The light from the morning sun reached in through the window, casting its scope across the room. Brick was already awake and dressed waiting for the two Faunus girls that helped him and Sin fight off the Grimm to arrive. Sin was still asleep; he had been since the battle ended. Usually Brick would wait silently for Sin to wake up, but today they were supposed to meet with the two girls that helped them.
He poked Sin's side, his large finger strong enough to push his friend, but Sin just turned over and inched away from him. A small grunt filled Brick's throat as he watched Sin inch closer to the edge and away from him, he grabbed the blanket and pulled it away as someone knocked on their door. Sin still asleep pulled the blanket back over him as Brick released it to answer the door, as he thought it was the two girls from yesterday.
"It was Brick right?" the short one wearing white asked.
Brick nodded quietly, stepping to the side to invite them in.
"Thank you again for your help yesterday" the short one continued, stopping when she saw Sin still asleep, "Oh, um, we can come back if he's still tired."
"He's had plenty of time to sleep," the other girl said, "It's been fourteen hours."
"Alena, don't be rude," the shorter one told her, "They helped us."
Brick raised his finger to them gesturing them to wait for a moment as he walked to the other side of Sin's bed. Brick nudged the mattress with his foot and Sin shot up muttering in his sleep before falling back again. Shaking his head, the bear Faunus waved his hand motioning for the two girls to step back as he reached down and grabbed the bottom of the bed's frame, lifting the bed up the three Faunus watched as Sin tumbled out of it with a yell.
"Alright I'm awake," Sin shouted turning over onto his side and looking up to see the two Faunus girls staring at him, "Scratch that Brick. I'm still dreaming."
Alena groaned with disgust at Sin's remark and grin before turning around, "We'll be in the hall. Come get us when this fool gets dressed."
She grabbed the shorter girl's arm and pulled her into the hall with her as Sin got up and stretched his arms, "Those two are kind of cute yeah?" he asked looking at Brick.
Brick turned his gaze to Sin and threw his clothes at him.
Seeing his clothes from yesterday had already been cleaned Sin flashed the giant Faunus a smirk before changing, "Thanks, buddy." He noticed Brick was wearing his new clothes from the tailor they spoke to yesterday, a leather russet-brown jacket with matching pants, though Brick had ripped the sleeves off.
Brick nodded before returning to the door and letting the two girls back into the room.
"Ladies" Sin nodded looking to the shorter one in white, "Morning, Rhia."
The Fox Faunus girl seemed surprised, "You remember my name?"
Sin nodded, "I never forget the name of beautiful ladies like you."
"Oh, I um…well…" Rhia's cheeks turned pink, and she looked away, "This is my big sister, Alena."
"Another name I'll remember" Sin grinned before Brick nudged the back of his shoulder, "Right," he said clearing his throat, "Thank you both for your help yesterday. Brick and I hold no illusion that we would have survived without your assistance."
Sin suddenly remembered about the little girl he saved, "What about that little girl?" he asked Brick, "Is she ok."
Brick smiled and nodded with a grunt.
"So her mom is safe to, that's good" he turned back to the sisters, "So yeah, thanks for your help."
Rhia looked like she was about to say something, but Alena spoke first, "We didn't do it to help you. We would have fought regardless, you being there only meant less work on our part."
"Alena" Rhia gasped, "What she means is, the two of you fought well, and you helped us as much as we helped you. So we also want to say thank you."
"You're welcome then" Sin replied with a slight bow, "I always help the pretty ladies."
Rhia fumbled her words again and looked away when she felt her cheeks heat up, leaving Alena to speak for her, "The two of you aren't from around here are you?"
"No" Sin answered, "We're from Mistral."
Alena eyed him as if sizing him up, "You're style was sloppy, what combat school did you attend?"
"I didn't go to one" Sin admitted, "I was just taught to fight with my hands."
"And use your Aura in combat" Alena noted remembering how Sin fought unarmed against the Grimm.
"I had a special teacher" Sin smirked.
Alena looked over to Brick, "And what about you?"
Brick merely shrugged, "Brick doesn't talk much," Sin told her, "He's one of those strong silent types. Wonderful chap, excellent conversationalist."
Brick lightly punched his arm.
"Ow" Sin gasped, "Brick, a little rough."
Rhia covered her mouth to suppress her chuckle, but when they looked at her she knew they heard her, "Um…Sloppy or not the two of you handled yourselves pretty good. You could enroll at the Desert Mast combat school near here."
Sin scratched his chin apparently considering the suggestion. Sitting at the edge of his bed he asked the two girls to tell him about the school, and what to expect from it. According to them, they would be taught how to fight more efficiently and given the materials and resources needed to forge their weapons. Also, they would also be shown how to use their Aura and even their Semblance better if they had discovered it.
Sin asked Brick what he thought, and the great Faunus shrugged tilting his head to the left, "Why do you always defer the decisions to me?"
After a moment of thought, Sin looked back up to them, "Well I wouldn't mind giving it a shot. Can you show us where it is?"
Rhia nodded, "Of course, we were heading there today for a class and I…we were hoping you would decide to join."
"Speak for yourself" Alena muttered before her little sister jabbed her with her elbow.
Rhia looked back to Sin, "One of the teachers showed up after you passed out he wants to meet you, even if you decide not to enroll he still wants to offer his thanks in person."
Sin's eyes fell to the floor as he thought about the offer, his fingers tracing the length of his jaw. He knew how to fight thanks to his father and his business associates and thanks to his mother's contacts he knew how to use his Aura, but he knew it wasn't good enough. He and Brick fled Mistral before he could learn more about how to use his Aura and his Semblance. Brick was in the same boat, though Brick's way of doing things was different from Sin's, Brick used his raw strength to fight and his Aura only to shield himself while Sin used his Aura entirely for attacking which always made him exhausted.
"Alright" Sin said finally standing up, "Lead the way."
Rhia smiled while her sister rolled her eyes and the two girls led them out of the hotel and to the Desert Mast combat school. It was only a couple of miles outside the city, but thanks to the desert it looked farther away than it was. According to Rhia, it was called the Desert Mast because the headmaster of the school use to be a pirate before becoming a huntsman, tearing apart his ship and using parts of it to build the school as a symbol of his vow. There was a bus that ran from the city to the school, but it was damaged in the Grimm attack leaving most of the students to walk.
"Why put it in the desert?" Sin asked.
"It's part of Vacuo," Rhia told him, "The rule in Vacuo is if you can survive here then you are welcome here. So they built the school in the desert to teach students how to survive better. It is close enough to the city that the teachers can lend a hand in an emergency".
There were many students outside when they arrived, many of them practicing while others relaxed. Sin noticed that a large number of the students and even a few teachers were Faunus. Rhia was telling the truth it looked like; as long as you could survive here, you were welcomed, even if you were a Faunus. Sin glanced back at Brick who seemed to read his partner's thoughts and nodded; Sin never understood why Faunus were treated as inferior to humans. While it was true the only Faunus he knew was Brick, he just never understood the reasoning behind why Faunus were the victims of such discrimination, they looked different, was it that big of an issue?
Once inside, the two sisters continued to lead Sin and Brick through the halls before arriving at the headmaster's office, Rhia seemed to hesitate for a moment before opening the doors and stepping inside. Sin looked around as they stepped inside, two portraits were hanging on opposite walls, the subject of both a woman, on the wall above the door was a ship's wheel and two framed large maps flanked the door on both sides. A large display case in the corner held many nautical instruments furthering Rhia's claim that the headmaster here used to be a sailor, but Sin had yet to see any sign of him being a pirate.
"Ah, the Teysa girls have returned," the headmaster said before turning his chair away from the window to face them, "With guests. The two who helped fight off the Grimm".
A tall sun-tanned man with scars along his arms, he wore a violet tailcoat with red pants and a red tricorne hat. He was almost as tall as Brick when he stood up and grinned at them, a single gold tooth in his smile. Sin and Brick noticed the two scimitar swords at his waist and the missing ring finger on his left hand.
"A pleasure to meet you two," he said stepping around his desk, "One of the other teachers and I had arrived after the battle was over. Rhia and Alena here filled us in on what happened. It seems you and your big friend here are quite the fighters".
Sin shrugged, "We have our moments."
The headmaster laughed, "Tell me, lad, why did the two of you decide to fight those beasties yourselves?"
"I didn't see anyone else stepping up to do it," Sin told him, "And you hunters were taking you sweet time."
Rhia and Alena froze when those words left Sin's lips; no one ever spoke to the headmaster like that before.
The headmaster lowered his head for a second and seemed to grumble before throwing his head back and laughing joyfully, "Lad, you've got some stones to you. Where are the two of you from?"
"Mistral" Sin answered, "I was taught to fight with my hands and use my Aura in combat" he nodded his head back at Brick, "Brick here is just gigantic."
The Headmaster eyed the large Faunus, "And what of you lad? Where did you learn to fight?"
Brick shook his head and looked at Sin, "Brick doesn't talk much" he told the headmaster, "He doesn't know how to fight; he just throws his superior size and weight behind his punches."
The Headmaster grinned again, his gold tooth reflecting the sunlight, "No formal combat training and the two of you managed to hold off the Grimm like that" he turned his back to them, "Promising. Join my school lads, I'll teach you how to fight the creatures of Grimm and how to use your Aura better" he drew one of his scimitars and turned back to them, "And the best part, teach you how to forge your weapons."
Sin looked to Brick, the bear Faunus flashed a smirk at his friend and nodded, "Alright" Sin said turning back to the headmaster, "When do we start?"
The headmaster dismissed Rhia and Alena while he showed them around the school; many of the students were still outside practicing. The headmaster introduced himself as Captain Shamrock, a former pirate before he decided to become a teacher. He showed them his favorite part of the school first, the workshop where the students forge their weapons and after that the training yards.
"Vacuo is a harsh place," he told the two, "There is no formal government here, the only real source of order and authority is the huntsman academy Shade. We have local law enforcement divisions here and there, but most of them are ill-equipped to deal with Grimm attacks, and these deserts are filled with them. That's one reason I decided to build the school out here, close enough to the city to protect it, but far enough out that we can intercept the Grimm first".
"Should they come from this side" Sin pointed out, "The Grimm from yesterday came from the south. We're on the east side of the city".
The headmaster nodded, "We have border defenses, but they are mostly early warnings stations. We have to rebuild them every month or so thankfully the officers posted their survive most of the time".
"So aside from combat what do you teach here?"
"I don't teach anything," Shamrock told him, "I oversee the school's operations. The other teachers, they lead in the primary educations, history, science and such. It doesn't matter how well someone can fight if they don't have the necessary smarts to live a daily life. But since this is a combat school we do focus on combat training with multiple classes and teachers dedicated to each one."
"And the workshop?" Sin continued.
"My former first mate runs the workshop. She'll teach you how to forge weapons and guide you through the process."
"She?" Sin repeated, "A girl?"
Brick sighed as the headmaster looked at Sin, "Is she hot?" Sin asked him.
The headmaster laughed again drawing the attention of some of the other students, "A man after the ladies huh?"
Sin smirked as the headmaster patted him on the back, "She's a bit out of your age range laddie, but feel free to try, though I should warn you; she's as brutal as she is pretty."
"Good" Sin replied, "I like a woman that can kick my ass."
Shamrock laughed even louder, "I like you boy, you remind me of myself when I was a lad."
When the tour of the school finished Shamrock brought Sin and Brick back to the workshop, most of the student had cleared out leaving only a single woman at the back desk staring at a clipboard. She had dark red short wavy hair it; her tanned skin glowed under the light above her. She wore a red tube top that was short enough to only cover her chest with a single black strip running across it, and black shorts with red stripes at the seams.
"What do you want Captain?" she asked without looking up from her desk.
"Two new students I wanted to introduce you to," he told her, "Sin, Brick this is my first mate and special lady friend Crimson."
The woman looked up from her desk, "You're the two that fought those Grimm yesterday."
Sin nodded, but before he could say anything Crimson scoffed, "Not that what you did could be called fighting."
"That's why they're here my precious blood gem," Shamrock said, "They're here to learn. And lesson one is giving them weapons".
"No," Crimson said looking back to her clipboard, "Lesson one is teaching them to fight properly. After that using their Aura then comes weapon forging".
"Normally yes" Shamrock agreed, "But we're going to accelerate these two, they already know the basics of using their Aura, now they just need to learn how to control and ration it."
Crimson glared at him, "Then start them on that the day's almost over."
"But if we have them forge their weapons now then teach them to fight with their Aura they will be caught up with our senior classes. In the long run, it's less work, and I've got a feeling that these two can do it".
Crimson turned her glare to the new students, Sin didn't notice it at first, but her eyes were just as red as her hair, "Fine" she said standing up, "You" she said looking at Sin, "What's your fighting style?"
"I hit it until it dies" Sin answered.
Crimson's glare turned to fire as she stepped around her desk and leaned over staring directly into his eyes, "Don't get cute with me. What's your plan of attack? Do you prefer offense or defense? Do you try to outwit your opponent or overpower them? Do you prefer speed over strength or a balance between them?"
"I'm a boxer," Sin told her, "I punch things, a lot. Occasionally I'll go for a grapple and a few knee strikes. I prefer to hit first and last. I use my speed to circle my opponent and keep striking, exploit any vulnerable spot I find to stun and keep circling until I've hit them enough that they fall over".
Crimson nodded and looked to Brick, "And you?"
"The big doesn't talk much," Shamrock told her, "According to Sin there."
"Brick is more of a" Sin had begun before Crimson cut him off.
"Stow it" she snapped, "I want to hear it from his mouth only" she stepped in front of Brick and craned her neck to look into his eyes, "How do you fight?"
"I prefer to use my superior proportions to my advantage" the bear Faunus said, a throaty accent accompanying his words, "I use my Aura for preservation in place of assault as Sin does. I have an innate vigor that compliments my size which I use to overcome my adversary".
Crimson nodded and stepped back, "Keep what you said in mind. When forging your weapons, it is imperative that you remember the best weapon is one that suits your style. If you prefer to enter melee combat and attack without relent, then consider gauntlets of some kind and if you prefer to dominate your foe through sheer power then go with something heavy. The ideal weapon doesn't just fit your style, but your personality, so you need, to be honest with this next question, why do you fight the way you do?"
"You don't have to tell us the answer," Shamrock told them, "But you need to give that answer to yourself, the real reason that drives you to behave and fight the way you do. And keep that answer in mind when you forge your weapons".
Shamrock left the workshop leaving Sin and Brick to Crimson who showed them the storage room where they would find their materials and the guidebooks on how to use them, break them down and build them into something else. In the other storage room, she showed them where the dust was kept in case, they wanted to add dust capabilities to their weapons, and lastly, she showed them the forge itself.
"I've shown you what you needed to see," she told them, her tone still harsh, "Now it's up to you to do the rest. I can guide you, but I cannot build your weapon for you. You must decide what you want and how you will use it".
"How much time do we have?" Sin asked noting the time.
"As much as you need," Crimson told them, her tone finally softening, "Now go and show me what you can do."