We emerged, battered and bruised, from the entrance to the Forever Fall Temple. Dried blood marred features that were otherwise beautiful, vibrant clothing torn and stained hung limp from exquisite bodies showing clear exhaustion, but unmistakable pride.

I walked out proudest of the lot, recovered armour glinting in the sun as much as the day it was made.

"Fucking took you long enough, Shiny." Richard jabbed at the new gear as he put his rifle away. The stick that had been thrown up as a target fell to a chorus of 'aww's, landing impotent in the grass. "Never signed up to babysit."

"Then why are you? Could've just popped in the ship and held pattern." I was not in the mood to talk. The Gamer's Mind could fight back my emotions after a time, but I forced myself to remember that moment, as much as I could. I couldn't place why, but I still felt responsible for RUTT.

"Holding pattern. And because the air is looking pretty crowded right now." He gestured up to a few shapes above us, though upon looking it was more than a few shapes.

I saw something that scared me. I don't mean momentarily, or that it frightened my new body. I mean something I had never seen before, and never thought I would ever see.

Metal monstrosities all across the sky. I had gotten used to the Bullheads, even comfortable with them. I was slightly taken aback at the first cargo ship I'd seen that had been larger than most dragons.

I saw before me ships the size of entire cities.

"Should I be running right now?" I asked, hand having risen to the hilt of my sword without me realising. I dropped it with a sinking feeling that it would do nothing.

"What? I mean maybe. Those are Atlas ships though and with the Festival so close it could just be for a parade or something. But why so many…"

I sighed, seeing Goodwitch storm over. "Explain this immediately Mr. Arc! I give you clear and concise instructions to find that you have ignored me, endangered my students, and assaulted your classmates!"

I drew a complete and utter blank, preoccupied by the shapes above us. "I did what now?"

She gestured angrily to a small white tent that had been set up on the edge of the clearing. "Team RUTT. All of them with Aura exhaustion and multiple injuries. All of them in shock. All of them needing the hospital. All of them claiming someone in armour just like that did it to them.I ask one last time, Mr. Arc!" She whipped out her riding crop and pointed it at me threateningly. "Explain yourself!"

I dropped my sword, wincing internally as I did so. "They're alive..?"

A force tightened around my throat and I was lifted bodily off the ground by an unseen force.

"You did try and kill them!" Her voice almost seemed shocked.

The force pushed my neck up, aiming my mouth away from everyone.

"I-" the force tightened. My HP wasn't falling, though.

"Deputy Headmistress!"

All I could see was the sky, but that sounded like Velvet.

"Miss Scarlatina." She answered curtly.

"I believe there has been a misunderstanding. Torga is more than capable of explaining, but not while he is struggling to breath."

"I am aware of the nature of his Semblance, and will not be taking any caution. I am sufficiently medically trained to be capable of restricting voca-"

"Feim"

I dropped as I was released from her hold, yanking my scroll out of my inventory and frantically trying to call Arthur. From there, he could call Miriam who could get me out of here-

"Miss Nikos, you will cease you- Mr. Ren, of all people-"

I chanced a look up, and did a double take when I saw both Ren and Pyrrha before me. A quick glance put Nora behind, and most of Team RWBY had their hands near their weapons, though not drawn.

Velvet had approached her and was urging her to look at her scroll.

I couldn't just leave. Not like this.

Nora breathed a sigh of relief as she watched her leader throw his scroll aside, and lace his fingers behind his head. After a second, he moved one to close his visor, cutting off his Semblance.

Nora giggled to herself. If it even works like that. Wouldn't put it past him to just be trying to make us feel better.

She did not giggle out loud, no. This was not the time for that. This was the time for standing together, and Torga's words had echoed in her head.

There's always a choice.

She had made hers, and rather than watch her leader-

A flash, a roar of flames, a monster.

-go through that alone, she had leapt forwards.

Her teammates were faster, and made it in front, so she adjusted and stood behind. Nothing needed to be said. Velvet was showing something on her scroll to the Deputy, but Nora's heart was racing with anticipation.

Glynda looked more exasperated and confused than angry, though anger was still there. "I will still require an explanation from the accused, even if this picture is legitimate."

Velvet tossed her scroll over, showing me a picture. It was very artfully taken, but it showed me in the paltry armour of this world, hand deep behind the breastplate and face a mask of concentration.

It looked like I was reaching down my own undead pants. More importantly, it showed my face screwed up in concentration as I fought.

I cringed. "I suppose you wouldn't believe me if I told you I tripped, but-"

"No, she would not." I shrunk down even further as Beacon's headmaster stepped off the second Bullhead - when did that have time to show up? It had likely only been a minute with the time difference! - and strolled forth. He was halfway when a grinding sound from behind me caught my attention, and I turned to see the Temple Entrance sink down into the dirt. It was all I could do to try and keep a lighthearted attitude. "And I'm sure you understand why?"

"Uhh…"

"You have no shoelaces, Mr. Arc." My hear skipped. "You could not have tripped, but you may have stumbled. Miss Goodwitch, is it impossible that this could not have been caused by an ill-timed, poorly thought out stumble?"

"Headmaster, we can-" She cut herself off as Ozpin gestured with his coffee mug at the veritable audience that had formed. "Of course. An accident knows no limits in scope." She grit out.

Ozpin nodded. "Indeed. Team Juniper, if you would follow me?"

My pride grew three times over when I noticed them look to me first. "Sure. We'll follow your Bullhead. Rich, let's roll."

"Bullhead?" Ozpin inquired with an amused grin. "Where is it that you think we're going?"

"Your office." I answered immediately. I had a feeling that he had some mechanism up there to mess with people's heads.

His eyes narrowed briefly as he continued to lead us around the side of the Bullhead he had landed in. "You would do well to stay away from Mr. Turner. His paranoia is unmatched. We do not need to go so far."

I couldn't help but laugh and took a seat on the landing runner. "Man, you just brought up an unrelated milk-drinker when I brought up a perfectly normal expectation. Who's paranoid again?"

"Mr. Turner once created a 4 tier alternate persona for the express and sole purpose of getting his driver's license without his parents finding out."

"Plenty of people lie to their parents."

"The scheme cost half a million Lien, two separate organized crime families, a trained huntsman vouching for one Mr. Smith, and my own school records showing that I had signed as his legal guardian for him to get said licence. He managed to legally be his own driving instructor."

"So he snuck into your office."

"He was 12 and in class at Signal during any part where his alternate persona would have shown up. Long story short, Mr. Arc, do not underestimate his paranoia."

Ren spoke up politely. "It is a big stretch to go from headmaster disliking you to straight murder."

Nora chipped in. "Yea… I can't believe you believed them! Does Ozpin look like he'd kill anyone?

"Yea…" I pondered, knowing that Ozpin would be fine regardless. "If he had to. So what did you want us for?"

"First, did you manage to find any soul gems? James has been hounding me, and Arthur him."

I scoffed. "They asked like a week ago while Miriam was 'unravelling' me, whatever that means. Sorry I didn't put it at the top of my list." Sometimes, when I didn't have much going on, I could swear I still felt that sensation in my feet of… lessening. It disturbed me.

Ozpin waited expectantly.

I shook my head, though I did hand over the HP potions. "My health regens fast enough that you can just have these. No gems, though, and I don't think I was likely to find any in there, though if I did it would likely just be petty."

"I don't think that word means what-"

"It's a grading system." I answered before Ren could complain about semantics too much. The man looked away, to where the expedition was largely getting packed up. A few students had set up a perimeter, and we were only now waiting for some more transport to show up, namely, Beacon's last Bullhead. "It goes Petty, Lesser, Common, Greater, then Grand, with a few exceptions like the Black gems. Their grade determines how great of a soul they can capture. With only skeletons and draugr down there, I doubted we would find anything greater than a petty. If I can find some dwarven mines, though, we'll be in business. The Dwemer used soul gems all the time."

"Indeed?"

"Yep. Kind of hypocritical if you ask me. 'Oh, we don't use magic, magic is bad.' Then they proceed to magically strip the soul from a living being, enchant it into an abomination of steam and tempered metals, then claim it isn't magic?" I spit on the dust, an action that I had been avoiding in the city as I had been informed it was not an acceptable way to show disgust or contempt for anyone but the janitor.

Pyrrha held in a giggle. "So.. kind of like you. 'Ohh, I'm Torga, a big strong Nord, I don't use magic.' Then you say some words and fire comes out of your mouth, and you insist it isn't magic."

I raised a hand. "Look, it's different! When I sh-"

"No, no, she's got a point." Lie Ren added.

'Traitor' I glared at him.

Ozpin coughed. "Secondly, it would appear that Torga has beaten up Team RUTT."

"I did-"

"I know. You fought a reanimated version of yourself that you got that armour off of. How does it feel to have one of your possessions back from the time before?"

My eyes widened, then narrowed. "One of these days I'll find out how you can know shit like that. How could you possibly pin this as my armour?"

"It fits." He answered with a shrug.

"Everything fits me." I countered.

"I didn't mean physically. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go and give my patented new Kickin' Berry Workout Recovery Drink to a certain injured team." He held up one of the glass bottles I'd given him, giving it a swish and letting the shining flecks of matter swirl in mesmerising synchronicity.

"Hey, where's Velvet?" Nora asked, just noticing. I also noticed, and kicked Ruby from the Party so I could send the older student an invite. Ruby was busy with her team anyways. They seemed a little… shaken, but Ruby still held strong. Good leader, I noted. All that was left for me to do was keep an eye on the minimap and wait for a green dot to show up.

So that was why, when I was standing there frustrated and uninformed a couple of minutes later, I answered my scroll crossly. "What."

"Do you want a detention? Keep that attitude up and you'll get one."

"Professor Barnes!" Velvet slipped from my mind. "How goes it? Did you find any books for me?"

"One better. I think a dungeon just opened up. Did you just do something with your game?"

"Yea, I cleared the Forever Fall Temple. The entrance sunk into the ground and everything. I was expecting the 'get that tutorial complete' message, but then I remember I got that in Vale-" while kidnapped "- so it's been a little anticlimactic. Oh, the dryad was grown up this time, but I still cooked her easy. Not much of a boss rush."

"No shit, Torga, that was your tutorial dungeon. First one you entered, low floor count, easy enemies, and you quite literally had to do it as part of a tutorial. I'm willing to bet everything in there had a vulnerability to your basic skills?" I winced at the thoughts of plant creatures and skeletons.

Barnes continued. "Arthur used to complain to me about the high level dungeons, the puzzles and monsters they faced. You know, their final dungeon had 25 bosses, and 2500 floors? If time hadn't been distorted, by his count it took them 12 years to complete."

I let out a low whistle. "So where's this new dungeon?"

The professor had the decency to look somewhat ashamed. "It's… Kind of underneath my office."

Beacon's Basement
Current Difficulty: Above Average
Floors: B25
Sub-Dungeon: Beacon Warrens
Current Difficulty: Hard
Floors: B5

"So." I said, standing before the odd hole underneath the desk in Mr. Barnes' office. "I take it this wasn't here before."

"Right."

I knelt down, grabbing a pencil off his desk and tossing it into the hole. It vanished upon touching the first step, and I rose.

"Yep, this is a dungeon. We'll keep out until after the tournament, though. I'm in no rush to charge in, not when I have some skills to train. Although, Prof, would you know where I could sell a bunch of gold?"

The professor paused from his packing up of his belongings - he wouldn't be staying in this office, of course - to slap a palm across his face. "You looted a wall, didn't you."

"A door." Lie Ren corrected.

"A door-frame." Pyrrha corrected right back.

I sighed. "Yes. I looted a wall. At home, I would drop it all off with a smith who'd give me a bulk price."

Mr. Barnes shrugged in response. "Go find a jeweller and start making your way up the supply chain. Just make sure you clear this soon, I've had this office for 7 years and I would very much like it back."

"Or you could make pretty jewellery and just sell that." Nora mentioned, poking around the office with disregard for the professor.

My eyes lit up. I whipped open my inventory, pulled out a bit of the gold, and started dropping other materials into my other hand. After 5 minutes, I had nothing. "Armoury?"

My team was on the same page, and I left Barnes office with good cheer.

That cheer ran out when I saw Cardin standing against the wall, arms crossed and expectation writ large across his features.

"You guys go ahead." I gave Pyrrha a nod at her accusatory gaze. "I'll be right down."

My team went one way, Cardin the other. I jogged a step to catch up, listening to familiar voices fade away down the hall.

"Thought you usually went home on the weekends."

Cardin shrugged. "It's been weird lately. Dad's obsessed with the White Fang, spends all his time watching scroll vids from politicos and ranting over dinner about how nobody is doing anything to stop the 'dirty half-breeds'." His step faltered, mortified. "You heard none of that."

"Winchester, I don't give a shit about your parents."

We walked silently for a bit.

"So Velvet's kind of cute." Oh Divines, I'm not gonna sit here and talk about girls.

"What did you need from me, Cardin?" I ignored his question, cutting to the chase. He sighed in response, quite uncharacteristic of him, and I took the moment to look.

"An explanation of that crazy shit that just happened? What the fuck happened to Terry? He still hasn't woken up!"

"Terry…?"

"Team RUTT, you moron. Terry's a ward of my uncle, he's like a cousin and apparently his team leader said you beat the shit out of all of them before he passed out too. Teleporting magic stairs, the healing fire, th- holy shit, Thrush got it, didn't he? Is that your Semblance?"

I stopped. Apparently this was not like Skyrim where you could explain something away as 'magic' most of the time.

"Of a sorts. I do have game power."

"All the time or just in dungeons."

"All the time."

The motherfucker stabbed me in the face with a dagger.

I felt no bloodlust, so was unprepared when the blade sank through my nose, into my face and scraped off the skull befo-

The wound was gone and Cardin stood before me looking pleased, and much less stressed.

I stared at him coldly. "Explain or prepare to burn."

He dropped the dagger and held both hands up, backing away. The metal clattered against stone. For effect, I pushed forth the Lightning Dust from the Factory and allowed it to become visible on my hands. He occasionally flinched when a streamer-spark shot out near to him.

"It was a dare?"

I formed the beginning of an Air Slash in my hand, knowing that if I threw now, it would travel faster but not absorb the lightning dust. I didn't need it to, I just needed my hands to start crackling more aggressively.

"Really! Velvet told me to!"

I dropped the display in confusion. "What…? Why?"

"I don't know, she just said I owed her for the shit in the caf at the start of the year, then said she would forget about it if I stabbed you in the face. I would never if it would actually hurt you!"

"Well, for future reference, it does still hurt. I felt your dagger push its way through my sinuses and onto my skull. I felt every grab and slip as you yanked it out. I got to feel the odd, hollow, wet sensation of being stabbed much closer to my eyes than I ever would have wanted."

Cardin flinched multiple times as I spoke, though when I was done I kept walking. "Was that it? Girl told you to stab me so you did?"

He caught up, seeming to think my mood had passed. "Well, no. And I wouldn't do it for any girl."

"So Velvet is special, then?" The Divines had a glorious sense of comedy, and I had almost missed it.

"No! It's just… well, you know. It's Velvet."

I nod in understanding. "Yes. A big strong rabbit, come to pull you from beneath the pile of undead terrors. She must have cut a striking figure as she saved your ass."

To my complete and utter shock, he nodded. "She really did. I thought we were fucked. Not right then, of course, but the skellies just kept coming and Thrush was no closer to killing those weird bears than when we started."

I fought back a laugh at him calling Trolls 'weird bears'. "Okay… Putting that aside for now, what did you want explained? I'll cover what I can."

I hadn't thought of making a proper ally out of Cardin, but with the reminder of his family… Well, dumb views or not, noble backing was noble backing.

"Why'd you beat up Terry's team?"

I looked at him oddly. "Cardin, tell me: Of the two beings wearing this armour during our time down there, which one cleared the dungeon?"

He sighed. "Yep, thought so. Nothing we can do there, other than take the note that you could solo Team RUTT while drunk. So… that was actually a video-game dungeon. And you got levels and stats and loot from it."

"Correct."

"But we didn't."

"You weren't in the party."

"Can we?" He looked at me hopefully, and I genuinely thought about it. My own team could only keep up for so long, as they needed to sleep. I briefly considered running a day and a night-shift to accompany me into the dungeons, but… Well, I was cautious about this. If anything, I would just rotate my own team. No reason to get CRDL killed if another situation comes up where they can't defeat an opponent.

I look him over. He appeared eager and determined, yes, but… "We can consider it. I will tell you right now: I'm not doing your whole team, and I won't neglect my own. I also expect a future favour from the Winchester Family."

His face fell at the last. "I can try. Its just… Well, Father really doesn't like Hunter's Gate. Like, he despises it. Says the new generation doesn't know what it means to be a Hunter, and we've already started ruining the next with TV."

"My terms stand, and the show wasn't my idea."

Cardin sighed. "Any hint of what the favour is for?"

I shrugged. "If I had something I needed done right now, that would be my condition instead."

"Yea, yea, I know how it works." He tapped something into his scroll, which vibrated back not 10 seconds later. "You free tomorrow? Father wants to finally meet."

"Shouldn't he meet Velvet first, being your future wife and all?" Cardin let out another sigh.

"One comment. One comment about how she struck an impressive figure and now we're engaged. God, you don't know shit about women, do you?"

I let my immediate response die in my throat. I really didn't, though that didn't stop my late wife from breaking through to me.

"Who needs skill with women when you're a dragon slayer? 'My hero, won't you please stay for dinner and the evening?' Shit dude, I got propositioned by couples."

Cardin let out a hearty laugh. "I bet you did. But yes, Father has invited you and your team for… tea."

"What's that?"

He looked at me oddly, then waved a hand. "Really? Even tea? It's like coffee but worse, it's not important. He won't be expecting ceremony out of you so don't try. Just uh… Try not to mention me getting saved by a faunus."

"How about by a woman?"

"That either."

"How about by an older student?"

"That- actually, that should be fine, so long as you tell him I improved after and didn't make the same mistake."

I turned to him. "Are people's parents usually this involved?"

His face fell. Cardin turned out to be quite expressive when his guard was let down. "No, I just… Well, again, Father doesn't want this out, but I have a little sister. She's sick, so she can't do much other than lie in bed. Sharp as a Nevermore's beak, but…"

My stomach twisted. Such an existence would never have been allowed to happen in Riverwood, but it's clear Cardin cares for her. He did not resent her as a burden, nor need to take time to accommodate her shortcomings. It was the attitude of a noble, though… I had seen what they called a 'hospital', finally. It was not the grim place to die I had imagined, but bright and clean, filled with professionals who not only attempted to ease pain but genuinely cure ailments. I had thinking to do, and I resolved to do that as I continued to listen as he talked about how all the pressure had been on him since his mother had left.

"One would think your Father would be worried about her, not you." I said as diplomatically as possible.

"He does! But he just fucking hides her away! He stripped her of the Winchester Lineage rights when she was just 3. Should Father and I die, rather than it all going to her, it goes to the Council. It makes me fucking livid when I think about it. I've thought about emancipating so he wouldn't have a choice, but then he could bar me from the estate and I'd never see her again. Fuck, sorry. Don't mean to unload on you."

"Okay but if you're in charge after your Father passes it on, then why can't you just add her back in?"

"Age. I could marry her in, but I won't because that's gross. I could adopt her, but we are too close in age, and I could take her as a ward, but only after I'm over 25."

"...so you want me to kill him?" I asked, just to be certain it wasn't the case.

He laughed at the perceived joke. "No offense, Torga, but I don't think you could. Yet!" He corrected when I shot him a glare. "Yet. He's not individually powerful, but he has the best armour money can buy, and enough Dust contraptions to blow Beacon off the cliff. Besides, he's still my father… Asshole he may be, but I don't want him dead."

"Maybe you should go date Velvet, give him a heart attack."

Cardin chuckled at the uneasy topic, stress largely gone and a spring in his step that wasn't present before. "Heh, maybe. Hell, we could accomplish the same by bringing you home."

Ah, there it is. I was wondering why he was being so friendly. "So that's a thing."

"Yep."

"Didn't know you felt that way Cardin."

"I don't."

"Then…."

He turned. "We were just talking about killing my father and you think I wouldn't pretend to be gay? Go kick rocks, dumbass."

I took the ribbing deservedly. "Alright, that's fair. Though I never asked, how's the uh… opinion, on that kind of thing around here. Home, it varied from Hold to Hold." While I personally wouldn't share a bed with a man -what's the point?- I knew a few who would, both men and women. They still swung their swords and loosed their arrows with skill, so I cared not who shared which tent at the end of the day.

He shrugs. "Same. Vale's pretty middle of the line as far as social issues go. We have faunus employment programs, hate speech laws, homeless shelters, the works. Atlas would likely be the worst, with either Vacuo or Menagerie being the best, though don't tell father I said the M word."

"Menagerie is that White Fang hideout country right?" I dismissed the very idea of hate speech as laughable. I could show them one shout and have them redefine the term.

Cardin glared at me. "No, Torga, it is not. It's a naturally defended island lacking major dust deposits. It was a place we threw the Faunus rebels and sympathisers, under the guise of 'giving them their own Kingdom'."

"Without Dust."

"Oh, no, the Schnee Dust Company was very adamant about acquiring sole trade rights with Menagerie, to help the poor faunus who by sheer coincidence had no natural Dust deposits. I don't think Jacques was involved, but he was alive… The first Kingdom-appointed leader said no, they would buy and sell dust to and from all. The second leader said sure, but only for 5 years, after which the deal is off. The third leader said yes, please, don't kill me like the first two. You won't hear that tidbit in public but Father does still brag about ensuring the faunus are put in their place."

"You seem to know a lot."

"The… Winchesters were heavily involved with the Schnees at the end of the War. Father sees it as a point of pride."

"And you?" I finally asked, though I hadn't waited long enough as he did immediately shut himself off. Not very noticeable if you weren't looking for it, but I watched as his facial expressions tightened, his shoulders set.

"The Winchester family is proud, and did what they had to do when they had to do it." He answered diplomatically. I rolled my eyes.

"Look, if you want training, you'll cut that political shit. Do you have anything against the faunus, yes or no? I'll train you either way, because again, cutting political shit, but it's only fair for me to know so I don't, say, bring you and Velvet out alone." His face went through a range of emotions.

"I wouldn't mind…" He answered quietly, and with many furtive glances.

"You wouldn't mind having something against the faunus?"

"No! I mean-" I punched his arm before he got started.

"Heh. How about that? So you do fancy her."

He glared at me. "Fucking duh.Have you seen her? I just can't."

I threw my hands up in frustration. "What the hell is with you people? You act like just because an option would be difficult, it doesn't exist at all! Of course you can! The only one who could stop you would be Velvet herself, not your old-ass father, not the media, not the stupid voice telling you 'but it's hard', nothing! There is always! Always. Always a choice. Until you figure that out, I'm not training you for shit."

"What?! But, you said-"

I whirled around. "I said I would consider it. Not when you're still this….." I gestured around. " though. All it would take is someone strong coming along, making you an ultimatum, then you betraying me because you felt you had no choice."

"So, what, if a Hunter broke your aura and put a gun to your head, you would refuse to do what he said out of principle?"

I fought the urge to scream. "No! I would beat the ever loving fuck out of whoever dared!"

"Your aura is broken, you can't fight any more."

I turned and left that increasingly frustrating conversation. "Always a choice." I reiterated as I walked off. "See you tomorrow."

Fortunately, the Flash Forge was able to break down the gold and create something new out of it.

Unfortunately, doing so triggered an emergency response system, and I got to spend my afternoon in Ozpin's office explaining to the police that, if nobody anywhere was missing any gold at all, it was impossible for me to have stolen this gold. It had then developed into me finding it when we got there, or to tripping over it in the hall, or to it being a gift from my mother, to the officer's frustration and our hilarity.

Glynda spent the whole time glaring at me with what I only assumed was vindication, whereas Ozpin's rep went up whenever I gave a smart-ass answer.

"Tell us where it came from."

"A wall."

"Who did this wall belong to?"

"Well, me, now."

"Before you?"

"No idea, it was abandoned."

"There was an abandoned wall? Where?"

I shrugged. "Dunno. Got the gold, so I didn't bother marking the location down."

"I find that hard to believe. An abandoned wall that nobody has heard of could signify a ruin, and tips on those go for hundreds of thousands of lien."

"Oh, good, so I am getting paid for this."

"No, you aren't, this is an investigation, not a voluntary information exchange."

Ozpin spoke up. "This one was already claimed anyways." He neglected to mention that it was likely him who had discovered and gotten paid for the mundane version of the Forever Fall Temple. Ironically, I had never stepped inside anything but my version of the dungeon.

"Huh. Say, officer, is there a reward for information regarding an ongoing investigation?"

"Not when you're a part of it."

"Alright…" There goes that idea. "Well…"

I slipped the cuffs into my inventory, then walked over to where the small cube of gold sat on Ozpin's desk. The officer interrogating me looked at my unbound hands in alarm, and was looking there when I tucked the cube back into my inventory. That done, I went back to my chair, and re-equipped the handcuffs.

"What investigation? If you're quite done, I want to report a robbery. Somebody stole my gold."

Ozpin sipped his coffee, but for a second I thought I saw the slightest shake of his shoulders.

If he hadn't told me that the police could do literally nothing to a huntsman that didn't turn him or herself in voluntarily, this would have been a prison sentence. They were there to politely ask if I had any information, and I was here watching the alert for the Armoury go off over…. And over… and over…

After the first one, Ozpin had done something, and now his personal terminal read:

Are you sure you want to restart?

Meanwhile, a silent alarm rang incessantly in the background, completely unheard, and visuals going ignored.

Nora leapt from her golden throne, an impractically large crown dangling from her head as chains, rings, and hoops jangled every which way. "Reeeeeen, you've given me literally everything but a riiiiinnngg."

A golden frisbee flew by, not flying so much as forcefully cutting through the air. It was enough to distract Nora for a moment, while Pyrrha stood at the edge of the slowly growing pile of goods. Ren fed another golden cube into the Flash-Forge, then cracked the door on the one that had just finished and withdrew a wireframe dodecahedron, before resetting the device and setting it to make a sword. It would be useless, being made of gold, but there were only so many designs already in the system.

Torga had just told them to forge it all, quickly. He hadn't specified into what, so Ren made himself a solid gold tea set with the next few cubes.

He could want nice things too, occasionally.

"Headmaster, can we please stop wasting time?" One of the local authorities begged. He was in some black uniform. "We know, as per usual, that this school is full of chaos. We know some semblance went off or some kid shot a gun and now we're here asking questions - again."

Ozpin nodded. "Very well. There is chaos afoot, gentlemen, and only the brave men of the Vale Police Department - who are coincidentally out of their jurisdiction up here - can save us. You are our only hope." He waved to the door idly.

Nora would have had fun with this… I thought to myself as the investigators - a pair of men, one old and jowled and the other young and unsure - tried to figure out wether we were taking the piss out of them.

We were doing just that in an odd display of solidarity. It had all begun when, after being retrieved from the Armoury by Goodwitch and sent up - "There are more important things to be done than yell at a wall, yet we do so again…" - Ozpin had simply given me a grin upon entering. He had then proceeded to tell the investigators that he had no idea what they were talking about, but had called up the primary armoury user to hopefully answer his questions.

We then bounced their questions back and forth.

"That would be a question for the operator."

"No, I didn't notice anything while operating."

"Officer, I'm not sure what you're implying, but if Beacon had a secret stash of gold, we would be using it to renovate, not in a Flash Forge."

"Yes, there was gold. How it got there? No idea, officer, it was already in the system."

"Hm… Looks like the cameras weren't recording at that time. Odd."

"Oh yes, I agree, the timestamp means I should have seen the gold get input. I don't know what to tell you officers, I didn't see any thieves."

At this point, and I wondered a bit harder about this happening so easily, the investigators had written down most of the information as Hunter Activities, Semblance-Related incidents, and - my personal favourite - Beacon Standard Operating Procedure. Within another two minutes the two had dejectedly left. Within 5 seconds of the elevator closing, I had burst out laughing. By the time I finished, Ozpin was composed, but I could have sworn that he, too, laughed like a human.

I settled in, making the decision to take this opportunity. "Does this happen often?"

"You'll need to be more specific, Torga." He didn't say Mr. Arc, we must be clear.

"Giving local authorities the run-around."

"Ah." He sipped his coffee. "Yes, that does happen quite often, though I'm usually not so lucky to be personally involved."

"And… Why were you this time?"

He spun his terminal around to reveal a CCTV screen of the Armoury, where Pyrrha stood beside Ren, both wearing minimalistic golden bands around every conceivable location - biceps, forearms, neck, head, wrists and ankles, it went on.

Nora stood atop her mound, wielding a massive golden hammer, yelling something that couldn't be heard over the clanging of shifting metal goods.

"Because our televised team is acting their age, for once, but doing so in a way that would anger the majority of any who saw it. Most families could not afford even one of those baubles, and yet your team-mates are using what is likely 10 years salary for the common worker as a soccer ball. In fact, I've already captioned and sent it out to a few of my colleagues."

He swiped across to find a still of Pyrrha, eyes and smile wide with excitement as she held two different diadems in her hands, holding them up to her face while Ren patiently held a plate up as a mirror. Nora was in the back, kicking a statue of a boarbatusk. Beneath it all, the caption:

What are you doing with your wealth?

"I think some ma-" The ding of a returning message. "Of course."

He turned the terminal again to show me a response. A veritable mountain of gold and platinum coins, with the corpse of a dragon atop it. Posing, barely visible within the deceased dragon's expansive maw, were the smiling forms of Team MRAJ.

My jaw dropped, Ozpin chuckled, and we shared a moment of despising Jakk.

"Ozpin?"

"Yes, Torga."

Nothing to do but go for it. "You're not trying to kill me, are you?"

He sighed. "Two things, Torga. First, I make it a habit of not killing my students."

I nodded. That seemed fair. "And the second?"

"Quite frankly, I'm insulted. Do you honestly think that should the Headmaster of Beacon put his mind to a task, he would fail?"

I gulped at his implication. "No sir."

He smiled. "Good day."

"What do you want?"

I cringed slightly. I was standing before the only occupied room in the fourth-year west wing. The graduating class was not nearly as large as the year before, so an entire wing of dormitories had gone unused.

Save for one occupied room, with one irate woman glaring at me from beyond a chain-locked door.

"To apologise." I ground out. I didn't see the need for it, I didn't want to do it, but Pyrrha had helpfully put it into perspective where I could realise I was being too hard on the show-runners. They were simply trying to do a job. Deanna wasn't stalking us with a camera because she wanted to. Oh, I'm certain at first this would have been a great assignment, being one of the few civilians to spend an extended stay in Beacon, but… well, we weren't the most charismatic of teams.

Then I had checked the quality of the episodes when we were engaging versus when we were ignoring, and while the latter was more true to what actually happened…. It was boring. No drama, no excitement, less action. I didn't realise how much I missed the cutaways for someone in my team to explain something until they stopped happening.

Deanna scoffed. "Don't want it, don't need it." She said before shutting the door in my face. I sighed, and knocked again.

"Go away, it's the weekend."

"Not until you let me apologise." The twist in my gut had now left, I wasn't here begging for forgiveness, I was here to declare my regret and extract her pardon. Put like that, the rest was much easier.

The door flew open to a room much larger than ours. It had a couch, three desks, and a small kitchen set, while four doors led off from the main room. In the middle of it all, arms crossed over a baggy hoodie and sweatpants, Deanna stood like a mother about to reprimand her child.

"Well? Get on with it then. I've got a bath running."

"Wha- but ther-" Focus, Torga, not here to debate the superior bathing method. "Right. Deanna, on behalf of Team JNPR, and more specifically myself, we would like to extend our offer of apology. I recognize the hardships me and mine have placed upon you and yours, and would put them behind us in favour of working together to survive."

She blinked, oddly. "What kind of apology was that? Something from Skyrim?"

For some reason, my body felt lighter at hearing someone else use the name of my home, after so long. "Thank Divines you asked. That was an informal apology from house to house. It was the closest I could get to the situation, considering Alan."

"Don't you worry about him. What would you have given if he wasn't involved?"

I grinned, happy she had asked this too. "Well, it would be an informal apology from a house to a maiden. It would involve the verbal apology, and a declaration of favour that could take many forms, from gifts to service."

She smirked. "I ain't no maiden."

I rolled my eyes. "Most aren't. You won't find such foppish sows in Skyrim. However…" I pulled deep, remembering the one time I had apologised to a maiden who was not my wife. Considering it was to widow Elisif, I tweaked it slightly. Pulling off my helmet - which didn't match the Stahlrim armour anyways - and laying it on the ground, I got onto one knee and carefully pulled my sword out, resting it gently tip down in the carpet. I bowed my head and spoke.

"I come on behalf of Team Juniper to humbly request your consideration amidst your loss. We have acted in haste and rashness, bringing dishonour and ruin to our names in our actions against you. We - I - have caused you grievance, and should you wish it, I will take it upon myself fourfold in recompense. I ask that you bear the noble mantl-"

I was cut off as she burst out laughing, and begun pawing halfheartedly at my armour, trying to get me up. I didn't rise, but still looked up at her face filled with mirth.

"Oh lord! Oh gods, you- you actually-" She burst out again, actual tears coming from her eyes as indignation started to rise within. I quashed it. My goal was to get forgiveness and I would complete my task however I could.

"Did you kill some lady's husband?"

I looked over and saw Alan, for once without the camera. He too was dressed in casual wear.

"I… it was war." I said as an explanation.

"Did it work?"

"The war? Yes, Skyri-"

"No, not the war stupid. The apology. Did you actually go and apologise to a widow for killing her husband? Did she forgive you?"

"I.. It was more complicated than that. The widow was the Jarl of Solitude, our contended capital, and head domestic commander of the Empire's Legions. I was sent to apologise to the Widow on behalf of the Stormcloaks, before I realised that both sides were bloody children who wanted to take their ball and go home, everyone else be damned. It… it was meant to give the Stormcloaks legitimacy, or so they told me. I was allowed to leave the Blue Palace as a gesture of exactly how far the forgiveness went. Got an arrow through the arm as I was leaving."

"So you apologised to someone you didn't know on behalf of someone else that wasn't there and got shot for it?"

I nodded, slightly embarrassed. Alan walked over and scooped a hand under my armpit, hoisting me up with impressive strength. He then gave me a slap on the back that didn't do anything other than make a sound and cause him to shake his hand. "Apologising to women. Looks like it's not safe anywhere. Did you bring flowers?"

He ducked a slap that looked like it was moving in slow motion - civilians were slow - and laughed, going back to his room. "You're just proving me right!"

She glared at the closed door for a moment, and I took that time to bring her gift out of my inventory. "It's not flowers, but…"

"Is… is that real?" She fainted.

I sat with my team on Training Field 3. It had become familiar, with its logs at one end, the torn up grass from our spars at the other, and the plain wooden bench in the middle. I'd used many dojos, been taught by many people in many strange places.

This field felt more like home than any.

The reason we had taken to meeting here was the lack of cameras. Sure, we had found the one under the bench, and there was a sneaky one that came up from the ground periscope style, but we had found a spot that was both out of vision and hopefully out of earshot of the bugs.

"Vytal Tournament." I started. "Who wants to fill me in?"

Nora and Ren looked right to Pyrrha who sighed. "The Vytal Festival is a grand carnival and trade expo. The festival rotates between the Kingdoms each year, and the top minds of Remnant come out to show the world their new inventions, advances in existing tech, concepts, art, performance… The Vytal Festival is to remind Remnant that we are alive, and we are more than just prey hiding from the Grimm." She paused for a beat. "The tournament happens too."

"Okay…? Can anyone else actually fill me in?" Pyrrha looked over with a feigned gasp, and I grinned at her.

"It changes per year, but they typically have an upper and lower bracket of ages, start with team battles, to 2-on-2's, to finish with duels."

"Thanks, Ren. Anything special about the rules?"

Nora chipped in. "Amity Colliseum has a dust-powered variable landscape arena." At my blank look she continued. "They'll set a random terrain before the match."

"Ah. I see."

"Don't worry about the tournament, Tor." Nora said happily. "You should be excited for the carnival! I bet Skyrim never had carnivals, it sounds too cold."

"Atlas has carnivals." Ren defended.

"No, Skyrim never had anything like a carnival. The closest we would get would be solstice festivals, though that was more about a guaranteed day to bring your goods to market. The guards worked overtime to cull the wilds beforehand too, to make travel safe for those who otherwise couldn't."

"Is there anything in your culture that wasn't focussed on death?" Pyrrha asked.

I thought for a moment, then lifted a finger.

"Or racism."

"It wasn-"

"Fine, speciesism." I gave Ren a dirty look, because only an Altmer would be of the opinion that seeing different species as, y'know, different was a bad thing.

Stupid Altmer.

"Then yes, th-"

"Oh, or hunting! No death, speciesism, or hunting."

"You know, we had music and art. I was a warrior, though, not a musician or an artist, which is why I don't know too much."

"Do you remember any songs?" Pyrrha asked.

Our hero, our hero, the Dragonborn comes….

"Not a singer, but they wrote a few about me. I didn't like them." I answered shortly, and that cut off the conversation.

"Have you had cotton candy?"

"No, Nora."

"Funnel cakes?"

"Still no, Nora."

"Aww… Oh, how about sweet rolls?" I perked up.

"What now?"

"Sweet rolls! It's a pastry thats full of cinnamon and sugar and icing and they're sooooo good! Ren, make sweet rolls!"

He spoke from where he was lying back on the grass, watching the clouds. "Cinnamon buns."

I sighed, and plopped back down myself. I could see Deanna and Alan off to the side, on the bench. Deanna was wearing a much lower cut shirt than she usually did, though the reasoning was clear.

It was to show off the massive gold necklace she now wore, a thin but wide chain holding a set Ice Dust crystal. Wasteful to use Dust for Jewellry, but I had another motive.

That necklace was the first thing I crafted to have an effect. Specifically, resistance to heat. If she would be attending classes and spars, I didn't want to accidentally cook her with a poorly placed Yol.

I still planned to give Alan one, but only once Deanna's vanity wears off and she asks me to swap it out for something more discreet.

"Torga, what does your armour do?"

"Keeps me safe."

"The enchantments."

"Carry weight, carry weight, carry weight, magic resist, fire immunity, cold resist."

"Fire immunity?" Pyrrha perked up.

"Well, yes, as long as the charge lasts. What, you expect me to go hunt dragons with a wooden shield and a plucky attitude?"

"Why did you say 'carry weight' three times?" Nora asked.

"Because I have three separate enchantments for it."

"Why?" Oh I loved Nora sometimes. No matter how irate I made my answers, she just followed along with the conversation until BAM! Nora.

"They're a bit of a story. I originally just had it on my boots, though I had forgotten when, during my travels, I had been beset by a wandering necromancer. I dropped my bag to do battle, and began to fight. It was early in my days as the Dragonborn, and I was not very skilled."

"I managed to defeat two of his skeletons but his draugr, a large corpse, hit me in the chest with a Warhammer. A blow that should have sent me sprawling just knocked me back a step."

"See, carry weight also helps you stay stable. So with three separate enchantments, I'm as stable as I can get without sacrificing my other defenses."

I laid back and relaxed.

"So? What happened next?"

I opened an eye and looked over to see Nora riveted. I pushed myself back up to sitting. "Well, with all of his minions dealt with, a necromancer is just a less specialised spell caster. I had to do what I did in the older days, move quick from cover to cover until he was out of mana, then shoot him with a bow."

"You used a bow?" Pyrrha asked.

I nodded. "Most everyone could, to a certain degree. Hunting was important."

Lie Ren flippantly raised a hand. "Along with sticking it to the elves and surviving, yes."

I let out a bark of laughter as I lay back to relax again. "Now you're getting it. Add in some ancient heritage and dangerous folklore and that's my Skyrim for you."

Nora asked. I told her about Spriggans. It was fun.

"Do we have to?" To my surprise, Pyrrha was putting up the most resistance to tea at the Winchester estate.

"We never have to do anything. I'm going to do this because I'm going to level Cardin up a bit, and I want his family to owe me a favour. Unless the Nikos family has more sway in Vale? Can I extort your parents for favours too?"

"Not in Vale, no." She responded with an odd turn to her voice. "And I doubt they would see you as a worthy teacher, no offence."

I didn't think there was a way to not take offence. "Then I'll sit through a drink with the man. He invited the whole team. A half hour out of our day isn't such a big deal."

Pyrrha rolled her eyes. "Tea at a noble's estate isn't about drinking tea, it's about showing off hospitality and talking business. If he knows about this favour you're asking for training, he's going to want to talk about the details."

"What?" I responded, waving her off. "Don't be silly. He invited me for tea. It'll be fine."

This is not fine.

I seethed internally as my cup was filled up again by some quiet bald man in a waistcoat. Pyrrha sat politely to my right, while Ren did his best to actually enjoy the tea, though he had early on muttered that it was a disgrace to prepare the blend with such blasphemy. That was two hours ago. I was sick of tea.

Nora had given up all pretence of politeness and was sitting with her head plopped onto her arms on the table. I only knew she wasn't sleeping because Nora snored heavily. I sat ready to kick her leg in case she did.

Mr. Winchester, on the other hand, was continuing to go on about the glory of his ancestors all the way back to the original founding of Vale. At least he had dragged Cardin in, though the boy had shot me a glance as if to apologise then had faded into a middle distance stare.

We had tea. We then had some crackers, and more tea. We then had cakes, and tea. Finally, it was tarts, and tea. Now there was more tea.

"-hen we had them on the ropes! All it took was some admittedly heavy handed appli- there you are you old fart, took you long enough. Do any of you youngsters smoke?"

I snapped myself out of my misery. "Smoke?"

"Yes, lad listen up, I swear your generation is always daydreaming. Cigar?"

My eyes widened and I latched onto the first common point I could find with the man.

My cigar was trimmed and lit, and tasted all too wrong. I looked at it with veiled disgust.

"Vacuan Tobacco." Mr. Winchester bragged. "Almost impossible to grow out there in the desert but where they do…"

I nodded to be polite, but refrained from smoking the thing until it was about to go out. I understood 'It's Expensive' talks from the rich folk and I have no qualms about wasting their unsolicited gifts.

Although he did ask…

"I'm sure it's quite the process."

Mr. Winchester waved it off. "Fine application of dust solves most problems. Now, to business: my boy tells me you would like a favour from our family. I'm sure you know I can't just hand over an open-ended favour."

"I know it's not easy to do." I countered, content to leave many more things unsaid.

"Well that is the crux of all of my problems, isn't it? Possible, but not easy."

I almost laughed at the familiarity, and would have leaned to the side to place a bet on this man being about to ask us to do something for him had my team not distanced themselves from the noxious smoke. I wished I could join them without being rude.

"Mr. Winchester, I am not a fan of talking in circles. Cardin requested my help with some tutoring and-"

"Tutoring, my boy? You said he was offering your lazy bones a job!" He interrupted to demand answers of Cardin, who in turn seemed to shrink into his seat a little as he was pulled out of his stare.

"I don't hire unskilled people." I said by way of answer, which mollified him.

"So an internship? You'd like us to give you a favour for my son working for you?"

I was truly lost as to what Cardin had told his father, and I was not happy about it.

"People that work with me have a habit of getting unreasonably powerful in a short amount of time."

"Ha! So spoke each and every combat tutor to approach my door. Never before has that been one of Cardin's classmate's, but I will not be changing my answer now. Cardin has access to the best tutors money could buy-"

"Second." Cardin coughed, making his father flinch.

"... the best tutors money can buy, and will not be losing-"

"He already did." Pyrrha finally spoke.

A memory came back. "Yea, I beat him. HE brought out a Super Dust Crystal, I ran through it and punched him in the face. A month ago."

"I am… aware, of that farcical bout my son was placed in. Shameful."

I did a double take from where I was looking longingly out the tall window. It was such a nice day out…

"Farcical? Would you care to explain?" Pyrrha leapt to my defence in a heartwarming display.

"Easy, my girl!" Pyrrha did not like being called that, from the way the corner of her mouth twitched. "It's that blasted show, they had my son's team throw the fight to build hype and viewer count!"

I grit my teeth, happy we had the crew waiting outside. They wouldn't be happy about how long we had taken. "Cardin, set him straight."

"Father! It was you who told me that a Winchester does not pick on the weak, for the next day they may be lords?"

"My brother is the one who usually said that, rest his soul. Why? Are you making that claim of this man? That he is weak, but will one day be a lord? An odd way to put it."

"No! He lacks the lineage, but…" Cardin seemed to be having trouble getting something out.

"But what, speak my boy!"

"But he should be!"

You could cut through the silence with a rubber ball. I personally did a double-take at Cardin, not knowing where or when he had gotten that opinion of me.

Thankfully, Cardin's father waved it off. "I'm sure he'll marry into a nice family-"

"No, not like that. Father, even among our classmates he has influence." I do? "Were I to be seen alongside as a friend and ally, it could bolster our reputation."

"Nonsense. You have a most stellar reputation already, scion of mine."

I dropped the cigar in the ashtray provided, crossing my arms and standing. "Not really. Your son had a reputation as an anti-faunus fanatic and a bully. No idea what it's like now, but the Winchester name didn't bring him anything other than a later stop on the attendance list, not in Beacon."

"I think it's best you leave."

"I think so too. Cardin, are you coming to the party?" He flinched. I would too, seeing a party invite pop up in my face out of nowhere. He recovered well, but did not interact with it.

"I didn't get you the favour." Rather than indignation, I noticed Mr. Winchester sat calmly watching the proceedings.

"I didn't really want it. My time isn't free, that's all. We can figure something else out."

He tapped through to join, and I had a full party again. "Well Mr. Winchester? Last chance. I'll be training your son either way, but it's up to you if I'm going to be doing that for my friend, or for the Winchesters."

The fucker had the audacity to shoo me away.

I growled. " Dungeon Create: Training Grounds."

Just clearing a few things up. I'm going to try and post chapters weekly - or biweekly - on Thursdays. Will I miss some? Probably.

Second: This fic was unplanned when I started it. I have a basic framework now. We're about halfway through the second arc of 5, which I can't label for you without spoiling things.

Lastly: Don't need ideas anymore. I've considered writing a RWBYxSkyrim fic excluding the Gamer, because at this point the Gamer's Mind is more of a curse for the author than it is a boon for the character. Do we expect Torga to make emotional mistakes? No! Do we expect him to make intelligence mistakes? Yes! Does this make him relatable - to me at least - at all? Not really! Just the opposite, in fact!

Guess I'm ranting a little. I still enjoy writing this though, so you can expect another chapter next week.