"In recent response to increasing Grimm attacks Atlesian officials have announced earlier today the launch of the last component of the Damocles defense station which has caused quite the stir on both sides of the Vale Council. We have with us Vale's Diplomat to Atlas Charles Darnel to give the political details of the event."
"Thank you, Lisa. Atlas military officials and scientists have been discussing and planning the completion of the Damocles station for the last two years and it was always considered a large and unrealistic investment to the other nations. Now that it's finally here the council of Vale and the rest of the world must contend with some very terrifying possibilities." Maria Vermillion shut the radio the turning of the nob before begining to straitening the arms of her red suit that brought out the crimson orbs of her eyes.
She paused when her eyes came to the rope band on her wrist that was frayed with age. It was a simple thing of rope with several black and red beads her son had made for her years ago. She had to stop herself from touching it in case she ruined the worn rope even more. She should replace it but... it wouldn't be the same.
"That bad Mari?" asked her driver from the front of her car with his massive bulk watching her through the rear-view mirror.
"No more than I expected. By the brothers we shouldn't have let it get this far, people are already on edge from the Beacon attack and now they have Atlas ultimate weapon hanging over them! Remind me again why I took this job?" she sardonically asked leaning her head back as her fox ears bent down toward her head.
"Well at least we can deal with one of those problems. There's no way the headmaster's escaping from this one." The driver gruffly stated.
"Yeah... Only took three years and how many dead students?"
"Easy, you know that's not on you."
"It is on me H. It's always on me." She intoned and grasping the broach again and gently moving her thumb over every bead. H's face betrayed nothing though the slight frown he wore was a telltale sign of what he was thinking. It took her a bit to pick that much up after she started working with him a few months ago. She couldn't completely pin him down even now and it irked her much less now than it did when he first joined her detail. He originally was already on retainer for Tiberius' wife Abigail as a bodyguard after her last one Kieren retired without even grooming a replacement. Thankfully the Arks were willing to lend him out to her until she had a replacement and surprisingly Abi has made no mention of wanting him back yet. Then again that woman could make Grimm run in terror if she wanted so she wasn't exactly in need of protection.
There were still some problems initially though, most notably the fact he refused to give her his full name; he insisted she just call him H and the frustration of this nearly drove her mad. Paranoid or not she would have liked to know who was making sure no one slit her throat in the night. It even got to the point she almost sent him back to the Arks over the issue until Tiberius talked her out of it.
"Mari he's been keeping me and Abi safe for what fifteen years now and clocked more of the headmaster's thugs then I care to remember in my old age. Him holding back his name is for his own protection, you're the only one willing to stand up to the monster so for the Brother's sake keep him around; We wouldn't have brought him to you if I didn't think he was the right man for the Job." She had grown to trust him after a while and even found out he had family at Saint Numen's, not too far from where her son was.
"The vote isn't for a few hours. I can make a left here, might do you some good to see him." Maria looked out the window and thought for a moment on H's offer.
"Sure, thanks H." A buzzing sound rang through the backseat as the Councilwoman took out her scroll as the car moved into the left lane.
"Hey Sintra, what's... WHAT!"
"Charlamagne is WHAT! Okay slow down what is happening." She calmed herself as the car sped and moved back to the center lane.
"Well, who the fuck was he? Figure it out I'll be there in five." She flipped the scroll shut and let out a savage growl. H looked at her in silence.
"Charlamagne flipped!" Maria shouted in frustration.
"Damn, I thought the bastard didn't have anything."
"Well, the Bishop didn't look well enough. Sintra saw someone leaving his office; had a Warrior's Own tattoo." She explained.
"He's toying with us."
"No shit, now shut up and get me to the Council Chamber." Maria Vermillion let herself take steady breaths and let the claws digging out of her fingers retract. This could still be fixed, this had to succeed.
Beacon Academy Infirmary
Weiss Sat back in her bed in the spartan room she had been given in the Beacon Infirmary going through her textbook on dust weapon maintenance and crafting. It had been little over a day since the initiation at the forest and according to the doctors she would be out by Friday and able to attend her first classes without issue but despite the good news her nerves were on edge. The story about the massive horde migrating into the Emerald Forest during initiation had already broken the news by the time she was admitted into the infirmary and included a growing list of the dead and injured; so far, she was not mentioned in the report.
'Not yet at least.' She slowly reminded herself. Her father would use this against her when he found out, she could almost picture it his insistence that she wasn't equipped for the career of the huntress, how she dared to let herself be injured with the rabble and the meek in a simple initiation and how she felt short of what was expected of her as the Heir to the Schnee name; a name he didn't even have the right to claim.
She bit the flash of resentment down. She was above such a base emotion as anger, she should instead focus on salvaging her situation. Things could be fixed if she became team leader, at least then she would have leverage to justify her injury to him; but her competition could not be underestimated. Blake was fine, too mysterious and too much of a loner to be a proper leader, but the sisters were another matter entirely.
She didn't have enough interaction with Yang but Ruby; she was an enigma. One moment she seemed clumsy, friendly, irritating and energetic but in others she was focused, sometimes brutal during combat and perhaps cold; perhaps not the last one the only reason she is alive is because the speedster knocked her out of the way after all. Then there is the fact she slew the Nevermore Alpha, thought up the diversion with flairs and had enough presence that Weiss even found herself following her lead during combat. It won't be easy to outshine her this late; maybe if she... the doors opened taking her from her thoughts.
"Hey Weiss." Ruby walked in with a smile and a wave and carrying a bag; speak of the devil.
"How are you feeling?" the scythe wielder asked approaching the bed while Weiss marked the page of the textbook and closed it.
"The doctors said I'll will make a full recovery... Thank you by the way for." Ruby waved off her reply.
"Don't even worry about it we're partners we should watch each other's backs. Here I brought you these." Ruby unfurled the wrapped bag and opened the container revealing the batch of cookies within. Weiss hesitated for a moment.
"I really shouldn't I'm not that much of a sweet person...
"Really? Aw I figured you'd be used to having sweets in that palace of yours." Ruby cheekily replied. When she was younger, but she shouldn't now."
"They're not going to bite you." Ruby once again interjected.
"I see it on your face, their just cookies Weiss nothing going to happen if you try at least one; see." Ruby said as she took one popped it into her mouth chewing it with a satisfactory crunch.
"I suppose it would be rude of me not to try one." Weiss eventually replied and cautiously took one and placed it in her mouth. It was a culinary explosion of flavor that made her mouth water followed by an involuntary tug at the sides of her mouth that she quickly restrained to keep an aloof demeanor. She could never get anything this good under her father's gaze save for the few Klein was able to sneak to her.
"There's the smile." Okay how does she keep that, did she drop the mask involuntarily?
"You're hiding it well but me and Yang have always been very good at observing people."
"Remind me to take you with me on business trips then."
"I don't have much interest in business politics."
"But we're partners aren't we supposed to watch each other's backs?" Weiss remarked.
"Using my own words against me; well played. Alright just say when." Weis paused for a moment.
"Your serious. I was joking Ruby; I didn't really expect you to come along with me. I wouldn't even be allowed to bring you." Weiss explained.
"Oh... That makes sense company secrets and all right?"
"That's part of it." Weiss stopped herself from saying more; she had said too much already and turned back to the textbook in her bed if only to avoid Ruby's curious stare; it felt like something was digging into her mind. They stood in silence for a while before Ruby broke the silence when she noticed the textbook.
"Your reading textbooks already? Classes haven't even started yet, and that weapon's textbook isn't even that good."
"Ruby this is required material for the next year, I might as well get a head start and it's not useless every hunter needs to know how to maintain their weapons."
"Weiss, every initiate learns weapon maintenance when they first enter combat school. That book just rehashes information and explains it in a way that sounds unfamiliar to make it seem like it's something new." Weiss scoffed.
"Oh really? Alright what are some hazards of repeated ice dust usage and how would you fix any hazards."
"Well, it depends on the weapon but repeated usage on crescent rose several of the mechanisms or ammo cartridge could freeze and jam, for something like your Rapier since it utilizes dust directly it could risk freezing especially if the canister is cracked, possibly even encase your arm in a block of ice. The best method is a slow thaw with heat. Using intense heat may thaw it quickly but if you're not careful it could warp the metal after it's thawed out or burn your arm." Weiss didn't even bother to hide her scowl and moved onto the next question; this would take a while.
Beacon Academy Hall
Yang sat in a circle with Graff, Jaune, Lizzie, and Blake around a deck of cards. The hall was still crowded with students meandering and minding their own tasks and distractions or otherwise sleeping away the day after the ordeal of initiation. It was Graff's idea to play the game as a way to pass the time though Blake was more interested in the book nestled in her free hand; she was only their thanks Yang's insistence.
"So, where's the rest of your team?" Graff asked.
"Ruby's visiting Weiss in the infirmary. Where's yours? Got any sixes" Yang replied. The Street rat gives her two cards.
"No idea, we don't even know who they are. We tried asking around but haven't found anyone yet." Graff replies.
"Well hopefully at least it's not Sky and Dove. Blake any aces." Blake looks from her book to her cards.
"Go fish. I wouldn't be so sure." Blake responds as Yang starts looking for cards.
"Tough luck blondie."
"Don't worry I still got an Ace up my sleeve." The group collectively groaned.
"That was terrible and just for that I'm taking your aces. what did you mean by that Blake?" Lizzie asked as she was handed a card from Yang.
"I saw Cardin, Sky, Dove and Russel together. They didn't get kicked out or eaten apparently."
"Those fuckers survived? Brothers save us all. I was kind of hoping Grimm would put them out of the gene pool. Though I'm glad Russal made it through." Graff admitted.
"Why?" Blake asked.
"He seems to have a better head on his shoulders; honestly, I think the only reason he went with Cardin was because he was partnered up with him. Blondie... please turn off the daemon eyes you're scaring the children." Yang blinked away the crimson as Lizzie seemed to relax.
"Sorry, happens when I get worked up. Still the fact those bastards are still here just proves the headmaster is up to no good for wanting them here and needs to be dealt with."
"That reminds me, what's the hunter's code you spoke to Cardin about? I don't remember hearing about that anywhere."
"Both my parents are huntsman, ever since me and Ruby said we wanted to be hunters they spoke of that code to us and damn sure we knew it before we set foot in combat school. The stories say the White Witch's army was the first to utter it and when kept it when they formed the Hunter's core to protect people against Grimm. Though it looks like many seem to disregard it now."
"You mean Ozpin, you seem to have it out for the Old man, if you don't mind me asking why did you come here if you hate him so much?"
"Ruby is here, beyond that its none of your damn business Graff." Graff put his hands up in surrender.
"Sorry I meant nothing by it. Whose turn is it?" he asks, looking at the group.
It's mine now. By the way I also heard people talking about you. The rumor is you were squired by the Guard." Blake remarked and Yang went to give him a cold stare.
"I made the wise decision to try and mug the academy's weapon master and almost get away; I made a good impression and am now paying for it. Hell, I don't even want to join the Warriors Own; but it's better than getting my hand chopped off." Graff admitted.
"Most would consider the position an honor Graff, most of the old families would pay to have their kids in the guard and hell young girls would swoon for a guardsman to sweep them off their feet." Lizzie countered and Graff shook his head.
"Nah, I wouldn't be anywhere near these guys honestly. A few of them seem like good people but I don't know. There is something off with most of them." The Squire commented.
"You're not the only one who sees it, I'd keep my eyes open and weapons close around them if I were you." Yang suggested.
"Honestly just sleep with a knife under your pillow, they are not dumb enough to try something in broad daylight; but asleep they can get the jump on you and." Blake started.
"Okay I am done thanks for the nightmares!" Lizzie loudly replied as she dropped her cards and walked away from the paranoid trio.
"Guess that's game. So, any idea when they will sort us into dorms? I'd love to not sleep on the floor for once." Graff asked.
"Who knows, The Official Initiation was supposed to happen Friday but who knows what Ozpin has planned." Yang remarked as the Academy PA system came to life.
"All initiates that are able please make your way to the Auditorium, all injured students are to remain in the medical wing, the announcement will be given over loudspeaker for your convenience." The voice shouted. As if on cue a column of Warriors marched in and started ushering the students into the hall toward the auditorium like cattle.
Yang and the rest went without trouble or resistance into the auditorium and were met by Ruby who arrived from the infirmary and stood next to Yang and saw the headmaster once again standing on the podium and flanked by several of his staff; too far if only she was closer.
"They couldn't have waited till tomorrow for this?" someone groaned.
"Uh mom warned me it be like this but come on!" The grumbling went on until the tapping of a microphone brought everyone to silence.
"Good evening, firstly I want to commend you all your surviving and passing yesterday's initiation and want to dispel any rumors regarding the higher passing rate of this year. As of right now beside a few exceptions we will not be eliminating any other participants of the Emerald Forest trials; Your ability to survive an unforeseen Grimm migration is not without merit. Though the unexpected horde has reduced the usual time taken for initiation, the fact you were all able to survive more than makes up for the reduced time in the field and bolsters my belief you are all more than worthy to join us as the next generation of humanities..." Yang tuned out her at this point reducing the headmaster's speech to background noise for her mind to process.
"Look at your ten." Graff muttered from behind her she did a side glance which caused the temperature in the surrounding area to go up by several degrees when she noticed the forms of Sky and Dove. She had hoped that Blake was wrong, but it seems she was too optimistic.
"What's wrong?" asked Ruby who shrugged off the sudden heat and gave her sister's arm reassuring squeeze to calm her down and dispel the red eyes like a calming salve.
"Later." she growled out before going back to the headmaster's speech.
"Now that you have all had time to regather yourselves you will all be separated and sorted into the freshmen dorms tonight where you will live during the school year. As there is a rather large number of you students will be taken to their dorms in groups to avoid blocking the halls; keep your scrolls close so you can be easily notified. Also, normally we would have a ceremony for you all this Friday and I am pleased to say this is still the case as your victory deserves celebration; details will be sent out to your scrolls. You'll be given the next few days to settle in with your teams until this Friday with classes beginning the following week so utilize the weekend to finish any remaining preparations for the school year. Now if there are no other questions you are free to go and can walk the grounds until your called to dorms." The headmaster finished and the students were allowed to funnel themselves out. Yang grabbed Ruby's shoulder.
"C'mon." Yang whispered and the sisters rushed outside eventually finding a quiet section of the gardens surrounding the campus where they sat down and made sure they weren't overheard.
"So, how's Weiss?" Yang asked.
"Recovering, she said the doctors are letting her out Friday."
"Thats great, but I was talking about as a partner. Any problems you need me to help with?" Ruby shook her head.
"You worry too much. We got off to a rough start, but I think we'll be fine. She has rough spots and is very restrained, but there's warmth underneath the ice; it's just buried. How about Blake any issue there?"
"Blake is fine, A bit mysterious but I don't think she's one of Ozpin's cronies; she is a cat Faunus though but I'm not going to bother her about it. But it will be an issue given Weiss' family."
"Weiss' doesn't seem as bad as her dad; she seems more spoiled and sheltered than anything else. Blake will tell us when she's ready we just all need time to trust each other." Ruby stated.
"But can we trust them is the question." Yang asked as the memories of Ozpin's experiments put her on edge.
"Let's walk before we run; wait till next semester maybe the one after. I think we'll know if we can trust them by then." Ruby suggested.
"We may not have that long, your already taller and so am I. Not to mention you need to be careful with injuries, one checkup could mean your found out." Yang stated.
"I know, first sign of trouble we leave back to patch. But until then we should make the most of it. We'll be Huntresses soon." Yang snorted.
"Just wait till the tests start, let's see if you're still hyped for the semester after two weeks."
"It'll be fine I just went through every question in the Dust weapons and maintenance textbook."
"Ruby, you forge your own ammo and are so much of a weapons nut that you made Crescent Rose and designed it from something you made in a dream. Now if you memorized everything in a bottony textbook then I'd be impressed."
"Wait is that an actual class?"
"Yup and its mandatory." Ruby groaned. That is going to be the most boring class ever.
Author's note: It has been a while, collage and work has been a pain and left me little time to write so I wanted to get something out during spring break; I've kept you all waiting for something longer then i should have. This was a bit of a short chapter I'll admit but it is kind of meant to bridge the gap between initiation and the ceremony. I had tried initially to just skip to the initiation in this and get started on classes which I was excited for because I had allot of Worldbuilding planned for Obbleck's class. But it didn't feel right to just skim over few days between the ceremony and initiation, so I slowed down and wrote this to cover that small period. the classes and initiation are going to be next chapter along with more of Yang's legion and maybe some more Vermillion; there's going to be allot going on outside of the girls' own stories on remnant to set the stage for what will come; so, you'll see some familiar and not familiar faces. I don't know how much to the cannon story I'll stick to in the next chapter as the characters are already quite different then their cannon counterparts especially in terms of Weiss and Ruby's relationship in this. I realized when I was writing chapter 1 (not the prologue) that I hated just copying scenes from the show it was boring to write and a drag until I got to the bits that were different from the show where I started getting into things and enjoyed writing out the story.
I also had a scene planned here with JNPR here as I kind of felt I've been neglecting those characters but as I was writing it felt kind of shoehorned in because the chapter was short; I could portray Jaune's insecurities about being at beacon in a better way in the next few chapters then I can in here, so I'll be patient and wait till then. If I did it now, I'd be beating a dead theme horse considering what Yang and Ruby were discussing in this chapter and it would advance anything really. I also considered adding JNPR into the Card game but considering how little interaction they had with Yang and Graff I don't think ether of the two would invite them into it; if Ruby was present, it would be a different story but she was with Weiss so I couldn't justify it.
But anyway, I have kept you all long enough, thank you again for taking your time to read this and for following the story and please leave a review of what you think so far, I will usually try to answer any reviews; honestly i'm surprised this story has grown as much as it has and am grateful that people are enjoying it