The sunlight illuminated the entire territory that covered the Huntsmen academy known as Beacon, the enormous medieval-style structure stood out from the rest of the land due to its incredible architecture and its attractive appearance, although especially due to the number of people and of experiences it had.
Yang Xiao Long turned the doorknob of the room newly assigned to the WBRN team, the arrangements had been a little late specifically for that team at the request of Oscar and Yang herself, and by request she means putting real bunk beds in them instead of a couple of ropes and books.
The woman found that the knob stopped moving at one point, she frowned in confusion as she tried to struggle once more, forcefully moving her hand to the right, her lilac eyes locked on the small blue panel above it, the goatee, the blonde tapped her forehead in silence, shaking her head from side to side, she had really been too far from Beacon in these 2 years.
She entered a really simple code that she already knew perfectly, 4050 was the year in which Summer Rose, Taiyang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen and Qrow Branwen were born, it was an important date for Beacon due to how relevant STRQ were during their stay in academy, Yang wasn't the smartest on team RWBY, but she definitely wasn't stupid, Oscar must have set this password.
"Error, two attempts left" Pyrrha's soft voice almost stopped Yang's heart, the blonde woman squeezed her own hand with some doubt, if it wasn't that date, what could it be then?
4070.
The blue panel took on a greenish color for a couple of milliseconds, a metallic sound was heard from inside the door, so Yang turned the knob once more, the door finally opened silently, finally giving another view.
The room was certainly more spacious than the one she had had in her time as a student, the 4 beds had bundles stuffed inside, so it was not difficult to assume that it was all the WBRN equipment, some wooden shelves were perfectly placed in on the walls next to the door, books of different classes such as History, Combat Tactics or Grimm filled each space, this was a common practice that Oscar had carried out since he took the Headmaster position, providing the books directly in the students' rooms so that they didn't waste any time afterwards, a rather friendly gesture that reminded little bit to Ozpin.
Yang took a silent step forward, her foot colliding with a heavy metal object, the woman looked down curiously, finding a pair of gauntlets and yellow boots with holes in different parts, it was Deathraze.
Myrtenaster and Red Reaper were also on the side, it was obvious that the first thing they would do was go to sleep without worrying about the risk of their weapons being stolen, from what Yang had heard, the WBRN team had fought against a gigantic Nevermore, the same Grimm that the RWBY team itself defeated many years ago, it seemed almost a wink on the part of fate.
"TEAM WBRN!" Yang smiled and opened her mouth, shouting the acronym WBRN excitedly "This is your first day of school!"
"What...?" The blanket on the upper left bed moved up, revealing the figure of Waylon Branwen, his torso was completely visible due to the lack of his characteristic jacket, Yang tried to look for it once again, it was on the desk "Yang? It's early…what are you doing here?"
"It's not too early! It's 5:00 AM" Yang shrugged, approaching her cousin and extending her arms toward him "Waylon! I haven't seen you in several years, you're so tall now"
Waylon grunted in irritation, letting himself fall to the floor and standing upright in front of his cousin, sure enough, he was even taller than her "It's good to see you, cousin, but I would prefer to see you in class...we have history with Professor Lie Ren at 7 in the morning, I already had an alarm assigned for 6:20 so we could prepare properly-"
"Okay okay, easy there" Yang laughed nervously, patting her cousin on the shoulder "It's your first day here, you can take it easy this week"
"Good morning, Aunt Yang" The woman was forced to turn around due to the soft voice of her nephew, Roy Schnee, his white hair was disheveled, he was wearing a simple gray shirt with the image of a bunny printed on the chest, that was Jaune's?
"Snowflake" Yang took the boy by the shoulders, giving him a quick hug accompanied by a kiss on the head, Roy returned the gesture and headed to the bathroom without saying a word.
"Mom!" Bryan grabbed Yang by her waist, lifting her into the air and spinning her around a few times "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be home"
"I couldn't miss my little baby's first day" Yang grabbed the cat faunus's cheeks, squeezing them with some force "I decided to go back to work, your aunt Ruby got a competent babysitter, Blake told me on the phone that Kirina was more than satisfied with her new friend, so now I can work and keep an eye on you"
"AUNT YAAAAAAAAAAANG!" Neithan lunged at Yang and threw her to the ground, hugging her with an almost unbreakable grip "Did you see how we defeated that Nevermore?! You should have seen Waylon's face when I fell on top of him and buried us both in an underground path in the forest!"
"No, you shouldn't have seen that" Waylon responded, looking at himself in the desk mirror with some pride at his well-worked physical condition, he looked even older than he was "...What do you think of the team, Yang?"
"You mean the children of all of RWBY are under your command? That's great" Yang commented, making sure she wasn't torn apart by her nephew's strong hug "I think I've taken up some of your time already, don't you think? Come to my class after listening to Ren talk for an entire hour about something boring, yeah?"
Yang gave a hug to each of the boys, including Roy, who had come out of the bathroom fully dressed and ready for the day, the blonde woman left through the door quickly, she also had to prepare her classroom in record time, everything must have been dusty and dirty.
The room was filled with an awkward silence, each of the teenagers present had different visions of the future just a day before, they would end up on completely separate teams, perhaps they would be lucky and could be located in the same area, but in none of those options was the one that the 4 would end up together, even more so being freed by Waylon.
Bryan had no problem with Waylon being the leader, he hadn't heard much from his uncle/cousin in all these years that had passed since they last saw each other, but from what he knew and had read on the net, he was a complete talent never before seen in Pharos, there were some comments from his teachers on the net, stating without any doubt that the team he led would be a lucky one.
Neithan didn't have the slightest idea what Waylon had done in these years, he hadn't even bothered to ask Ruby or Oscar, he only knew that Waylon was strong and the other stuff, he didn't like the idea of ending up being team leader, it was a heavy burden that not everyone can carry, he knows that very well due to his mother, so it was a relief to know that Waylon would be the one to carry that burden.
Roy, on the other hand, knew perfectly well all of Waylon's achievements, they were almost engraved in his memory with a red-hot chisel, his cousin won the Vytal tournament for minor combat academies 5 times in a row, any kind of competition held in Pharos was a piece of cake for him, the international confrontation between Sanctum and Pharos last year ended in Waylon crowning himself as the most powerful among an endless list of Mistral students, not even Pyrrha Nikos had won so many competitions in such a short time.
Waylon is a complete stranger to him, having him as a leader can be good or bad, he doesn't even care, if he stays away from him, the better.
"Well, let's stay close in each class, I prefer to be with you than with the rest" Waylon commented, drying his hair with a towel "Maybe you can help me by giving me a summary of your weapons and your semblance, maybe your combat style, so we can devise incredibly powerful team attacks"
"It sounds great, but mom already told you, it's the first day, let's calm down a little" Bryan smiled, feeling some drops of water cross the inside of his cat ear with some discomfort "Team RWBY was always accompanied by JNPR in the only year they had in Beacon...should we also have a team like that?"
"STRM gives me good vibes" Roy commented, taking his rapier and leaving it on the desk "Maybe we should them on the weekends to do something, eat something in the cafeteria, there are many options"
"I don't really care" Neithan stared at himself in the mirror with some analysis, noting how short he was compared to his new teammates "I'll leave it to you guys"
"...Well, we can try it" Waylon stated reluctantly, finishing buttoning the uncomfortable vest that was his uniform and opening the door to the room "Let's get going...we should get there early if possible"
The WBRN team left the room in a calm and orderly manner, beginning their journey to the opposite wing from which they were, Professor Lie Ren's class was the friendliest that Beacon could offer for first-year students, in fact, it had become customary that the first class that all students had to attend was History of Remnant.
History of Remnant had the purpose of explaining some important events that have happened in the 4115 years that humans have existed, the entire team had already received a similar class in their respective combat academies, although now they would have to experience it in a more serious and complete, which was overwhelming for Neithan, neutral for Bryan and very useful for Waylon and Roy.
The boys stopped once they reached the main hallway, the path to Ren's classroom was completely congested by students of all years, casual conversations and the occasional couple closer than necessary was the most interesting thing that could be seen at first, at first glance, it was strange, because it was barely 6:30, there was still half an hour before classes started.
"Did you hear that Professor Yang is back?"
"Yes, there is supposedly a new renowned team, I think it was the name of a Grimm..."
"I also heard that, they were the direct children of RWBY! And there was one more...I don't remember who it was"
Waylon frowned as he stopped, didn't they know who he was?
"I remembered! He's a boy from Pharos, he won the Vytal minor league tournament 5 times in a row!"
"You should see him in person to know if he's strong or not, maybe he's not even that impressive"
"His name is...Waylon Branwen, yes, that's his name"
"Branwen? Like the Bandit tribe?"
"Don't be an idiot, more like the last name of Qrow-"
Waylon stopped listening to the conversation when someone collided with him, his body was barely pushed back, while the thud of the floor mat confirmed that the other person had definitely fallen to the ground.
"Ow...Ow" Black hair, blue eyes and somewhat slanted, her figure was somewhat slender, she was definitely attractive...he saw her yasterday, she was-
"Riana" Waylon extended his hand, his open palm was held tightly by the black-haired girl, who smiled a little nervous and embarrassed "Your father's class is on the other side, you should be more careful"
Riana nodded while laughing, tucking a dark strand behind her ear "I know, I know! I was looking for you"
Waylon raised his eyebrows, somewhat impressed, he quickly turned around to check the situation of his teammates, Bryan seemed to have been watching the exchange for a while, at least that was what his stupid smile transmitted.
"We'll go save you a seat" Bryan suppressed his laughter in a discreet manner, giving his uncle/cousin a quick pat on the right shoulder "Neithan, Roy, come with me"
Neithan and Roy did not resist and accompanied the blonde faunus, Waylon watched his teammates retreat, leaving him completely alone with Riana.
"You need something?" Waylon's tone of voice was neutral, almost cutting, he didn't really like interacting with people if it wasn't strictly necessary or if he couldn't get something out of it, so it was normal for him to be somewhat dry with people that he barely knows.
"I wanted to thank you for saving me from ending up in a pulp at the bottom of that ugly cliff" Riana commented, a slight blush on her cheeks "I'm usually more attentive, you know? But I was excited and all..."
Riana remained silent, although her fingers tapping against each other indicated that she still had something or another to say, Waylon limited himself to imitating her and simply remaining silent, waiting patiently for her to organize her thoughts and put them into words.
Patience is the virtue of the wise, Winter Schnee had taken this phrase quite seriously after the war against Salem, so it was not at all surprising that she decided to instill in her son the fact that he should be patient to a certain extent, if he interacts with people in a less hostile place, then he can have that luxury, in the combat field it is a completely different matter.
"I was wondering if you wanted to be my friend" Riana finally spoke, smiling brightly "My team was formed yesterday and all, we're not the best friends in the world yet, but I'd love for you and me to talk a little from time to time" "
Waylon nodded, noticing how some students looked at him discreetly and whispered something or another, a subtle smile settled on his lips "...Let's discuss that later"
"Ah! Later? What do you mean by that?" Riana asked confused, watching completely still as Waylon walked around her and went to her class, leaving her completely alone once again.
"...I guess he's a little shy" She laughed again, this time somewhat defeated, it didn't take her long to start her walk to her father's class, she couldn't take too long, or he would scold her later.
...
"Phimisal and Ishaiba are kingdoms created 25 years ago when Atlas fell, as a way to respond to the imminent threat that Salem represented for all of Remnant, several towns neighboring Vale and others very close to the mountains near Vacuo decided to form 2 entire nations with newly formed combat academies, Nexorum for Phimisal and Rovemid for Ishaiba, with very defined teaching styles and with Huntsmen of all kinds, both kingdoms…" Lie Ren explained with complete calm while looking at his companions, he was not a fanatic of wasting time with presentations, no, he preferred to go directly to the matter at hand, in this case (and basically his entire day to day life) was teaching classes to new students and those he already had.
"I didn't remember Professor Ren wearing glasses" Telsius commented quietly, looking out of the corner of his eye at Riana, who seemed to be immersed in her thoughts.
"Have you seen him before?" Samuel asked, trying to balance his attention on the class and his teammate's statement.
"Of course, I've known him since I was practically a baby, he and Headmistress Nora are like my uncles" Telsius explained, having the image of Ren and Nora in his mind.
"I investigated you and Samuel, you two are from Mistral, although you Telsius studied in Sanctum and Samuel did not study in any academy" Myrian mentioned, although his observation was not fully related to what the red-haired boy had said "Cowardly Leon, could you explain that to me?"
Samuel looked at Riana for a moment, she looked distracted, although it didn't take him long to respond to Myrian "I trained with my father all my life, I didn't want to study at Sanctum or other academies so I wouldn't feel so tied to Haven, so I could come to Beacon"
Myrian nodded, noticing Riana's lost gaze, her eyes moved in the same direction that the black-haired girl was looking, finding that she was staring at Waylon Branwen on the other side of the room.
Myrian knew Waylon very well, if that means knowing the basics very well, he was a monster when it came to combat and planning strategies, which was strange considering that he didn't even have real friends, but from what she heard in Pharos he have a cousin in Atlas and two others in Signal, with whom he had been close for a while, but that was all she knew.
It seemed that Riana had taken a little interest in him.
With a joking smile, Myrian decided to tease her a little "Riana, it seems that you suffer from the same illness as half of the female students of Pharos"
"Death?" The black-haired girl finally came out of her trance, turning to the side so she could look directly at the purple-eyed girl.
"Falling in love at first sight with Waylon Branwen" Myrian laughed softly as she saw the somewhat strong blush on her partner's cheeks "Is there anything specific you like about him?"
"I don't like him!" Riana whispered forcefully, hitting her chin against the wooden surface beneath her "I feel grateful to him for saving me yesterday, that's all"
"Do you like his eyes? His calm and serene expression? His somewhat sharp but explosive personality at the same time? I know him" Myrian looked at Riana with a mocking smile, giving her a small blow on the back of the head "Im sorry to inform you that he has not had a never a real girlfriend, so you can save yourself the trouble of lovesickness and focus on another boy or girl"
"I already told you I don't like him!" Riana increased the volume of her voice a little "Yes, he is handsome, tall, his expression is almost identical to my father's almost all the time but that doesn't matter! I don't want to have a boyfriend so quickly, I just want to be his friend"
"Whatever you say, girl" Myrian crossed her legs, giving her classmate one last look "Concentrate on class, your father is looking at you kind of mad"
Riana frowned in confusion, looking forward with some curiosity, meeting her father's piercing pink eyes, the girl quickly stood upright and began to pay real attention to her father's class.
"Ahem, as I said, the Salem War ended in the year 4092, and Beacon finished being rebuilt in the year 4093, therefore, currently there are a total of 6 Huntsmen academies, Beacon, Haven, Atlas, Shade, Nexorum and Ishaiba, well, in the year 4008-"
"Class is over, Ren, students can retire to their next class with Professor Yang Xiao Long" Pyrrha's cheerful voice interrupted Ren without any shame, the man looked at the hologram of his deceased friend in the Neo-Scroll, rolling his eyes in some annoyance.
"You heard her, go to the third floor classroom with the nameplate that has Yang Xiao Long's name on it, I'll see you tomorrow" Ren said goodbye to the students, giving a quick look at Telsius and Riana "You two, don't cause any trouble"
"Don't worry Uncle Ren/I don't promise anything dad!" Telsius and Riana left the classroom normally, now leaving the attractive professor completely alone.
...
"Waylon, Bryan, Roy and Neithan in one team...WBRN" Ruby Rose looked at the hologram of the 4 students already mentioned in her Neo-Scroll, her tone of voice showed the tiredness and neutrality that she had acquired throughout years, contrasting quite a bit with how cheerful and loud she was when she was studying at Beacon "I'd say I'm impressed, darling, but I'm sure this was a plan from your part..."
"Send them to inhospitable areas of Grimm so that they take too long and end up arriving together at the final ruins? You're not going to accuse me of putting the Nevermore there too, are you?" Oscar looked at his wife from his desk, smiling somewhat mockingly at the woman "...But you might be right"
"I trust that Yang will keep an eye on them along with my father, he is one of the few who has seen Waylon in recent years" Ruby commented in a low voice, deactivating the hologram and staring at the ground, thoughtful.
It was definitely a very big coincidence or it was Oscar's plan, it didn't matter, the new WBRN team had enormous weight simply with their last names and origins, they would definitely be something to talk about in Beacon for the next few years, Ruby didn't care much, as long as they were safe, she would be more than happy with their team.
"I don't think you're here to visit them, although it would be nice" Oscar stated, getting up from his desk and approaching Ruby, facing her and emphasizing their height difference, even if he had been shorter than her when they were teenagers, now he was the one that had to tilt his head down to see her more precisely.
"No, I was looking for information about Felicia since yesterday, it seems that her latest robberies are related to Dust, just like her father, the tribe must need all kinds of weapons for whatever they are planning, maybe that is why she is stealing these trucks from Schnee Corporations" Ruby explained, approaching her husband's desk and pressing two fingers gently on the crystalline surface, in a blink a huge hologram of Schnee Corp's main building loomed over the room, which dimmed the lighting to further emphasize the imposingness of the hologram.
"But not only that, Schnee Corporations also create military grade weapons, just below the Atlas army, the plasma energy they created is powerful and unique, perhaps Felicia is looking for a specific weapon powered by that same plasma energy" Ruby stared at the hologram, bringing her fingers closer and zooming in on a simple company vehicle, the bluish glow hitting her silver eyes hard, showing her noticeable dark circles "...I think I can catch her if I talk to Winter"
"Need help?" A third voice echoed in the room, Nora Valkyrie approached Oscar and Ruby, giving the woman a quick slap on the butt, who grunted in annoyance while Oscar simply watched, holding back his laughter "I'm barely older than you, Ruby, I can still kick bandits' butts"
"...It's not necessary" Ruby shook her head "I heard your daughter is on a team, you should keep an eye on her, we don't want a repeat of what happened in the cafeteria, don't you think?"
"It would be nice, nostalgic" Nora smiled, quickly shaking her head to clear the memories from her mind "Hey, are you sure you don't want help? Felicia is much younger than you and her semblance is very powerful, a hand wouldn't hurt"
"It's better to keep the risks low" Ruby raised her hand and waved it in the air, dismissing her friend's concern "If we can capture her, we'll be able to find out how much the tribe knows about the dagger from the afterlife..."
"Ruby" Oscar called his wife calmly, although his voice also had a noticeable hint of seriousness "You've barely slept, Nora is strong enough to help you, I'd like her to-"
"Oscar, love, please" Ruby closed her eyes, rubbing her forehead as if she had a migraine "Let me do this for you, okay? I'll go to Schnee Corporations later to talk to Winter and ask her to tell me if she has anything that might interest Felicia, I will inform you two of what I discover"
Oscar and Nora were unable to respond before Ruby activated her semblance and quickly transported herself out of the Beacon Headmaster's office, the man holding the bridge of his nose in some irritation, leaning on the edge of his desk.
Oscar didn't really like that Ruby decided to take actions on her own without taking into consideration the opinion of her friends, this wasn't new, of course, and in fact, he could accept it to a certain extent, but that didn't take away from the fact that seeing her so tired and physically broken hurt him, and it hurt even more that she continued to push herself harder than necessary.
It was a bad habit that she had acquired since the war against Salem ended, Ruby began to take on assignments as Huntress more and more frequently, reaching the point where, nowadays, she was almost never at home.
"...She's kind of, you know, uh, with her head up her ass" Nora said without any shame, raising her arms in the air and stretching, letting out a satisfied moan "Maybe Yang can help her, don't you think?"
"Yang is practically the same, she doesn't want to put her family at risk" Oscar shrugged, walking around his desk and sitting in his chair "...We will figure it out, calm down, Nora"
"Yes yes, do you want to go get pancakes? The cafeteria must be empty right now...I'm starving" Even if Nora's question was supposed to be an invitation, she didn't wait for an answer, she firmly grabbed her friend's shoulders and dragged him down the hallway to the cafeteria, where she devoured every type of pancake with fervor.
...
"Welcome to your first year as students at Beacon Academy! My name is Yang Xiao Long and I will be your Grimm teacher throughout the school year, don't be afraid of me, I don't bite! I'm your new best friend" Yang introduced herself to the students with a friendly smile, most of the students blushed and began to whisper things to each other (Mostly how beautiful their teacher looked today) and some others showed their excitement at being guided by a member of team RWBY.
Bryan had a mix of emotions inside him, he was definitely excited to have his own mother as a teacher, somewhat scared by that very fact, and also happy to finally see her out of the house, Kirina was his sister and he would always love her, but he wasn't going to deny that Yang was somewhat overprotective of her, so it was a relief to see her working again.
"Well, let's start with this, the Grimm is the number 1 enemy of a Huntsman, that should be known to all of you, even if this world we live in is full of evil everywhere, the Grimm will always be the representation of that evil, so we must be prepared to fight them" Yang began to walk from side to side around the classroom, keeping an eye on any movement the WBRN team made "What can you tell me that you know?"
Waylon raised his hand quickly, Yang giggled and nodded in his direction, giving the floor to her cousin.
"The Grimm reproduce in dark molasses pools located throughout Remnant, they are attracted by negative emotions such as fear, fear, anger, panic, since Salem died, stranger Grimms have appeared, such as the Ronin, Qesha, or the Lucralon" Waylon explained with a serious face, Yang began to clap as a sign of recognition, a gesture that was imitated by the entire class, including Bryan and a little reluctantly Neithan.
Except Roy, he stayed silent.
"That's right, even if the big boss Salem is a couple of meters underground right now, Grimm doesn't stop appearing in the world, as strong as the Ronin, Qesha, or the Lucralon, as my cousin mentioned" Yang shook her head and turning around, quickly surrounding her desk and approaching the wall behind it, the woman slammed a button that was camouflaged in the rocky surface, the wall began to separate in two, revealing a wide and perfectly rectangular hole "When I was young, I destroyed all kinds of Grimm, even without being a Huntress, and when I finally graduated from Shade, well, I think I could make a Pokedex without a problem"
Yang entered the new space revealed by herself, with some clumsiness she began to run her hands along the left wall, stopping when she came across a metal lever covered by a red handle, she forcefully pushed it down, running the academy's electricity to some light panels located on the ceiling.
"The explanation is boring, so I brought you a small gift" Yang leaned against the wall, extending her left hand towards the background, the imposing image of a Beringel perhaps 4 meters tall made some students gasp "This friendly monkey is a basic Grimm, so it shouldn't be a problem for any of you, the plates on its body serve as armor, and its attacks are somewhat simple, does anyone want to try their luck?"
Waylon began to raise his hand, mentally preparing himself in advance to face the Beringel, it wouldn't be complicated, anyway, he just had to hit his weakest areas, like the neck, back, thighs, stomach.
"Let me try, Aunt Yang" Roy stood up quickly, surprising his team and also partially Yang, the blonde woman smiled excitedly, beginning to gesture for the boy to come closer.
"Am I having Deja Vu?" She murmured quietly, moving away from the Beringel and approaching her desk, she rested her hips on the edge and activated her Neo-Scroll, the concrete walls that surrounded the Grimm became transparent, Roy took a step forward, entering the rectangular area, a glass door ended up enclosing it completely, exactly the same as the one that separated it from the Grimm.
"Pyrrha, Myrtenaster" Yang indicated to the AI, soon, a locker appeared in an artificial hole in the wall, the metal container opened with a loud noise, revealing the neat rapier placed perfectly in some metal supports.
Roy took the rapier carefully, watching the locker close and disappear again inside the wall, the boy changed his posture to a firm one, putting his left hand behind his lower back, Yang didn't wait another second and indicated to Pyrrha that removed the window that separated his nephew from the Grimm, an order that was executed in just a second.
Roy did not have time to think of a quick strategy, the Beringel rushed at him at incredible speed, aggressively extending its enormous right hand to catch him, Roy created an ordinary glyph and used it as a shield, the glyph barely resisted a blow before breaking, which surprised the boy.
"Roy, your space is closed, you must take advantage of all the terrain allowed" Waylon raised his voice firmly, watching each of the Grimm's movements with great attention, the Beringel raised its fists and slammed them hard against the ground, Roy felt like his feet stumbled from the sudden vibration that surrounded the entire place, causing him to have to support himself with his rapier.
The blue-eyed created a glyph, from which a pair of energy projectiles were fired in the direction of the Grimm, the gorilla-shaped beast used its arms to protect itself, Roy took advantage of the Beringel's lack of vision and propelled himself with a dilation time glyph, driving his rapier completely into the Grimm's stomach.
The Beringel grunted at the sudden damage done to its stomach, without waiting a single second it grabbed Roy forcefully, surrounding his entire body with just a few of his hands and throwing him forcefully towards the window.
"You must pressure him! His resistance is too superior to defeat him in one hit, but if you manage to attack him very often or pierce him with a time dilation glyph-" Waylon began to formulate a strategy that would lead his cousin to victory, although he was interrupted quickly by Roy himself.
"I DO NOT NEED YOUR HELP!" The blue-eyed shouted, quickly standing up and creating a time dilation glyph on the floor, in an instant he completely crossed the closed rectangular space, now in front of the Beringel once again, he began to throw his rapier at the parts more vulnerable, managing to stun the Grimm.
Roy watched with a smile as the Grimm rose to its knees, the boy raised his rapier in the air and began to prepare a precise blow, his expression of victory turned into one of confusion when he accidentally let go of his rapier, his hands were shaking.
The blue-eyed fell to the ground with some pain, he quickly checked his aura through his Neo-Scroll, it was in a very worrying phosphorescent yellow, the boy blinked a couple of times and recovered his rapier again, being surprised by a powerful blow from the Beringel all over the face.
Roy felt his back hit the window once again, his aura flickered a total of three times as he crawled on the floor, managing to grab his rapier and creating 4 glyphs around the Grimm, each one stopped having that characteristic whitish color and then turned completely purple, revealing the use of Gravity Dust on them.
Waylon bit his lip with some concern, his eyes quickly traveled to Yang, who maintained a darkly neutral expression, not seeming willing to interrupt the beating Roy was receiving.
Roy was not going to win, his aura was scarce, Waylon knew that perfectly, the rapier he used was perfect in every way, Myrtenaster is a weapon designed down to the smallest detail, but Roy did not know how to use it at all, his personal rapier It would have been a better option, it was in unknown and hostile terrain.
Roy closed his eyes, clutching his chest with some force as he gasped for air, he wasn't going to lose against a simple Beringel, he couldn't do it, he would be disappointing his father, his mother, himself.
He wasn't going to make a fool in front of Waylon, he wouldn't give him that pleasure.
...
Year 4108, Schnee family territory.
Waylon hit Roy's stomach with his plastic sword with a design similar to that of Crocea Mors, the red-eyed smiled proudly as he completely pushed his cousin to the ground, raising his arms in the air in a victory sign.
"I win again! Waylon 5, Roy 0" The little white-haired boy laughed adorably, extending his hand down, managing to help his cousin to his feet "If you really want to be like uncle Jaune, wimpy-Roy, you should try harder than that!"
"I can't do it if you're always kicking my butt" Roy laughed in response, slapping his legs a couple of times to clear away the dust that had begun to accumulate "Every time you train with aunt Winter, you're a lot stronger than me than before...I can hardly hit you"
"Mommy trains me to be the strongest Huntsman, it's obvious" Waylon responded proudly, placing his small right fist on his heart "...Although sometimes I'm a little sore after training, aunt Weiss trains you harder these days?"
"Mother allows me to go at my own pace" Roy responded with a somewhat mocking tone of voice, giving his cousin a quick kick on the knee "She insists that I can do whatever I want when I'm older...I can even enter the finance academy to be able to work with uncle Whitley"
Waylon did not respond directly, he stared at his cousin for a couple of seconds, then saw the enormous chapel they were in, the ornamental style gave the place an elegant and sophisticated appearance, which was normal, Weiss trained here in her days off, sometimes with her husband, son, and other times with Waylon.
Winter had been clear with her instructions, he could barely spend two days in Atlas before having to return to Vale to continue his studies and training, even if the little boy, barely 9 years old, had begged his mother with all his strength that she allowed him to spend more time with his aunt, uncle and cousin, Winter did not change her position and simply attacked him with a cold and dense silence, which he hated with all his heart.
"...Mom says that I must be the most important Huntsman of all, that only in that way will I be someone" Waylon commented in a low voice, beginning to walk away from his cousin in the direction of the huge door of the chapel "Let's forget about that! Let's play Blazblue, I think I have a very good combo with Ragna, I want to show it to you"
Roy nodded fervently and ran quickly to his cousin's side, both children pushed hard the huge door that led to the outside, ending up on the floor when the door was opened by another person from outside.
Waylon quickly got up from the ground, encountering a rather large and imposing shadow, the boy looked up slowly, encountering Jaune Arc, dressed in his white armor with silver details, his hair tied into a well-kept ponytail, he practically looked like a prince from the time of the monarchy.
"Uncle Jaune!" Little Waylon moaned, hugging the man's right leg, while his left leg was attacked by Roy "We thought you'd be in New Arrowfell"
"I was, but Klein informed me that he had a family emergency" The tall man knelt down, smiling softly in the direction of both children "...And, your mother called me, Waylon, she said she would come at dinner to take you to Vale"
"You are leaving so soon?!" Roy complained, clearly sad, receiving a complicated look from his cousin, Waylon simply bit his lip, nodding slowly towards his uncle.
"Okay, I'll go get ready" Waylon muttered, starting his way towards the Schnee mansion, being watched intently by Jaune and Roy, the young Schnee stomped his foot against the ground, his shoe partially buried in the dense snow, making him which caught his father's attention.
"Is everything okay Roy?" Jaune asked, grabbing his son by the sides and lifting him easily into the air.
"...I don't want Waylon to leave" The boy muttered, looking upset and downcast "I can barely see him lately! Can't you ask Aunt Winter to let him stay for a few days?"
"Your aunt..." Jaune began to speak and stopped quickly, his son would not understand the unique psychology that Winter Schnee possessed, perhaps in the future he could explain to him more precisely how his aunt thought, but for the moment, keep it simple is the best option "She knows what's best for Waylon, right? He wants to be a Huntsman, and she'll train him so hard he'll be even more powerful than me"
"That's impossible! You are the most powerful of all!" The boy whined adorably, being gently hugged by his father, they both began to head towards the mansion, after all, Waylon would need help even if he barely had a suitcase, after all, he's the half Jaune's leg length.
...
"Roy, you have to trust me, use all your aura on a glyph of time dilation, that way you will kill it in one hit" Waylon growled loudly, crossing the classroom in a jump and standing in front of the window, staring at the back of his cousin.
"Why the hell should I listen to you?" Roy practically growled in response, not even turning to look at his cousin, maybe he was too focused on keeping an eye on the Grimm, or he was too upset to argue with Waylon.
"I'm your leader, I'm your cousin, I'm your family, please, Roy" Waylon practically pleaded, his voice now had a hint of strange vulnerability, Roy frowned in confusion, he practically sounded the same as he did 4 years ago "Trust me, please, just this time"
Roy sighed, closing his eyes tightly, he created a glyph under him in the shape of a clock, the white circle began to rotate rapidly on itself, the boy prepared himself firmly, placing his rapier in front of him and pointing towards the Grimm's stomach.
The Beringel could not move even a little, the glyphs around it loaded with Gravity Dust anchored its limbs with some difficulty, its erratic behavior and its constant screaming were a clear sign of how confused and desperate it was at seeing itself anchored in a only place.
It was almost like a flash.
Roy crossed the entire space in a blink, piercing the Grimm in half with his rapier and completely destroying it with a grotesque noise, the Beringel's corpse fell to the floor in a splash of dark molasses, beginning to disintegrate in the air, the classroom was filled with applause and shouts due to the boy's victory, while Roy simply remained on the ground.
With a quick glance at his Neo-Sroll, he confirmed that his body was devoid of aura, Waylon had been right with his strategy, the risk was high, but he won, maybe he should thank him for it, or maybe not, his brain couldn't think clearly right now.
The window opened simply, Yang rushed to grab her nephew and firmly take him by the shoulders, checking his condition with some concern, his eyes looked tired, his posture was weak and his right hand must definitely in pain, or at least that was what the purple mark around his wrist indicated.
"You did good" Yang said with a half-smile, patting the boy's chest a couple of times, who groaned in pain "Oops! Well, class, that's all for today, continue to Professor Neil Rumpeldore's class, Make sure you slap your face before you get there, that guy is a sleep magnet"
Waylon, Bryan and Neithan didn't move an inch from their position, Yang took a couple of seconds to address them "You too, Roy will be fine, I should talk to him, you know, catch up and all that"
"Okay, see you later man" Bryan approached his half-breed cousin and gave him a gentle blow on the head, leaving the classroom shortly after.
"You were incredible" Neithan whispered, leaning down and giving Roy a big hug "Let's devise a combat strategy with that weird time glyph, see you!"
Waylon watched Neithan leave, for some reason he felt the need to stay and simply be by his cousin's side, but Yang's serene and calm gaze told him without words that he should leave, so without much more to wait, he turned away and did everything he could to catch up with his teammates.
...
Winter Schnee calmly typed a weekly summary of the profits and new projects assigned and launched of the Schnee Corporations company, her blue eyes were decorated with a pair of dark circles slightly hidden by the makeup applied to her face, although she did not care about it, after all, she wanted to do her job, not look pretty.
Winter stopped for a moment to be able to organize her words in her mind, her eyes traveled to the sofa located on one side of her work desk, a pillow and a blanket were somewhat dirty and neglected, she always used to sleep in that same place, even if it wasn't comfortable and sometimes she fell in the middle of the night, it was faster than going home and sleeping with her dear husband.
She need to keep her schedule in order, that's more than clear.
Winter turned around and looked at the window of the main building of Schnee Corporations, the view of the city was peaceful and pleasant to her, sometimes she could stay for an entire hour looking into nothingness, trying to better organize her thoughts.
It almost never worked, anyway.
Winter turned around when the doors to her office slid sideways, the woman went completely silent when she recognized the unhooded figure of Ruby Rose, it was a rare sight to see her around Vale lately, so the reason for her presence it definitely had to be interesting.
"Ruby" Winter called, motioning her to sit down "It's a pleasure to have you here after so long without seeing you, do you want a whiskey?"
"No," Ruby refused, sitting down on the soft square seat, Winter nodded and uncorked the bottle anyway, pouring the liquid into a small crystal glass with her family symbol stamped on the inside, drinking it partially in one gulp "...You look good"
"I appreciate it" Winter leaned back in her reclining chair, pressing her eyelids with her fingers and rubbing them with some force, trying not to fall asleep due to the lack of rest "Makeup can do miracles, not this time, but, let's not talk about that, I'm kind of busy right now, is there anything you need?"
"Straight to the point" Ruby laughed dryly, taking the bottle of whiskey and taking a simple sip, remaining completely neutral as she felt the poisonous liquid in her throat, even if she had refused at first, she wanted to stay awake for a few more hours too, just like Winter "I guess you heard the news, Felicia Torchwick robbing a Dust store that SDC supplies its shipments to, and Schnee Corp transports it?"
"I had a report on that" Winter didn't seem impressed "Schnee Corp has more important things to look at than a petty criminal, but if you are interested in her, then she's more important than I thought"
"She has to do something with the tribe, she has been stealing some shipments of Dust very discreetly...but these days she has been more, daring" Ruby took another drink, closing her eyes and humming in satisfaction "I have the theory, along with Oscar, that she is looking for a way to expand the tribe's weapons, so it would be logical that one of your vehicles would be assaulted"
Winter nodded, understanding the situation and becoming a little more interested in the explanation her niece was giving her "It's a good guess, if I'm right then, you want me to stop the circulation of Dust and weapons or hire a stupid amount of Huntsmen to protect each one of my vehicles...or am I wrong?"
"I want to know if you have a large caliber weapon that may be of interest to the tribe, you know like some type of plasma weapon with that innovative energy that you will present at the Snowmill gala this year" Ruby explained calmly, Winter even leaned back on her chair, crossing her hands and looking at the opposing woman without apparent emotion.
Winter remembered as quickly as she could all the information she knew about the Branwen tribe, they were a bunch of bandits who crossed all Anima, they were led by a single person, Raven Branwen, who was her sister-in-law and with whom she had only one interaction several years ago, in her fight against Cinder, Raven appeared almost miraculously and gave her a hand, Cinder was forced to retreat, while Raven simply congratulated Winter because of her relationship with Qrow.
She still don't have the slightest idea how she knew that.
Still, Raven was an enemy, bandits were a normal concern for Schnee Corp and SDC trains, there were times when they were robbed and the entire shipment of Dust and technology were stolen, sometimes they would simply kidnap the drivers and ask for big money amounts of Lien for their ransom, Lien that Winter ended up paying out of her pocket.
Ruby wanted to know if she had a weapon, so she had to answer honestly.
"Ex Requiem isn't finished yet, I don't think the Branwen know of its existence, and if Felicia knows it exists, then I don't think she'd have the guts to come here and steal it outright" Winter rubbed her eyes once more, taking another sip of the bottle "Unfortunately I cannot give you direct information about the weapon, it is a classified project"
"Calm down" Ruby got up from her seat, turning around and approaching the folding doors again, speaking to Winter one last time "Waylon is the team leader of WBRN, Bryan, Roy and Neithan are his teammates...I thought that you would like to know"
"That's good to know, I'll contact him if possible" Winter didn't seem to take much notice of Ruby's statement, she turned her attention once again to her computer and continued with her report, barely hearing the sound of the petals falling to the ground, symbolizing Ruby's departure.
...
"You know something, Roy? When your mother was your age, and Ruby was chosen as team leader, she openly complained about how she was the one who deserved to be the leader" Yang explained to her nephew, not looking at him as they were both sitting on top of the blonde's desk "...Are you upset that Waylon is your leader?"
"...Yes" Roy admitted quietly, moving his right arm in circles, grunting in pain as his bone practically cracked "I don't care about being the leader, what I care about is being useful to my teammates...Waylon doesn't even see me like that"
"How are you so sure?" Yang asked, looking at her gloved hands "He and you used to be gumballs when you were little, I never got to know what happened between you two"
"He cut me off from his life" Roy stated, looking into the nothing itself "He yelled at me, he said I was weak, that I wouldn't be useful for his dream of being a Huntsman, he talked about me like I was a damn object"
"That wasn't what I heard" Yang smiled kindly, something that was already characteristic of her "Few months ago, i went to my uncle Qrow's house to talk to him for a while, he told me that Waylon was there, asking about you, how you were, if you had trained, and if you were better than before, also if you would come to Beacon"
"He asked about me and now I'm supposed to believe he cares?" Roy said sarcastically, gripping Myrtenaster's handle tightly "He doesn't care about anything…or anyone"
Yang bit her lip thoughtfully, she had known her cousin since he was a baby, and she saw the process of his growth over time, she was not completely aware of the circumstances of his upbringing, but what she did know was that Winter constantly pressured him to improve and give the best results in every possible category, Waylon told her when he was a child, Winter made him train for hours and hours, being just a small kid, that must have done something to his mind.
But even so, she knew that Waylon was a nice and charismatic boy if he was given the opportunity to be, the fact that he was raised by Qrow had a direct impact on that part, he was a strange boy, perhaps somewhat repellent to some people, but he was still a teenager with feelings.
"Waylon loves you, I'm sure he regrets abandoning you very deeply" Yang stated, grabbing Roy by the neck and pulling him closer to her "You should talk to him, you know? Something I learned with Ruby is that talking about your problems with your family is the best way to identify and solve them, do you understand?"
"...I guess so" Roy replied, burying his face in his aunt's shoulder "I'll try to talk to him later, can you stop scolding me now?"
"I'm not scolding you" Yang laughed, punching the boy in the back of the head and knocking him to the ground "Do me a favor and talk to him, you'll thank me when you're older"
Roy nodded without wanting to put up any kind of resistance, stood up and left the classroom, heading towards his next class.
...
7 hours later.
Roy couldn't sleep.
When he was an innocent child with little knowledge of the world around him, he used to fall asleep everywhere, it was practically impossible for him to stay awake for long when he went out with his mother to the odd work meeting, or when his father took him on some low-ranking mission to be a spectator of his incredible skills, he was always asleep.
But now he couldn't sleep, he couldn't even conceive the idea of sleep, his mind was too full and congested about his last conversation with his Aunt Yang, he didn't know whether to agree with her or simply refuse to obey her and keep quiet about his concerns with Waylon, That dilemma was what kept him up at night.
Waylon was sitting at the desk in the room, Bryan and Neithan had fallen asleep a long time ago without asking at all about what had happened to Roy, the blue-eyed assumed that they already knew more or less what he had talked to Yang about, they also didn't ask Waylon about what happened.
Waylon perfectly replicated the figure of Myrtenaster in his notebook, the ink of his pencil tracing some completely straight lines while his eyes jumped from the weapon to the paper, he didn't seem to be aware of the fact that Roy was awake, which was good for the young Schnee.
Should he try to talk to him? Roy had more reasons than necessary to stay away from his cousin for as long as he wanted, but it was also true that the lack of communication would be impractical for the team, Waylon was acting strange, he didn't seem to be the same buffoonish, egotistical child, he seemed more a kind of copy of his mother.
Roy decided to try his luck and got up from his bed, causing Waylon to stop his drawing, the shorter boy approached his cousin, looking at him neutrally "Do you draw? I don't remember you doing it when we were younger"
"Now you deign to talk to me?" Waylon snorted with a humorless laugh, barely turning his head to look at his cousin "My mom gave me this notebook when I turned 13, I learned to draw so I could use it"
"...Great" Roy rubbed his arm somewhat awkwardly, his eyes locked on the perfect portrait of Myrtenaster, parting his lips partially to begin speaking again "Do you draw Myrtenaster? Any reason for that?"
"I wanted to give you a hand with that, your posture is terrible, you know, I've seen slouched children move better" Waylon commented with a joking smile, continuing with his drawing "...I know your personal rapier isn't here, I guess aunt Weiss gave you hers and you went crazy like a girl"
"I didn't go crazy" Roy snorted a little offended, moving a little closer to the desk "...Your strategy against the Beringel was useful"
"Can't you admit that I was just right? You already look like your mom" Waylon laughed lightly, putting the pencil aside and extending the drawing to Roy, the shorter boy took the notebook with some hesitation, looking at how worn the paper was and how some pages were torn, something that would be unbecoming of Waylon.
"It's better to change it, the notebook, I mean" Roy stated in a low voice, silently admiring the drawing of his new rapier "It is unbecoming of the perfect Waylon Branwen to use deplorable resources"
"Only Pharos teachers call me that, I'm not an emotionless robot, Roy" Waylon leaned back in the wooden chair, looking out of the corner of his eye at his cousin "The notebook was a gift from my mother, it's one of the few gifts she has given to me since…well, a long time...I want to keep it"
Roy didn't respond immediately, it felt a little strange to see that Waylon was talking more than he had in the last two days, the red-eyed expression seemed a little complicated, so Roy took a risk and asked "Is there anything you want to tell me?"
Waylon sighed, standing up from the chair and half turning around, now finally facing his cousin face to face "I'm sorry, Roy, I'm sorry for walking away from you when we were kids, it was a stupid thing to do, I know, I don't usually admit my mistakes, but putting you and Bryan out of my life was a big mistake"
Waylon continued when Roy remained silent "I would have liked to improve together, you know, like we had sworn when we were just kids, but things changed...and now that we are here now, as teammates, I want us to be close, like before"
Roy was surprised by the honesty so marked in his cousin's words, a soft smile placed on his lips "Was it so difficult to say that?"
"For me it is" Waylon laughed, retrieving his notebook and placing it inside one of the drawers "...What do you say?"
Roy had not expected this, that Waylon would be sincere and admit his dissatisfaction with their current relationship, the blue-eyed could not deny much the fact that he missed his cousin deeply, and the confirmation that he felt exactly the same only further inclined the situation next to forgiveness, even so, he couldn't forget that last argument between them.
He wasn't going to forget him, at least not for a long time, but Waylon was right, it would be strange to hate each other as teammates, it was better to be honest with each other and simply try to be teammates, it didn't mean that they would be as close as before, a single conversation was a just a part of a more complicated and long process, although both were willing to undergo that process and achieve their goal.
Be an unstoppable duo.
"Okay, we can try" Roy turned around and approached his bed, burying himself in his blanket and partially covering his body, he watched in silence as Waylon climbed onto the top bunk and writhed on top, once again creating an awkward silence.
"...I missed you" Roy murmured, covering his body completely with the blanket, snuggling better into his pillow.
"I missed you too, wimpy-Roy" Waylon laughed softly, lying flat on his bed and closing his eyes in an attempt to fall asleep, a satisfied smile on his face.