If there was one thing that Beo had learned in the past few weeks, it was that the woman known as Glynda Goodwitch was far more frightening than anything he had faced in the forest. In the week since waking up in that "Hospital" place, A majority of Beo's days were filled with various lessons and concepts that were completely foreign to the Man-Grimm.
It wasn't the subjects themselves that were the issue, in fact Beo found that many of the things that the tall, blonde woman was introducing to be fascinating. He wouldn't in all his life thought that the opportunity to learn what the weird symbols and squiggles on most of the things that Outsiders carried meant. Even if they made no sense. But by far the thing that made the least amount of sense was things called rules.
He didn't quite understand why they needed to be followed, but in the week since he learned them, Beo realized that if he didn't follow them...then he would be punished usually by Goodwitch with her riding crop or suspended midair by what Beo could only describe as invisible hands. The latter was by far the worst.
However, the punishments were never given out if they were not deserved. As Beo quickly learned. Normally he would only be disciplined when he was acting as Goodwitch put it…. difficult. Namely whenever he attempted to leave when she wasn't looking or do something to intentionally aggravate her in a vain attempt to end the lesson early.
Be it due to lack of interest in the subject or frustration when he was unable to grasp the details that came with language. Nevertheless Goodwitch, was for the most part patient with the young Man-Grimm. Not moving on from a lesson until she was confident that he had an understanding on what she was teaching him, however basic it might have been.
Of course, it would take a lot longer than just three weeks for Beo to get used to his new surroundings. The first few days were rough, to put it lightly. The room that Beo was placed in was small, much smaller than the cave and not at all open like the grotto under the stars. It was cramped and unfamiliar. The door that he had been locked and the window sealed shut. Most likely to keep him from running off in the night. In the end, eventually sleep found him after he situated himself under the wooden bedframe. The fact that his system had been without blood for nearly a week by that point wasn't helping either. Everything felt sluggish and the headache was constant.
Although, it's not like he was without comforts. At least he was given his Beowulf pelt and belt back when he and Yang were waiting for Goodwitch to speak to someone called Ozpin. Whom Beo had met the a few hours later. It was then that the older man in green did his best to explain the situation to Beo. It didn't really help much since most of what he said had no real meaning to someone like him. The only thing he really understood was that the taller blonde woman put in charge of his day to day life for his time here.
Yang must have found that particularly funny given the stifled laughs she was holding back at the time.
Thankfully though his days were not just filled with Goodwitch's lessons and disciplines. After the first week or so Beo could sit in on his guardian's classes with other people his own age always sitting close to where Goodwitch could keep him in check. Of course, he had no idea why the fighting they were learning also had rules.
So here he was, currently watching as the blonde-haired boy Yang had introduced as Jaune was currently being outmaneuvered and outclassed in terms of skill by one who rode in on an Ursa a few weeks before. Beo was genuinely surprised that the blonde boy survived the fight at the cliffs given how poorly he fought.
"You look confused about something Mr. Cobalt." Glynda Goodwitch said off to the side.
Beo looked at the small whiteboard and marker his guardian had given him, picked it up and began scribbling a small collection of as Yang liked calling them "Beoglyphs" whatever that meant. But they served their purpose well enough. When the intended recipient was able to decipher their meaning that is.
Sliding the board over to the be speckled blonde instructor. Beo looked up at her as she scanned his pictogram for its meaning.
It wasn't difficult to decipher. Or at least he thought so. It was just a simple drawing of two people in the training ring with a large question mark over it while under it was a similar picture with one of the humans replaced with a cartoonish Beowulf.
After looking at her ward's picture a moment she placed the board back down on the desk and simply looked at the slightly confused Man-Grimm.
"Because Mr. Cobalt, sometimes a Huntsman's duties extend beyond hunting Grimm. And a Huntsman must be prepared for anything." Goodwitch said. Before Beo could draw out another question, a loud explosion rang out from the center of the dirt training ring. As Jaune flew backward in a blur slamming into the wall below where Beo was sitting.
His shield pressed tightly to his chest taking the brunt of the impact. After about a second, the blonde boy slid down the wall as the bar below his portrait on the massive screen above rapidly depleted.
"I think that's enough for today." Glynda said walking down to the training arena. "Skill and differences in style aside there is room for improvement for all of you."
Before Goodwitch could continue with what Beo could only assume was to be one of her lectures a bell rang signaling the end of the students' time there.
Glynda sighed as the students began filing out of the training hall one by one and began heading towards the locker rooms to change back into their uniforms. Which happened to be another thing that confused Beo, why constantly change between clothes that were usually better for fighting in, into more restrictive looking and matching garments. Bar a few personal alterations, seeing how Yang's sister still sported her red hood and cape.
Beo was glad that Goodwitch didn't force him to wear the same, he would probably have torn apart in some way to improve his own comfort or mobility. Instead he was given a black and dark blue long-sleeved T-Shirt and a pair of dark pants. He would according to Yang and her teammates, look like a normal guy if it weren't for the extremely messy mop of blue unkempt hair, and the faintest of scars that peeked out from under his sleeves, as well as the Beowulf pelt around his waist.
And so Beo sat there waiting either for Goodwitch to take him back to his room for another lesson in reading or speech, usually those topics went hand in hand. Or if he was lucky Goodwitch would let him tag along with Yang and her group. As part of the other part of his integration Beo spent a few hours every few days over the past few weeks with Yang and her group.
"Yo, Beo!" Came a loud and familiar voice, echoing from the opposite side of the training hall.
Beo looked up to see Yang approaching, having changed back into the Beacon uniform. With the rest of her team following not too far behind her.
Beo returned her greeting with a wave. And began to scribble another set of pictographs onto his board. After a minute he turned it around revealing several characters that were obviously representative of Yang and her team, along with arrows connecting them to two different paths. One that had squares with squiggles and another path leading to what looked like a Boartusk on a spit over a fire.
"Not sure bout Boartusk but the Mess Hall's pork roast is pretty good." Yang said. "So, you taggin along with us? Or does Goodwitch have you for more lessons?"
Beo shrugged, honestly. he had no clue what his educator had in store for him for the rest of the day. But whatever it was he hoped it wouldn't be another afternoon of being trapped in his room practicing letters and reading. It wasn't the actual lessons themselves or how strict Goodwitch was. It was the confinement, the long hours of being in that cramped and stuffy room.
"It's more accurate to say "me" rather than "us" Yang. Since you seem to be the only one able to decipher what he's trying to say." Came the rather cold and slightly irritated voice of Weiss Schnee as Yang's team caught up with her.
"C'mon Weiss he's not that bad it's kinda fun guessing what his drawings mean. "Came the chipper voice of the groups young red-haired leader.
"Of course, you would think that. How you see something as tedious as playing games to figure out what someone is saying as fun baffles me."
The white-haired girl had a point. In the past few weeks whenever Beo had spent time with their small group most of his time was spent with Yang as she tried her best to help him understand how things outside of the forest worked.
"Progress Miss Schnee, is sometimes slow but it is progress nonetheless." Goodwitch said walking over to the group from her desk. "Despite Mr. Cobalt's lacking in the more academic areas he has shown an advanced understanding in more practical fields. Which of course does not excuse his shortcomings right Mr. Cobalt?" she finished with a glare.
To which Beo stiffened like he was standing between an angry Ursa and her cub. And nodded his head in agreement. Unsure of how else to answer. After a few seemingly tense moments of silence at least to Beo, the young Man-Grimm scribbled another message onto his board and showed it his caretaker.
It took Goodwitch a few moments to decipher the hastily scrawled message before she responded with a sigh.
"Yes Mr. Cobalt we are done for today, you are free to go. Just remember what we discussed earlier.
Beo nodded and confirmed what they went over in an earlier lesson in self-control by scribbling a doodle of a squirrel on a stick with a big X marked across it. Before he hopped over the edge of the training arena's stands and onto the dirt floor with the Yang and her team.
"What was that all about?" Ruby asked once they left the training hall.
"Apparently Professor Goodwitch gave Beo some time alone outside near the wooded paths, and he ended up thinning the squirrel population, as well as causing anyone who witnessed him doing so to pay a visit to the infirmary." Came Blake's deadpan response. While the group continued walking.
"Oh, please you must be joking. "Weiss said as the group walked into the main pavilion.
As Beo scanned the pavilion he noticed that there were groups of students scattered around from some standing in groups of four or five, while others were sitting on benches and at tables under trees.
"Oh, c'mon Jaunne it couldn't have been that bad...right?" Came a voice from a larger table under one larger and older trees in the square.
Her name escaped him but Beo recognized that bright scarlet hair, along with the rest of that group from the cliff and Goodwitch's combat class.
"It was horrible Pyrrha those poor little squirrels." Was the response from her blonde companion.
"I stand corrected." Weiss said with a sigh.
"Hey guys!" Ruby said as she bounded over to the other team.
"Oh, hey Ruby how's it…. guys...don't move but the squirrel butcher is standing behind you." Jaune said his voice quieting to a whisper once he spotted Beo.
"Squirrel murde- oh you mean Beo?!" Yang said as she joined her sister and the rest of the other. Beo and the rest of team RWBY following suit.
When Beo sat down near the tree he couldn't help but feel the stares directed at him from the other team. It didn't really bother him any, but it did make him wonder why they were staring at him.
Beo simply returned their stares. switching from person to person as the relatively awkward silence began to get unbearable for certain individuals present.
"Soooo…. he really doesn't talk does he." Said Nora a combination of the silence and her curiosity getting the better of her.
"Eh not really. I think Goodwitch said somethin bout his vocal chords being underdeveloped or not being used enough to actually talk. But hey he's a great listener though, ain't that right Beo?" Yang said putting Beo into a headlock causing him to struggle to free himself.
When he did manage to free himself from her grip. He shrugged and began scribbling on his whiteboard.
"Uhhh what's he doing?" Nora asked. Before Beo showed what, he was scribbling to the group.
"I don't get it…" Jaune said looking at the doodle of a small Beo looking pained while trying to speak with a big X marked in the speech bubble. While the others around the table seemed to get the message.
To which Beo crossed his arms in front of his face and pointed to his throat. And shook his head. While making a pained expression on his face.
"Oh, hurts to try...I get it now…. kinda." Jaune said.
"Not to be rude but I do wonder. Why exactly is Beo with all of you? The only place anyone has really seen him is in Goodwitch's classes." Pyrrha said trying her best not to sound rude but the confusion and curiosity was clear in her voice even to Beo.
"Huh? Whaddaya mean?" Yang said "Wait...is this the first time Beo's been around you guys?"
To which nearly the entire table slowly nodded. Leaving Yang somewhat shock. Did she really not have Beo with her at all when she was around her team during the past three weeks? When she turned to look at Beo for some form of confirmation he also nodded in agreement.
"Really? Huh I coulda sworn...Anyways no time like the present for meeting new people right!" Yang declared enthusiastically.
To Beo's surprise the others seemed to agree with Yang's way of thinking as each of the members of team JNPR. introduced themselves.
Some members of the team were more enthusiastic than other. Mainly Nora who took it upon herself to introduce her partner Ren as well before she went off on a tangent about…. pancakes. Whatever those were. Some sort of food he guessed.
It didn't take long for their conversation to transition into food because of that. And while Beo tried his best to follow along and contribute when directly asked a question. But he couldn't help but get distracted by a sweet familiar, and comforting scent wafting down from the tree above them.
It didn't take him long to identify what it was. Honeycomb. Fresh from the hive, even with his senses dulled slightly and the headache from the lack of blood in his system. They were still sensitive enough to pick up on its delightful scent.
Whatever the others were talking about seemed to have their undivided attention. save for Weiss who was looking at her scroll and squinting at what she saw, and Blake who had her nose planted firmly in one of her picture less books.
Yang and Nora especially seemed to be locked in a heated debate surrounding as Yang put it "The crime of putting pineapple on pizza" of which apparently Nora disagreed. Somehow, and Beo was not sure how or why it seemed that everyone in attendance had an opinion on the subject. And because of this, no one really noticed when he quietly slid under the wooden picnic table, out from underneath it and around the tree above them.
Once he was out of sight Beo leapt onto the lowest hanging branch and pulled himself up, trying to make as little noise as possible, both to not disturb the honeybees to avoid being stung too much, and to not make his absence known, at least for now. He knew that eventually someone was going to notice his seat empty and whiteboard flat on the table with childlike doodles of honeybees.
But that was a concern for later. Now was the time to follow his nose. And follow it he did. It didn't take him long to climb up the trees limbs and conceal himself in the branches. Settled at the end of the branches around fifteen feet above the table the others were sitting at was Beo's quarry.
A large beehive bustling with thousands of bees if not more. But there was a flaw with Beo's plan, yes, he found the beehive and yes it was probably holding a good amount of honeycomb just waiting to be claimed. But the problem was the young Man-Grimm had no actual way to extract it. If he were in his home in the forest, then he would ingest the blood of boartusk and use the protection it provided to simply reach in and take it ignoring the stinging pain that came from the bee's stingers. Or use smoke to drive the bees away.
But he had neither of those things. And no easy way to obtain them. He had been without blood of any kind for nearly three weeks and Goodwitch took away the small knife he had taken off a student who wasn't paying attention, after the skinning incident the day before.
Which meant he had to be clever. Or stupid, possibly a mixture of both. So, before a better Idea could come to his head, he removed the Beowulf pelt from his waist and carefully crept towards the bee's nest. Careful not to shake the branches too much and disturb the hive resting on the edge.
Quickly before he had a chance to think things over Beo leapt forward wrapping the pelt around the swarming hive and tying it off sealing the hive inside. It wasn't long until he began to feel the sting of hundreds of now angry bees. With the pain causing him to lose his balance and he fell from the tree slamming into the ground a few feet away from the picnic table below him.
"Beo!? Wait what's that- Ahhh Bees?!" Ruby shouted as dozens of bees began to swarm and make their way towards the Man-Grimm that stole their hive. Some of the bees in their anger began to swarm around the rest of the group as Beo ran towards a large fountain by the main path. An angry swarm of bees not too far behind him.
He didn't get far, however. Maybe it was some form of karma on Beo's part but in the ensuing chaos there was a small fiery explosion dispersing most of the bees around the table. Beo Turned slowly to see the smoldering remains of the table and burning grass.
Wait. fire, that meant smoke. And smoke was just what he needed. So not really paying any mind to the cause of said eruption Beo dashed over to the smoldering remains of the picnic table. Carefully picking up some of the smoking shards and sliding them into his makeshift sack.
"Hey there Beo…. whatcha doin?" Came Yang's voice from behind.
Beo looked back to see Yang standing over him, her eyes and hair glowing like a newly lit flame, as she cracked her knuckles. Beo gave a weak smile as he continued to shovel smoking pieces of wood into the wolfskin sack. Before he shook the makeshift bag, reached his hand in and broke off a gooey chunk of honeycomb brushing off of the smoked-out bees and held it out to the angry girl standing above him.
Not before he took a bite out of it first though. An involuntary smile coming to his face as the sweet taste of the fresh honeycomb met his taste buds. Before Yang
opened her mouth to say something about Beo's most recent, endeavor another member of the small gathering voiced her opinion.
"You cannot be serious!? You dropped a swarm of angry bees on us because you were hungry!?" Said Weiss her face almost a beet red with frustration, as she pushed her way past the others.
Did she think the dropping of the bees was on purpose? It's not like she was hurt or anything or at least to Beo she didn't look hurt no visible stings, maybe pieces of splintered wood in her hair. So, for the meantime Beo decided to simply ignore the white-haired girls shouting and reached into his sack and pulled out another chunk of honeycomb and offered it to Yang hoping it would at spare him from the burning blonde ball of rage that exploded just a few minutes ago.
Yang looked between Beo and the honeycomb, before she took the raw chunk of honeycomb from Beo and bit into it.
"Okay...that's delicious...you're in the clear Beo." Yang said as she took another bite.
"Are you kidding me?! just like that surely you cannot be serious, he dropped a beehive on us and you just forgive him because he offered you food?!" Weiss shouted.
"Pretty much." Yang said as she reached into Beo's bag and pulled out another chunk of honeycomb, brushing off a piece of table that was still smoldering. "I mean have you tried this? Besides it's not like any of us were even stung right? Well except Jaunne."
While Beo was glad to not be in the cross hairs of Yang's fiery temper anymore, it still didn't feel like the fires had been fully put out, at least to him, for whatever reason the others didn't seem to notice. Maybe things like this were common occurrences. It wouldn't surprise Beo given how he literally watched the hot-tempered blonde rip apart a Widow with her bare hands after it angered her a few weeks before.
"Hey what's that smell?" Ruby said sniffing the air.
"Oooo it smells like burnt French Fries!" Nora exclaimed.
Now that they mentioned it. Something was burning but what? Beo wondered. It smelt like it was behind him, where the heat was coming from. He turned around and saw nothing, nothing except the sack with the beehive in is and remnants of burnt wood. With the source of the smell moving as he turned his head. Seriously was no one bothered by how hot it was getting? He was used to the heat of spring and summer, but this felt like the one time he slept too close to one of his fires during the cold months.
"Uh guys. "Blake said "I think I found what's burning."
"You did?" Yang said.
She did? What was it? Beo wondered. As the heat grew unbearable.
"Well." Blake said as she pointed at Beo.
The others turned towards the Man-Grimm. And stared they were all quiet for a good few seconds. Watching as the ends of Beo's hair slowly began to catch fire after being covered in the pieces of smoldering wood.
Beo wasn't exactly sure what happened next after he heard nearly every one of them shout something about a fire with six or so bodies crashing into him. All he did know is that when he came too, he was in a chair, with a bright light shining in his face, He could make out Yang and the other's voices in the room but couldn't quite make out where they were.
"Are you sure this is a good Idea Yang?" Pyrrha said from what Beo assumed was the back of whatever room they were in.
"It's the only way. Although it is a shame, his hair had such potential." Yang said her voice a mixture of genuine regret any. Was that excitement in her voice? While she grabbed a pair of scissors from the table behind her. "Now to get to work, Nora, Ruby make sure he doesn't move this might take a while."
"Right!" the two energetic girls said as the zipped over to Beo's side and held him in place.
Weiss Schnee was not happy. Or to be more accurate she was frustrated beyond belief. Ever since entering Beacon Academy the world seemed to do anything and everything in its power to make sure that her time there was infuriating. At first she thought that things would work themselves out by the end of the first few days, but her misfortune was only solidified when she was partnered up with that aggravating and obnoxious Ruby girl. The rest of her teammates were at least tolerable, Blake was quiet for the most part despite the mix up with her and Yang's partner situation, she seemed to be the most reasonable and level headed of the group.
Which brought her to the subject of Yang's tag along. The apparent Man-Grimm Beo Cobalt, or whatever last name Professor Goodwitch had said his name was when she introduced him during one of her classes three weeks prior. She was still having a hard time believing that the staff of Beacon Academy would just simply allow someone like him to be integrated into the student population. Granted her experience with Beo boiled down to three minutes during initiation where he charged at a Deathstalker and then into the forest alone. And with what she had heard happened after he had woken up in Beacon's infirmary, it was clear that at least in her opinion he didn't belong here at Beacon.
He was a danger to everyone around him. She just couldn't understand why Yang and the professors were so okay with an individual so similar to a wild animal to be mixed in with the best and brightest of the worlds future Huntsmen. A sentiment she shared when applied to her team's so called "leader."
She had already accepted the fact that she was stuck with Ruby Rose as a partner, but she still couldn't help but feel that her attitude towards being a huntress. Fun? Excitement? Last Weiss checked this lifestyle demanded dedication and discipline, both were areas that Ruby was severely lacking in.
Over the past few weeks Ruby had done nothing to prove to her that she was worthy of being a leader. She could easily list a hundred reasons why she would make a better leader than that red-haired annoyance. But if she did then she would most definitely go mad. But if she were to start then, the first thing on her list would be what their oh-so brilliant leader was doing now.
Sleeping. In the middle of a lecture, on Grimm studies of all things. Granted Professor Port wasn't the most...captivating of lecturers, but the information he was extremely important, nonetheless. Hell, even Yang's tag along seemed to be invested in what the Professor was saying. Granted she wasn't entirely sure he understood what was being said, but something about Beo's expression whenever Port displayed put a Grimm display on the board was the only thing that made her doubt her judgement of the ruffian.
On the subject of Beo, Weiss still couldn't believe how easily the rest of her team as well as the entirety of Team JNPR were able to forgive him for dropping a beehive on their heads the day before. Although things seemed to have balanced themselves out when Yang's outburst somehow lead to Beo's hair catching fire, so she supposed karma did exist to some extent. And while the others namely Yang, Ruby and Nora of all people were spending the rest of their day "fixing" the problem by removing most of the boy's hair leaving him with a short and spiky blue mess that was suited him well enough. Weiss spent the rest of her day being a responsible student and studying up on various types of Grimm and how to combat them.
"Now who here believes themselves to be the prime example of what a huntsman should be?" Professor Port's voice rang out across the classroom. waking some of the less attentive students from their power naps.
Almost immediately Weiss shot her hand up, this was it, the chance for her to prove to her team as well as a member of the teaching staff that she should be the leader of her team.
"Ah Miss Schnee splendid. Please go prepare yourself and while I finish up today's lesson." Port said enthusiastically. w
While the rest of the class groaned.
Weiss stood across from the steel crate Professor Port had transferred into the classroom.
"Go Wiess you can do it!" Shouted Ruby from the sidelines. Whatever good intentions she had however were lost as Weiss felt her blood pressure rise with each remark and encouraging cheer.
Her eyes narrowed on the crate as the Grimm inside shook it from the inside. Weiss slowed her breathing, moved her feet into the proper position and raised her rapier in front of her. Letting the professor know she was ready.
"Alrighty then, begin!" Port said as he pressed a button unlocking the Grimm's prison.
In an instant a large black and white boar like creature burst out of the crate in a rage. Weiss herself wasted no time allowing the beast to reorient itself as she dashed forward. Thrusting her blade towards the boartusk's face. The blade met the beast's face only to bounce harmlessly off of its facial plating.
She cursed under her breath as she put distance between herself and the Grimm once more. The beast screeched in anger as it charged towards her, compacting itself mid stride turning itself into a rolling sphere of bone and tusks. Weiss bladed her stance, conjured a glyph under her back foot and launched herself to meet the creature. Her rapier once again glancing harmlessly off of the boartusk's protective shell. As the two darted past one another, exchanging positions in the room.
"Come on Weiss represent teeeaammm RWBY!" Weiss heard Ruby shout from the sidelines. Which caused something in the young heiress to snap.
"Would you just shut up already!" Weiss shouted with all the frustration, anger and resentment that had been building up inside her for the better part of a month behind it.
As she looked back at her opponent. Conjuring a large movement glyph beneath her feet, she launched herself towards the Boartusk just as it was reorienting itself preparing itself to charge again. Her blade pierced its underbelly as it was rearing up to roll again. The beast let out an ear-piercing shriek as Weiss plunged her blade into its heart. And the life drained from its body.
She stood up and turned to face her classmates a satisfied look on her face. However, her self-indulgence was interrupted by a blur of blue and black as Beo for whatever reason stormed his way over from where he had been sitting, shoving her to the side paying no heed to her voice as she shouted at him.
"What do you think you're doi-" Weiss began to say as her eyes went wide at what the savage boy did.
As Beo drove his hand into the bleeding wound of the beast trying to grab hold of something while the lifeless shell of a Grimm began to disintegrate into dust.
As the last remnants of the beast disappeared Beo turned his gaze towards her, and almost immediately she could feel the anger radiating from him, as he got up, and marched over towards her. His blood coated hand gripping her arm like a vice as he pointed towards the now mostly dissolved boartusk.
"What? Don't tell me you feel bad about me killing Grimm in an efficient manner!? And Get your hands off of me!" Weiss said as she smacked his hand away from her.
Her words however didn't seem to get the reaction she was expecting. As Beo's face changed from one of anger to confusion and frustration. Instead he put his hand over his heart and mimicked Weiss stabbing into it, then shaking his head crossing his hands in a big X shape.
Where did he find the nerve to criticize her!? The nerve of this, this simpleton! It took almost all of her self-control to keep her frustration and anger from boiling over again.
"Well if you're so smart then I'd like to see you do better." Weiss said turning to the professor "That's doable right Professor because I can't speak for the rest of my classmates, but I still don't understand why he is even here at Beacon."
"Well I don't see the harm in letting our newest student strut his stuff, why it reminds me of me when I was a dashing and ambitious young hunter." Port said as he began another story from his youth while nearly the entire class groaned.
Weiss meanwhile made her way back to her seat near her team, sat back down and didn't utter a single word to any of them.
"Weiss." Yang said
Weiss ignored her.
"Oh Weiss." Yang said again in a sing song manner.
Once again Weiss paid no heed to her.
"HEY ICE QUEEN!" Yang shouted in her ear.
"And what is it you want Yang?"
"I just want to let you know that what you might see is entirely your fault...don't blame Beo if you lose your lunch."
"Wait…. what do you mean by that?" Both Ruby and Blake said almost simultaneously. While the leader of team JNPR shuddered in dread.
Beo eyes remained locked on the large crate that a few of Professor Port's what did he call them? Interns? or something like that? Whatever they were called it didn't take them long to wheel in the new specimen into the classroom
"Ahem, Mr. Cobalt a word?" Port said motioning Beo over to his desk. "Now I understand that Professor Goodwitch has not permitted you to handle weapons or partake in combat training however, I did speak with her about you possibly joining today's training session and I was able to procure for you this."
As port placed a cloth onto the desk. And unwrapped it. Beo's eyes lit up with joy at the sight of what was concealed. There, laying on the desk was a familiar bone blade.
Beo wasted no time snatching it up. and letting it rest in his still bloody hand. His fingers wrapping around the weathered bone in a perfect fit.
Normally he wouldn't be this excited to have one of his tools back since they were just that. tools to be used, broken and replaced. but with all the things that had changed recently, most recent thing being what Yang called a "haircut" leaving the top of his head a short spikey mess. which wasn't too different from when it was longer, but it still made his head feel bare. That coupled with how long it had been since he had had anything from his home. It felt comforting to say the least.
"Unfortunately, the armor you were recovered with was torn to shreds beyond repair." Port continued "And in regard to your aura situation. I have been told that should I feel that you cannot handle yourself I am to intervene. But I think you should be fine young man. Best of luck!"
With that Beo returned to the center of the classroom and looked once again at the crate across from him. Time slowing to a crawl as seconds passed by like minutes.
Then port gave the word to begin, right as the cage's latch was undone, Beo's tongue dragged across his free hand. Taking in what little Boartusk blood has still been on it.
He felt that familiar rush pulse through his body. And it felt like something that had been missing the past three weeks had been put back in its place, as his headache disappeared, and his bones and skin tightened and hardened like a thick hide as the effects of the boartusk's blood took effect the dark blue aura glowing slightly.
As the cage door burst open Beo dashed towards it. Dagger in an ice pick grip in his right hand. At the same time a large black blur shot out from the cage as a juvenile Beowulf charged to meet the Man-Grimm, Beo lowered himself as the beast swiped one of its claws towards him, the bone dagger biting into its side as he narrowly avoided the beast's razor-sharp claw.
It was a shallow cut, but that was all Beo wanted, it was all he needed after all as he licked up the small amount of blood that had stayed on the end of the blade. Once again, he felt that comforting pulse through his body as his senses sharpened, an involuntary smile came to his face as the fog lifted and he felt like himself again.
Beo didn't waste any time once he felt the effects take hold, he dashed towards the Beowulf grabbing onto the beast's head plating and using the leftover momentum he swung himself onto its back one hand hooked around its neck as it thrashed about snarling, clawing at him trying to get the human off its back.
But Beo held on despite a few of the Lycan's claws biting into his flesh. With his blade in hand Beo drove the blade between the platting where the Beowulf's head and neck met and pulled, separating the bone plate from the skin. And he didn't stop there, as the beast continued to snarl and thrash about Beo twisted the blade around into the soft flesh underneath. Once Beo felt the blade sink in he gave a sharp pull and the Beowulf let out one final yelp before its body seized and fell to the ground.
But he wasn't done yet. Beo got off the motionless beast's back and double checked it for signs of life and found the beast's pulse and breath were still present. Faint but present nonetheless which is what he wanted. Not that he had any doubts in what he had done but he learned a long time ago it was better to be safe than sorry.
"THAT WAS SO COOL!" Ruby shouted.
"Indeed, it was impressive." Said Blake looking up briefly from her book.
"What was that you said about me losing my lunch Yang? "Weiss said triumphantly
Yang simply pointed back towards Beo "cause I don't think he's done yet"
The other three members of Team RWBY turned and saw Beo not returning to his seat like they thought he would after dispatching the Beowulf. Instead the saw him using his dagger to systematically pry off and remove each of the Beowulf's bone plates and organize them by size on top of Professor Port's desk.
Ruby couldn't believe what she was seeing. How did Beo do that!? She thought Grimm were supposed to vanish after they died!
Blake had a similar thought as Beo began to show Professor Port the spot on the Beowulf's neck where he slid in his dagger. Did he somehow managed to paralyze it?
Yang chuckled a bit as she watched Beo begin to cut into the immobile Beowulf, removing layers of skin on its front legs to salvage the bones. However, part of her felt a little uneasy when she remembered how and why Beo had these skills. Until however she saw the look on Weiss' face.
Weiss felt sick, her stomach felt like it was was turning itself inside out as she watched Beo vivisect the Grimm in the center of the classroom. The fact that Professor Port made no attempt to stop him from continuing this barbaric act made things all the worse as Beo systematically removed organs from within the Beowulf's body and placed them on top of the spinal plating he removed initially. All the while the Professor would ask questions about the process to which Beo somehow knew the answer too and using his blood-soaked hands began to sketch them out on the blackboard.
Maybe it was this mixed with extreme amount of gore and how numb Beo seemed to be to it that made her feel so ill. Or maybe it was the way the Grimm's body twitched every so often. But whatever the reason it was unnatural seeing a Grimm being vivisected and it was too much for her to take as she ran out of the room and made a beeline for the nearest restroom. Along with several of the other students with weaker stomachs.
Beo meanwhile just looked at the fleeing students as he swiped a water bottle from Jaune's desk as he fled. Were they all so weak willed that they couldn't stomach a little blood? Jaune he understood given how easily it was to walk over him. But Beo thought that the people who had traversed their way through a Grimm invested forest just a few weeks before would be well, be made of stronger stuff. It surprised him just how sensitive and weak willed most of them could be sometimes.
As Beo finished his harvest of the Beowulf by slicing an artery in the beast's rear leg, allowing the beast to slowly bleed out into the emptied water bottle. It would be a slow death given the place he cut but it would give him enough time to begin harvesting pieces of the rib cage and femurs. All the while Professor Port kept asking him questions about how he harvested organs and such. Organs were never really something Beo cared about, they really had no use to him, except for maybe emergency food, the real value for him at least was in the bones which could be made into tools and weapons and the blood which helped him thrive.
But he did his best to show what he could to the Professor and whatever small group of students who had begun to gather around them. Yang's sister Ruby and Nora being among them how to extract organs while the Grimm slowly bleed out.
Once he had finished, he stood up, hands coated in blood and gathered together all the new bones and materials harvested and returned to his seat behind team RWBY or the members that were still in the room.
Blake had set her book down during all of this and had been watching with some interest. Yang meanwhile was trying her best to hold in her laughter as Beo sat back down. She was snickering something about an Ice Queen losing her cool? whatever that meant.
"Well that was exciting. "Yang said turning towards the Man-Grimm. lilac eyes scanning over the collection of stuff Beo brought back with him.
Beo looked at her and nodded. A smile on his face as he began to carve something into the side of his dagger using a broken piece of the Beowulf's claw.
"Whatcha doin there big guy? Wait don't tell me kill count?" Yang continued. Beo looked at her confused.
Kill count? what's the point in keeping count? No this was something he saw others doing with their stuff. Beo blew away the bone fragments and dust and showed Yang what he had done.
Yang chuckled when she saw carved into the hilt of the dagger in VERY crude letters was a single word and letter following it.
BEO C.
MERRRYY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE! I originally had this finished a couple of days ago but I figured I would do one final edit before releasing it on Christmas Day as my gift to you all. I hope you enjoyed it. It's been a rough year if im being honest, hence why i've only uploaded...2? Chapters? wow...thats...a thing But I PROMISE to try harder! its just been busy what with Classes...and work...so much work...As well as a few other projects. one that I may post once I have it finished. others eh not really publishable at this point but I look forward to the new year and I hope you all have a Happy Holidays and an Amazing New year!
This is Amouren Signing off for the holidays!