Issue #8
Jaune stood in the meeting room, hands clasped behind his back with his eyes staring straight over the heads of the others in the room. He'd not had time to change his clothes or freshen up, blood still staining his face though aura had sealed the wounds he'd taken on the bullhead back to Beacon. Behind his back his hands wrung together as he anxiously waited for Blake to come back from interrogating the prisoner she had captured.
Yang say in a chair with her arms crossed and feet upon the table, the only indicator of her agitation was her glaring red eyes that had yet to return to their original color. Weiss stood in a corner having an intense scroll call and he didn't envy the person on the other side, judging from her scathing tone. The door opened to his left and four more people entered and Jaune's already ruined mood went further south as he saw who had come, though he had expected them already.
"Is everyone okay?" Oscar Pine asked to the room.
"Define okay Oz." Yang answered with a glower that wasn't directed at him, "Being ambushed isn't fun."
"No, it isn't. I've been in contact with the VPD and they aren't happy with the bodies left at the dock."
Yang scoffed, "I'm not happy with their response time. No one showed up until long after we were done. You know what that means."
"Yes." His hand met his chin, "The Salmites must have agents within the VPD."
"Did you find anything from the survivor?" Jaune finally spoke up.
"Professor Laurel?" Oscar turned towards a woman with pale green hair set in a bob, her skin spotted with snake scales, "What did you and Blake find?"
"Under my semblance she gave us everything. Which, admittedly, wasn't much." Her voice was thick with an exotic accent that Jaune couldn't place, "The woman was definitely a Salemite, and part of something called the Black Exodus. In her words she was merely an Outer Disciple, whatever that means."
"A pawn then." Oscar mused getting an agreeing nod from Blake. Jaune found himself regarding the other teacher, he'd heard about the faunus woman from Yang. Kaa Laurel had joined Beacon's teaching staff three years ago and had distinguished herself since. She had taken on the roll of teaching Grimm Studies after Port had retired, the man had amazingly kept teaching for far longer than most teachers. Already, however, the class was doing much better than under Professor Port, Laurel providing a much more in depth look at the physical and behavioral aspects of the Grimm.
Curiously enough she always wore her weapon, a habit not many had as a teacher at Beacon besides Glynda and Oscar. Yang didn't need one. Kaa's weapon was a rare one, curved twin blades just a bit longer than his forearm with hilts of equal length to the blade worn crossed at the small of her back.
"Still, even a pawn can be of use. What else did you learn?"
It was Blake who spoke up, "Apparently their group is special arm of the Salemites that deals with threats to the organization. Something like a security force. The main contingent of Salemites are called the White Exodus and are lead by a figure known as the High Priestess, this person presides over the entirety of the cult. The Salemites consider her a messiah or the voice of Salem."
Jaune felt his hands clench into fists, Have you not taken enough from me? He found himself drowning in his memories. The scenes played out from the back of his mind. Of finding the door to his home broken down, his father dead in the doorway with bodies littered around him as he defended his homestead. Jaune's breath quickened as he slipped beneath the surface of the memory.
His mother was found further in, she had used her body to shield the rest of the family. In her arms were the facant, fearful gazes of his younger sisters, the ones who had yet to move out and away. He had been too late to save them, again.
A hand on his shoulder startled him from the flow of the memory, bringing him slamming back to where he was. All talking had stopped and every eye in the room was trained on him. He followed the hand to it's owner, a concerned Oscar looking at him. Bile rose in his throat and he shook off the hand, "Don't touch me Ozpin. I just need some air."
With that he hurried out the door, resting his back against the wall was he was out of the room, taking deep, gulping breaths of air. He'd felt like he was suffocating in there and slowly brought his breathing under control. After a few minutes his breath had steadied out and he was no longer hyperventilating. How long had it been since he'd had a reaction like that?
Years.
Jaune had to start wondering why though he had an inkling. It was his daughter. He had something to protect again.
He had something to lose.
No.
He wasn't going to lose Vermilion. He wasn't going to lose anyone, not anymore.
Unbidden his legs carried him down the familiar halls of Beacon. He'd not really spend all that much time there, but the time that he did was memorable. It almost felt like being a student once again. A wave of nostalgia washed over him, a distant memory of Pyrrha telling him he had a rather large surfaced. It was bittersweet of a time when things were going well.
Nora and Ren would have loved to meet his daughter, and he would have loved to introduce them. He imagined Nora would use that to bug Ren into having a child, she wouldn't have wanted to be left out. The small smile that hung on his face became strained as he thought on his dear friends. His eyes grew watery as he burst through his door, not bothering to turn the lights on.
Jaune did blink at the lights of his miniature fridge, the shelves overloaded with alcohol. Grabbing a whole pack of beer from within he popped the cap and started gulping down the drink before slinking down on a nearby chair shrouded in the darkness of his room, soon to be lost in his memories.
Vermilion woke with a start, the vivid nightmare fading within seconds as she wildly looked around the dark the dark sky was getting lighter the other girls were sound asleep, at least she thought they were until she saw a glint of a shining iris in the dark. Noel got up and padded over to her bed, sitting down on the edge of it, her voice a low whisper.
"Hey V, you okay?"
Vermilion hesitated. She wasn't sure why, she knew the girl would help her without question, it was just the kind of person Noel was. However she also felt like such a burden, everyone else was protecting her, her new friends had even been in danger. If Jaune hadn't come in time who knows what would have happened.
"I'll be okay. Sorry I woke you." Vermilion pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them. She was still shaking and even though she couldn't really remember the dream yet the one thing that haunted her was Crowley's face.
"Was it about what happened?"
Vermilion nodded, not quite meeting Noel's eyes. The faunus' arm snaked around her shoulders, drawing her in close.
"It's scary. I get it. We get it." Noel paused and teased her lip with her teeth before taking a quick breath and forging on, "I don't remember it well, I was five. It's just kind of vague but when I was five I was almost killed. I didn't really understand what was happening at the time but apparently a rogue group of anti-faunus militia kidnapped me. They wanted my mom to surrender herself to them so they could kill her."
Vermilion looked her new friend, a strange feeling coming over her as she imagined a young version of her put in a situation like that.
"They shouted at me. Called me things I didn't quite know." She smiled weakly at her friend, "That's what I remember the most. The yelling and the names. Mom appeared, surprising them, with Auntie Yang and Weiss." Noel looked into Vermilions silver eyes, her amber ones glinting in the low light of the room, "I had nightmares for years, ya know? But then Mom told me something. She told me that fear was normal and that it wasn't something you should let control you."
They sat there in silence for a time, the shivering Vermilion had felt had subsided with the nightmare fading back into the mists of her subconscious.
"So, what'd you do?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Noel smirked with a wink at her while adjusting her arm around Vermilion's shoulders, "I became a huntress. It didn't happen overnight though. Mom and Dad started training me when I was ten, I've had years of training. I faced Grimm when I was fourteen." Her face flushed a little and she scratched her cheek, "I guess what I'm saying is that you aren't alone. I don't know about everyone else but at the very least Willa and I know how you feel."
"Indeed." The new voice came from Willa as she sat up, one hand brushing hair behind her ear, "The both of us can relate to your situation. When I decided to become a huntress, Mother gave me my weapon. It was Father's, she told me he would always be watching over me. It's one of the few things of him I have left."
Vermilion glance over at the nightstand next to her bed, upon it was the Rose symbol necklace she had, her own memento of her mother. Noel hopped up, a massive grin on her face.
"Enough of the heavy stuff! I know just the thing to take your mind off of things!" The cat faunus started rummaging around in her wardrobe for a moment before whipping around and holding a blazer and skirt up, "Class!"
From the other side of the room Silvia let out a groan at the last word coming from their leader.
They stumbled into their first class of the day, showered, dressed, and fed. Vermilion stared around the room, it was decorated with diagrams of Grimm anatomy and lifelike recreations of the creatures. In one corner stood a twelve foot tall Ursa stature, it looked like a taxidermy but Grimm dissolved on death so such was just a close recreation. A large wooden desk occupied the front of the room and sat behind it was a woman in a shimmering green qipao that was just a bit darker than her hair.
Vermilion caught the professor's eyes and couldn't help but stare at their incredibly unusual color, or colors. While her own eyes were silver and she'd never met another with the same color as hers, the professor of this class had unique eyes the color of a vibrant green flecked with bright orange, not to mention the woman had slit pupils which gave her an exotic beauty.
When their eyes met the teacher smiled and nodded at her. Flushing at being caught staring she quickly took a seat between Silvia and Willa. They had told her the professor's name, and which class which was first. Professor Laurel stood when the bell tolled and cleared her throat. Instantly the classroom quieted down as the teacher spoke.
"First of all I'd like to welcome Miss Ash to Beacon. I'm glad to see you attending class." Everyone's attention focused on Vermilion making her wish she could shrink down below their desk. They had all seen her come in with team BSK but it seemed like the rumors of her being at Beacon hadn't quite made the rounds yet, though she supposed that would soon be rectified if the whispers were any indications, "Since we have a new student here I suppose we should do a bit of review."
The woman turned back to the various diagrams drawn across the blackboard, "What is the biggest distinction between Grimm and other creatures?"
"The Grimm do not have souls." Willa answered after she was called on.
"Correct and can you tell me why aura is necessary to fight them?"
Willa seemed prepared for this as well, "Grimm, even the most common such as Beowolves, have extremely tough hide or chitin. Hunters use aura to empower their weapons to cut through their defenses, as well as defend against the Grimm in turn."
The professor smiled, "A textbook answer." She spread her arms to address the whole classroom, "One on one most Grimm are no match for a Huntsman or Huntress. The average Beowolf being easy enough for even students from Signal to defeat. Of course I don't mean to say you should let your guards down, the opposite in fact. The creatures of Grimm hold many advantages over other creatures. Does someone care to list them?"
A random hand went up, "They don't need sleep and they don't fatigue, they don't even need to eat."
"Correct but there's more. Anyone?" She waited a moment, ignoring Willa's outstretched hand, "Intelligence." Professor Laurel held up a finger, "Grimm have little more intelligence than, say, a dog. Or some other animal. They have instincts and exhibit some behavior characteristic other animals they tend to be based off of. Beowolves travel in packs and Ursa tend to understand how to use their prodigious strength to their advantage. As such most Grimm can be outsmarted but for one trait, their most dangerous one."
The professor smiled in a way that showed just a few too many teeth, "Learning. Grimm have almost unlimited capacity to learn. As far as we know they have no natural lifespan, only ceasing to exist when they are killed. Thus they can keep learning and increase their intelligence. What does not kill it makes it stronger. Even now there are ancient Grimm out there with intelligence approaching if not surpassing our own. Does anyone know how to tell if a Grimm is intelligent?"
"It's bigger?"
"Not always. Though most Grimm grow much larger with age it does not always denote intelligence. An ancient Nevermore may be bigger than a bullhead but that doesn't mean it's all that smart if it hasn't had a chance to learn. You should treat every Grimm like it could be smart. There have been tales of Beowolves that look no different from most but are smart enough that they were able to dupe a huntsman and kill them."
The entire time the teacher was speaking she kept glancing over at Vermilion and she knew the lesson was mostly for her benefit. She found herself captivated by the woman's lilting accent and colorful eyes. Repeatedly their eyes met and she felt like she couldn't tear her gaze away from the professor's.
The rest of the lesson passed in the blink of an eye and Vermilion could admit to not understanding a whole lot though Willa promised to help her with anything she didn't get. Not for the first time she was grateful to the white haired girl. Noel jumped on the both of them, pulling their faces in close getting a reserved sigh from the Schnee.
"We can all study together! It'll be a sleepover!"
"We already sleep in the same room Noel." Willa rebuked with a roll of her eyes.
"Onwards to history!" The faunus marched forward with one hand outstretched towards the distance like some kind of adventurer. Behind her Willa followed with a small smile while Silva looped her arm through Vermilion's, pulling her along.
The next classroom also had Vermilion staring, but only because the room was decorated in a way that spoke to the professor's personality.
Gears. Loads of clockwork decorations hung about the room, some were actual clocks though most just ticked around with no apparent purpose. Leaning on a cane, watching the students file in, was a familiar face, kind of. Professor Pine stood and his lips quirked upwards at the sight of her.
"Miss Ash." He intoned after approaching them, "It's wonderful to see you attending classes finally. I'm sorry to hear about what happened yesterday but just know you shall be safe in Beacon."
She merely nodded and took her place down in the back of the class with her friends, and as strange as it was to say it about people she'd just met, she had quickly found them to be friends. Feeling a bit better, as Noel had predicted, she settled in as Professor Pine launched into the event known as the Fall of Beacon. He was charismatic and told the story like he'd actually been there.
Noel nudged her and showed off a terrible sketch she had drawn of the professor, who promptly called out her name with a deadpan stare.
"Miss Belladonna, come see me after class."
The dark haired girl winced but didn't look very apologetic as Vermilion started giggling.
Maybe things were going to work out fine.
A/N: I'm really sorry about being two weeks late on this and I'm gonna have to ask for your patience as well. I need to look for a new job so writing is going to have to sit on the backburner until I can get something worked out. So yeah I guess I'm announcing a hiatus.