Despite being the esteemed headmaster of one of the most recognizable Huntsmen schools in the history of Huntsmen schools, Ozpin's taste in food can be seen as basic and cheap to some, mostly the rich folks living in their ivory towers up in Atlas while Ozpin lived in his own clockwork tower up in Beacon.
Right now was different however, as Ozpin was currently in disguise, which explained how he was able to sit out in public without being swamped by reporters or talked to by random previous students of Beacon Academy. Ozpin currently wore a dark green bucket hat, his iconic round glasses replaced by rimless sunglasses, his snazzy suit and green scarf replaced by a plain white t-shirt with an artsy graphic printed on it.
Sipping down a delicious Coffee Smoothie, a horrific food abomination created by combining two of Remnants most enjoyed drinks, Ozpin sat next to Qrow, who wasn't in disguise because he looked so plain already, inside a diner as the drunken man decided to slam down another bottle of moonshine, courtesy of Mr. Courrier. He'll have to reprimand him for enabling Qrow's alcoholism by introducing the man to stronger alcohol later.
The two sipped their drinks in silence as they stared out of the diner window, watching as the Vale nightlife passes them by, Qrow lets out a satisfied sigh before placing the bottle of moonshine down with a clink, "So I assume that we all know that Courrier's full of shit, right?"
While Ozpin wouldn't put it so crassly, he'd have to agree, "The basic rule of Semblances require one to have Aura, which Mr. Courrier doesn't. Still, calling this 'ability' of his a Semblance would raise fewer questions. We can also explain his lack of Aura as just an extremely low amount."
"Right, but then if it's not a Semblance then what is it?" Qrow leaned his head on his hand, "What if he's someone like you?"
Ozpin hummed, "Perhaps, but I don't recall ever seeing his face in all my years of being alive."
Qrow looked around the diner to make sure none of Salem's lackeys were there to spy on their conversation, he then leaned towards Ozpin and whispered, "Time to vacate, I'm getting a bad feeling here." Ozpin noticed that Qrow was eyeing a person sleeping with their head down on one of the tables; they were wearing a dark brown button-up with faded yellow stripes, a pair of blue overalls went over the shirt, a red bandana and a pair of goggles hanging around their neck, and a dirty white satchel with a picture of a two-headed bear imprinted on it.
He shrugged and finished his smoothie, leaving the diner after paying for the drink, that person definitely was an out-of-towner, no air of malice and no goons of Salem would be that stealthy. Ozpin respected Qrow but sometimes his drinking habits would greatly inhibit his work in the field, thankfully he's been able to immediately sober himself up for important work.
That is until Mr. Courrier began feeding him moonshine of unknown origin that is, Ozpin sighed, it make take a couple more weeks until Qrow can get used to the moonshine and learn how to sober himself up for missions again.
The Courier raised his head confusedly as he wiped a line of drool off of his mouth, without the constant chatter and dosage of Med-X from the Stealth Suit, the Courier often finds himself falling asleep almost every time he took the suit off. Right now he was in his Caravaneer Outfit, something he brought along with him to the Big MT because he can't stay in the Stealth Suit and Courier Duster forever.
The Caravaneer Outfit was comfortable and stylish, the red bandana really contrasting with the blue overalls… is what he would've said if the entire outfit wasn't graced with the infamous Mojave charm, covered in sand and dust, making everything looked brown, muddy, and incredibly drab. Hell, the NCR satchel he had on him was supposed to be white! It looked brown as fuck now though, thanks Mojave!
The Courier sighed; he was here to get wasted off of the local alcohol! Not to talk shit about his home!
Qrow and Ozpin sat on a swing set in the middle of an empty playground, the children are no longer outside to play anymore as it was already late in the night, Qrow took a sip from his flask nervously as his eyes darted around the area, trying to find any hint of a spy or unwanted observer.
Ozpin leaned towards Qrow, "The Vytal Festival's coming up, and with that comes unwanted attention, especially after Ironwood's show of power," he admitted that he was overreacting a bit when he saw James' fleet flying over Vale, but now, after sitting around thinking about it for a while, it made sense to a certain degree. His argument at the beginning when meeting James was that it'd make the citizens afraid and he'd admit that he was wrong to assume that, the people won't be afraid when they have a large fleet over them to protect them.
They'd be intimidated sure, but emotions like intimidation don't attract Grimm so it's a moot point. What is a problem with Atlas' fleet being here is the fact that it's bringing too much attention to itself. Knowing Salem and her lackeys, they'd probably find a way to use this against him somehow. He told Ironwood this many times before, 'When you're fighting against someone like Salem, there's no such thing as being paranoid, be sure of your abilities but never be arrogant or, dare I say, even confident regarding matters relating to Salem' he had said, it seems like Ironwood didn't listen that closely.
James is sure that this fleet will keep Vale safe, under what assumption? It's there to preface the arrival of the Amity Colosseum sure but can it handle threats coming from below? Especially in a densely populated city like Vale. Never be confident in your abilities against Salem, knowing that woman, she probably already had some spies embedded inside every major Academy, the scheming witch.
Qrow swung back and forth on the swing set, kicking his feet lightly as he rubbed his chin in thinking, "That is to say that she didn't already have plans for this Festival already," Qrow sighed, "We'll probably have to up security in many places, especially after that CCTS break-in during the dance."
"You know about that?"
"Ironwood filled me in about the situation," Qrow leaned back on the swing set, "And it doesn't seem like any ordinary break-in either, the whole thing just reeked of her involvement somehow."
"Perhaps we can get Mr. Courrier to help us in this."
Qrow looked over in surprise, nearly falling off of his swing, "You serious?"
"Very, he seemed like a man of many talents, I was observing him through my cameras-" "Of course you were." "Hush, now I was observing him through my cameras and I saw something that really peaked my interest."
"Mr. Courrier seemed to have a great grasp on technology and repairs, I once saw him repair a student's broken Scroll using the parts from a microwave."
"Why was that student asking him to repair their broken Scroll in the first place? Sounds awfully fishy to me…" Ozpin mentally sighed, Qrow was probably drunk again, but this time he can't properly sober up because Mr. Courrier's moonshine's just that potent apparently.
"Mr. Courrier's an assistant teacher, he specified that he was good at repairing things from a conversation we had while I was remaking his CCTS profile."
"Really now? And when was that?"
"After our first discussion about his 'Semblance', probably about two or three in the morning, he's a surprisingly wise man once you get to speak with him personally."
Why are those two old men sitting around in a kids' playground at the dead of night?
Are they creeps? Lavs shuddered at the thought as she turned to take a detour away from those two. While walking home, she sighed, despite being a part of the White Fang, she felt like she's done nothing with her life so far.
Memories of being on that train flashed in her head, a chill went down her back as she felt someone following her. Lavs put a hand in her pocket, fingers curling around the switchblade that she carried around with her at all times. Despite having Aura, she was never a great fighter. Heck, despite being in the White Fang, she never knew how to properly fight.
When she heard footsteps coming from behind her, she briefly wondered what the best course of action was, was it to fight back or run for her life? That latter, it's always the latter.
"Hey-" Lavs turned around and swung the switchblade at the person who just grabbed her shoulder, said person then proceeded to lean back, completely avoiding the slash entirely. Lavs sent out a quick prayer for herself and quickly accepted the circumstances of her death right here and now.
"Woah! What was that for?" Lavs jumped back, eyeing the creep that just tried to attack her, something then clicked in her mind.
"…Sir?"
"Sir?" the creep, no, her superior officer (?!) repeated back to her, he then squinted his eyes at her, "Wait… you look familiar…"
Lavs watched the man warily, for all she knows; this guy might just look similar to her superior officer! You never know… The man was wearing a brown shirt with overalls and a tan satchel slung over his clothes, strangely enough there was a two headed bear print on the thing? Weird.
The man snapped his fingers, Lavs flinched a bit at that and raised her knife, he then slammed his fist down on his open palm, "Ah! I remember you now! You were on that train!"
He knows? "I- I- I don't know w-what you're talking about!"
"Really? You don't remember me throwing you out of the train? At all?"
"Eh?"
Ah crap, looks like she just threatened her superior officer with a knife.
"I'm sorry!" Lavs bowed her head and yelled out, quietly of course, she didn't want to annoy the people living here.
"For what? Being thrown out of a speeding train?"
"For attacking you!"
"Oh that, yeah you really need to work on your knife skills," her superior officer chuckled, "I just noticed you walking around and I thought that this would be a great way to ask you about the White Fang."
"Ah- um, yes sir." Oh gods she's definitely going to be demoted after this…
"What happened to all the people on that train?"
Lavs sighed, "Most of them were captured sir, but some of us managed to escape and hide…"
"Really? Sweet! Hey listen, I've been separated from them for a damn long time now, do you know where I can find them?"
"I- uh, I can send the coordinates to you, sir…"
"Nah, lead the way!"
"Hah?" Lavs shot her head up instantly, confused, befuddled, bewildered even, "B- but sending it to you would be a lot easier! And you wouldn't have to waste time with a lower ranked White Fang goon like me…"
"I follow people better than I do directions so lead the way!"
"Y- Yes, sir!"
"Eugh, don't call me sir, that feels weird," her superior officer motioned for her to lead him towards where the remaining White Fang members have been hiding out after the train mission, "Call me Courrier, what's your name?"
"L- Lavs, sir, Lavs Greenhorn…"
Despite what it might look like, this was a decision that the Courier made on his own. He had removed the tracker the moment he stepped foot onto Beacon Academy after his first mission of pinpointing White Fang hideouts. With nothing to relay his location back to Ozpin and that man's merry band of misfits, the Courier was now free to do as he sees fit.
Like rejoining a terrorist cell! Ah, good memories…
The girl in front of him, Lavs, was pretty nervous though, but the Courier doesn't forget a face. He might not remember names or whatever it is that a person did but he'll always remember a person's face. And that girl is definitely the same White Fang goon that he chucked off the train a week or two ago.
Despite her face being hidden behind one of their cool masks, there were still some identifying features, like her unique birthmark that covered most of her neck for example, not many people have birthmarks to begin with! Of course, the Courier knows when and when not to bring a lady's physical appearance up in a conversation, many long talks with Cass and Lily made sure to straighten him out.
Raul too, the Courier didn't even know that that old ghoul knows anything about women.
The Courier looked at Lavs and can't help but feel sad for the girl, having Aura but utterly abysmal fighting skills? Unbelievable, maybe he'll teach her a thing or two about knives when they get to the hideout.
Hey guys please review more I need to stroke my own ego a bit.
Anyways, the story's currently at that limbo stage between Volume 2 and 3, since I don't think the Vytal Colosseum would arrive at Vale right after such an attack from the White Fang.