Chapter 3 (S875)

Search and destroy lets us attack at our own pace, but if things get bad, the proctors won't be close enough to help, thought Celeste to herself. The arena-style competition is safer, but puts more limits on us…

"What's bugging you, Picton?" asked Azure. "You've got this weird look on your face."

"Remember that weird stuff happening a couple weeks ago?" started Picton? "The one where –"

"24 weapons were misplaced, an Ursa ended up in the courtyard, a statue went missing, and that hole opened up over there?" finished Celeste. "What of it?"

"Looks like they finally caught the culprit."

"What? That was all one person?" blurted Azure through his tea.

"This shouldn't come as a surprise. The malicious style of the attacks is fairly unique and consistent," responded Rin as she bit into a strawberry. "There wasn't anything about them that couldn't have been achieved with one person."

"Alright then, who was it, and how do you know?"

"Patience, the girl they forced onto Team DSPR because no one else could stand her," answered Picton. "Next to nobody does anything without me knowing about it. I detected her moving around the campus at unusual hours prior to each of those events. To top it off, she just paid a visit to Ozpin."

Everyone drew back slightly in amazement at Picton's unrivaled perceptive ability. They knew that his semblance was surveillance, but it almost never failed to impress. It was as if he could see straight through walls and had eyes on the back of his head. No detail escaped the grasp of his semblance – Whether that be a faded footprint or a loose screw in the wall, he could exploit it to its fullest and make something come out of seemingly nothing.

This is precisely what landed him a contract at a top-tier security company not more than several years ago. If there was a flaw in a security system, he could find it, exploit it, and then make it better. But nobody else knew this, or needed to know.

"Hey, Patience, wait up!" echoed a voice down the hall.

"Here she comes…" muttered Picton, as he spooned in another mouthful of cereal. "And she's got company.

Moments later as forecasted, a pair of frustrated voices echoed down the halls. Rin and Azure's eyes locked across the table as they silently agreed to minimize their interactions.

"Just in time, as usual" remarked Patience. As much as she hated to admit it, she was certain that the clarion call of her doom had arrived the second she brought that dagger to Ozpin's bare neck. "What do you want now, a thank you?"

"Um…"

Still refusing to make eye contact, she continued her slightly agitated pace toward the cafeteria. "I'm grateful, but you're gonna have to do better than that if you want anything else."

Hope was more or less walking at her side, albeit slightly behind. Her hand fidgeted behind her back as she tried to figure out what to say next. "We're practicing after class today."

Patience stopped dead in her tracks barely hiding her shock, just short of entering the cafeteria. "Seriously?"

A silent nod was all Hope could manage in response.

"Fine. Where?"

"Uh, I don't know yet."

It was obvious to her that Hope was making this up on the fly, but she at least got points for trying. It wasn't everyday their leader tried to rein everyone including her in for a round of practice.

"Anything else you want to say?"

Hope's eyes searched the ground as her mind scrambled for something more. "No."

"I'm getting coffee and then I'm leaving. Don't wait up," said Patience as she gave a weak wave to Hope, still without looking at her.

Rin and Azure tensed slightly as she passed, biting into food to hide their agitation. Celeste on the other hand, took to putting a hand behind her back on her compacted glaive, La Massicot, and tracking Patience like a hawk.

"Patience," muttered Picton under his breath as she passed.

Everyone flinched in anticipation as she aggressively turned around. Everyone was thinking the same thing – What was he doing?

Patience shot a glance at Picton as she walked past, and then blew him a quick kiss. "They all say my name that way," she called behind her.

"Right… Next time you want to open up a hole in the cafeteria, use dust powder, not an entire crystal. It's not nearly as wasteful."

Without responding, she sauntered toward the food counter, picking up a single cup of dark black coffee before quietly leaving for her dorm.

Now that she was out of the room, Celeste could rest. She relaxed her death grip on La Massicot, and brought her hand back to the table. There was something about that girl that she didn't like. She couldn't put her finger on it because they hadn't formally met, but her very presence always made her gut uneasy.

Rin shot Picton a slightly irritated look, only to be returned a calm look. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Making note of what she did wrong. What she chooses to do from here is up to her."

"You told her how to better blow up the school – Why?"

"Perhaps to encourage her to do it again, and get kicked out?" ventured Celeste.

"No comment."

Azure slowly took another sip of tea, savoring it as the warm liquid passed down his throat. "What do you guys think Ozpin pulled her in for? I mean, we don't know for sure that Ozpin actually caught her or anything, do we?"

"Judging by the way Hope booked it to his office, I think it's a safe assumption," stated Picton.

"Next you'll tell us you know exactly what she said," laughed Celeste under her breath.

"Or do I know?"

Azure shot him an incredulous look. "Well, do you?"

"No, but I could tell you what you and Rin were discussing earlier if you'd like."

Rin shot Picton a death glare that penetrated to the very depths of his soul, while still managing a smile. "Ah, how about not?"

Picton immediately withdrew his urge to make further comments. "As you wish."

"Anyways," interrupted Celeste. "We're training after class again. Search and destroy in the Emerald Forest. We're gonna try something new this time."

"Didn't a couple teams simultaneously encounter a Nevermore and a Deathstalker in there when teams were first assembled?" asked Azure.

"Yes, teams JNPR and RWBY."

Celeste shifted uneasily in her seat at the word "RWBY." "Ruby Rose, the only 15-year old to ever make it into Beacon. Kind of intimidating, isn't it?"

"I'm not entirely surprised. Considering how easy it is to get your way with Ozpin, it probably didn't take much more than a bit of sweet talking to get her way," added Rin.

Azure looked up suddenly. "Wait, she uses a scythe, right?"

"Yes, she's the only one in the entire school that uses a scythe."

"Right, definitely wouldn't be pleasant to be on the receiving end of that thing."

Celeste looked away for a moment to hide her dissatisfaction with the conversation. "Thankfully, we're probably not going to end up signing for the combat tournament. We're training to kill the Grimm, not people."

Her thoughts suddenly turned back to Hope and her team. They too were going to be training in the Emerald Forest. Perhaps they could train together? Then again, if Patience was going to be there, then she wanted to have nothing to do with her.

"Poor girl," thought Celeste out loud. "If she told Patience about a training session, that means she probably talked Ozpin out of kicking her out, assuming that's what they were talking about in the first place. Why would she do that? A team with so few components can't afford a single dysfunctional unit… It's the job of a leader to make sure one person doesn't bring everyone else down…!"

"Incoming," whispered Picton under his breath.

"Hi, what're you guys talking about? I heard something about the Emerald Forest earlier," came Hope's voice from behind Azure.

Everyone but Picton looked at her in shock – When did she get there?