Hello, everyone! This is Umbra the Hedgehog signing back in! Well, guys, we've got an extra-long chapter on our hands this time. There's a lot we wanted to get done after the test, and it ended up being a bit longer than we first thought it was going to be, but hopefully, it's not going to be a slog to get through. Now that we've covered that, here goes something!
NOTE:
-This is a collaborative effort between me, Noctis Gaelum and Alastar the hawk. We claim ownership over nothing except our own original characters.
SMWK
Some time later, Set, Kale and Maza were at the lobby, waiting as instructed by Professor Ozpin.
"Well, guys… we made it." Kale let out a long sigh. "Whatever else happens, we're officially accepted."
Maza laughed at that. "I know! Talk about starting the lessons with a bang, right? Professor Ozpin could make a living organizing parties if he has ideas like this all the time."
Set, somewhat overwhelmed by the large crowd around him, spoke lightly. "Can someone pet me? I feel uneasy… again."
"You got it!" His friend immediately complied.
Taking their focus away from their group, the three were met by the sight of the other future students. All of them looked exhausted from the test, but they also looked fairly happy. There were a lot more of them than they were able to spot last night.
"Hey, guys, do you think you can spot our new teammate?" Maza asked, not forgetting that they were one team member short. "My Semblance doesn't really make me telepathic. It only gives me some vague details, and right now, we're surrounded by a lot of people. That's going to mess things up a little."
Kale started examining the crowd before them a bit more closely.
"Alright, we might have to look for someone in there who's not part of a group." He lightly bumped Set with his elbow. "See anything, little brother?"
"Can't say. Can't smell, either."
He found himself unable to perceive the scent of the person he detected at the forest. Whoever they were, he figured they might be the one.
"I'm just as limited as you are. All I'm hooking are a bunch of ripe armpits."
The three kept their eyes on the crowd for several moments, but there was no sign of anything.
"…Well, that's not good." Maza eventually broke the silence. "Looks like we'll have to find them the old-fashioned way, guys. Let's split up and see if we can spot someone who's on their own."
Before either one of the boys could answer, they were interrupted by a fourth voice.
"That would be a good idea."
Immediately turning to the source, they were once again met by Professor Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch.
"Yo. To what do we owe the honors?" Set asked, in an exceedingly casual manner.
Ozpin looked somewhat amused, whereas Glynda's stoic expression didn't change at all.
"Well, now that you've managed to survive your trip through the Emerald Forest, there is another matter that we need to discuss." The headmaster's voice remained the same as it did when they saw him earlier. "Follow me."
As the two adults began to walk away, the trio wasted no time in following.
"Say, do you guys like muffins, by any chance?"
The headmaster's office, right on top of Beacon Tower.
Somehow, the boy with the white scarf expected to end up here, but at the same time, he wasn't sure what could've prompted Glynda to ask him to come. What if it wasn't about the results of the test?
No… don't think like that. Stay calm. You made it in.
He put his hand on the glass window, staring right at his reflection as he did.
Focus. Just remember… you are a hunter. You do not feel fear. You… do not… feel fear!
He unconsciously began to add pressure to the window, which started to crack, when suddenly, the chime from the elevator brought him back to reality.
Right as he turned around, the shaft door opened, and he was greeted once again by the sight of Ozpin and Glynda.
"Professor Ozpin." The young man gave him a small bow, before turning to Glynda and doing the same thing. "Professor Goodwitch."
"No need for such formalities." Ozpin raised a hand as he spoke to the young man. "Now, please take a seat. There's something we must discuss."
As he complied, the two professors stepped out of the elevator, and he noticed that they had company with them.
The kind of company he would rather avoid.
Oh, no… not these people again…
It was the Faunus girl and her two friends. The same ones that had given him nothing but grief and irritation so far. Of all the teens that had arrived at Beacon, why would he bring them to his office?
"If I may ask, Professor, why did you bring more students here? I thought you wanted to speak with me in private." Despite his inner turmoil, the boy managed to stay calm and collected, merely raising an eyebrow in confusion as he spoke.
Before Ozpin could reply, however, he was interrupted.
"Wait…" It was the girl again. "…I thought he wanted to speak to us in private."
"In reality, you are both correct." Ozpin remained completely calm. "I wanted to address something that concerns all four of you."
"Alright, wizard. I'm listening. I'm hopin' this will make for a story for the grandpups." The other Faunus looked a bit uneasy, in spite of his carefree response.
The young man was appalled at his peer's seeming lack of respect for the headmaster, but before he could snap at him, he was stopped by Glynda's voice.
"As you'll recall, we said that you would be monitored for the entirety of your test." She crossed her arms. "And we noticed that one of you had a… unique strategy in mind."
He nodded in response, already having an idea of where this was most likely headed.
"That's right, Professor. You set some conditions in place for this test, so I was curious about what would happen if these conditions weren't met by design."
The girl gasped, seemingly understanding what happened, and he could see her pointing at him. "You're the one that was hiding in the tree!"
"Without a doubt. You reek the same…" The Faunus boy, once again as casual as can be, confirmed what his friend said. "You could use a shower, big guy."
"Thanks. I will keep it in mind once I get my own room." He replied with a nod before turning his attention to Ozpin. "After all, that is the only way things can go from here, right, Professor? I didn't make eye contact with anyone. Therefore, I don't have a partner or a team."
The taller teen of the group seemed confused. "Wait, how did you do that? The Emerald Forest isn't big enough for you to completely miss everyone. There were a lot of applicants."
"That, Mr. Midnight, is what I was talking about." Glynda let her arms down and reached for her pocket. "It appears he decided to venture through the forest while blindfolded."
As she explained this, her Scroll played footage of the young man untying his scarf, wrapping it around his head and over his eyes, and going through the forest while willingly unable to use his eyes to guide himself.
"Blindfolded?!" He asked again, this time raising his voice. "What?!"
"But… Prof. O, isn't that… cheating?" The male Faunus was somewhat disconcerted. "I mean, I'll admit that was clever, but this chess rook just looped a hole big enough to swallow Beacon whole!"
The young man with the scarf shook his head. "Not true. The rules clearly stated that the first person you made eye contact with would become your partner. Using your Scroll to find each other? That would be cheating. However, there is no rule that says one can't just go around the forest with their eyes closed, or for that matter, covered."
"But… but I found you!" The girl tried to counter, saddened by what she heard. "We're supposed to be partners!"
"You detected me, but did you actually see me?"
That seemed to confuse her. "Well, no, but…"
"Exactly. You saw him." He pointed at the boy on her left. "Ergo, you are partners with him, not me."
"I'm gonna tail in right there. As much as I'd love to be Muffincake's partner, I already had a partner when she tackled me, and it's the tall dude with the military jacket standing tall next to me." Said boy seemed quite angry at how his friend was being treated. "Also, check your Ergos before angrily blowing nonsense, you blasted, stiff jerk!"
He shrugged in response.
"As true as that might be, I just proved myself capable of traveling through dangerous terrain alone. The rules of the test no longer apply to me." Then he turned to the girl. "But don't feel bad. Think of all the possibilities that come with you being three. Beacon can accept a new last-minute applicant and they could be your partner. Heck, Professor Goodwitch and all of you can do try outs and select them personally. Even better, they'd be happier and less 'jerky' than me. The way I see it, it's a win-win."
"But then you'll be all alone." The girl frowned. "It wouldn't be fair to you."
He responded quite harshly. "Just give it a rest, girl. Rules are rules. We can't just go around and bend them to our will."
"You mean like you did?" The boy in the jacket was just as harsh in his tone. "We have to stick to the rules, but because you're not us, it's alright to ignore them?"
He shook his head. "What I did was find a loophole. I didn't bend nor ignore any rules; I just… thought outside the box."
"You're also finding my last nerve, pal." The male Faunus was quite at odds with the young man. "I suggest you choose your next words wisely, or you'll be Crimson Fang's next sharpening tool."
He just sighed and shook his head. "I don't get it. Do you want me to be a part of your team, even though you don't like me?"
"Look, I'm not a fan of the idea of us being in the same team. In fact, I hope and pray to the Maiden of the Blue Moon that we're not." The Faunus boy breathed heavily. "But you're trying to pass yourself off as some kind of special case, like you're superior to everyone else, and you're upsetting my friend. All high and mighty, but no respect… are we?" That last question was clearly intended as a mockery.
"Then it appears we are currently at an impasse. Every explanation and offer I give, you seem to respond to by refusing to open your mind to a new form of thinking. Professors, maybe you could help solve this?" He turned to the two adults. "I imagine this is the 'subject' you wanted to address."
"Indeed." Ozpin nodded in response. "First of all, I'd like to know… how did you manage to find your way around the forest with such a clear handicap?"
The man sighed and let his head drop down. "…If you must know, I just used my hearing."
"And as we all saw just a moment ago, you were able to retrieve a relic and bring it to us." Glynda interjected.
"That is correct."
"Care to elaborate? You're clearly not a Faunus, and yet, if what you say is true, then you just surpassed our best Faunus when it comes to hearing. I'd even dare to say that, if there were any records for hearing in the Faunus community, you've most likely broken them."
The Faunus girl suddenly shifted from sadness to impressed surprise. "Wow, can you really hear that well?"
The young man nodded in response.
"If I focus, my hearing far exceeds my eyesight." He closed his eyes and exhaled. "Professor Goodwitch just tightened her hold on her riding crop with her thumb and pinky. There is a fly standing on the wolf Faunus' left shoulder. Your temperature, based on your bodily sounds, is around 25°. There is a crack on the third window on the left side of this office. Your right foot—"
"Stop!" The girl shouted, seemingly unnerved at this. "We believe you."
"Young man, how exactly did you gain such an ability?" Glynda asked while trying to process what she had just witnessed.
For the first time, he cracked a smile as he looked at them.
"My teacher is a strong believer in equality when it comes to the battlefield. She is a Faunus, and the fact that I wasn't one didn't stop her from training me as one too. The results speak for themselves."
"They certainly do." Ozpin's reply brought the entire room's attention back to him. "And while it wasn't the most advisable course of action, I would like to congratulate you for completing the test in such a way."
"Thank you, Professor." His smile continued as he gave another bow. "Hearing that from you means a lot, and I bet my teacher would be particularly happy to hear it as well."
"I'm certain she would." The headmaster's tone remained calm. "Now, I believe you mentioned that you and Miss Reynard had… an encounter of sorts?"
As he said this, Glynda played the footage of their encounter.
The young man nodded. "I heard her… singing. I thought she might be in danger, so I rushed to her location."
"Awww, you were worried about me?" She asked, sincerely touched.
"I thought she was either a rookie, not familiar with the dangers of the place… or just a depressed girl with a death wish."
"I'll still take it as a sign that you care." The girl kept her smile in place.
The wolf Faunus shifted from frustration to surprise, followed by a loud snort.
"Well, all of a sudden I feel like takin' it all back. Looks like Titan's just a huge cuddly Ursa." He cackled. "You actually care!"
"I care enough to know that she will be safer under your protection." The man turned the comment around. "Too bad you don't share the sentiment."
As Glynda put her Scroll away, Ozpin continued.
"Did you run into anyone else?"
He shook his head. "Negative, Professor. Miss Reynard was the closest one, and she moved to a different location after I lured her toward these two."
"You can just call me Maza." Somehow, the girl's smile hadn't wavered in the slightest.
Glynda was next. "And as Mr. Prowl was keen to mention, he and his brother had made eye contact before you did this." She turned to the two boys. "Is that correct?"
"Yes, Professor Goodwitch." The taller one replied with a nod.
Ozpin spoke again. "Well, in light of this information, I'd say we can resolve this problem."
"And what do you propose, Professor?" The young man asked with mild intrigue.
The headmaster made his way to his desk.
"We can't rely on the rules that were established, so we'll have to account for your… unique strategy." He pulled his chair out and sat down. "And since Miss Reynard was the first person you were able to properly identify with your hearing…"
The young man raised an eyebrow. "You intend to pair us together based on the fact that we detected one another before anyone else?"
"Yay!" Maza tried to hug him.
However, he kept her at bay by placing one hand on her head, with her still attempting to reach him as he then turned his attention back to the two professors.
"That is precisely what we intend to do."
This situation was exactly what he was hoping to prevent. His plan had been to avoid getting attached to a group of clueless peers that would ruin his hopes, and this girl most definitely fit the bill. She seemed unfocused, overly peppy and too touchy-feely for his liking. He would rather be teamed up with a Beowolf.
And he thought he had the perfect escape. Stepping forward, he walked up to the desk, with Maza running past, filled with momentum, resulting in her tackling the brothers down to the ground by accident.
"Professor, with all due respect, I don't agree with this. By that logic, that would mean—"
But he had to stop himself in his tracks when he realized something.
…The first person he identified was the Schnee girl.
Weiss Schnee…
A few seconds passed before Ozpin finally broke the silence. "Yes?"
Teaming up with her? Over… my… dead… body!
Sighing in defeat, he looked back at those who were to be his teammates.
"Never mind. Looks like I will be teaming up with Miss Sugar Rush, the Snark Cub, and his little brother, the Camo Kid."
"That's me!" Maza pointed at herself.
The wolf cub was most definitely not amused. "Oh, joy… look at me wag my tail in ecstasy."
"…I'm a year older than you." The boy in the jacket seemed a little insulted.
He rolled his eyes. "Oh, quit your whining. This is what you asked for."
The young man turned to the Professor with one thought in his mind.
Well, as long as I'm named team leader, this should—
"Then it's decided." As though in answer, Ozpin spoke again. "You four will be a team, and Mr. Prowl will be your leader."
…Of course he is.
The mighty sigh he released in resignation came shortly before looking at his new team leader.
"My apologies, I meant to say… 'quit your whining, sir'."
The Faunus boy sighed too. Not only would he be required to lead the team, which he was hoping to avoid, but he'd also be under the obligation of getting along with the man with whom he had a heated argument mere moments ago.
"…Set." He replied. "Just call me Set."
Maza's eyes widened in realization. "Hey, speaking of, you haven't told us your name yet!"
"Our captain gave me the codename 'Titan'. Let's go with—"
"Young man…" Glynda's voice was quiet, but undeniably stern. "…give them your name."
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"This is not going to be easy." He turned to his teammates. "It's… Whirlwind. Wyatt Whirlwind."
Then he turned to the headmaster.
"Will that be all, Professor?"
Ozpin nodded. "That'll be all. Your team name will be given to you at the ceremony. For now, you all are excused."
"Thank you, Professor." He bowed to him and Glynda one last time before heading for the elevator. "If you'll excuse me… it appears I have a ceremony to go to."
Maza chased after her new teammate. "Hey! Wait for us!"
The two brothers soon followed, except nowhere near as fast.
Once the elevator doors were closed, Glynda turned to look at Ozpin. "I can't imagine this team getting along easily."
"Perhaps, but perhaps they might." He didn't look nearly as concerned as her. "We'll just have to wait and see."
She sighed before her eyes turned to the window that had been mentioned earlier. The crack looked like it cut a building right through the middle.
"Let's hope they do. I don't think I want to see how else that boy could 'think outside the box'."
The next few hours were pretty much just spent waiting.
As the four youths stood around the amphitheater, they noticed that a lot of the other future students were still a little disorganized, many pairs of partners sticking together while others had split up in favor of speaking to what they could only assume were friends or complete strangers.
For all their disagreements, it seemed as though they had all agreed to stand far away from the group.
"Hey, I think I see Ruby over there!" Maza suddenly spoke up.
Before any of the others could say anything, though, they noticed Professor Ozpin had made his way back in. In a matter of moments, the disorganized group of people started to get a little less chaotic. From the looks of things, they were being organized into teams of four, much like themselves.
"It's starting." Wyatt sighed, sounding awfully depressed.
As if in response, Ozpin turned in their direction and gestured for them to come closer.
"You jinxed it, Blizzard." Set scoffed at his teammate's words.
They did as the headmaster instructed, eventually standing among the others.
"Now that you've managed to organize yourselves into teams, there's just one last matter left to attend to." Most of the students seemed surprised at how different he seemed from when he gave his welcoming speech and the test rules. "We'll have an assembly and present you to your senior students. You can think of it as a proper welcome, if you wish."
"As you command, sir." Wyatt responded, taking what he heard as if it were a command… and bringing some additional attention to himself.
Suddenly, much like back in the locker room, everyone heard the speakers powering on around them, followed by the familiar voice of Glynda Goodwitch.
"All students and teachers, please make your way to the amphitheater as soon as possible. We have an important announcement to make today."
After they went off again, Ozpin turned to the assembled teams. "All of you, please make your way to the left side of the stage."
As they did what they were asked to do, Wyatt turned his attention to Set.
"Be on your best behavior, sir. You wouldn't want to give the higher-ups a faulty first impression, would you?"
"Again, it's Set." As expected, he responded lightly. "Also… chill, Hurricane. It'll be a breeze."
He just kept quiet and did as he was instructed.
Within a few minutes, the room was full of new faces that none of them had seen before. Just as Ozpin said, loads and loads of older students were filling up the room, some of them clad in uniforms while others wore regular clothes, as well as a few teachers, judging by their looks.
"Hello. Thank you for joining us." Right on cue, Ozpin started speaking again. "Today, just like so many other times, we're ready to present the newest additions to our student body." The auditorium screen suddenly came on. "And as always, it's my job to introduce every one of them."
Immediately after, a group of four girls started making their way over to where he was standing, and the screen showed their profiles accordingly.
One of them had long white hair, purple eyes, and wore what seemed like a combat skirt. The next one had short black hair, green eyes, and an ammo belt wrapped around her chest, as well as black shorts and sneakers. Right behind her was another one, with red hair tied into a short ponytail and matching red eyes, as well as some armor all over her body. The last one had gray hair styled into a bowl cut, brown eyes, a gray shirt, arm bracers, high heeled boots, and two gun holsters on the sides of her belt.
"Jyn Delaney, Bai Ying, Garnet Flynn and Rayna Gray." As the four came to a stop in front of Ozpin, he directly addressed them. "The four of you retrieved the white pawn pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team BRGD, led by…" He made a brief pause. "…Bai Ying."
The four of them celebrated with an exchange of back pats, high fives and shoulder punches.
Set was quick to make an observation. "I gotta admit… that Ying girl is mad attractive. No woofs."
For a moment, Maza looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a sneaky grin, before her attention was diverted by the next group. Just like before, the auditorium screen started to show their profiles.
The first was a man with somewhat dark cyan eyes and dark burgundy hair, who was wearing a suit of armor. Next up was a feline-looking Faunus girl with gray eyes, yellowish-green hair, and a ripped, jet-black bodysuit. She was followed by a young girl with dark blonde hair and lime green eyes, who was wearing a silver blue combat dress. The last one was a tall lady with rainbow-colored hair, light gray eyes, a white dress shirt, a skirt that looked like it was made out of bullet rounds, and combat boots.
"Robin Alabaster, Nyanza Feldgrau, Lyra Gold and Ceil Gainsboro." Like their predecessors, the four stood in front of Professor Ozpin, seemingly both nervous and excited. "The four of you retrieved the black rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRLN, led by… Ceil Gainsboro."
Much like the previous team, they congratulated each other for a moment.
Set's eyes widened at the sight of the team leader. "Well… that's colorful."
"Wow… surprising." Maza watched them curiously. "Robin is the only guy in that group. First team I've ever seen that goes that way."
Kale shrugged at this. "You know, I actually think that makes things interesting. I mean, look at us. We're the exact opposite." He looked fairly excited. "Who knows what that might mean for us?"
"May I remind you that you could've had any other type of teammate if you had just kicked me out of the team and gone with my offer to have tryouts?" Wyatt retorted. "You could've had the option of making your team exactly the way you wanted it to be. Two men and two women, three Faunus and one human, two humans and two Faunus, gunners or swordsmen… you could've had the opportunity of a lifetime."
Maza smiled at him, much to his irritation. "We'd never do that. We understand if you're shy and you need some time."
What is with this girl…?
He took a deep breath to try and calm himself down.
"I'm not shy. I simply wanted to see what would happen if I didn't see anyone during the test." He then looked straight at his teammates. "Really, were none of you even the slightest bit interested to see who you could've chosen to be your fourth teammate?"
"Nope!" Maza answered immediately, with her upbeat attitude and gleeful smile completely undisturbed.
Set whispered to his brother. "Life of the party, this guy, huh?"
"Seriously, what's his problem?" Kale was rubbing one of his temples.
Before anything else could be said, the group saw the most recent team walking off the stage, and they promptly decided that they would be next.
"Set Prowl, Kale Midnight, Maza Reynard and Wyatt Whirlwind." The team approached the headmaster, eagerly awaiting his words regarding their team despite their prior knowledge of the results. "The four of you retrieved the black knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as…"
This was it. The moment they were expecting the most. They would finally know their assigned team name.
"…Team SMWK, led by…" Ozpin made a short pause, followed by a brief smile. "…Set Prowl."
He then approached the team and spoke to them in a low tone of voice.
"I trust you will not disappoint." He smiled at them before stepping back.
As the group began to get off the stage, Wyatt immediately returned to his seat.
"You heard the headmaster, sir. Better make sure we don't disappoint."
Set could only roll his eyes in frustration, while Kale seemed gleefully ignorant to his teammate's wisecracks.
Maza hugged her two friends, jumping up and down as she did.
"We did it, guys! We are officially a team for the next four years!" Clearly, she could not contain her excitement. "This is the birth of Team SMWK! We are going to be awesome! I just know it!"
Despite his obvious annoyance at the whole situation, Wyatt had to admit something to himself.
Team SMWK… that's… actually a good name.
As they continued to celebrate, the other newly formed teams began to approach them, looking to congratulate them. The four teens praised their new classmates just as much before turning their attention back to the stage, ready to see what the rest of the teams would be like.
Here we go. We've got an official team now, and we also had a couple of others thrown in, because hey, it's not just our ragtag bunch of misfits who made it into Beacon. After all, there were lots of people in that airship, and it's not like they evaporated into thin air. Speaking of, we have a long list to get through this time…
- Wyatt Whirlwind: Wyatt is pronounced much like "white".
- Jyn Delaney: Delaney is an Irish surname derived from the Gaelic Ó Dubhshláine, with Dubh in particular meaning "black".
- Bai Ying: Bai is a Chinese unisex name that can mean "pure" and "white".
- Garnet Flynn: Garnet is a dark red gemstone.
- Rayna Gray: Gray is a color.
- BRGD: Pronounced "burgundy", just like the color.
- Robin Alabaster: Robin is meant to allude to a shade of cyan called "Robin egg blue".
- Nyanza Feldgrau: Feldgrau is a greenish-gray color.
- Lyra Gold: Gold is a shade of yellow.
- Ceil Gainsboro: Gainsboro is a pale tone of gray.
- CRLN: Pronounced "cerulean", just like the color.
- SMWK: Pronounced "smoke", which alludes to different shades of black and gray.
Well, now that we're done here, whatever happens from this point on will come at its own pace. What kind of shenanigans can we expect these guys to get into? Only time will tell. We really hope this has been a fun ride so far, and we also hope that you'll stick around.
This is Umbra the Hedgehog signing off.