Chapter 7: With Friends Like This

"Reckless! Rash, imprudent, and reckless!" Goodwitch spat, her riding crop crashing hard into the glass top of the desk.

Rainier sighed, turning his gaze away, leaning back in his chair casually, one arm slung over its back.

"Your behavior over the past few days has been just shy of overtly violent," She continued on, baring down towards the teen. "You continue to present yourself as a danger to your fellow students. Your over-indulging exhibitions during your sparring sessions are one thing, but attacking your fellow students outside of combat class is an entire other-"

"Now, now, Miss Goodwitch. Let the boy defend himself." Ozpin cut in calmly, hands steepled in front of himself, intelligent light brown eyes twinkling with amusement over the situation.

Rainier slowly brought his gaze back forwards with a frown, casting his gaze over the headmaster's sprawling, almost whimsically designed office, finally settling onto the professor himself sat before the enormous glass face of Beacon's clocktower. The faunus gave him a slightly dubious expression, slowly settling down properly into his seat, clearing his throat. "Yes, well… I… Team CRDL were… harassing the girl, and I stepped in, as one should."

Ozpin cleared his throat pointedly in return, looking down at the sheet in paper in front of him. "'He said that saving Ms. Scarlatina was simply a biproduct of the attack; he was attacking us just for the fun of it.'" He raised a cocked eyebrow, unimpressed.

"Bird-named snitches-"

"Mr. Platina!" Goodwitch warned.

Rainier shook his head. "…Yes. I assaulted Team CRDL. Yes, I had done it for the satisfaction of it. But I hadn't done it for no reason- they had been harassing Miss Scarlatina, and no one had stepped up to stop them. Their actions and their behavior were the reasons I had stepped in; that just so happened to align with getting Miss Scarlatina out of that situation."

Ozpin was silent for a moment. "…So, you're saying that Miss Scarlatina, a member of Team CFVY, one of the brightest, most promising teams we have here at Beacon, was unable to protect herself?"

The faunus' face darkened, turning away. "…She-"

"-Before you speak, I want you to understand the difference in faunus-human relations between Vale and Vacuo. You've spent your life as an equal among your peers, regardless of what race they were; Velvet has not. Our relations may be better than those in Mistral or Atlas, but that does not make them perfect. I understand that in Vacuo, defending one's self is expected, is it not?"

"…Yes."

"For faunus here, the easiest answer is often to weather hate, bigotry, and discrimination, to be the better person and simply walk away-"

"That's ridiculous!" Rainier spat.

Ozpin simply nodded calmly. "Yes. It is. And it shouldn't be an expected response from a historically marginalized and segregated response; but it is. Before you judge Miss Scarlatina on her actions, consider why she took them. Yes, you saved her for a day, but a retaliation from those boys may fall on either her or your head later on."

"So you admit to knowing and allowing these things to happen?" The faunus hissed, leaning forwards.

"Hm, no. We do not discriminate our students, regardless or race, background, kingdom of origin, or personal beliefs, nor do we tolerate discrimination against any of our students, even from other students. Team CRDL will be punished suitably for their actions- we are not here to talk about their punishment, however, we are here to talk about yours."

"And?"

"You assaulted four fellow students outside of a sanctioned setting. You also protected a fellow student from harassment. I can't rightfully commend you for your actions," The professor leaned forwards conspiratorially. "But I can't rightfully punish you for them either," He leaned back, giving Goodwitch a pointed side-eye. "However, this will still appear as a mark on your record. Two more and you will be expelled; normally, assaulting another student is immediate expulsion. Keep that in mind. You are, however, free to go, and, perhaps, apologize to your team. They would be lesser without you, after all."

Rainier sat quietly for a moment, face falling in befuddlement. Slowly, he rose from his chair, ambling off towards the elevator on the opposite side of the office, sneaking looks back at the duo of professors behind him, at a loss. He entered into the elevator, turning to stare at Ozpin, eyebrows furrowed, before the doors before him closed, a pleasant beep announcing his departure.

The faunus stepped out into the lobby of the clocktower, looking around as the tension drained from him, a bemused smile crossing his face, beginning his casual stroll back towards the exit doors.

"You must be the wolf. Considering." A voice called, getting him to freeze in his place, turning on his heel.

Coco Adel marched forwards, pushing a pair of dark aviators down to the tip of her nose.

"And you must be Miss Coco Adel," Rainier shot back smoothly, bowing lowly. "Rainier Platina-"

"Yeah, yeah, of Vacuo and all that," She muttered as she reached him, looking the faunus up and down. She extended a hand to him with a smirk. "I'm Vel's leader."

"Ah." He idly shook her outstretched limb, giving her a small nod.

"Thanks for stepping in when you did," She continued. "I can count on one hand the number of times we've eaten in the cafeteria, otherwise, we would have taken care of those punks ourselves. So thanks."

Three more figures rounded the corner- Velvet herself, and two huntsmen, one shorter and lankier, skin dark, his hair brilliant red; and one much, much larger, nearly as large as Ulysses, complexion olive-toned, dark hair buzzed against his head.

"That's Fox, Yatsu, and you already met Vel." Coco announced, gesturing to the rest of her team.

"I…" Rainier looked them over, Fox giving a wave, while Yatsu bowed lowly. "It's… a pleasure to meet you all."

Velvet stepped forwards, giving him a small smile. "I…. want to apologize if I didn't come across very grateful in the cafeteria. I, just-"

"-You're quite alright," Rainier said quietly, shaking his head. "I do suppose I should be the one apologizing; I had intended to get you out of that situation. I just… simply accomplished it by beating up those four goons."

"Well… thank you. I'm very grateful."

"…Of course. It was my pleasure, yes?"

Coco nodded; arms crossed. "Listen, Platina- you got any problems you need help with, don't hesitate. CFVY keep their favors."

He stared at her for a moment, before shaking his head with a small chuckle. "I'll keep that in mind, my friends. Good luck with Ozpin and Goodwitch." He nodded to the quartet, turning to exit the clocktower, stepping out into the bright midday sun-

Directly into a stiff punch to the shoulder. He jumped, turning in the air with a confused scowl.

Daria glared up at him, fists resting on her hips. "Who do you think you are?"

"I'm sorry?"

She lashed out with another punch. "Who do you think you are?"

"Is there a correct answer-"

She hit him again, finally getting him to scamper out of her reach, frowning, rubbing his shoulder, finally taking in the other students standing with her, their faces a wide array of mostly amused.

"Fantastic," He muttered. "You brought everyone here to chastise me, excellent."

Lance snorted; hands folded behind his head. "You know, wolf, we've been here, like… a couple of weeks? And you're already picking fights and getting on Oz's bad side. Honestly, I'm actually pretty impressed."

"Well… it seemed like a fitting response, given the circumstances, no?"

"Yeah," Oracle muttered, leaning against the tower. "At least you looked cool before you got expelled. Ya got that goin' for ya."

"Oh, I'm not going to be expelled."

"You're probably treadin' a mighty thin line, then."

"That, I am," He shook his head, looking over his friends. "While I do apologize for ruining your lunches, I'm afraid to inform you that I'm not truly sorry. It was-"

"Impulsive," Shinai cut in, staring coldly at the faunus. "And it would have ended poorly for you in any other circumstance. Your team comes before your pride."

Rainier stared at him hard for a long few moments, before casting his gaze to the ground with a small sigh. "I…" His gaze turned to Daria, Nash and Gail, his resolve crumpling. "…You are… correct, samurai. I apologize. I will not make that mistake twice."

"Well…" Daria said, struggling for words. "…Good! Glad we got that straightened out!"

Shinai nodded, turning to leave without another word, Oracle in tow. Lance stalled for a moment, looking over the faunus, a smirk slowly climbing across his face. "Y'know; dammit, wolf. I think I'm actually starting to like you."

"Hm. Likewise, Zaffre."

The swordsman saluted, following after the other members of his team.

Nash sidled up next to Rainier, looking him up and down. "…If you were more broody, you could be the Caped Opossum."

"The… Caped Opossum?"

"You don't have the Caped Opossum?!"

"We did not. If he is what I think he is though, we did have Torro."

"Hey," Daria called before the duo could begin marching away. She stepped up to Rainier, staring into his eyes sternly. "Did you mean it?"

"…Mean what?"

"What you said, about apologizing and not making that mistake again? Did you mean it?"

"I…" He trailed off, staring at her. "…You're… yes. I meant it."

"You're sure."

"…For once? I am."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

He looked around at the other members of his team. "I expect you to. Now, shall we? I'm starving."

Daria shook her head as she began to walk off, Nash and Gail in tow.

Rainier hesitated, looking up to the face of the clocktower high above, face falling in a troubled expression. After a moment, he slowly pulled his gaze away, following after the rest of his team, hands stuffed into his pockets.

Ozpin stared out of the window at Rainier, watching quietly as the faunus began to march away, quietly taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

Goodwitch sighed, turning back towards the headmaster. "We can't simply let every student that breaks the rules get away without punishment."

"No, but it wouldn't do to punish a boy who went out of his way to defend others, would it? He's spent his life learning to act first and face consequences second. In the meanwhile, I would like to speak to Team CRDL again, to discuss… their consequences." He said quietly, not looking away from the window.

"Of course."

He brought up his tablet silently, quickly scanning through its contents, pulling up a new page; and Lance's portrait appeared, smiling brightly and smugly, his information sprawling across the screen in great detail. Ozpin looked back to Goodwitch. "…While Qrow's in the area, please see if he can make any inquiries into our Mr. Zaffre, Miss Goodwitch."

"Right away."

The headmaster looked back down to Lance's face, humming thoughtfully, before the Scroll went dark.

Nash let out a yelp as he lost his footing, waving his arms wildly as he dramatically began to wheel backwards, falling off of Phalanx; and directly into Daria's arms, the girl letting out a grunt as she kept him from crashing down to the floor.

His eyes went wide as he looked her over. "Wow!"

She frowned. "What?"

"You're so strong!" He began to clap, face awash with impressment.

The leader of DRGN blushed as she set him back down, shaking her head as she returned to her seat. "…I don't know how you're still alive, bud."

"Oh, y'know." He said as he quickly began to scale Phalanx again, continuing his process of looking the mech head to toe, tightening bolts, stuffing wires back inside the thick red-iron shell, investigating any small imperfections he could find.

Daria stared at him, waiting for him to continue his statement for a long moment. Finally, she rolled her eyes, reclining in her chair. "Is this the last thing you've gotta do before we can head out?"

"Yep!" He called, hidden somewhere inside of the machine.

"You sure? Because I think Rainier's starting to get antsy to fight something."

Nash's head popped out from behind Phalanx, waving a hand at her. "Oh, pssh, Rainier's always antsy!" He disappeared again.

"Well… yeah. But that's beside the point."

"Uh huh!"

She rolled her eyes again with a sigh, relaxing as she pulled her Scroll out, beginning to idly surf its contents. Nash reappeared from inside his mech, staring at her for a long few moments, expression troubled. Finally, his lips pursed into a tight line, he leaned out to rest his arms onto the mech.

"Hey, Daria?" He asked hesitantly.

Her gaze shot up to him, eyebrow cocked. "Yeah?"

He struggled for a moment, looking around for the correct words to say. "…Uh… what… 'appened to your brother?"

She jolted, eyes wide, a flash of cold running through her. "I… don't know what you mean?"

"Mm," He mumbled, his face further twisting in toil, trying desperately to get his words across. "You had that picture, 'n… it looked like it might have been, like… your… brother. 'N you seemed reall'… sad about it. I just… was wonderin'… if you wanna tell me, I mean…"

Daria stared at him, still frozen in place, her breath beginning to shorten, chest rising and falling faster and faster.

His eyes widened as he scrambled from Phalanx, dashing towards her. "Nononono, I'm sorry, I'm sorr-"

"I'm fine," She muttered, taking several deep breaths, eyes closed as she began to re-center herself. She nodded. "I'm… fine. I just… I don't deal with… with loss, very well."

His face fell. "Oh… 'M sorry."

"He," She looked away from her partner, shaking her head. "I don't think… he's dead. I don't know. He… he's just gone. I… I don't think I'm ready for that," Nash watched her for a moment, before somberly turning to march back towards Phalanx. She sighed. "I'll tell you. When I'm ready, okay? We'll talk about it."

He nodded back at her as he resumed his process of checking Phalanx over, the small mechanic's shop descending into silence. She watched him and his mech for a moment, guilt flashing across her face.

"Hey, Nash?" She called, his head immediately coming back into view. "You're a good egg, you know that?"

"D'aw. Thank you," He cooed, his face brightening back up. "And you're a good noodle."

She shook her head as he disappeared, a smile claiming her face again.

Iron Maw cleaved through the grimm with ease, Lance's grinning face appearing between the two halves, before he pivoted hard, massive greatsword swinging wide to crash into a grimm leaping towards him, sending it back down into the earth with ease.

"Zaffre!" Oracle called from the side. The swordsman didn't hesitate, turning hard, hurling his greatsword away, glowing blue fist striking out with a small explosion at another attacking grimm.

The gunslinger leapt in the air as Iron Maw reached her, boots planting onto its broad surface, then jumped further in the air, safely out of range of the swiping claws of the beowolves below, the steel of the blade cutting through them before finally meeting its target, halving one of the grimm at the waist, great length burying into one of the forest's massive trees.

Oracle twirled in the air, a volley of bullets blossoming out from her, skillfully finding their marks, a dozen shots whizzing around her. She hit the ground in a crouch, lifting her revolvers, letting the empty cartridges fall around her, holstering one as she pulled a fresh cartridge from her belt.

The gunslinger had barely risen back to her feet before her instincts screamed at her, turning on her heel to the still, staring snout of a beowolf, smoke beginning to wisp off of her form. With a frown, she slowly leaned around the beast, staring at the length of steel buried into its head.

A magnetic whir sounded as Shinai's katana ripped free, flying backwards to land smoothly into his hand, the samurai twirling it with a small flourish before re-sheathing it, looking around at the fallen grimm around them with an assessing glance.

The partners' gazes settled onto Lance, watching as the unarmed swordsman brutally continued to curb stomp the fallen grimm, cursing under his breath with each impact.

"Hey. Zaffre," Oracle called. "It's dead."

He scowled as he backed off of the limp creature, wiping saliva from his lips. He turned towards his teammates, shaking his head. "Yeah, no, the greatsword thing's not working for me."

"Whattaya mean? I thought it went flawlessly."

"Yeah, no, I'm not throwing it to you anymore, figure out your own way to jump in the air." Lance muttered as he marched past them, ripping the aforementioned sword free from the tree it had buried itself into, resting it on his shoulder with a sour expression.

Shinai nodded, peering around. "Very well. We will work on a new maneuver."

"See? He gets it."

The samurai turned to continue their journey into the forest, raising his Scroll high. "Seven out of sixteen. There should be another pack nearby."

"That's it?" Oracle asked, using the barrel of her pistol to push her hat further back on her head, the other two present members of SOUL following their leader. "They brought us out here for sixteen wolves?"

"So it seems."

"That feels like a waste."

"The grimm here never stop appearing. Too many would create a crisis situation. Slowly culling their number is not only efficient but serves as valuable small introductions to fighting grimm."

"I hate that thing you do- where ya take some stupid, offhand thing I say and use logic to make it sound even stupider."

"Perhaps you should start thinking before you speak, then."

She let out a laugh. "Ouch, Kyani. That was actually a good one," She went quiet for a moment, before slightly inclining her head. "What, not even a chortle from ya, blondie? You so bored you're just tuned out?" Lance said nothing, getting her to slow, turning towards her teammate. "…Blondie?"

The partners froze, staring off into the woods with a frown, picking out the vibrant red and gold of Lance's coat. They exchanged glances as they began to make their way through the underbrush towards him.

"What the hell is this?" He asked as they entered into the small clearing with him, a rare beam of light shining through the canopy to envelope it.

"What the hell is wha…" Oracle began, before trailing off.

The trio stared at the remains of two shattered statues, ancient and weathered, slowly being reclaimed by the forest around them. One statue was simply feet and what appeared to be the bottom half of a cane of some sort; the other was completely destroyed, huge chunks of marble haphazardly laid about the clearing, only its pedestal still standing.

"…They are old," Shinai mused as he stepped forwards, resting a hand onto one of the boulders. "Very old."

Oracle shook her head, arms crossed. "This ain't creepy at all."

"…Maybe this has something to do with that temple, where Oz was keeping the chess pieces?" Lance asked, slowly making his way around the statues, looking them over with a frown.

The samurai hummed as he stepped back. "…Perhaps. We need to keep moving. The sun will set before long."

Oracle nodded, following after him, giving Lance a raised eyebrow. "Come on, Zaffre, you can bother Oz about it when we get back to campus."

"Yeah, yeah…" He muttered as he marched from the clearing, gaze not leaving the remnants of the statues until they disappeared into the depths of the forest; out of sight and out of mind.

Ulysses inclined his head at the mechanic as she disappeared around the corner, the sound of mechanical equipment whirring in the next room. Another mechanic entered into the lobby opposite of him, taking a place behind the counter, leaning against it.

"What'd you do to it this time?" The mechanic asked, his nametag reading 'Dave'.

The brooding huntsman shook his head. "Shits thought it would be a good idea to take it for a ride."

"Ha! And how'd that go for them?"

Ulysses' gazes slowly drifted to the side, a low, disappointed rumble escaping his throat. "…We're not allowed to fight off campus…"

"You're a huntsman, now, I keep forgettin' that," Dave said, throwing a towel over his shoulder. "How's that goin' for you?"

The huntsman simply let out a snort, averting his gaze.

"That bad, huh?" The teen said nothing, turning his gaze to the TV suspended above their heads, an old tournament bout between huntsmen unfolding across its screen, '25 Greatest Fights' crossing across the banner at the bottom. Dave shrugged. "Maybe you should try actually giving it a chance-"

Ulysses- his head staying stationary- turned a flat, dark stare towards the mechanic silently, unblinking.

Dave lifted his hands placatingly. "Alright, alright. Forget I said anything."

"Oi, Carb!" A voice barked from the garage beyond. "Give me a 'and, 'ere, would ya?!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm comin'…" He muttered as he turned to follow after his co-worker, disappearing into the noisy garage beyond, the two mechanics descending into shouting as the room lit up with sparks and the whirring of equipment.

Ulysses grunted as he returned his attention to the TV idly, arms crossed over his chest sourly- and then stilled, eyebrows furrowing.

A huntsman and a huntress stood in crystal clarity, both young, the stadium behind them surprisingly large, a huge crowd cheering as the duo stared off.

The huntress was dressed in leathers and gold, long red hair pulled into a high ponytail on her head, a shield held in one hand and javelin in the other, a bright, but polite smile planted on her face, bowing respectfully to her opponent

The huntsman opposite her was paler, dressed in blacks and purples, hair shaggy around his head, inklings of stubble standing out across his jaw, dark, heavy bags hanging beneath a just as heavy purple gaze, the tip of his katana resting against the tile floor, head lowered predatorily, pacing restlessly.

"The challenger, hailing from Patch; Shinai Kyani! And the defending back-to-back-to-back champion, hailing from Argus; Pyrrha Nikos!" A deep voiced announcer called, echoing across the stadium as the crowd cheered wildly for the huntress.

The opponents stared off, Pyrrha saying something that the cameras didn't pick up; Shinai simply paced quietly.

"3! 2! 1! Begin!"

With a snarl, Shinai charged forwards, fury and hurt written in his face, the two combatants meeting in the center.

Ulysses watched the fight unfold, his confusion slowly fading into a look of surprise and even amazement, leaning back in his chair with slightly wide eyes, watching the battle, at a loss.

"Ulysses! Hey, Ebony!" He snapped back out of his trance, looking towards the exit to the garage. Dave was standing in the doorway, an eyebrow raised. "I said your bike's done."

The huntsman nodded, rising to his feet, beginning his march towards his waiting bike. He gave one last look to the TV, Pyrrha standing over Shinai, javelin raised high, before he rounded the corner, the screen disappearing from view. The other mechanic gave him a head nod, chewing on a piece of gum.

He looked over the sleek black exterior of the chopper, nodding to the mechanics, satisfied.

"Next time ya bring it in," The woman said, two feline ears on her head twitching. "Make sure you did something cool to it, aight?"

He snorted as he walked it out into the afternoon air of Vale, starting it on the first go with ease, the roar of its engine filling the garage. "Can do." He muttered, more to himself, before revving the throttle, taking off from the mechanic's shop and onto the city's streets, disappearing into the night.

"So two statues, huh?" Daria asked, leaning against the fountain's barrier, an eyebrow cocked towards Lance and Oracle, half-eaten burger in hand, the sun beginning to set behind her, casting the courtyard in a warm, dying glow.

The gunslinger shrugged, taking a bite of a fry. "Weirdest damn thing. Just…"

"Just out there, huh?"

"I need to remember to ask Ozpin about it when I see him." Lance added, a fairly bare box of chicken and rice in his lap, eating absentmindedly.

Gail sat quietly for a moment, a troubled expression on her face. Finally, she swallowed hard, looking to the other students. "Well… m… maybe, there… before, Vale, there were… lots of other, um… kingdoms… it might be a, uh… leftover?"

Oracle shrugged. "Whatever the hell they were, they creeped me the hell out."

"You swear like a sailor." Nash said pointedly, one finger, as well, pointed towards her.

"No, I swear like a cowboy, there's a difference."

"…Cowboys don't swear."

"Oh. Nash, darlin'," She turned towards the leader of DRGN. "Daria, you've gotta protect this boy at all costs."

"As far as I am aware," Rainier called from his perch a few meters away from the rest of the group, gaze locked to the night sky. "Yourself and Lance are the two greatest dangers to him outside of myself, yes?"

"What's that supposed to mean, wolf?"

"All that I am saying is if any one, or three, individuals were to corrupt the poor boy," He shrugged. "It would be us."

"That's pretty damn accusatory for the boy who just almost got expelled."

"Almost, my dear. Almost."

"You did it again!" Nash cried, pointing his finger more intensely towards the gunslinger, looking around to his teammates for some sort of confirmation.

Oracle rolled her eyes, turning back forwards- and then blinked in surprise, quickly shooting to her feet, meal lost. "Babe!"

Yang grinned as she strolled forwards to meet the gunslinger, the huntresses embracing. "Good to see you, cowgirl."

They separated, Oracle turning towards the rest of her friends. "Zaffre, you already met Yang,"

He inclined his head to her. "Sup."

"Long time no see. Still a punk?"

"Still out of your league, yeah."

"He's great." Yang said to her old friend.

"That's Captain Broody himself," Oracle continued, her leader bowing his head respectfully. "Shinai- no, wait. Kyani Shinai. Ebony's not here, cause he never is. That's Daria, Nash, Gail, and back there's Rainier, Team DRGN."

"Oh hey!" The blonde called out, getting the faunus to turn to her with an amused grin. "I remember you two from the induction night. Glad to see you guys have good taste in friends."

Nash jolted in recognition, eyes going wide. "You! I… I dunno who you are."

"Oh, right. Yeah, you were pretty much asleep."

"Yea, that sounds like me."

Oracle elbowed Yang. "I got your text, thought you were never gonna show."

"Yeah, well, you guys are a weirdly hard group of people to find," She turned back to the other gathered huntsmen. "Hey- since we're all here… mostly, we've got a couple open spots at our hiding spot out towards the edge of campus, if you guys wanna come join us."

"And, pray tell," Rainier called suspiciously as he rounded the fountain to join the rest of his friends. "Who exactly is… 'we'?"

"My team and JNPR."

Nash raised his gaze to the stars beginning to appear in the sky, rapidly whispering under his breath, counting off on his fingers- before his eyes widened, a gasp escaping his lips, turning back towards Daria. "…We have to go."

"…Why?" She asked with a frown.

"Because Pyrrha Nikos is gonna be there."

Her face fell in understanding. "Well… yeah. Fine. We can go. Rainier, you coming?"

He shrugged, his food in hand. "I hardly see why not. I am ecstatic to see Miss Schnee again."

Yang let out a long snort, stifling a laugh. "Yeah. She's gonna love that. Anyone else is free to come."

The others looked to each other for a moment before beginning to rise to their feet to follow after the huntress- with the exception of Gail, who was firmly planted in her seat, both her feet and her hands tapping nervously, a grimace crossing her face. She wrenched her eyes shut tightly, taking a deep steadying breath in.

Finally, she hesitantly rose to her feet, hands clenched into white-knuckled fists, steeling herself as she joined the rest of her friends.

"Alright then," Yang nodded. "Let's go. It's a short walk. You guys'll love them."

"Okay, but if I throw Crescent Moon-"

"Ruby, I don't think you can throw Crescent Moon that hard." Pyrrha said quietly, a hand placed on the girl's shoulder comfortingly.

The leader of RWBY melted in her spot, letting out a groan. "But it'd be so cool…"

"Yang has returned!" The pink-clad Nora cried, pointing intensely off to the side. "With the promised friends!"

The eyes of RWBY and JNPR turned to the side as Yang marched forwards, DRGN and three quarters of SOUL following behind. She gave a wave. "Yep. These are them."

Ruby shied away from the new huntsmen for a brief moment- before shooting to her feet like a bullet, eyes wide. "ORACLE!"

In a red blur, rose petals appearing in her wake, she zoomed past the rest of the new huntsmen, crashing directly into Oracle hard. The duo slid several meters before coming to a stop, Ruby hugging the gunslinger tightly. After a moment of shock, a grin spread across Oracle's face, returning the hug warmly. "Hey there, kiddo."

"How've you been?! It's been forever!"

"I'm alright, Rubes, you're…" The older huntress looked her up and down. "…The exact same height you were last time."

That drained the enthusiasm from Ruby's face. "…I swear I'm taller."

Oracle hugged her again as they returned to the rest of the group.

Yang gestured to the seated huntsmen. "Gang, that's Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren, JNPR, and that's Rubes, Weiss and Blake. We're RWBY."

Weiss rose to her feet, brushing her skirt off- and froze, gaze freezing on Rainier, face going stony. "Oh. It's you."

The faunus bowed lowly with a flourish. "It's a pleasure to make your reacquaintance, Miss Schnee."

The heiress harrumphed as she sat back down, returning to her dinner coldly. Blake, though, smiled to the Vacuoan. "Thank you for stepping in and stopping CRDL from harassing Velvet. It's not often that someone actually steps up to do something."

Rainier, though, leaned back uncomfortably, gaze shifting between Daria and Shinai. "Er… how did you hear about that encounter, exactly?"

Pyrrha sighed. "We were there. It was… quite a sight."

"And…" His face fell in a frown. "None of you did anything?"

"We're, uh…" Jaune rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess we're all just a little too used to Cardin by now."

Rainier snorted as he stepped off to the side, taking a seat a few meters from the group. "Well… that's hardly an excuse."

"Uh…" Yang began, before clearing her throat. "Anyways, other gang, this is DRGN and, eh, most of SOUL, I think we don't talk about the other guy. Sit, eat! Our clique's power grows by the day."

Daria didn't hesitate to take a seat next to Pyrrha, Nash and Gail in tow. "Hey, Pyrrha."

"Mm, hello, Daria~" The huntress said back in a sing-song voice, smiling contently.

"Daria!" Jaune said quickly. "Right! Daria, that- that was exactly… what I was about to say. Daria."

"You can't remember my name, it's fine," The aforementioned huntress muttered. "Not like it's the first time it happened."

"Oh, okay. Cool. It's alright- happens to me, hehe… all the time."

Pyrrha looked back and forth between them happily. "It's rather nice to have old friends meet new… friends! For a moment, I thought our encounter in the forest was going to be our only one! I'm happy to see it wasn't."

Daria stared at her, face quickly darkening, letting out a nervous giggle, immediately digging back into her food as busily as she could.

Nash, though, leaned towards the redheaded huntress. "…You're Pyrrha Nikos." He whispered reverently.

"Uh…" She blinked awkwardly. "Yes? I am?"

The boy let out a squeak, staring at her with wide eyes. "…You're very pretty."

"I-" She trailed off, blushing, a hand raised to her chest. "Thank you. You're very handsome."

He receded backwards, a dark blush of his own claiming his face as he shimmied under the compliment, grinning. "Thank youuu…"

Pyrrha chuckled, turning back to Daria. "Your friend is adorable."

"Mmhm!" She managed to muffle out, still busily burying her face in her food distractingly.

Ren nodded to Shinai. "Your name is Mistrali, isn't it?"

The samurai blinked, looking up from his bowl, chopsticks in hand. "…Yes, it is… as is yours."

"Lie Ren."

"Kyani Shinai."

They shook hands, giving each other deep head nods. Ren pulled back, looking down at his own pair of chopsticks with a slight, content smile. "It's… been some time since I've visited with someone of my own culture."

"Ah… I was… raised in the huntsmen temple, here in Vale, though my master was Mistrali."

"I suppose there's not much difference where you were raised if you share the same traditions."

"No, no I suppose there is not."

"Gosh," Nora said, leaning between them. "I spent my whole childhood in Mistral, and I never learned any of this stuff!"

Shinai gave Ren a side eye, an eyebrow cocked. The ninja gave a small smile. "…You get used to her."

Oracle threw her arms over Yang's and Ruby's shoulders, grinning broadly, letting out a satisfied sigh. "I missed you girls."

"D'aw," Ruby said, leaning against her. "I missed you too. You stopped visiting!"

"I, uh… had some stuff at home to deal with. Wasn't anythin' you girls did."

"Well… we're here now, I guess."

"And you're the leader of your own team, hon. I'm really proud of ya… your ma would be too."

Ruby's face fell, gaze turning to the ground. "…Thanks, O."

Lance watched the interaction with a frown, catching Oracle's warning side eye. He rolled his eyes, before gesturing to the group wider with his fork. "Hey, how'd you guys meet up anyways? Just decide to get together willy-nilly?"

"Oh," Nora said, waving him off. "Pfft, we fought some super deadly grimm in the Forest together back in the second day. Trauma has a great way of bringing people together!"

The present members of DRGN and SOUL stopped, looking to each other in mirror expressions of dumbfoundment. Lance was the first to break the silence, blinking. "…Huh. Us too."

"Well that's super weird!"

"…Yeah."

Rainier shrugged; his attention returned to the group. "I suppose it may not be a rare thing, yes? There are apparently many horribly dangerous things in the Emerald Forest. Who knows; there may be another group of huntsmen in our own year that may be united through combat, such as we are."

"Yeah… guess you're right."

Yang spread her arms with a bright grin. "But look at us now! Four…ish teams, united. We'll be unstoppable!"

Oracle shook her head with a small, content smile. "Your thirteen-year master plan finally paid off, did it, babe?"

"You bet it did! Nothing can stop us now!"

"Vegas Gold!" The man spat as he stormed forwards, sweeping ginger hair to the side as he replaced his bowler cap back onto his head, a cigar clenched tightly in his teeth, cane swinging wildly, white long coat swaying around his legs.

The figure standing alone across the room from him slowly looked up, back turned towards him, idly combing blonde hair back, dressed in leather, sleeveless long coat, form covered in golds and muted browns. He reached forwards and pulled something off of the table in front of him, brilliant golden eyes turning over his shoulder with a cocked eyebrow. "Roman."

Roman growled as he continued his furious march towards the other man. "We have talked about this! You do not get to kill my men!"

Vegas turned around to face the other man completely- sheathed over his right arm was a massive golden sword running parallel with the limb, attached to his forearm. Its surface steamed with heat, the tip of its blade slowly glowing orange. "They're not even your men."

"Maybe not, but gods damn it they were expensive!"

The golden figure began to walk towards Roman, meeting him halfway. He stared down at the ginger with an unimpressed, raised eyebrow. "So buy more. That's not my problem, Rome."

"Listen, Gold, we are on a budget here, in case you've forgotten. Junior's offering a lot of men, but they're expensive, and not worth half the cost; so if you could stop offing them, that'd be great!"

"I reiterate, not my problem."

"Alright, then- what's your excuse? I wanna hear this one."

"He was pissing me off."

"So that's it, huh? Just a few," Roman wiggled his fingers in front of his companion's face. "Mean spirited words, and you just slice-slice, huh?"

Vegas lashed out, catching the limb before it could retract, clenching tightly. "Maybe I should reintroduce myself; my name is Vegas Gold. I work for some very bad people, because I am a very bad person."

"Nice to meetcha, Vegas, my name's Roman Torchwick; the man running this operation, in case you've forgotten!" He snapped back, ripping his hand free, waving his cane in the air furiously, not backing down from the larger criminal.

Gold snorted as he stepped back coolly from his partner. "So I've heard, mob boss. Gangster? What- what do you prefer? Mook?"

"You're pretty funny for a hired killer."

"The hired killer. Don't sell me short."

"Well, Mr. The Hired Killer, I'm going to respectfully ask you to stop gods damn killing my men! We've got a finite supply, and those mutts from the White Fang aren't worth the trouble of getting them in the first place!"

"I'm fairly certain my- pardon, our superior's orders were to make do. So make. Do."

Roman watched him for a moment, before shaking his head, stepping forwards to join him at the large table dominating the far wall of the warehouse. The mob boss leaned forwards, pulling his cigar from his mouth as he stared at the plans and maps below. "…I'm trying my best, Gold. If that friggin' red bitch in the cape gets in my way one more time, though…"

"Don't worry. I'll be waiting at the docks," Vegas muttered, leaning his hip against the table, the tension slowly draining from the room. "If she shows up-"

"No, no. She's mine. I deserve at least that much from this entire thing."

"Have it your way, then. When's the operation happening?"

"Couple of days. Still gotta 'rally the troops!' or some crap like that. Still gonna be at the docks, we just need the rest of the White Fang to show up, and we'll be golden."

An insistent tapping sounded out from behind the two criminals, getting them to turn curiously; a few meters behind them was a short, younger woman, dressed similarly to Roman in formal white and black, an ornate parasol at her side, her hair half pink, half brown, her eyes vice versa. She raised an eyebrow expectantly.

Roman shook his head. "Oh, yeah, yeah; Vegas, that's Neo, she doesn't talk; Neo, that's Vegas, he kills people, there, you're introduced," She gave the killer a small wave, getting a put-off, confused one in return. "What do you need?"

She cocked her head silently to the side; around the corner, a White Fang member was standing nervously, peering at the two killers, dressed in the Fang's default white and grey attire, an alabaster mask covering most of his face, a tail curled under his legs.

Roman rolled his eyes, stepping towards him, patting his legs. "Well, come on then, boy. Come on, you can do it," He whistled. "Here, boy, here!"

The faunus' terror slowly faded to irritation as he stepped around the corner, lugging a massive crate on a jack behind him, dragging it over towards the center of the room.

The quartet stood silently for a long moment awkwardly. Finally, the mob boss gestured over-exaggeratedly to the White Fang. "…Well? Open it."

The faunus begrudgingly picked a crowbar off the jack, ripping the lid off of the crate to let it fall to the side with a loud clatter, echoing across the warehouse walls. The trio of criminals stepped forwards to peer into the box.

Roman pulled out a gleaming blue crystal, looking it over curiously. "Well, well. Prime, Schnee Dust crystals. Not bad, not bad," He placed it back into its place, looking over the dozens of crystals of varying colors held within the box. He shook his head, turning back to the far wall and the map laid onto it. "…Still… we're gonna need more men if we really want to pull this off." He gave a pointed look to Vegas.

The killer slowly grinned, marching over to the maps. He looked over the map of Vale, its surface littered with red 'x's and circles. He raised his blade and pushed it into the map, the paper sizzling with the heat, curling at the edges as the golden sword continued to push through and into the wall behind it, cutting through the cement with absolute ease.

"With friends like these... who needs men?"

Where Beacon had sat on the map, circled urgently in red, was now a singed, burned hole, slowly curling away at the edges.