"And his weapon is called Harbinger! It's a scythe, like mine. But different. And a sword. And a shotgun. The blade can split into sections and fold into a curve and it's so cool and I can't wait until you guys see how awesome he is! Uh, sorry, Fox. You know what I mean. He totally missed me, he just acts aloof. I think he thinks it makes him look cooler…"

Ruby's happy chirping accompanied us all the way to the colosseum. The place was bustling with noise and life, excitement and anticipation. Smells of melted butter and fresh pop corn, sugary drinks and sweat. Loud conversations from a million different directions. I let the collective buzz pass over me like a strong wave. I didn't like loud noise: it was something I had learned to deal with on the job, but I avoided it when possible in other situations. But this time, the payoff was worth it.

It was the day of the demonstration matches between professional Huntsmen and fourth-year teams who wanted to test their skills. Ruby's uncle was apparently one of the invited Huntsmen. Professionals varied widely in skill and strength, so this sort of matchup could normally go either way. But Qrow Branwen was supposed to be one of the best. According to Ruby, at least.

"He was a teacher at Signal", she happily explained as we made our way through the crowd to find seats. "And he's an experienced veteran. He's a legend! That's why they invited him. Good timing, too. You know, he's going on a long mission right after this. It's probably something really important because uncle Qrow is one of the best. He taught me all about scythe-wielding! I used to be completely hopeless, but then we started lessons and he showed me a bunch of stuff and now I'm like… haiyah! Aargh! Pew, pew…"

"I like her." I sent the thought to the telepathic channel of communication I had set up for my team. It was a convenient way of complimenting people behind their backs. 1

"Ruby, please", the Schnee heiress's clear, melodic voice said in its usual disapproving tone. "Stop flailing like that. You're going to take someone's head off. Besides, you shouldn't boast about your family members in such a manner. It makes you sound really arrogant and obnoxious. I would certainly never – oh! Is that were we're sitting?"

"What's the matter, Ice Queen? Did you expect the VIP section?" The new voice was deeper, more womanly, and yet full of laughter. It belonged to Ruby's sister, Yang: a fun-loving thrill-seeker whose combat prowess matched her recklessness.

"Of course not!" the heiress replied, rather unconvincingly. "It's just that these seats seem to be of dubious cleanliness and there's a straw on the floor and – what even is this purple woolly thing?"

"It's called cotton candy, Weiss. The common people eat it as a snack."

"Then why is it on my seat?"

"Looks like someone's leftovers", Yang replied. "But don't worry, I'll take care of it for you. Mm! Grape!"

"Ew! Yang, no!"

"Yang, yes! Om nom nom!"

"Can you people keep it down?" This voice was bored and mildly annoyed. "I've reached a very interesting point in my story."

"Boo, Blakey! You can't bring a book in a stadium!"

"I already did. Maybe you can't bring a book in a stadium."

"Ooh! Feisty! I like it!"

"They're quite the characters", I sent to my teammates.

"Oh, totally", Coco agreed. "Remember when Yang set that one team on fire?"

A couple of weeks earlier, Coco and I had given the first-years a full tour of Beacon, followed by a sparring session which we oversaw in a quasi-supervisory capacity. It had been part of that mentorship program Coco had dragged us all into.

It had involved fire.

"She what?" Yatsuhashi asked.

"Oh, it wasn't that bad", Coco said dismissively. "It was an accident… I think. Anyway, we put it out. That kind of thing always happens in training. The explosions are part of the fun."

Yatsuhashi did not agree. "I didn't sign up for this!"

"You kinda did, Yatsu", Velvet piped up cheerfully. "We all signed up, remember?"

"Uncle Qrow! Uncle Qrow, over here!" Ruby yelled, waving. "Do you see us? Do you think he sees us?"

"I'm sure he can hear you", her sister teased her.

"Hey, mind if I invite team RWBY to the chat?" I sent to my team. "There's a lot of background noise and I'm trying to filter it out while also keeping track of two different conversations: one inside my head and one outside. It's starting to give me a headache."

"Up to you", Coco sent back.

I expanded the channel and sent my first message. "Hello."

"Gah!" Weiss jerked in surprise, lost her balance on the slippery floor and flailed about in a very undignified way before falling on her leader.

"Bestie!" Ruby exclaimed cheerfully, catching her.

"No."

"Yes! Uh… wait. What just happened? Fox, was that you? It sounded like you."

I explained about telepathic communication. Ruby and Yang thought it was the coolest thing ever. Weiss scolded me for surprising her, showing off, having no regard for other people's safety and well-being, and thinking any of this was funny. Blake did not say anything at first.

"Blake?" Yang had gotten the hang of it fairly quickly. "Blakey! Are you there? Can you hear me? Isn't this awesome?"

"I am present, yes", she replied. She sounded just a tad less unimpressed than her default level of unimpressedness. "And… oh. Yes. I can do it. Well, this is mildly interesting."

"Thanks", I replied.

"Okay. I am going to continue to read now."

XXX

The ball of the kusarigama sliced through the air and passed through the spot where Qrow's head had been a moment ago. It landed on concrete, causing a small explosion. The smell of combustion Dust rose up in the air.

Qrow stood casually, one hand in his pocket, the other extended forward in a mocking come-hither gesture.

"Go, Uncle Qrow!" Ruby cheered.

Rhiannon Price gathered her weapon and motioned for her team to spread out. The crowd cheered. Team RAVN was fairly popular; Rhiannon herself had been Coco's date to the dance last year, although nothing had come out of it. From what Coco had said, Rhiannon wasn't the most likeable person2. Still, she and her team were extremely capable on the battlefield and well respected at Beacon.

They were getting schooled here, though. Their Auras were already half down; Qrow's was at about three quarters, and that was mainly because he was showing off by using it offensively.

A bayonet fired. RAVN ganged up on Qrow, attacking on all sides. Virgil, the owner of the bayonet, used it expertly to cause chaos on the battlefield, never hitting his teammates while forcing Qrow to dance around the Dust-enhanced explosions.

Alexander ambushed him from behind, makraka in hand. He went for the neck, iron teeth emerging on the sickle to get a better grip. Qrow turned and blocked with the scythe; Alexander jumped on the blade and used the force of the pushback to propel himself up. His weapon transformed midair: a weighted steel net came down and landed on nothing, Qrow having already evacuated the spot and launched a counterattack. His Aura busted forth in an offensive slice, knocking Alexander backwards. He staggered, but kept his balance. At the same time, a shot of lighting Dust landed on Qrow's chest, removing a chunk of Aura. More shots followed: ice and fire and lightning, raining down on the battlefield towards a single target, forcing Qrow to remain on the move.

From within the storm of Dust, Niobe lunged. Her knives flew, aimed towards Qrow with lethal precision. He responded by altering the distribution of his Aura around his body, strengthening the spots where he predicted the knives would land. He predicted correctly: the knives bounced harmlessly off his Aura and fell on the ground like gentle rain drops.

The way Qrow used his Aura was what fascinated me the most about this battle. He didn't have an unusually high raw pool, but he'd strengthened what he had and his control over it was incredible. Not a single molecule went to waste. He was fusing it into his attacks to strengthen them, using just enough at just the right moment. At the same time, he was using it for its primary purpose: protection. That was the root of everything. If you didn't cover your bases, you couldn't do the fancier stuff. Qrow was balancing both.

RAVN, of course, wasn't just sitting there to be hit. They were kinda a big deal at Beacon and had a reputation to uphold.

They weren't doing too poor a job, either. I recognized the strategy: Virgil was causing chaos with his Dust shots, giving Qrow something to run from while the rest of the team harassed him. Alexander specialized in capturing and immobilizing opponents, be they Grimm or anything else. His makraka, fittingly called the Trapper, made use of small blades to get a good hold of Grimm necks before decapitating them. With humans and Faunus, this was mercifully impossible under normal circumstances, but at a high cost of Aura. He was decent with the steel net form as a striking weapon, but better at using it to immobilize: many a student had writhed under it while the rest of RAVN finished them off.

Niobe had her throwing knives. Assassin's Kisses, she called them. She kept them who knows where, and her ungodly aim with them was a thing to be feared. She used them to deal damage, or to distract and disorient opponents while her teammates dealt damage. Rhiannon especially: she was quite straightforwardly a formidable fighter with her kusarigama, actually landing some solid hits on Qrow here and there. Her weapon had a rifle form, but she favored melee in team matches.

Countless hours of practice had unified their skills into a harmonious whole. Virgil never hit his teammates by accident. Niobe supported them with distraction tactics whenever it was needed the most. They all had each other's backs and worked as a unit.

Their teamwork was failing them here, of course, but only because of how absurdly good Qrow was. He moved economically but proficiently, expanding the least effort possible, like he'd seen all of this before and it was nothing to him. He was giving one of the best fourth-year teams the fight of their lives, and he made it seem easy.

Eventually, Virgil ran out of Dust and switched to the spear part of his bayonet, utilizing its length to keep Qrow at a distance and guide him towards the others. Alexander charged from the other side: Niobe catapulted him up and towards Qrow, and he hovered midair, extending his armed hand.

"Here comes the net", Coco muttered.

But the net did not come. It was the subtlest stroke of bad luck that made the internal mechanism act up at he worst possible moment. The net's release was only delayed for a second, but a second was all Qrow needed. A shot on the wrist knocked the Trapper out of its wielder's hand; falling, he flailed to avoid Harbinger slashing on his ribs and ended up on the ground, trapped by his own net. Qrow evaded a spear thrust by Virgil and brought his weapon back into war scythe form, engaging his three remaining opponents. To their credit, they landed a few hits back before Qrow brought their Auras beyond fighting threshold, winning him the match.

Ruby and Yang erupted in cheer. To my side, I heard the soft click of Velvet's camera.

"Got everything you wanted, V?" Yatsu teased.

"Yes, actually." She sounded quite pleased with herself. "I'm really enjoying the matches so far. So many fantastic weapons and battle styles."

"Did you guys expect Port to give such a performance?"

My teammates started a lively discussion on which fight so far had been the most exciting. Team RWBY did not participate. They hadn't said anything in the telepathic channel for a while: Ruby and Yang were caught up in the excitement of the matches, and had been especially busy supporting Qrow. The silence of the other two wasn't surprising, either: Weiss was kinda snobby, and Blake struck me as reserved.

"Are these new earrings, Vel?" Coco asked after a while. "They're really cute."

I suppressed a smile. Coco could be fairly scathing when it came to criticizing accessories in general, but when it came to Velvet she was all gentle encouragement.

Velvet nodded. "My mom made them for me."

"Oh, she can do that?"

"Well, she always liked working with her hands. Lately, she's been doing… better. She took up arts and crafts again. She even opened this small online shop where she sells the things she makes. It's still very new, but it's doing pretty well."

"Hey, that's great", I said. I meant it, too. Velvet's mom didn't deserve that horrific injury she'd gotten during her time at the SDC.3 It was good to hear she was doing better.

Yatsu nodded in agreement. "I'm happy to hear that. She deserves it, especially after her time at the SDC. Then again, I guess anything would be better than that. What a deplorable excuse of a company."

Oh shit.

"Excuse me?" Weiss asked angrily.

There was a pause.

"So, uh… team RWBY is still in the channel", I offered, too late.

Weiss's teammates remained in awkward silence, and even Coco didn't know what to say. Velvet was probably busy dying inside.

"Crap", Yatsu muttered in the end. Swearing was uncharacteristic for him. He must've been pretty flustered. "I apologize, Weiss. I never meant for you to hear that and did not intend to blame you."

That somehow made her angrier. "Blame me for what? What are you implying?" She didn't wait for a response. "I'll have you know that the SDC rewards its Faunus employees equally and is not liable for any Dust-related accidents resulting from employee or user negligence. Our policies are clearly outlined on our website, as well as –"

"Hey, no need to tell us all that", I said pacifyingly.She had a chip on her shoulder, didn't she? "Like Yatsu said, nobody blames you for… uh… anything." Telling her the specifics of Ms Scarlatina's injury would be betraying Velvet's privacy.

"Don't interrupt! It's rude. Besides, I have not finished explaining our policies to you! Are you even listening to me? The Schnee Dust Company is committed to fair compensation that accurately reflects market rates, as well as equitability of pay and transparent policies in accordance with the law. Moreover, the Schnee Dust company makes every effort to provide a safe, healthy work environment. All supervisors are dedicated to continued work towards reducing the risk of injury. Employee health and safety briefings are organized on a regular basis –"

And the tirade went on. Overwhelmed, I kicked her out of the channel. It was only meant to be temporary, until I figured out what else to do.

"Um… Weiss?" Yang said out loud. "What's going on? We can see you staring at us angrily and gesturing, but we can't hear anything you're saying."

"What?" she exclaimed. Then she pointed at me. "Did you mute me?" she demanded. A few heads turned, probably in confusion. To a bystander, it must have seemed like she was randomly yelling at a cloud.

"Sorry", I said. "You were being kinda overbearing." I didn't like it when people yelled inside my head.

"Overbearing?" she repeated indignantly. "Excuse me? How can you say such a thing? I cannot believe this! Did you even pay attention to any of the information I just gave you?"

I hadn't, but telling her that seemed like a bad idea. "Look, why don't we just –"

"I will never forget this", she declared. "First you slander my family name, then you call me overbearing! Meanwhile, my own teammates are just sitting there. Are you all just going to let them talk to me like that?"

Ruby scratched her head. "Uh…"

"Fine! I'm going to sit somewhere else, then!"

And then she stormed off in a huff. Or at least she tried. It was somewhat difficult for her: she was tiny and there was a crowd. It was more like angrily but slowly pushing her way through, all the while berating people about how much space they took.

This could have went better.

A/N:

First, a general note: Fox is blind. He uses a device called ADA to help him navigate his surroundings. In canon, ADA does this with verbal instructions: eg "there is a dude five meters away from you. He's holding a steel mace that turns into a rifle. He's running at you now…" etc.

I thought this was too slow and uninformative for practical combat, so instead, here ADA uses echolocation to understand the surroundings and the information is directly transmitted to Fox's brain and translated into limited visual input, allowing him to "see" to an extent while bypassing his actual eyes. It works a bit like Toph's seismic sense in ATLA, except with echolocation and tech instead of vibrations and earth bending. It's less precise, doesn't work on flat objects with writing on them, and doesn't allow him to see things like facial expressions or perceive colors. So he still needs accommodations like audiobooks/books written in a tactile reading system instead of regular school materials.

He can also sense Auras, but that shouldn't help with surroundings/inanimate objects.

Additional notes:

1 Fox is a telepath. A conversation fully in italics means that it takes place telepathically. Italics are also used sparsely in other places for emphasis. I trust you'll get the difference from context.

2 Rhiannon is an OC from my previous fic. She and Coco went to the school dance together. Coco ditched her when Rhiannon made a comment about Velvet getting accepted into Beacon to make it appear more progressive, rather than on talent (CFVY Chronicles: First Years, Chapter 9: Angel with a shotgun).

3 This is also from my previous fic and not canon (CFVY Chronicles: First Years, Chapter 11: Little toy guns). Basically Velvet's mom worked at the SDC for a while and she was injured severely enough to almost lose an arm due to inadequate safety protocols/poorly maintained equipment.