ONYX DATABASE VERIFICATION REQUEST. LEVEL 1 SECURITY REQUESTED
ACCES REQUEST: █████
Item: W. Schnee
Threat level: very low.
Description: daughter to {REDACTED} Schnee, current head of the Schnee Dust Company and favorable business partner. Raised in moderate isolation, leading to rebellious attitude which expresses itself in a noncaring attitude to others. Has not been made aware of Onyx's deal with the SCD and is of no consequence.
LEVEL 2 SECURITY ACCESS APPROVED
Open attachment Alpha: "Weiss Schnee is opposed to many ideas of her father. Being teamed up with a Faunus might bring many problems to the team integrity, which in turn might lead to unwanted activity should the truth of the ACE-testing event from two years ago be brought up.
Day three, 16:27
"Anatomy and Mentality of Grimm, yeah right!" Weiss angrily said and closed the book again. "Chapter One mentions ZERO things about Grimm."
"It is the first chapter. Cut the book some slack will you…" Blake replied from her bed.
Of course she would say that! All she did was read books, the likes of which might be…questionable.
"It is a schoolbook… those are boring by rule…" Her redheaded teamleader stated from above. And what was up with her! Why couldn't she simply accept the fact that she was in a place where everybody was striving to be as mature as possible? She should have known it when Ruby had come up with the first, stupid plot of hers. Because there hadn't been any room left in their dormitories, they had been forced to create bunkbeds. An immature and preposterous idea that she had only barely accepted
Ruby frustrated her immensely. The girl was immature, lazy and very, very childish! What on earth had possessed Ozpin to pick her to be the leader of team RWBY? Everyone BUT her would have been a better choice than that...so why? "Can't you act like a proper student for one second? Schoolbooks aren't neccesarily boring!"
"You are the one who started complaining, Weiss." The girl replied. Technically spoken, she was right. But the only thing she had said was that the title was misleading concerning its contents. Ruby had then proceeded to add up to that. "Why can't you act like a proper student?"
Oh the nerve of that kid! Ruby knew just how to tick her off. "I merely stated that the title is misleading. You went ahead and insulted every single schoolbook ever!"
"It's not like you are a schoolbook; why does that concern you?"
Yang groaned loudly and kicked a pillow off her bed, taking her by surprise. "Can't you two just stop arguing for a FEW MINUTES?!"
She sounded sincerely angry…perhaps it would be a good choice to remain silent for a while. It wouldn't do them any good if their bedroom would suddenly be set alight by Yang´s…fiery temperament.
"I didn't do anything!" Ruby said and Weiss ignored the urge to say the same thing. It would only cause more fighting and their team couldn't handle that.
"I think I figured it out." Blake then said a minute later. "The first few chapters cover the human body as a whole…then it moves on to the Grimm section. You see? Chapter one starts off with a whole speech about utilizing your organs and systems to the max."
"I guess that's important too…" The blonde girl replied and jumped down to retrieve her pillow. "But that's still a very boring subject to read through!"
"It is interesting…"
"Is it?" Yang said. "If I asked you for the significance of the 'spleen', what would you say?"
"The spleen is a vital organ in the human body, you dope!" Weiss let herself be pulled right into yet another meaningless conversation with the girl, but something about her team compelled her to give her reply…to make the girls realize that they were wrong as often as they might be right. The reason for that was…unknown. "That is why it is significant!"
"But what does the spleen do? Fibrocartilaginous structures are also key structures of your body, but they sound more like a nasty disease than an organ." Blake interfered. "I for one never really learned the significance of the human body as detailed as this book puts it. This is an excellent moment to increase your knowledge."
"Fibro-whatnow?" Blake, these things only appear in…chapter three!"
"I merely gave an example."
"And I merely want to chew through chapter one for tomorrow!"
"Yang, the spleen is only briefly mentioned at the end of chapter One." Ruby softly said.
"So?"
"So…how did you get to the end of the chapter that fast?'
"I…maybe I am a fast reader!"
The redhead sighed and closed her book. Then she dropped down to the floor and used Blake's bed to raise her body in the air. "Can I look at your book?"
And Weiss watched with amusement as the younger girl revealed to her big sister that her book had a piece of tape stuck to the pages, effectively sticking at least twenty pages together. And Yang had missed that somehow. "Are you kidding me?! I still need to read through half the chapter? That is complete b-" The blonde stopped herself in midsentence and looked at her sister with a strange expression. "-eh…bonkers."
Bonkers? What kind of sentence used the word 'bonkers' like that?
"Erythrocytes." Blake said without taking her eyes off her book."
"Gesuntheit." Ruby replied and jumped off her bed to return to her own.
"No, erythrocytes. Red blood cells…the spleen is responsible in part for creating new red blood cells."
"Well there you go!" Said Weiss. "Spleen solved, chapter one done."
"But it is only mentioned at the last few pages! We still need to read the rest!"
Darn. That was true.
"Well…" Blake started. "Better get busy then. Because I'm almost done."
That was just plain cheating!
The one student in Beacon Academy to not be divided into a team and that was the one Glynda Goodwitch had to track down. Finding young Ruby Rose in the city had been one thing, but this? She didn't even know what the boy had been wearing when he disappeared, let alone know where he was going to be. There were no known profiles about him. Ruby had had a complete dossier from her time with Signal Academy and Ozpin even knew her parents. But this one? Nothing.
The boy had failed to appear at College Room A to pick up his first book and listen to the speech and neither had he visited the dining hall. So in order to figure out exactly when he had vanished, she needed to get a few things settled…which wouldn't work very well, seeing as she had no idea what compelled the student in question.
Now that she came to think of it, there were very few things that Glynda did know about the student. He was supposed to be an exchange student coming from abroad, but his file was so completely covered with black ink that even his skills and recommendations were unknown. What use was that even? Ozpin seemed to trust the situation, but she had her doubts.
Even though she trusted Ozpin's judgment one-hundred percent –perhaps ninety percent- the reasoning behind some of his actions were just lost on her. And she wasn't stupid. She knew that this person was no more a real student than she was; a soldier coming from outside the Kingdom, with a number-designation "Two-Oxford". What kind of person had a 'designation' anyways? Nobody had seen fit to tell her his real name and –judging by certain conversations she had overheard- the only person who was likely to actually know his name would be…well, Ozpin.
And she didn't want to think that the Adamant knew as well because there was no way that he could possibly know something that she didn't. It just wouldn't happen, no matter how much he liked to think so.
So what did she know about her objective? Judging by the footage she had seen during the Initiation, the student knew how to survive, set traps and even work with advanced pieces of weaponry. His strategic mind would be highly developed, seeing as he managed to clear the Emerald Forest without a team.
That also meant that his social skills were severely lacking; he quite deliberately avoided eye-contact throughout the entire Initiation and then proceeded to completely ignore the two major events that would spell interaction for him. However, that could also be attributed to his sudden disappearance. But every student had been told about the upcoming events, so why would he risk missing them by venturing into the city? He was not on Beacon grounds, that much was obvious. He was probably not looking for fun in Vale; he had to be there for other reasons.
The Huntress moved down towards the commercial district in order to investigate the most recent string of events and hopefully gain some answers there. The first thing that caught her attention was the commotion concerning Warehouse six. It was on the news; the building had been caught in some manner of firefight and it had cost more than two dozen people their lives. Glynda really hoped that it wasn't her target –murdering so many people, criminals or not, simply couldn't be attributed to a future huntsman. Yet she could not help but shake the feeling that he was somehow involved with this.
No. There was absolutely no reason for the boy to go on a killing-spree in the city. It should not have been him.
Her scroll bussed in her pocket and she quickly grabbed the device. "Yes sir?" She answered the call belonging to Ozpin.
"I have communicated with…a mutual friend. He informed us about the current whereabouts of your target. I shall send the coordinates."
Ozpin had the coordinates? Then why had he found it necessary to send her out in the first place? And who was this mutual friend? Somebody had figured out where the boy was when only the professors at Beacon knew that he was gone in the first place? Just what was Ozpin doing?
"Yes sir." She replied nonetheless and awaited the string of numbers that would lead her to her objective. It would appear that the boy had moved northwards for some reason; he was currently ten miles away from the commercial district, well out of the city.
But at least she knew where to go now. Actually, it would only make sense for Ozpin to have a general idea of where the boy was. He was the man who had found out that he was gone and his network was rather large. That and he had asked her to retrieve the boy, not specifically to locate him. Either way, one of his sources would have probably told him where to find the kid.
And it was up to her to find him. At least the weather wasn't so bad. She could consider it a good thing that Beacon possessed a good amount of dropships with good pilots. As she waited for one of the ships to pick her up, she wondered just what she could do to make sure that the student wouldn't run away again. Would Ozpin send him off? Or would a scolding suffice?
Glynda still considered it strange, however, that Ozpin would personally ask her to find a student who had forgotten about the time to do something else. Every person attending the Academy was well disciplined and nobody would simply forget about more important matters to simply go on a sight-seeing tour. And, judging by the boy's actions in the Emerald forest, neither would he. So why had Ozpin thought it necessary to send her? Perhaps the student in question could shed some light on the matter.
The airship arrived within a few minutes after the call. While it brought her to the set of coordinates where the young student was waiting, it started to rain. It was just a little bit at first, but the weather gradually turned for the worse until water was virtually pouring out of the sky.
Glynda shook her head softly and whipped her crop through the air, creating a circle above her head that blocked the downpour. Then she marched towards the small shed bordering a ring of trees. It was a well-chosen position for someone who wanted to hide. But why was he here? What could he possibly seek in this desolate area?
And how had he even reached this small isolated area? Had he been traveling ever since he left Beacon Cliffs?
Even though the surrounding area was completely devoid of life, she still kept her weapon at the ready. There would be no saying what could loom in a desolated place like this….be it Grimm or Man. She softly pushed her glasses up and walked up to the ruined frame where there had once been a door.
The Professor looked over her shoulder once more and frowned. Something in the grass had caught her attention. Crouching near the blackened grass, the blonde ran her hand across the burned vegetation. Were those scorch marks? But those kind of burns only appeared when a certain type of aircraft landed…or took off. Had there been recent activity near this place? But the Police Department used helicopters in their operations…someone had been using high-grade vehicles in the immediate vicinity and it wasn't Beacon. So who was it?
She frowned and turned back to the wooden shed, where someone was now standing in the opening of the door.
"There you are." She said and crossed her arms. "I do hope you realize that you are in trouble young man?"
A dark figure simply stood in front of the shack, wearing the same dark outfit that he had been wearing during the Initiation. No doubts about it, this was him. She could see her own face reflected in his helmet, appearing horribly disfigured where the visor was damaged.
"Come on then." She said and gestured to the Academy dropship. "Time to start explaining."
He complied without a word and moved towards the ship. She noticed that he was carrying the same black assault weapon on his back that he had used in the Emerald Forest. This wasn't a simple sightseeing trip for him; he had been expecting trouble. Perhaps he had even gotten it...?
She took up a position in front of him and signaled the pilot that she could take off again. Then she grabbed her scroll and send the headmaster a message.
'The student is secured. Could you please enlighten me of any more information that you might have?
And that would have to do for now. In the meantime, she could get her information out of the student.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" She asked him. Normally the prospect of her anger was enough to get anyone to talk, but this kid stayed silent. That nagged her. But what nagged her more was the fact that she was talking to a faceless person; if they were to communicate, he would have to follow her rules. "And take that helmet off."
Again he complied without a word and reached for the black piece of equipment on his head. As he removed his helmet, she observed his movements and behaviour. He placed his helmet on the seat next to him and looked at her with the same emotionless expression that she had seen from him before. It was…mildly annoying…that she couldn't get a proper signal from his face. There wasn't any form of guilt, shame or even anger that he had been 'caught'. So what did he think? Why was he so calm?
"Now…what were you doing in a rundown shed in the middle of a rainstorm, when you should have been attending your first mandatory classes?"
He did not reply. He simply stared at her with dull, grey eyes. He was trying her patience.
"Young man, if you insist on being silent, your career as a Huntsman might be in peril."
"Waiting, ma'am," he said.
"Waiting for what?"
"Exfil."
Exfil? Did he mean exfiltration? Had he been on a mission? "And who would supply you with this 'exfil'?"
The boy gestured with his head towards the interior of the dropship and Glynda frowned. Had he seriously been waiting on a Beacon ship to come and get him out of his troubles? That was completely irresponsible! What if Ozpin hadn't noticed his disappearance? What if she hadn't been able to locate him? "That kind of attitude is not what we are looking for in future Hunters! Your actions could have caused unnecessary harm to yourself! What were you even doing that you would need exfil?"
No reply. Glynda would have a serious talk with the Headmaster about this.
"I-"
"A mission, ma'am."
At least he had the courtesy to address her with respect. But who had sent him on that mission? "And what would that objective be?"
"Classified as need-to-know, ma'am."
16:45, Beacon dormitories.
"I'm done!" Weiss yelled victoriously and closed her book with a loud slam.
"Well done…you read the first chapter of your new book…" Blake replied without taking her eyes off her own book. The entertaining one, not the school one. Why she was the only one who actually enjoyed reading was beyond her. But who was she to doubt the ways of the entertainment of her teammates? She guessed they just had their own ways of amusement.
"That took you long enough." Ruby added dryly from on top of her bunk-bed. "I finished five minutes ago."
"Three minutes ago!" Yang corrected her, before Weiss could say anything.
"Oh, be quiet!" The redhead yelled and aimed her pillow at her big sister. Blake resisted the urge to flinch and took a deep breath. She still had to get used to humans around her that didn't want to harm her in some way. But Yang's bed was right on top of hers. If Ruby were to aim…and fire…and miss…then it would most likely cost her the book. She would most likely react with her natural instinct if that were the case.
"Please be careful…" Blake pleaded her teamleader and hoped that the girl would be sensible enough to withhold her fire.
Thankfully she was. Ruby looked at her and then back at Yang. Back and forth. "Damn it…" She muttered and placed her pillow back. "One of these days you won't be reading and then I will throw a pillow at my big sister!"
"Fat chance." Weiss muttered and started digging through her stuff. "Now then…we are all done for tonight, what should we do?"
"I don't know, I kind of figured that it would take the entire evening to prepare for tomorrow!" Yang replied and turned to face her sister. "What else do we need to do tomorrow?"
"Let's see…" said Ruby. She grabbed their schedule for the coming week and flipped a few pages. "Tomorrow we have…Grimm studies…and I guess that's it. It will be a calm day tomorrow…perhaps we can even visit Vale again?"
"Sounds like an idea to me!" Yang cheerfully said and shifted her position on the bed, according to the creaks. "How long will Grimm studies take?"
"Uhm…ninety minutes."
What?
"What!" Weiss vocalized her thoughts. "We have ninety minutes of class? Like, nonstop without a break?"
"Seems a bit extreme to me…" Blake carefully said, "But I can imagine that there are many things the professor wants to teach us. Perhaps we won't even get to the full ninety minutes?"
Judging by the sudden silence coming from the Schnee heiress, she had made a point.
"That's tomorrow. Let's just enjoy the rest of this day and worry about what will come…later. Okay?" Yang tried to soothe their worries. "After those ninety minutes we can relax and take the day off!"
"You do realize that the schedule can be changed at will by the professors, right?" added Ruby.
"You are such a downer."
"Am not! I am merely being realistic!"
It was endearing to see how much the two sisters liked each other. It wasn't that often that Blake saw so much care between two human siblings.
And in the very least they provided each other with a fair amount of entertainment, which was much needed seeing as rain was pouring out of the sky and classes were officially about to start. Blake didn't really care much for her immediate environment, but she still felt slightly more comfortable knowing that her teammates actually cared for each other. Because Weiss might act like she did, but that didn't take away from the fact that she too cared for the people around her. She just had to fully realize it.
That was what set her apart from the others of her kind. Most of them thought of humans as a violent race that could not be redeemed in any way. It took more than blind hatred to see past their many faults and realize that they too were people.
"I wonder what the others are planning on doing…" The white-haired girl mused.
"Why is that?" asked Ruby.
"The way I look at it, we can either spend the evening faffing about in our room or looking up the other students and…socialize with them."
"More people more fun." Yang added.
"Exactly!"
It was strange to hear Weiss Schnee of all people talking about spending time with other students…unless there was some other reason lying behind her words.
Blake made a mental node to ask Ruby about the actual reasons for her teammate's desire to meet the other students again and merely nodded in approval. Her teamleader might act childish at times, but when it came to reading facial expressions and people in general she had no match. It was strange to see a person with such a gift use it so nonchalantly and infrequently…but that was the charm behind it, probably.
"So you propose that we leave our room and find other students to play with?" Ruby asked.
"Not play with, you dolt. Sharing tactics, conversing and socializing."
The siblings looked at each other and then shrugged. "Sure, why not?" The blonde said, making it official.
Team RWBY would socialize…again. But that was alright; it was important for Blake to at least get to know everybody around. It would prevent confrontations and make certain operations easier. To be on good terms with people wasn't something she would go out of her way for to reach –but neither would she let an opportunity to strengthen bonds go like that. Team JNPR was trustworthy and team LACG seemed nice enough. Still, they would take their weapons with them. It never helped to be careful and perhaps they would get to show them off. If it was up to Ruby –which it was, seeing as she was the teamleader- then they WOULD show off their weapons.
So when Ruby knocked on the opposite door a minute later, it didn't come as a surprise to her that the team seemed to agree without as much as a second thought.
"Socializing is a good team activity and making friends is always a good thing!" Jaune agreed with the redhead's reasoning. Why every teamleader seemed bend on getting to know other people was beyond her ability to explain. Being on good terms was one thing, but this? This was just... plain people-people talk.
"Good!" Ruby said happily and cleared the way for JNPR to exit their dorms. It appeared that Ren, Pyrrha and Nora had been listening in on the conversation by the door –judging by the way they were literary stacked on top of each other, leaning against the wall.
How was that even physically possible?
"What…" Weiss muttered as she beheld the trio losing their balance and crashing to the ground.
"Don't mention it…" Jaune replied with a nervous laugh, as if it was the most normal scenario in the world. "So where are we going?"
"Picking up team LACG and then finding some place to…hang out..." replied Ruby.
"Other team? I don't even know them!" Nora squealed from the ground. "That will be fun!"
"Yes…fun." Ren said reassuring and helped the short-haired girl up. "But behave, alright? I don't want to hear stories of you forcing people into a piggyback-ride."
"Ren, three times that happened!" She pointed out.
Three times forcing someone to be a piggyback-ride was four times too much, but that didn't seem to occur to anyone to tell Nora.
"Shall we go then?." Pyrrha said, bringing the awkwardness to a manageable level. "I want to meet the other team as well."
As it turned out, team LACG's room wasn't that far from their own. A few doors further down the hallway they already hit the jackpot.
In the form of screaming. Blake was the first who noticed it; people were sounding panicked and frantic in there. And above that, she heard the sound of burning wood. What was going on there? Did these people have a fireplace in their room? That was not very safe.
"What is going on in there?" Yang asked.
"No idea, but I think someone is getting murdered!" Ruby replied with a certain dose of fear in her voice.
"Why is it getting warm?" Weiss demanded when she walked up to the door. "Seriously, don't these guys know that a radiator running on turbo is a BAD idea?"
Blake didn't even know that a radiator had a turbo-option, so perhaps team LACG was ignorant of that as well.
Jaune knocked gently on the door. Once. Twice. No response.
"I don't think they heard us?" Blake said and as if she had been given a direct command, Nora stepped forward and slammed her fists on the door. "
Open up!" She yelled. There was no way that could have gone unheard –it wouldn't have come as a surprise to her if some professor a few floors down had opened his or her door on confusion.
But still nobody opened the door. The screams went on and this time, Yang was losing her patience.
"I don't like being ignored…" She grumbled and stepped up to the door. She fumbled around with the knob for a few seconds, before tearing at the door and shattering the lock. "That's how you do it!" She said, oblivious to the fact that the doors of Beacon dormitories were supposed to open inwards, not outwards. But it didn't really matter that she didn't think about that, seeing as she was immediately pelted by an intense heat and the pungent stench of smoke.
Yang yelped in surprise and quickly stepped back, allowing everyone else to enjoy the glorious sensation of being roasted. Nora screamed with fear and hid behind her childhood friend, while the rest had the common sense to simply move backwards even more. The faint screaming was becoming audible now and it became apparent that the occupants of the room weren't very happy.
"What's happening in there?" Yang yelled and Blake carefully made her way over to the opening. The blonde had completely torn the door out of its frame; it was barely hanging on one hinge and the rest of the room didn't look much better.
It was on fire.
"You had to mess with it! You couldn't let it go!"
"Stop drop and roll! Roll you big idiot!"
The teamleader of LACG was busy smacking flames with a pair of pants and the blindfolded girl was hiding on top of the large cabinet, desperately trying to keep out of reach of the large flames. The boy known as Cho had just dropped down on the floor when the brown-haired demolitions expert told him to and was starting to roll around, trying to extinguish his flaming pants and tie. At least someone had had the sense to open the window –albeit opened might have been a major understatement. The entire glass pane, together with at least five inches tone son each side, had been blown out of the wall and allowed the smoke to exit without murdering anyone.
"What did you guys do?" Ruby yelled in turn. Then she did the one thing that Blake had never expected her to do: she turned to Weiss. "Help them!" She pleaded the heiress, seemingly thinking that some of her newfound friends were going to burn to death.
"I am already on it!" The girl replied, sounding just a bit less frantic tha n her teamleader. She already had her weapon at the ready. "Just get out of the way!"
Ruby frantically jumped to the side and Weiss unleashed her dust-powered rapier and bathed the room with the freezing properties of her weapon. It didn't completely extinguish the flames for some reason, but the sudden drop in temperature was enough to drastically reduce them, in turn allowing the rest of teams RWBY and JNPR to run inside and help beat down the remaining ones.
"Careful!" Lisa yelled, fighting an epic duel with her flaming bed.
"Yeah I should probably mention that this stuff sticks…" Grace said while bathing her male teammate in a blue blanket. "Now, don't choke to death please."
"Got it." The muffled voice from the seared Cho said from underneath the smothering piece of fabric.
With so many people in the small room, man made a major victory against fire by beating it to death. And as soon as all the flames had died down, the situation seemed to calm down as well.
But before anyone could ask the burning question of what had transpired, Lisa turned towards the blanket that was her teammate on the ground and snapped at him. "Why didn't you drop down immediately? Everyone does so when on fire!"
"I'm sorry, I didn't expect my teamleader to set me on fire that suddenly." The boy replied.
"That was an accident!"
"Then stop blaming me!"
"Guys guys… chill!" Grace gently said, before realizing that Weiss' Myrtenaster had left considerable ice fragments spread throughout the room. Then she craped her throat and looked down. "Or relax, that is allowed too."
"What happened in here?" Blake asked the team, hoping that everyone was alright.
"I had a small accident." Lisa started and looked at Alessa, still sitting on top of the cabinet. "You can come down now, the fire is gone."
"Small?" Weiss said and placed her hands on her hips. "You call this small? You nearly burned the school down!"
"As I said, small…I stumbled," The blonde replied with a hint of amusement.
"I shouldn't have left my weapon lying around where everybody could fall over it." The demolitions expert said as she drew the blanket away from Cho. His pants were scorched and his ridiculous tie had completely burned down, but otherwise he was fine.
Except for one eyebrow; half of it had been burned away. . "Anyone could have touched it…but it had to be you of all people."
"What are you trying to say?" Lisa said in turn.
"That you are more like your brother than you let on."
That hit home. A dark blush crept on her cheeks and she opened her mouth to deliver a mean comeback, but Grace quickly interfered. "Like I said, everybody could have done so."
Then she turned to face the two teams occupying the hallway and room and smiled. "Thanks for the help, that could have gone south pretty fast."
"What is that blanket?" Pyrrha replied.
"It is a little trinket I keep with me to treat burn wounds. You wouldn't believe how many people get hurt from burning themselves.
Blake looked from the flamethrower lying on the ground, to the burned roof and floor, to the singed form of Jason Cho. "No, I wouldn't."
"So let me get this straight," Ren said, "You had a flamethrower as a weapon…which she touched or tripped over…and accidentally set fire to the room."
Team LACG looked at each other and then shrugged. "About the gist of it…" Lisa said. It was…amusing…that they would yell and blame each other, but the moment anyone inquired about something that involved any one of them, they would stand united without hesitation.
Jaune looked at Ruby with a pleading expression. "Team LACG, I presume?"
"Yes…" said Ruby. Now that she had recovered from her initial surprise and fear, she was getting back some of her pre-incident enthusiasm. "I thought we could all…you know…get to know each other?"
Nora looked from the seared body of the Cho to the burnt floor, until her gaze eventually lingered on the blown-out section of the wall. "Sounds like fun!" She then decided, much to Blake's satisfaction. First looks were very important to people and even though this team didn't make a really good one, they all ignored each other's shortcomings.
Still panting from the hot experience, Cho managed to get to his feet. His face didn't look as bored as it usually did, but he still managed to keep it to a professional expression. He looked down at his ruined uniform and sighed. "I'm going to need better pants…"
Lisa sighed and Grace raised one of her eyebrows at him
"That is the same kind of underwear that you wear!" Nora pointed and yelled at Ren, who turned as red as Ruby's hair and muttered for his teammate to 'shut up'.
Weiss didn't seem so entertained by the situation. "Can we all just calm down and act like normal human beings!" She snapped.
"Yeah, we're ready to move out I guess…" Pyrrha said.
"Sure, we're coming." Lisa shrugged.
"Where to?" asked Grace.
"I will still need some pants." The poor Cho said, thereby confirming their combined coming social interaction.
"Yeah…good luck with that…" Grace said and looked at Alessa. "You coming too?"
The girl shrugged and got up from her bed. "Lead the way." Ren told Ruby, much to her joy.
"Alright teams!" She cheerfully said and aimed down the hall. "There are many places that need discovering and we will find the best one! Move out!"
Cho shook his head and took a peek at the nearest closet. "Might want to move ahead without me…this won't take a minute."
Beacon Acadamy -16:07- Glynda Goodwitch's office.
Classified as need to know basis…there was a term she hadn't heard in a while.
Though she was now several questions beyond that answer, Glynda Goodwitch she still couldn't forget about the way he said it. So quick and without hesitation…almost like he was used to behaving like a government worker. There were so many little pieces and she simply couldn't manage to stick them together without creating several new questions. The only thing that was left was to continue asking him what he had done, even if his answers were growing ever more evasive. They had been at it continuously ever since she had found him and she felt like she wasn't getting any closer.
"I will ask you again. Tell me what transpired since you left Beacon grounds."
"I was sent on a mission ma'am."
"And then?"
"The mission was a success."
"But what happened? What 'mission' could be more important than retrieving your first book and orders for the coming schooldays?"
"All of them ma'am."
He was just not taking this seriously. Either he was completely messing with her, or he was just so incredibly thick that he didn't realize the importance of his education –however long that would last if he kept his behaviour up. "And who sent you on this mission?"
"Classified ma'am."
She ignored the urge to smack him with her crop and thought of the information that he had supplied her with. Someone had sent him on a mission that had ended with a success. He had been waiting on Beacon exfil, meaning that he had been expecting someone to come get him.
"And did you consider the consequences for your coming schooldays?"
"No ma'am."
"Shouldn't you have done so?"
"No ma'am."
This was getting her nowhere. It was so blatantly obvious that the student wasn't serious in his attempts to become a huntsman that it hurt to even talk to him. Why was he even here? No team, no motivation and no will to work usually compromised students long before they could attend the long-term Academies. Ozpin had brought him over as…what, an exchange student? Well she wouldn't have any of it. If it was up to her, this clown would be sent home as soon as possible. He disturbed her greatly; there was something about him that was inherently wrong.
As if the person who the ultimate decision was up to heard her thinking, the door opened and revealed none other than headmaster Ozpin. "Hello Miss Goodwitch." He said, holding his ever-present cup of coffee.
"Ozpin, sir." She said. "I hope that you might have some information on this matter. The way I see it, this student abandoned important Beacon duties to scuttle off on a self-proclaimed mission. He is blatantly refusing to speak in detail of his venture and admits to not having his education prioritized."
The silver-haired man turned to face the young student. "Is this true?"
"Sir. Yes sir." The boy said without changing his expression one inch, causing the headmaster to sigh.
"I see. What to do about this?" He then asked. It was an obvious rhetorical question, but the student replied nonetheless. "Supply nonessential information to satisfy the curiosity, sir."
"Now that you mention it, I have been contacted by a man claiming to be responsible for you. An agreement has been made in case your absence at school was to be noticed. It was obvious that they didn't expect any of us to…pay attention, wouldn't you agree?"
What was Ozpin talking about? Who were they?
"Sir?"
The headmaster turned to face her and she snapped to attention. "Miss Goodwitch…the situation is becoming a bit sticky. I cannot explain much of it, but I ned you to trust me."
"I do."
Our guest has a busy schedule."
"A busy schedule?"
"Indeed. He might miss important Beacon activities such as colleges and classes, but I was informed it was for a…greater educational goal."
"Said goal being?"
"Being educational." He turned to face the boy and promptly dismissed him. The student picked up his gear, saluted and left the room. Odd for a student to remain so calm in the presence of two people who essentially ran the school…and then proceed to salute his headmaster. Just what kind of arrangement did Ozpin have with the boy?
"I can see how a lack of information might be disturbing to some. In that manner, I can say that the boy's 'mission' did indeed include a visit to Warehouse six."
Taking note of how the man spoke the word 'indeed' as if he was merely confirming her suspicions, she tried to think of a way to make it all fit together. It would come eventually, but for now she needed a bit of rest.
"Of course such a visit cannot be described properly, so the firefight might have transpired before OR after his appearance there?" She asked, already guessing why Ozpin had told her such a vital piece of information while the Student had been trying so hard to conceal it.
"Indeed Glynda. Indeed. Would you mind some coffee?"
"Some tea would be nice."
"Let's see if Bartholomew won't join us."
"Then you will need lots of coffee sir…"
He nodded. "Ever heard the word "oxford", Glynda?"
"I did."
It's a colour, a dance and a delicacy in Vacuo. It is also used by certain military organizations to indicate he letter "o"."
"Two-oxford...Ozpin, who contacted you with this? Who is this student?"
"A man calling himself Yale contacted me with an interesting offer. All I had to do was tolerate the boy's presence."
"And what did you get in return?"
Ozpin did not answer her.
Day 3, main dining hall, 17:22
As it turned out, the main dining hall was still the best choice concerning group activities. It was large enough to accommodate multiple teams at once and they wouldn't disturb anyone with their loud noises. There were just a few other students, none of them in their first year. It was quiet enough for Ruby to spot the important little details.
"So what happened, really?" Jaune asked them. "You don't just set fire to a room; something's got to happen for that."
"Oh man…" Lisa sighed. "You know when after these great accidents, people always say 'gee it sure looked like a good idea at the time'? Well, it actually did look like a good idea at the time. Grace had placed her weapon on the floor saying stuff like 'she needs cleaning' and, well…"
"I don't get it?" Jaune interrupted. "If you need to shower, why place your weapon on the ground? Why not keep it locked?"
"I think you think of the wrong 'she'. "Ruby quietly told him.
"Yes," Grace added, "I wanted to clean Dragon's Foliage."
"Oh."
"And when she was busy collecting her cleaning thingies, I wanted to get my book. Research purposes. I didn't see the damned thing and I tripped over it…the rest is history."
"You touched the weapon nobody was supposed to touch." Blake dryly added.
"And that causes burns…" Ruby whispered, earning a poke from her sister.
"As soon as I touched it, a plume of liquid fire erupted and set half the room ablaze. The floor, my bed, Cho, and even the ceiling for whatever reason."
Ruby took notice of how the girl mentioned her teammate being on fire halfway the list instead of making him her priority. She keeps acting angry around him, he is annoyed by her actions, and she acts like he isn't important at all, causing severe cases of cracks inside the team-cohesion. Lisa and Cho probably didn't get along very well…but why?
"The rest is history." Grace repeated with a smile. "So how was your day?"
Face completely relaxed, no visible clenched muscles, faint presence of smile…forced change of subject or actual feelings of indifference towards subject?
"Nothing special…" Yang waved and placed her feet on the table. "Just studying and boring things. But then we had the idea of coming to get other people and turn this evening into a party!"
"Yeah…my idea, remember?" Weiss angrily said and crossed her arms. The girl was still so hostile against virtually everyone she met…why was that? Throughout the days spend together, she had only changed a little bit towards her team –as displayed by her acceptance of their ideas and presence- but the rest of her attitude was still so…cold.
It would be easy for her to find out exactly just why the Schnee heiress was so mean to everyone, but she didn't actually want to find out. It would be too tough on both of them. Perhaps there was still a chance of making Weiss open up to her friends the natural way. After all, everybody had to get used to their new surroundings, right?
"It wasn't that entertaining with us. " Ren stated. "It's all just studying and trying to make sense of the strange things mentioned."
"Spleen?" Ruby asked him.
"Spleen!" Jaune replied a bit louder than what he probably had planned.
Wait a scythe-swinging minute…thingies? Did Lisa seriously say 'thingies'? That creepily resembled the manner of speech of someone else she knew…Professor Adamant? Why did the teamleader of LACG speak like the Professor? Probably just a coincidence…
"I knew it…I just knew it…" Grace muttered.
"It is just a coincidence…the spleen is a nothing more than an organ depicted in chapter one of the book." Blake added.
Yeah…sure…the spleen was the coincidence that she was thinking of.
"So. Tomorrow is the big day." Ren said. "First day of school."
"I'm not nervous!" his teammate loudly exclaimed.
"Nobody said you were, Nora." Pyrrha told her.
"Things aside…I don't think we have properly met yet ladies!" Jaune suddenly said and appeared next to the females from team LACG. "My name is Jaune Arc…and you?"
Grace smiled vaguely at his intrusion, actually looking not as uncomfortable as she should. This in direct contrast to Miss Adamant, whose eyebrows narrowed in a frustrated expression –which flew completely past Jaune.
"I'm Grace." The demolitions expert said.
"And I'm Lisa. These are Cho and Alessa."
Pyrrha reached over and waved her hand. "Hello! My name is Pyrrha."
"I'm Ren."
"Ooh! Ooh! I want to say my name!"
"Go ahead."
"I am Nora. So pleased to meet you."
That was nice. JNPR and LACG were actually getting along…although Cho was being awfully quiet.
"Are you alright?" She asked the boy. His expression didn't change and he didn't move, but his next words still managed to cause a spastic giggle in her, Nora and Yang simultaneously. And she could have sworn that Blake quickly covered her mouth in an attempt to disguise her own amusement. "I had just gotten used to the tie."
Apparently the tie was a subject that had been brought up repeatedly, judging by the reactions from his teammates. Grace grinned and patted him on his shoulder, while Lisa pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. Alessa still tried to remain as distanced from the teams as possible, but even her slight shift in body signaled amusement.
"I'm sure that the professors will see fit to outfit you with another one…why, you could even ask Professor Adamant for one of his-"
"No!" Half of team LACG suddenly yelled, with Lisa even raising her hands as if the gesture alone might stop Ruby from speaking her mind. Interesting…Alessa, Lisa and Grace all seemed to have knowledge about Matt's behaviour…pre-beacon or simply because of interaction? Cho looks seemingly confused.
"What?" Yang asked and Pyrrha looked questioningly at her teamleader.
"Excuse me?" Ruby carefully asked, hoping that she wouldn't enact another extreme response like that. The brunette and the blonde looked at each and in a quick exchange of nonverbal communication, she could see that they were measuring what they would say, who would say it and how much information would be shared.
"Professor Adamant doesn't take kindly to people touching his bowties!" Grace said in her very first display of emotions. The ever-so-relaxed girl appeared disturbed –even if it was so minor that only one person might see it- and a little bit scared because of it."
"And he only has bowties…no regular ties…it wouldn't work!" Lisa nervously added. "Or so I've heard."
That little act managed to simultaneously shut up teams RWBY and JNPR at the same time.
"Bowties?" Ren eventually asked them after ten seconds of silence. "Seriously?"
"Yes. Bowties." Lisa said, looking very awkward. "Different subject now please?"
That sounds like sincere fear…"I think I have heard the Professor speak about a bowtie before…" Ruby softly said. That was the most serious sentence concerning a piece of fashion she had ever spoken.
"Come to think about it…remember when we were lost aboard the airship?" Yang said, much to her annoyance.
"Thanks for mentioning that one!" She angrily hissed, but her big sister ignored that.
"Yeah well, we only managed to find our way out in the first place because there was a bowtie lying on the correct path."
"But wasn't that merely by chance?"
"It doesn't matter, it happened."
"But what does that have to do with Professor Adamant not wanting to share a bowtie…and them knowing about his habits?" Weiss said with a face set to angry and a body set to conflict.
"Let's just say that we met the guy sometime before we got to Beacon." Cho said.
Ruby smiled when she realized what was going on and decided to drop the subject for now. "So now that we are all here…and actually acquaintanced to each other…we can decide on what to do with our spare time!" She said, hoping for the first time since arriving on Beacon that she would be successful in attracting the attention.
"What do you have in mind?" Pyrrha said, perhaps realizing what she was doing and trying to help her.
"There aren't exactly many things to do around here…" Blake told her.
"According to Beacon's schedule…main dinner is around six-thirty. Meaning that we have roughly one hour to do whatever it is that you want to do." Said Ren.
One hour was plenty of time. A lot of things could be done in one hour of time.
"We could spend the time scouting around the terrain, getting familiar with the surroundings?"
"That is a lovely idea!" Nora yelled and practically jumped on top of her friend. "We could pick flowers and climb trees and roll down hills!"
"Yeah…good idea…" Jaune said and laughed uncomfortably. "But I won't be carrying the flowers."
"I like it." Blake told them. "Plain and simple, just strolling through the gardens."
"It is a lovely idea indeed!" Pyrrha replied with a smile. "There should indeed be multiple beautiful gardens scattered throughout the grounds."
"That's settled then." Lisa said. "To the gardens?"
"Good!" Ruby decided. "Let's move then!"
A venture from the dorms to the dining hall wasn't adventurous enough for the twelve students, but a daring venture from the dining hall to the gardens adorning the grounds? That might just do it.
Beacon Academy -Matt Adamant's office- 17:48.
Little Ruby Rose…an enigma to solve…a mystery to unravel.
A little girl training to be a huntress in order to beat monsters threatening the world…an amusing thought for sure. But there were so many questions to answer, so many riddles to solve. One of them was little Miss Rose´s skill concerning the dislodging of the intangible…her ability to discern the variables of the mind…her reading of emotions.
From his first glance at her impassive face he had realized what she could do. The untold potential locked in her little silver eyes. Very few people could gaze at the faces of people and determine what they were feeling, let alone thinking. But that was what she did and what she had done before; Ruby had been reading him before he had felt the stupid desire to call her out on that. If only he had let her continue…who knows what she might have seen.
On the other hand, it was probably the best for both of them that he had disrupted her. He had no desire to face the blatant consequences of his facial expressions, as latent as they would be. And he seriously doubted whether the girl actually understood what she was doing. Sure, she understood that she could read emotions all right, but the actual consequences were way beyond her ability to comprehend. If she possessed the vocabulary AND the intelligence to match her skill, then she would still need the cognitive ability to actually translate what she saw and give it meaning.
You could copy DNA, but if you have absolutely no way of decoding it then you might as well not have the DNA at all. Same thing went with Ruby: if she couldn't understand the subtle changes in the human body that she detected, she might as well not be able to see them at all.
Not everybody had knowledge of him- or herself and some people might even become unstable if they ever had to face their true feelings. Ruby could potentially make a mistake and drive someone mad with the knowledge of what that person truly felt like. And that, he was sure of, was what Headmaster Ozpin truly worried about. Ruby was, in more ways than one, a diamond in the rough. It was up to Ozpin to forge her into a warrior, while it would be up to him to make her responsible.
And make her shine.
Not everybody could simply gaze into the mind of a fellow human…and not everybody could talk like he did. If he could make the girl realize what she could do and actually provide her with a means to express it…her potential would become unlimited.
And it would solve the problem of team RWBY's continues clashes.
~0~
20:15 –LACG dormitories
Yes, the little walk through the park in the backyard of Beacon Academy had been a delight. Getting to know your fellow student so well and so peacefully was a privilege not everyone could enjoy. It was, however, very stressing for people not enjoying social interaction. Immediately after the trip in the garden, the teams had withdrawn to the main dining hall to have supper. Alessa had seemed very troubled during the evening and by the time they were done eating, the girl had already returned to their dorms.
Or so Grace had initially thought. Comforted by the thought that the blindfolded girl would be safe in her room with Lisa and Cho, she had taken a small detour to the ladies-room. But when she had returned, she found the room occupied by them and them only.
And Alessa was nowhere to be found. Thinking that the girl might have gotten lost, Grace was about to slam the door open and ask the two where she had gone. But upon hearing the conversation going on inside there, she stayed her hand and waited to see if they would notice her standing there.
"I am sorry for setting fire to you…it wasn't my intention I just…tried to be a helpful leader and assist Grace…I never wanted to hurt you."
"You didn't seem like that."
"I know…I was just so angry for that comment about my brother. We haven't really gotten to know each other outside of Beacon Academy, but I thought that you knew enough about the situation to say that."
"Just the mere family thing…but even then, I shouldn't have said it."
"So we're good?"
"We're good…but can you elaborate on why your brother infuriates you so?"
"I guess…it started…"
Grace smiled and softly closed the door. It would be the best for both of them to simply sit and relax together…the day had been stressful for all of them. Besides; she had something else to do.
What did she know about Alessa, anyways? She was reclusive and shy, yet cold and completely unwilling to socialize with people. So judging by the intense day that she had just spend, she would most likely want to be alone. So the demolitions expert walked throughout the hallway until she finally reached the place where she would be if she wanted to be alone; the upper balcony.
She didn't know anything about her…hell; Alessa hadn't even talked enough for her voice to be familiar to her. So there was no reason for her to show up at the balcony merely based on empirical evidence….yet something compelled Grace to go there. It kind of fell in the same category 'funny feeling' as what she felt when she was about to disarm and explosive trap.
That usually ended well, so why not this time?
So when she walked down the hallway hoping that her feelings of confidence were well-placed, she couldn't help but feel a faint sense of victory when there actually was standing someone on the balcony. It was a good sign that her sixth sense hadn't failed her yet- go team-cohesion.
She walked up to the opening and immediately felt a cold wind cut through her clothes. The Beacon uniform wasn't exactly made to resist the outdoor weather and they did nothing to stop the freezing winds that dominated the air. Even though it had stopped raining, the sky was still very chilly and her uniform consisted of stockings, a skirt, a jacket and a thin shirt. Grace had initially planned to wear her blast-resistant armoured components along with it, but a faint sense of common had told her that it wouldn't be a good idea to tempt fate that soon.
If only she had ignored that sense this time. "Hey." She said and walked up to the figure sitting there. The long, white with blue hair identified her as Alessa. "What are you doing here all alone?"
No response. She kind of figured that, but a part of her still hoped that her teammate would open her mouth for a change. Ever since they had teamed up, the only words that Alessa had spoken could be counted on one hand. No matter; she wouldn't give up just yet. "Aren't you cold?"
The girl shifted and her head lowered. "No…" She said.
Grace didn't dare breathe, lest she accidentally chase her words away. Wait…it is commonly accepted to respond to words. She needed to talk again!
"Why not?"
"I like the cold. It feels…better than warm places."
Not exactly an answer, but still something new had been found out. "Is that why you took refuge during the fire?"
"…yes."
That made sense…besides from the obvious fact that everybody on the world took refuge from fire when needed to. "So…why are you all the way out here?"
She took a few moments to answer, but she did nonetheless. "It is…calm out here. The cold and quiet gives me time to rest."
"Relax rest or sleep rest?"
"It's all the same."
The very first person she had ever met that preferred cold above warm. This really was one strange girl. It occurred to Grace that this might very well be the first time that Alessa was really alone ever since she had arrived on Beacon. Some people tended to like being alone a few moments during the day. The fact that the girl had sought her refuge up at the balcony instead of sticking with her team proved that she might want to be alone for a while.
"Do you mind me being here or would you rather be alone?"
The girl shrugged and raised her head again. "You can stay if you want to."
Right…was that a yes or a no? Well screw it, it's not like she didn't ask her.
Grace sat down next to the blindfolded girl, taking care to keep at least two feet distance between them just in case she got uncomfortable. Personal space seemed to be important to people. "So how did you like the day?"
That went less smooth than she wanted it to go. It must be hard for her to ultimately have to hear all the questions converge on her blindfold. It was just such a striking part of her appearance…Grace really hoped that her teammate wouldn't be bothered by all the side-interest –making it look like a weak attempt to talk about a less important subject.
"Stressful…busy…annoying."
She was still responding to her…cool. "But useful in getting to know your peers?"
"I guess."
"Is it hard for you that people always ask for your blindfold?"
This was more like her ground now. Asking the blunt questions without dancing around them.
"Sometimes, yes. It seems that people always go for the looks…which leaves me at a…disadvantage."
There, the major point had been thrown out and now the dikes had been breached. The words started to flow like they always did and the conversation turned into an real one after that.
"Not everyone is so judgmental."
"Cardin Winchester is."
"You saw that?"
"I think everyone did."
"It might just have been a…coincidence?"
"Do you really think so?"
"No…I was just hoping that I might not have to incinerate another guy before this week would be over."
"That won't be necessary…yet."
"So what do you think about the rest of the teams? JNPR? RWBY? Lisa and Cho?"
"I met Lisa a few times a long time back. Cho seems…okay, I guess."
"And the rest?"
The two of them stayed like that for at least another fifteen minutes, slowly and carefully talking with each other out all kinds of unimportant things like opinions and events, steadily getting a bit familiar with the other, or –in Grace's case- chilled to the bone from the freezing wind.
"We still require a professor to teach the module 'Warfare' to our first-year students. I know that he is currently traveling to Beacon Academy, but shouldn't he be here by now?"
"Don't worry about it Miss Goodwitch. The new professor has to travel a great distance to get to Vale…the least we could do is respect his voyage and await his arrival."
"Two things prevent me from' not worrying', sir. The first one concerns the start of said module without a teacher to give it and the second one concerns his references…or more specific, one particular reference."
"Do tell me. This man is recommended by several institutes and military organizations. What could possibly undermine his competence?"
"He is recommended by Professor Adamant, sir."
"…ah."
- Conversation between Headmaster Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch, several hours after Initiation.