Sorry for the massive delay, my wifi has been down.
As Glynda Goodwitch led her two students to her friend and boss' office, she couldn't help but wonder how things got the way they did. Beacon Academy was supposed to be the shining light of Remnant, where future protectors where trained and all souls were treated as equals, yet here she was escorting two of her students to the Headmaster's office one for his attacks on others and one for protecting them when it happened.
If she were being honest with herself, Glynda knew she didn't want to be bringing the pink haired boy along to what could very well be a notification of expulsion, but she also couldn't give the boy any special treatment, he had attacked a fellow student and therefor had to be punished. Then why are you only bothering to bring in Winchester now? A dark voice in her head asked her in a patronizing way. Cardin Winchester was not an exceptional student by any means, his grades in traditional subjects such as history and science were barely passing and in courses like her own Combat class he never truly stood out, the only reason many thought he was among the strongest of the first years was because he only ever spared against those he knew were significantly weaker than him; namely one Jaune Arc.
In fact there were only two reasons that the mace user left any sort of blip on the radars of Beacon's teaching staff. One was of course his severe racism against Faunus which they had to regrettably let him get away with both to avoid the possible scandal that could arise should Beacon be seen as taking a side in the rather sensitive topic, and because of the second reason Cardin Winchester was on the staff's watch list; the boy's family. While the Winchesters weren't as big a name the Schnee or even the Arcs, they were a fairly wealthy family, with both political clout and a long history. If word were to get out that one of their own was expelled from a Huntsmen academy and could face serious criminal charges for assault the family could cause backlash on Beacon that could lead to not only Ozpin's forced retirement but also a withdrawal of funding and support from the government.
Stepping into the elevator with her students Glynda couldn't help but realize just how right Natsu had been, they very well could have simply left Cardin to continue his harassment of his fellow trainees and would have only interfered if and when he caused someone permanent harm had the fire user not called them out on their inaction, now though they were placed in a damned if they do damned if they don't situation. Should they continue to ignore team CRDL's actions they would in turn upset the rest of the student body, especially the Faunus and those close to them while also sending the message that they supported the racism that the team displayed. However if they took the action which was due and expelled the team they would upset the Winchesters and in turn the Valiean government which could very well cripple the school.
Glynda stepped out of the elevator as the doors opened mentally preparing how she would deal with her two students and hoping that her friend and boss doesn't decide to implement any of his more… unorthodox, ideas on how to deal with the matter. She really wanted to forget about the time he sent that team with internal dating problems to spend a week in the Emerald Forest to 'learn to trust each other again'. Long story short days one through four were spent with the four of them yelling at each other so loud you could hear it from the school along with an absurd amount of collateral damage when fighting the Grimm that plagued the forest. As for days five, six, and seven… a… different, kind of screaming was heard from the team. Suffice to say Ozpin thought it was a huge success, even if they did have to turn off all the security cameras in the forest for the last three days.
How that man can possibly be the head of one of if not the most important secret organization in all of Remnant is beyond me, but I can't deny that he is good at what he does. Goodwitch thought to herself as she saw the man in question look up from his work to see who had entered his office.
The man's face, which had previously held a look of exhaustion and intense boredom from filling out the immeasurable amount of paperwork running Beacon generated, hardened when he caught sight of just who was standing before him. Ozpin had yet to uncover any evidence that Natsu Xiao Long was part of the group that attacked the Fall Maiden, but that by no means meant that he was about to start trusting the boy, not only did he have some way to exponentially increase the power of his Aura for an unknown amount of time, but he also possessed an incredibly powerful and versatile Semblance that could very well be boosted by the stolen power from Amber Autumn. And even if the fire user wasn't in possession of Amber's stolen power, he was still an incredibly talented fighter that he didn't know the limits or full abilities of which made him a dangerous unknown as far as Ozpin was concerned, and Ozpin hated unknowns.
"Ah Glynda, what can I do for you?" Ozpin asked the blond woman as she led both Xiao Long and another student that Ozpin only just noticed due to his initial focus on the pink haired boy. The crest shows that he is part of the Winchester family, so this must be the new student that's been bullying Faunus. I guess the young man's actions finally brought someone to their breaking point, he rationalized in his head.
"Professor Ozpin," she started. Ah, we're being fully professional then. "Roughly ten minutes ago, I had to step in and prevent what promised to be a rather heated unsanctioned fight between Misters Xiao Long and Winchester in the cafeteria. As you know I would normally have dealt them their punishment right then and there, however given the nature of the potential fight's cause, I thought it prudent that I bring them here for you to pass judgment on their actions personally." Glynda explained to the Headmaster with a no nonsense tone and a serious gaze.
"I see," Ozpin said while locking his fingers together in front of his mouth, "And may I ask just what the cause was?" He asked his deputy.
Instead of answering right away, Glynda half turned to the side and gave the two boys a hard look before looking back at her boss, "It would seem that Mr. Winchester had been spending his lunch period mocking a fellow student namely a Bunny Faunus by the name of Velvet Scarlatina. It was when his actions escalated into physical contact with the intention to hurt Ms. Scarlatina that Mr. Xiao Long decided to intervene. However instead of seeking out one of the staff to reprimand Mr. Winchester he decided it would be better to attempt to break his nose by punching him in the face, but I was able to stop Mr. Xiao Long before it came to that." She reported.
"You forgot to mention the fact that you and three other teachers had been watching Cardin for a good twenty minutes before I stepped in." Xiao Long spoke up from his spot behind the deputy Headmistress. With his hands folded behind his head and the patronizing tone he used the boy could have easily passed as Qrow's son instead of Taiyang's. Qrow reproducing, now that's a scary thought.
"I see." Ozpin said to no one in particular, "While it is obvious that Mr. Winchester will be receiving full punishment for his actions, the question is how to deal with Mr. Xiao Long's own… Very well, Mr. Winchester you will be serving four nights of detention with Professor Goodwitch and will write a formal apology to Ms. Scarlatina for your actions. As for you Mr. Xiao Long, you will accompany Mr. Winchester to his first two evenings of detention and are required to reread the sections of Beacon's student handbook that deal with duels and bullying. Now return to your classes and be sure to be at Professor Goodwitch's classroom at seven tonight for your detentions. Dismissed." He told the two boys, ignoring Winchester's smug look at how lightly he got off.
"Actually there was something else I wanted to talk to you about while I was here." Xiao Long informed him with a look that told the older man that he wouldn't take no for an answer.
Curious about what the martial artist wanted to discuss but still weary of the threat he may pose, Ozpin nodded his head slightly in response. "Very well. Mr. Winchester if you would leave us now, and Glynda please stay, your input may be needed." As Winchester left the room with his usual arrogant gate and Glynda took her spot behind him Ozpin's eyes never left Xiao Long's. "Well Mr. Xiao Long-" here he was cut off.
"Natsu." The boy told him.
"Excuse me?"
"Don't call me Mr. Xiao Long, I don't want to be called a mister till I have kids, makes me feel old. Just call me Natsu, or Fire Dragon, or Salamander. Whichever one you prefer." Xia- Natsu told him.
Mentally filing the name 'Salamander' away for later study, Ozpin began again. "Very well… Salamander, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" he questioned the teen.
"Below the school" Already Ozpin was tense, "I feel something-someone… broken for a lack of a better word. I don't suppose you could tell me what it is?"
Well this just about confirms my suspicions. "I'm afraid I don't know what you could be talking about Salamander, the only things below the school are the long term storage rooms and as far as I am aware, nothing that is kept there is broken, or alive for that matter." Ozpin lied through his teeth, his expression and tone never changing.
Given the look on the pink haired boy's face, he wasn't buying it. "Alright then Headmaster, if you're sure. I would suggest checking it out though, I'm not usually wrong about these kind of things. Shame too, if you had known what it was we could have worked together on helping them. I know my fair share of things when it comes to healing such deep rooted injuries like I felt they had." He told him.
Ozpin nodded, "Very well I will be sure to check up on your… concerns for an injured party beneath the school. Now I believe you have class, Salamander."
With a nod of his own, the boy left the Headmaster's office, leaving him and Glynda alone.
Glynda looked at him with worry clear in her eyes, "Ozpin, how did they find her? I thought it was impossible to track Amber through her Aura in her condition and we made sure there were no bugs on her when we brought her in!"
Bowing his head, Ozpin seemed to age a decade in a single instant, "I don't know Glynda, but Mr. Xiao Long, or Salamander as he prefers, was obviously involved in locating her and he knows about the damage that was done to her Aura. This is bad, Qrow and Taiyang have bragged about the boy enough that we know he is unnaturally skilled, and his younger sister has confirmed that he not only has been known to vanish for several days or even weeks at a time, but that his Semblance is far more diverse than it should be for an element based ability."
His words only increased Glynda's anxiety, a skilled and powerful combatant was right in front of them and they had no idea if he was friend, foe, or a neutral with some kind of sensing ability. Given what they know it is almost guaranteed that the boy was an enemy, but Glynda wasn't going to put all her eggs in that basket until she proof with her own eyes.
"Should I call the boy's father and uncle?" She asked Ozpin.
Heaving a great sigh Ozpin gave the affirmative, "Might as well, at this point we want all our bases covered and between the two of them we should be able to learn enough about him to be able to come up with a counter measure against him."
Nodding her head silently, the green eyed woman took out her scroll and began to write a message to the two men- asking them to come to Beacon to discuss their son/nephew and some concerns that they have about him. Hitting send Glynda couldn't help but giving a sigh of her own, they were about to tell two of the strongest huntsmen in Vale that they thought one of their own family members was part of an inter-kingdom crime group that has set out with the goal of destroying everything humanity has built and achieved. This would not be pretty.
Hey everybody, like I said my wifi has been down for the last few weeks which is the cause of this delay, but it's back up so... here ya go.
In this chapter we see the punishments officially given by the school to Cardin and Natsu, we also see some of the political stuff that's going on and gives the Beacon staff some redemption for their inaction toward Cardin's bullying. We also see Natsu trying to offer his help in regards to Amber Autumn, but since he doesn't know all the details of how she ended up in her current state, he has made himself sound like a possible enemy. Remember, Natsu knows about magic and Acnologia but he is as in the dark as everyone else about the Maidens, Cinder, and Celiam.
On another not: this story has reached the #2 spot on the RWBY FT crossovers! I know its not a big category or anything, but its still an accomplishment. Now how about we see if we can make it to #1?
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Wingd Knight out.