Chapter 2
[Signal Academy]
Ruby Rose yawned widely; Professor Berenstain's Anatomy of Grimm lecture was boring her to tears. Not that she had anything against learning, but there had to be a way to make it fun. Or at least, not as boring.
She let her head fall onto her desk with a soft thunk and let out a groan. Her only consolation was the fact that summer vacation started in less than two months. Unfortunately, the dastardly fiend known as final exams stood between her and blessed freedom.
"Ah, Miss Rose. Did you have a comment on the lecture?"
Ruby's head shot up in panic; apparently that groan wasn't as quiet as she thought it was. "Oh! No, sir," she squeaked, an embarrassed blush staining her cheeks. The entire class snickered at her.
The bear Faunus that taught the class fixed her with a stern stare. "Hmm…very well. But please try to pay attention, you never know when these lessons may save your life," he admonished. Ruby nodded and, once the teacher had resumed his lecture, let out a sigh of relief. She got lucky that time.
She looked up at the clock; only fifteen minutes until class ended. Fifteen minutes before she could go home and work on her baby, a hybrid scythe/sniper rifle she made a year ago during Weapons class, for the whole weekend. It was named Crescent Rose, and in her opinion it was the greatest weapon in the world. Although, admittedly, there were still a few bugs to work out; the recoil mitigation for the Gravity Dust rounds wasn't quite working properly. The first time she fired one, she ended up on her ass in the dirt.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the final bell rang. Ruby grabbed her bag and followed the sea of students to the front doors of Signal Academy. Now she just had to wait for her sister. Finding an empty spot next to the wall, she sat down and pulled her sketchbook out of her bag.
Her sketchbook was filled with weapon designs and upgrades she had come up with. It was where she came up with the idea for Crescent Rose. She got out her pencil and flipped to the most recent page, which had a blueprint for an upgrade for her Uncle Qrow's weapon, Harbinger.
Of course, that wasn't to say Harbinger wasn't cool already. Qrow had, like many other former Signal students, forged his weapon himself. In its current configuration, it took the form of a collapsible greatsword, but could easily switch between modes to utilize the semiautomatic, short-barreled shotguns on either side of the blade, or to change forms completely into a wicked-looking scythe.
With her tongue between her teeth, Ruby started designing even more upgrades for the formidable weapon. Perhaps a hollowed-out section for storing Dust? That might work. And maybe another shotgun in the shaft. Ideas firmly in mind, she put pencil to paper and began to sketch.
She was so absorbed in her work that she didn't even realize her sister was approaching until a hand landed on her shoulder. Not expecting the sudden contact, Ruby let out a squeak of fright and flinched, accidentally making a large mark across her sketch.
"Yang! I told you to stop doing that!" she cried, frantically trying to erase the unintentional mark without messing up her sketch.
Yang just shrugged unapologetically. "I called your name three times, Rubes. You gotta be more aware of your surroundings."
Yang was two years Ruby's senior, and definitely more…developed in certain areas. Her standard attire of a tight-fitting orange shirt, brown jacket, brown short shorts, and knee-high brown boots served only to accent her assets. Unlike Ruby, who had inherited her birthmother's black hair with red tips, Yang had their father's blonde hair, but her eyes were a curious shade of lilac.
Ruby huffed and put her sketchbook away. "Meanie," she muttered petulantly. "Let's just go, I wanna get some work done on Crescent Rose before dinner."
Yang just rolled her eyes at her sister's weapon obsession. "Alright, alright, c'mon."
The two sisters headed out to the student parking lot, chatting amicably about how their respective days went. Ruby decided against mentioning her embarrassment in history class, knowing that Yang would just find it as more ammunition for her teasing.
"Hey, I just realized," said Yang suddenly. "I didn't see Dad or Uncle Qrow at all today. What's the deal?"
Ruby tilted her head in thought. "Uncle Qrow's on a mission, I know that much, but I haven't seen Dad either. I wonder why?"
Yang shrugged. "We can ask him when we get home," she said as they approached Bumblebee, Yang's custom-built motorcycle. "Hop on and let's get going."
Ruby nodded and, making sure her bag was secure, climbed on the bike behind her sister. With the roar of the engine, Yang peeled out of the parking lot, hopping the curb with ease and taking off towards their home.
[Break]
Harry felt like someone was slowly driving a railroad spike into his brain. The pain was so intense, he couldn't even cry out; all he could do was press his hands to his temples, sucking in deep breaths through his gritted teeth, and try to ride it out.
Finally, after what felt like hours, he managed to open his eyes.
He was laying on a couch in an unfamiliar living room, a black blanket decorated with red rose petals was draped over him, and there was a Corgi on his chest.
He blinked. The Corgi blinked back, then gave his nose a lick. Harry smiled and scratched the dog behind the ears, earning another lick which made him chuckle a bit.
A blond man walked in as Harry was sitting up, keeping the Corgi on his lap. "Oh, you're awake!" he said in surprise. "How're you feeling?"
Harry gently shooed the Corgi off his lap as he swung his legs off the sofa. "Like my head's been split open, but otherwise alright," he replied. He tried to stand, but quickly found himself off balance. He would've fallen flat on his face if the blond man hadn't caught him.
"Whoa, easy there," the man said. "Here, I'll help you to the kitchen and whip something up for us."
The two slowly made their way to the kitchen, Harry leaning heavily on the blond man, who introduced himself as Taiyang Xiao-Long. The Corgi, who Taiyang said was named Zwei, trotted along behind them.
Upon reaching the kitchen, Taiyang gently eased Harry into a chair by a plain wooden table, and went over to the nearby refrigerator. "How does soup sound?" he asked, getting out some ingredients.
"Soup sounds amazing," replied Harry as he stroked Zwei's head; the Corgi had jumped into his lap as soon as Harry had sat down, eager for more pets. Taiyang nodded and set about chopping ingredients, which were tossed into a pot.
"So, kid, what's your name?" asked Taiyang, sitting down opposite Harry once all the ingredients had been added to the pot.
Harry felt slightly embarrassed, as Taiyang had introduced himself, but he hadn't responded in kind. "Harry Potter."
"Nice to meet you. Now, I have a couple of questions for you, if you don't mind," said Taiyang. "First of all, where do you come from?"
Harry thought for a moment. Should he tell the truth? It seemed like the best option, since he didn't know anything about this world.
"Well, Mr. Xiao Long…" He was almost immediately stopped by Taiyang's raised hand.
"Taiyang, please. Mr. Xiao Long makes me feel old."
"You are old," said a voice from the living room.
Taiyang rolled his eyes. "Still younger than you, Qrow."
A tall man with graying black hair and a stubbly beard stumbled into the kitchen, nearly colliding with the refrigerator, before collapsing into an unoccupied chair. He nodded briefly to Harry before his head hit the table.
"Harry Potter, Qrow Branwen," said Taiyang. "Our resident squatter, and my daughters' Drunkle."
"Fuck off, Tai."
"Er…Drunkle?" asked Harry.
"Drunk uncle," explained the blond. "Qrow here hasn't been sober in years."
"…I see." Harry subtly scooted his chair away from the black-haired man, who raised his head and glared at Taiyang.
"Anyway," Taiyang continued, ignoring the middle finger that Qrow was now sending him, "you were saying?"
Harry took a deep breath. "Are either of you familiar with dimensional travel?"
Whatever both men were expecting, it wasn't that. After about a minute of silence, Qrow stood and walked out of the kitchen.
"Where're you going?" asked Taiyang.
"I'm calling Ozpin, then getting a drink," was the shouted reply. "I ain't drunk enough for this."
[Break]
Yang whipped her motorcycle into the driveway with a screeching of tires. Ruby, used to Yang's wild driving, hopped off the bike with practiced ease and nearly skipped to the door. Yang followed behind her at a more sedate pace.
Almost immediately after walking in, her nose picked up a wonderful aroma: chicken noodle soup, homemade, her dad's special recipe. She smiled widely as her stomach growled. A nice meal was just what she needed.
She was distracted when a familiar voice rang out from the kitchen.
"I'm calling Ozpin, then getting a drink. I ain't drunk enough for this."
Ruby's face lit up like Christmas had come early and brought her birthday along for the ride. "UNCLE QROW!" she shrieked in joy, using her Semblance to dart across the living room and tackle-hug her uncle as he came out of the kitchen, sending them both tumbling. "It's so good to see you! How was your mission? Did you kill a bunch of Grimm? Did you get me a present?" She gasped. "Did you bring COOKIES?!"
Qrow couldn't help but smile at his hyperactive niece as he put a hand over her mouth, silencing the rapid-fire questioning. "Easy there, little Miss Motor Mouth," he joked. "Can you get off me? I need to be able to feel my legs."
Yang rolled her eyes and grabbed her sister by the scruff and easily lifted her off their uncle, who stood and made a show of popping the bones in his back. "You're gettin' too big to do that, Shrimp," he teased, smirking at the threatening glare (read: adorable pout) his dark-haired niece was sending him.
"Er…are you alright?"
The trio turned to see Harry sticking his head out of the kitchen, staring at the three in confusion. Behind him, Taiyang was biting his fist, trying not to burst out laughing at Ruby's…enthusiastic greeting.
Qrow grinned. "Never better. Harry, meet my nieces: Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose. Yang and Ruby, meet Harry Potter." He leaned down to whisper into the girls' ears. "He's an alien."
Harry's curious look morphed into a halfhearted glare. Yang simply raised an eyebrow at her uncle's admittedly outrageous claim. Ruby, on the other hand…
Merlin's beard, when did she get so close?!
Ruby stared intently at Harry, their noses only centimeters apart. "Are you really an alien?" she asked.
"Er…no?"
Yang smirked. "Was that a question or a statement?" she teased. Now that she was paying attention, she could clearly see that this Harry Potter guy was handsome.
Like, really handsome.
His green eyes would shine when the light hit them right, and the way he carried himself spoke of confidence without arrogance, a rarity among the male persuasion. His jet-black hair was brushed back, but it wasn't slick with gel like she'd seen on some of the rich boys.
To put it simply, Yang like.
Ruby, meanwhile, was completely oblivious to her sister's thoughts as she continued her inspection of the mysterious teen. "Hmm…you don't look like an alien…" she said, using her Semblance to flit around a thoroughly harassed-looking Harry.
"Alright, that's enough," said Taiyang, finally making his voice heard. "You girls go clean up for dinner. Qrow, are you…Oh, what am I saying, of course you're staying, you freeloader. You might as well make your call now. Now that Ruby knows you're here, she won't let you out of her sight."
Qrow just flipped Taiyang the bird as he went outside to make his call as Taiyang began ladling out the soup.
[Break]
"Hey, it's me. I found something you might want to check into."
Ozpin ran a hand through his silver hair and reached for his hot chocolate. He could tell this was going to be a headache. "This had better be good, Qrow."
"What do you know about dimensional travel?"
Ozpin paused, his mug halfway to his lips. "Theoretical at best. No one's ever tried it, much less succeeded." Though the Maidens came close…
"That right? 'Cause I'm lookin' at someone who just did."
Ozpin groaned and, in a rare moment of weakness, allowed his forehead to connect with his desk. "Explain."
"This guy just appeared out of thin air right in front of me while I was on assignment, nearly scared the piss outta me."
"I'm going to need more to go on than that."
"Hey man, I'm just telling you what I saw. If you want more info, you're gonna have to talk to the kid yourself."
An eyebrow was raised. "Kid? How old is he?"
"Eh…seventeen, eighteen max. Pretty young. Could probably pass for a student at Beacon."
Ozpin furrowed his brow, his mind racing furiously. "Get him here. I want to talk to him face-to-face."
"Is he gonna be 'in the know' or just a student?"
"…We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. I'll send a Bullhead in a week."
"Understood."
"Oh, and Qrow?"
"Yeah?"
"I just recieved a message from Taiyang. It seems you and Glynda will have to have another conversation about discipline while on assignment."
"…Fuck."
[Break]
Taiyang smirked at Qrow's expletive. Well, he did warn him that he'd tell Ozpin about his disregard for the mission.
"So, Harry," he said, gaining the kids' attention. "You mentioned you're from another dimension? How can you prove that?"
Harry smirked and reached into his pocket, withdrawing a long, thin stick. "Observe," he said simply, and pointed the stick at a nearby spoon.
The spoon abruptly became a real, live, very confused duck.
Harry grinned at the others' incredulous stares. Yang poked the duck to see if it was real; she received an irritated quack, and the duck waddled over to Ruby, who began stroking its feathers.
Taiyang was the first to articulate complete words. "What and how?" he asked, eyes as wide as dinner plates.
Harry leaned across the table. "Tell me, have you ever heard of magic?"
Taiyang would have raised a skeptical eyebrow, but the duck currently sitting happily in Ruby's lap made him change his mind. "Until recently, I thought it was a myth," he replied. "But I'm not sure I believe that anymore."
Harry leaned back in his chair. "Well, where I come from, magic is real," he explained. "People born with it are sent to schools to learn to control their powers. There's more to it than that, and I would be happy to go into greater detail, but I think your daughters want to see more magic."
Ruby nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, please!" she exclaimed. The duck in her lap quacked in agreement, while Yang nodded with a look of interest on her face.
And so, Harry spent the next few minutes performing various magical feats. First was Apparition; Harry abruptly disappeared for a moment, then reappeared with a crack, with a cursing Qrow in tow. The disgruntled drunk yanked his arm out of Harry's grip and stalked out of the room, muttering about "annoying brats" and "not enough booze".
Several other tricks were performed, much to Ruby's delight, but he had to stop when he jokingly turned Yang's hair a violent shade of chartreuse.
When the former blonde realized what he'd done, she flew into a rage; she grabbed Harry by the front of his shirt and lifted him bodily from his chair, glaring at him with scarlet eyes.
"Change. It. Back," she snarled, and Harry quickly complied. Once her hair was back to its natural shade (she had inspected it thoroughly), she dropped Harry on his ass and sat back, occasionally sending him dark looks.
"Er…I think that's enough for now," said Harry, nervously edging away from Yang. Ruby whined in disappointment, but eventually relented.
"Well, that was certainly interesting," said Taiyang, leaning back in his chair. Inwardly, he breathed a sigh of relief. Yang could cause quite a bit of property damage when angered, especially if someone messed with her hair. Many a wannabe bully found that out the hard way.
"That was so cool!" gushed Ruby, who was nearly bouncing in her seat. "I wanna see more!"
"Maybe later, Rubes," said Taiyang. "I believe you two have some homework to finish." A pair of groans brought a smirk to his face. "And don't try to skip out! I'm going back to work on Monday, so you have no excuse!"
"Yeah, yeah," said Yang, as the two sisters trudged sullenly to their rooms. The duck happily waddled after them.
[Break]
The sun was just touching the horizon when Ruby finally finished her last assignment, a thousand-word essay on the best way to combat an Ursa, or as Ruby decided to call it, "cruel and unusual punishment".
Seriously, it was so simple to deal with an Ursa! She just used the tried-and-true strategy of "shoot it till it dies", or, failing that, "slash it till it dies". She shook her head at the foolishness of it and shoved herself away from her desk, before walking over to her dresser. The duck-that-until-recently-was-a-spoon was sound asleep on her bed.
She quickly changed into her pajamas, a black tank top with a heart-shaped Beowolf on it, along with white sweatpants with red hearts and slippers, before heading out into the living room.
Harry was sitting on the couch, fiddling with something on his lap. "Whatcha working on?" asked Ruby, flopping down next to him.
"My weapon," Harry replied. He held up the object in question: a black machine gun that looked startlingly similar to the German MG-42 light machine gun, with an oversized handguard and matching drum magazine attached.
"Cool~," said Ruby, taking in every detail she could without taking it from him. "What else does it do?"
"What do you mean?" asked Harry.
Ruby turned and faced him, sitting cross legged on the couch. This boy was about to learn today.
"Most weapons used to fight the Creatures of Grimm have at least two modes: ranged and melee," she explained. "Like my own weapon, Crescent Rose. It's a customizable, high-impact sniper rifle that can transform into a scythe." She pulled out her Scroll and showed Harry a video; after a little "accident" last year, she wasn't allowed to deploy Crescent Rose in the house anymore.
"That's wicked," said Harry, watching as Crescent Rose shifted from its rifle form to its scythe form and back. "So mine can do that too?"
"Most likely," replied Ruby. "We just have to find out how."
For the next ten minutes, the teens pored over every inch of the weapon. Finally, Harry noticed a tiny button at the top of the trigger guard. He pointed this out to Ruby, who looked at it closely.
"I think that's it," she said. "Let's go outside, though. Dad will kill me if I wreck the TV again."
They passed Qrow and Taiyang as they made their way outside. "Where're you kids going?" asked Qrow. "It's almost dark."
"We're checking out Harry's weapon!" replied Ruby. "Wanna see?"
Qrow and Taiyang looked at each other and shrugged, before following the teens out to the backyard.
"Okay, let 'er rip," said Ruby happily, once everyone had joined them. Harry nodded, then pressed the button.
He quickly held the weapon away from him as the stock suddenly extended, nearly catching him in the chest. The barrel and handguard also extended, increasing the overall length to around 8 feet. The oversized portions of the handguard extended, forming two curved blades. The main blade was roughly three-and-a-half feet long, while the secondary was roughly a foot-and-a-half.
"Whoa…" breathed Harry, before he was suddenly glomped by Ruby.
"Yay!" she cheered, bouncing around happily. "We're scythe buddies!"
Taiyang leaned in for a closer look. "It is rather impressive," he said. "But that brings up a question: can you use a scythe?"
Harry shook his head. "No. I've used a machine gun before, but never a scythe." He'd used a machine gun on an Auror assignment before retiring from the DMLE, but a scythe was new territory to him. He almost scoffed at the irony; the Master of Death using a scythe.
"No worries," said Taiyang. "I'm sure Qrow can teach you."
The raven-haired man glared at him. "Hey, I'm not the only scythe-user here, you know," he griped.
"That's true," admitted Taiyang with a knowing smile, "but you're the only one here who is also a fully qualified teacher, therefore making you the best candidate by default."
Qrow swore softly. "Fine, I'll teach him a thing or two," he said in defeat.
"I'll help!" said Ruby enthusiastically.
"Well, tomorrow is Saturday…" said Taiyang. "What do you say, Harry?"
Harry looked at his new weapon and grinned. "I'm in!"
"Good," said Qrow, as an evil smile slowly stretched across his face. "Welcome to hell."
Harry's grin faltered slightly. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…
Taiyang clapped Harry on the shoulder. "Excellent!" he said happily. "Now come on, I'll show you where you're sleeping."
And that's it for chapter 2! Please leave a review if you liked it!
Credit for Harry's weapon goes to Anthony Marturana on Artstation.