Ozpin stared down at the student transcript in front of him, his face scrunched up in disappointment. Jaune Arc had appeared to be one of the most promising Huntsmen-in-training the Ozpin had ever seen. He was reportedly at the top of his class back at Signal Academy, and Mr. Xiao Long's personal notes about him had nothing but praise for the boy. He was, in short, a prodigy, much like Pyrrha Nikos, who Ozpin was pleased to count among his list of new initiates for Beacon this year. So to have another new student that could give the Invincible Girl an equal? It sounded too good to be true.
And that was because it was, in fact, too good to be true. When he had called Taiyang, hoping to hear more about this promising young man his colleague could not stop compliment, the Headmaster had been greeted with confusion. There was no boy by the name of Jaune that had been enrolled in Signal, or even living on Patch, as far as he was aware. Another call to the Arc residence on the island of Vytal had only confirmed his suspicions: In Juniper's own words, none of her children had been allowed to enroll in any of the Huntsmen academies, and it would remain that way, as far as her husband was concerned.
If Ozpin was really honest with himself, he could not help but be a little frustrated with Jonathan. Mr. Arc was one of the strongest Huntsmen in Vale, right up there with Qrow, and all of his children had the potential to be the same, if he would just let them. But the man had been betrayed by the Kingdom he swore to serve, and was still bitter about the matter. The Headmaster could not completely fault him, though. Jonathan had protected Vale for years, and they repaid him by leaving him to die. If he did not want any of his loved ones to suffer the same fate, then that was his choice. So if his son did not have the qualifications needed to join Beacon, then Ozpin would have to reject him, which he had already done, as he looked down at the big "denied" in red ink he had stamped upon the transcript.
However, this presented a new problem for the Headmaster. Now that it was abundantly clear Jaune would not be enrolled at Beacon, there was an open spot that needed to be filled. Ozpin had accepted enough transcripts to guarantee that if everyone who had enrolled completed the initiation, he would be looking at ten new teams of young Huntsmen and Huntresses to train into the next generation of of Vale's defense against the forces of evil. But now that he was a student shy, one unfortunate group of students was going to be a member short, unless he was able to find a replacement.
There was one tiny little detail that made all of this so much more complicated: Initiation was in two days' time. His new students were going to be arriving at the academy tomorrow. The Headmaster sighed, and leaned on his desk, massaging his temples. Where was he supposed to find a replacement student on such short notice?
"Headmaster?" Ozpin was broken out of his musings by the voice of his colleague, Ms. Goodwitch, who had just stepped into his office. "Are you still brooding over that fraudulent application?" she asked, as her eyes fell upon the rejected transcript her superior had been staring down at.
"I am not 'brooding,' I am stressing," the Headmaster corrected her. "Mr. Arc's transcripts seemed completely legitimate." Ms. Goodwitch opened her mouth to speak, but he held up a finger to cut her off. "I am well aware Jonathan made a solemn vow to prevent any of his children from following in his footsteps, but there was always a chance he would change his mind." Ozpin picked up the piece of paper and held it up. "I do not know what upsets me more: the fact his son tried to lie his way into Beacon, or that the boy was so desperate to attend our academy he felt his only option was to resort to such extreme measures in order to do so..."
"I understand, Headmaster, but you know how that man is," the blonde woman reminded him. "He is more stubborn than General Ironwood, and does not even have a Semblance to help him with that matter. Perhaps if you had thought to verify the authenticity behind his son's transcripts before you denied the other potential applicants, you would not be in the mess you are right now."
"And what a mess it is..." the Headmaster groaned, laying his head in his arms atop his desk. "I am supposed to have forty new students attending initiation this year, but now that I have had to reject one last minute, that leaves only thirty-nine. Unless I can find a suitable replacement, I am going to have send home three more disappointed individuals. But Glynda," he lamented, looking up at her with tired eyes. "The airships delivering our newest initiates are arriving tomorrow afternoon! Where am I going to find someone to fill that empty gap on such short notice?" Ms. Goodwitch pursed her lips, and folded her arms across her chest, tilting her head up towards the ceiling as she thought over the matter carefully.
"Well, I suppose we could always-" But before she could finish her suggestion, Ozpin's Scroll began to ring. The Headmaster gave her an apologetic frown and fished through his pocket to pull out the device, a perplexed look washing over his face as he stared down at the caller, which did not go unnoticed by Ms. Goodwitch. "Who is it, Headmaster?" she asked him.
"Commissioner Cloud of the Vale Police Department," he said. "What could he possibly want at this hour?" Ozpin held his Scroll up to his ear, answering the call. "Hello, Commissioner, I am afraid you have caught me a bad time. No, it is not a matter of life or death, but I really do not understand what..." the Headmaster's voice trailed off, as his frustration gave way to surprise. "You have who locked up in your detention block?" he demanded, raising an eyebrow as he listened to the response. "He just waltzed right in and let you arrest him, did he? Yes, I can see how you thought I might want to look into this myself. Very well, then, Commissioner, I will be right there. See you soon." As he hung up his Scroll, he turned towards his colleague with a stern expression. "Ms. Goodwitch, I hate to spring things on you without prior warning, but I need you to come down to the station with me. Something has come up."
"Why?" Ms. Goodwitch asked, a rare note of concern in her voice. "Headmaster, what is going on. What has happened?" Ozpin's next words were like a slap to the face.
"Fifteen minutes ago, Adam Taurus entered the front lobby and handed himself over to police custody..."
Adam Taurus sat alone in his in the interrogation room, his hands restrained firmly in front of him with a pair of handcuffs. There was not much else in the room with him other than the table and chair he was sitting on, as well as the low-wattage lamp hanging from the ceiling, which gave of an irritating, electrical buzz. The bull Faunus had elected to lean back in his seat to rest his legs atop the table, as he absent-mindedly twiddled his thumbs. He was not really sure why the police were taking so long to decide what to do with him. Despite the fact that it claimed to be a utopian society, Vale still had a large underlying problem with Faunus discrimination, and some of those racist individuals happened to be a part of the local law enforcement. When Adam had walked through the front doors to the police station, he had half-expected to be shot on sight. Not that he had a problem with that, seeing how at this point, death was preferable to what he had just turned his back on...
The bull Faunus immediately snapped upright and rested his hands upon the table when he heard the door to the interrogation room opening. No doubt it was some detective or sergeant willing to offer him a plea deal- sell out all of the known hideouts or meeting places for the White Fang, and they could potentially reduce his sentence. Not that it would do much good, since the body count Adam had amassed easily would have netted himself several life sentences, at which point the electric chair seemed a much more appealing way to end his life than slowly withering away in a cramped, dark cell. The bull Faunus had already determined how he was going to respond to whatever officer walked through that door, and prepared to speak up- only for his words to die in his throat as Ozpin, the respected Headmaster of the world-renowned Beacon Academy, stepped inside the interrogation room instead, clutching a mug of what smelled like hot chocolate.
"Mr. Taurus, I presume?" Ozpin greeted him, taking a sip from his mug as he leaned upon his cane. "I was hoping you and I could have a chance to talk." Behind the Headmaster, a blonde woman wearing a pair of glasses over her green eyes and a purple cape entered the room as well and closed the door firmly behind her. Adam was sure he had seen her somewhere before, but could not recall her name, though the firm glare she was giving definitely rang a few bells. The bull Faunus decided to ignore her for now, though, and address Ozpin instead.
"Yes, I'm Adam," he told the Headmaster with a slight nod. "And you're Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy. Your reputation precedes you."
"My, my, a terrorist with actual manners? That is certainly a first," the Headmaster commented, studying Adam from behind his shaded spectacles. "So tell me, what prompted such a high-ranking and respected member of the White Fang to turn his back on all of his hard work and give himself up to the government he so despises?"
"Yes, this is unheard of," the blonde woman stated, her displeasure at this whole situation apparent in her tone. "You are well aware your extensive criminal record all but guarantees you life imprisonment or execution, are you not?"
"Believe me, I'm well aware," Adam said calmly. "But that is preferable to taking orders from a human again, especially that bitch in the red dress..." At this, both Ozpin and his colleague froze, and exchanged a look with each other, something that did not go unnoticed by the bull Faunus. "What's the matter with you two? Do you know her or something?"
"In a fashion, yes," the Headmaster replied, before taking another, longer sip from his mug. "Now, what exactly did you mean when you said she's giving orders to the White Fang?" Adam's mouth twisted into an angry frown, as he looked down at his cuffed hands.
"About a week ago, this woman in a red dress came to my encampment with a couple of lackeys, trying to recruit the White Fang to our cause," the bull Faunus explained. "She laid her whole sales pitch out to me- something about her own revolution she had planned for Vale, and how she needed my forces in order to bring it about." Adam sneered. "Of course, I told her to get lost. Whatever goals she had in mind would hardly be worth risking the lives of my men over. So she left, and I thought that was the end of it."
"Allow me to try and surmise what happened next," Ozpin interjected. "A few days later, she returned, only this time wielding a power unlike any you had ever seen, and tried to force you into following her instead."
"Uh... Yeah, that's right," the bull Faunus said, a little surprised just how accurate the Headmaster's guess had been. "Why? Do you know something about that power? What is it? How did she get her hands on it?"
"That is highly classified," the blonde woman said sharply, giving him a heated glare. "As such, whatever we may know about the matter is for our ears alone."
"Now, now, Ms. Goodwitch, there is no need to be so hostile," the Headmaster chided, as Adam let out a huff in recognition of her name. So that was who this lady was supposed to be. Ozpin turned to look back at Adam. "Please, continue, Mr. Taurus. I would very much like to hear how this story of yours concludes."
"Well, like you said, she tried to force the White Fang to comply with intimidation," the bull Faunus said. "I was still unwilling to listen to her, though. Whatever her new powers were, she hadn't killed any of my troops, meaning she was hopelessly outnumbered. I called my men to arms, rallying them to fight against this wench and her associates, who thought that they could subjugate us." Adam grit his teeth, his fists clenched in rage. "And no one moved a muscle. My own brothers and sisters called me insane, said that there was no way they could stand up to the might of her. And when her little minions opened up a couple suitcases full of Dust and Lien, they may as well have bowed down and started kissing her feet..."
"Ah, so that is why you are here," the Headmaster commented. "You could not stand the sight of your brethren turning their backs on the code they supposedly stood for."
"Pretty much," Adam said bluntly, before lowering his head in defeat. "If the White Fang is going to throw away all our ambitions and ideals just to follow some egotistical bitch because she can pay us, then what is the point of even going on, anymore?"
"What, indeed," Ozpin said, chuckling quietly, before he set his mug on the table. "Well then, it seems you have found yourself at an impasse, my friend. The organization you revered has failed you, and so you have decided to simply give up, and let the Valean court decide your fate for you, instead. I must admit, I never expected the infamous Adam Taurus of all people to just surrender the way you have."
"Sorry to disappoint you," the bull Faunus grumbled. "I would've thought my arrest and inevitable incarceration would give you a something to celebrate. You know, one less headache for you to deal with, or something?"
"Ordinarily, you might be right," Ozpin admitted. "But I am afraid I have a much more pressing problem on my mind than some young man with a penchant for violence submitting to justice. I..." the Headmaster's voice trailed off, as he brought a hand to his chin, staring off into space. A thought had suddenly occurred to him, a thought that could potentially deal with this nasty affair he currently dealing with. As he refocused his attention back on Adam, a smile began to unconsciously spread across his face. "Mr. Taurus, you may have given me cause for celebration after all..." The bull Faunus tilted his head.
"What do you mean?" he asked, just as Ms. Goodwitch went rigid.
"No," she stated, looking at Ozpin in mild horror. "Absolutely not! Headmaster, you cannot be serious!"
"Ms. Goodwitch, please," the Headmaster replied calmly. "We are a student short, and Mr. Taurus provides an opportunity to correct that problem. You had no problem allowing Miss Belladonna to enroll at Beacon..."
"Blake joined Beacon?" Adam asked, surprised by this revelation. His question went unanswered, however, as Ms. Goodwitch continued to drill Ozpin.
"Miss Belladonna is another matter, and you know it!" she snapped. "She never killed anyone during her time in the White Fang, and does not subscribe to the fanatical practices the organization has descended into. Taurus, meanwhile, is a known murderer, and the very fact High Leader Khan made him the leader of the Valean sect should tell you where his loyalties lie!" Her furious green eyes stared directly into the calm hazel eyes of the Headmaster. "Do you really think it would wise to allow someone like him to attend Beacon? Never mind the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company will be attending our school this year..."
"What? A Schnee is coming down to Vale despite the White Fang obviously being in the area?" Adam grunted, confounded by the very idea. "That family is even more foolish than Sienna said they were..."
"Ms. Goodwitch, I am aware this would be unorthodox, but trust me, I know what I am doing," Ozpin reassured his colleague.
"Really? Because I'm not so sure that you do!" Glynda snapped. "It would be more prudent to accept Jaune Arc into Beacon despite his forged transcripts rather than this... this...monster!" she spat, pointing at the bull Faunus with her riding crop. Tired of being ignored, the bull Faunus stood from his chair, causing the other two occupants in the room to turn towards him.
"Yes, that's right, I'm a monster!" Adam announced, doing his best to avoid raising his voice. "What tipped you off, was it the Grimm mask? I can remove it, if you'd like." His hands moved towards his head, prying the porcelain mask off his face. Ms. Goodwitch quickly turned pale, and took a step backwards, her free hand coming up to cup over her heart, her words dying in her throat. Ozpin closed his eyes, and lowered his head, taking a moment to regain control of his emotions.
"I believe it would be best if you concealed that, should you choose to attend Beacon," the Headmaster said finally.
"Yes," the bull Faunus whispered. "I'm inclined to agree with you." There was a moment of silence as Adam affixed his mask back onto his face. "So, you want me to join your prestigious school, huh?" he asked Ozpin, cupping his cuffed hands in front of him. "I'm honored I meet your qualifications, of course, but as much as I would love to avoid being locked up to rot, Ms. Goodwitch raises a good point: What's stopping me from simply massacring Blake, the Schnee, or any other student I take issue with?" Both the bull Faunus and Ms. Goodwitch looked at the Headmaster, who continued to simply stand there with his eyes closed, resting upon his cane. After a couple seconds, Ozpin opened his eyes, and regarded Adam with a calm expression.
"There are many reasons why that would be a bad idea. I will illuminate three," the Headmaster stated, holding up a hand to count them off with his fingers. "First, do not believe that because your peers are younger and less experienced than you means they are incapable of defending themselves. Second, if you harm even one hair on any of my students' heads, I will retaliate in kind. God willing, you will not leave Beacon alive," Ozpin said this without a hint of malice in his voice, but the bull Faunus could tell he was completely serious. The Headmaster, for his part, seemed to realize how grave his previous statement had been, as he offered Adam a gentle smile as he raised his third finger. "Lastly, waging war against good people is bad for the soul. This may not seem important to you now, but it is the most important thing I have said." The bull Faunus was silent for a moment, as he regarded Ozpin with his masked face.
"...You're really willing to take a man like me into your world-renowned academy?" he asked quietly. The Headmaster nodded, and strode over to Adam to rest his hand on his shoulder.
"I am," Ozpin said. "You have done some terrible things, there is no denying that. I, however, hate the actions, not the people responsible for them. When I look upon you, I do not see the monster the media paints you as." The Headmaster was aware of Ms. Goodwitch shuffling behind him, but kept his gaze fixed on Adam. "Instead, I just see a scared and confused young man, who lost his way and strayed into shadows." He removed his hand from the bull Faunus's shoulder, to hold it out in front of himself instead, extending his offer. "If you would allow me, I would love to give you the chance to find yourself again." The bull Faunus looked down at the hand presented to him. Then slowly, almost hesitantly, he reached up to clasp his own hands around Ozpin's.
"I'll do it, if you'll have me." The Headmaster beamed brightly, as Ms. Goodwitch watched warily in the background.
"Congratulations, Mr. Taurus. Your application has officially been accepted."
"Are you absolutely certain that was the smartest decision you could have made, Headmaster?" Ms. Goodwitch demanded, as she and Ozpin left the police station. The Headmaster simply smiled as he sipped his hot chocolate.
"I have made many strange decisions before," he pointed out. "They have always turned out perfectly fine, in the end."
"Yes, but Ozpin, this is still a violent extremist we are talking about. I know you were desperate for replacement for Mr. Arc, but this is not exactly what I had in mind..."
"I am aware of that. Believe me, I am." Ozpin told her. "But this is not just about finding someone to meet out quota of applicants, anymore. You heard what Taurus said in there: a woman in a red dress and wielding a power unlike any he has ever seen, came to the White Fang to try and coerce the organization into working under her. I would not be surprised in the slightest to learn that this woman, as well as her two associates Taurus mentioned, would be a perfect match for the trio of individuals Qrow described that attacked dear Amber a few weeks back, as well as the ones currently pulling the strings of Roman Torchwick. We need information, Glynda, and if allowing Taurus to attend Beacon is how we must obtain it, then so be it. Besides," he added with a wry smile, "I have a feeling that somewhere underneath that gruff exterior, that young man wants the same thing we do in the end: justice. The least we can do is give him a chance, would you not agree?" Ms. Goodwitch closed her eyes, and folded her arms across her chest, taking in all the Headmaster had said.
"You are right, of course," she sighed, before forcing a small smile. "I may not like it, but I will trust your judgement on this, Headmaster. You have not been wrong yet."
"Splendid." Ozpin quickly finished his mug. "Now, let us head back to Beacon, shall we? We have to prepare for our new students' arrival."
And so, that is how Adam Taurus found himself onboard the airship carrying the new students to Beacon Academy. The bull Faunus sighed, placing his hands in his pockets as he did his best to drown out the droning of the crowd around him. His blue eye squinted in the bright light seeping through the airship's big bay windows, unused to having it unfiltered through the slits in his mask. There was no way he would be able to get away with wearing that thing in Beacon Academy, or even in public, for that matter, so he had pitched it into a trashcan while he had been escorted to the airport earlier that morning. At least Ozpin had been kind enough to gift him with a large eyepatch to cover the upper left part of his face. It had a pair of straps that ran both above and below his exposed eye, which he still adjusting to catching glimpses of when he looked in other directions, and the leather rubbed differently up against his skin than the porcelain mask did, but it was still preferable to walking around with his face on full display. Not that it kept some of the people around him from sneaking glances at him, but whatever. He already stuck out like a sore thumb anyway, being the oldest and tallest person in the crowd.
As far as he could figure, Adam was probably two, maybe three years older than any of the other passengers that were heading to Beacon with him, and about a head taller. The bull Faunus was no stranger to being the biggest in the room, but it was a funny feeling, being the oldest. Most of the men and women that had served under him in the White Fang had been the same age, and in most cases much older than he was, which was why he had been forced to adopt a more ruthless persona over his time leading the Valean sect. Charisma was a valuable tool to have at your disposal, but there were some fools who would not take you seriously unless you made them.
Adam was abruptly brought out of his internal monologue as the girl with a full-on mane of golden blonde hair he had been standing next to brushed past him to throw her arms around the only other person that had stuck out amongst the group of students when he had first boarded the airship- some short little girl with a red cape and black dress, who's silver eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets as buxom blonde crushed her with a hug. He knew it was impolite to watch, but in his defense, theywerecausing a scene.
"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day EVER!" the blonde squealed. The bull Faunus tilted his head. Those two were sisters? They could have fooled him...
"Please... stop..." the shorter girl whined, her eyes scrunched up in misery.
"But I'm so proud of you!" the blonde cooed, squeezing her even tighter, before her little sister managed to worm her way free.
"Really, Sis, it was nothing," she insisted.
"What do you mean? It was INCREDIBLE! Everyone at Beacon is going to think you're the bee's knees."
"I don't want to be the 'bee's knees', okay?" the silver-eyed girl stated, looking down. "I don't want to be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees..." Immediately, the blonde took on a more concerned temperament.
"What's with you? Aren't you excited?" she asked.
"Of course I'm excited!" the silver-eyed girl assured her sister, still not lifting her head. "It's just- I got moved ahead two YEARS. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything." Now Adam felt a little impressed himself. Upon looking at her more carefully, she did look to be younger than anyone else on the airship. If she was allowed to to essentially skip straight through the primary combat schools most Huntsmen-in-training had to attend before coming to Beacon, then she must be some sort of prodigy. Evidently, he was not the only one who thought so.
"But you are special," the blonde girl told her. It looked like her little sister was going to respond, but at that moment, the 2D-hologram that had been broadcasting the news had an unexpected increase in volume, causing both girls and the bull Faunus to divert their attention towards the projection, to see what was going on. They were greeted with the image of a mugshot of someone Adam recognized all too well, having been forced to both make deals with and gotten into turf wars against before.
"...The robbery was led by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities," the newscaster announced. "If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you, Lisa."
"Thank you, Cyril," Lisa, a smooth-faced woman with golden eyes and lavender hair said with a smile, as she replaced Torchwick's mugshot onscreen. Next to her was an image of a group of people, all bearing animal traits, such as ears, horns, or tails. All of them looked angry, and a few could be seen clutching signs, one of which could be clearly seen to read WE ARE NOT ANIMALS! "In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony." The bull Faunus could not help but sigh. He had only left the White Fang a couple days ago, and it seemed the Valean sect was already taking a turn for the worse without him. "The once peaceful organization has now disrupted-" the reporter was abruptly cut off as the news station was replaced with a hologram of Ms. Goodwitch, who appeared to be in a much better mood than she had been last night.
"Hello, and welcome to Beacon!" her hologram greeted every student within earshot.
"Who's that?" Adam heard the blonde ask, right before the hologram answered her question for her.
"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."
"Oh." The bull Faunus bit back a snort.
"You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy!" Ms. Goodwitch announced, a small smile upon her face. "Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." And with that, the hologram disappeared. The students were left to their own devices. Most chose to look out the airship's windows to stare at the sea and island far below, the two sisters included.
"Oh, wow! Look, you can see Signal from up here!" the silver-eyed girl commented, pointing to her old primary combat school on her home island of Patch. "I guess home isn't too far after all."
"Beacon's our home, now," the blonde reminded her younger sister.
"For better or for worse," Adam commented, thinking about his own set of circumstances that had led to that for him. Then he froze, realizing he had said that out loud. As the two girls turned to look towards him, the bull Faunus decided it was high time for a tactical retreat, and promptly strode towards the nearest restroom, intent on hiding out in there for the rest of the flight to avoid the awkward conversation that would otherwise ensue.
"Well, leave it to some goth brooder to spoil the view," he heard the blonde mutter behind him, which took all of his willpower to turn back around and explain a couple things to. Just because he had an affinity for black and red did not automatically make him an edge lord!
"Well, it was a nice moment while it lasted," her younger sister pointed out. As Adam entered the hallway leading to the bathroom, Beacon Academy began to come into view on the cliffs of the continent that abruptly cut off the body of water they were traveling over. "Ooh, I wonder who we're gonna meet!" he heard the silver-eyed girl say. "I just hope they're friendlier than that edge lord. Although, his rose emblem was pretty cool," she admitted. "And did you see how he was dressed? We were practically twinning!"
"Ruby, do you seriously want to be associated with a guy who practically radiates depression?" her sister demanded incredulously.
"I'm just saying..." As he threw open the door to the boy's bathroom, the bull Faunus shook his head in mild amusement. One thing was for certain: he had already met two particularly interesting characters, himself. If all the other students attending Beacon were going to be as colorful as Ruby and her buxom blonde of an older sister, then Adam knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was in for a wild ride...