Chapter 2
The Observations of Tohsaka Rin

"Do you guys mind if I turn our room into a Bounded Field?"

Rin asked her companions the next morning.

"A what-what now?"

Their diminutive leader asked.

"A Bounded Field. It's… hm…"

Rin looked at the ceiling, briefly trying to find the easiest way to explain her point.

"It's basically a place where I have more control over my magecraft. Think of it as my small, private workshop. It's also great for security and defense. I realize that I should probably just ask permission from the headmaster to use one of your labs, but I prefer to work somewhere close, easy to get to. We magi are finicky like that."

The last thing she wanted was to have her experiments be in a public place. While far from the most secure, having a workshop within arm's reach was the next best thing.

"Well I doubt anyone minds. But is there anything we have to do?"

Yang asked, rolling on her elbow to glance down from her bed.

"Don't worry; I'll do all the legwork. Like I said, it's also good for security. I'll immediately be alerted if someone messed with anyone's stuff, for example."

The redhead and her overly blonde sister responded at the same time.

"Do it."
"Do it."

[—

"That Bounded Field you talked about… it won't… it won't allow you to read my mind, will it?"

Jaune asked, sitting on his bed and hugging his knees.

Shirou shook his head as he sat on Ren's currently unoccupied bed.

"No, that's a different school of magecraft that I'm not too familiar with."

"Wait. You guys can actually read minds?"

Pyrrha exclaimed, looking up from maintaining Akoúo̱.

Shirou shook his head slightly.

"It's not really mind control, more like, memory manipulation. But don't worry. Like I said, I don't know how to do it."

Nora lifted her eyes from her book and narrowed them suspiciously at Shirou.

"That's exactly what a mind reader would say."

[—

"And she was like, 'I'm gonna open my palm and sha-zaa,' the books we were using to keep Yang's bed on top of Blake's bed turned into… sturdier books."

Ruby said after animatedly explaining last night's events to her friends. Members of both teams sat together in the library, gathered around a makeshift long table. While the library was large, their section of the library was mostly empty. Ruby earned a couple of ugly looks from the few students who were trying to study nearby, but most were fine with moving away without complaint.

"Wait, why are you using books to keep your bed on top of Blake's—"

"Because we made bunk beds, Jaune. Weren't you listening?"

"Oh. I suppose that… wait, why did you make bunk beds for?"

"We brought too much stuff."

Blake answered on behalf of her teammates, her attention never leaving her book.

The teams sat on opposite sides of the long table, save for Weiss who was away. Pyrrha and Jaune sat together, with the former reading a book and the latter reading a comic hidden inside a book. To their right was a half-asleep Nora and a silently reading Ren.

Ruby sat opposite of Jaune with an opened 'History of Firearms' book. Her sister was to her left, hands deftly tapping away at her scroll, while Blake was engrossed in an obviously non-academic book.

"They do seem to have a lot of tricks up their sleeves."

Pyrrha noted with a slight nod.

"I wonder what else they can do."

"As awesome as they are, we still don't know a lot about them."

Yang pointed out.

"Maybe someone should prod them with questions eh? They look open enough."

She glanced to her little sister.

"Prod them questions, Rubes."

"What? Why me?"

"Because you're our team leader! It's your job!"

"Whaaaat? You do it. You're older and— oh here they come."

The fifteen-year-old glanced over her shoulder toward Rin and Weiss. The two girls were in animated conversation, but their voices were low enough to not warrant any attention.

"Well they seem to be getting along."

Yang pointed out.

"Can't blame Weiss, Rin's pretttty cool."

Ruby said.

"She's so ladylike and she has laser hands. I wish I had a sister like her."

"Hey! I have shotgun hands! Those are just as cool if not cooler."

"You're right, Yang. I'm sorry!"

Ruby tilted her chair to hug her elder sister, which the latter warmly returned, fake tears flowing from the girls' eyes.

Weiss and Rin took their places by Blake's side, both girls plopping down a small pile of books between them.

"Four kingdoms,"

Rin had said.

"Vacuo, Mistral, Vale, and Atlas. Sounds easy enough to remember. And you're from Atlas, Weiss?"

"Yes. It's a lovely place, you should come and visit some time."

"Wow Weiss, you're actually inviting someone to visit Atlas? That's… something, I guess."

Yang pointed out, elbowing Ruby.

Weiss huffed indignantly, rolling her eyes.

"What about you, Rin? Care to tell us about where you came from?"

Yang asked casually.

The other students, save for the sleeping Nora, not so subtly shifted their attention. Rin opened one of the books she took before answering.

"We and Shirou came from Japan, a small island nation somewhere in the east of my world."

"Oooh, Japan."

Ruby cooed.

"It was home, for a while. But, well things happened and Shirou and I temporarily moved to England."

"And that's another kingdom, right?"

Yang asked.

Rin didn't bother correcting her usage of 'kingdom' instead of 'country.'

"Yes. This place— Vale, reminds me more of England than Japan, actually. Fancier architecture, wider streets, ugly monsters invading your personal space—"

An image of a certain blonde heiress appeared in Rin's mind.

"—our life in Japan was quieter, a bit more down to earth."

She ran her finger across the words on the books in her hand.

"It's strange though, how our languages are so identical. I guess some things just transcend worlds. Or maybe it's a coincidence. Either way, I'm just glad I can read the literature here."

She blinked her eyes twice before looking up.

"Speaking of which, where's Shirou?"

"Ozpin called him up to his office a while ago."

Yang answered.

"Ahhh."

Rin looked to the other huntsmen-in-training, sitting opposite of her and smiled. They had already been introduced, and as much as she'd like to chat, they were all still in a library. This was the perfect place to learn about this world. With the conversation quickly dying down, Rin dug into the book in her hand. Weiss was kind enough to show her around to the library's history and politics sections. There, she quickly found the books she was looking for.

Remnant was a fantastical world. The constant threat of monsters, the presence of auras and semblances and incredibly impractical-looking transforming weapons— everything sounded straight out of fiction. But despite these crazy facts, the people of Remnant still abided to a variety of rules.

Everyone apparently possessed an aura, but only a few were skilled enough to develop their skills to the point of lethality. This world had its share of wars and conflict, of dictators and villains, just like Earth. But unlike back home, a singular cause managed to bring humanity together. Rin would have been jealous, if not for the fact that this cause involved millions of soulless monsters.

An hour passed and Rin was still buried in her books. She skimmed most texts to get to the juicy parts, sometimes ignoring books in their entirety. Auras and semblances sounded mystical the first time she heard about them. But both 'powers' still functioned under a strict set of rules. Auras could run out, like Od or Mana, and Semblances, while unique to each person, still functioned a lot like magecraft.

There were no records of Semblances that allowed people to be brought back from the dead, to create matter from nothing, or to travel through time. None of the Semblances, ironically, resembled the ability to perform true miracles.

While this fact worried her, it was not enough to deter her from her search.

"You should take a break."

A familiar voice said as a familiar hand slapped an unfamiliar device right on top of her book.

"Hey!"

Shirou pulled back a seat and sat next to Ren.

"Professor Ozpin wanted me to give you that."

He grinned and expertly activated an odd looking, silver contraption, showing it to Rin.

"It's apparently called a scroll. Basically they're version of a cellphone."

Nobody on the table missed the almost sadistic-looking grin on Shirou's face. Everybody missed the brief expression of utter horror on Rin's.

"I played around with mine on the way here and would you guess it, it's actually a lot more advanced than the ones we have home."

Shirou smiled as he pulled apart the top and lower parts of the scroll, doubling the device's screen size.

Rin had to suppress a yelp.

"Ahhh— ahhhh that's— that's— nice."

She smiled, closing her book and gingerly holding up her own scroll, making visible effort not to touch the screen.

"But right now, I'm knee-deep in research, Shirou. I'll fiddle with my scroll later."

She said, quickly regaining her composure.

"Are you sure? It has some pretty great features."

Shirou asked, poking a random icon on his scroll. It launched what he assumed to be its version of a notes app. Satisfied, he typed, 'Rin is bad with technology.' and tilted it toward Ren, causing the normally-stoic boy to smirk.

Rin huffed and opened another one of her books.

"Shirou, if you're not here to study, then I suggest you go elsewhere."

She glared at him, venom in her eyes.

"You're bothering me."

Smiling and satisfied with his teasing, Shirou closed his eyes and bowed.

"I'm sorry for bothering you, Rin. I'll keep quiet now."

He reached over the table and picked a book from Rin's 'finished' pile, opening it and diving into the words.

A few more minutes of silence passed, as each member of team RWBY and JNPR focused on their own devices. Rin fixated on her reading, back straight, chest out, looking as dignified as dignified can be.

The silence was broken when Rin's scroll began ringing, causing her to yelp in surprise.

Shirou stared at her, his scroll glowing in his hand as it waited for Rin's own device to answer. He did not smile, nor grin, but he still enjoyed the moment.

[—

Rin and Shirou walked side by side, not really knowing where to go. The streets of Vale were busy. Civilians from all walks of life walked to and fro, some alone, most with a companion in tow. Despite being told that the Grimm were literally always on humanity's doorstep, there was still an air of normality everywhere.

At a glance, they looked no different from any other human in Vale. They were dressed the part, Shirou in a light-colored jacket, slacks and scarf, and Rin in a black miniskirt and buttoned blouse.

"There's a certain charm to exploring a city without a guide."

Rin noted, thinking back to Ruby enthusiastically volunteering to show them around Vale. Rin however declined. Ruby had classes to attend to, and Rin didn't want the girl to incur absences on hers and Shirou's behalf.

"We still shouldn't wander too far from the academy."

Shirou pointed out, pocketing his hands.

Rin just huffed.

"You're being paranoid, Shirou. Learn to relax for a bit. Speaking of which, I wonder if baseball exists here on Remnant? I'm in the mood for—"

"We don't even have any money, Rin."

She turned on her heel and grinned, holding up one finger. A few of her magic circuits flared. After a brief flash of magical energy, a wallet stuffed with the local currency appeared between her fingers.

"Rin. No."

"What?"

"No."

She scoffed, dissipating the effect of Gradation Air with a wave of her hand.

"I was kidding."

She looked around the city and tilted her head toward a nearby park.

"Since we don't have any money, why don't we just relax a bit?"

There were roughly two dozen people milling about the park. Some were students, dressed in Beacon's uniform, but most were civilians. Stone-and-steel benches lined a red brick road. Tall green trees surrounded a relatively small manmade lake, where a few kids were playing with remote controlled boats. Newspaper stands mingled with toy stands and food stands beside a nearby playground.

If he didn't know any better, Shirou would have thought that they were still in London.

The pair found an empty bench and sat down, facing the lake.

"You know I'm starting to doubt that Zelretch has anything to do with this."

Rin said, after a few moments of silence.

"He's spoken to me… once, ever since we arrived at Clock Tower. And that was only a five-minute talk, asking me on how my family was doing."

A hint of sadness appeared for a second in Rin's eyes.

"But he didn't seem that interested in what I was really up to and I doubt that I'm even that important to him. If you're a Sorcerer who can literally look into any possibility, into any dimension— what would be the point of throwing a pair of amateur magi into God-knows-where?"

"I don't think we're amateurs anymore, Rin."

"That's not the point!"

She furrowed her brows and leaned back, crossing her arms.

"Something else is involved here. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. Zelretch is crazy but there are so many other things that could have brought us here."

She sighed and leaned on Shirou's shoulder.

"I was up all night in the library. It normally closes at around 10, but I got special permission from our good friend Professor Ozpin."

Shirou frowned slightly.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's not that I didn't want you to join me, it's just that you were sleeping when I came over to ask. You slept like a rock, by the way. How you can do that while we're stuck on an alien planet is beyond me."

Rin paused to watch a couple of teenagers jog by. Despite their superior physique, the people here still enjoyed a good work out, apparently.

"Anyway, I delved into a couple of science books to figure out how this crazy world worked. I focused on the topics of Dust and Auras, specifically. Figured that they're the closest things they have to magecraft."

Rin dug into her pocket and produced a small notepad, handing it to Shirou. Her notes were written in Japanese, with the occasional English or German phrase strewn about. Unless the same languages existed in this world, it would be impossible for anyone to decipher the notes at a glance.

"Those are still mostly just theory, but the biggest thing I discovered is that Aura is basically just Od."

"Od? In its raw state?"

"Yeah. But it's always activated. It's… hard to explain. I don't think the people here have magic circuits, but their bodies are capable of producing an insane amount of Od."

"Rin. How do you know this? You couldn't have come up with that theory just from reading a book."

Rin huffed proudly.

"I may or may not have been secretly experimenting on my roommates."

"Ah."

Shirou was not surprised by her straight-faced admission.

"Anyway, it's almost like everyone here has their own miniature magic core. Not as powerful as Saber's of course, but powerful enough to cause their Od to permanently affect their bodies. Their Od wraps around their body like a shield, and it courses through their bodies like a second bloodstream. But the Od isn't being transformed into actual magical energy."

"That's… odd."

Rid rubbed the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger.

"Now's not the time for puns, Shirou. While Od makes everyone here stronger, faster, and tougher than anyone back home, no one really seems to be capable of utilizing Od to its full potential. I don't even know if the people here can even tap into Mana. I also went jogging with Yang and Blake this morning, and let's just say I had a bit of trouble keeping up."

Rin dropped her head, defeated.

"How the hell can Yang even run ten kilometers with those— anyway, I later challenged Yang to some arm-wrestling. With, and without reinforcement. You can guess how that turned out."

"Did you easily win in the second round?"

Rin shrugged.

"There was a bit of a struggle, but the strength difference was still obvious. I had to reinforce my bones in addition to my muscles, though. There was a point when I was afraid that they'd snap."

"I wonder if you can beat her in a duel."

Shirou thought idly, looking at the sky.

"That's not a question anyone wants answered."

Rin deadpanned, glancing at him.

"Anyway, that's all I discovered when it came to Aura. In theory, with the proper study, everyone in this world has a higher potential of being a magus than the people back home. It may take generations for families to develop proper magic circuits, but if that happens, the magi here will no doubt be superior to the average magi on earth. Maybe not Age of Gods level, but— close. More mysteries, less practitioners and all that."

She gazed determinedly at nothing in the distance.

"That's why we will uphold our duties and keep the secrets of magic a secret."

"Says the girl who revealed to everyone that we're magi in the first place."

"That was born out of circumstance, Shirou, shut up."

Her voice brokered no argument.

Shirou skimmed through her notes, not really bothering too much with analyzing every single line. He was a Spellcaster, above all else. Like Kiritsugu, his actual knowledge of thaumaturgy was marginal at best. That didn't mean that he couldn't understand Rin's notes, but it meant that he understood that Rin was better off handling these matters on her own.

"Why didn't you use your scroll to take notes?"

"Shut up. Next is the matter of Dust."

Rin mused.

"I'll need to find a way to get actual samples, but I surmised that Dust is basically like any other mineral. They use Dust for everything here. Normally Dust is triggered by Aura, so I may try experimenting with Od, but it's also being used for things like fuel and ammunition. This suggests that it can be manipulated like any other element. So if magecraft fails me, I can hopefully just use alchemy."

Her lips curl downward slightly.

"I'll have to if I want to keep up with you. We left all my jewels behind so I'll have to make due with Dust. It's too risky trying to implant spells and magic inside crystalline Dust, so I'll probably just make improvised explosives."

Her eyes darted to Shirou.

"By the way, did you know that some people here use Dust on their clothes and on their bodies? These people are insane!"

"Rin. I hope you're not forgetting about the fact that we survived the Holy Grail War."

Rin huffed proudly.

"That's different. The Holy Grail War was a calculated ritual perpetuated by two great families and the Makiri—"

"—Rin…"

"—it was completely sane in paper and in practice. But embedding volatile minerals into your clothes and body is not!"

Shirou held up his hands, showing Rin that he didn't want to argue.

"Okay, okay."

"In any case, while conducting further research on Aura and Dust, as well as learning about Semblances is important, our main goal right now is to learn the most we can about our hosts."

She gave him a daring look.

"This world is hostile, Shirou. It's as if a hundred dead apostles are always gathering outside a city's walls. Most of the people here know how to fight. We're not used to the rules here. We need first-hand experience on how the people here conduct combat."

Shirou nodded his agreement, thinking solemnly.

"We're only bunking with students, but most of the people we see move and act with experience and skill. Except Jaune, I guess, but even his technique isn't that bad. Goodwitch teaches combat class. Her teaching method is… unique, to say the least. Most of the class involves students or teams of students fighting each other 'til their opponent runs out of Aura. And seeing that most duels allow the students to use their weapons…"

Shirou sighed deeply, drooping his shoulders. He knew where Rin was going with this.

"Who do you want me to fight?"

"How about that Pyrrha girl?"

He raised a curious eyebrow at Rin, tilting his head away from her.

"…Nikos? Hmm. I'm not deaf, Rin. People talk about Pyrrha as this unstoppable force of nature. I've seen her in action. She's fast, strong, tough. She's the four-time champion of some tournament somewhere. She's good enough to be famous here and in the kingdom she came from. And you want me to fight her?"

Rin's eyes were bright and thoughtful.

"Yes. All those facts make her the best candidate to test out our skills!"

"But she's the exception, not the rule. For all we know, she's faster and stronger than her schoolmates."

"That just makes things better!"

Shirou hung back his head and hummed, looking at the ever blue sky.

"Okay."