Interlude 2a

Glynda Goodwitch

Glynda entered Ozpin's office, having just escorted the young adults from the robbery off of campus. "Why?"

Ozpin looked up from his paperwork. "You may wish to be more specific, Glynda."

"Professor Ozpin, why did you admit the nine individuals who intervened during the Torchwick incident to Beacon?"

"Ah." Ozpin sipped his coffee. "Ruby Rose showed remarkable skill tonight. Qrow has taught her well."

"Signal teaches more than fighting," Glynda said.

"Indeed. She has learned how to maintain, design, and forge weapons. Her curriculum also teaches her academic matters. But I believe it is important for Ruby to learn what Beacon has to teach her, and that she is ready."

"Would she not be more ready after two more years of training at Signal?"

Ozpin picked up his cane and stood, turning to stare out of one of the large windows in his office. "Perhaps, she would."

Ozpin stared out over Vale for a minute. Glynda frowned, and soon found herself tapping her foot impatiently.

"The others," Ozpin said at last. "That…is complicated." He sipped his coffee again.

"Oh?"

"Indeed. First, consider their…powers." Ozpin set his mug on his desk and withdrew his Scroll from a pocket. He unfolded it and tapped its transluscent screen several times, before setting it on the desk. In four quadrents were four moving images of the brawl in the Dust shop. Shadowy smoke,, moving thread, insect swarms, a few other moments, flashing across the screen before being replaced by another.

"These powers are nothing I am aware of," Ozpin said, "and I have little doubt no one at Beacon would know quite what to make of them if they thought about it. "

Glynda nodded. The capabilities the young adults showed were unusual; Glynda had wondered how they used them from the moment she saw the videos.

Ozpin continued. "After all, these children had not awakened their Auras—not that these would be typical Semblances. Manipulating thread or generating some form of dark energy would be just in the realm of plausibility, but no Semblance has allowed direct control of insects. I…suspect the other children have powers with a similar source."

"What source? Where did their abilities come from? Could it be…some sort of new technology?"

"I do not know where their powers come from, though I doubt they come from technology. I wish to. I intend to learn all I can about them. To do so, I must keep an eye on them."

"You could have sent them to Signal," Glynda said. "I have no doubt Qrow and the others could give you all the information you needed."

Ozpin nodded and sipped his coffee. "I meant what I said, earlier."

"I know. You don't lie."

"I don't. We need Huntsmen like the ones those children will grow up to be. Possibly all the more so, with their powers."

Glynda shrugged. She was not convinced that they had demonstrated anything particularly unusual for a Beacon admittant, or that their abilities would be particularly useful, but she kept silent.

Ozpin turned away from Glynda slightly, enough to look out over a different part of Vale, but not enough to fully turn his back on her. He drained his mug of coffee and set it on the desk behind him.

"…Headmaster Ozpin?"

"Glynda," he replied. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course." She scarcely had to consider the question.

"…There are some factors relevant to my decision which should not become common knowledge. Can I trust you to guard your tongue?"

Glynda thought a moment longer. "Of course, Headmaster."

Ozpin nodded and slowly turned back towards Glynda. "If I could, I would give them a decade before setting any great responsibility at their feet. Four years at Signal, four at Beacon, a couple of years in the field. Perhaps longer…a few months to adjust to living in a big city before their term at Beacon began, at least. But they don't have a decade. We don't have a decade, we don't have four years."

"What do you mean?"

Ozpin turned away again. "…Dark times. I shouldn't say more. But we will need every warrior in the world to be be as ready as possible, as soon as possible. Tell me, what would they learn in their first semester at Signal, their first year?"

Glynda thought. The basics of combat, simple enough to fit whatever fighting style they were deemed to be naturally suited for. How to maintain the weapons they would be given, and in later years made themselves. Scholarly subjects, but at levels basic enough that the young adults should have already learned most of them in their village schools.

Ozpin nodded, knowing what Glynda was thinking. "Important subjects, but not pressing. They know the fundamentals of fighting, they demonstrated that much tonight. They would benefit from learning them in a structured setting, and from learning to maintain their weapons, but less than they would by coming to Beacon, learning to fight as a team, to fight with their new weapons."

A realization came to Glynda. "That is why you admitted Miss Rose."

"In part, yes. What she will learn in her first years at Beacon will be of more use than what she would learn in her last years at Signal. But that is not all. I believe Ruby is ready for the challenges Beacon will provide. Few at Signal are her equal at fighting, at brute force; at Beacon, she will need to learn more than brute force."

There was a pause.

Glynda spoke once more. "The others from tonight. They will struggle."

Ozpin nodded. "They will have little to no familiarity with their weapons, less with their Auras. They will need to learn quickly—their new teammates will need to help them. But they have survived worse. They mentioned they were squatting in an abandoned warehouse, with each other…but without any family. I did not inquire, Glynda, but I know this—very nearly everything they cared about is…gone." Ozpin closed his eyes for a moment. "That they made it this far proves that they can withstand strife, that they almost certainly thrive on challenging situations. Anyone less would have been crushed. They can handle Beacon."

Glynda nodded. She could remember few times where Ozpin was wrong, and fewer where his mistakes were serious. "And initiation?" During initiation, all of the students would be divided into teams of four. Each Huntsman academy and each headmaster for those academies had their own way of dividing the student body into teams, but Ozpin's was more or less random; if Ozpin controlled it at all, he didn't tell anyone else how.

"Nine students," Ozpin said. "There are precedents for what to do when a Huntsman academy has too many or too few students to be divided into even teams of four. And constructing a few additional launchers at each site should not be an issue."

Glynda nodded. "…You mentioned dark times. Can—"

"I cannot…Perhaps I should not have said as much as I should. Perhaps I myself should not know all I do."

Glynda was familiar (though not particularly comfortable) with Ozpin choosing to conceal information, even from his closest friends, nor was him quietly expressing doubts in his abilities uncommon. Yet…something about Ozpin's statement chilled her.

"Are you certain?"

"Yes."

Something was off. It was not like Ozpin to be so blunt.

"Is everything alright?"

"Nothing is perfect, Glynda."

"…At least tell me this much. Whatever darkness you see coming…will we succeed?"

Ozpin looked out the window once more. "If we marshal our strength, and if the forces of light unite against the darkness? Of course. But if not…perhaps not."

Glynda followed Ozpin's gaze. "Is there anything I can do to make it…less likely?"

"What you have been doing. Teach them."

"Who are you referring to?"

"The students. All of them. I would rather not force children to fight wars…"

"…but you fear we will not have a choice."

Ozpin nodded.

"…You may need any the help you can get," Glynda said, looking again at Ozpin.

"You aren't planning to tell anyone?"

"Of course not. But I would recommend you tell others. At least as much as you told me."

Ozpin sighed and turned back to Glynda. "Who?"

"Anyone. The councils. The other teachers. James and Qrow, at least."

"…I will think on your words, Glynda."

"Thank you, sir. That will be all. I will leave you to your work."

Ozpin nodded. "And I to yours."