"I'd appreciate it if the two of you would show me what exactly you are capable of." Ozpin said as the three of them walked out into the Emerald Forest together. "If you wish to attend my academy without having any clearance from one of the training schools, you will have to prove yourselves."
Hazel balled his hands into fists and followed Gretchen as the two of them walked further and further into the forest with Ozpin at their backs.
He felt so foolish. The two of them were walking into a grimm infested forest, both of them completely unarmed.
The rumors that he'd heard that being allowed to walk into that forest was being more than generous.
Hazel didn't particularly look forward to having to go back to work with only one arm to use to lift crates with after one of his got gnawed off by grimm. At least if he got eaten whole he wouldn't have to worry about going to work or getting fired.
But Hazel couldn't leave Gretchen alone. She could probably get into Beacon, but still the idea of leaving her alone in the world was too much. They were already without any family other than each other. The last thing that he needed to do was make it any worse.
"So we start by finding some grimm." Gretchen announced, taking the lead. Hazel nodded and followed her. Ozpin still said nothing to either of them, only watched as they disappeared into the forest together.
It made Hazel's skin crawl.
Gretchen grinned wide and then broke into a run, heading further into the forest. Hazel's eyes widened when he realized that there was no room for them to go wasting time. He looked back over his shoulder at Ozpin, gave the headmaster a look, and then sprinted in after Gretchen because the last thing that he ever wanted to have to do was lose her for real.
But already he'd managed to lose track of Gretchen, which made Hazel's heart beat far too hard in his chest as he got further and further into the forest. He had to find her, had to make sure that she was safe.
"Found some!" He heard her shout from further into the forest. He stopped dead in his tracks, just long enough to try and listen, and when he heard the sounds of Beowulves snarling Hazel took off in that direction so that the two of them could stick together.
And of course Gretchen hadn't just found some beowulves.
She'd found a whole damn pack of them.
She'd found a pack of Beowulves, they were both unarmed, and only Gretchen had a semblance that could be used to defend the two of them.
She was strong, but that fear was there always under Hazel's skin that it wasn't ever going to be enough. He knew that it wasn't always enough already.
Hazel skidded into the clearing and shouted to try and get his sister's attention.
Gretchen turned her head to look at him, quickly. Her long braid flew out with the motion and she put on a grin. "You made it!" She cried, jumping away from one of the grimm as it got closer to her.
"What are you doing?"
"Fighting them!" Gretchen said as she leaped up into the air to catch onto a tree branch and pull herself up above the battle for herself. "What are you doing to be useful?"
Hazel opened his mouth to try and give an answer when one of the grimm threw itself straight into him. He grit his teeth and tried to push it away from him. He managed to get it off of him, but the felt the grimm's fangs try to cut through his aura.
Gretchen rolled her eyes. "Just hold on!" She shouted back to him. "Think I can take all of them out in one go?"
She could. Hazel knew fully well that Gretchen was more than capable of it should she have the desire to go that far. If she really wanted to, Hazel was pretty sure that his sister could have easily leveled the entire forest.
A part of him wondered whether or not Gretchen showing off would up his own chances of admission, against all logic.
A more reasonable thing to hope for was that she'd show off so much that Ozpin had no choice but to offer her a full scholarship to Beacon academy. Gretchen would be happy, and Hazel wouldn't have to worry about picking up more work for the sake of supporting the two of them. Not that there was actually all that much work that he could have picked up anyways. He was only getting his paychecks under the table.
Gretchen would be at Beacon Academy, Hazel knew. She'd be somewhere dangerous, fighting monsters every day and constantly putting herself at an extreme, unnecessary risk that she didn't need to take. She'd love being a huntress in training, with her teammates and her dorm, and never worrying about where her next meal would come from.
As for him, Hazel knew, he'd have to learn to be alone for the first time in his life.
He wasn't ready. He was barely keeping things together as they were.
Gretchen gave him an expectant look, one that communicated that she was far from entertained by how distant Hazel was that day.
"Hazel!" She shouted back at him as she prepared herself for the fight for real, all while Hazel decided to hang back and keep himself as safe as he could on his own. "What do you think?"
"Just do it!" He growled back at Gretchen.
She rolled her eyes and activated her semblance, or whatever it was that she did. The wind whipped around them both, so fast that Hazel had to crouch low to the ground to ensure that he wouldn't lose his footing because of it. Gretchen raised up into the treetops, the grimm skidding to a stop just within reach of them both.
When Hazel looked up, he watched as green leaves turned blue with ice before they shot down towards the grimm and tore through them in one quick go. All of them disappeared at once, and slowly Gretchen drifted back down, the flames from her eyes fading away just as her feet hit the forest floor.
"You okay?" She asked, turning her head to smile back at Hazel.
"Yeah." He rose up to his feet again and brushed the dirt off of his clothes. "I'm fine."
Gretchen nodded along. "You think Ozpin's going to take us?"
"He'll take you." Hazel grumbled. "Ozpin would be a fool not to."
Gretchen let out a sigh and jogged up to Hazel's side, clutching onto his sleeve as she walked alongside him. "Oh, come on, he won't split us up!" She said. "If you want to go, he'll take you."
Hazel let out a heavy sigh. "I'm not as sure." He replied just a moment later. "Should we keep on going, or—"
Gretchen thought on it for a moment. "If Ozpin makes a decision, maybe he'll speak up about it?"
Hazel frowned. He wasn't so sure. Couldn't be sure.
"Maybe." He said quietly, still leading them because Gretchen would only end up getting the two of them lost. A part of him was angry at himself for failing to mark his trail as they walked through the forest, but it was too late to do anything for it.
If they were lost at that point, they were lost.
Gretchen paid the matter no mind and for hours the two of them trekked on, deeper and deeper into the forest. Every time they ran into grimm, Gretchen was quick to dispatch them. The only time that Hazel found himself facing one directly, he could only do what he could to keep the beast off of him.
Nothing more. He couldn't afford to do anything less.
They found Ozpin at a clearing in the middle of the forest, where some sort of old temple had been built, some monument to gods that had long passed.
Ozpin smiled at them both, and Hazel felt his heart drop into his stomach, possibly even further than that based on how awful he felt in that moment.
"Miss Rainart," Ozpin spoke quietly. "I would like to welcome you to my academy."
When Gretchen leapt with joy, Hazel felt only sick dread that sank into his very bones and dragged him down until he felt like he was absolutely nothing.