The Prussian's arrival in Vale had been kept rather hush-hush, so the group of royals arrived quietly and inconspicuously in the early evening. They stood on the docks just beside the massive battleship, which had gained some small attention.
"How long do you think it will take us to arrive?" Jaune asked, having never been to Vale, and by extension, Herbst Castle.
Yang responded, "It takes about a half an hour to get to the edge of Vale from here, and it'll take another fifteen minutes to get to the castle on horseback. So about forty-five minutes."
A car pulled up to them, a Mercedes-Benz 770, and the chauffeur saluted and waved them in.
"Eure Hoheit, we are to drive through the upper-class district until we get to the edge of the city, then your mounts will be delivered to you." He spoke with a very thick Prussian accent, slightly more so than Jaune's, but much thicker than any of the other royals.
As they began to get into the luxury car, Richard spoke, "Initiation is in about two weeks, so we have time to do what anything we want in Vale and train as much as we can."
Yang smirked, "Anything?"
Ruby pouted and turned to her sister, "Just don't go clubbing just so you look cool, we all know you get tired of it in about twenty minutes."
Yang blushed at her secret being revealed, "I mean, I do enjoy it a little bit." She looked down at her lap, "I just get uncomfortable and bored after a while."
Ruby hugged her, "We know Yang, why else do you think none of us like it?"
Yang saw an opportunity, "Well I know what you like to do when you and Richie are alone," She winked at them. Both Ruby and Richie blushed and attempted to splutter out excuses and denials.
Jaune decided to come to their rescue, "Leave them alone Yang, we need to prepare themselves for the crowd that might be at the castle when we get there."
Ozpin was concerned, for the last few years he had felt some kind of energy resembling magic coming from the Herbst Castle, it wasn't, but it was close enough and powerful enough to make him very worried for the future.
He asked Summer and Qrow to let in Ruby early, not only was it good to start her training early, but her mind would also be more moldable for him. Best of all, where she went, her fiancee would be hot on her heels, and having the Crown Prince of the Prussian Empire following him would make things much easier, perhaps giving him near-direct control over the colossal Prussian military. Perhaps he could find out if Richard knew just what the hell was going on at his castle as well.
He felt Glynda Goodwitch's aura even before he heard the elevator ding to signal her arrival.
"Headmaster, the Kronprinz has been spotted at the docks, do you want me to meet them at the castle?"
Ozpin looked up at her, "Indeed, tell the prince I wish to meet him and the ones accompanying him, the location may be of his choice but I would prefer my office," for recording purposes of course. Glynda nodded and got back into the elevator.
Ozpin sighed and rubbed his face with a handkerchief. He was very concerned.
Hello, sorry for the pathetically short chapter, but my computer just started working properly again this morning and I had to put something out.
On to the Review Replies!
penmaster cole: I'm not really sure what you mean, but The Shift will be heavily elaborated upon later in the story (very soon actually).
lumely: Don't worry, Richard will be far from invincible, but he will be very strong. He is royalty and it's unlikely that anything below the very best would be expected in his training.
Saint Lake: I was going to explain a little later that Ruby and her parents are pretty much only von Habsburgs in name, they are very distantly related to the main Prussian von Habsburgs, after all, only a select few of them were in Prussian territory during The Shift. There will be flashbacks of the start of Ruby's relationship with Richard, and they will come soon. Your prediction about the Prussian Faunus is surprisingly accurate to what I had in mind and Menagerie has a pretty close relationship with Prussia when the Faunus there gave them supplies when the nation first arrived. Plus the geographic closeness of the two helps in relations a small amount. Probably no chance of unification, but Prussia might vassalize Menagerie under the right circumstances.
Next chapter will hopefully be out soon, as long as my computer doesn't have another stroke by Friday.