Some things never changed for Jaune, and truth be told he was alright with that. Certain things staying static wasn't inherently bad. His drive to improve as a Huntsman had paid off more than he had ever thought possible. His love of music which had persisted since childhood had played a large part in the bond his family shared, particularly with his children. And he, as an Arc does, had a large family, one he couldn't be happier with. However he could do without the damned motion sickness making him feel as though he was gonna vomit the moment the airship took off. Placing a hand on his head Jaune took deep breaths to try and force his stomach to calm itself. It worked a bit, really focusing on anything other than the way the ship rocked. The private flight had seemed a bit much at first but Weiss had insisted that he and the girls take the private ship, they had it for this very reason after all. And after seeing the difference in how quickly it was going compared to a standard one he really couldn't argue with the results. As his mind tried to focus a small hand found its way to his back, looking over he saw his daughter staring up at him with those big blue eyes of hers, just past her was his niece similarly looking at him with worry.

"Dad? Are you okay?" Seeing the worry on his daughter's face Jaune straightened up, not wanting Lumi to worry for his sake, especially not for something so minor.

"Just a bit of motion sickness sweety, I'll feel better once we touch down." He tried to pass it off as no big deal despite the feeling of something creeping up from his stomach. "So are the two of you excited? I know I was pretty nervous when I first came here." He asked, hoping to change the subject from the possibility of him barfing in front of the girls.

"To show them what an Arc-Scnhee is capable of perhaps." Lumi replied smugly, looking at the family blade she had inherited from her father. Seeing in its reflection a lock of her platinum blond hair hanging out of place, which she promptly fixed by tucking behind her ear. Crocea Mors was in pristine condition, she was determined to treat the blade with the reverence and care it deserved. She had fought hard to inherit the weapon over her brother and she planned to wield it with pride and eventually pass the weapon down to her children in the same if not better condition.

"I'm just happy to be going somewhere other than Atlas." His Neice, Elizabeth said. Stretching her small frame in the seat before falling back into her instincts, sitting up straight and proper as Winter and James had taught her.

Jaune chuckled, not exactly able to say he had expected any other answers from the girls. Lumi had been determined to attend the same combat school as her mother and father had gone to years ago, despite the fact that they hadn't actually finished their tenure she had seen it as a step she herself had to take if she was to ever hop to measure up to them. As for Elizabeth he fully understood, Atlas's style of training was certainly not for everyone. It was a test And she had already been raised under two of the most strict people he knew, if not in the world.

The ship came to a stop on Beacon's dock soon after, much to Jaune's delight. Stepping off far faster than the girls he was accompanying, glad to just be on solid land. Sweet, still land.

"So I'm gonna ask you for a favor, please don't throw up on my docks, you might be early but we got other students coming in every thirty minutes." The gravely and weathered voice wasn't the one he expected to greet him, and certainly not so soon.

"Qrow? What are you doing here?"

"My job. Never can be too careful with visitors."

Despite the seemingly weary words the old man wore a genuine smile on his bearded face. The years had certainly taken their toll on him, he looked tired, wrinkles and a fair share of scars covered the man's skin and his hair was closer to white than the dark grey it had been when they had first met. Then again a lot had changed in that time.

"Not even an exception to be made for family?"

"If it were up to me yeah, but well, you know Glynda." Qrow shrugged in response before looking past the man at the two girls whom had come along. "And besides, hassling you means I get to see my grandkids sooner."

And almost as if on que this was followed by Lumi and Liz's excited gasps.

"Grandpa Qrow!"

Upon seeing Beacon's Head of Security the girls, almost as if they were kids again, ran up to the man and latched onto him at the waist. Jaune smiled, despite the prideful nature of the Schnee's his father in law had always managed to get past that seemingly genetic haughtiness. A part of him figured it was the disarming casualness than made it hard to keep any sort of front up around the man.

"Huh, you know I thought one of you would have grown a bi-Ah!"

The light jab to the man's ribs caused him to jump back as Elizabeth huffed, crossing her arms and pouting in a way that, along with her frankly tiny stature, only made her stand out as more childlike. And in Jaune's eyes, adorable. Though unlike Qrow he had enough control over his mouth not to say so out loud.

"Oww, a bit hard on this poor old man dontcha think kid?" Qrow whined rubbing the spot where he had been hit. He considered telling her off but in fairness, he was asking for it with the comment on her height. That and Winter was more likely to praise Elizabeth for the stunt than anything else if it got back to her. So taking a look over at what was currently his favorite of the two girls, Qrow saw Lumi looking around with a confused look on her face.

"Something up squirt? You look lost."

"Where's Aunt Goose? I thought she'd be with you?" Ah, he probably should have guessed that.

"Hmm? Oh, she got here yesterday. But there's exactly a lot of space in my room so she bunked with Ruby, I think they had a sleepover or something."


Crap, crap, crap, crap! She'd overslept, how the heck did she sleep in now of all days!? She was sure she set her alarms! At least two of them.

Ruby Rose was to put it plainly, freaking out. Probably more than necessary if she stopped to think about it logically, with her semblance she'd be what, twenty minutes late, twenty five? But in her mix of panic and still being half asleep it seemed far more serious than it was in reality. And the knowledge that it was Glynda she was keeping in waiting was elevating that fear just a smidge. She tried in vain to get her boot on while hoping her way to the couch before losing her balance and stumbling onto the floor with a small "oof!"

The resulting thud caused a nearby girl to stir, curling up more on the couch her salt and pepper esc hair was messy and strewn about. She came to a sitting position and rubbed the sleep from her crimson eyes. The first thing the girl is greeted with aside from the TV they had left on overnight which now played news about some art exhibit is her older cousin scrambling closer on all fours like a weirdo. So aside from her being on the floor business as usual.

"Ruby? Are you okay?" She yawned as she sat up, assuming the woman had just tripped or something. However the panicked scrambling of the older woman answered her question.

"Goose, get up we overslept!"

Letting out a noise that sounded suspiciously similar to one made by her namesake Goose jumped up throwing the sweats she had been wearing to the floor as she ran to the bathroom to change. Finally getting off the floor Ruby finished getting her boots on. Qrow was gonna ki- okay at most he'd sigh at her and say she should have known better but that was just as bad! The sudden knocking on the door ripped the woman from her thoughts. CRAP! She had taken too long and now Qrow was here personally to chew her out. Wait, no that wasn't something Qrow would do, meaning it was most likely Glynda. With that thought Ruby made a break for the door already giving her excuses.

"Glynda I am so sorry I forgot to set my alarm last night I'll be out in ju-" As she threw open the door Ruby was met not by the scolding glare of her Boss but instead the tired gaze of another, slightly less disapproving stare. The woman, only a bit taller than Ruby in a pink overcoat, similarly looking as though she had just woken up. But that was more her natural state of being than anything else.

"Touko?"

"You forgot to set your alarms didn't you?" The woman in question deadpanned. Taking in her friend's disheveled and panicked appearance. She didn't get long before being pulled into the room Ruby quickly slammed the door shut behind her. A tad dramatic in the purple-haired woman's eyes, especially when she started to lock the door as if that was gonna stop Goodwitch from finding out she hadn't shown up to the meeting.

"Thank the Gods I thought it was Glynda coming to give me an ear full."

"Oh she knows, and she ain't happy."

Ruby deflated almost immediately and despite herself, Touko chuckled, at times it felt like aside from the position she held Ruby hadn't changed a bit. Placing a comforting hand on the fellow teacher's shoulder.

"Relax, she wasn't that mad." The reassurance helped the Red Reaper somewhat. Though still knowing she'd be in for a reaming later. The contact lingered, though not unwelcomed Ruby couldn't help but glance at the gloved unnaturally hard hand, just now noticing the thumb tracing back and forth along her collarbone. Seeing her friend's eyes move to her hand and realizing that the touch had gone on for a bit longer than necessary, Miss Fuchsia pulled her hand back, trying to play it off by coughing into the glove. It didn't work as Ruby just tilted her head almost as if to ask why she'd pulled away. Looking for- well any excuse to move the conversation along to something else. Glancing around and at a glance seeing no sign of the Branwen girl she took the opportunity.

"Hey uh, I thought Goose was here?"

"I'm ready!"

A voice from down the hall called out before Ruby could answer. Running down dressed in a relatively simple white shirt, black leather Jacket, and matching boots and jeans combo. The relatively 'tough' look contrasted pretty highly with the girl's rushed and flustered face as she ran over to the pair of women. Only to trip over her own discarded sweatpants. The momentum all but sending her through the air. Almost instantaneously Ruby is in her path and catches the younger girl, seemingly forgetting that while her 'little' cousin Goose was over half a foot taller and getting knocked to the floor once again.

"Oww." She croaked out from the floor, Goose on the other hand sat up sheepishly, untouched by the fall before offering Ruby a hand up. Once again getting up Ruby groans holding her back and readjusting the red glasses that thankfully stayed in their spot on her face. Lucky her.

"Touko, I'm too old for this."

Deciding that it was time to go before more bad luck hit Ruby picked up the remote, ready to shut off the tv and head out when the story showed a clip of a young man holding a very familiar Cane and smirking as he looked directly into camera before firing at it.

"Luckily no one was hurt, however, it's suspected Torchwick managed to get away with at least fifty thousand lien worth of art. Authorities are curren-" The story began to tune out for the Silver-Eyed woman as she looked at the freeze frame of the young man, He had Roman's face, Neo's eyes and that same mix of natural orange highlighted with pink and brown. Guess he'd decided to leave white out this time, despite the actual story playing some more information on the situation a single dour thought ran through her mind.

He still acts just like his father

Suddenly the TV is switched off, standing next to it is Touko. Her face was understanding but serious. It was clear that she wanted to say something on the matter. Goose looked between them, not sure what could cause the sudden shift from playful to what seemed to be unnaturally serious for her cousin. The shortest of the three in the room sighed already feeling a migraine from what she knew Touko wanted to say. It was too early for this, and they really didn't have the time for it.

"What was that about?" The curious if not worried voice of Goose cut through the tension, and both women turned to her.

"Nothing. Just some stuff from the past." Ruby said fairly cryptically, however before she was able to voice her confusion at the explanation that answered literally none of her questions Touko spoke up.

"Hey, you know your nieces showed up with Jaune a bit ago. They're probably wondering where you are by now, head up to the teacher's lounge, Your dad probably has them killing time with him until orientation."

Goose wasn't stupid, she saw through the obvious attempt to get her mind away from the weirdly uncomfortable atmosphere. However, there really wasn't much to be done on her end. Getting in the middle of an argument she didn't know anything about with one of her soon to be teachers and her big cousin who was also her soon to be teacher wouldn't bode well. And well, she was eager to see Lumi and Liz again. Hesitantly she went out the door.

Now alone the professors stood in silence. With Goose gone they were free to speak freely. But neither woman really wanted to start this argument again. There was nothing new to be said. And once again, no time.

"You good?" Touko asked instead of rehashing what they'd already been over.

"Yeah just… yeah." Ruby said exiting the room before anything more could be said on the matter. Touko sighed but not seeing anything that could be done followed suit, closing the door on her way out.


The airship was booming with chatter as the students waited to arrive at Beacon, those who weren't talking with friends either played games, listened to music on their scrolls, or took in the sights from the windows. One young woman in particular was watching the other students. Her Emerald green eyes scanned the ship, seeming to absorb each detail of the students around her.

The one who drew the most attention wasn't even that striking visually, wearing an elegant but practical white dress, pale skin but dark hair and with violet eyes. Perhaps she'd be considered attractive by those interested in women but Rosaria didn't exactly fit that description, to her she was painfully basic aside from the fact she was a bit skinny. No, what made her stand out so much was the rather loud conversation the girl was having with her 'daddy'. A strange thing to still call her father at their age but again, not the best judge. The girl was planning to meet up with family, someone she'd not met in a while apparently as she sounded excited. Maybe an upperclassmen or a teacher? She'd have to look into that when she had the chance.

There was another girl who got her attention, although for the exact opposite reason. A small Moth Faunus absentmindedly chewing on her shirt. Her white hair, the pair of antennae standing tall on her head, and her general facial structure all seemed vaguely familiar. She was confident they hadn't met in the past, she'd recognize her then. Apparently having stared for too long the girl glanced up, her big innocent looking eyes meeting her own. Suddenly aware of what she was doing the girl spit out the fabric, seeming to ignore the new holes in its collar and gave a small wave. Rosaria, somehow maintaining her straight face, waved back.

She made a point to look everyone over at least once, even the ones who looked wholly uninteresting. There was a small redhead who seemed to be doing their best to draw as little attention to themselves as possible, sitting in the corner with their hands on their lap. The only thing that stood out other than the Mistrali clothes was the fact that Rosaria couldn't tell if she was looking at a boy or a girl. 'They' worked until they proved important enough to learn. On the other end was a tan woman wearing an ungodly amount of makeup with Blond hair, she was only notable as she was already in uniform, a student returning from the town after a weekend she assumed. Then there was the boy directly across from her. He was dark-skinned, about the same shade as her if a bit lighter with green hair. Their eyes met as he similarly seemed to be looking around, although less out of interest and more boredom. Understandable seeing as he was stuck still as a Bull Faunus lay passed out on his shoulder. He just nodded before letting his eyes wander to the Naginata strapped across the girl in white's back.

She could actually sympathize with that as she currently also had a piece of dead weight leaning on her. Glancing over to her left to see a familiar face drooling on her shoulder. Right, there would be none of that. Calmly reaching over Rosaria grabbed the red ponytail of her companion and gave it a hard tug upwards. That as intended woke the Tan woman up.

"Ow! The hell Roe?" The muscular girl jolted up, both from Rosaria's grip and the pain of her hair getting yanked. A few heads turned at the commotion, The girl already in uniform chuckled but was promptly ignored by the two. Rosaria in response whipped some of the drool from her shirt before cleaning her hand off on the other girl who seemed to care far less.

"I'd prefer not to be covered in your saliva, Tanner." She responded flatly.

"Well next time drool on me to make it even, and seriously, It's Juliet. We've been over this, only weirdos go around calling their friends by their last names."

Rosaria just stared back in response. She had known Tann- Juliet for as long as she could remember. And in all that time the idea of professionalism seemed to be a foreign concept to her. She supposed it was due to her upbringing, her father had always said the other girl was raised by 'ruffians' But despite that she had proven reliable, loyal even. And in fairness she did know more about 'normal' than Rosaria did, so she supposed she could humor her.

"Very well, Juliet."

"Did… did I just get you to admit we're friends?" The redhead asked with a small smirk on her face much to the other woman's irritation.

"An error, one I won't make again." She'd make a note to think twice before humoring the brute again.

Back with Jet the young man was content just sitting there watching the scene unfold. Or that's what he told himself, in reality, he was stuck in place as Scarlet had decided to use his shoulder as a pillow as she caught some extra sleep. His friend's not-so-light snoring stopped him from concentrating on just about anything else. He supposed it wasn't that big a deal, typically he'd just use the time to check Hephestus but the multiple signs warning the students to keep their weapons holstered while traveling made it clear that would be frowned upon.

With nothing to do Jet obviously grew very bored very fast, glancing out the window once more but this time mercifully he could just see the tower of Beacon. It wouldn't be long now, just a few minutes and they'd be off of the ship and be able to stretch their legs. Now he just had to wake Scarlet up without accidentally getting gored. Carefully moving his shoulder he nudged the redhead gently.

"Scar, hey Scar wake up."

"Mmph, but your shoulder's so soooft."

"I'm not carrying you off the ship. Come on"

Shifting so that his friend had to move he ignored the cry of protest and for the first time in what felt like hours was able to move, standing up and stretching as he walked over to the window facing Beacon, Scarlet followed only a second later as they watched the School come into view together. It was big, bigger than either of them had expected. Jet had heard stories, his father had apparently gotten lost on the grounds more than once during some business they had there. But being told and seeing were different. It easily dwarfed Signal, possibly Patch itself.

There was a certain gleam in Scarlet's eyes as she looked down, even as she tried to act cool she couldn't fully hide the excitement. Not from Jet at least. She nudged him, a bit harder than necessary. But in her eyes that was what he got for suddenly dropping the act of her pillow.

"So what do you think Beacon is gonna be like?"

"Well it's still a school, I'm guessing a lot like Signal but now we live there." Jet asked, unlike his horned friend he was more reserved in his reaction. But he spoke with a smile all the same. Scarlet however rolled her eyes at his prediction.

"Pff, wow, way to make it sound horrible. I almost regret this already."

"Okay then, how do you see it?"

"Well, okay yeah we're gonna be living at a school, but we get to do so much more. We get to go on missions, work with other teams, Upgrade our weapons." She said the last part knowingly, the boy had been mentioning that he'd wanted to 'fix up' the handgun that in her eyes had only ever worked perfectly. But knowing exactly how to work the boy she knew she'd gotten through at least a bit when he glanced at Hephaestus. "It'll be like we're Hunters already!"

"Pretty sure real Hunters don't need to take tests all the time."

"Eh, as long as it ain't math I'll take it." She dismissed, not once taking her eyes off of the school as it drew closer.

"I mean, I'm excited about it!"

A deep voice alerted the pair to a presence behind them, They turned around to be met by… nothing? It wasn't like the Cabin was devoid of people but no one so close behind them to have been the one to have spoken. Glancing to one another the pair shared a confused look until the voice rang out yet again with a small chuckle.

"Up here." Looking up the pair were met by a set of Amethyst eyes looking down, or from the ceiling sitter's perspective up at them. Jet jumped back at the sudden realization of his presence but tripped over the seat and hit his head against the glass.

Scarlet couldn't help but to snort at seeing her friend so startled over the guy's friendly face. Though to be fair he was by far the biggest person in the cabin by far and it was readily apparent even with the strange perspective. A light tan on his face and ahead of long blond hair pulled into a ponytail. Wincing in sympathy the man dropped down, flipping right side up in mid-air, catching the book he had been holding before with what looked to be some sort of monkey tail. Leaning forward he reached his hand out for the smaller man.

"Sorry about that. I wasn't trying to scare you."

"Maybe don't sneak up on someone on the ceiling like that?" Jet hissed out. Still a bit bitter.

"But I was already there? You guys just kinda wandered on over while I was reading." He said innocently. Holding up a book The label reading 'Ninja's of Love Volume 9'. Jet looked at the book, then at the man before taking his hand, rubbing the back of his head as he was effortlessly helped to his feet by the Faunus.

"I don't like these valid points you're making against me…"

A sudden giggle from Scarlet caused Jet to look over, seeing Scarlet putting her fist against her mouth as she tried and failed to hide her amusement. Rolling his eyes with a huff Jet sat back down. Taking a moment to rub at the small bump on the back of his head. Giving her friend a moment to cool off she turned to blondie. Looking her fellow Faunus up and down.

"So what's your name, big guy?" Scarlet asked, tapping her knuckles against his chest, it felt solid, but she really should have expected that. His shirt left nothing to the imagination, clinging to the outline of his musculature in a way that she would assume to be uncomfortably tight. Even his collarbones were clearly defined.

"Jin Belladonna." He said similarly, holding his hand out to her.

"Nice to meet you Jin, I'm Scarlet. My pouting friend here is Jet." Taking the man's hand she wasn't surprised by his grip and tried to squeeze hard enough to match it. Although he didn't seem to notice.

"So Jin, help us settle something real fast."

"I don't think anything really needs to be settled." Jet interrupted now looking less pouty.

"What do you think Beacon's gonna be like? Better than before at least right?" Scarlet asked, ignoring her friend. Jin tilted his head seeming to have only just now even considered such a thing, and shrugging when he seemed to get his answer

"Well, I don't really know, this is my first time going to a combat school."

"Seriously?" Jet asked, his eyebrow cocking up.

"Yep! My mom trained me!" The innocently proud way he said that was oddly endearing, and was way too genuine. Scarlet and Jet both gave him a look. No combat School? Just the skill passed on by his mom and his own hard work? That was actually pretty impressive and inspired a bit of jealousy in the young bull. Had she had the opportunity to skip out on boring classes and just be trained by her Mom and Dad she would have jumped at it.

Before they could ask a follow up question however the ship came to a stop on the platform. A robotic voice telling them to orderly step off the airship. The three stepped off along with everyone else Jin staying close to the pair, both because it's just how the crowd herded them and well, because they happened to be the only people he knew at the moment. Stepping off of the ship the Patch raised kids could do little more than stare in awe, the school had looked big from the ship but standing there in person? It was nothing short of massive. The Tower in the center alone looked as if it was grazing the clouds.

Jin with nothing better to do in the moment watched them, amused by their reactions. Were they lost? Or just in awe of the size? Either way made sense, Beacon was a big place. They probably just needed help. Well may as well be him, they seemed nice enough and Mom had always told him to do what he could even if it was little.

"Hey, you guys should follow me to orientation. I'm supposed to meet up with my aunt afterward."

"Your aunt? She a student here?" Jet asked

"Assistant headmistress!" He watched with that same calm smile as they just stared blankly at him for a moment, seeming to somewhat adapt to the casual attitude of the man. Scarlet looked over to Jet shrugging. It wasn't like they had anything better to do and Jin was nice enough so far. Jet, not having any objections, motioned for Jin to lead the way. Which he did happily.

While the trio walked off over to the main building Several students lingered, amongst them was the girl in white who finally hung up her scroll. Her father had been insistent on staying in contact. He was probably just nervous, which she understood. Going out of Atlas for a holiday was one thing, but leaving your home for years on end to fight monsters? Very different. But she wasn't a kid anymore.

"Okay Belka." She muttered to herself. "There's nothing to it."


Lumi walked down the hallways, being led by her dear Aunt who was more than excited to show her and Liz around. Almost as if showing them around the school was a genuine event and not just getting acquainted with the school they'd be attending. However a part of her thought Elizabeth found it to be too easy to get swept up in Goose's almost childlike sense of adventure. Goose she supposed she could understand. She had been told Grandma Willow had babied her youngest child from day one. So it was to be expected she'd carry herself in a more carefree manner. But Elizabeth, like her, had been raised with the expectations of a Schnee. The slouch on par with the Branwen's while not worthy of a reprimand was surely improper.

The other issue was that Goose seemed to be taking them everywhere but where they actually needed to go. The Library was an unexpected stop, Lumi had never seen Goose read for fun before, but then again it was possible she just liked the calming aura the quiet and peaceful room had to it. There were a few other 'pit stops' like the gym, stopping by the dorms, and currently the cafeteria where Goose insisted they stop for some food, apparently having missed breakfast herself. It was worrying, and not just because of the three packs of ranch her aunt put onto her Eggs and Bacon. But their time was running short, even Elizabeth didn't seem to be paying attention to the passing time.

"Aunt Goose, I'm grateful you're showing us around but shouldn't we be going to orientation soon?"

Goose glanced up, thankfully swallowing her food before responding.

"Huh? Oh that? Nah, it's not for like another half hour, we have plenty of time." She said casually.

Plenty of time? That was nothing, barely enough to finish their meal! Had Grandpa Qrow no- Okay that line of thought didn't need to be finished, of course he didn't teach her punctuality. She loved the old man, truly she did. But his own track record should have told her that.

"Also you don't gotta call me Aunt Goose, no one's gonna tell you off here. Just Goose is fine."

"Aunt Goose, you have to understand I can't do that." Lumi responded, flabbergasted at the very suggestion. But even more so at the fact that Elizabeth seemed to somewhat agree with the notion.

"She's got a point, Lumi, we're in the same year. People are gonna think we're weird if we're going around calling her Aunt." Elizabeth chimed in, sipping on her orange juice.

The look on her face told the other girls how she felt about that idea, staring at the pair of them as though they'd both just grown second heads. While Elizabeth seemed to shrug off the look Goose shrunk a bit under her stare, not really knowing what else to do aside from taking another bite of her ranch covered meal. To her it wasn't a big deal, it had just felt kinda strange is all.

A table away a pair of violet eyes watched the interaction, not listening. Belka was too caught up in her own mind for that, making sure she wasn't mistaken. A petite frame, platinum blond hair, and that sword. No doubt that was Lumi, which helped identify the much shorter woman as Elizabeth. Although that could have similarly been done with the cutesy black buns in her hair that had been in the pictures. The third girl was a mystery. The locks of gray mixed with raven black almost looked like highlights, and she was dressed more casually compared to the professional outfit of Liz or the dueling-styled clothes of Lumi. Belka couldn't believe her luck, finding them so early and on the first day no less? Things were going better than she could have hoped, standing up and grabbing her tray Belka wore a confident smirk as she strides on over to the table.

"I thought that was you."

Before anyone could react she took the seat across from them, next to the girl she didn't really recognize. Her relatives on the other hand quickly realized who they were looking at and reacted… honestly about how she'd expected. Both were understandably shocked to see Belka just drop down next to the taller girl.

"What are you doing here?" Lumi asked, not bothering to hide the irritation in her voice at the sudden appearance. Her relative pursed her lips at the tone she had used. Belka recovered easily enough, seeming to literally handwave away the attitude.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to be a student here. Although I never would have expected to see the likes of you both here."

And just like that one of the many joys of Beacon had been snuffed out for Elizabeth, of all the things she had expected to have to put up with, his daughter wasn't one of them. Lumi on the other hand was indignant at the idea that she'd go anywhere else, if she actually had cared she'd know that. Staring the other girl down unamused and cautious.

Goose once again in the dark over whatever was going on tilted her head. The other girl was somewhat familiar, had she met her somewhere before? Seeing the look from Goose out of the corner of her eye Belka turned with a smile that seemed to suggest that she was either unaware of or blatantly ignoring the tension she had caused and held her hand out.

"Oh where are my manners, my name is Belka Gele. And you would be?" Gele… she definitely knew that name. But from where? Regardless, not one to be rude, Goose took the girl's hand. Upon feeling the grease and sauce on her hand she froze, her face scrunching as Goose held on a second longer. Doing all the motions for them.

"I'm Goose. Nice to meet you Belka. So how do you know Lumi and Liz?"

The moment Goose loosened her grip the other girl pulled back, quickly grabbing a napkin and cleaning up the filth left over on her hand. Looking back over to the Schnee women she put on a less steady smile.

"These girls are my nieces."

Goose couldn't have hidden her confusion if she had tried. She was their Aunt? Like her? That was cool, if anything she was a bit excited about it, it meant they were like one big family. But that didn't really explain why she didn't remember ever hearing about this girl. She and the girls being so close in age was already something that caught people's attention. Two aunts around the same age should have come up at least once. It was Elizabeth who noticed and decided to clear up the confusion.

"On Jacques's side of the family."

Jacques, her mother's ex husband. Willow had never once spoken of him in her presence. Always adamant that the past should stay in the past. Her sisters were another story, while they never went out of their way to bring him up they didn't shy away from their dislike of the man. Each having their own preferred curse to call him. In fact, now that she thought about it she did remember them bringing her up. Winter at the very least. Speaking of his child. And not positively, not like her sister or the aunt of her and James's child.

She glanced at Elizabeth and Lumi both bristling at the woman next to her who seemed to just disregard the obvious stares, only letting her smile drop even slightly once she heard the way Elizabeth spat out her father's name like it was poison. Before she could say another word Lumi spoke over her.

"Belka this is Goose Branwen. Our aunt from our Grandmother's side."

"...I see." The air grew noticeably thicker as the words left her mouth. Belka again couldn't hide the knee jerk reaction of her eyes narrowing at the woman next to her. Goose suddenly felt very small under her harsher gaze, scooting back slightly.

The sharp cough from across the table from Lumi caught their attention. The petite woman holding up her scroll, tapping her finger on the clock.

"Fifteen minutes until orientation, we need to go now." She reminded them, just a tad exasperated.

Belka paused, looking down at her half eaten meal with a frown.

"But I'm not finished."

"You should probably hurry then." Elizabeth chides as she stands grabbing her own mostly empty tray, with Lumi doing the same.

"It was nice to see you Belka but we need to get going. Come on Aunt Goose." Lumi stated hurriedly, barely sparing a glance at her aunt who rolled her eyes at Lumi's comment. Huffing something she didn't care to hear under her breath before staring down at her food. Lumi turned ready to hurry up and ge-

"You should come with us." Goose said suddenly, surprising all three of the girls present at the table. The strange tension had been bothering her, whatever drama had caused it couldn't be that bad, she figured some time together could only do them good!

Belka's eyes glanced to the smiling girl, then to her nieces who shared an uneasy glance between each other. A small smirk gracing her lips, they weren't making any objections. Clearly they didn't object too much. Steeling herself as she once again took Goose's filthy hand and let the woman pull her up to her feet.

"Thank you Goose. I would be delighted."


The auditorium was packed full of students, in spots they were shoulder to shoulder making any movement virtually impossible. Jaune looked through the crowd wincing in sympathy for the students unlucky enough to be stuck in front where it was the worst. He looked over the crowd, trying to spot his daughter within it. He had expected her to be closer to the front, she was a lot like Weiss in that way, punctual to a tee. So not seeing her was more than a little weird.

"Looking for someone?"

Jaune jumped at the sudden appearance of the Headmistress, just behind her his old friend and Miss Goodwitch's assistant Ruby. The woman's head tilted ever so slightly at his reaction while Ruby gave him a sympathetic smile from their boss's side. Having been a bit lost in his own thoughts and not hearing his old friend's footsteps approaching him. Glynda maintained a straight face, it amazed him how even now the woman just didn't seem to age, the only sign of her being thirty years his senior being the graying hair atop her head.

"Jumpy are we Jaune?" The Headmistress asked with a slightly bemused tone, seeming to almost not believe the man was startled by her.

"Oh no I'm fine, just a little in my own head I guess, how are you guys?"

"Oh you know, the usual, definitely didn't almost sleep through this, nothing even close to that." Ruby said innocently, getting a sideways glance from Goodwitch. However, she seemed to decide against addressing the comment and instead turned back to Jaune.

"Good thank you, although I'm more than a little curious about that reaction of yours."

"Oh it's nothing, I'm just looking for Lumi. I thought she'd be somewhere close to the front."

"If she's anything like Miss Schnee was at her age I'm sure she's been in attendance the moment she could." Glynda reassured her colleague, seeming to assuage his worry somewhat. Afterall she was right about that, Lumi certainly took after her mother in that regard.

"How is Weiss doing by the way?" Ruby asked, visibly excited at the prospect of something more than the brief bits she manages to get out of Weiss over the Scroll.

"Good, the girls and running the SDC keeps her busy. She did tell me to let you know she and the kids missed you."

As the old friends got to talking Glynda peered down at the first-year student body. A few of the students looking up at her actually flinched under her gaze. She hummed to herself, wondering if this year would be more of the same.

Down on the floor Jet tried to squeeze through two people as gently as he could. But as he tried to thread the needle he's pulled through by the wrist.

"Come on, you don't wanna get left behind do ya'?" Scarlet asked as she dragged him through the crowd all the while ignoring the protests and curses of the people she pushed past, leaving Jet to quickly apologize in her stead as he was pulled past the students. Despite Scarlet's more blunt methods it worked and she managed to keep her and Jet close to Jin as he effortlessly and far more smoothly navigated the crowd despite his size. Suddenly coming to a stop Jin turned around Scarlet, who had been looking over her shoulder bumping into him. Despite this the man barely budged.

"This spot's good." He said smiling, while not exactly an open spot there was at least enough room for the three of them to breathe. They looked up at the podium, spotting the three professors near the front. Jet in particular let his eyes wander to them, looking from the pair currently engaged in conversation to the oldest of the three who almost seemed to be staring right at him. Not quite liking the feeling he turned back to Jin.

"So which one's your aunt? It's not the tall blond is it?"

"Naw, I'm pretty sure that's her boss. She's the shorter lady, with the red hair." Jin said, pointing directly at Ruby who, seeing the motion from the corner of her eye, gave the Monkey boy a wave before making a sort of 'wait' motion with her hands.

"She seems nice, kinda looks like a librarian though." Scarlet said, looking the Assistant Headmistress up and down. It was the glasses mixed with the bun she had her hair in, it just had that innocent vibe to it mixed with the authority she carried as their senior. Well as much as she could while she excitedly talked with the large blond guy, was he a professor too? He had to be faculty at least.

"I'm surprised you're interested. You never got excited to meet the teachers back at Signal."

"This isn't Signal, I want to make a good impression." Scarlet said, letting her voice drop an octave near the end of the sentence. Jet immediately realized what she was planning and suppressed a groan as his face fell.

"Scarlet please don't do the voice."

Rather than respond the bovine faunus turned to face the boys with a smirk, much to Jet's dismay.

"The voice?" Jin asked curiously.

"She thinks it makes her sound cool."

"Jealousy isn't a good look on you Jet." Scarlet said in a sing-song voice. "And for the record I always sound cool."

Before either boy could respond the microphone peaked as Glynda stepped up to the stand.

"May I have your attention?" Her voice was steady and cold, it was clear that the request was more of a demand, and not a single student dared to give the woman anything but their undivided attention. Even Ruby and Jaune straightened up.

"My name is professor Glynda Goodwitch. Your headmistress for the next four years." In contrast with the more friendly librarian feel Scarlet got from Jin's aunt, this woman's aura just screamed teacher. Even her gaze was that of a harsh disciplinarian.

"Before me, I see some of the best and brightest students I will ever have the privilege of teaching. Yet, at the same time I am also looking at failures who will squander their talents, using their abilities for personal gain over the duty that is bestowed on Hunters throughout all the kingdoms."

Great, a ball buster. Scarlet thought to herself. And if the several groans and murmurs of uncertainty were anything to go by it hadn't been a unique sentiment. If Glynda noticed the reactions she didn't seem to care as she continued.

"You all have the potential to do something great with your lives, but it is just that, potential. Nothing is guaranteed in this life, not glory, not even that you will see the next morning. If you think you're going to have it easy from here on out. That you have 'made it' because you are attending my Academy then allow me to set that misconception straight. You will be tested every day, long after you've graduated. Not just by your teachers, but by your peers, the Grimm, and the very people you work to protect. I not only expect you to meet these expectations but to exceed them. We can give you the knowledge to succeed and trust that we shall do everything within our power to guide you. But it is ultimately up to you to use that knowledge, to grow into the Hunters I know you can become." She closed her speech on a… somewhat encouraging note.

Ruby watched as the crowd of students seemed to flounder about as Glynda left them to contemplate her words. She sighed, while her perception of the woman had been changed from working with Glynda since she was a student she simply wasn't a people person. And the speech was far from the vote of confidence to the students that they'd been expecting. Still she supposed it was a good introduction to the Headmistress's style at least. Taking that as her que to take the lead she stepped up to the microphone, fiddling with it to get it down to her height. Glynda was a good headband shoulders taller even without the heels. And speaking with an upbeat voice that she hoped would offset the incredibly awkward tone.

"All new students will have the rest of the day to get acquainted with the grounds, please use this time to memorize all important landmarks such as the dorms, the main building, and the training arena, you wouldn't want to be late on your first day right?" Ruby said as though it was meant to be a joke, even pausing. But she realized too late that what she said didn't really have a setup… or a punchline. Leaving the students just a tad confused.

"B-but be respectful of your fellow students, there will be plenty of time to meet the other students when they aren't in class, head to the library at 8 sharp. Initiation is the first thing in the morning so make sure you get plenty of rest!"

With that the students began to disperse some lingering and talking with friends. Ruby however looked down at one particular nephew of hers that she hadn't seen in far too long and as soon as she saw a path she took it. To Scarlet and Jet it was as though the woman had teleported, there hadn't even been a blur just one instant she was on the podium and the next she was right up to the group wrapping her arms around the comparatively massive faunus and lifting the boy up effortlessly with her cheek pressed against his ribs. Most guys his age likely would have been mortified at the display, Jet knew he would have been telling his mother to put him down immediately, let alone an aunt but Jin actually laughed, his tail circling around her back.

"You better stop growing on me little man, you're gonna get too big for me to do this if you get any bigger!" She said putting Jin back onto his feet and receiving her own squeeze from the boy in return. Turning to the pair as she remembered Jin hadn't been on his own.

"Oh, are these your friends? I'm Ruby Rose, this big guy's favorite aunt!" Ruby declared proudly, getting a questioning look from the boy.

"You're my only aunt."

"And therefore the favorite! Oh but I guess you guys will be seeing a lot more of me as the Assistant Headmistress, oh and weapon maintenance professor."

That seemed to get Jet's attention. Scarlet watched as her friend walked up seemingly interested himself all of the sudden. She should have known that would have gotten his attention.

"I'm Jet, It's nice to meet you ma'am."

"Same to you Jet!" Ruby said beaming at her new student. She couldn't shake the feeling that the boy and girl were familiar in some way. She was sure something about them was familiar, had she met them before, or their parents?

As she tried to figure out what about these kids was giving her such a strong sense of deja vu , Scarlet strode up to her. Coughing and getting a groan from Jet as he cringed knowing what would come next.

"Scarlet Taurus." The girl spoke in a familiar low and sultry voice, one that helped everything click into place. Those eyes, the horns, that voice that radiated control and power, the name Taurus, this was Adam and Cinder's girl. And Jet, that face, the hair and eyes. Mercury and Emerald's kid… They were attending Beacon? With her Nephew?

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Rose."