It had been nearly a week since Zen began his informal training at Beacon, with each lesson came new combat techniques and by the end of them, he appeared quite competent in what he had learnt. The wound he received on his very first lesson had fully healed, which meant he could properly fight without any issues.
Penny also received some interesting news from her father two days after their discussion regarding the accident. It seemed that after thinking for quite some time, he decided to overlook the 'error' in her judgment. Which meant that his presence was not required in Vale, telling Penny that she "Is capable of learning from the experience and therefore any chance of future incidences should not occur." . After hearing this, Zen noticed that Penny no longer appeared worried, anxious or hesitant before each lesson whilst she taught him.
The good news from Penny as well as Zen's training could not be easily translated with respect to his amnesia however.
Penny was optimistic that one of two things would happen. The first was that with each new day, his mental recovery would be a slow one, eventually he should have been able to recall everything before and leading up to their first meeting .
Or that it would be quite quick and she expected for him to have a sudden epiphany as his mind fully restored itself.
Penny had hoped that the person she came to know and call her friend would experience relief and joy from either scenario, his own memories would no longer be beyond his reach.
She would finally have the chance to learn about him from his own perspective and experiences.
Which kingdom did he call home? What did he do for fun? Did he want to become a huntsman?
She was eager to ask him so many questions.
But with each setting sun, Penny slowly began to dread the possibility of a third option...
Zen's amnesia might be permanent.
Any personality, original trait or knowledge he possessed, died on the day of the incident.
Even when they first met, she witnessed him trying to understand the world around him, appearing lost and confused while doing so.
She could tell that it was slowly eating at him, however she could also tell that although it frustrated him, the amnesia didn't drive him to the point of insanity... or worse.
For Zen, all he could show for the time that passed were a few distorted memories, not even sure if they were real or not.
Most if not all of these fragments came to him in his sleep, the first few would always appear 'familiar' yet he couldn't be definite, after some time dwelling at these remnants, the dreams would drastically change.
They evolved into nightmares, appearing so real that they caused him to violently awaken, his face awash in a cold sweat. He wasn't certain, but some would involve a figure almost identical to Penny- who would always meet the same fate.
It plagued his mind so much that it wasn't easy for him to return to slumber, at first he would go running, in an attempt to tire himself out.
However once he was up it was impossible for him to go back to bed, and so it became a routine for him to exercise in the early hours of the morning. By the time he had finished, dawn was already breaking and Penny would be just waking up by the time he returned to their dorm room.
Today the pair had finished their one on one training lesson and were now on their way to report to Ozpin with regards to Zen's overall progress.
As the two walked along Beacons corridors, its red carpeted floor and wooden panelled walls led the way through towards the spire that housed the headmasters office.
Zen stopped for a minute gazing through one of the windows that looked out towards the courtyard. At the cliff side a ship had touched down, several groups of people disembarking from within once it fully came to rest.
"Well it looks as if we aren't going to be enjoying our one on one matches anymore with a crowd turning up." Zen said with a facetious tone in his voice.
"Well, it is the start of lessons tomorrow, and I imagine that's what Professor Ozpin wanted to see us about and so..."
She stopped mid sentence as she could see her friend with a visible look of confusion on him as his eyes' were fixed on the off ramp of the ship.
"Hey Penny?" Zen slowly began to ask.
"Yes Zen?"
"Is it just me... or does that girl with the camera have what look like a pair of animal ears on her head?" he said, not even making eye contact with Penny.
"Yes, those are indeed animal ears, she has them because she's a Faunus...I'm sure you know who the Faunus are?
"..."
"Surely you remember passing a few in Vale on our way to the transport ship? I assumed that you did and that since you never asked me about them, you must remember them?"
"Perhaps, I might have seen them. But I don't remember, considering that at the time, I was more focused on where I was going as well as not causing any contention with Glynda and the Atlesian guards. With all that in mind, you can understand why I didn't ask about the Faun-us." he said as his stare left the window to address Penny. After which, he instantly looked back at the Faunus in question, asking Penny something as the thought emerged in his head.
"So those are functioning ears?"
"Yes they are, but I should add that you shouldn't really draw too much at-"
"That's awesome!" Zen blurted out upon Penny confirming his suspicions.
"Come again?" Penny wearily asked, taken aback by his response.
"If she has a second pair of ears, that would mean she has heightened hearing, wouldn't she?
Also does that mean that the Faunus come with different traits based on the respectable animal parts that they have? Do they also have other traits based on simply being a Faunus?"
"Well, it depends on the person in question, but more or less they do, some traits can be more distinctive than others, for most if not all Faunus, their sense of sight is more effective than humans..." She paused for a moment before earning Zen's attention, wondering how exactly he would respond.
"And you don't find the animal features unsettling?"
"No, not really."
"Well that's good news at least. We should get going, we don't want to keep Professor Ozpin waiting." Penny said as she gestured for Zen to follow, he was still amazed at the idea of the Faunus, they appeared human, yet they had the advantage of certain animal traits.
Once the pair stepped out of the elevator, they were welcomed to sit, as Ozpin returned to his own chair after refilling his coffee mug.
"Good afternoon Miss Polendina, Mr Discovery, I take it you understand why I have requested to see you two?"
"We do sir." Penny replied.
"No doubt you have seen, Beacon will be springing back to life with lessons commencing tomorrow, hence the number of transport ships will be dropping students off for the rest of the afternoon.
Now we must discuss what you will be doing Mr Discovery... have you had any pre-existing memories resurface?
Zen kept quiet when Ozpin asked this, he avoided making eye contact with the headmaster. Penny interjected before anything else could be said.
"Unfortunately not sir, it's been...rough for him. But that doesn't mean that time has not been well spent, he has become so proficient in his combat training that I would compare him to say... a first or second year primary combat school student."
"I see, well by the sounds of it, you should be proud of your ability to mentor others Miss Polendina.
However we must address what happens now. I have already informed my staff about your attendance in their classes Mr Discovery. You will be going through the course material just as the rest of my students.
I have also created the appropriate identification and supporting credentials that you will use alongside your alias until the return of your original memories. You'll find these details as well as class times, room locations and the layout of Beacon on this."
Ozpin said, handing a black device to Zen, who began to study it, unsure how to properly use it.
"What is this thing exactly?" Zen finally said in a defeated tone, holding the device up after playing around with it for a minute or so.
"It's known as a scroll. You will need this in order to access the training rooms from tomorrow onwards, it is able to perform multiple functions including acting as a means by which to communicate with others within the kingdom of Vale. Miss Polendina, I think for the rest of the afternoon you will show Mr Discovery how to use his scroll."
"Yes sir."
"You know this might explain why on the day of your arrival I had quite a difficult time finding any information regarding you Mr Discovery, at first I thought it might have been the image Glynda took of you and the recognition system could not properly identify you. However once you were present there were still complications...well we can solve that problem another time.
There are three important things you need to remember for tomorrow;
You will keep up with my students in course work as well as you possibly can.
Miss Polendina will be returning to her own training lessons and so you will only have the chance to see her in one or two lessons, and when you reconvene at the end of the day. You may still have the chance to train with her, however you will not have the freedom of using the training rooms as you have now, so you will have to schedule a time to practice with her." He said as he paused for a moment.
"Finally... under any circumstances... you are not to tell anyone about your connection with regards to last weeks' incident as well as your amnesia...do I make myself clear Mr Discovery?"
Ozpin said in an elevated tone.
"Y-yes, yes sir." Zen replied, a little startled by his sudden change in demeanour
"Alright, that is all I needed to cover, did either of you two have any further questions?"
"No sir." They both responded in unison.
"Alright, then in that case, you two are dismissed."
With that, the pair stood up and made their way to the elevator. Once they left, Ozpin returned to the window side, coffee in hand as he looked down towards the newly docked transport ship, he could make out a red hooded figure followed by a yellow long haired one disembarking from it.
"Something tells me that Mr Discovery is going to have fun meeting those two." Ozpin said with a smirk as he drank his coffee.
Well whaddya know... I'm 3 days behind my intended publish time. I don't know what it was bout his chapter, but it took me a very long while to write it up, editing it took almost as long. But it is finally here, and as the grey hair man said...we're going ot get a chace to finally introduce more characters...
I would like to write more, but right now I think I will leave it here.
Going to watch episode 6 of RWBY
See you in the next chapter.