"So let me get this straight…" Tukson began as he looked at the teen stacking up books. "You just asked a girl - one you knew for only a day- to go out for a drink with you."
"Well technically I owe her a drink and I told her I'd get her one on Saturday…" Gales corrected the man before shrugging. "But yeah, I got plans for Saturday."
"How is this so easy for you?" Tukson grumbled as he rested a hand on his head as Gales just looked at him in confusion. "One day, a few words… and you have a date."
"What~ It's not a date~" The teen stated as he lifted a book and smiled. "It's just two friends going out for drinks." Tukson just looked at him for a moment before looking elsewhere.
"Right~ that's totally not a date." The older man stated before looking back at the teen. "So what else happened today?"
"Not much, dreamt of home, got late for class, served this thing called 'detention' and one of my friends took a nap on my lap."
"One of your friends took a nap on you?"
"Yeah, I didn't mind, Nora and I had detention anyway and couldn't really go anywhere, so she took a nap on me."
"…" Tukson just looked at the teen before sucking in some air. "Some people really do have all the luck…" He muttered before shaking his head. "So after you're done here, what are you going to do?"
"Well I figured after I got my hours I'd just go around town and see what happened." The teen admitted as he stacked the last book and walked over to his bag. Dropping down on the floor he started rummaging through its contents before pulling out some homework. "You know just see what the city had to offer me today."
"I see." The older man fell silent as he crossed his arms.
"By the way how's the book coming?"
"Book?"
"The one about your time among the Fang? You started on it right?"
"Not yet." Tukson shrugged as he started thinking back. "Don't get me wrong kid, it was an interesting idea… but I don't think I'll be writing it."
"Hey it's your call." Gales stated as he started on his homework before stopping and looking around. "Hm?"
"What is it?"
"Nothing…" Gales muttered as he returned to his homework. "It's nothing."
Later
He left Tukson's place when the lights started to die down, and true to his word Gales made his way through the city with his hands behind his head. "It would probably be wise to return to Beacon at this hour, might be safer. If there was anything the teen had realized in his days traveling around the Old World it was that cities tended to change when the sun left, and they usually changed for the worse. "That said, I don't think I'll have any real trouble tonight." The teen thought before looking elsewhere and smiling. "Besides it's a nice night for a walk."
"That it is."
Gales just pouted.
"You're still here?"
"I am always with you. I will always be with you."
"Right~" The teen muttered. The boy with two souls just fell into a silence as he walked on, staring at nothing in particular as they took in the darkening city.
"How are you fairing?"
The Beast asked.
"Have you suffered any "attacks" as of late?"
"Wouldn't you know if I had?" The teen muttered as he looked at his hand and flexed it.
"Just making conversation."
"Yeah I know… and I've been fine. I haven't had the shakes in awhile. I mean I still get them, but they're getting milder."
"Good."
"I just wish I knew what Abel's people had done to me to start them." His counterpart didn't say anything. "Don't tell me you're not curious, those injections, you want to know what they did too."
"How true."
The beast admitted
"And yet we wouldn't need to question it had you stayed with."
"I'd rather kiss a Jellyfish stinger." The teen grumbled before seeming to think about something. "Actually… now that I mention it I could really go for fish right now."
"It has been a while since we ate seafood. There should be a seafood spot somewhere here in Vale."
"Then I'm grabbing seafood." Gales declared with a smile.
"… in addition you should attempt to learn how to use your Aura."
The teen just rolled his eyes as he got a calm look sent his way.
"Don't think I need it. Survived this long without it so why bother."
"That is because we had armor forged from the scales and hide of great beasts."
The beast stated.
"You don't have that now do you?"
There was a shrug.
"I didn't have it starting out either and I turned out alright."
"Relatively speaking."
"I'm still alive; that's all that matters." Gales muttered as he suddenly spun and threw a punch at the air. That done he looked around as he raised his fists and the other just made a noise. "Again… what the hell is that?"
"Someone is watching us."
The beast growled.
"They're doing a surprisingly good job at stalking us. No scent, no sound. All we have to go on is that paranoid sixth sense of yours picking them up, and even then…"
"No body." Gales muttered as he took a couple steps back and lowered his hands. "Whomever's following me is keeping their distance…" He clenched his fists for a moment as he turned. "Let's grab fish another day… let's head back to Beacon."
The Next Day
Beacon Academy
"Gales…"
"Gales…"
"Gales? Yoo~ hoo~ anyone in there?" Gales pulled himself out of his thoughts as he turned to look at the others.
"Huh, uh what were we talking about?"
"Welcome back to the land of the living." Blake stated as she looked at the teen.
"You were really out of it for a second." Yang stated with a smile. "Something on your mind?"
"Uh, yeah…" The teen scratched his head as he looked at the girls. "But don't worry it's nothing to be concerned about."
"If you say so." Yang shrugged as she popped a grape into her mouth. "Anyway back to what we were talking about before you zoned out~"
"We heard from Ruby about your upcoming date." Blake had a hint of a smirk on her face as she said the word.
"It's not a date." The teen made a noise as he rolled his eyes. "Honesty, first Tukson and now you two." He pouted. "What makes you two think I'm going on a date with Ruby, we're just going to grab some drinks this Saturday."
"Whatever you say." Yang reached up and put a hand across the boys neck. "But you gotta understand, Ruby's our team leader and my younger sister." Yang stressed the word with a smile. "We worry about her you know; especially if we have to entrust her with a boy -no matter how handsome he might be- for a private night on the town." Yang kept that smile. "So that being said… if you do anything to hurt her we'll break your legs." Blake halfheartedly cracked her knuckles as Gales just looked at her, then Yang than Blake again. Then Yang again.
'Why do I get the feeling that this one's part Rathian?' "Yang, Blake, don't worry." The teen began. "I won't do a thing to hurt Ruby. Promise."
"That's what I wanted to hear." Yang patted his back as she let him go.
"Yang! Yang!" Ruby turned a corner as found the trio. "There you are."
"Hey, need something Ruby?" Yang asked as her younger sister just walked up to her.
"You and Blake just took off out of nowhere." Ruby stated. "I was looking for you everywhere, did something happen."
"Nope." Yang patted Gales on the back before grinning. "Just needed to talk to Gales about something." Blake nodded as Ruby gave her sister a suspicious look.
"About what?"
"Your upcoming date of course."
"Yang wanted to make sure Gales didn't do anything while you two were out." Blake clarified as Ruby groaned in exasperation.
"Ugh~ I told you it's not a date." Both Gales and Ruby said together as they looked at the other pair. "It's just two friends going out for drinks." Yang stayed silent for a moment as she looked between the two before walking over to Blake and "discreetly" began to whisper to her.
"Ok that was kinda weird." Blake just nodded as Gales just shrugged and Ruby put her hands on her hips.
"Seriously Yang, we're just going to grab some drinks and that's it… right Gales."
"Yup." Gales admitted before seeming to drift off. "Although… if you want we can make a day of it."
"Gales~" Ruby palmed her face as Gales just shrugged.
"What? If it's a nice day out we might wanna do something else too. I mean why waste a perfectly good day?" The teen explained as Ruby raised a finger and made to say something. She stopped a moment later though as she seemed to think.
"It would be kind of a waste to just go grab drinks and then come back…" Ruby muttered as she lowered her finger. "So~ we're gonna make a day of it?"
"Do you wanna make a day of it?" Gales countered. "It would be nice to have a day to ourselves, we could use it to get to know each other a bit."
Well~ I'd like that." Ruby admitted after a while as she scratched her head. Yang aw'ed at the sight.
"This is so cute~ you two are totally going on a date this Saturday."
"It's not a date." Again Ruby and Gales spoke in unison, though Ruby added stomping her foot on the floor as Blake released a light smile.
"Yeah, it's totally a date."
"No its not Yang!" Ruby stated as she pouted. The bell for their next class rang as the four started off, Yang keeping that grin on her face as she started running off.
"I'm gonna tell dad!"
"Yang cut it out!" Ruby shouted as she took after her sister leaving both Blake and Gales behind.
"Ah how nice it must be to have a sister." Gales muttered as Blake nodded her head. "What about you, you got a sister?"
"No, I'm an only child." Blake stated as she looked at the teen for a moment. "You?"
"I had about 75 foster siblings." Gales admitted as he thought back as Blake looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"75?"
"Yeah." Gales admitted with this melancholy look. "I… lost a lot of them though." Gales stated. "And the rest, well we don't really get together a lot to talk much.
"I see."
"Also even outside of them, there was someone i started to consider a brother." Gales muttered. "Started to, anyway.
"What happened to them?" Gales didn't answer as he frowned slightly. "Are they -"
"They're fine… just, they aren't who I thought they were." The teen muttered after a moment.
"I… know what that's like." Blake whispered as her bow twitched. A heavy silence passed between the two as Gales coughed into his hand.
"So… how are you enjoying that book I saw you reading before initiation?"
"It's good, I'm almost done with it." Blake admitted as she looked at the teen. "You said you worked at a bookstore back then."
"Tukson's bookstore, home to every book under the sun." Reciting the store motto Gales broke into a grin. "If you're free I can take you one of these days."
"You work fast don't you?" Gales gave Blake a confused look. "You're about to go on your first date with Ruby and you're already looking at another girl." Blake said with a smirk as Gales just rolled his eyes.
"It's not a date, and it's not like that." Gales scoffed. "I told you guys when we made our pact, I want to be your friend, so wanting to hang out is just natural."
"I know, I'm just messing with you." Blake stated as she looked ahead. "But seriously do be careful. Yang told me that Ruby doesn't have much experience with boys so she might take things the wrong way." Blake admitted as Gales just smiled and patted her back, sending her stumbling for a moment.
"Don't worry I won't do anything to get those thoughts in her head." Gales stated as he crossed his arms. "Besides I'm probably not her type." Blake just made a noise as she looked ahead.
"You never know." She paused as they reached their assigned class and settled in. Gales sat next to Weiss as she opened her notebook and prepared to take her notes.
"Good day Gales."
"Hey Weiss how ya holding up?"
"Perfectly fine, thank you." The huntress in training admitted as their lecture on Dust Crystals started.
"So… are you mad at me?" Gales asked out of nowhere.
"Why of course not, what gives you that idea?" Gales just stayed silent for a moment as he returned to listening to Professor Peach's lecture. "So I heard you and Ruby are going out on a date this Saturday."
Lunch
"It's not a DATE!" Put on the spot yet again Gales and Ruby just set their heads on the table as they looked at their friends. "Honestly, why does everyone think that it's a date?"
Yang just patted her sister's back as she gave her a small smile. "Relax we're just teasing."
"You wouldn't tease us this much if Gales was going for drinks with Nora." Ruby muttered.
"Hey why am I getting brought into this?"
'You're the one Gales carried into class." Ruby pointed a finger at Nora as Ren just nodded silently. "How come no ones teasing you about it."
"Well that's because I'm not shipped yet." Nora said with a grin as two figures gave her a confused look.
"Ship?"
"What do boats have to do with this?" Nora opened her mouth before Ren nudged her arm. In turn all Nora did was smile at her childhood friend as Ruby looked at their group.
"I don't get it."
"Me neither." Gales muttered in annoyance. "Is it something dirty that I shouldn't know about?"
"Goodness I hope not." Pyrrha added as Yang just chuckled.
"Relax, it's not anything bad." She admitted as she looked at the two. "But it is something I'll tell you when Ruby's not around."
"Yang~ I'm not a kid anymore, I'm 16." Ruby whined as Gales ears perked up.
"You're 16?" Ruby just looked down dejected as she nodded. "I'm 16!" Gales cheered as he looked at Ruby. "We're the same age, high-five!" Ruby didn't leave him hanging ,although the way she did it showed she wasn't too certain if she was supposed to or not. In the meantime the others just looked at the two in surprise.
"You're 16?"
"You do not look 16."
"I know, right?" Gales stated with a grin. "Assumingly good genes, good food, and lots of exercise."
"I can vouch for the exercise." Pyrrha muttered as she looked at the teen. "He runs at least 13 miles every morning." She explained as Jaune choked on his lunch.
"13 at least?"
"How exactly do you know that?" Nora asked with a curious look on her face.
"Gales and I used to do morning jogs together before entering Beacon." Pyrrha admitted with a fond smile. "That's actually how we met."
"Re~ally?" Nora looked between Pyrrha, Gales and Ruby as she developed a sly smile. 'I think I see a triangle~' Ren just shook his head before watching a familiar figure walk up to their table.
"Professor Goodwitch." He stated as he caught everyone's attention.
"Professor, it's good to see you." The others greeted as Gales just smiled.
"Hey Glynda." Pyrrha looked at her friend as Gales looked at the teacher.
"Hello students, I take it you're enjoying lunch?"
"Yep. The food's great!" Nora said as she stuffed her face for a moment. "I could eat this all day."
"I'm happy to hear that." Glynda said with a straight face.
"So what's up, you joining us today?" Gales asked as he leaned back at the table for a moment."
"No, I just need to speak with you for a moment Mr. Ashechild."
"… am I In trouble?" Gales gave a skeptic look as he stared at the teacher. "Cause if I am, I want it put on record I didn't do it."
"I didn't either!" Nora added as Glynda adjusted her glasses."
"You're not in trouble Mr. Ashe, neither are you Ms. Valkyrie." Glynda stated as she looked at the young huntress before passing something to Gales. "I do need to speak with you in private for a moment though."
"… you're sure I'm not in trouble?" Glynda just nodded her head as Gales stared at his food for a moment before getting to his feet. "Back in five guys."
"Bye Gales."
"Later." The teen followed after Glynda as Yang watched the two wander off out the cafeteria. "Wonder what Professor Goodwitch wants with him?"
"Well he's not in trouble…" Weiss started as she seemed to think. "Maybe he left an assignment in her class?"
"Is homework the first thing that pops into your head when teachers call you out?" Yang asked as Weiss just gave her a look.
"Well what do you think it is?" Yang just shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe she's luring male students to her class to have her way with them." Yang made a few gestures with her fingers as Weiss rolled her eyes.
"Please. As if Professor Goodwitch would be interested in students."
"You never know~" Nora added as she stuffed her face. "There's probably a fanfic about that."
"A what?"
"She's not going to seduce him, Nora." Ren stated.
"Ok I'm back." Gales popped in out of nowhere as he looked at the others. So what I miss?"
"Nothing yet." Ruby admitted as she ate a cookie. "Just Weiss and Yang having theories on why Professor Goodwitch needed you."She explained.
"So what did Professor Goodwitch want anyway?" Jaune asked as Gales seemed to angrily shove half a ton of meat down his throat. "Uh, Gales?"
"Sorry just… got an assignment." Gales said after a while. " It's uh… it's a pick up." Gales explained as he frowned.
"We'll sounds easy enough, who are we going to pick up?" Yang asked as Gales fell silent.
"Those that didn't make it through initiation." A heavy silence fell across the table as Nora dropped her fork.
"Those that didn't…" Weiss paused as she looked at the teen. "You mean-"
"Yeah…" Gales muttered as he took a breath. "A number of initiates went missing during initiation, these past couple days Airships have been patrolling the Emerald Forest and picking up the lost, but the rest…" He dragged on as he rubbed his temples. "Oz wants all starting teams to help go find those still missing than contact the Airships to have them pick everyone up."
"Oh…" Pyrrha muttered as her fork bent slightly. "What about those we can't find?"
"I don't know." Gales muttered. "But the objective is to find as many missing people as we can before having to back out and let the others handle it." The teen returned to his food. "I told her I'd get back to her on it though. I wanted to run it by you guys first, see if you were up for it." Gales admitted as he looked at the eight."If you guys want to help then great, but I'll understand if you want to sit this one out."
"You dunce, of course we'll go." Weiss stated as she stood and slammed her hands on the table. "As fellow huntsmen and huntresses in training we have a civic duty to help our fellow trainees."
"And if they're missing, we have to help find them." Ruby added as she adopted a look of determination. That seemed to be all the others needed as they either nodded or gave their own words of agreement.
"Let's go find our missing people." Gales looked to Jaune before smiling slightly, finishing his food before getting to his feet.
"Alright, I'll go tell Glynda we're all in." The teen stated admitted. "We'll be spending all of tomorrow looking, so we won't have to worry about class, but we will need to pack a few things." Gales admitted as the bell rang as the students looked up and started walking together. "I'll get some more information from Glynda about the part of the Emerald Forest we'll be checking out."
"What do you want us to do in the meantime?" Jaune asked as Gales just looked up in thought.
"We'll be out for a whole day, so normally I'd spend a couple hours trying to figure out what I'd need to bring for a trip in the woods. So I'd recommend figuring out what you need and then we'll hit Vale's shopping districts to grab em."
"That sounds like a plan." Blake admitted, already going over what she'd grab in her head.
"Alright teams, let's get what we need and get some rest, we'll need it."
Ozpin's Office
Sitting at his desk Ozpin just looked at the screen as it showed the various students that would be joining in the search tomorrow. As much as he would rather they not be involved in the search, as much as he rather have them stay oblivious to the potential- but most likely- outcome that awaited Huntsmen and Huntresses in their future, it was a necessity. "I am sorry children, but this isn't a game, you need to understand exactly what you may experience in this line of work." He told himself as he looked between the nine. "I only hope that this doesn't stop you from moving forward."