Chapter 9

A/N: Hello, and welcome back to another chapter of Becoming Human. I am currently on a roll with this story and inspired to do more (thanks to the music of Destiny and Halo) so I'll keep pumping out as much as I can before going to another story.

And this year's RTX was amazing! And the RWBY panel was just astonishing to me. Vytal Tournament, here we come! I just want to be able to go to one someday.

Alright, hope you guys will enjoy this chapter. Summer for me is declining and I gotta do some school supplies shopping as well.

Location: Beacon Academy, Vale, Remnant

Date: December 17th, 2551

Time: 0754 hours

Riley O'Neil

Riley groaned in frustration with his hand over the abdomen. Once again he was injured in the field. But this was something that he was accustomed to since he was always getting punished out there while dishing back to an almost equal amount back to any hostile he encounters.

His breath fogged over the window he was looking out, seeing the light snowfall coming down softly, blanketing the academy grounds in a light layer of white. "How long has it been since I've seen snow? Probably five years since... Osiris if I recall..."

He then started thinking to himself from the past events that have transpired since his arrival to the academy. And that talk he had with the Headmaster of Beacon six days ago has been stuck with him for awhile.

"I had a feeling he'll find out sooner or later... Heh, like Patrick... He always knew if I was hiding something..."

"Is something the matter, Riley? Are your wounds giving you stress?" A feminine voice asked from behind him.

The ODST shook his head in response. Turning around, he saw a blue holographic image of a girl in her late teenage years dressed in a leather jacket and shirt with a pair of pants. Her hair was tied in a small bun with a concerned look on her face.

"I'm felling fine, Heather. No need to worry about me," Riley replied back, his hand still on his abdomen trying to ease the pain.

Despite being an experimental A.I found within the suit parameters of the HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mark I Prototype Armor Defense System, the A.I, designated Heather, was functional and was on the same level of human thinking. She was one of the few rare A.I's to be given sentient thinking. She was still present with Riley after they had made feet first into Remnant, but her functions were limited since the ODST Battle Armor he wore didn't have the updates that all other armor was given.

Shaking her head, she waved her hand in a swift motion to the side with a life sized holographic model of the ODST beside her. Red started appearing on the image where it showed the injuries he had sustained the last time in the field. "You always surprise me, O'Neil. Normal troopers of your kind would be crippled for life."

"So you're calling me weird?" Riley joked with her chuckling.

Heather widened her eyes and shook her head. "N-No! I didn't mean it that! I was just assessing your-"

"Relax. Just pulling on your strings there," He quickly cut in.

She only gave him a small pout. "Boys," She muttered before turning around to look at a floating board with various colors and symbols on it. Reaching out, Heather started to type along the board before turning her head to look at her Bearer. "You've made your recording about the UNSC military and a bit about yourself yesterday. Shall I send this to Ozpin?"

Riley nodded at her as he reached for grey brownish shirt to wear for the day. "Go ahead. I didn't have much to say to him last week. I've just been cooped up in this room for far too long."

"It's just for the benefit of your health, sir."

"I guess. I've been through worse."

"I don't even want to look through your medical records of your military career to see what's been worse," Heather muttered back at the ODST.

He rolled his eyes before he walked the other way and swiped his hand across. A holographic screen popped up and he took a small look at it. "Make sure it's only given access to Ozpin. I don't want anyone else to be looking at this."

She only nodded at him as he put his shirt on and started making restrictions on the recording meant for the Headmaster.

It shocked him still to hear that he would be part of the academy's staff. Seeing how he was interviewed by the Headmaster, which he'd rather say a soft interrogation in his opinion, he was surprised to be greeted like a friend rather than a stranger. Riley may've gotten that same greeting from Zoey when he first met her months ago, but this was still shocking to him.

But what was pretty good was that his room was outfitted with some advanced tech from the Kingdom of Atlas, hence to why as Heather can project herself from some of the the holographic tables around. But some drawbacks were that it was a bit primitive for Riley as he was exposed to more advanced tech from back where he came from.

"I'm no teacher. I'm a soldier. A man trained for war. Nonetheless an entire stranger to you, sir."

"Yet you've shown great promise to be a Hunter, Mr. O'Neil. Not many soldiers these days are willing to fight to the end."

"That's because I'm stubborn-"

"Which shows you have resilience. That's one of the many traits a Huntsman has. And you have that. Have you trained men before?'"

"Well, yes, I have back on my home planet... Drilled them in combat. Made sure they were disciplined to make the right choices in the battlefield... More importantly, stay alive."

"Well, I think I've made the right choice in keeping you here. Besides, Port persuaded me in considering you to stay."

"What? WHat are you saying, sir?"

"Welcome to Beacon Academy."

"That man doesn't make any sense," Riley mused quietly getting a pair of fingerless black gloves on while making sure his dark grey pants were secured on tightly. "Who just hires someone when you find them nearly dead from a firefight?"

"He's just like your brother after he made you an ODST," Heather threw in for him.

"That was after me and my squad took out two Wraiths with only grenades and one rocket launcher on Osiris," Riley told her.

"Still, that's enough to join them."

"Yeah... That man is just like Pat..."

"Heh, you must've been pretty- Oh? Hmmm, oh right. You have your first class to teach today. At 9:30 A.M," Heather told the ODST blowing away a few stray strands of hair away from her face. "You wake up pretty early... 8 o'clock... You've been awake since 6."

"Habit of mine."

"Only limit that I gather from your injuries is that you can't participate in any extreme physical demonstrations until January."

Riley scoffed hearing that slinging his M90 Shotgun onto his back and his handgun around his right shin. "As I've told you, done worse."

"And as I've told you, not looking into your medical records." Heather then tilted her head when she got a notification. "Oh? From Prof. Ozpin, a message for you, Riley."

"Hmm, relay it to me."

"Kay then." Clearing her throat, Heather looked at the message and began to read. "Dear Mr. O'Neil, I'm terribly sorry for letting you know on a short notice. Before you head to your first class to teach, please make a quick visit by my office. You needed to rest, and by doing this rite in your condition a week ago would've made your condition even worse. Once again, sorry for such a short notice."

Riley sighed to himself and crossed his arms. "Well, if he wants me to, then I will." He stretched a bit and yawned. "Well, I'm gonna take a nap."

"You could've slept more earlier."

"I told you, habit of mine to rise early." Walking over to chair nearby the window, he sat down on it and pulled down on his black beanie over his eyes. "Wake me up ten after nine."

"What am I, your alarm clock?" Heather questioned with a small peeved expression.

"Kinda. You are my A.I," Riley replied back before he relaxed himself in the chair.

"Boys..." Heather whispered to herself before going back to her duties.

An hour later...

The ODST yawned loudly as he was now in the elevator heading up towards Ozpin's office. He grumbled to himself with a peeved expression of his own. "I told you to wake me ten after nine. Payback I suppose for annoying her I guess."

Sighing, Riley finally reached the floor he was to be going off of. When the doors opened, he was greeted by the familiar sound of cogs and gears clicking and turning. But he saw that Ozpin wasn't in. "What? No one's in." Walking inside, he looked around the room trying to find the Headmaster within. "Hello? Anyone in?"

"Ahem!"

In response, Riley spun around drawing his M6C from his holster aiming it at who it was, before his eyes widened. "Oh shit..."

Behind him was none other than the woman who extracted him from the expansion. And her face was glaring at the firearm in his grasp. "Put that down before someone gets hurt."

Riley nodded and holstered it, looking down in embarrassment. "Sorry about that... A reflex of mine..." He apologized to her cursing to himself. "Good job. You just so to happened to aim your gun at a woman. The same one who saved you with those others."

"Hm, I guess I can let that slide," Glynda replied back to him sighing.

"So what's the deal here? I was told to report to Ozpin's office. I was expecting to see him here."

"That idiot..." Glynda mumbled to herself. "He must've been in a hurry. Prof. Ozpin is a busy man after all." Walking over to the large window overlooking the entire academy and over the small bay separating the academy from the city of Vale. "What do you know of Aura and Semblance's, Mr. O'Neil?" She asked the ODST.

Riley was a bit confused when he asked her this but nodded. "Well, for one, I know it's some type of overshield to protect a person from physical trauma when I stayed with the Scarlatina's.. As for Semblance, nothing. That's all I pretty much know, Ms. Goodwitch."

"It's more than that, Mr. O'Neil," Glynda told him, gazing out the window down onto the academy grounds. "It is the manifestation of one's soul. It is a life force to every living thing in Remnant. But it is more powerful when one knows how to wield their Aura, to amplify and enhance their abilities." Turning around, she faced him, arms still crossed. "Huntsmen are masters of Aura, an art that sets them apart from those the populace."

She then sighed. "Sadly, some Huntsmen think they are invulnerable with their Aura. If they keep using their Aura, their reserves will eventually be depleted, only leaving their person with their courage and wit."

Closing her eyes, Glynda nodded to herself. "Now, a Semblance is the manifestation of a user's personal power, their special ability to utilize, into a more tangible force. It is the aspect of one's character. And each Semblance is unique to anyone."

Riley just laughed coldly at her which made her give him a confused looked with annoyance. "What seems to be humorous, Mr. O'Neil?"

With his own arms crossed, the ODST's eyes darkened glancing away from Glynda. "I don't have a soul."

"Nonsense, everyone has a soul-"

"You don't understand," Riley cut in, stopping her mid-sentence with doubt clouding his thoughts. He turned his back to her, teeth gritting behind his lips. Tears threatened to break through but Riley held them back. "I lack one... I lost too many men in the field... Yet I never even stopped to grieve for them... Not even one..."

Glynda was shocked to hear this from him. She was present when Ozpin was interviewing the ODST and hired him, surprises to both. She knew from Ozpin that he has led men before, but hearing this caused her to refrain her tongue. "Besides... A ghost can't have a soul-"

"You're talking nonsense, Mr. O'Neil. I sense your soul within you." Glynda had to admit when she sensed it, she was slightly disturbed. It was filled with sorrow, regret, anger, strife... Emptiness, and longing to belong. But it seemed to be a burden that seemed to weigh him down more than other people she knew. "He even rivals Ozpin in that matter..."

Clearing her throat, she caught his attention once again. "And for all of the rubbish I heard from you, you are not a ghost. You are alive."

"Alive... Alive... Human... Sasha..." Riley thought soberly.

What then surprised him and made him backstep is when he noticed that Glynda was rather close to him. "Whoa! What are you-?"

"The reason why you are here is so I can unlock your Aura, Mr. O'Neil. It takes training and willpower to unlock one's Aura and to develop it. But since you don't have it yet and are part of the academy now, Prof. Ozpin wouldn't want to see one of his staff to be injured or worse."

The ODST then blushed a light pink when she brought her hand up and placed it on the side of his head. He cursed to himself thanks to his shyness around women."Ummmm..." He managed to get out.

"Just relax. Close your eyes and focus," Glynda told him. "Can you do that?"

"O-Of course."

"Good. Now relax."

Nodding in agreement, Riley closed his eyes, evening his breathing to slow pace. Glynda nodded herself and closed her own eyes, her body starting to glow a faint purple.

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death," She spoke mentally. As this happened, Riley's body started to glow, a ghostly white light covering his body.

Glynda then moved her hand away from his face before placing it on his chest. "i release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."

Glynda's body stopped glowing as she finished her chanting and took in a couple breathes in. Frowning in response, Riley slowly opened his eyes to look at the Witch in front of him. "Ms. Goodwitch? Are you alright?"

She nodded at him, straightening her glasses. "I am fine." She let out a deep sigh nodding again. "Now, I used my Aura to unlock yours. But now it is up to you to develop it on your own, Mr. O'Neil, as well find out what your Semblance is."

Riley was going to say something before he felt his stomach after it felt rather funny down there. Widening eyes in amazement, he felt no pain residing on his abdomen. Looking at himself, he saw he was glowing for a moment before it faded away. Lifting his shirt up, he saw that the glow was still around, brightly around where the wounds are. "What the?"

"That's your Aura responding to your wounds. It is healing them," Glynda explained to him. She cleared her throat and motioned to the elevator. "Now, you may ask me more questions later. Right now, I'll take you to your first class."

"Alright. But while I'm here," Riley started. He then grabbed the bandages around his torso and ripped them off, dark red stains on them. Staring at his abdomen, his eyes widened more. "Won't you look at that. Like I never was shot there."

Glynda was blushing for two reasons. One was in embarrassment seeing that the ODST had no care that he was doing this in front of a woman without a second thought. Second was seeing his abs. They were toned and had their shares of scars. She mentally slapped herself and cursed. "You're a grown woman, Glynda Goodwitch. No time to admire a man's muscles."

"Please dispose of those," She told him walking towards the elevator.

Sparring room 5...

"I am here to evaluate your abilities and teaching. Make sure that you have a lesson in mind that will be effective," Glynda relayed to Riley as they closed in on the door.

"Hey, I can handle myself, Ms. Goodwitch. I've drilled countless marines before. And they all listened to my commands either way. But don't blame me if I have to break some students."

"Break?!"

"When I mean by that is that I have to break away at their stubbornness and replace that with discipline. My father always told me that you can't learn anything until you have discipline."

"Military terms are always a mystery to me," Glynda mused quietly. They were then in front of the doors going into the sparring room and she looked at him. "Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Placing his hands on the double doors, he pushed them open and his annoyance went up tenfold.

The room was already filled with students. But the chatter was loud and irritating. Some boys were already wrestling each other on the ground in display of their manliness to the girls. And some of them were just waiting.

"So, how are you going to grab their attention?" Glynda inquired.

Riley grinned at her and cracked his neck walking forward. "Easy." Slinging the M90 into his right hand, he grabbed it by the pump and cocked it from there before catching it by the trigger and aimed it upwards.

Glynda widened her eyes in realization and reached for him. "Mr. O'Neil-!"

BOOM!

The sound resonated around the room with loud echos. The chatter, horseplay and absence of mind where all caught. ALl the students looked over to Riley who had a rather mischievous grin on his face.

"Okay. Let's get started shall we?" He announced his first words to the students before pumping another shell in.

That was something, no? Next time, we shall see Riley teach his first class at Beacon.

Hopefully you guys liked this chapter. I don't know why, but everytime I write, I get into large blocks that take me multiple sessions to complete one chapter. So as I say, sorry if it seems inconsistent. I try my best to edit my work.

Let me know if my writing is still good or it's slipping a bit. It'll really help.

Thanks you guys. Peace!