A/N: I just wanted to clear the air about some things before this chapter, just in case any of you guys are sensitive to misgendering.

In this fic, I'm writing Ozpin as agender. This isn't something that's necessarily known to every party.

Weiss' misgendering of Ozpin is entirely out of ignorance. She doesn't know Ozpin's gender or pronouns, only what she's heard from her father. She will be corrected in universe, but until then, she will be using the wrong pronouns. I'm sorry if this makes anyone uncomfortable and am open to suggestions if you have any.

I don't want you guys to be made uncomfortable by this choice that I've made narratively, and so I wanted to give you all a heads up.

That said, I hope you are all able to enjoy this chapter, regardless of what's to come.

Thank you for reading 3

"-Now, children, I'm sure you're all wondering what it was that changed the nature of the Grimm over the course of the last two decades." A green-haired, lanky man at the front of the room nearly span on his heel. He turned to face his many students with a certain amount of bravado that didn't quite fit right on a man that had failed to even tuck in his shirt correctly and wore mismatched shoes.

None of that was enough to bother Ruby though. This was Professor Oobleck, though she knew for a fact that he would have complained if someone called him that to his face. He'd always been Ruby's favorite teacher at Beacon, despite her not really caring that much about history. So she sat there in her usual seat beside Yang, listening in on the professor's lecture with some great interest- and it was mostly because today's lecture wasn't about normal things.

Usually Oobleck liked to work off of a lesson plan, but today he had come in with only his mug of coffee and two notecards. Normally, he would have come in with a stack of paperwork or a prepared presentation.

Ruby loved that Professor Oobleck telegraphed how his lessons would go.

But nobody answered him. He stared out at them from beside those gigantic glasses of his before leaning forward on his desk at the front of the room, with his hands splayed out to some degree as he tried to get a read on everyone in that room. Professor Oobleck nodded, like someone had whispered something into his ear despite the fact that nobody was there before speaking up again. "Of course you all are!" In almost a flash he was on the other side of the desk, standing in front of it instead of being positioned in front of the board. "Who here has had a family member that's been a Hunter?"

There wasn't even time for a pause. "In recent generations, I should clarify!" Oobleck practically shouted the words, and earned a few quiet, almost nervous laughs.

Ruby and Yang exchanged a look before both of them raised their hands, along with a couple of other students in the room. All in all, people who had come from families with hunters made up about a third of the room.

For a moment, Ruby felt a pang of sadness, since she knew just as well as everyone else in that room why that was.

Ruby knew that Uncle Qrow and her dad had both fought Yang about wanting to be a Huntress early on, and she'd gotten that too. At the time she hadn't quite understood why they were so upset by the possibility. The only reason that either of them had backed down had been because Yang had reminded them that they were both Huntsmen themselves. The hypocrisy had been enough to make them give up.

Ruby had come to learn that a lot of hunters looked at the profession with some level of regret. They could do it themselves and thrive just fine, but many of them wouldn't dare wish it on their children. Especially ones that had lost friends and family because of their choice in career.

With that considered, Ruby knew exactly why they didn't want her or Yang to be Hunters at first. Her dad and Qrow were afraid they'd lose them like they had her mother, and Uncle Qrow's sister. And so seeing so few hands raised in that room when everything was put into consideration made sense.

So when Ruby held her hand up, she held it high over her head and proudly because she didn't want to be missed for so much as a second.

Professor Oobleck nodded and sipped from his thermos, like he always did when this sort of thing was going on. "But of course!" He announced finally. "It's a noble profession, you should all be proud to be involved in it-" He didn't pause for even a split second, "What have your family members told you about how the Creatures of Grimm used to be?"

Ruby was about to open her mouth when she heard Yang's voice. "They used to be everywhere!" Her sister laughed, leaning back in her seat. "And so weak that any of us could have taken them out alone."

"That's partially true, yes." The professor responded. "Of course, that's not true when it comes to how all Grimm used to be, but it was often the case." He paused. "Beasts of the size that you're used to seeing were very rare back then, and not for the same reasons. The grimm of such scale were rarities amongst the other monsters that existed, rather than all that's left of the monsters."

"So-" A boy's voice sounded out from behind Ruby, and she turned her head just slightly to see that it was Jaune, one of her friends that she'd made there at the academy. He wasn't the best hunter, but he tended to be smart enough. "What changed things?"

Professor Oobleck's mouth opened just slightly and for a second Ruby could have sworn that she was staring forward at her for just a moment, lingering in ways that he never seemed to.

"Well," He said, flashing back behind the desk so quickly that Ruby missed it when she blinked. Oobleck pulled a chart down at purely dazzling pace to present a map of the world of Remnant. "The disappearance, or rather, the failure to thrive of the creatures of Grimm is something that has been extensively researched to no great success."

"But..." Another voice spoke up, this one that Ruby recognized as a girl named Pyrrha's. She was probably the strongest fighter in their year aside from Yang. She was also one of the nicest people that Ruby knew- she even looked up to Pyrrha on some level. "How is that possible?"

Professor Oobleck hesitated, reaching out and tapping on a spot on the map, though it seemed to be randomly selected out of the middle of the great Sanas Desert. "As you all know, Creatures of Grimm don't leave behind proper corpses. After being killed, they will evaporate into dust instead of leaving behind a physical form. This has made their study exceptionally rather difficult, and the fact that your professor Port has had nearly as much success as a researcher of the beasts could be considered a miracle."

For the first time in that lecture, Ruby picked up her pen and began to take notes on what the professor was saying, if only because there was something that told her she needed to know this. Like it would somehow be important.

"Then where did the grimm come from?" Jaune spoke up again, still sounding somewhat confused. "Weren't they-"

"Where the grimm came from has long been poorly understood." Doctor Oobleck responded, entirely too calmly. "All that we've known for a long time was that they were attracted to negative emotions, but over the last two decades they've become more docile."

The quiet that had already filled the room only seemed to get heavier with those words as it became apparent to Ruby and to everyone else in the room that whatever had changed things wasn't simple at all. Doctor Oobleck was one of the people that should have been able to tell them how things had changed, and yet...

Yang looked over at Ruby, seemingly picking up on the discomfort that was filling her. Neither of them said anything to each other, but Yang did gently bump her arm against Ruby's as they sat there.

Doctor Oobleck didn't stop though. He had a class to teach, and he seemed to be adamant about continuing with what he was talking about instead of stopping. "All that's happened over the last decade is that they have grown bigger, more rare, and they seem to be less deadly, but do not let this fool you."

He was standing by the window now, staring out there and Ruby was sure that every person in that room knew what he was looking at out there. Ruby and Yang exchanged a look again, both remembering their talk with their father the night before, and their talk in the tower before dinner.

Ruby didn't doubt for a second that he was looking out at the giant grimm as it wandered outside the outskirts of the city.

The fact that Doctor Oobleck seemed to be afraid of the monster didn't help.

Finally, after taking the longest pause he'd taken over the course of that entire class, Oobleck spoke again. "Those monsters are just as deadly as they have always been, just now they're waiting for something."

The sound of the bell ringing made him straighten up though and turn back to the class. "Your homework for tonight is to come in with a single-page on Grimm Prevalence outside of city walls and how they've changed over the last decade. Your parents are not considered usable sources!"

Ruby couldn't help but snicker quietly at that. Oobleck needing to say that meant that someone had tried to get away with using a parent in the past as a source. Even though she and Yang were raised by Hunters, they knew better than that.

Yang got up first and stretched slightly. Ruby got up and paused, wanting to go to the front of the class and ask her professor some questions. She couldn't quite bring herself to do it though, and so she carefully collected her things and followed after her sister.

On the way out of the room the two sisters passed by professor Ozpin, who looked down at them with a gentle smile and a quiet "Hello, students."

"Hello professor Ozpin!" Ruby exclaimed while Yang gave a sloppy half salute of sorts. The headmaster only smiled and gestured to the way out the door before stepping into Doctor Oobleck's classroom and closing the door behind them.

Ruby paused for just a moment, but Yang nudged her again. "Ruby, come on." She said in an urging voice. "We have to get to class."

"Right." Ruby answered, shouldering her backpack. "Combat class!" She tried to put on the normal cheery attitude that she always would, hoping that it would be enough to keep Yang off her back.

She knew it wouldn't be enough, but Ruby had to try and at least pretend like that giant monster that was waiting out on the edges of the city wasn't scaring her somehow.

Qrow stood on the edge of the Beacon Academy grounds, not at all alone but very ready to go out there into the world and see how that grimm was doing. Normally this wasn't something that would bother him all that much, but today it was different. Today, he had to contend with the fact that the beast was getting closer.

Experience told him that this was very bad. A grimm that got close these days was inevitably going to be one that got violent.

"How far do you think it is?" Qrow asked, leaning against a tree and watching it wander through the forest, gaze kept low on the forest floor as it moved. Looking for something. Waiting for something.

"I don't know." his companion answered, shifting slightly and staring out at the beast in the same way with cold blue eyes. "There are markers on the path that you should pay attention to, though." He muttered. "It'll help you give a consistent number."

"Yeah, yeah," Qrow rolled his eyes. "I know, Jimmy."

James shot him a wholly unamused look and shook his head. "Just get out there and stay out of trouble." James finally said, quietly. "I don't want to have send someone to find you."

"Lighten up." Qrow murmured as he reached back to check that his weapon was still there and ready, sharp as ever. "It's just a giant monster."

James shook his head. "How many of these do we have to fight before it's not just a giant monster anymore?" His voice sounded almost distant. His eyes, sad.

Qrow watched James for a moment before taking a couple of steps back and away from the tree where James was standing with his arms crossed over his chest. It wasn't hard guessing that James felt nervous about this at all- the guy always had a certain sort of fear that clung to him at all times that he'd never quite been able to get rid of. Of course, all things considered, that wasn't a surprise.

"I dunno, Jim." Qrow muttered, knowing that he probably sounded bitter when he said the words. "Maybe when they're gone."

"Or we're gone." James grumbled, bitter.

"Whichever." Qrow said, straightening up and stretching, practically bouncing from one foot to the other before he could go ahead and make his takeoff. "I'll see you seen, alright Jimmy?"

"James."

Qrow smirked and broke into a sprint, leaping off of the side of the cliff and waiting just a moment longer than he normally would have because he knew that it was enough to scare James before finally transforming himself into a bird and beginning his flight out into the forests.

Qrow sincerely loved being able to fly, despite the fact that it didn't always end well and it sometimes meant trouble. Of course, ever since the grimm had really started dying off, things had gotten easier, but there was still the problem where it was too easy for him to tire in flight. Getting tired was dangerous, and if it wasn't for his aura Qrow was sure that he would have died by falling several times over.

He tried not to pay too much attention to the situation with James though- the two of them had exchanged the little information that they'd needed to, and that had been the end of it. Now it was up to him.

Watching the world from the sky was hard though- it meant that Qrow had to focus in on things that he normally wouldn't have concerned himself with too badly. So he set himself to his first task, which was finding the markers that James had mentioned. Not to mention the path.

That path worried Qrow sometimes, he couldn't pretend that it didn't. He remembered the first time that he'd come down it as a wanderer with his sister at his side. He was sure that he'd met a girl the night before that had taken that path for herself. Everyone seemed to take it at some point or another in their life.

The real thing that made him worry about it was how often people went down that path and never came back, but also never met their destination.

The world was a dangerous place. That had never changed. Qrow knew that better than most people did.

He kept his eyes on the world below, scanning it for the path and eventually finding it from through the tree cover. Locking on, Qrow kept close to it, and went on his way. The first marker came soon enough, and then it was just a matter of counting.

In a way, Qrow knew these small landmarks better than the back of his hand. He'd passed them often enough by land, not to mention how he passed them by sky these days.

Marker one was unremarkable. It was kept clean, and any time that it got damaged it typically got cleaned up quickly enough that nobody could notice it. Marker one was a place of familiarity. It was a place that Qrow associated with sharing drinks with Taiyang back in the day while they waited for their teammates to return back from their missions. It's a place for friends.

Marker two was more dangerous. It was a place where most people managed to reach, but casualties were always a worry and they were all beyond well aware of the dangers of ending up in a place like it. But still, most who tried to run from Vale turned back by the time they reached marker two.

The third marker was when you were truly out of the city. It was the first step into lawlessness. It was less clean than the others, but normally people didn't go this far unless they were on a patrol of the perimeter.

Much like Qrow was now.

He counted each marker until he was far too close to the grimm for his liking. He got up to thirteen before he found the fourteenth marker was missing, having been destroyed along with much of the area around it through what looked like a gigantic hoofprint.

Fourteen markers.

Fourteen miles.

It wasn't the most dangerous distance that he could have had to face, but it was still too close for comfort. Qrow turned violently in the air, taking the winds so that he could get a better scan of the area and follow those tracks to make sure that it hadn't ever strayed any closer than the fourteen.

It didn't look like the beast had, which was a good thing.

Qrow had all of the information that he needed, and so it was time for him to turn back. However, he wasn't going to do that without getting a good look at the monster.

He couldn't accurately guess a height for the beast- mostly because when he flew he found gauging his distance from the ground to be an incredibly difficult task.

But the monster- it was taller than Qrow normally was able to fly. It's head was high enough that its set of curled horns- impressive things, were enough to poke up into the low-hanging clouds. It's eyes, red and burning as ever in a color that reminded Qrow all too much of his sister's. The plating that covered its body was the right bone color, but it had been damaged many times over by the looks of things. In places he could see spots where chunks had been gouged out of the armoring.

On top of that, there were so many places with moss or algae growing over.

However old this monster was, it was probably close to ancient.

There was fur in some places that looked to be knotted and matted in places, something that didn't bother him. Grimm weren't exactly known for their grooming, after all. This was a beast that was formidable enough that it had resisted death many times over.

Qrow feared for whoever was going to have to face the beast.

Someone was going to end up fighting it, and that was probably going to be a task that would go to a student, who was almost inevitably going to perish.

It was the sort of thing that made Qrow feel terrible about his choice in career.

But he'd done his task, and so he turned back, beginning the flight back to Beacon so that he could give his first report to Ozpin and let them know what they had to face from outward appearances alone. On the way back to the city, he did his absolute best to ignore the larger black bird that flew in at his side, only for a moment.

It gave a croak in his direction before heading off away from where he was going- clearly seeking something that didn't interest Qrow at all.

His heart sank.

He wanted to follow that bird, but knew that it would only be considered unwise.

Qrow could chase ghosts on some other day. For now, he had his duty to the people of Vale, and the people of Remnant as well.

Weiss was brought to the academy again so that her father would be able to continue his meetings with General Ironwood before moving on to his next target- a Headmaster Ozpin that was in charge of the academy. Weiss didn't know about Ozpin, just that he was a powerful man, and her father frowned on him for some reason.

But this time, it was different. Since her father had realized that she and Whitley weren't going to be able to find entry into the meeting, they were left to spend their day at the academy as they pleased. He'd been able to find someone to look after the two of them, and they even had the ability to audit classes should they want to.

It only put Weiss and Whitley in the terribly awkward situation where neither of them belonged there at the academy and were doing their best to blend in.
With their Schnee-white hair and snowflake emblems, that wasn't an easy task. Brand recognition was a detriment in this case.

Of course, knowing that she had to wear those things because of the fact that she was part of the Schnee Dust Company brand left a terribly bitter taste in Weiss' mouth. However, the fact that they were in the academy meant that Weiss got a chance to truly immerse herself in a world that she'd only dreamed of.

And she was able to do it in a fashion where she wasn't exploring Beacon Academy after hours. For Weiss, she took the chance to slip off to Professor Glynda Goodwitch's combat class, because it was the chance to really soak in what she hadn't been able to the night before.

She and Whitley ended up splitting off so that Whitley could finally go to the library like he'd wanted.

Weiss slipped into the classroom as silently as she could with Myrtenaster at her side. Getting it into the academy without her father noticing had been an ordeal of sorts, but Weiss didn't mind it that much. She was here and she finally had a chance where she was going to be able to prove herself.

The world that she entered into couldn't have been any more different than the private combat classes that she'd gotten from her sister. The quiet summoned grimm that she was used to was replaced by people facing off against each other.

Gunshots, speed, semblances, all being put to the best use possible, while every fighter's aura levels went displayed on a screen for everyone to see. To Weiss, this looked much more like the tournaments that she'd always been forbidden from watching but managed to see while spending time with Klein in the kitchen.

In the ring right now was the girl with the dark red hair that she'd seen fight the night before, but this time the girl wasn't fighting one other opponent. This time, the girl whom the screen identified as Pyrrha Nikos faced off against a group of four boys.

She was positively flattening them the entire way through.

Slowly, Weiss crept towards the edge of the balcony from where she was able to look down at the match in the pit below. There were a couple of others there, all watching as well while some hooted and hollered in excitement but for Weiss that didn't matter. She was enthralled. There was a brutal finesse to Pyrrha's fighting style.

She set one hand on the railing in front of her, watching the fight so closely that she was able to focus in on every gap in the boy's strategy.

"Hey-" A voice squeaked at her side. Weiss blinked and turned her face to see a girl, that was about the same height as Weiss was despite the fact that Weiss was wearing heels. "-You aren't in this class, are you?"

Weiss almost took a step back away from the girl, who had dark red hair and soft silvery grey eyes that stared up at her. "Excuse me?"

"It's just-" The girl leaned forward against the railing, stepping up onto the tips of her toes as one of the boys in the ring got slammed into another by some way that Weiss couldn't identify. Like he had been moved by magic. Seeing this, the girl at Weiss' side fistpumped in excitement before focusing on her again. "I've just never seen you before. Are you an exchange or something?"

"No," Weiss deadpanned with a roll of her eyes. She was used to people recognizing at the first second that they saw her, not questioning her like this. But despite that, it was nice. It was a chance to just be. "Just visiting for a few days."

"Well..." The redhead turned slightly, pursing her lips and looking a little bit annoyed for a moment before turning to Weiss again. She seemed to spin on her heel before thrusting a hand out in Weiss' direction. "My name is Ruby!"

"Weiss." Was the only answer that she could give, following it up with a quick but dainty handshake. Grace in all things, just as she'd been taught by her mother. "Look, I'm really not-"

"Yeah, I get it." Ruby cut her off, brimming a little too much with excitement as a general rule for Weiss' liking. "You're just here to check out the school right?"

A heavy sigh escaped Weiss as she tried to think of something to say to Ruby. "More or less." She answered finally, blinking and focusing in on the fight again. "And I take it you're a student here?"

"I am." Ruby replied. "First year, but you know-" The girl shrugged slightly. "I'm a prodigy or something." She faced Weiss again, seemingly realizing then that Weiss was armed for the first time. "Do you go to one of the academies or-"

Weiss pursed her lips, trying hard not to feel too bitter as she gave an answer. "I'm privately tutored." She held her head high, though it didn't feel quite right for Weiss to do that then and there. There was just something missing in the whole thing.

"So..."

"I was taught by my sister."

"Oh, me too!" Ruby stepped onto the lowest rung of the railing, scanning the room for someone before pointing. "My sister helped teach me. I mean, kinda, it was mostly my dad and my uncle Qrow-"

Weiss knew that her lip twitched dangerously. She knew that she was probably about to come off as terribly mean or standoffish. The truth was that Weiss didn't really care.

Mostly, she wanted for this Ruby girl to stop talking to her so that she could actually enjoy the little time that she had there at Beacon.

"Listen, Ruby-" Weiss began, standing up military tall in a way that mirrored her sister. She knew that she wasn't able to get much out of it based off of height alone, but she could at least try. "I really am not that interested."

Ruby seemed to be a little bit taken aback. Her mouth dropped open slightly and her eyes widened in sadness. Wess didn't let herself think about it too much.

"But-" Ruby looked back down at the match, which was ended with a hard blow to one of the boy's sides from Pyrrha's shield. "I thought that you wanted to-"

"No." Weiss took a half-step back, still holding her head up high and watching Ruby closely. "I'm here to visit the academy and that is all. Once my father's meetings are-"

Weiss tried to stop herself then, but knew that she was too late.

"Wait." Ruby reached out, trying to stop her. "Your father?"

Weiss let out a heavy sigh. "Yes," She replied as coolly as she could manage. "My father. I'm only here to accompany him on his trips so that he could meet with the general and the headmaster of this academy. Once he's done I'm heading back home to Atlas."

Ruby sighed and looked down at her hands, seeming like she was feeling dejected at the very least. "Yeah, that makes sense." She sounded almost sad, and Weiss almost felt bad about it, but she knew that it was for the better that she didn't get too close to this other girl. It was best not to make any connections while she was there.

The fact that Weiss would have stayed if she wanted to was only part of the equation. She took a breath, steeling and centering herself. "I'm just trying to enjoy the time that I do have here."

"Well-" Ruby paused, looking around the room and trying to find something. "I could show you around the school?"

"While that's a very kind offer-" Weiss' gaze flicked over to the ring which was re-filling, this time with a match that looked a little bit more even from the outside. "I think that it's better if I stay here."

A part of Weiss wanted to step up and see whether she'd be able to go down into that ring herself and fight, but she knew it wasn't likely. Or possible. After all, she wasn't s student, she was an unproven heiress who officially wasn't able to fight.

She took a step away from the railing, deciding that she'd seen enough. Weiss turned to leave the room, and heard the sound of Ruby following after her for some reason. However, all of a sudden it stopped and Ruby spoke up.

"Oh." She said quietly. "You're a Schnee, aren't you."

"Yes." Weiss answered, turning to face Ruby again, her head still held high. "I am Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."

Ruby nodded slowly, understanding fully well. It wasn't a secret how she'd figured it out- the Schnee logo was a globally recognized one, after all.

"Right." Ruby said finally. "It was nice meeting you, uh, Weiss."

"The feeling is mutual." Weiss responded before giving a slight curtsey and slipping off to see more of Beacon Academy on her own.

She only made it so far before she accidentally bumped into someone in the hallway, a tall man with silver hair and dark green clothes that already knew her by name and greeted her politely.

She tried not to pay him any mind, and continued on her way.