Author's Note: This is an OC centered story, though I have tried to make him powerful but balanced instead of OP. Also, while the worldbuilding is accurate through Volume 6, the plot will diverge almost immediately, and increase the gap as time goes on. Also, it has been a while since I watched the show, so some things won't line up perfectly.
Chapter 1: Entrance
Looking around the airship, Eirn tried to determine what he could about his future classmates. Unfortunately for his efforts, it seems most of them were average Hunter candidates, which should have been expected. The majority of anything are average for that thing, why should fighting physical manifestations of darkness be any different. Thankfully, a hologram of Glynda Goodwitch, the assistant headmistress at Beacon, appeared in the front of the cabin. As her speech wound down, he could feel the ship begin its descent. Finally. An introductory speech today, orientation tomorrow, four years of school, then I can hopefully set a record for Master rank before politics shuts me down.
Exiting the airship, a couple students in the distance stood out to him. Both young women, one had white hair and clothing, the other had black clothing with red accents, and her hair seemed to naturally match. The white girl was shaking something in the other's face, then FWOMP. Minor fire Dust explosion. Really? That was stupid. The angry one stalked off, leaving the girl in red on the ground. Eirn walked over.
"Hey, need a hand?" he asked, reaching down.
"Thanks," the girl said, taking it and standing up. "That was not the best introduction."
"Then why don't we make this one better? Hello, I'm Eirn Taurus, aspiring Huntsman, nice to meet you."
"I'm Ruby Rose, same." They started walking towards the main building of the school. There was silence for a couple seconds, then Ruby said "so, I've got this thing." And pulled out her weapon, unfurling it.
"A scythe, unconventional choice, though highly effective in the right situation." Eirn noticed a detail. "Also a bolt-action, presumably sniper rifle, given the length of the barrel/shaft, correct?"
"You are. (Yay I'm not the only weapon nerd!) She's a high caliber sniper scythe named Crescent Rose. What do you have?"
Eirn decided to keep things simple for now, and just grabbed his primary from his hip. "This is Sverdsperre, a falchion/glaive/hand cannon." He quickly shifted through the forms as he said them. "I must say, it is rare to see others who use the higher calibers, what made you choose that?"
"Well, in most cases, high caliber is better against Grimm, since they don't usually dodge, and those that do are small enough to easily take out with the scythe blade."
Eirn nodded. "Smart. Was Crescent Rose custom ordered, or did you build her yourself?"
"I built her, all students at Signal were required to make their own weapon. How about you?"
"Same. That is very smart, it makes it almost impossible for a student to not know how to fix and maintain their weapon." Eirn realized something. "You said you studied at Signal, correct?" Ruby nodded happily. "Then you probably don't know your way around." She looked over, slightly questioning. "I tested in, since I don't have any formal schooling. Follow me, I'll take us to the auditorium." He shifted Sverdsperre back to its falchion form, sheathing it again. Ruby collapsed Crescent Rose, sticking it to her back, following.
"Hey Eirn, if you don't mind, how did your weapon shift like that? It looks like it shouldn't be a shifting weapon?"
"As you obviously know, most weapons shift through mechanical processes, though your scythe is one of the smoothest I've seen. There are a few smiths who make what I like to call aura-shift weapons, which trigger and fuel the shift through a spike in the wielder's aura, rather than the more traditional mecha shift methods. I was lucky enough to have studied under one of the few master smiths who used this technique before I came here."
"Really? Why doesn't everybody use that?"
"Three reasons. First, much more Dust needs to be used during the forging, to allow for the reactions to trigger the shift. Secondly, it is much more difficult to get the same amount of material to hold two significantly different shapes, which is why my glaive blade is relatively thin and long, to help save on… memory space, for lack of a better term, since the glaive is basically moving material from the blade of the falchion to the handle. And thirdly, if I start running low on Aura, I need to decide whether to spend it shifting my weapon, or using it more conventionally, and the second one almost always wins out."
"Okay. Are there any other examples of aura shift weapons you know of?"
"I can't be sure, but it looked like the spear carried by the last winner of the Mistral Regional Tournament was an aura shift weapon, though it's hard to be sure with their cameras. Ah, we're here." They entered the back of the auditorium, and a blonde with a slightly ridiculous amount of hair looked over and waved.
"Hey Ruby, I saved you a spot!"
Eirn looked a Ruby, head tilted in question. "My sister."
"Okay, see you around, Ruby." She nodded, and left to yell at her sister. That was fun. I can't believe it was that easy to relate to a new person. Maybe this won't be so bad after all. Looking around, he found an empty spot, in front of a red hair young woman in bronze colored armor. "Excuse me, is this spot taken?"
She shook her head. "It's yours if you want it."
He nodded. "Thank you." He prepared to ask more, but Professor Ozpin walked on stage. After listening to the headmaster's speech, Eirn blinked a couple of times. That seemed weird. He followed the rest of the students to the ballroom where they would spend the night. Quickly, he found and claimed the corner nearest to the door, before settling to the floor. He pulled a well-worn, but obviously cared for, smithing manual out of his cloak, and settled in to read before bed. Tomorrow, I get to prove myself.
End Notes: Yes, I replaced Jaune. I have nothing against him as a character, but he was the easiest character to remove from Beacon from an in-universe perspective. It is strongly implied that Ozpin knew Jaune's transcripts were fake before allowing him into Beacon. Given that Beacon is spoken of as such a prestigious school, it would stand to reason that it only accepts a certain number of applicants each year, and which student would you rather have in those conditions: one who sent in fake test results, or one that you watched take a practical exam? Also, I added a practical exam as an option for entry, to help explain how people like Blake were able to get in. I plan on explaining it further in future chapters.