Captain Shamrock burst into the forge, his joyful voice echoing, "Ahoy me hearties" he approached the forge to find Brick still working on his weapon while Sin was leaned over the table, sleeping, "What's this then? Sleeping on the job?"
Brick set down the tools he was using and walked over to Sin gently grabbing a pinch of his hair and lifting his head, Sin's light snores shifted in tone as his head was raised above the table. The great Faunus released his friend's hair and watched as Sin's head fell back to the table the impact causing him to jump back up, waking him.
"What?" he asked sleepily.
"No sleeping on the job laddie," Shamrock told him, "It's morning, I came to check on you."
Sin raised his hand giving Shamrock a thumbs up, "All done" before dropping his head back to the table.
Shamrock looked to Brick, "And what of you matey?"
Brick returned to his project at the other table, "I am nearly finished" he answered, his robust and throaty accent making his words sound aggressive.
"And where might me first mate be?"
Brick pointed to the back of the room. Crimson was slouched over the table in the far corner, three empty bottles around her and a fourth in her hand. Shamrock smirked when he saw her. The former pirate approached his sleeping first mate and grabbed one of the empty bottles taking a whiff of it.
"That kind of night huh?" he asked patting her on the shoulder, rousing her.
"What now?" she groaned barely looking up.
"Decided to have a drink without your Captain did you?"
Crimson tilted her head looking up to him, "Those two were making too much noise, especially the little one. He talks too much".
Shamrock took the empty bottle from her hand and helped her stand, "Go and get yourself some water my precious blood gem. They are almost finished".
Crimson lightly stumbled out of the room, and Shamrock smiled at her as she did before turning his eyes back to Brick who was still going over the last details of his weapon. He had managed to finish when Crimson returned, setting his tools down he threw a discarded piece of scrap at Sin to wake him. Sin's head leaped up again, and he yawned before looking at his friend asking him if he was finished. Brick nodded and pointed to behind him gesturing for Sin to turn around.
"Morning" he yawned seeing Shamrock and Crimson.
Shamrock said crossing his arms, "Well show us what you got my boy."
Sin nodded, yawning again, "Give me a minute" standing up he stretched a bit before grabbing a pair of black gloves from the table the back side and knuckle part of the gloves had thick red padding.
"That's it?" Crimson asked seeing Sin hold up the gloves.
Sin managed a weak grin and told them to cover their ears as he slid one of the gloves on. Waiting for the three of them to cover their ears Sin put a pair of goggles on, covering his eyes and a pair of earplugs into his ears before he turned to a nearby post and clenched his fist. Drawing his arm back he inhaled a quick breath and threw his arm forward jabbing the post and when his fist made contact with it the glove around his hand erupted in a blinding flash of light and deafening sound.
Shamrock threw his head back and began laughing, "That there be one hell of a wake-up call, a flash bomb hidden inside your gloves."
Crimson massaged her forehead her face twisting in pain, "And I guess the goggles and earplugs are supposed to weaken the effects?"
"Nope" Sin told her, "They negate them entirely" he nodded to Brick who walked over to Crimson and Shamrock handing each of them a pair of goggles and earplugs. Placing his set on Brick motioned for the two of them to do the same.
After the three of them put the goggles and earplugs on Sin pointed at his ears, "The earplugs only block sounds above a certain decibel level so you can still hear me talking to you, but they will stop any loud noise. The goggles adjust to any extreme changes in the light around them allowing you to keep your vision during the flash".
He turned around and punched the post again to demonstrate, sure enough, the flash, and the noise was blocked out.
"Impressive" Shamrock chuckled, "How did you think of this?"
"I've seen something similar before," Sin said hesitating to speak any further, the truth being it wasn't his design or idea, he had seen it used by some of the criminal acquaintances of his parents.
"Well, something like that would certainly suit a boxer like you" Shamrock noted looking at the goggles in his hand, "Why did you make four sets of these?"
"Two for me and Brick and two for you" Sin answered, "Or would you prefer to be blind and deaf?"
"How considerate," Crimson said still massaging her head handing hers back to Brick, "The two of you should keep them, as a backup pair."
Shamrock agreed handing his back to Brick, "Or to give your teammates in the future."
"Teammates?" Sin repeated.
"Aye," Shamrock continued, "If you decide to stay around and graduate from this school of mine, you will have a chance to apply to one of the four huntsman academies and soon after you will be placed on a team of four. Of course, each academy has its own way of determining how their teams are formed".
"Good to know" Sin began looking to Brick, "But I'll stick with Brick as my partner."
"There are no guarantees that will happen," Crimson told him, "But you can cross that bridge when you get to it. Now what have you made?" she asked the bear Faunus.
Brick returned to his table setting the sets of goggles and earplugs down, he hunched down and strapped his arm to something before standing up and showing them a large rust colored shield.
He began explaining the details of it as he showed them, "It is five feet by three and four inches thick. It weighs forty-five point three kilograms and" he paused and set the shield in front of him as if he was ready to defend against an attack and the sides of the shield extended outward, "It extends an extra three feet to either side allowing me to cover a larger area."
Shamrock continued to grin, "A heavy shield, seems fitting for a burly lad like you," he noticed the center piece of the shield, a protruding circle, "And what of the center piece there?"
Brick showed them the back side of the shield, three racks of colored balls were held in place, "The centerpiece is a small cannon, and these are dust enhanced cannon balls."
He showed them how he would load the cannon and fire it before admitting the cannon was an idea he had after remembering Shamrock was a former pirate causing the old Captain to laugh again.
"Even in my twilight years I still inspire the young ones."
Crimson taking a gulp of her drink, finally smiled at them, "You've done well, you have forged weapons that compliment your style as well as yourselves, now you must bond with them. For a huntsman his weapon is an extension of himself, it is always a part of him, you must never forget their importance and the best way to do that, is to name them".
"Aye," Shamrock agreed, "Just as I named me ship and me swords."
Sin stared at his gloves; they were a pair, exactly identical, one for his left hand and one for his right. They could be used alone, but they would work best together.
"The Twins" he answered, "Simple, but I think it works."
Crimson nodded, "Indeed" she looked to Brick who had set his shield down.
"The Bunker" he answered, "Something for my allies to stand behind when they are in peril."
"Fine names those," Shamrock told them, "Now that you have forged your weapons and branded them, take time to rest I will start you on classes tomorrow."
Shamrock returned to his office where he had called for Rhia and Alena. The two sisters sat across from him while the former pirate poured a glass of his favorite drink. The two Faunus girls had been attending his combat school for almost a year and yet he knew almost nothing about them. He leaned back in his seat and kicked his feet up on the corner of his desk slowly twirling his drink in his hand. Taking a whiff of his drink, he tipped the glass against his lips sipping a bit the corners of his mouth twisting into a pleased grin.
"Um, Captain?" Rhia began nervously, "Why did you call us here?"
Shamrock finally turned his attention to the sisters, "Why are the two of you attending my school?" he asked catching them both by surprise.
Rhia's ears folded down and she gripped the rim of her shirt in her hands, "Um, so we can learn to fight."
"Really?" Shamrock replied, "According to your teachers the two of you are only here a single day out of the week, and the only classes you attend are the actual combat classes" he took another sip of his drink, "There's more to a combat school than only learning how to fight. So tell me, why are you really here, besides just wasting the time of my staff?"
Rhia continued fidgeting with the end of her blue shirt, "I…I told you".
"Do you want to attend my school?" he asked her.
"I do" Rhia answered.
"Then explain why you are only here once a week."
Alena crossed her arms as the Captain's eyes landed on her, "Because learning to fight is all that matters."
"And what are you doing the rest of the time?"
"Working at the hotel," Alena told him, "Saving up money for tickets to Menagerie."
"So you want to go to Menagerie then?" Shamrock asked, "It's a lovely place I hope to return one day" he took another sip of his drink, "A place where all are welcomed. Do the two of you not feel safe here? I have zero tolerance for any discrimination in my school".
"No, it's not that" Rhia blurted out right as he finished, "It's just…Alena thinks we would be better off there".
Shamrock pulled his legs down from the desk and turned to face them directly, "If that's what you want then I won't try to talk you out of it" he set his drink down, "But unless you start attending all of your classes, I will have to expel you from my school. Just because this is a combat school does not mean that's all we teach you, youngsters. The two of you can already fight well as evident when you helped defend the city the other day, but only knowing how to fight does not guarantee victory. If you wish to go to Menagerie, then I will gladly assist you in buying your tickets just be sure it's what you want".
Shamrock finished his drink, "Now the two of you have a choice to make. You decide that today is your last day in my school and you leave for Menagerie, or you stay and finish learning what we have to teach you. I saw a lot of promise in the two of you when you first came here, that's why I had you set up in that nice hotel and convinced the manager to let you work there to pay for your rooms while you attended my school. Now, which path do you choose? Do you decide to stay and better yourselves, or do you leave?"
Rhia looked down at her knees, "I…"
Shamrock cut her off, "I will give you time to think about it, but I want your answers by the end of the day."
The two Faunus girls left the Captain's office returning to the school's courtyard. Rhia looked to her sister; she seemed annoyed, maybe even angry, it was always hard to tell with her. She knew why Alena wanted to leave, to go to Menagerie because it would be safer, but there was another reason. The truth was, Alena hated humans, not that anyone could blame her, both of their parents were dead because of the humans that ran the company they were forced to work at. Alena wanted to take Rhia, her only remaining family to Menagerie where there were few humans to worry about, a place full of free Faunus where they would be safe.
Hearing Alena grumble to her Rhia finally stopped and spoke her mind, "I think we should stay."
Alena turned to her, but didn't say anything.
"It couldn't hurt" Rhia continued, "Learning as much as we can. We can stay here for the rest of the year, keep working for a while and then leave. The Captain said he would buy our tickets if we really wanted to leave".
"Then we should take him up on that offer" Alena said.
Rhia shook her head, "But if we left today what would we do when we get there? We probably don't even have enough money for a room there assuming there are any hotels. What would we do, just ask someone to take us in, or sleep in the streets? I think it would be better if we stay".
Before Alena could answer someone called out to them. The two sisters looked back toward the training field to see someone waving at them. It was the two boys they met and brought to the school yesterday, a human named Sin and his Faunus friend Brick.
"Hey," Sin said stopping in front of them, "Nice to see you both again."
"Hello Sin," Rhia said shyly, before looking at Brick and greeting him as well.
Brick silently answered with a nod, "Yeah he missed you two" Sin chuckled jabbing his friend's arm, "Especially you" he continued pointing at Alena, "He really likes you."
Brick's large hand rose up, and he lightly punched Sin in the back of his shoulder almost knocking him down.
Sin laughed and massaged his shoulder, "He's just shy" he explained to the sisters before Brick punched him again, "Stop hitting me" Sin yelled stepping away from him.
Rhia covered her mouth, giggling a bit, but blushed when she noticed Brick and Sin were looking at her, "So um…what do the two of you think about the campus so far?"
"It's alright," Sin said, "Looking forward to it I guess. The weapon forging was a bit tiring, but it was fun".
"You've already made your weapons?" Alena asked.
Sin nodded, "Yeah we left them with Crimson though told her we would be back for them later" a light bulb turned on in his mind, "Hey are either of you hungry?"
"A little" Rhia answered shyly.
Sin grinned, "Well it's almost time for lunch and Brick and me never properly thanked you for helping us with those Grimm. So how about we buy".
"Thanks, but no" Alena said crossing her arms.
Sin gave her a questioning look, "Are you really going to turn down free food? Come on that's like the second best thing in the world…well third best…well fourth best".
Again Rhia giggled and covered her mouth, "Well it would be rude to say no since you're offering it as thanks for helping you."
"Excellent" Sin said clapping his hands together, "Just one question, where is a good place to eat around here?"
Rhia could see her sister was still against the idea, but she convinced her to go along with it, and the two sisters led the pair of newcomers to a restaurant back in town.
"Well, this is a nice little diner" Sin said looking around, "Almost like the ones back in Mistral."
"So what part of Mistral are you from?" Rhia asked them.
Sin sighed as he eyed the menu in front of him, "The bad parts sadly, the ones filled with criminals and thugs of all varieties. That's why we left".
"Couldn't handle it?" Alena asked sharply.
"Physically, yes" Sin answered, "You've seen us fight, I'm quick and" he flashed a smirk at Brick, "There are not many people dumb enough to take on someone the size of this guy. But no, we left because it was exhausting dealing with it every day".
"And you came to Vacuo" Alena concluded, "Arguably the harshest place in Remnant."
"Well, it was the only ship we could get on," Sin told her, "We had planned to go somewhere else eventually, somewhere nice and quiet. Big man here suggested Menagerie, and I would love to see that place, so I agreed".
"Menagerie" Rhia quietly muttered, "We're going there to one day."
Sin held his hands out, "Hey maybe we could all be roommates."
"Not a chance," Alena said in a seemingly aggressive tone.
"Alena" Rhia gasped elbowing her sister, "Sorry, she doesn't mean to sound hostile, she's just cautious around new people."
"That's smart," Sin told her, "Stay careful and suspicious, and it'll be harder for someone to pull one over on you."
"But doesn't that make it hard to make friends?" Rhia asked him to which Sin nodded.
"It does" he admitted, "But at the same time it helps you discover which ones are worth having as friends."
Deciding to change to a more social topic the four ordered their lunch and spent the next few hours in the diner. Most of the talking was between Sin and Rhia with Alena only casually chipping in, and Brick was remaining silent the entire time though his expressions made it clear he was enjoying their time together. Deciding it was time to leave the four got up, and Sin paid their bill, and they left.
Rhia asked him how long they planned to stay in Vacuo. Sin wasn't sure, but he knew he wanted to graduate from Shamrock's school and go to Shade academy mostly because he wanted to know what the academy was like. He said at the very least he and Brick would stay there for three years before moving on if they ever did.
"Maybe we'll see the two of you at Shade" Sin said as they returned to the Desert Mast campus.
"Maybe" Rhia answered, "We're not sure if we'll be staying in Vacuo that long."
"I hope you do," Sin said to them, "It'd be really nice if we got to know each other better, maybe even become a team just the four of us."
Again Rhia smiled shyly, "That would be nice I think."
Sin covered his mouth as he yawned, "Well I need a nap, we'll see you both tomorrow right?"
Without thinking, Rhia nodded, "Yeah we'll be here."
"Nice" Sin nodded as he and Brick began to leave, "Maybe we can have lunch again, see you around beautiful" Rhia blushed when he called her that.
After Sin and Brick left Rhia looked to her sister, "I want to stay" she said.
"Why?" Alena asked her.
"Because…well" she hesitated, "Because of them" she admitted, "I like them, they're nice and…well, it'd be nice to have some friends don't you think?"
"Maybe" Alena replied again crossing her arms, "I'd rather leave, but…if you want to stay then we will at least until the end of the semester."
Rhia nodded, "Let's go tell the Captain then."