Six Months
The group of four was quickly ushered into a questioning room where they were asked all sorts of questions, ranging from who they were to what they were doing outside the walls. The interrogation took almost three hours, with the group being escorted to a shelter for those with no where to go. When the papers were signed for them to give their names, they all signed their last names as Hearth, the name of the village they called home, as a last homage to all those who lost their lives there. Their story of survival went up all over Vale, as it is rare for any actual survivors to make it to a kingdom relatively unharmed, this cause a problem at first but the media died down within a week.
Three weeks came and went for our four survivors, without much happening to any of them. Then a man named Hei "Junior" Xiong, an owner of a night club, happened across Patch. The two got to talking and Hei offered Patch a job at his club as a bar tender. Patch, while put out that he wasn't a bouncer, agreed to it since it was a job that paid. Manfred, on the other hand, had been looking for a job since they arrived, and got one at From Dust Till Dawn, a small Dust shop run by an old man. Lamprey was having more trouble getting a job, and as such ended doing small odd jobs around the city. Lastly Robin, being the youngest, was discriminated against for being a faunas, and was put through hell for it, but he powered through and ignored all the hate and racism, even turning down the White Fang when they asked him to join after hearing he was skilled in combat.
This was all the men needed to survive, and they all grew closer, the pseudo-family earning each others trust. They grew to know one another over the next few months, and even trained together, all of them waiting to grasp a chance to help the world, to make sure nothing happened to someone else, that happened to them. Robin got the first chance to help someone in trouble.
He was walking around the faunas friendly section of Vale on a Saturday, enjoying the peace that had befallen him. Sadly that peace was interrupted when he spotted a group of White Fang goons trying to sneak in the back alleys. Deciding that it was a good idea to follow them to make sure they didn't keep giving his kind a bad name, he took to the shadows, and silently cursed himself as he did not have his crossbows with him. He followed the group to a dock, and saw that they, a group of five, were waiting for something. He staked them out and saw a Bullhead bearing the Schnee Dust Company logo was starting to land. Instead of waiting any longer, as Robin guessed that the men were simply going to try and kill or capture anyone on board, he jumped from his hiding place and went to charge them as silent as a eagle swooping in for the kill. He activated his semblance when one of the group spotted him, and struck fear into that lone onlooker with his cold yellow eyes. Once that man snapped out of it, which was the time Robin was on top of him, he tried to raise the alarm. One was raised, by the man being tossed into another of the group. With two down, the other three chuckled as they surrounded the boy. Robin laughed, having taken on Patchs' insane style and Manfreds' massive strength, he thought they would be easy. It turned out he was right when they all sloppily attacked him, one at a time. The first was trying for a overhead strike, countered by Robin grabbing his leading arm and flipping him over before kicking the man in the jaw, knocking him out. The second, already moving, was trying to grab the boys arms, and succeeded. Sadly for him, Robin jumped and positioned his body to kick the man in the chest, knocking him down, breaking a few ribs in the process. The last of the five, pulled out a silenced semi-automatic pistol and aimed it at Robin.
"Get your hands in the air," The man stated, motioning for Robin to do as he says. Robin cooperates, and turns slowly toward the man, hands in the air. When the goon motioned for him to get on his knees, Robin looked into his eyes, and used his semblance to strike fear into the man. The goon stumbled back, as Robin charged, tackling him to the ground, a shot went off, straying toward the now landed Bullhead, hitting the side of the vehicle, alerting the guards there. Robin quickly knocked out the goon, since the man was still fearing, and scratched out a note that read. 'Not all faunas are bad-Eagle Boy'. That ended Robins walk of glory.
Patch had the next bout of action, though not of the evil kind. He was working in the bar, wearing the uniform of black pants, dress shirt, and the red tinted sun-glasses, when a stunning girl with long blonde hair, lilac eyes, and a busty body approached the bar. Taking a place next to Hei "Junior" Xiong.
"Strawberry Sunrise, no ice," She asked and the quickly added," Oh and one of those cute little umbrellas."
Patch walked off to get the girl her drink, when he heard his employer yelp in pain. Turning around he saw the girl had him by the balls, and was crushing them. The site made Patch cringe in empathy, though he did laugh at the look on Juniors face. He heard Junior mumble something inaudible to him, and blondie let him go. Trying to salvage his reputation, Juniors goons, known as The Axe Gang, surrounded them. Then Patch saw something so stupid he couldn't believe it.
Junior, the leader of a gang, fell into a trap that the girl set up, making like she was about to kiss him. The resulting punch that sent his boss back to the bar was expected, and the bottle hitting him in the head only added to the comedic effect. The girl then pulled both wrist's back, and expanded her twin gauntlets. She then proceeded to flip into the air and smash the ground with her fist, causing a small explosion somehow, that Patch stayed safe from by turning into smoke for an instant. He then thought that he would have to get involved when the twins, he never got around to learning their names, stepped in and tried to stop her. Emphasis on tried. The blonde brawler used a kickboxer style to defeat both girls. Patch then decided that he was going to get this girl her drink, as he never really liked the twins of Junior and had only taken the job as a means of income.
He turned toward the wall of alcohol and set about mixing the strawberry sunrise, ignoring all the explosions in the background, and once having finished, ducked under the table to get an umbrella as he felt a massive shockwave rattle the bar and shatter what was left of the glass windows. Getting up, he saw the girl was now outside and quickly ran out.
"...long story." The girl finished telling another young girl.
"Excuse me, miss." Patch said walking up to them. causing the blonde one to drop into a defensive stance, as she recognized him as the bartender, and he noticed her eyes turn red for a second.
"You forgot your drink." Patch says holding out the drink, and then silently smacked himself before adding the umbrella.
"Oh, thanks. Names Yang." She introduces herself.
"I'm Patch Hearth. Pleasant to meet ya, and thanks for giving me an excuse to quit. That ass of a boss never made me a bouncer, all I asked for in a job, maybe I would have floored you, but anyway, seen you again soon, and please stop by to hurt him again." Patch says rapidly, causing the now named Yang to blink in confusion before the other girl helps her.
"Thanks, I can quit, hurt my boss again." The one in red said, blinking slowly after saying it.
"Oh well, no... problem?" Yang says to a now empty space where Patch used to be.
He had left and gone home, using his smoke semblance to get around Vale easier and faster than what is normally possible.
Next was Lamprey, who had decided to change up his look, by getting the eels tattooed onto his arms. However these tattoos had dust infused into them, allowing him to access his lightning and water dust without much worry to himself. He also ripped the sleeves off his shirt, to proudly display the eels. Enough on that for now though, Lamprey was moving to his next job. While not paying well, was simple enough, just clean and dust a book store called Tukson's Book Trade. Walking into the shop he say a man in his mid twenties wearing a beige shirt with black accents and a zipper, and some darker than normal jeans. His hair was short and black, with the only real distinguishing feature being the large mutton-chops on his face.
"I assume your Lamprey?" Tukson asked, already reaching for a duster and some wipes.
"Yeah, so where should I start?" Lamprey asked taking them from the shop owner.
"Start in the back, and work your way to the front of the shop." Tukson said with a cheery smile, and even gave a small chuckle at the sigh Lamprey gave after walking into the back, which was piled floor to ceiling with books, from all shapes and sizes.
As the day went on, the two men spoke, laughing and having a good time all around, as Lamprey had a hidden love of books, he was pleased to ask about them, and even joke about the ones he and Tukson both thought were good and bad. This continued for a few hours, in between shoppers of course, until some people in white hoodies started to gather outside. Tukson calmly walked up to Lamprey and told him he could leave now.
"But I'm not even halfway done." Lamprey responded.
"Trust me kid, you don't want to be here for this." He said, gesturing with a nod of his head to the group assembled outside, now making their way toward the store.
"Well, seems like you do have your hands full, do you need some help?" Lamprey said, smiling a bit still dusting like he couldn't care less.
"Only if things get violent. I would rather avoid ruined books, that's just money wasted." The older man said, smiling, looking appreciative of the younger man. He walked to the storefront, standing behind the counter as the group of goons walked in.
Lamprey couldn't make out the conversation being had, but listened for any act of combat. He got his response when a man was thrown against the side of the store. He grinned at this, as he hadn't had a different opponent besides his surrogate brothers. He turned, lightning and water crackling and rippling up and down his arms, charging into the group, seeing Tukson with claws going at it like a mad man, using what seemed to be a strange version of martial arts. That's all Lamprey got before a fist to the jaw brought him back to his own fight, sizing up the group, he gave a quick sorry under his breath, before he doused them all in water. The few smart ones who saw what was about to happen quickly abandoned their hoodies and revealed they were faunas, before diving away as Lamprey electrified the water, shocking all those unfortunate enough to be caught in the current. This thinned the crowd, enough for Tukson to get rid of the ones that got out of the way. After this small battle the two men laughed and fist bumped.
"Hey kid, you got a place to work? I could use the help cleaning this mess up." Tukson said, smiling with a bit of laughter mixed in giving him a kind atmosphere.
"I would love a steady job, so I'll take you up on that." Lamprey said, before picking up a few of the goons and tossing them outside.
This began a friendship that lasted.
Two months and so many days later, Manfred was working at the dust shop From Dust Till Dawn, which was having a slow day. The only business that it really got was a small girl in a red cloak and black clothing, who was currently in the back of the shop reading the newest issue of Weapons Magazine and listening to music. The night was going pretty well, and it was close to closing time too, all in all an easy day.
That is, until he spotted a man with a cane, orange hair, bowler hat, and white coat strolling up to the door, followed by people who looked like they came from the club Patch used to work at. When they walked in, they raised guns at Manfred, causing his eyes to go wide.
"Just take the money." Manfred said, already bending down to reach for his sword hidden under the counter while he was on duty.
"We don't want your money kid, "The man in the bowler hat said," Grab the dust." He ordered the goons, who then proceeded to take canisters to the dust dispensers and stat draining them. A case was pressed up on the counter and Manfred was ordered to put all the uncut dust crystals into them. He started to until a goon who had wondered into the back came flying and crashing through the window to the street outside. The other goons and the man followed what looked like a red blur outside.
The blur turned out to be the little girl who was in the back, who now brandished a larger scythe with several blades making up the crescent, and a few blades on the other end making a pointed spear head.
Taking a chance Manfred took his sword from underneath the counter and charged outside, swinging with the blunt end of his blade, knocking a few of the goons out cold and making the man in the bowler hat get annoyed. Manfred then noticed that the girl in red was now standing close to him glaring at the same man he was.
"Well kiddies it's been fun, but this is where I take my leave." The man said, shooting the ground in front of them, with Manfred shielding the smaller girl from any debris. They look at where the man was, and see him gone. The girl shouts at the man when she sees him climbing a fire escape on a building near by, before going after him. Manfred followed after changing his weight with a small rock so he could jump up and follow them.
He catches up as a red dust crystal is about to explode in front of the small girl. He gives a shout, sprinting and throwing his sword, coming in between the crystal and the girl, before a woman in a purple cape, blonde hair, and high heels appears and blocks the explosion. She then starts to go into conflict with the man, who was now in a bullhead. The man switched places with a unknown woman with fiery eyes and what looks like dust infused tattoos, causing some problems and ultimately ends up with the two escaping.
The woman in purple, who appears to be a Huntress, then takes both him and the small girl into a police station, placing them in separate interrogation rooms. Manfreds mind was spinning as he thought of what all his friends would think, winding up in a police station. He had already called them of course, using his one phone call, and being informed that his three brothers would come down to help him in need be.
The door to his room opened and in walked the Huntress from before.
"You are very lucky young man, you could have been severely hurt, and if it was up to me, you would be sent home with a pat on the back," this caused Manfred to perk up," and a slap on the wrist!" This caused him to jump. The woman continued, "But there is someone here who would like to meet you." She finished as in walked a man with silver hair, circular glasses, a coffee mug, a cane, and emerald colored clothes. The man strolled up slowly, bending down and looking Manfred in the face.
"You are one of the four from that survivor story six months ago, correct?" The man said, sipping from his mug.
"Y-yes sir, I'm Manfred." Manfred said, though could swear he heard someone yell 'Manny'
"Well, do you know who I am?" The man asked.
"Sorry sir, I don't. Haven't had the time to look up many people." Manfred said, with a sheepish grin.
"I'm Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy, so tell me, are you content with being a store clerk for the rest of your life?" Ozpin asked with a look of mischief in his eyes.
"It pays well enough, and feeds me and my brothers. But I would rather be doing something more." Manfred said, sad smile on his face.
"And what, pray tell, would you rather be doing?" Ozpin asked, taking a seat and leaning back.
"I would rather be a Hunter, as would my brothers, and we were going to try to get into a school this year, but never had time to apply." Manfred said looking down.
"So you would like to join my school? Well, only if your brothers join too." Ozpin said, getting a stunned reaction from the young man in front of him. "Don't look so surprised, I had planned on approaching you four before, given your amazing feats already. You will have an extended period of time to get your affairs in order. Home and meals will be given on campus. If you choose to accept, be ready in a week." He said, getting up and leaving, with the door staying open as the woman in purple followed.
Manfred sat stunned, taking it all in. Eventually a smile crept across his face, with this great news, and the best part is, from the sound of it, him and his brothers would be placed on a team together.
It was going to be a fun time.