Professor Ozpin sat behind his desk, silently reviewing the message Qrow had sent him two days earlier as the rain pattered against the window of his office. For the past two days since he received his old friend's message, he's been doing nothing but silently contemplating the possible implications that the message could bring.
"The Queen has pawns." he muttered to no one in particular as he stood up and began pacing back and forth across his office.
The obvious implications of the statement being that there was some far higher up in the chain of command giving Roman Torchwick his orders and that there were more like him under that person's command. Who that person might be, however, was a total mystery to Ozpin. Moreover, another question that remains to be asked is why exactly they would target Dust shops and shipments of Dust, especially because the first and foremost use of Dust was as a weapon. The thought of it and the possible consequences should the numerous amounts of Dust stolen fall into the wrong hands sent shivers down his spine.
In any case, it's imperative that he find out who gives Roman Torchwick his orders and apprehend him before the situation got out of hand. The last thing he needed was for these strings of robberies to get out of control. The recent attempt by Torchwick at stealing a shipment of Dust from the Schnee Dust Company was not helping otherwise. Apparently the small time criminal was being ordered to target progressively larger sources of Dust. Not to mention the various Bullhead VTOL gunships that appeared suggested that Roman's employer was well financed and well connected. But before Ozpin could explore that train of thought further he heard a knock on his office's door.
"Come in."
Four individuals clad in black cloaks that hid their bodies filed into the room immediately and stood at attention after he had given them consent to enter. Each of them was dripping wet, soaked by the rain. Despite the small inconvenience, they didn't seem bothered by it at all.
"Ah, you must be the youngsters that Qrow sent as back up." Ozpin immediately relaxed into a warm yet somewhat stoic smile. "Settle down. You aren't standing in front of an officer at the Hunter Peacekeeping Bureau, you know."
"With all due respect sir, Captain Qrow has explicitly stated that we are to be under you command for the duration of our assignment here. In that respect, you are effectively our commanding officer." The silver haired male in the group promptly replied.
Ozpin simply sighed and shook his head with a pleased smile on his face. 'You've disciplined them too well, Qrow.' he thought to himself. "Very well. At ease."
With that order, the four teens immediately relaxed into more natural stances compared to the stiff and formal stances they took up when in the presence of their superiors.
"Please. Have a seat." Ozpin politely gestured towards the two sets of leather couches that sat in front of his desk. The couches each sat across the other with both couches flanking a glass coffee table.
Taking the offer, the four teens took their seats on the two couches; both men of the group sat on one couch while the two remaining women sat on the other. Ozpin, as well, had moved to stand in front of his desk, facing the four that had just entered his office.
"I assume you know why you are here?" Ozpin asked with a questioning tone in his voice.
"We were assigned here by Captain Qrow to provide you with assistance, sir." Once again, the silver-haired male spoke while his other comrades remained silent. It was apparent that he was the leader of the group.
"Please, enough with the 'sir'. I'd much rather appreciate that you refer to me as 'Professor' while you are here at Beacon." Ozpin frowned slightly at being called 'sir'. He'd rather not have formalities such as those applied. Especially considering that it's been long since he had left the Hunter Peacekeeping Bureau. Not to mention, he'd already gotten accustomed to being referred to by most as 'Professor'.
"I apologize, Professor Ozpin." the silver -haired teen replied with an apologetic smile.
"Now, back to business." Ozpin once again replaced that stoic expression that he always held on his face. "You've all heard of the recent incidents regarding the string of robberies of Dust shops all over Vale, have you not?"
The four nodded in unison.
"And I also take it you've heard of the recent attempted theft of several shipments of Dust from the Vale Docks?" Ozpin shot the four youngsters a quizzical look.
"Are you implying that there's a connection between those incidents and the Vale Docks Heist?" asked a pink-haired girl with wolf ears in the group.
"That is exactly what I am saying." Ozpin nodded affirmatively. "According to the testimony of one of my students here at Beacon who was present during the Vale Docks Heist, the perpetrator is believed to be Roman Torchwick."
The tallest in the group, a dark-haired male, scoffed. "That small time criminal? If he's the one behind these incidents, then you could just apprehend him yourself."
"Ah but it isn't that simple now is it? Of course, if it were that simple I would've just have caught the man myself. But sometimes you have to understand that things are never that simple." Ozpin countered him swiftly and skilfully enough to shut him up completely. "What if I told you that White Fang had aided him?"
The four of them immediately tensed up at the mention of the involvement of White Fang in these recent incidents. Neither of them wanted to admit it but the idea of White Fang working with a lowlife like Torchwick seemed totally absurd. Why would they, the White Fang, ever want to work with a petty criminal like Roman Torchwick? The thought of it baffled them.
"Strange." The shortest of the group, a girl with violet hair, had spoken up, breaking the silence that had ensued while the rest of the group of teens were still trying to process what Ozpin had just said.
"And strange it is indeed, young lady." Ozpin affirmed. "That is why you're here. I had personally requested Qrow for some assistance in investigating these matters."
After allowing them several moments of silence and contemplation, Ozpin decided to speak up again.
"The Queen has pawns."
"What?" The four teens said in unison, clearly confused by his statement.
"The Queen has pawns. That is the message I received from Qrow right after the Vale Docks Heist. Clearly, he knew something about the current incidents but when I asked him to further elaborate on his message, he was unable to answer. It seems that for all his various information networks and methods of espionage, even an ever watchful crow tends to miss some certain details and information." For a moment, Ozpin looked mildly upset with the lack of information to work with before he put up his stoic mask once again."I can, however, safely assume that he meant that there was someone else higher up in the chain of command running the show and giving orders to Torchwick and the White Fang. It is your task to aid me in my investigation and in the apprehension of the people responsible for these crimes."
"Professor?" the silver-haired boy asked.
"Yes?"
"Why do you concern yourself with issues such as these? I mean, you are no longer a member of the Hunter Peacekeeping Bureau and you no longer should concern yourself with such issues. Shouldn't cases such as these be left to the local law enforcers?" The silver-haired boy was clearly confused. He didn't understand, no, he wanted to know why Ozpin would still bother with concerns that should be left to the Peacekeeping Bureau.
"If I were to be frank, I would say that I don't have much faith in the bureaucracy. You tell me to leave it to the local law enforcers despite that fact that they have clearly proven themselves incompetent time and time again. Again you tell me to leave it to the Peacekeeping Bureau but the various processes and paperwork required will only slow us down in our attempt to halt their plans. I simply don't trust the system that much so I've taken it upon myself to take matters into my own hands. We are Hunters. We were created originally for the purpose of fighting the Grimm and protecting the people. But times have changed. In this day and age, the Grimm are no longer the only threat to humankind. Humankind has become a threat to itself and it is our duty as Hunters to keep the peace in order for future generations to prosper. That is our primary mandate." Ozpin had finished his short speech and picked up his favourite mug from his desk and took a sip from it while eyeing the silver-haired boy intently.
"I… I feel the same way." The boy replied after breaking away from his thoughts.
"Good. I'm glad that we understand each other." Ozpin nodded. "Now that we have gotten the explanation of your task out of the way, I'd like to know your names."
"I'm Rey Arclite." The silver-haired boy with blood-red eyes introduced himself.
"I'm Alice. Alice Richards." The pink-haired girl with wolf ears poking up slightly from underneath her hair followed.
"The name's Vincent Marco." The tallest among the four, a boy with long, dark hair, introduced himself next.
"Nena Evans." The last to introduce herself, a very short girl with violet-hair, said with a monotone.
"Very well. For the duration of your stay here at Beacon, you'll be attending classes here while off duty. I'll only be calling on you when you are needed. Now, while I am fully aware that all of you are already certified Junior Hunters at the Hunter Peacekeeping Bureau, I'll still be requiring you to attend classes if only to keep consistent with your cover. And besides, don't any of you want the chance to be a normal student for once?" Ozpin had said that last sentence with a particularly amused tone to his voice. As a matter of fact, it sort of bothered them to hear him say it. "I'll also be placing the four of you in a single team with Rey as the leader. I assume he's been your leader to begin with?"
The four nodded.
"Good. From now on you'll be known as Team RAVN. Here are your Scrolls, they will show you the way to your dorms. Now, off with you. I assume you'd like to take a warm shower after getting soaked with the rain and get some much-needed rest." He handed them their Scrolls and waved them off. Slowly they filed out of the room one by one but before Rey and Alice were able to exit the office, Ozpin called out to them. "Rey and Alice, I gather you are close to Qrow. Am I correct?"
Rey and Alice simply nodded.
"Qrow is an old friend of mine and his niece is a student here. Since the four you will be posing as first years, you're going to be in the same class as her. He asked me to tell you to watch over her from time to time, okay?" Ozpin's face suddenly took on a caring smile when he saw the two youngsters nod in affirmation before exiting the office.
Once again alone in his office, Ozpin sat back down in his chair, taking a sip from his coffee mug and returning to his silent contemplation while staring out the window as the rain still continued to patter against the glass.
'The Queen has pawns.'
Team RAVN walked in silence along the deserted corridors of Beacon. It was, after all, late into the night already. At the rear of the group walked both Rey and Alice, both having left Ozpin's office last. As they continued walked in silence, Rey busied himself, his arms folded across his chest while he was lost deep in thought. The silence would've continued for a while longer had Alice not decided to speak up, curious about what Rey was thinking.
"Hey, Rey? What's on your mind?" she asked, her voice laced with curiosity.
"I was just thinking…" Rey had relaxed a great deal after their meeting with Ozpin, now reverting to his more casual and easy-going demeanor. For a few more seconds, he stared at the ceiling before throwing his hands up and tucking them behind his head.
"Maybe being normal for a little while won't be so bad after all?"
Author's Notes:
And that's chapter one. I dunno. I felt Professor Ozpin's characterization was somewhat... lacking during the course of the actual series. So hence here I give my insights as to what I assume Ozpin to be like. Well, I kinda meant this chapter to be more of an explanation chapter of sorts. Oh and RAVN is pronounced as "Raven". Please read and review.