodded her head "Pleasure to finally meat our two new workmates. Glyn was kind enough ta tell me about ya."
"Oh?" The two new teachers looked to the aide-de-camp to Ozpin, who chuckled, taking a sip of her coffee. Catra smirked, then asked "What'd she tell you? Hope it was all the bad bits."
"Oh, yeah, she told me about ya beating a student... Catra Clawdeen." She smirked, watching the catgirl shrink, her tail puffing up in surprise. The girl chuckled, putting on her goggles, then spoke "Well, miss Clawdeen, ya certainly ain't anythin' anyone's ever seen. Too many traits."
"Why does everyone keep going on about that...?" Catra murmured in discreet annoyance, her ears drooping as she looked away.
"It's very uncommon." Glynda spoke "I would've asked too, had the Headmaster not gotten you girls directly to work."
"'Very' doesn't cover it, Glynda. This isn't some kinda mutation." Peach offered, putting her glasses up on top of her head, before she interlaced her fingers and leaned her chin on her hands, excitement plastered on her face in the form of a dumb grin as she added "You're very different." before she got looks of surprise from the two. She explained "No, no, what I mean is... You're not Faunus, are you?!"
"Uhm..." Catra and Adora eyed each-other
Catra shook her head. And Peach smirked "Oh, Gods above, this is amazing. A new specimen of humanoid! Oh, the amount of possibilities!"
"Hey, prof, easy..." Catra warned, her claws popping out due to the stress of seeing the stars in the woman's eyes. The orange-haired woman winced upon realizing what she'd done, then rubbed the back of her neck. Glynda chuckled, walking past the table and going to the counter where the food-making kitchen appliances were. She produced a pack from one of the drawers, slid it in the microwave and powered it on while the two girls looked with worry at Prof Peach.
"Oh, pardon..." She cleared her throat, then said more professionally "I study and teach biology in a broad spectrum, ranging from how the human body works to local Remnant flora and fauna. I also teach Dust classes, as I'm sure miss Schnee was kind enough to tell you. She mentioned you'd be interested in attending, to learn how to utilize Dust itself, ladies. It'd be my pleasure to have you around."
"Well... Thanks! We appreciate it!" Adora's relief was almost palpable. Catra had seen the look in Adora's eyes beforehand, back when she got angry a couple times. It was the stare of 'oh, please, Catra, don't return fire'. She loved seeing that look on Adora, because it brought out the usual dummy in her. She sighed, then looked to the Professor, then smirked.
"So... Considering what Glynda has told me, should I believe you aren't from 'around the bend'?" The woman gave two winks. And seeing the confused looks, she sighed, then whispered "Aliens. You're aliens."
That got the girls a little scared...
"Oh, calm down. I basically had to force an explanation about why two girls in their early twenties are now teachers at our prestigious little school. I can be quite persuasive when I mean to and she knows this best." She smirked, leaning toward them "And I take the reaction as a yes. By the Gods, this is exciting! So many new possibilities for study, so much information about the universe that I could glean!"
"... Alright...?" Catra reeled back slightly. She leaned to Adora and whispered "I think we lost her again." before taking an elbow to the forearm.
"Ouch..." The catgirl glared, rubbing her shoulder.
"Sorry..." The girl patted down her labcoat, then gave them another Entrapta-like smile "It truly is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Welcome to Remnant, hope you're enjoying your stay and that you didn't get into too much trouble."
"Eh. We're doing alright for now." Catra shrugged.
"Luckily, trouble seems to be openly avoiding us." Adora added with a smile, "So, professor Peach, when do your classes usually start?"
"I have midday courses, generally." She offered the girls her scroll, that showed the timetable, "Feel free to join me on Monday if you want to start learning proper. I'll be going over some basic information with the students regarding the utmost base uses of Dust, starting with everyone's favorite. Fire Dust." And she smirked "I personally prefer Gravity Dust for its unorthodox uses in the field of science, but each to their own."
Catra hummed, then said "Monday sounds good."
"Yeah." Adora smiled "We'll meet you then, professor."
"Oh, please, girls, it's just Violet to workmates outside of class." She offered warmly "And, in fact, would you mind joining me right now? I'll be working on an experiment to try and add into the curriculum for the Dust classes."
"Violet..." Glynda almost glared from across the room.
"Oh, come on, Glyn. Ya know I won't do anything stupid, right?" She smirked.
"Violet, the last time you tried to add something to the curriculum, team CFVY nearly blew themselves up using Dust Grenades." The woman arranged her glasses, while the two old men beside her stifled chuckles. The Professor glared at her long-time friend, then scoffed. Glynda shook her head, then added "Just... Make sure that no explosives are being used, professor Peach."
With a pout, the woman returned a mumbled "Wasn't plannin' to..."
Catra mumbled "Yeah, another case of the Entrapta syndrome..." before she looked to Adora "Any ideas?"
"We could join and help." She shrugged "Can't hurt us, right?"
"... I hate it when you say anything like that, you know?" Catra sighed and backed off upon Adora's ever-subtle glare. She nodded "Alright, alright. We're coming with, doc."
"Marvelous!" The woman exclaimed, her voice shrill. She jumped to her feet and almost immediately dragged the two Etherian ladies out of the room. Moments later, Port burst into a hearty laugh, the door shutting behind the trio of girls. Within minutes, they had arrived at a rather sophisticated laboratory which housed dozens of crystals of varying colors, shapes and sizes, as well as several pieces of equipment, both dangerous and not.
And, in the middle of the large, somewhat-organized mess that was the Dust Labs, the girls ground to a halt, with Peach spreading her arms in an all-encompassing motion and adding "Welcome to my lair, ladies! Feel free to touch anything you find interesting!" with a proud, yet somewhat devious smile "I could always use more fellow test subjects."
"... 'Scuse me, what?" Catra paused, realizing the implications
"Just a Dust researcher's joke, miss Clawdeen." Peach winked at the horrified Catgirl, before stepping up in front of a counter that housed an experimental-looking device, deconstructed into its base parts. She motioned at them to join her and, when they came to her side, she started explaining "This is an experimental device I've been working on, to provide a good defensive option for me when I'm out on my expeditions."
"Woah..." Catra smirked, picking up a circular item made up of steel, insulated copper wiring and what looked like small crystal specks, with one giant, rhomboid-shape crystal in the center, held in place by four clamps. She pointed to it, then asked "What does this bit do?"
"That, my dear?" She smirked "It'd be the power source. A volatile, experimental Crystal nicknamed by fellow research enthusiasts 'Storm Dust'. It houses the power of a small electrical storm inside, which is just enough to provide this item with enough power to function for several hundred shots... Or several dozen over-charged ones. Oh, yes, this reminds me..." She cocked her head to the blueprints, gazing upon the corner and pulling out a black marker. She jotted down something, then capped the marker and said "There. Now, I should be able to remember I have to thank miss Rose for helping me design this."
"... Miss Rose." Catra deadpanned. She got an affirmative nod from Peach, who smiled. Catra went on "Ruby Rose, you mean?"
"Yes! Miss Rose is quite a prolific designer of armaments!" Peach beamed, then sighed "Oh, if only she showed the same interest in my classes."
"RUBY. ROSE. The CINNAMON ROLL, RUBY ROSE." Catra practically demanded "You can't be freaking serious."
Adora leaned forward, looking to Catra with a smug grin, then asked "You don't know Ruby built her own weapon, do you?" to which Catra doubled over as if she'd been hit by a punch right in the teeth. Adora and Peach exchanged one look, then giggled together at the kitten's reaction to the news. Catra started scratching her head as she tried to figure out if this had been mentioned to her before and she'd just elected to ignore it...
"I am genuinely surprised you didn't know." Peach observed "Her wits when it comes to firearms and equipment meant for battling to Grimm are second-to-none. Design-wise, she's amazingly clever, but, sadly, as a student, she doesn't have the resources to build these things on her own."
"Oh?" Adora raised a brow, then she realized "So... Speculatively, if she were trying to build something else, with a similar level of high-tech... Stuff... Where would she send it?"
"To Pietro Polendina in Atlas, of course! He's an old friend of mine and quite the amazing inventor. And he has Atlas Assets to provide for his work." She smiled "Speaking of... Ruby did say she was delivering something, if I recall. She doesn't know Pietro is who it's being sent to, she just... Hmm... Anyways, why don't you girls help me reassemble the weapon and test it?"
"How does she switch subjects this fast?" Catra asked, only getting a shrug from Adora.
Ozpin's office
Ruby, meanwhile, had a job to do.
Prof Peach had been kind enough to tell her to go to headaster Ozpin whenever she needed a new weapon to be built and shipped back over here. While Ruby disliked... Was confused...? By Prof Peach's antics some times, she was glad when the teacher in Dust sciences and other such Remnant-related items decided to show interest in the weaponry part of the Dust classes. At least Ruby felt like teach did show some interest for her sake, which was nice.
But as she walked off of the elevator to the Headmaster's office for a a third time this week, the other two being related to Prof Peach's own work and a separate event she wouldn't wanna talk about, even if asked(Darn it, Yang), she caught him reading a rather thick book. It had no picture on the front of the hardback cover that could allow her to discern what it was about, so she had to get closer and read the title.
Valeian Heroes of Old, Volume 1:The Princess and The Sword?
Huh, she remembered that story. Something about a great hero who fought to protect mankind back when Vale was a really young kingdom. Dad had read the children's story version to her a hundred times over. Aside from her mom, it was one of the reasons she wanted to become a Huntress. Fairy tales painted fairly vivid pictures, doubly so when the books she was being read as a kid had 3D pop-ups.
Oh, well, no time to reminisce! Weapons must be made!
She cleared her throat and caught one slight twitch from the Headmaster. He lowered the book, then offered a curt smile to Ruby, setting aside the book as he did so. He watched the girl plop down into one of the two chairs in front of him, before speaking "Hello, miss Rose. To what do I owe the pleasure today?"
"Hey, headmaster. I was actually coming to toss another blueprint set the way of that engineer fella." Ruby said, taking a tube off her back and placing it on the desk.
Ozpin nodded "I'll make sure to pass it along. Is this for miss Peach again?"
"Huh? Oh, no, this one's for miss Catra. Miss Peach did insist beforehand that she had enough weapons as it was... And that what we built may be a bit too much anyways..." Ruby shrugged, chuckling "Anyway, watcha reading?"
"Oh." Ozpin placed his hand on the book "This is just an old legend. One of my favorites, really."
"It about that really powerful Princess? The one that some said wielded what amounts to magical powers?" Ruby smiled, before she noticed Ozpin's confusion and added "Dad read it to me too, when I was young." just as the Headmaster stood up to put it away. He'd set the bookmark for the page he'd left off at. He sat himself back down, when Ruby started "So, if it's alright for me to ask... Why were you reading that, Headmaster?"
"Just reminding myself of old stories my family used to tell me." He nodded. Ruby felt slight hesitation in the man's words, but chose not to press the matter any further. The Headmaster knew better than to try and lie to his students, right? He was supposed to be Beacon's leader, the man all could look up to as a hero. Plus, what he was reading was just a story, a legend meant to make kids strive for greatness, right?
"I got that." Ruby nodded, smiling "Anyways... Could you please send that, sir? It's fairly important that it gets built."
"It would be my pleasure, miss Rose." He nodded. To get trusted, one must first earn it. Helping the girls would be a good start and, in this case, it would mean helping Ruby. The young lady bid goodbye to the headmaster and walked off, leaving him to his own so he could continue reading. Ruby's mind started to wander. To where they'd found miss Adora and miss Catra, to the fight that took place there and to the whole situation.
It felt weird for her to see what was basically two aliens have the form of a human and a humanoid cat, so she had to focus. Miss Catra was the meanest combat teacher she'd ever met, at least in hand-to-hand. Yang was more lenient but that's 'cuz she was... Yang. Her sister. Just the nice older stepsister that Ruby was glad to have for as long as she has had her.
But Adora and Catra felt different. They were both friendly when they wanted to be. Adora was more-so set on 'Friendly', but Catra was mean only in training them and that made sense, really, since she probably wanted them to be as tough as nails. It wasn't necessarily about fisticuffs, but more so drilling the fear and wit into them. She had to admire her for that dedication.
Oh, well, back to the dorm.
AN:I know, I know, I'm late.
Anyways, sorry folks. Figured "I posted one early, may as well post one late"...
Hope y'all enjoyed, I got nothing else to add.
'Till next time.