Cold sweat, irregular heartbeat, uneven breath, and tingling sensation on the tip of his fingers; those were not the conditions that a man such as Lèi would suffer if one knew enough about the huntsman. The "Thunder God" – as few people would call the man – was expected to be fierce, confident, and battle ready at any given time. He would face Grimm's claws and fangs with eyes wide open, stood his ground when a pack of Goliaths shook the soil beneath his feet.

Apparently, Lèi Cyrus was still a man first, and Gods knew he was dead nervous.

"Why am I agreeing to this again?" He muttered to himself loudly. He was only arrived two days ago, and although he had small reunions with Glynda – now a vice principal of Beacon, Ozpin – now the principal, and Taiyang, whose children were from two different mothers, the white haired man felt that he still needed to catch up with recent events. But nope – there were problems to solve and he was there at the right moment; and Lèi wondered whether it was good or bad for him.

The huntsman grabbed his phone from his suit pocket; the dark cobalt suit which was the result of Glynda's courtesy. You have to look formal and presentable, she said to him with a teasing smirk. Lèi did not argue with that sentiment, since his tailcoat was burned to crisp after that night's encounter. He would like it better if he could still wear his armour underneath it, but he doubt that it would be needed if he was going to work at a school for training Huntsmen; unless, of course, if Beacon decided to include practical Grimm battle as a school curriculum.

The clock on his phone showed seven-thirty in the morning. At the moment he was strolling at the pavement at the garden at the front of Beacon Academy's building. Its shape was more of a castle than a school, and Lèi knew it too well. He spent a few years training here; and twenty-something years later, here he was being responsible to tutor the Huntsmen of the future. His portfolio might say that he was a talented commander, but ensuring young and aspiring warriors of Vale to be ready against Grimms was on an entirely new level.

"You know, I think you should become a teacher."

Lèi remembered her words at that day and smiled. Maybe Summer knew that this would happen. Was it perhaps because of the silver eyes legend? Was the power includes clairvoyance in the package? The thought about Summer as a psychic was both amazing and frightening, and also ridiculous to begin with. Lèi cursed the imaginative mind of his for being too far ahead and too deep below. He was just missing her too much, and then he realized that being a teacher would keep him occupied enough from his grief.

Maybe this idea was not so bad after all.

"Was it this way?" A feminine voice of a girl sneaked into Lèi's ear. "Ugh, why did I decide to come alone without a guide?"

Lèi stopped and turned his head towards the source. At first he saw long silver hair, tied in a unique ponytail because it was sideways. Then the Huntsman realized that the hair was growing from the head of a young teenage woman, probably barely eighteen. So he concluded that the hair was either coloured on purpose – or she was a descendant of a family with unique genetic makeup, which Lèi knew at least one of them. After that, Lèi's observation stopped noticing things out of ordinary; she wear white blazer on top of white dress stopping just right above her knees, she brought a lot of luggage on a trolley, and her eyes were blue. Speaking about the eyes though, there was a scar running down through her left eye; which barely diminished the youthful beauty from her face.

"May I ask for your help, Mister?" The girl in white asked as soon as they made eye contact. Lèi noticed that her voice was crisp and smooth. He wondered how she would sound when she was singing.

"Yes, of course."

"Do you know where the dormitories are?" The girl pointed at the full trolley behind her. "As you can see, I need to drop these off as soon as possible."

"Maybe," The huntsman rubbed his chin while trying to remember the layout of the building. Beacon Academy might be prestigious, but the campus was quite a relic of the past. He was sure the management would not want to redecorate that much, since the antiquity of the building was also a selling point. "It's been a while since I've been here, but I think the dorms are still in the same place."

"Can you lead me there?"

"Of course, I can also help you with that luggage."

"Thank you very much, Mister. That would be helpful." She smiled gratefully.

Lèi approached the trolley and suddenly caught a whiff of fine powder. It smelled like burning ashes with a mix of snowy breeze, which could only lead to one conclusion.

"How much Dust did you pack in here, young lady?"

"Huh? How could you know it was Dust?" The girl seemed slightly surprised.

"The cases are covered in Dust particles; you might want to clean it once more to prevent fires." Lèi pointed at his nose. He has seen a few ridiculous incidents involving finely grounded Dust spilled on the floor. One time, some students accidentally burned dozens tents during a training camp when Lèi was still a Huntsman trainee. The whole platoon was grounded for the rest of the camping trip.

"One year supply, give or take." She answered. "I was trained to use Dust elements as my main weapon."

"Not everyone can get that many even when they have the money." Lèi wondered and raised one of his eyebrows. "I know one certain family to have that kind of privilege, though."

She sighed and smiled halfway while walking side by side with the huntsman. "So you know where I came from."

"Unless the Schnee family decided to move to the hot land of Vacuo, I'm quite sure you are from Atlas." The huntsman chuckled, and then offered his right hand. "Lèi Cyrus, may I have your name, Ms. Schnee?"

"Weiss, Weiss Schnee." She said her name with pride while accepting the handshake.

"Come on, Ruby."

"Yang, I'm coming with you no matter what!"

"You're fine, Sis! You skipped two years ahead. In the contrary, people will admire you!"

"I'm fifteen! I don't even qualify as an adult! So you better don't leave me alone!"

A set of new voices came from behind the pair. That was the voices of certain acquaintances that Lèi slowly recognized during his stay in Taiyang's home. Apparently, along with Ozpin's sudden invitation for the silver haired huntsman, Ruby also received a scholarship to skip junior combat school and join Beacon. The headmaster seemed impressed by her effort in aiding Lèi and Glynda during an encounter with Roman Torchwick. Lèi could admit; the young girl had the combat prowess of a fresh graduate Huntress. She only needed to learn the soft skills: teamwork, tactics, leadership, and most of all, experience.

"Hey, look! That guy brought a rocket powered hammer!" Yang pointed at nowhere.

"Huh? Where is it?" Ruby looked around excitedly, but then she realized that Yang was already running away.

"Uncle Lèi! Stop her!" Ruby waved to the huntsman.

"Hey, who are you calling Uncle?" Lèi were flabbergasted with a slight amused smile. He turned around to see that Yang had run from the grasp of her little sister. He sighed, and before Yang could ran past him he grabbed the collar of her jacket.

"What is this about, anyway?" He asked, and then Yang pulled his ear close.

"Short version: Ruby is always nervous when meeting new people and now she won't leave me alone."

"Ah, I see." Lèi released the grip. "Go, I got this covered."

Yang saluted with a grin on her face while running away. In return, the huntsman held Ruby by the hood of her red cloak when she tried to slip past him. Ruby was yanked backwards, and before she could protest Lèi locked her head between his body and his arms.

"You're a traitor!"

"You should've just told me if you want new friends." Lèi pulled her to approach Weiss, the girl whom has been too confused to comprehend what was going on for the last sixty seconds.

Lèi pushed the girl in red towards the girl in white. "Ruby, Weiss Schnee. Weiss, Ruby Rose."

"Um, nice to meet you… I guess?" Weiss anxiously offered her hand.

"H… Hello there!" Ruby awkwardly grabbed her hand with both hands. "My name is Ruby! And… and… and I love weapons!"

"That's an interesting introduction." Lèi chuckled. "While you're at it, you can help Weiss with the luggage, too. Have some small talk; get to know each other. Okay?"

Both girls nodded awkwardly and shrugged when they looked at each other. Therefore, Lèi led the way to the dorms, while Ruby and Weiss pushed the trolley together without words between them.

"So," Weiss tried to break the silence out of politeness. "Born and live in Vale?"

"Technically yes, but I'm from Patch Island." Ruby answered a bit comfortably now. "Um… What about you?"

"I'm from Atlas."

"It must be freezing at this time of the year."

"It's always freezing."

"Oh…"

Awkward silence ensued. Lèi mentally encouraged Ruby to go on.

"So… If you don't mind me asking…" Ruby tried to start this time. "What's your weapon of choice?"

"You weren't kidding about admiring weapons, were you?" Weiss raised an eyebrow.

Ruby put her head down to hide her flushing cheek.

"…it's a rapier."

Ruby raised her head and looked straight at her.

"It's modified to load Dust inside; made it during my junior years."

"Cool! I also made Crescent Rose myself!" Ruby took it out from the strap on her waist and brandished the weapon with pride.

"A Scythe," Weiss wondered and blinked a few times. "It's certainly an uncommon choice."

"It's also a 50 calibre sniper rifle!" Ruby cocked the bolt at the side of the shaft, which was actually the barrel of the gun. Lèi had the chance to examine Crescent Rose when the girl wanted to show off her work. It was a technical wonder, if Lèi would comment. The mechanism was complex but smooth and efficient during action. Qrow surely had the advice and guidance needed during the design phase.

"That's… convenient."

"Here we are." Lèi pointed at an old building, located behind the castle that was Beacon Academy. "I have an appointment in ten, so please excuse me. You can ask around about which dorm is for girls."

"Thank you very much, Mister." Weiss bowed gracefully. Lèi returned the gesture by nodding his head, and then he headed back to the front. Ruby was somewhat dumbfounded and clueless about what should she do alone with a fellow student, something that Lèi deliberately wanted to find out by leaving them to converse person-to-person.

"What's in these boxes anyway?" Ruby lightly pounded the metal case on the trolley.

"Wait, don't! The Dust particle will…"

Lèi faintly heard a loud sneeze, followed by sounds of firecrackers, blizzards, and thunder all at once. He stopped for a moment, but then he decided to walk on without looking back.

The silver-haired huntsman will never forget to clean every Dust container every day.

"Thank you for coming in." Ozpin said while sitting in front of his huge desk, and then he looked at his pocket watch. "It's on time, too."

"Excuse me." Lèi walked in, and he was caught in awe. The room was spacious, for a start. Half of the wall was made of thick pane of glass, functioned as windows to overlook the whole front garden of the school. The floor was the most exquisite; at the centre of the room there was a glass pane, and directly below it was a complicated contraption of clockwork. The gears were moving in a certain tempo and they made absolutely no sound at all. It was like living in an apartment inside a giant clock tower.

"Want a cup of coffee?" Ozpin stood up and walked to the counter at the east side of the room. He picked a steaming silver pot from its electric stove, and then started pouring the liquid inside a large cup.

"Thanks for the offer, but I already had one this morning."

Ozpin nodded, and then sipped the hot coffee before returning to his desk.

"So, are you prepared for the introduction today?"

"I actually didn't prepare anything." Lèi answered with a sigh. "I'll just let it flow like always."

"Please suit yourself; you are a natural leader after all." Ozpin smiled a little, and then he tapped his fingers on the desk which was actually a large panel of computer terminal. A hologram screen popped out into existence. It showed some kind of form to fill personal information. Some of them were already filled, such as his name, gender, date of birth, et cetera. Only a few were left blank. Below the screen was a touchscreen keyboard.

"Please fill out the empty ones. We only need this to register you as a verified teacher of Beacon Academy."

Lèi shrugged and began completing the form. First was marital status; he ticked the box with the word "Single" beside it, obviously. He filled the address box with his old home address, which reminded him that he should visit and clean the empty house; he was sure it would look like a haunted graveyard by now. The rest of the form was trivial and it was completed in a minute.

"Done and submitted."

"Excellent." Ozpin typed something like a password, and suddenly Lèi's Scroll device ringed a notification tone. "Now your ID is bound to your device."

"Very convenient," Lèi was slightly amused. "but I must bring this everywhere I go, isn't it?"

"That's technology for you." Ozpin commented. "Now there is one more thing for us to discuss."

"Which is?"

"We have an intel regarding White Fang status and movement in the Kingdom of Vale."

"That's good news," Lèi nodded. "But how good is it?"

"Let's hear it from the primary source." Ozpin pressed a button on his desk and then spoke, "Please tell Ms. Belladonna to come into my room."

"At once Mr. Principal," A voice came out from the intercom embedded inside the terminal. Nothing happened for the first two minutes after that, and Lèi used the waiting time to look over the giant window behind Ozpin. He saw the statue at the centre of the front garden, and then he looked beyond the front gate. The sky was mostly clear, but he saw dark storm clouds closing in from the sea beyond the harbour. Lèi predicted that it would possibly rain someday this week. A bit closer to the city, he could see red and blue lights blinking and reflected on buildings. Perhaps another robbery, he concluded. They need to solve this, fast.

"Excuse me, principal Ozpin."

Lèi quickly turned after the door was opened. A girl with long, black hair adorned with black ribbons came and greeted the principal. Her eyes were golden yellow while the pupils were visibly dilated when she entered the well-lit room, although it looked normal after a while. She wore black vest that was not zipped all the way, revealing a white sleeveless top behind and a small part of her uncovered belly. She also wore a simple white short and covered her legs in purple stockings. If the term 'do not judge the book by its cover' is not embedded in his mind, Lèi might think that she was just an emo teenager in her rebelling phase.

"Thank you for coming in, Ms. Belladonna." Ozpin stood up and reached her to shake her hand. "Please sit down."

The girl silently sat down on the chair that Lèi failed to notice earlier at the front of Ozpin's desk and waited for the man across the desk to speak first.

"Lèi, this is Blake Belladonna. She's just enrolled starting this year. Ms. Belladonna, this is our new professor, Mr. Lèi Cyrus."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Blake stood up again and shook hand with the huntsman.

"Likewise," Lèi nodded.

"Mr. Ozpin, about the thing we discussed earlier…" Blake sat down, and then looked at Ozpin and Lèi back and forth. "I thought it should only between me and you, if I recall."

"You can trust him." Ozpin nodded his head towards the man behind him. "He is my former commander during my hunting career."

"The only thing I can boast about." Lèi smirked.

Blake Belladonna let out her breath that was unknowingly being held. The new professor and the principal were waiting patiently before she could start sharing the information.

"White Fang was in turmoil." Blake started. "There're doubts for the current leadership inside the organization, and it was made worse by the dividing views between the members. At one side, there are those who wanted to stay true to our original goal; a peaceful movement to eradicate discrimination of Faunus. The other side wanted to use force and violence to send the message."

Blake paused, and Ozpin used the opportunity to ask, "Are there any significant figure that leads these two sides?"

"My father is the most influential from the peaceful side. The other side was led by the High Leader Sienna Khan, but the one who pulled the string in Vale is the one named Adam Taurus."

"Adam Taurus," Ozpin typed the name and a result popped out of the screen in front of him. "He was the leader of Vale's White Fang."

"Hold on a second." Lèi cut in. "I'm not quite sure if I heard right enough. Your father is a member in that organization?"

Blake looked to Ozpin with eyes of worry. Lèi could notice that her ribbon was twitching slightly.

"I have no right to decide for you." Ozpin said. "Trust is not something to be given lightly after all."

Blake nodded, and then she hesitantly undone her black ribbon. What was behind the piece of accessory was a pair of cat ears, covered in black fur with a hint of purple inside.

"Ah, that explains everything." Lèi said while rubbing his chin.

"I used to be working under Adam Taurus for a while." Blake said while rubbing her arm shyly. "I am quite a rebel back then."

"…he abused you, didn't he?" Lèi concluded.

"H-How did you…?" Blake quivered while asking. "How do you know?"

"Forgive my intrusion. You shivered and squeezed your arm quite firmly when you mentioned his name. I've seen a few cases of this behaviour. Is that the reason why you leave the White Fang? Does he hurt you?"

"I… I was…" The girl spoke with a shaking voice, and then a single teardrop wetted her smooth cheek. "Adam scares me, a lot. He was in my nightmare. I saw him everywhere I look! It's driving me crazy!"

Blake tried to wipe her face clean from tears, but she still cried. She was trying hard to stop, but to no avail. Her body shook violently while the girl hugs herself for a little bit of comfort. Lèi, quick to his feet, knelt beside her and grabbed both of her hands. Blake was surprised because of the gesture, but she did not pull back.

"Stay strong, Blake. Don't give in to fear." Lèi comforted. "You are a fighter. I can tell that much."

The girl stayed silent; yellow eyes stared into his grey eyes.

"And running does not mean cowardice." The huntsman continued. "He might be stronger now, but you can be stronger later. Don't let his image haunt you forever."

"You can always depend on us and your soon-to-be friends." Ozpin added. "Huntsmen always take care of each other. We can assure you that we have your back."

"Is that the reason she was invited here?" Lèi asked, raising an eyebrow towards the principal.

"Being a student of an academy has its benefits." Ozpin shrugged. "We can legally eliminate any threat that threatens them."

"I…" Blake dried her tears. Her body stopped shaking, and she felt a little bit better. She was not sure at first, but the Faunus girl never realized that such words of comfort were something she always needed. "Thank you so much."

"Not a problem." Lèi stood up and patted her shoulders. "I'll… see you in class, I guess."

"Yes, please join with the other students in the hall." Ozpin escorted her to the door. "We will be there in fifteen minutes."

Blake nodded and looked at Lèi one more time, and for the first time since they met, the girl showed a slight smile. Lèi smiled back.

"What do you think, Professor Lèi?" Ozpin asked after he returned to his seat.

Lèi sighed for a bit and then said, "Could I have my own subject to teach?"

"Sure, as long as it stays within the curriculum. What would it be?" Ozpin was intrigued.

"Something more practical," Lèi grinned. "You'll see."

Happy New Year! I was hoping I could put one chapter at the end of 2018, but I can only manage to do so at the start of 2019. So here it is!

My new year resolution will be: finish my degree, exercise more, and write more stories. Wish me luck!

The song for this chapter is from Persona 5 OST, Life Will Change by Lyn. I only play Persona 3 actually, but I love P5 music so much that I hear it every morning as a mood booster. Life is surely changing for our huntsman, too.

And lastly, thank you for reading! Here's a toast for a great year and many more to come!