"Shoot, I take it back Oz. I figured you were one of those real sticky by-the-book types, but this makes me rethink everything I know about you."
"I assure you, this is perfectly standard procedure."
Drifter looked down from the top of the cliff at the sprawling forest hundreds of feet below, even catching glimpses of the Grimm within. He looked back over to Ozpin and the launch pads.
"Throwing your kids off a cliff is normal?" he asked.
"I thought you of all people would approve of this," Ozpin said with an amused look.
Drifter laughed. "Now don't get me wrong, this looks like the greatest thing I've seen since coming to Vale! Thanks for the invitation to watch, brother."
"Well, don't get too excited just yet." Ozpin took a sip from his mug. "When the students arrive, things will become truly interesting."
"I bet. Too bad we can't see them land."
"Oh, but we will."
Drifter squinted at the forest in the distance. "Seems a little too far, even if we had a scope."
The headmaster shook his head. He pulled his Scroll out of his pocket and waved it. "We have dozens of video feeds, which will stream live to our Scrolls."
"Huh. You've got this all sorted," Drifter remarked. "Wait—so you have a bunch of hidden cameras to spy on kids with?"
Ozpin was quiet for a moment. He adjusted his glasses and looked down at his Scroll.
"Well, if you phrase it like that, it sounds odd. However, the cameras are a necessity for the evaluation and safety of our prospective students," he explained.
"No worries brother, I'm just yanking your Ghost," Drifter said with a grin. "Uh," he coughed, "messing with you, I mean."
If Ozpin noticed the odd phrase, he did not show it.
The two stood there quietly. Ozpin continued to sip from his ever-present mug, while Drifter played with one of his coins.
Glynda walked up behind them, breaking the silence.
"Good morning, Ozpin, Mr. Hope," she greeted them.
"C'mon, don't call me that, Glynda."
"Dredgen?"
He shuddered at the thought. "Drifter is fine."
She raised an eyebrow. "I don't find it appropriate for a Beacon professor to go by such a title."
"How about I get my name legally changed to Drifter?" he asked.
Glynda ignored him.
"I've ensured all the cameras and feeds are working," she stated, turning to Ozpin. "I will send the announcement for the students to gather here."
Ozpin nodded. "Good. Thank you, Glynda. And, I checked on the artifacts last night, so everything should be in place."
Drifter considered the initiation setup. Back on Earth, Guardians jumped from high places all the time—the frequent bodies at the base of the Tower could attest to that. These students, however, did not have a Ghost to revive them. He wondered if Ozpin had some kind of failsafe on standby.
"What happens if they fail the landing?" Drifter asked.
"They hit the ground.
"Sounds messy."
"It can be."
"And their families are all right with this?"
Ozpin took a sip from his mug.
"They are," Glynda answered for him. "Ozpin mails out risk information prior to initiation."
Ozpin, still quiet, took another sip.
Glynda sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "You did send them out, right?"
"Oh look," Ozpin said abruptly, "the first of the students are arriving."
"Heh," Drifter shook his head. "Crazy."
After a few minutes, the students began to arrive. Drifter moved away to the far side of the launchpads. From there he observed the students, most of whom did not even glance his way in their eagerness to begin.
He looked down at the roster on his Scroll and read through their profiles, matching names and faces. Of all the students, two caught his eye from the start.
Yang Xiao Long. He'd already met her once. She seemed bold and reckless, a good start. Getting her hooked wouldn't be hard at all. If she could stomach the work, she would be a perfect candidate.
Ruby Rose. Drifter recognized her from the fight he witnessed against Torchwick. An impressive feat that earned her a spot at Beacon. Coincidentally, she was also the sister of Yang Xiao Long. She could also be a good recruit for Gambit, although if Ozpin had taken special interest in the girl he'd have to be careful.
Drifter flipped through the others.
Pyrrha Nikos. The thrill of Gambit should appeal to a competition fighter like her. He found it interesting she moved to Vale instead of remaining in Mistral. Perhaps she wished to escape her home and fame? If so, Gambit would be a perfect fit, Drifter thought with an inward laugh. Gambit didn't make you famous, it made you infamous.
Weiss Schnee. He recognized the last name and its sign of a powerful and wealthy family. He would avoid her unless she was particularly skilled or otherwise useful. Drifter didn't want to risk making an enemy of such a powerful family.
He skimmed the rest of the profiles. All the others seemed to be competent warriors themselves, but their files showed nothing noteworthy. He'd have to observe the initiation with care to see if anyone else was worth pursuing.
When recruiting for his crew, Drifter looked for personality above all else. He needed people with the right attitude, and a willingness to survive.
All the new students had lined up on the launch pads, and Ozpin began to speak.
"For years you have trained to be warriors, and now, your abilities will be evaluated…"
Drifter tuned out Ozpin and Glynda, instead examining the students' weapons and guessing their capabilities.
"… you will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die," Ozpin finished.
The headmaster's remarks struck him as a little morbid.
The pads began to launch the candidates, while one boy was frantically asking Ozpin questions.
"Oooh!" Drifter grimaced as the boy's pad activated and sent him sprawling through the air. "Don't think he'll make the landing," he muttered.
With the video feeds pulled up on his Scroll, Drifter watched the initiation closely. He mentally noted every significant action from the students, whether in combat or in their behavior. Anything that might indicate he or she would be a good fit for Gambit.
He remained on the side, away from Ozpin and Glynda, taking care to angle himself so he could deploy his Ghost. The little machine had connected itself to his Scroll, intercepting the feeds from every camera at once so Drifter could later replay them.
Too much information never hurt.
The students began to enter the forest, using their weapons in a variety of unique ways to make a safe landing. Soon, the first pairs were formed.
Ruby and Weiss made eye contact, marking them as partners. Drifter frowned at the pairing. The Schnee paired with Ozpin's special child would make it difficult to work with them without attracting attention. He'd have to put them aside, for now.
Pyrrha partnered with that boy who nearly died, Jaune. He seemed weak and forgettable. The boy would not an obstacle.
Soon after, Yang and Blake met and established their partnership. While confident in Yang's potential, he needed to learn more about the other girl. Ozpin's files on her were lacking, although he suspected the headmaster knew more than he let on.
Drifter continued to scroll through the feeds as the students progressed towards their objective and slaughtered any Grimm in their path. Despite how weak the Grimm they were fighting were, it still impressed him that they were so capable despite their youth.
Of course, live for a few centuries and all ordinary humans would seem like children.
Drifter saw Ruby and Weiss had yet again stopped to argue and he changed the feed.
Children indeed.
Glynda seemed upset about something. From the snippets he caught between her and Ozpin's conversation, it seemed Pyrrha's partner, Jaune, was the subject. Drifter quietly agreed with her—the boy's skill in combat was sorely lacking. In fact, it was a miracle he hadn't died already.
He did a double-take as two students rode the back of a large Grimm through the forest. Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie, he noted their names with a shake of his head. They must have been crazy to try such a stunt. Drifter liked crazy.
The initiation continued to progress. That group of eight students saw the most action, as they were engaged by both a Nevermore and a Death Stalker. The other students had gathered their relics already and were heading back to the cliffs.
Drifter whistled appreciatively at their quick teamwork as the group split into fours and tackled each threat. Like Guardians facing their first Primeval Taken, the students made hasty plants and executed them with similar speed, working to beat back the Grimm.
All they needed was an Invader to make it a real party.
He leaned closer to his Scroll. Ruby jumped on a rope held between Blake and Yang, drawing it back, while Weiss held her with a glyph.
Far in front of them screeched the immobile Nevermore, its tail encased in ice.
The glyph suddenly activated, throwing Ruby towards the trapped Nevermore at incredible speed.
She caught its neck with her scythe, dragging it along as she began to sprint up the cliff face. At the top she stalled for a second as the Nevermore snagged the edge.
And then its head was ripped off.
Drifter's jaw dropped.
"Whoo! The best fights happen on the frontier!" he shouted, drawing funny looks from the other two. "Heh, sorry, old habits and all."
"Yes, I suppose they do," Ozpin agreed.
Drifter had to admit, despite the Nevermore being far less dangerous than a Taken Primeval, he'd never seen a team of Guardians finish any enemy as dramatically as those four had.
The other four had also done a fine job with their Death Stalker, although not in such an eye-catching manner as the others had.
After the students completed initiation, Drifter returned to his room. There he leaned back in the chair, his feet kicked up on his desk as the computer displayed live footage of Ozpin's announcement in the auditorium.
The headmaster made his remarks and announced the new teams that were formed among the now official students of Beacon.
RWBY and JNPR were the ones he'd have to monitor closely. Between them, Drifter saw six potential recruits. Maybe seven if he could get the Schnee girl involved without complications.
Plenty of potential among them. He only really needed three or four others for a crew.
Of course, they would have to prove themselves in an easy game of Gambit first.
Drifter's Ghost hovered by the computer, finished loading the videos it captured from initiation. He planned to spend the next few nights analyzing the footage.
"Gonna learn everything about these kids I can," Drifter explained to his silent Ghost. "Then I can approach a few of them, get 'em interested in what I have to offer."
His Ghost stared back at him.
Drifter frowned. "Don't give me that look."
It tilted in the air, as if asking a question.
"No, not creepy. It's called reconnaissance!"
"Huh," Torchwick said, looking down at his scroll.
The woman in the room looked at him. "What?"
He shook his head and puffed his cigar. "Nothing. Someone might be trying to make a move against me."
She raised an eyebrow at that. "Will it be a problem, Roman?"
"Of course not, you know me. I always tie up my loose ends."
"Like that White Fang defector?"
"Jeez, once this is done, I'll take care of that animal too." He stood, grinding his cigar out on the table. "Relax Cinder, I can handle my affairs."
"You'd better, Roman. For your sake."
Torchwick suppressed a shudder as he walked out.
Author's Notes:
Hi all! I wanted to use this space to reply to some of the reviews. Also, thank you all for the positive support so far!
This was a shorter chapter, but I do have more on the way. I like to write a few chapters ahead so I have time to proof and edit.
1. Thanks to everyone who pointed out the Glenda vs. Glynda mistake. Can't believe I missed that!
2. Thanks to Westbrook57 for the lore tips.
3. "I do hope at some point we get to see Drifter face off against some Remnant folks. I assume he still has some bit of Light in him, so does he still have his powers, ie resurrection?"
Yes, Drifter has kept his Light powers. He can resurrect, however as I understand the lore, he avoids death as if he were an ordinary human and dislikes resurrecting.
4. "I like it, but I'm worried that this will be drifter just reacting to things, please have him make an actual impact in the world…"
He will have an impact!
5. "As interesting as it seems, I'd rather you just keep Drifter and his taken as the only element from Destiny in this fic. Introducing other guardians and players from the game would probably just overcomplicate things."
I completely understand this. Rest assured, Drifter and the Taken will be the only Destiny characters involved.