Ah, there it was. I shook myself awake and got ready to greet my unwelcome, but not unexpected guest. Ever so slightly, I heard someone slide my bedroom window open. The lights were all out, blinds down to shut out the light of the city; but, if my visitor was a Faunus, that would work for them instead of for me. So, what do you do when your enemy can see in the dark? As soon as the vague outline of someone crossed the doorway into my hall. I flicked on a powerful light fixed on Roar, which was mounted at the far end of my apartment. Bright enough to hurt a human's eyes, for someone with NVGs, or a Faunus' natural equivalent...
Blake threw a hand over her face, and took a step back toward the cover of my room before me racking the slide of my gun stopped her. "Ah uh uh uh," I chided with mock levity. "I'd hate to not get this place's security deposit back, but I'll get over it if you make me."
Blake kept her hands up, but I caught a bit of her glare as she stared me down. Then...nothing, hrm. It seems she didn't have anything to say, suggesting she either intended to do me in without any words, or didn't really know what the fuck she was doing coming in here.
"I like to think," I started. "That I'm a reasonable guy. I try not to hold grudges, but you White Fang assholes come after me again, I'm gonna start taking it personally."
"How, how did you know I was-" Blake began and shut up when she realized her goof.
"You just told me. Now, let's talk, the hell you doing in my place?" She shifted uneasily, I tightened my grip on Roar..please...for fuck's sake, don't do anything stupid, I silently begged.
"I...I don't know." I believed her, but snorted all the same.
"Pretty friggin dumb to break into a guy's place when you don't even know what you're gonna do. Let's start with why then, yeah? You think I knew who you were, right?"
"That's right, you were way too on guard around me, like you..."
"Darlin, I've been around killers. We get that, feel, about us. But I didn't know. Not until you came sneaking in."
She looked affronted, "I'm not a-"
"Yes you are." I cut her off. "At least you got the skillset for it." I admitted, I didn't in truth know how many she's killed, if any, but it was obviously what she was trained for.
"Okay, now what?" Blake sounded half way between defeated and, something more dangerous.
"Two options, Blake. First, same option as those two goobers, Ermin and Arctos. You fuck off, leave me the hell alone."
"And the second?" She didn't sound too enthused, perhaps thinking I'd still turn her in or something.
"Wanna talk it out?" I offered, and used my scroll to turn on the lights in my apartment, a second later turning off my weapon's beam light.
Blake blinked, taking in my shabby apartment, and me, in full battle rattle, mounted gun trained on her, she gave me the fish eye for a good quarter minute before responding. "Are you for real? 'Talk it out'?"
"Yeah, I don't wanna kill anyone tonight, and I don't think you do either. Escalating would be retarded."
"Uh huh." She replied, not relaxing an inch. "And how do I know you aren't going to shoot me as soon as my guard's down?"
"You don't, and I don't know you're not going to carve me up the second I let you take another step. You're in luck, though,"
When she didn't respond, I stood up straight, and took off my helmet as I left my gun where it sat, walking around in front of it. Finally she narrowed her eyes, and relaxed, "Alright, we'll talk."
I motioned her to my rather poor kitchen, and started to fix myself a cup of instant coffee. "Coffee?"
"...Tea," Then, after a moment, "If its not a bother."
"Nah, comin up. How do you take yours?"
"Black."
I hummed and put on a kettle. Soon we were seated at a table in my shared dining and living room, the first such person I had over. Huh...I should get out more. Whatever. Now what? I took a sip of my coffee to buy time, Blake looked skeptical at just how much I'd made...and how much sugar I put in it, but didn't seem ready to break the silence either.
This was getting us nowhere. I let Blake let her tea steep, and waited out her first delaying sip before I spoke up. "Right. So...you're a terrorist huh?" My charisma is famed the world over.
Blake glared, set her cup down, and glared again. "It's not like that, you don't know..."
I made a gesture with my hand. "I do, and I don't mean it in a general derogatory way, but the...militant arm of the Fang is, definitionally, terrorists. And you are one of them,"
"Was." She replied, "I used to be,"
"Ah. Then, when you suspected I suspected, your thoughts were, 'this guy's gonna rat me out'. That about right? Not an, unfair assumption, not a lot of humans would feel very comfortable thinking they had a run in with some White Fang, ahem, 'problem solver'."
"Are you saying you are? Especially when they...we...nearly killed you?"
I shrugged. "Like I said, I try not to hold grudges."
She didn't buy it, "I don't buy it, no one's that blase about people trying to kill them."
"How to put this, that's old hat for me. I'm..." decades older than I look, but she wouldn't buy that, and I didn't care to prove it to her, "Look, let me put it another way. If I had a problem with the Fang, I'd settle it, dig?"
Blake gave me the side eye, then nodded, seeming to accept...or simply not wanting to contest my answer. "You say all that like you don't really have anything against the White Fang at all, I don't get it."
"Not much to get." I took another sip, feeling a little revived. "You won't see me go to bat for my own species. Sure, I'm not the overly enamored of the specific guys who jumped me, but marches and meaningless boycotts weren't getting anything done; I get it,"
"They weren't meaningless." Blake said, fists clenching. "Maybe what we're doing now is working, but it's not right."
"Ah, so now we come to it," I nod, the pieces fitting together at last. "We can talk politics all night. Well, can, I sure as hell don't want to. Instead, let me give you some advice."
Blake cocked an eyebrow, looking skeptical but motioned for me to continue all the same.
"Your heart's led you out of the White Fang, that much is clear, but now it's time to start using your head. You came in here half cocked, not a clue what you were gonna do, that's gonna get you killed if you keep it up."
She seemed to mull that over, no way what I said wasn't blindingly obvious, but sometimes you need that shit pointed out to you. Blake drained her tea cup, and let out a sigh.
"That's pretty vague. And not as easy as you make it sound all at once."
"Yeah, you want specifics? How the hell should I know. You don't want to do unto humanity, and you know the old way isn't working. It's late though, and the world will still be here tomorrow. Probably."
"Probably?"
"I mean, Grimm could come flooding over the walls and kill us all. Though I suppose racial inequality won't matter then. We're all equals in the grave."
"Aren't you cheerful..." She pauses, and chuckles a little. "Rich coming from me,"
I chuckled right back. "Great minds, seriously though. You got time, use it. If you're lucky, you might actually do some good."
"And what about you?"
"Pardon?"
"What are you going to do, I mean, why are you going to Beacon?"
"It beats starving," I admitted, not liking the turn this was taking. "Don't got any big noble goals, but it was enroll or that."
"That's it? It's just a job to you?" Suddenly I felt all the years pile onto me again at her accusing look, I shook my head, gave her a feeble smile.
"I ended up in a, real awkward spot recently. The headmaster stepped in and offered to help me land on my feet, but only if I went to Beacon. Tell you the truth, I don't even plan on becoming a Huntsman. Soon as I can fix it so I can get by, I'm getting out of that racket."
Blake shook her head in disgust, I had no counter, my younger self wouldn't like me either...hell, neither did my current self. "I guess I can't expect much more than that out of you,"
Part of me wanted, needed her to understand, to know what I'd gone through, why I don't have it in me to sign on for another futile war. My throat went tight, and I fell silent instead. Blake left at some point, I didn't register her going, or if she had any parting remark. The sun was climbing up the horizon by the time I pulled myself out of bleak yesterdays and into bed.
The past wasn't done with me, however.
Our truck came to a stop inside the gates of my compound. My compound, I thought to myself, sounds like I'm some cooky cult leader. "We're here," my driver, one of my men, said. I turned to him with a bland expression.
"I never would have figured it out without you." I deadpanned. He gave me a big ol grin.
"That's why you pay me the big bucks, boss." We shared a laugh and got out into the mountain air.
My base was coming along smoothly. Behind schedule and over budget, but that's to be expected. Wartime economy didn't do wonders for private construction projects wouldn't you know? Workers milled about, putting the finishing touches on the outside. Barracks buildings, armory, an external wall, guardhouses, everything an up and coming PMC needed to expand.
A man in a white hardhat came fast walking up to me as my driver and I ambled for the headquarters building. I waved him over. "Nice work so far, when can my men start moving in?" I asked, dispensing with small talk.
"The barracks are ready right now, if you wanted to ship food in from town. We can have the kitchen facility up in a few days, sewage is ready, everything else will take a few more weeks." He explained in just the matter of fact way I expected.
"Good, and, inside?" he broke into a grin, and motioned me to follow.
"You're going to love this,"
The foreman led me into the building that would serve as the base's command center, then, down. Into, and then below a basement, and a sub basement, and into a tunnel with a massive blast door in place. The base up topside was a facade, my real ambitions were going to come to life down here.
The doors opened, revealing an antechamber with even more construction workers putting finishing touches on. Also in evidence, men and women in charcoal uniforms, many with weapons and body armor. Most turned to salute as we passed, it wasn't strictly necessary, we were a private outfit. I returned the gesture all the same, they were here not for profit, but for me. For the future I was going to win for us all.
Deep within the bunker complex, we got to work. It seemed endless, operations planning, logistical networks to be established, legal groundwork to be laid, even a provisional constitution we drafted for the new nation we were going to build. All around outside, the world geared up to tear itself apart...It wouldn't come to that, I wouldn't let it.
Awareness drifted in, my second unwelcome visitor. I groaned, laid in bed a while longer, not wanting to return to the past, not ready to face tomorrow. Eventually my needs refused to be put off, and I dragged myself up and got my shit together. Beacon wasn't for a few more days, but I still needed to prepare.
The last few days before Beacon's school year began went by in a blur and soon I found myself boarding one of several airships that would take us to the academy. A few faces I recognized from the entry exam at Signal. I spied Blake somewhere in the mix, but if she saw me she wasn't going to strike up a conversation.
The large open space of the ship's interior was chalk full of young, wide eyed Hunters to be, all milling about excitedly. Next to me, I was pleased to find, someone else felt less than excited, though in his case, it appeared to be airsickness, judging by the noises coming from him.
"Breathe, man." I said, turning to look at him. He was tall, pretty scrawny looking, in an ill fitting breastplate over a scruffy looking hoodie and jeans combo. His scraggly blonde hair fit the look. I motioned him to turn around and face the window. I wasn't gonna be held responsible for what I'd do to this poor fucker if he vomited on me. "Focus on something still, and large. Like that factory over there." I pointed at a large building with smoke stacks over in the industrial district.
That did the trick, scruffy slowed his breathing, and seemed to settle his stomach before he did something we'd both regret.
"Th-thanks." He offered me a gloved hand, I could feel the sweat through it. "Name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it."
I tried to make Jaune's head explode with my mind. No luck. Just as he started to look uneasy with my continued stare, I relented my fruitless psychic assault. "Lanius Draco. And, I highly doubt they do."
"They will!" He stammered again, and wilted under my gaze. "A-anyway."
Awkward silence. Great. Crisis averted at least. Man, something rankled about Jaune. Was it just that he looked like he'd be more dangerous to himself than his enemy? There was something missing there. Weird. Unable to help myself, I asked.
"So, you come from one of the combat schools?"
"Uh...yeah." He said, really unconvincingly. "Signal, you?"
"I got in by entry exam." Then, after a moment. "You, if you need any help, practical stuff, hit me up, yeah?" I wanted to take it back as soon as I said it, I didn't care about this goon, only, the guy looked helpless.
"Huh? Oh, thanks Lanius, uh, sure." Jaune gave me an uneasy smile, yeah, this guy was fucked if someone wasn't looking out for him. Now why'd it have to be me to stick my neck out?
We fell into a, thankfully less awkward silence. I turned to watch a news broadcast on a holoscreen before it cut out to a projection of Glynda. She sounded far more upbeat than usual, working theory is she hyped herself up to fake it through a recording session for her intro to the new kids.
"Hello, and welcome to Beacon! My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."
"Time of peace? What a crock of shit." I hadn't meant to speak out loud, a few students looked at me funny, including Jaune.
"What do you mean?" He asked, befuddled. I nodded and flashed my teeth.
"Aside from the Grimm out there who want us all dead? There's never really any peace. Always, there's some action going down, somewhere. Sheltered types just don't notice it, bad for morale you see."
He didn't, but that wasn't surprising. It didn't matter, he'd learn eventually. All these kids would. The ones who survived finding out anyways.
My new buddy slash apprentice lingered near me, fine, I guess I did offer. We exited the airship near the back of the line. I prodded Jaune with a few questions before we disembarked, getting a handle on what kind of mess I got myself into. He didn't seem open to direct instruction, so indirect was the way to go until I found a way to break that down. Just as we were getting set to follow the crowd into the auditorium Jaune spied someone collapsed over on the courtyard.
I'll give the kid credit, he was over before I decided if I wanted to bother or not. I trailed behind, looking down impassively at a slip of a girl in a red cloak and a cutsey, gothic style outfit, black and red skirt blouse and oversized boots. Jaune offered her his hand "Hey...I'm Jaune."
She took his hand, "Ruby" and, after he hoisted her onto her feet, she looked my way, oh, right, introductions.
"Lanius." I jerked my head over, toward the auditorium. "C'mon, this way." I backed off, waiting to see if Jaune would make an ass of himself trying to smooth talk this Ruby.
My hopes were dashed as we walked in what I thought was an amiable silence. I noticed Ruby kept stealing glances at the weapons folded up on my back. That or my ass, which I doubted. Eventually she sidled up beside us. "Soo, I have this thing," She says, unfolding a a big friggin scythe from it's folded up form on the small of her back. The thing thunked into the ground, causing Jaune to recoil
"Woah! Is that a scythe?" Can't get anything by this guy,
"It's also semi automatic anti material rifle."
"A wha?"
Ruby and I spoke up at once. "It's also a gun." We looked at one another, she smiled. I said.
"A massive one at that, well. You showed me yours, might as well." My guess was right, Ruby's eyes lit up as I whipped out Dragon's Roar and Dragon's hide, hefting them before me. Ruby squealed, actually squealed as she looked over the pieces.
"Oooh! Oh! A combat grade chain blade! Is that a mount!?"
"Yup, my shield doubles as a tripod for more precise shooting." I demonstrated, earning another delighted noise from the excitable girl. Then, she looked Jaune's way expectantly.
"I-I have this sword." He offered feebly, drawing a nifty looking hand and a half sword.
"Oooh," Ruby sounded sincere at least, I'm guessing she didn't have a mean bone in her body.
"And this shield too!" Said shield extended, it doubled as his blade's sheath but not much else, the crest on it's face tickled my brain, must be something I caught looking up this world's history.
"What do they do?" Ruby prompted, but I could already guess Jaune's answer as he said it.
Jaune hit a button on his shield, and fumbled, the thing bouncing in and out of his grasp as it unfolded and retracted before he got his crap under control. "The shield gets smaller...so when I get tired of carrying it. I can just...put it away."
"But, wouldn't it still weigh the same?" Ruby asked...I'm not sure why, Jaune's head lowered in shame all the same.
"Yeah it does..."
Ruby was quick on the rebound, "Well I'm a bit of a dork when it comes to weapons." Understatement of the year. "Sooo I guess I did go a bit overboard when designing Crescent Rose."
Jaune looked, and sounded poleaxed. "You made that?"
"Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons. Didn't you two make yours?"
"Nah." I offered, "Had mine commissioned, design is a Lanius Draco original though. I got more I can show off"
"It's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war." That...didn't track. Jaune said he was from Signal. Huh, might be worth keeping an eye on him.
"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me!" Ruby laughed."Well, I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days"
"Yeah, the classics..." Jaune sheathed his sword at last, and we moved on. Ruby spoke up again,
"So why'd you two help me out back there? In the courtyard?"
Jaune shrugged. "Eh, why not? My mom always says strangers are just friends you haven't met yet." Holy crap, this kid's gonna get his organs harvested or something. I thought.
"Here we are." I interrupted as we crossed over into the auditorium.
As soon as we entered, someone off to the side, I caught blonde hair, but wasn't really paying attention, waved and shouted our way. "Ruby! Over here I saved you a spot!"
"Oh! That's my Sister!" Ruby was backing up and waving us goodbye. "I'll catch you guys after the ceremony!"
Jaune reached out as though to forestall her, "H-hey wait!" Then he looked dejected. "Great, where else am I gonna find another nice quirky girl to talk to?"
"I can put on a skirt if it'd make you feel better." I say dryly. Jaune gave me a baffled look before he realized it was a joke.
"Whuh? Oh, heh, nah, you couldn't pull it off."
"Bullshit I couldn't. I'll have you know I have great calves."
"I'll assume you know that from experience." Hm, point to Jaune, he might not be so bad after all.
"Walked into that one," I nudged him, then we fell silent as the man of the hour appeared on stage, our rousing welcome speech from Professor Ozpin himself.
"I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."
...What the hell was that? That was feeble. He just walked off, leaving Glynda to step up and deliver some words of her own.
"You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."
As the students milled about, I observed. "Ominous. Hey Jaune, you think this 'initiation' will be like a gang initiation?"
"Huh? What are those like?"
"I guess you'll find out tomorrow then. Lesgo." I turned and headed off, if memory served Beacon had pretty good grub when I stayed here, so there was that to look forward to.
My commitment to guiding my hapless buddy faltered as we changed into our nightwear. Basic ass t shirt and sweats for me. I hadn't payed attention as he got into his, but as I closed my assigned locker, and saw him...
"What in God's name are you wearing."
"My...pajamas?"
For the second time that day I attempted to hate Jaune out of existence. Reality refused to bend to my will. Instead I shook my head, placed my hand on his shoulder.
"As your new friend, I feel its my responsibility to tell you. That's fucking lame, Jaune. However, I fully support your Gods given right to be a loser. "
"Come on, it's not that bad, right?"
Just how sheltered was this kid? I left him to his fate. "Know what, you rock that shit buddy. Go out there and hit on the hottest chick you can find."
"Really?" He looked...pathetically hopeful.
"No."
Jaune managed to avoid making too big a fool of himself, and so passed through till the hour of our initiation without incident. Inside our locker room, a familiar orchestra of sounds filled the hall as everyone got their iron ready for whatever challenges were headed our way. There was talk of partners, and teams. People trying to network, friends agreeing to try and team up, idiots trying to get similar agreements from their crushes. Most getting shot down.
Something I said must have rubbed Jaune the wrong way. He had his eyes set on some snooty looking girl, huh...she was a Schnee or I was a blind man. That was his type? I thought, looking over at his attempt as smooth talking. There's no accounting for taste I suppose. She looked ready to chew nails, I understood that at least, I don't think I could put up with Jaune were I the object of his...ahem, attentions.
No accounting for taste indeed. As I walked up to wrangle my wayward friend away from the Schnee girl, someone she'd been talking to flabbergasted me by saying in all sincerity, "Actually Jaune I think you'd make a great leader." I stopped in my tracks,
"D'oh stop it." Jaune took the compliment to heart.
Schnee looked like she was going to lay into Jaune again as I stepped up and reeled him back. "Woah boy, ease off, you're giving some real greasy vibes." Jaune didn't get it, but his would be partner looked grateful.
"Hello!" The girl with just as bad taste in men as Jaune had in women spoke up. Scruffy ass Jaune might not appreciate her, but I did. She was drop dead gorgeous, all long legs, toned arms, flowing red hair and vibrant emerald eyes. Her bronze colored armor accentuated her perfectly. I nodded, letting my charge go as he seemed to get the idea that mobbing a girl wasn't going to be put up with.
"Hey, Lanius."
"Pyrrha, it's nice to meet you, you're friends with Jaune?"
"In a way, more I'm...keeping an eye on him."
"Hey!" Jaune cried indignantly. I gave him a level look.
"So what's this about teams, Jaune?" I asked. "You trying to put something together, or are you just asking out the Schnee girl cause you like the way she looks in that dress."
Jaune sputtered and ice queen got an indignant look. "Excuse you! My name is Weiss." She huffed and stomped off. Apparently done with this whole interaction. Jaune looked put out too.
"We gotta work on your material, man. That was weak." I commented, and sighed, like a put upon patriarch with an unruly child. "Keep at it, you might have some luck elsewhere." I winked Pyrrha's way. Her smile got furtive, confirming my guess.
Glynda's voice came on over the intercom, interrupting any further attempts from Jaune to dig himself deeper into the hole he was in.
"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."
I punched Jaune lightly in the shoulder, "That's our cue ladies. Time to dance." I slipped my helmet on, and joined the flow of students headed to the cliff.
It was a bright sunny day, perfect weather for sending clueless teenagers into mortal peril. I got with the program as soon as we were made to line up on these square tiles facing the Emerald Forest. Jaune, to my right, didn't. Did I have a landing strategy? Sure. Was it any good? We'll find that out together.
Ozpin and Glynda were there in front of us, the headmaster sipping from his mug, as usual. And Glynda with a tablet out doing the actual work, as usual. As she scanned her eyes over the assembled students I got a hint of a nod from her, one I returned, but that was it.
The headmaster spoke at last
"For years you have trained to become warriors, and today your skills will be put to the test in the Emerald Forest."
Glynda chimed in, " Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of "teams." Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates...today" Yay.
Ozpin took up the topic. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
I raised my eyebrow at that. Team assignments being a crapshoot, and our teams being functional did...not exactly go hand in hand. Then again, I'm pretty sure half of what Ozpin does by now is off of whims. Cheeky bastard.
"Once you have your partners, you are to make your way to the northern end of the forest. There will be opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die." Jaune gulped, I reached over and gave him a reassuring pat.
"We will be monitoring you throughout your initiation, but will not intervene. Your objective is this, At the end of your path, you will find an abandoned temple containing several relics. Each pair must retrieve one and return here to the cliff. You will be graded according to your performance, and for safeguarding your relics. Are there any questions?"
Jaune raised his hand timidly. "Yeah um, sir?"
"Good!" Ozpin rolled over him, I snorted at that. "Now, take your positions."
I drew Roar and Hide, and loaded my gun with a magazine of Gravity Dust rounds, a type suited not for combat, but for maneuverability. Using your gun to rocket around the battlefield sounded fucking demented, but it was my best means of slowing my fall and getting to pick my landing site.
Jaune, not getting the message, persisted. "Uh, sir? I got, um, a question." Students were already starting to get launched into the woods, best hurry, brother Arc, not gonna have much time to ask. "So, this landing... strategy thing... Uh, wha what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?"
"No, you will be falling."
"Oh, uh, I see... So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?"
"No. You will be using your own landing strategy."He was next in line,
"So, what exactly is a landing strategYYY!..."
I looked out as Jaune went flying, then back to Ozpin.
"You're having fun with this, aren't you?"
Ozpin gave me an enigmatic smile as my platform catapulted me into the air. What. An. Asshole.