King of Champions 5 (Patreon)

Chapter 5: First Days

Given the day before, it might have been nice for the teens who had gone through Beacon’s initiation to have a nice lie-in. That, alas, was not how Beacon treated its would-be Hunters. The students actually had class that morning.

This might have been a problem, as none of Team ANVL had set up an alarm. But it turned out they needn’t have bothered. Because at around sunrise, the sound of a whistle, an extremely shrill, extremely loud whistle resounded from somewhere outside their room, cutting through the intervening walls and distance as if they didn’t exist.

Astonishingly, Ren slept through it. Nora groaned and slowly pushed herself upright, looking around in confusion. Pyrrha also groaned, grabbing the covers and pulling them over her head, curling up underneath her covers like a grub.

Flashbacks of past pranks from their siblings going through their heads, Harry and Tia rolled away from one another off either side of the bed, landing with twin thumps. For a moment, Harry lay there, scowling as he remembered where they were and wondered what the hell that was about, his faculties returning to him whether he wanted them to or not.

But while Harry was only mildly annoyed, Tia growled in anger. Her eyes flashing with fury, Tia grabbed up the side table. Lifting it up over her head, Tia made for the door, intent on bludgeoning whoever had used the whistle into paste, Aura or no.

Seeing this, Harry hopped to his feet, moving to restrain her. “Tia, no. A prospective Huntress shouldn’t murder someone just because she rolled out of the wrong side of the bed.”

Tia ignored him, striding to the door, getting around the foot of the bed and beyond Nora’s before Harry reached her, grabbing her from behind. His arms wound around her waist, trying to pull her to a stop, forgetting in his still-somewhat frazzled mind about his magic.

And if there was one negative about Tia in the mornings, it was that loud noises annoyed her. She was actually quite quick to get up. The Arc estate was, after all, a farming estate, and although Violet usually ran that aspect along with their parents, all the kids had to help at certain points.  But loud noises, especially artificial ones, annoyed her greatly, as Rouge had learned to her cost more than once.

“Nora, a little help here?” Harry grunted as he was dragged along.

“Aye, aye, fearless leader,” Nora giggled, now fully awake and energetic. She playfully tackled both of the Arcs, intending to toss them backward onto their bed, only for Tia to simply stand there stoically as the other girl smacked into her. “Wow, you are really strong!”

With that, Nora began to tickle Tia, only to find that this didn’t work, which Harry could have told her. There were a few very specific places Tia was ticklish, and none of them were anywhere Nora should be touching.

Seeing this, Nora changed tactics, grabbing at the makeshift weapon in Tia’s hands, the small, generic bed table she was holding over her head. The table’s drawer slid out in the ensuing tussle to crash down onto the floor, and between them, Nora and Harry kept Tia from reaching the door for a few moments as Harry tried to calm her down. “Come on, Tia, it just isn’t worth it. Wait to make trouble when it’s for a good cause, not someone being overzealous on their dog whistle.”

Tia scowled but finally relented, pausing in place and lowering her arms, letting a giggling Nora gleefully tug it out of her hand.

All of this noise had woken up Ren from his Zen-like slumber.  Still laying in the bed he had collapsed into, he glanced around wildly before calming down at there being no obvious danger. Seeing what was going on, Ren shook his head slowly but made no effort to get up and help.  “Might I ask why Tia is with us?”

“Eh, Tia has trouble sleeping in new places and wanted to cuddle a bit. She was on her own for a few days too, so I felt we could allow it tonight,” Harry answered.

Ren cocked an eyebrow at that but shrugged, staying silent. Tia hadn’t said a word in her rampage, and as Nora gleefully pulled the dresser out of her hand, Tia sighed and turned away.  Deciding that since vengeance wasn’t on the table this morning, she would get the first shower, the blonde Arc twin made her way to the door to the team’s bathroom, shutting it behind her.

Nora stared after, then dumping the bed table onto her bed, she clicked her fingers together. “Clever girl!”

“My little sister has hidden depths,” Harry said with a snort. “Deep and silent, that’s Tia. As for the rest of us, I think we should draw lots to set the rest of the shower rotation.”

“Ehh… I’d think someone with sisters like you apparently have would know to let the girls go first,” Nora snickered.

“If I let my chivalric side run away with me like that, they’d be running roughshod over me all the time. Not going to happen,” Harry said dryly, looking over at his new girlfriend’s bed. “Pyrrha, you might want to wake up for this. Unless you want to have the last shower and pray to the water gods, there’s enough hot water left.”

Pyrrha did not stir from her blanket cocoon, simply pulling the covers over her head tighter, and Harry sighed, moving to sit beside her on her bed. As the sound of the shower began in the background, Harry very carefully reached under the covers near where he assumed her head would be. Finding hair under his fingers, Harry began to pet her, causing Pyrrha to start. “Pyrrha, it’s time to wake up,” Harry crooned as if he was talking to one of his sisters.

A hand grabbed Harry’s own in a vice-like grip before quickly releasing it as Harry’s voice registered. Like a caterpillar merging from or a bear emerging from his cave, Pyrrha stuck her head out, glaring blearily at Harry. “It’s too early,” she mumbled.

“Who thought the mighty Pyrrha would be done in by an early morning,” Harry teased before his hand found her cheek, his touch noticeably changing from ruffling to caressing as his hand moved out of her hair down her cheek. “Come on, wake up. We need to decide what order we’ll use the bathroom in after Tia’s done.”

Pyrrha quirked an eyebrow at him, her thoughts going down a similar road to Nora’s a moment ago while the hammer wielder was hopping up and down in place, talking excitedly about pancakes. “Really, you’re going to make us all play a game for it rather than just have Nora and I decide between us? Whatever happened to chivalry?”

“I think it’s in my locker software,” Harry quipped, shaking his head.

Pyrrha laughed quietly and then slowly pushed her covers off, revealing her nightwear as she did.

Harry took in the view for a moment, a wry little smirk crossing his features. If any of the tabloids could see this... Not that I’d let them.

Pyrrha’s sleeping shirt had risen up her body during the night, revealing her bare stomach even though her hoodie had flopped forward, half-covering her head. It was an incredibly toned stomach, with an honest-to-goodness sixpack, which, from his conversations with his sisters, Harry knew women had even harder trouble gaining than men. Pyrrha’s pants had also ridden down a bit, showing a hint of a nice, smooth-looking hip and side, close enough to hint at what else was hidden there. Up top, the neck of the loose hoodie flopped downward as Pyrrha nearly crouched on her bed, revealing a very nice amount of cleavage. Coupled with her very obvious bedhead, her hair sticking out in every direction, the tired look in her eyes, the small smile Pyrrha had on her face as she looked up at him… All in all, the look was both innocently sexy and heartwarming.

And unlike similar views that Harry’d had in the past with his sisters, this one Harry could look at without feeling like a pureblood.  That was a very important point, and Harry gazed at her without shame.

Pyrrha noticed him looking and preened even as she blushed a bit. Feeling a little daring, Pyrrha pushed through her embarrassment and very ostentatiously stretched her arms above her shoulders, letting the muscles crack as she did, before yawning and asking, “So we’re going to be using some kind of sticks or something? I vote for metal needles of various sizes, the smallest one wins. I have a few around here, I think.”

“You would, wouldn’t you,” Harry answered somewhat repressively. “We’ll be using wooden sticks, thank you.”

Pyrrha sent him a faint pout but didn’t answer verbally. Pyrrha wanted to tell her team about her Semblance later, but at the moment, old instincts were fighting against doing so.  Maybe when we have our first team training day. That way, it won’t seem like bragging and will fit better into the conversation. If I did it now, it would seem out of place.

Harry held out his hand to her and then to Nora and Ren and sighed as Nora drew the short straw, winning the first round. Harry won the next, then Pyrrha, beating Ren, who gave a long resigned sigh. “Well, at least I don’t need as much water, I suppose. And this way, I can head to the cafeteria and grab Nora’s pancakes.”

Harry nodded, patting him on the shoulder.  “Don’t worry, I take very quick showers.” And I can cast a warming charm on the shower head, so I’ll get a lukewarm shower at least without using too much of the warm water.

At that point, the shower turned off, revealing that Tia also took short showers. They’d developed that habit while out camping with the family in the camper van and out by the new mines.

To Pyrrha’s astonishment Tia  came out wearing absolutely nothing save a small pout on her face as she worked both hands through her wait hair. To say this was a amazing sight for any straight male, made better by the flow of water down her naked frame, was an understatement. But Harry, knowing his sister as he did, was already turning around  the instant the door to the bathroom opened. As he did, he clamped one hand over Ren’s eyes as the man stood up, his attention on tucking in his blanket. Before Ren could turn or figure out why Harry had done this, Pyrrha shrieked, “Tia! There are men here!”

“So?” Tia questioned. “I forgot my towel.”

“Ahh, I see, or rather don’t wish to. Thank you, Harry,” Ren answered, knowing that Nora would get angry and even clingier if he said anything else. Ren knew from past experience she didn’t like Ren showing even a hint of interest in other girls. That, and Ren wasn’t certain of Harry’s reaction to Ren seeing Tia in her natural state.

“Ayup, I know my sister,” Harry answered, looking away as Tia moved to get dressed in the same clothing she had been sleeping in the night before. Hearing the rustlings and Pyrrha hissing at an uncaring Tia, Harry tried hard not to put images to the noises and failed miserably. She’s your sister, she’s your sister, remember she is your sister, Harry Arc! And you just started a relationship with Pyrrha, an equally gorgeous redhead. Don’t be a horndog or a pureblood, you ass. That is a bad combination!

“Right,” he said as Nora made her way toward the bathroom, and the noises behind him stopped. He turned back, finding that Tia had sat down on the bed next to Pyrrha and was running her fingers through the other girl’s hair. She made an interrogative noise, and Pyrrha laughed, gesturing to where her luggage had been left the evening before. “I’ll share some of my hair products if you want, Tia. Funnily enough, Harry commented on my hair when we first met too.”

Tia nodded thanks and looked up at her brother, who had been looking at the pair with a faint smile. His momentary annoyance at Tia’s general Tia-ness faded as he saw his twin and girlfriend getting along. Tia smiled back, and Harry moved over to remove the bed-table from Nora’s bed, putting it back where it had begun the day. “Okay, before Nora hops into the shower, do any of you need anything to start the day? If you do, we’ll look into providing it.”

Pyrrha sheepishly raised her head. “Me, I’m afraid. I need coffee in the morning to really start my day. My mind starts going, but I don’t have much energy to start off.”

“We can work with that. I personally like to have a spot of tea in the morning,” Harry assured her, then looked over at Ren.

He shrugged. “Nora knows how to wake me up, and I rather doubt you could stop her from doing so.”

“Nope!” Nora shouted from the doorway into the bathroom, popping the ‘P’. Nora wasn’t shouting to be heard but because that was her normal volume. “And Rennie already knows to supply me with pancakes, fearless leader.”

With that, she hopped into the bathroom, leaving two confused girls and Harry to look at Ren in confusion. But after a second, Harry remembered the massive amount of pancakes that Nora had been putting away the day before and cocked his head inquisitively. “Is she an addict?”

“Oh yes, most decidedly. Nora needs her pancakes, or else. If you think she is… uninhibited now, Nora goes absolutely crazy without her pancakes,” Ren slowly shook his head, his eyes set in a thousand-mile stare as he looked not at the world around him but at the horrors of the past. “You really don’t want Nora to go crazy.” All that pink goo… I will never forget that horror.

“I rather think we don’t want anyone to go crazy,” Pyrrha shaking her head with a droll look on her face. Inside, Pyrrha was quite happy. While there seemed to be a distinct lack of coffee yawning in front of her like an empty abyss, this morning was still turning out to be quite fun. Although I might want to up my exercise regimen or perhaps drink more milk? She thought, taking a glance at the blonde girl sitting next to her. Although that could be an old wives tale.

Tia’s body was amazing, built along slightly bulkier lines than Pyrrha’s own. This included both a slightly more defined six-pack than Pyrrha’s, thighs that could break a man’s skull, and an… impressive chest. Tia’s skin also practically shown with good health with its odd light caramel color. Pyrrha had seen Tia’s chest before, obviously, but unclothed as Tia’s had been a moment ago, the difference in their relative sizes was astonishing. Tia was an inch or two smaller than Pyrrha, but Tia’s chest was at least a size or maybe two larger than Pyrrha’s own modest B-cups.

(And, although she would never admit it to anyone, Pyrrha had also noted Tia’s nipples as she had dressed. The light pink color of the half-lien-sized nipples was extremely eye-catching against Tia’s darker skin color, so much they drew her eye despite Pyrrha’s best efforts.)

Regardless, despite the shock of that and the lack of coffee, Pyrrha found herself greatly enjoying waking up under Harry’s attention. She enjoyed Nora’s upbeat attitude and wildness. Hearing Ren and Harry joke with one another while they were picking their sticks had been immensely fun. I know for a fact that I already made the right choice in partner, but all of this simply shows I got a good team too.

As Pyrrha was thinking such things, Harry showed everyone his scroll, on which a class schedule could be seen. It had been mailed to them all by the school the night before, although obviously, each was different. Tia instantly held out her own, pointing out the differences in a soft tone of voice before falling silent. With a start, Pyrrha realized it was her turn, and she quickly went over what everyone else had said, saying aloud, “Well, I have two different classes than any of you. While Ren is taking PE Endurance-specific classes, I have Advanced Dust Usage, and in my second block, Aura Maturation.” She snorted. “Which I note neither of you Arcs are taking.”

“I imagine that class is about growing your aura in various ways, meditation, and so forth. So, no, Tia and I wouldn’t need it much,” Harry answered self-deprecatingly.

“Actually, I am rather surprised you need either of those classes. You are the Mistral Tournament Champion, Pyrrha Nikos, yes?” Ren inquired. “You certainly looked the part yesterday, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.”

“I am,” Pyrrha smiled politely, fearing that Ren would ask for an autograph or something similarly embarrassing.

But he didn’t, thankfully. Instead, he simply nodded. “I thought so. That cereal you advertised is horrendous, although the Pure Hydration Water is quite good. I also have to warn you that Nora will undoubtedly be one of the first to try and defeat you the moment she can.”

“I will be perfectly happy to take on any challenge, so long as the challenger puts forth their best effort,” Pyrrha announced firmly, her eyes lighting up at the idea of fighting someone new. Especially Nora, whose combat style she had gotten a glimpse of the day before.

“I rather doubt that Nora has ever done anything but in combat. And with that, I am off to get Nora her daily sacrifice of pan cakey softness,” Ren announced, getting to his feet and exchanging what Pyrrha had heard called a ‘manly’ nod with Harry before heading out the room.

Pyrrha waved goodbye at him for a moment, then turned back to Harry in some confusion. “Although, I have to wonder why you are getting that Laws and Logistics of the Four Kingdoms class.”

“I rather think it’s the start of leadership classes,” Harry simply shrugged, staring at the name and the shorthand for it, LL4-01. “I have to know the laws of the various kingdoms, for when we are out and about as a team, and how it will impact the team’s missions, logistics and so forth. After all, if we’re given a specific amount to spend on ammo, I need to know the appropriate laws of Dust usage and the local market.”

“Arturia’s team didn’t stay together,” Tia objected to that idea softly.

“True, but Beacon has the best track record of teams staying together of any of the academies, and that’s with Atlas recruiting half of the graduating teams into their military,” Harry snorted, having memorized that a while back. “My sister’s team is somewhat unusual, and Arturia is…” he frowned, thinking of a way to put it.

“A one-woman army,” Tia said, deadpan.

Harry shrugged but did not disagree. Nor did Pyrrha, who actually looked somewhat approving of the term. “That. So it really didn’t matter if they stayed together or not. The other three had no wish to work anywhere but in Vale, and you and I know Arturia has been to all four of the kingdoms on various assignments, so I imagine they had to sit through a Vale-specific seminar or something.”

“That sounds nice. Er, not the fact her team broke up, but that Arturia is able to take missions wherever she wants to,” Pyrrha began, a bit awkwardly but with a smile on her face. “That means Arturia can pitch in wherever she wishes and do the most good she can with each mission.”

But speaking of the leader taking different classes, Tia, doesn’t that mean you have that same class?”

Tia looked down at her schedule and nodded.

“Come to think of it, I think you need to go and meet with your team, Tia, and make sure that they’re all awake and everything.” Harry frowned, honestly only now remembering that Tia had not been part of his team originally. Crap, but that‘s going to take some getting used to.

Tia frowned for a moment, then shrugged. “If they cannot motivate themselves to get up in the morning on this, their first day at Beacon, there is no hope for them.”

Wincing, Harry shook his head. “Don’t be like that, Tia. You’re part of their team. I know you don’t want to be the leader, but you have to at least meet with Mila and the other two.” It annoyed Harry somewhat, but none of Tia’s teammates had really registered yesterday with him.  “If the four of you can elect another leader from among you, I daresay you could get that changed. But for now, you need to at least meet with them. Besides, you need to change into your school uniform. Your stuff was sent to your team’s dorm room, not here.”

Tia scowled a bit but couldn’t argue the point and held out her arms. Harry got to his own feet and pulled her into a hug, wordlessly telling Tia that her being on a different team didn’t matter. She was still his precious twin. “Maybe after classes are done, we can do something to make up for the days I had spent back in our hometown while you were here in Vale.

That got Tia to give him an extra-long squeeze before she released him, then headed out. As his sister left, Harry realized that this left him and Pyrrha alone. Now, if it was a few weeks into this relationship of ours, our being alone for a few minutes and her looking so innocently sexy would give me more than a few ideas as to how to spend whatever time we have before Nora finishes her shower. But as it is, I have to concentrate on something else, blast it. “So, is this a good time to speak about that Shield Oath of yours, Pyrrha?”

Pyrrha smiled. “Of course, my Rigas (King),” she said teasingly, although there was a semi-serious glint in her eyes as she looked at Harry.

Harry had grown up in Mistral, and while Greek wasn’t the local language of Evig Låga, it was one of the many languages of Anima and the official language of this world. So he knew what that meant, and if his eyebrow hadn’t already been raised in query, it certainly was now.

She laughed at that, shrugging her shoulders. “The Shield Oath is an old one, going back to the Timí Polemistí, renowned warriors who swore to subsume all personal desires and wants in order to follow equally powerful chieftains who were united in one thing: the wish to unite the mountains and dales of Mistral into one kingdom. Then when one king finally succeeded in doing that, the surviving warriors of the various brotherhoods joined together to serve the new king. Personal loyalty mattered less than the cause, and according to the histories, the Timí Polemistí set aside all past enmities and loyalties, although I doubt it was as universal as all that. Still, the Oath remained, and when I swore that oath, I bound myself to you to the point of dissolution.”

“Dissolution?” Harry was confused. “Are you sure that’s the right word?”

“I am. With that oath, I have sworn myself to your service in a very, very profound way. As the ancient Timí Polemistí did, I subsumed myself to you and your purpose. I go where you do, I fight where you want me to, you command me in life and in death. Should you decide my death is necessary, I will give up my life without question or doubt. Any secrets you have, I will keep. Any oaths you make I make, anything about me that you do not like or wish to change, I will do so,” Pyrrha announced firmly, staring into Harry’s emerald orbs with her own jade eyes, willing him to not only see how serious Pyrrha took the oath she gave him, but also why she had done so.

Harry stared at her, stunned, not by the nature of the oath so much as by the depth of it and the iron-hard certainty with which Pyrrha spoke. “I…” he paused, shaking his head. “I already accepted your oath, Pyrrha. But I swear to you now, there will never come a time when I tell you to die! Brothers, the very idea makes my blood run cold, and for far more than the callousness of doing it in the first place to anyone, let alone my girlfriend! And I have to say I’m a little stunned at the fact that you gave that Oath in the first place. I’m not…”

“I will not have you denigrate yourself, Harry,” Pyrrha shot back fiercely, cutting whatever Harry was going to say to the quick before he can voice it. “I…” it was Pyrrha’s turn to pause then, some of her assertiveness leaving her as she admitted she might have jumped the gun a bit. “My timing might have been spurred on by my instincts. But my reasoning is still sound!”

Pyrrha reached forward, grabbing Harry’s hands as she continued speaking earnestly. “Look at what you told me about what you and your family have been doing, have been convincing others to join you in! Do you know the last time any of the four kingdoms made a concerted effort to expand their safe zones, their real borders? Not the borders they say they control on a piece of paper, but the areas where their citizens can be safe, can be free of Grimm?”

“Mountain Glenn,” Harry answered instantly. “ It was a disaster. They mined out a tunnel back into the city and hit a pocket of underground Grimm. The fear spread too quickly, and Vale cut them off to die.”

“Exactly. It was a massive defeat, a retreat, as all too many instances with the Grimm are. Atlas is determined to throw up a wall of technology robots between themselves and anyone they don’t wish to have in their perfect little kingdom,” Pyrrha began, showing the disdain that far too many Mistral people felt towards the kingdom of Atlas. People from Atlas were one thing, the kingdom another, and no number of reforms from General Ironwood would change that. Not until the society of Atlas truly changed.

“Vale lost its willpower to expand with Mountain Glenn, and its leaders don’t even have the decency to show their faces to those they professed to lead!” Again this was a common thought of Anima-folk because even though Mistral was also ruled by a council, they didn’t hide their identities from the rest of the populace. “Vacuo is losing territory to the desert every year, and people too. The same can be said of the smaller communities, as we both know all too well. And as for Mistral,” Pyrrha sighed sadly. “I was part of it, the tournament, the great tool our society uses to keep people’s attention within rather than on the dangers outside, thinking that keeping the people happy is the most important thing, rather than taking the fight to the Grimm.”

“Now look at what you have done with the fire dust mine, you and your family's future plans. I know that you said several times that those plans were your family’s plans, Harry, but I know you have been the driving force there. And not just your powers, whatever they are, either. Your parents might have hoped to see Evig Låga grow, but it was you who came up with the concept of a militia, of having every adult in the new territory having their Auras unlocked. That is revolutionary, something no one else has ever thought of before, no society has ever done before, believing the bad would outweigh the good. But you, you see the reality: that the Grimm are the main threat, the only threat faunus and human should be confronting.”

Pyrrha squeezed his hands, which she had not released just yet. “You may represent the best hope against the Grimm. What kind of gynaíka Spartiátissa (Spartan Woman) would I be if I didn’t want to help you achieve all you could?”

Somewhat stunned by the emotion and force behind Pyrrha’s words, Harry could do nothing but stare back at the redhead for a moment. But eventually, he pulled himself together and nodded, bringing their joined hands up to his mouth, placing light kisses on the back of Pyrrha’s palms. “Alright. I can’t deny that you’re right on many points. As much as I dislike putting it in those terms, I will… admit to being the one who came up with some of the ideas my parents and the Evig Låga council have been pushing. And you’re right, my powers are a major reason why the mine and everything there works.”

The term ‘works’ covered a lot of area there, but Harry didn’t want to go into any amount of detail right now, and he kissed her hands again. “And I can see why you, being you, Pyrrha, want to be a part of it. I don’t think I would have an Oath to that effect, but that is more of a cultural thing, I think. Regardless, I accepted your oath when you gave it, Pyrrha. And when I give my word like that, I keep it. So whatever we do, wherever we go, we go together from now on. Just don’t expect me to treat you any differently. The fact you’re my girlfriend is more important than the fact you’re my sworn shield, or whatever the official term is.”

Pyrrha’s smile became blinding at that, and Harry decided to end the serious talk. “I’m just glad it really wasn’t a total spur-of-the-moment thing, you going straight from girlfriend to what could be called my wife, hmmm? Different vows, same outcomes,” he teased.

“W, well…” Pyrrha blushed. “Um. I will admit that I am very much a romantic at times, and um, some dreams about er, that revolve around having a… um, king giving orders in the bedroom?”

The last few words practically came out in a squeak, and Harry laughed. That laugh caused Pyrrha’s blush to fade, and she scowled, launching herself forward in a tackle. Harry oofed in surprise, and by the time he recovered, Pyrrha was straddling him, growling out, “Don’t think that just because I am your girlfriend OR your shield you can get away with teasing me without consequences. I might be both of those things, but I am not an automaton!”

“*Grunt*, Well, that’s good to know, and honestly sets me at ease a bit after all that talk about letting me choose where you die and all the rest,” Harry replied, grunting a bit under Pyrrha’s weight, before lifting his hips and dislodging Pyrrha.

The two of them wrestled for a few moments, laughing as they did until the door to the bathroom banged open, and Nora charged out as naked as the day she was born, shouting, “Oooh, are we having a tickle competition! Let me join!”

“GAHHH!!” came two shrieks, and in the hallway outside, Ren, returning with breakfast, sighed. “Oh, dear.”

OOOOOOO

Sung-Sun was an early riser, she had always been even back in her father’s mansion in Vacuo. So even after an exhausting day like the Initiation, she was awake by the time the whistle had blown, trying to think of where Tia was and how to get her two new teammates up and moving without either of them starting an argument. If there was one thing she loathed in the mornings, it was people raising their voices and shouting. Mornings were for quiet contemplation and preparation for the day, not for needless posturing and arguments. But those seemed to be the default method Mila and Apacci dealt with anything.

So she was somewhat of two minds about the whistle and the whistleblower as she held Apacci back from launching himself at Ruby as the deer Faunus shouted, “It was you! My ears are still ringing, you little--!”

To one side, Blake was nodding her head sagely, although she wasn’t actually attacking her teammate, simply glaring at her hatefully. Why this was, Sung-Sun could guess, but it wasn’t her place to comment on someone else’s cowardice. As for the perpetrator, Ruby was currently hiding behind Yang, as the group stopped mid-hallway as Apacci and Mila tried to attack the tiny reaper.

Sharing a glance with the Schnee heiress, Sung-Sun released a sigh, one echoed by her equally refined acquaintance. “How gauche to argue like this in public.”

“I quite agree, but I find myself unwilling to try and stop this from occurring. I was at ground zero for ‘The Whistling’ after all,” somehow making it clear she had capped the name, something which Sung-Sun acknowledged with an elegant tilt of her neck, even as she kept holding Apacci back.

This side conversation had been completely missed by the rest of their group, busy as they were with the main source of conflict.

“I’m going to rip your head off!” Mila roared, thrashing in Tia’s arms while Tia held her back in turn, her arms looping under Mila’s armpits and then behind her head. Although Mila was bigger across the shoulders and in terms of height than Tia, she wasn’t able to break free of Tia’s hold.

Something that Yang was quite grateful for at present. “Hey now, my little sister was just excited for her first day at Beacon and for being our team leader. Besides, after yesterday, all of us needed a good jolt in the morning to get going in the first place.”

“I, I’m sorry!” Ruby shouted from behind her, poking her head around Yang’s side, then quickly pulling it back as Apacci hissed at her like a snake.

Sung-Sun snorted as that image came to her. As if that deer would ever be something as elegant and cool as a snake.

“I couldn’t think of a better way to get everyone up, and I was so excited I didn’t think the noise would carry, and I completely forgot there were faunus around!” Ruby continued.

“Forgetting doesn’t excuse the damage to my ears, Red! My head is still throbbing from that!”” Mila shouted.

“My sister apologized, and neither of us has worked with faunus before. If you still want to attack her, you’re gonna have to get through me, pussy-cat!”

Everyone there rolled their eyes, and Blake drawled, “Really? That is what you go for? Talk about predictable, Yang.”

“Ouch, and from my own partner no less,” Yang complained, looking over to Blake, who, like Weiss, had removed herself from the conflict. “And give me time. I don’t know Big Miss Lioness here yet. I’ll think of something better in the future.”

The argument ended a moment later as Harry and Team ANVL came out of their room, pausing to look at the group in confusion. The sight of Nora balancing several trays in one hand while Pyrrha carried plates, bowls and cups, and the two boys carried their bookbags caused stomachs to growl even louder than Mila had been a moment before. None of team RWBY or ARGT had thought about the need to get up quickly enough to head to the cafeteria for food, even Sung-Sun.

Staring back at the eight students, Harry winked at Tia, amused to see her wearing a scarf knitted by their mom, then asked, “Were you all waiting for us for some reason? You do know we have class and ten minutes, right?” Then as Sung-Sun and Tia released their teammates and everyone began to move down the hallway again, he went on, his tone both teasing and serious. “And Ruby, while I’m thankful for the wake-up call as none of us set an alarm clock if you try to use that whistle again, I’m going to dye all of your clothing neon yellow.”

“You vile villain!” Ruby, and surprisingly Weiss, shouted, with Weiss actually stamping her feet. Ruby turned to her partner, her eyes wide with delight at Weiss backing her up, but that look faded as Weiss continued, as she really wasn’t against Ruby being pranked.

Rather, it was the nature of the prank she objected to. “Do you know how horribly neon yellow would look on her skin? To say nothing about the travesty it would be in terms of the school uniform. Neon yellow, how dare you?”

“Don’t look now, but it looks as if the Weiss-cream has a sense of humor,” Yang teased, tossing her golden locks over her shoulder, winking at Harry as she gestured between herself and Tia even while the others all groaned in unison. “Besides, couldn’t you make Ruby’s outfit looks like Tia’s or my hair? Wouldn’t that be better?”

“Your hair is very nice, Yang, but I don’t think it would do as a colour for someone’s clothing,” Harry replied dryly as he and Pyrrha walked side-by-side down the hallway, leading the way.

They continued to do so as they left the dorm rooms behind, dropping off the plates and trays at a dispensary on the first floor. Stepping out into the bright morning day, the others joined them, with Yang being the first. She pulled her aviator glasses over her eyes, amused to note that several of the others had also pulled out shades of their own. None were as cool as hers, though.

But the blond bomber had more attention to spare on something else that had piqued her interest. That was the fact that Pyrrha and Harry were walking quite close to one another, the backs of their hands occasionally tapping against one another as they walked. Now isn’t that interesting. Does that mean Arc’s off the market entirely, or are they simply close friends? Given they knew each other before Harry showed up, it’s possible, but I gotta wonder if there’s something deeper here.

As they walked across the ground to one of the other buildings where their first class was going to be, with several of them now complaining about not having gotten any breakfast, Yang and several of the others became aware that they were getting looks from some of the students passing by.

At first, Mila and Apacci both bristled, assuming it was because of them, with Blake’s eyes narrowing dangerously as she too looked around in anger. But then, one of the passing students snapped a picture of Pyrrha. “Holy hell, you’re such a big celebrity you have groupies even among hunters?” Mila asked, shocked.

“Unfortunately so,” Pyrrha murmured, smiling around at the crowd and waving at them, the expressions so bland in comparison to some of the faces she had been showing earlier that morning that her team all twitched, scowls appearing on their faces for a brief moment even Ren’s before they banished their expressions. “I could wish it was otherwise, as people like our fellow students should know precisely how human all of us are, but such is not the case apparently.”

Behind her, Apacci grimaced, slowly backing away through the group where he had been moving up behind the redhead. As he did, the deer faunus put his notebook back into his book bag. “Maybe I’ll ask her for an autograph after we all settle in,” he muttered under his breath, forgetting for a moment that Mila had a lion faunus’ hearing. Both Mila and, surprising Apacci, Blake turned to look at him, their faces making it clear what they thought of this idea, and the Deer Faunus scowled back at them.

This was all missed by Yang and the others, and Yang teased. “Yeah, well, just wait for our first combat classes. I imagine there are a few in this group who are eager to knock you off that pedestal of yours, Invincible Girl.”

“Ooh, ooh, me, me!! I wanna fight you too!” Nora shouted, bouncing in place eagerly.

“Me,” Tia announced quietly before falling silent once more.

Harry raised his hand too. “I think it would be fascinating to see which of us would win a one-on-one fight.”

Pyrrha simply smiled back. And this was one of her real smiles, rather than the bland, cookie-cutter smile that she routinely wore. “I look forward to any challenge any of you might put forth. I simply will demand that you give me your all.”

There was something behind that line, but Yang simply grinned back at her and then added teasingly, “That’s all well and good, but you might already be starting some rumors, you know, walking so closely to your partner there? Is there anything you want to share with the class?”

Pyrrha and Harry simply laughed at that, saying nothing. While both of them were willing to let their friends know about their relationship, outing it on the first day and in public like this was not the way they were going to do so. That would undoubtedly cause a lot of rumors, even with the public discussion between them when they explained to Weiss how Harry and Pyrrha had met the day before. There was a big difference, after all, between the two saviors of Chian being friends and the Invincible Girl going out with Hadrian Arc, younger brother of her rival Arturia Arc.

“Well, regardless, Pyrrha, you should be aware that the school is private property. We all have a right to privacy here, and if we are unhappy with someone recording us, we are allowed to take them to task in any way we wish to do so. Further, any images uploaded to the local net have to be okayed by the network supervisor before being allowed to pass onto the Net proper. I… will admit that that privacy clause was part of why I wished to come to Beacon,” Weiss said.

The others looked at her in confusion, and she rolled her eyes, although she didn’t look all that angry. “Unsophisticated dolts, the lot of you.”

“Miss Weiss is not talking about her position as one of the Schnee,” Sung-Sun said, with a nod in Weiss’s direction. “Weiss is a renowned classical singer and pianist. I have several of her albums.”

Weiss blushed a bit at that but nodded her head respectfully to the other elegant young woman, and the group continued on from there, commenting more about what they were seeing, as well as what they had been doing in their dorm rooms. The winner, if it was a competition for the most productive morning, though, had to be team RWBY. Not only had they all unpacked, but they had also put up bunk beds of all things. The fact that team Anvil hadn’t done anything yet was something of a surprise, but the fact that they had actually eaten breakfast garnered them some respect, as did the fact they had all showered, something that team Argent couldn’t say.

“Not that beyond the pancakes that breakfast was all that good. Oily, floppy bacon, lukewarm sausages, thick toast. And I don’t know what kind of cinnamon they put on them, but it definitely didn’t taste as good as it should have,” Harry lamented.

“Since both Pyrrha and Ren are nodding along with that statement, that does not give me good feelings for the food here,” Yang murmured, shaking her head. “And here I thought the bland meals yesterday were on purpose, helping us soothe our nerves.”

But even as she spoke, she was looking between Harry and Pyrrha. They hadn’t actually defended themselves when she had brought up the idea of them starting rumors, nor were they moving away from one another. Indeed, both Pyrrha and Harry looked perfectly happy simply walking next to one another, and when they turned the corner, and Harry’s shoulder bumped into Pyrrha’s, instead of apologizing, they simply continued on their way, sharing a small smile as they did. Oh ho, so there is something there.

“Yes, well, any food this morning would have been good. And seeing as you were up before even I was and somehow left the room without any of us noticing, I have to ask what you were up to, Tia. Getting us some food would have been a nice start to your role as a team leader. And if that was too much, you could’ve gotten us up, and we could have had more time to get to know one another at least,” Mila said, pushing her partner’s shoulder playfully.

Tia frowned, shaking her head. “I’m not a leader.” She seemed to find that sufficient, while her teammates looked at her, then over to Harry.

“Translation, please?” Apacci asked.

“Heh. My sister really isn’t leadership material. Tia’s never been leadership material or wanted to be. We’ll talk about all of this at lunch, but suffice it to say that we both think that Ozpin was making a decision based on who our big sister is rather than looking at Tia’s actual files from our previous school.”

“And who’s your sister?” Mila said, her confusion on Tia’s overall attitude somewhat derailed by that observation. She was also reaching down to her outer thigh, reaching under her skirt for a second to scratch.

None of the others noticed that, though, as Pyrrha answered Mila’s question before anyone else could, a strange gleam in her eye as she flexed her scarred arm, bringing attention to the scars there. “Arturia, the Dark Queen.”

While Ruby and Yang had been aware of that connection, everyone else there had not been, and after a moment’s silence, Nora, Mila, and Apacci all began shouting questions.  Sung-Sun, Ren, Blake and Weiss just stared at the two Arcs in surprise. This continued until a passing senior shouted at them to quiet down in the halls.

Becoming aware of the looks passing students were giving them, the trio of shouters settled down a bit. With Ren taking Nora to task, admittedly, the pink-haired girl not understanding the term ‘indoor voice’.

At that point, Sung-Sun took it upon herself to ask, “Correct me if I am wrong, Pyrrha, but is not Arturia your most hated rival? She gave you that scar, did she not? And yet you seem to be… well… a friend of the family?” She gestured elegantly with one hand to Tia and Harry. “How did that come about?”

“Well, Harry and I met during an outing. I had gone out on my own, wishing to escape my fans and fame. I met Harry then.”

“Whereas I was shopping for food for Tia’s birthday,” Harry said, smiling over at his sister fondly, remembering how much of a hit some of the Asiatic foods he’d made eventually had gone down. After he was up and about from exhausting his Aura twice over anyway. Worth it.

Tia smiled back at him, giving him a thumbs up, and Yang’s eyes twitched between them and back to Pyrrha. Yeesh, maybe it’s because I haven’t been around many brother/sister pairs, but these two are really close, aren’t they? Huh, does that mean Pyrrha’s been sister-zoned?

“And if you have followed news from Mistral at all, you will know that the town was attacked by Grimm,” Harry went on, only to be interrupted by Blake.

“Bah, that kind of thing is only very rarely reported. The news agencies always say that it’s because they don’t want to cause a panic, but the various networks have never been more than mouthpieces for the people in power,” Blake said, surprising the others as she hadn’t really gotten involved in the conversation up to that point. The scowl on her face was one of disgust as she spoke. “They never mention anything negative so long as it can’t be skewed to back up their political or social views. Just look at the bread riots in Vacuo, the mining disaster recently in Mantle, and…”

“Okay, Miss Conspiracy Theory, that’s enough of that,” Mila laughed, her voice a little strained. It was evident she recognized one of those events and didn’t want to talk about it, her lion-like ears flattening, her hands twitching at her side, and not with the effort to not scratch at her thigh again. “You were saying Pyrrha?”

“Harry and I worked together to stave off the attack until help came, becoming friends in the process. Since then, we have kept in contact, and I’ve always enjoyed getting to know the rest of his family,” Pyrrha finished.

“Yeah, but Arturia was the one to give you that scar, correct?” Sung-Sun shook her head. “I have to think that put a damper on your friendship.”

“Not at all. That was the most magnificent fight I’ve yet had, and I loved every minute of it. My scar is something I wear with honor, a sign I won that battle where otherwise I would have lost. While I would say Arturia is a rival, neither of us hates one another. Indeed, I think we respect one another quite a bit,” Pyrrha retorted.

“Damn, I wish I had a rival back home like that. I suppose ya can only beat people into the ground so often before they start hating ya for it,” Yang quipped, shaking her head while the others were all processing what Pyrrha had said.

“Maybe if you didn’t stand over them and shout how you are the champion, or just taunt them with ‘you just got Yanged’ Yang, maybe you would have had more friends back home,” Ruby teased.

“Traitor! I only did that once, and you know it, Ruby! See if I ever cook cookies for you again.  Besides, he tried to feel me up mid-fight. He deserved to be a little humiliated.”

“He tripped into your chest after you shattered his weapon,” Ruby said with a long-suffering sigh. “Whatever did Heaven’s Lance ever do to you, huh?”

“Besides that dumbass name, nothing,” Yang admitted. “It was just in my fist’s way on its journey into Brown’s face.”

Ruby harumphed at that, then looked around quizzically, then back to Yang. “By the way, where are your friends? I know four of them came here with you from Signal.”

“None of them got in,” Yang said with a shrug, completely uncaring. None of them had been all that close. Heck, Yang was a lotcloser to her sister than she’d ever been to any of her friends back home. With a grin, she grabbed her sister into a bear hug, nuzzling the side of her cheek against Ruby’s. “If it’s a trade-off between not having them around and having my little sister around, I know which one I’ll choose.”

As Ruby whined and tried to break her sister’s grip, the others laughed, and Yang continued. “I can’t say I’m surprised, though. None of the others from Signal were all that good in a fight. In my senior year there, I spent more time fighting our Dad and the other teachers than other students. Heck, in a way, that gives me another reason to want to face you in a spar, Pyrrha. Both to try and knock you off that pedestal of yours and to challenge the best of our generation, which I haven’t been able to do before.”

“Were you so much better than anyone back at the signal that none of them could challenge you? I must admit that was far and away not the case where I come from,” Sung-Sun said.

“Yeah. Both Ruby and I were head and shoulders, or well, I was always head and shoulders above everyone,” Yang said proudly, thrusting her shoulders back at her chest forward, releasing Ruby from her grasp as or did. “But most of that has to do with our training from our Druncle Qrow. I love my dad, but the curriculum at Signal was so boring after even a single summer training with our Druncle it wasn’t even funny.”

Weiss and Sung-Sun both stared at her chest for a moment, then one scowled and turned away. Seeing that, Mila guffawed while Nora laughed and asked, “Drunk uncle, right?”

“Yeppers. Trust me, the dude has earned that title. I can’t remember a time when he wasn’t drinking or drunk,” Yang snickered.

Ruby pulled out her scroll, intending to show pictures of Qrow, but Harry coughed delicately, gesturing to the doorway at the end of the hall. He and Pyrrha had been leading the group here the whole time, going by the map of the school which had been sent to them along with their schedules that morning. “Well, we're all here. Class time, folks.”

The others all became a little more serious, and Harry noted the weapons lockers lining the side of the hall. Gesturing to them, he said, “And I think that’s a good sign for this Grimm Studies class.”

With that, Harry held the door politely open for them all. He and the others hadn’t noticed that several other students had come up behind them in the hallway until one large youth tried to smack his shoulder against Harry in such a way as to send him stumbling. But Harry saw it coming and dodged easily. When he did, the youth, whose looks Tia vaguely recalled having seen before, smacked into the glass at the center of the door.

Recovering, the large youth, who was taller than even Mila, glared at Harry as he passed them by, but Harry simply shrugged his shoulders, entering the room. There, Harry found rising-level seats forming a half circle facing the front of the room. There, a man whose shape very much resembled a barrel stood, marking up something on the board. Above the blackboard was a blunderbuss merged with an axe, the axe head at the end of the barrel.

Above one blackboard, rather. There were several smaller blackboards and whiteboards scattered around the room. Each showed different types of Grimm that Harry recognized as representing the normal varieties of Grimm spotted in Vale. To either side of a large wooden desk were plastic models of Grimm, with areas marked out in red.

Looking at the Nevermore model, Harry recognized that one of those red spots marked out a weak point he knew about, an area where the armor on the bird’s underside ended before its feathers began. ‘Huh, if the other red marks are the same, that’s interesting,’ Harry thought, making a note to write that down in his notebook. The other Grimm was a strange crab-like Grimm that Harry had not seen the like before, which again Harry made a note of.

Harry sat next to Pyrrha, with Tia and the rest of her team behind them. In front of him, Ruby and her team had taken up some seats on the bottommost, or rather, forwardmost, seats. “I like what I’m seeing so far,” Harry murmured to Pyrrha. And for the first time today, that has nothing to do with my companion. Or companions, rather. Just because Pyrrha and I are together doesn’t mean I’m blind to other girls.

Behind Harry, he could already hear Tia opening her notebook and writing things down, and he hastily followed suit, pointing at the weaknesses of the two Grimm models for emphasis, causing Pyrrha to do the same. Nora and Ren did the same, although Ren didn’t seem to be taking notes on the lion Grimm exclusively, actually from where Harry could see, Ren was drawing the Grimm to life with a surprising amount of skill. Nora just seemed to be doodling. Hmmm…

In front of Harry, he could see Weiss was making neat, tiny notes, the writing so small Harry couldn’t make out anything she was writing even from a bare yard away. Blake had pulled out a notebook and was reading it while Ruby and Yang were whispering excitedly to one another.

From what Harry could overhear, it appeared as if they had already been taught much of the information on the scattered board, which Harry could empathize with. The Nevermore he knew about to a certain degree, and the creepers and the Beowolves too. Those Grimm were common the world over. But the fact they had been taught about the crab-like Grimm, apparently called a Pincher, as well as all of the other common Vale variants, was surprising. More of their Uncle Qrow’s training, I suppose? Regardless, it’s clear they have a leg up here.

However, Weiss, sitting next to her partner, seems to be of a very different mind. She was almost glaring at the two sisters, their giggles seeming to offend her. That looks like a powder keg waiting to go off. Hopefully she won’t explode until we sit down at lunch and have some time to talk about teams and everything else.

The last few students trickled in over the next few minutes.

The bell began to ring for the start of class, and the professor turned to them, revealing the face of an elderly gentleman. He was older than Harry’s parents, perhaps in the grandfather range, with a magnificent handlebar mustache, white hair, and a somewhat fat face to go with the rest of his body barrel-like body.

When the man spoke, his voice was deep and booming, as loud and bombastic as his mustache. “Demons, monsters, creatures of the night, Grimm beasts who come to slay! The common individual calls them Grimm, but you, my young hunters, will call them prey! My name is Peter Port. My name as a hunter was the Dapper Juggernaut, and I will be your professor for this class!”

With that, Port rounded the table, and Harry noted he was surprisingly quick on his feet for someone so rotund looking. But is he actually rotund, or simply squat?

“By the time you leave my class, you will all know the mannerisms of your prey. How they move, how they work together, which groups automatically and always work together, like a Beowulf pack, for example, and which do not, only working with other Grimm when there is prey about, like the ferocious Ligerfang or Bombosa. You will know how they act normally in the wild, how they attack when they are in a frenzy, their weaknesses, their strengths.”

Two names I’ve never heard of, Harry mused, becoming more enthusiastic about this class. His parents had covered a wide range of information about Grimm but had never covered any specific species in depth beyond the most common and those rarer Grimm that could be found around Evig Låga.

Port continued, shaking his head with a laugh, a booming guffaw that filled the room. “All this information I have compiled in my long years as a hunter. From when I was as young as you to where I stand now, it has been a magnificent journey and looking at you, I well remember my first steps on that journey as well. Some of the lessons I learned then still stick with me today. Hahahaha, why I remember one adventure in particular…”

At that point, most of the class’s enthusiasm for the class died a horrible death as Professor Port seemed to go off on a tangent, telling a story of how he had hunted his first tribe of Creepers, only to be surprised when a group of Ursa joined the battle near the end, and how he had outsmarted them in turn only to run into several Boarbatusks on his way home. By which point, he had no ammunition left, and his weapon had been warped during the battle with the Ursa. So bombastic and over the top was he that Port quickly lost most of his audience.

For his part, Harry diligently took notes has the man continued. Blustering and quite obviously exaggerating as he was, Port was no Binns, and Harry had labored through his class for seven years.

Alas, Harry could practically feel Tia start to ignore the man, instead going back to taking notes on some of the information on the other boards around the room. That switch caused him to smile faintly. Pyrrha also stopped taking notes. Her face seemed frozen in place, showing her very public smile, the one that Harry detested thanks to how bland it seemed to him after seeing her real smiles. Taking a brief break from his note-taking on Port’s story, Harry let his writing hand fall between them. Hidden by the front of the desk, Harry tapped his hand against Pyrrha’s, running his fingers along the back of her hand.

This caused the redhead to start for a second before her fingers twined around his own. When she looked his way, Harry gestured with his head to the blackboards around the room, and Pyrrha nodded, turning her attention there as she started to take notes again.

Of the others, Harry could see from where he was sitting Weiss was still taking notes on Professor Port’s story. At the other side of the foursome, Blake had surreptitiously pulled out some kind of novel and was reading it behind her textbook, visible from behind but hidden from the professor. What Nora was doing was anyone’s guess, although Harry could at least see her pen moving. Like Weiss, Ren seemed to be dutifully taking notes of the story, his eyes not straying from Port.

And the two siblings directly in front of Harry had also very obviously zoned out. Yang was leaning back in her chair, playing with her hair and staring up at the ceiling, while Ruby was now drawing something that had nothing to do with Grimm.

“In short, there are many different character traits that a good hunter should have. A Hunter should have intelligence, courage, dignity and many other traits... Miss Rose! What trait do you think a hunter should have?”

The question came out of nowhere, startling almost the entire class as Ruby yelped at being called on, making Harry realize that practically everyone had zoned out on the story. I wonder if that was some kind of test? If we could deal with concentrating on something boring without losing our focus? Hmm… Nah, Port doesn’t seem the type to plan that well.

Hastily placing her hand on the drawing she’d been doing of Port, which was very much not flattering, Ruby stammered, “W, well, I, I think maybe willpower? A, a desire to do good, a desire to help others no matter what it takes? If, if we can’t fight with our all, put it all out there, to make the world a better place, then why are we here at all?”

While Yang beamed at this response and rubbed Ruby’s head affectionately, several of the other students rolled their eyes, obviously dismissing Ruby’s words as naïve. Harry, though had to approve. That was a large part of his own motivation in this new life of his. And in my past life, too.

To Harry’s surprise, Blake was not one of the cynical students. Given their brief interactions that morning and whose daughter she was, Harry had thought Blake would be something of a cynic. But she had put her books away and was now looking around Weiss to give Ruby a smile, which the younger girl returned. Evidently I’m missing something there.

Professor Port simply nodded thoughtfully. “A somewhat childish but certainly on-point desire. The wish to make the world a better place is a grand thing; at the base, that is what all hunters should aspire to do. Not just defend other people, but in so doing, make the world safer as a whole. I would prefer a more refined response in the future, Miss Rose, but I will accept that for now.”

The professor whirled almost like a top to look at a student at the back of the room on the far side of the half-circle. “Mr. Winchester, what do you think is the most important characteristic of a Hunter?”

“Strength,” Cardin drawled. “Without strength, no hunter can do anything worth a damn. If you don’t have strength, if you don’t have power, what other traits you’ve got don’t matter at all.”

“While strength is important, alone it can do nothing,” Port shot back, shaking his head, now marching to and from in front of the class. “Strength fails, weapons rust, Aura buckles. If you don’t have the intelligence to use them properly, the vision to direct your strength well, the ability to gather others to you? Strength alone is not enough of an answer, Mister Winchester, and I expect you to have a better one by the end of the week.”

Throughout this, Tia had ignored what Port and the others were saying, still glancing at one of the blackboards and writing things down in her notebook. Whether or not the professor had noticed this, Harry didn’t know, but after taking a few other replies from other students who he’d possibly spotted not paying attention, the professor called on Tia. “And what about you, Miss Arc? What is your answer to this one? What trait do you think is most important in a hunter?”

Tia glanced up from her work and, without pause, said simply, “Sacrifice.”

That brought sudden silence to the room as everyone tried to work through that. Surprisingly, of the students, Harry could see from where he was sitting that Yang and Ruby seemed to be the only students who understood what Tia meant by that one-word response, both of them flinching and looking down at their desks, leaning into one another as if sharing a bad memory. Well, them and Pyrrha, who, after a moment, nodded her head.

His mustache quivering, Port hummed, staring at Tia thoughtfully. “Now, that is an interesting answer. Elaborate, please?”

Tia seemed to struggle for a moment. He turned in his seat to look up at her reaching underneath the desk and patting her knee. Tia looked down at him, and Harry could see her turtleneck move just enough to make it clear she was smiling underneath it before she turned her attention back to the teacher.

“We hunters sacrifice our futures to training. We must be willing to sacrifice ourselves for those we protect. One life for more it is easy to do the math, but not so easy to be the one. If you are not willing to make that sacrifice, to understand the need when the time comes, then you are not hunter material.”

For a moment, the silence in the room continued to reign, and Harry took a moment to glance away from Tia to see how her little impromptu speech had been taken. Many of the other students were shaking their heads, looking away from her. Others were simply looking thoughtful, and a few looked derogatory.

“Holy shit, I think that’s more words than she spoke in the entirety of the initiation,” Mila murmured, one of the ones who didn’t seem to know how to take her words.

Tia made a scoffing noise as if to say, ‘don’t get used to it’, but the noise was almost overridden by Port bellowing, “Yes, yes! Exactly. I should’ve expected that sort of deep answer from an Arc! I helped teach your big sister and your father and his brothers before her, and not one of them gave me the rote response, so many often do. Yes. Sacrifice, the ability to understand when to place the importance of your mission and the defense of others over self-preservation, is a necessary skill for a hunter.”

For a moment, Professor Port let the class dwell on that pacing in front of them, listing points off on his fingers. “And so by your own words. A hunter must be strong. He must be intelligent enough to direct his strength and have the willpower to guide his actions and to keep going. And he must be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. Now, who among you think you have these qualities?”

Many of the class volunteered instantly, while others still looked thoughtful or dismissive of how the class had gone. Weiss was raising her hand so high she almost looked to be coming out of her chair as she shouted sharply, “I do, sir!”

“Excellent. Ms. Schnee, if you would please go and grab your equipment, I believe it is time for a practical lesson.” The professor grinned somewhat evilly as he tore the cover off the cage, revealing a Boarbatusk chained to the ground and muzzled heavily. “If you have all of these qualities and you listened to my lecture, you will have the intelligence and ability to deal with this little threat, will you not?”

He looked around at the class, many of whom were staring at the Grimm, not even noticing the cage before this. Meanwhile, Weiss was staring in some consternation at the Boarbatusk, trying desperately to go over what she had learned.

Seeing her partner in distress, Ruby leaned over and whispered into her ear, the words not carrying to Harry. He watched as Weiss turned to Ruby in some surprise. “How do you…”

“Our uncle Qrow!” Ruby whispered back as Port made another speech about always being prepared for everything, particularly in Beacon, hands-on instruction. “He taught Yang and me all about the weaknesses.”

Weiss slowly nodded, trying hard not to look at Ruby’s paper, knowing that the doodle there would make her angrier. “Perhaps, perhaps you’re not entirely a dolt after all.”

Staring at her partner marched out of the room to retrieve her equipment. Ruby blinked, then glanced at Yang and over her shoulder at Pyrrha and Harry. “Was that a Weiss-style compliment, or did she just call me a name like it sounded?”

“Weiss-style, more like Ice-style, right?” Yang joked, causing Ruby and the rest to groan before going on. “As for if she was giving you a compliment, one must see beneath the surface to the truth within, young grasshopper.”

Now prepared for the Grimm’s initial charge, Weiss was prepared, dodging to one side. The boar-like Grimm, which had rolled into a tight ball presenting its spiked, armored back and sides to its enemies, bounced off the far wall, skidding to a stop. It then turned to her, but Weiss was already in motion.

“HA!” she shouted, thrusting out with her rapier, directing a glyph to appear on the ground beneath the Grimm. The glyph froze it in place for a moment before Wiess lunged forward. She ducked underneath the Boarbatusk’s horns as it tried to spear her with them, stabbing it in its largely unarmored chest.

“Well done! Well done indeed, we are truly in the presence of a real Huntress!”

After praising Weiss for a few moments, Port continued the class leaving for a moment to drag in a second Grimm, another Boarbatusk similarly chained. Placing it in the front of the class, Port pointed out things about the Grimm, calling on those students who had yet to participate, including Harry, to explain why and how the Boarbatusk could attack as well as where it was weak both simply walking around and in its attack roll.

By the time the class ended, Harry was somewhat pleased as he and the others headed to their next class. Weiss paused only a moment to place Myrtenaster in one of the weapons lockers in the hall leading into Professor Port’s class, catching up as Harry said, “I think, on the whole, I will give that a solid B+. While his use of a story to get his point across was strange, and I think he spent way too long on it, the hands-on portion of the class saved it, as did Port asking for so much student participation.”

“Good grief, dude, you sound like you’re writing a review for the class. Chill out. It’s only the first day,” Apacci grumbled.

“I liked the hands-on stuff,” Yang agreed before leaning into Harry’s personal space and putting an arm around his shoulders. “What about you, hot stuff? Do you like hands-on too?”

“I suppose it depends on the subject,” Harry said blandly, calling upon all of his previous life’s self-control not to blush at the feeling of Yang’s chest pressing into his side and shoulder. Instead, he locked gazes with Pyrrha, who had stiffened at his side, smirking a bit. “I have been known to get quite passionate about some things.”

“What about anatomy?” Yang drawled before a furiously Ruby pulled her away, muttering about how she was embarrassing the younger girl.

As she did, Pyrrha relaxed, her fingers lightly touching the back of Harry’s hand. I wish we could be open about our relationship, but I suppose there would be no way to keep it secret within our little clique. And I do not want it to become public knowledge for a while.

Tia was also watching Yang with narrowed eyes. While she approved of Pyrrha, she didn’t know Yang nearly as well and was unwilling to let her mess up Harry and Pyrrha’s relationship or butt into his time with Tia herself.

“I must admit to having had some doubts as well when the professor began to turn into a storyteller,” Sung-Sun opined, with Weiss nodding in agreement. “But I think that class worked very well to set the stage for how life at Beacon will be. They’re not going to just be teaching us what is on the curriculum, but also to always be prepared for the unexpected. And, although Yang said it in a jocular manner, to always be aware that there might be things hidden underneath the surface.”

“Really? How about a bet, then?” Nora said, turning to them from where she had been one of the first out of the room, smirking at her teammates and acquaintances as she continued walking backward in front of them. “I bet his storytelling is the real Port shining through. He might be able to turn it to his advantage, but I think he’s just a blowhard. Anyone want to wager what we’ll see in the next class?”

Rolling his eyes, Harry looked over at Ren. “Does she like to gamble, or is this a spur-of-the-moment thing?”

“A spur-of-the-moment thing, thankfully. I don’t think I could handle it if Nora started to truly gamble for money. With her luck, we would either lose everything we own, including the shirts off our backs and our weapons, or she would become one of the richest people in the world.”

“KHahahahah! When I rule the world with the power of money, Rennie, you will be my chief pancake provider! Harry will be my organizer, and Pyrrha, my bodyguard! All will bow before me and despair at the awesomeness that is Nora!” the slightly mad young woman announced.

The others laughed as Harry kept looking at Ren. “What, no third choice?”

“With Nora’s luck, it is an either-or kind of thing,” Ren drawled as the group continued down the hallway.

OOOOOOO

Behind them, Peter Port smiled underneath his handlebar mustache, shaking his head as he thought about what he had seen. Weiss Schnee… a young woman practically desperate to prove herself away from her name, or worthy of it? Only time will tell, I suppose. And as for the rest…

Tia Arc had surprised him somewhat. Even Arturia’s answer of ‘pride’ was somewhat more normal than Tia’s answer of sacrifice. That girl will go far, so long as someone is around to rein her in. Thinking about it now, he desperately wanted to know what a few of the others in the class would have answered. In particular, he wondered about Yang. The admittedly extremely good-looking young lady was, after all, the daughter of one of his former students. Tai’s response of ‘passion’ had been most fascinating once he had been forced to explain it. He had to think quickly on his feet, I recall, Peter thought with some amusement.

A few of the others also interested Peter quite a bit. Sung-Sun, the daughter of a Vacuo Mafioso. Miss Belladonna, daughter of the former leaders of the White Fang. One or two others, including the other Arc. He is already becoming the center around which many other students revolve, not just his team but the others he fought with during the initiation. It will be very interesting to see what happens there, I think.

Shaking his head, professor Port made for the door to his office, grabbing up his blunderbuss-axe from the wall. “But for now, I need to go and grab some more Grimm for the next class… drat it. Still, I wonder if I can find anything a little more challenging for my second years.”

OOOOOOO

The next class for the young teens was history, which Harry had been very interested in. Both his parents and uncles had gone out of the way to make history come alive for all the Arc children. Hearing about past battles, discoveries and changes to the world from those journals made Remnant's history seem real to Harry. Almost dynamic, with hundreds of real-life anecdotes and stories from various Arcs who had been involved in battle against the Grimm or in the various wars among humanity.

To say he was underwhelmed by Professor Oobleck’s class was saying something. First, there was the professor, who seemed… energetic about the subject, but in the same way a Sonic the Hedgehog on a permanent cocaine high was about going fast. He zoomed around the room, speaking as fast as he was moving, gesturing to the board where a series of images flashed up as he talked, first introducing himself to the class, and then, with only a brief overview of the syllabus, diving into the first subjects they would be talking about, the Colors War and how it had affected the modern world.

Which ran into the second problem. Harry disagreed with some of the points he talked about in the textbook. Harry’s version of the event, an Atlas campaign that had eventually run afoul of Grimm as they pushed into Anima, came from journals written by people involved in the guerilla war against the invaders. The textbook cited military reports made by the Atlas general and his officers. They… differed greatly.

“First-hand information like that can be a trap, Mister Arc,” Oobleck said, zooming around the room, sipping contemplative lay at his coffee as he did so. That mug looked almost like the top of an extra-large hammer, its sides gleaming metallically, and Harry wondered exactly how dangerous the man’s coffee was if he needed to place it in a metal mug like that. “So while your hypothesis sounds like it could work, I am afraid it is not enough to overthrow the accepted historical theory that it was the Grimm who dealt the last destructive blow against General Vandenreich’s campaign into Anima.”

“You mean the accepted historical narrative, Sir. After all, what reason would an Atlas-owned textbook company have to propagate a narrative that only makes their general sound unlucky, rather than a slaver whose slaves rebelled?” Harry argued back hotly while Tia held his hand from one side under the table, giving him wordless support. This argument had been going on for a few minutes, but Harry had read the story of Ardain Arc and his slavery to the invading Atlas army many times. The few final chapters dealt with Ardain and others leading a joint human-faunus rebellion against their captors, and Harry had enjoyed them a lot.

“Hmm, I will admit, Mister Arc, that you have a point. However, as I said, other noted historians or I would need to be able to examine these writings of yours, and we would need at least two other sources. You will note that in the writings here, general Vandenreich’s own writings are backed up by two of his fellow officers.” Oobleck held up a hand. “And yes, perhaps they too would have a reason to obfuscate the truth of the matter. But while that could be a reason, it is not proof. History deals with proof, what evidence has been left behind of past events. Now, if you have no more questions?”

“If I can have my father send a copy of that historical record to you, Sir, would you at least be willing to look into it? And question whether or not your textbooks could have inherent biases going forward?”

Oobleck smiled at that, nodding his head. “Of course, Mister Arc. The other part of being a historian is to know that you could be wrong after all.”

With that, Harry nodded and leaned back in his chair, and Oobleck was off once more, continuing on to the next campaign and why it, and the destruction of the Transcend Harbor in Atlas, had forced Atlas to look to the air in the future for mass military transit. In turn, this led them and their Vale allies to victory in the Colours War.

Groaning, Harry leaned back. Damn it, why is he talking so quickly now when he obviously can speak normally? Glancing around, Harry saw that only Ruby, Weiss and Sung-Sun could keep up with the professor’s speed. The others were only able to follow along with the books, while Ren seemed to be simply staring straight ahead, slumping in place as if he simply did not have the energy to comprehend what was going on in front of him.

“First chance I get, I’m going to replace whatever is in that mug of his with decaf,” Harry murmured.

Tia and the nearby Yang snickered at that, but Pyrrha shook her head, her emerald eyes dancing with delight as she whispered, “That’s too obvious. What you need to do is figure out how much caffeine he puts in it now and then slowly decrease the amount over time so he doesn’t notice it. Eventually, he might actually be able to talk at a normal speed throughout an entire class period instead of for only a few minutes at a time.”

Harry smiled, nudging her slightly in the side, his hand resting lightly on her thigh just below her skirt. “And this coming from the ‘Perfect Invincible Girl’? What would your fans say?”

“Who cares? I’m having too much fun,” Pyrrha answered back, making no move to remove Harry’s hand, instead covering it with her own. The two sat like that for the rest of the class, hands clasped underneath the table.

As the class ended, Harry looked over at the others, then held up a clenched fist. “You know, in ancient historical dramas, they portray the judges making their ruling with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, right?”

Everyone there understood what he was getting at, and bar Weiss Sung-Sun and Ruby, all of them gave firm thumbs down.

“Dad won’t send you that transcript, you know,” Tia added with her thumbs down.

“I know, but he can copy it and send me the copy. Besides, didn’t you see his eyes light up when I mentioned the archives? I’d wager the first break from school we get, he’s going to pop over to our hometown.” Harry snickered. “I hope the town’s chronicler takes a picture of his face when he sees all the old scrolls and everything there.”

The others all looked confused, but Harry had already moved on to something else, taking out his scrolling and popping up their schedule for the day. He looked around at everyone else before having to dodge to one side as Cardin moved through the group, heading for a bathroom they were passing by. The large youth stuck out his leg to try and trip Harry up, but Harry saw it coming easily.

As Harry hopped over the outstretched leg, Tia quickly nudged the large youth’s foot, just enough to put him off-balance. Along with the fact his other leg had been sweeping so wide of his center of gravity, this sent him crashing to the side and into the wall of the hallway.

Sending his sister a wink, Harry said, “Better look where you’re going, big guy. That’s the second time today you’ve smacked into something.”

Leaving behind the now growling and grumbling Cardin, Harry led the large group away, shaking his head. “What did I do to get on that guy’s bad side? Did he want to be your partner Pyrrha?”

“If so, he never said anything to me about it,” Pyrrha said with a sigh. “He could be just some crazed fan who doesn’t like the idea that I am partnered up with any other man besides himself. That would be somewhat sad.”

“Seriously?” Apacci snorted, shaking his head. “I’m just surprised he chose only Harry to try and bully instead of me or Ren. Maybe there is something to his being jealous of you partnering up with the Invincible Girl angle there.” The Deer faunus scowled a bit himself at that but quickly hid the expression as he went on. “But haven’t you noticed some of the looks we're getting from other guys?”

Harry frowned, but Ren nodded and, seeing his leader’s incomprehension, smiled faintly, gesturing around them. “Three men with what looks like small harems of extremely good-looking girls. It’s no wonder we are getting negative attention.”

“Really?” Harry sighed. “Again? Seriously?” Harry had seen that kind of reaction before, although, at that point, it had only been boys annoyed at how close he and Tia were. He had hoped to not see it again, frankly seeing that as one of the stupidest aspects of being back in a school setting. I wonder if I will have to defenestrate someone again? It’s amazing what throwing someone out the window after you catch them taking a picture of your sister’s ass will do to liven up the overall intelligence of the other idiots.

Knowing what her twin was thinking, Tia smiled at him, bumping her shoulder against his, while Apacci snorted. “I don’t know what ya mean by again, but hell yeah, I’m serious, dude. Here we are, three semi-ordinary lookin’ guys going around with Pyrrha Nikos and six other girls who are probably the hottest in our class and maybe the grade above bar that bunny chick I saw earlier. Heck, even Weiss and Sung-Sun are sexy.”

“What do you mean even!?” Sung-Sun and Weiss shouted, reaching up to grab an ear apiece of the deer faunus.

“And I know you didn’t just call my little sister sexy! Or else yer new name’s gonna be venison!” Yang growled, causing Blake, who had been rolling her eyes, to scowl. Still, the hidden cat faunus said nothing, understanding Yang’s anger.

“Reennnnyyyy…. You wouldn’t want a harem, right? You’re happy with just Nora, riiight?” Nora said, her tone both sickeningly sweet and dangerous as she grabbed Ren around the shoulders.

Pyrrha giggled at all this while Mila was guffawing, shaking her leonine hair in every direction.

Tia put her arm around Harry’s shoulders, leaning in, pressing her chest into Harry’s arm and side just like Yang had done earlier. That caused Pyrrha to blink and stare, but she didn’t become jealous as she had earlier, and Harry didn’t try to move away, instead smiling at his sister.

“We might have to break a few heads then.” Tia intoned, a grin visible underneath her scarf. “And it’s my turn.”

“I still think that your beatdown of that girl with pink hair should count even if it happened in combat class,” Harry intoned, rolling his eyes, pulling his arm out of Tia’s grip and putting it around her shoulder, squeezing gently. “And no, you can’t go around breaking people just because they look at any of us funny.”

“Am I missing something?” Pyrrha asked, musing internally that if she didn’t know they were twins, she would think they were a long-established couple. Thankfully not the kind to finish one another’s sentences or anything like that. That kind of thing always disturbs me in romance novels. Despite that lack, there was an extreme closeness there, which had similarly been on display last night when Pyrrha Tia and Harry shared a bed. Perhaps I will need to repeat my injunction about a couple needing ‘us’ time to Tia later…

“Seraph was this girl who apparently had a crush on me in our senior year. She tried to flirt with me, and the next day, Tia challenged her to a match and kind of broke her.”

“Only a little bit,” Tia protested.

“Her forearms were both broken so badly they had to be set in casts for the rest of the year,” Harry drawled, causing Pyrrha to giggle.

“Eh, that sounds like this time I put Brad Nova through the wall for trying to flirt with Ruby,” Yang mused, nodding.

At that, Nora broke out of her unhappy place and hopped across the intervening distance between Tia and a very relieved Ren. “Yes! I knew it. I sensed it the day before. Tia, you and I, we are all sisters of the Breaking Leg Sorority!”

That was too much for Pyrrha. Her giggles turned into full-on laughter, and she nearly stumbled to her knees before Harry could grab her. He held her upright as Tia moved away from him, while behind them, Ren slowly put his head in his hands, shaking his head from side to side. “Oh no, oh no, they’re getting along! I had always feared it, but now it has happened. There’s not just one of them. There’s three of them.”

“I know, it’s horrifying! All my life, I’ve only had to deal with Yang.  Now she’s got accomplices!” Ruby said in tones of horror while the others all looked on in some amusement. “And I still say that Brad just wanted to practice first aid. Why was his saying he wanted to play doctor so dirty? You and Dad never explained.”

For a moment, everyone looked between the two siblings, then deciding to move things along, Blake spoke up, asking a question that she’d been having since she had seen their class schedules. “Anyway, does anyone know what the Field Expedient class is supposed to be about? I understand the term as it’s normally used, but as a title for a class?”

“That was what I was going to ask before the tall ass interrupted,” Harry mock complained.

“I imagine something about camping, camping equipment, how to preserve it, and make do with what you can find in the field, maybe?” Pyrrha asked, still holding arms with Harry, something she only noted when Yang brought attention to it a second later, whistling and grabbing Harry’s other arm. “Well, if we’re going to walk arm-in-arm now, I call dibs on this one.”

Tia glared at the other blonde and was about to reach forward and forcibly remove her from her brother when Harry adroitly disengaged from both of the girls, shaking his head as he said, “It would be most rude to the other people in the hall, wouldn’t it? Now come on, we have a class to get to, and like Blake, I am most curious about this one.”

That curiosity ratcheted up as they were met at the doorway by a sign as big as the door tacked to the wall beside it. “This is your brain,” that sign read, with a picture of a human brain with lights coming out in every direction, looking almost like the brain of a transcendental being. Below that was another image, one of the comedy version of a pile of a turd, accompanied by the words, “This is your brain on racism.”

Everyone looked at that and laughed before Mila opened the door, leading the way inside, one hand falling to her outer thigh, scratching at it again.

This room was by far the largest they had seen so far. Set up like the other classes with rising tables around a central area, it held a large whiteboard facing the tables, several smaller desks scattered around, and dozens of potted plants. Several other freshmen were also there, already sitting down or moving into seats as Mila led the group forward.

The reason for the sign became quickly apparent, as Professor Peach turned out to be a Faunus. A Fox Faunus, specifically, with a sly look on her face, a long fluffy tail and, surprisingly, two foxlike ears on top of her head. Harry knew that for faunus having two signs of their respective species was somewhat rare and something of a stigma among them too. This meant that Peach might have had issues with humans and faunus at some point in her life.

As the door closed behind the last student to enter – Cardin and his team - she sat on the edge of her desk, crossing her legs. This brought some of the boys’ attention to them, although Harry didn’t bother looking at them, simply keeping his eyes on her face, having far better things to do than ogle a Professor when his perfectly beautiful girlfriend was sitting next to him.

“Hello, class. My name is Professor Peach. And all of you are here to take my Field Expedient class. Unless that is, you acted like lemmings and simply followed the group rather than reading the schedule, which was downloaded to all your scrolls. Hopefully, you all are intelligent enough to realize that my class is named that way very purposefully to make certain that you have no idea what will happen in this class.”

She hopped off of the table, then, with a single push off of one foot, flipped up and over it to land by the whiteboard, pulling at the blind previously hiding it to show a series of stick figures, stick figures with Aura signs around them, and then the stick figures dying from seemingly innocuous things. “Essentially, this is what my class is about.”

For a moment, everyone stared at the images in confusion, and then, her voice cracked out like a whip as she pointed at Apacci. “You! You are in the field, fighting Grimm, and you don’t look where you’re putting your foot. It sinks into a hole. What happens?”

Apacci jumped, then asked hesitantly, “You mean what happens to my foot? I pull it out.”

“Wrong. You were in a fight and were moving when you’re foot fell into the hole. Your ankle is now broken,” Peach growled. “The first thing you do is bite down on the scream of pain, and then, controlling your rising fear at being crippled while surrounded by Grimm, ask one of your teammates to help you out of the hole. You’re engaged with Grimm. You can’t reach down to your foot yourself. And now the pain is overriding you, and you might be stumbling, and the Grimm are coming, and your fear is calling more and more and…!”

For a moment, the students were all silent at the very grim - pun not intended - picture that Peach was painting while Harry and Tia were both nodding. Since it had taken so long for their Auras to be unlocked, they had extensive knowledge of things that Aura could and couldn’t protect you from.

Then one of the other young men in the room, a thin-shouldered, slight young blond man whose name Harry hadn’t bothered to remember, held up his hand, saying, “Wait a minute. If he’s fighting Grimm, that means he’s got Aura. No way would sticking it in a hole break through her aura!”

“That is precisely what normal people think, and I really sometimes wish the limits of Aura were taught at an earlier stage. But those of us with Aura need to know what it can and cannot do. And I called on you, Mister Topaz because your team member Miss Rose the larger seems to be scratching at her thigh. Your knee looks to have little rashes, dear.”

“Dammit! Er…I walked through… I think my partner said Poison Creeper?” Mila replied before pausing sheepishly. “I read up on what to do a few minutes ago, and I’ve been washing my hands and the area, but I don’t have any…” She had done so during Oobleck’s class, having finally noticed the rashes Peach had seen within a minute of Mila sitting down in her class. She hadn’t seen any getting dressed this morning, but they were visible now.

“Aloe or other anti-itch medicine, yes, understood.” With that, Peach went over to what Harry recognized as an aloe bush, where she broke off a leaf with a noticeable crack. “Anti-itch wouldn’t help on its own, not with Poison Creeper.  It’s not called that just because it’s a creeping vine. The rashes creep up on you over time. They don’t instantly start to pop out like other rashes do.”

Nearby, the large oaf who had tried to make trouble for Harry in the hallway snorted. “Hah, leave it to an animal to not know to stay away from poisonous plants.”

“Mr. Winchester, these ears are not just for show. You get three strikes in my class for being unrepentantly stupid. As the poster on my doorway should have told you, being racist is equal to being stupid in my book. Get three strikes, and you will be expelled from my class for the rest of the year, and if you die out on a mission somewhere, I will not mourn your all-too-predictable passing,” Peach intoned as she moved over to another plant.

The man, Winchester, apparently – Harry still had no idea nor interest in his first name – grumbled but subsided as his team all quailed around him.

“Ah, silence, the sign of the truly intelligent when they know nothing,” Peach quipped, and Harry shook his head. Evidently, Peach was a teacher who did not believe in holding back.

“Now, this plant is called a Stinging Nettle. Its nettles produce a serum that can numb the area they touch. The sap is also very numbing; if you mix it with aloe, you get a poultice that can deaden the rash and cool it down.” Peach turned back to the class, who all watched as she cut the large aloe leaf and the much smaller needles into chunks, then put both into a pestle, crushing them down further. “You want the poultice to be chunky but not overmuch. You need a waterproof bandage, or a sleeve will do.”

Finishing with the poultice, Peach moved over to Mila, ordering her to stick out her leg. “I’ll give you a note for the nurse. She’ll give you some medicine to push this gunk through your system. You’ll need to come back here twice daily to get a new poultice. Congratulations, you just volunteered to be my little gofer until you’ve paid off how much money these plants cost me.”

Mila winced at that, but Peach finished spreading the poultice on her leg quickly, then covered it with the bandage, ignoring her question about other ways to pay for the poultice. Once Mila reported her skin was beginning to numb, Peach pulled back, looking around at the class. “Aura can ensure you don’t get a concussion if a branch is swung at your head. It won’t stop oils from getting on your skin, as Miss Rose the larger discovered. Aura is not intelligent. It will only protect you from certain types of physical harm, nothing more. This does not include overriding the laws of physics. That is what Semblances are for.”

No one laughed at her little joke, which seemed to satisfy Peach as she continued. “You stick a foot into a hole and keep on moving, something will have to give, and it won’t be the ground. It will be your all-too-fragile bones. And in the field, getting injured like that takes not only you out of the equation, but the partner who is forced to look after you. I leave it to you, ladies and gentlemen, what will happen if you suddenly face large groups of Grimm with two of your teammates too busy to contribute to the fight.”

Even Cardin and some of the other students who had been looking at Peach with scowls on their faces since entering were now looking very thoughtful, and Peach smiled thinly.

“That is part of what this class is going to teach you. What Aura can and cannot stop. Another example: it can stop you from getting bitten by a Grimm. It can’t stop you from eating something poisonous. This entire class will also be devoted to teaching you about different kinds of environments, how to find food, cook it, and spot something poisonous wherever you are. What can you put out to divert Grimm away, what can you do to attract them? Did any of you even know Grimm eat? They don’t have to, but all of them ate the animals they are made in the image of. And it can help us against them in many ways.”

From there, Peach backtracked a little to the syllabus and then continued on. She explained several large do’s-and-don’ts of being out in the field and what you could and could not rely on your Aura to look after you in terms of normal dangers.

The class was very interesting to everyone there, even Harry, Tia, and Blake, the only ones among the three teams who had been camping before. Indeed, when Professor Peach learned this, she used them as examples and pointed out a few bad habits that Tia and Harry had, in particular, developed.

“Never assume!” Peach bellowed after Harry admitted that he usually did not take care of the fire pit as much as he should, believing that most Grimm were too animalistic to notice smoke in the distance and what it could mean. “It makes an ass out of you and me. That is right up there with my fourth rule of being in the field, never pick battles you don’t have to.”

Harry was delighted by the class from start to finish, learning more about a few specific plants which were common across Remnant that could be used as salves or to deaden the pain of wounds. They would cover specific plant types in various environments later in the year. Mountains first, which had the most in common with forests, and would thus allow both to be knocked off in the first semester.

All in all, Harry was very happy when he and the others stepped out of the class, and he turned to his friends, continuing the running joke by pointing behind them at the door and declaring, “that, ladies and gentlemen, was an A+ class.”

Not one of them disagreed, not even Mila, before she headed off to the nurse’s office.

OOOOOOO

As the students went on to their last classes before lunch, Headmaster Ozpin met with the various professors of the four main Hunter-related classes. He always likes to meet with Port, Peach, and Oobleck right off the bat, as they and Glynda were the only four professors who had previously been hunters. The other professors were teachers, scientists, dust specialists, or engineers instead of actual Hunters.

Port started the meeting off while Oobleck and Ozpin tapped their cups together, having just refilled their coffee from the extremely expensive coffee machine in the corner of the teacher’s lounge. Seeing that, Glynda rolled her eyes, never having seen the point of coffee at all. However, a moment later, she had another reason to roll her eyes as Port explained that he had once more decided to open the year with a bit of hands-on instruction.

“I take it that the damage was kept to a minimum this time? I didn’t receive a call to repair any walls anyway. And I still remember you letting Coco use her Gatling gun last year, Peter,” she growled out. “That young woman shredded half the room, and all you did was laugh!”

“Well, at the time, it was a perfect example of using too much dakka to deal with the problem, but no one was hurt,” Port said, chuckling again as the door opened to reveal Peach.

She smiled at them all and sat next to Glynda, her foxy tail whipping lightly to lap at the back of Glynda’s chair. The two of them were friends, having somewhat banded together among the almost entirely all-boy band that was the rest of the professors. The only other woman in an educational role on campus was the nurse, who only taught third and fourth years. Moreover, she was somewhat standoffish and rarely hung out with anyone, bar her husband, one of the Gemini twins who were in charge of the overall physical training of the students.

“This year, young Miss Schnee dealt with it in a somewhat elegant manner. She knew where the Boarbatusk was vulnerable and dealt with it easily through her glyphs and rapier. Which means she was either listening to my lecture or already knew how to deal with the Boarbatusk, which would be somewhat strange considering she’s from Atlas, and they do not appear there. Or someone told her how to deal with them.”

Mantle, the continent on which Atlas the city-state was based, was in the north of Remnant and quite cold from one edge to another, regardless of the season. This impacted the types of Grimm that could be found there, and Boarbatusks were found only in Vale or the south of Anima, not on Mantle or in Vacuo. They could not deal with extreme temperatures in either direction.

“Indeed, I would wager she listened to her team leader, Ruby, who I saw talking to her before she left the room for her weapons.”

Behind his coffee mug, Ozpin smiled. That was good news. It meant team RWBY would run even more smoothly than he had hoped. And he had some great hopes for that team in general. While I cannot say I anticipated Blake Belladonna, the estranged daughter of White Fang’s original leader, pairing with Miss Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose being paired together was most decidedly within my calculations. Those two can go far once Weiss has fully awakened her family’s hereditary semblance.

Occasionally, Semblances, like Aura reserves such as what the Arcs were famous for, ran in patriarchal or matrilineal lines. The Schnee Semblance was one such. The glyphs that Weiss currently used were just a starting point on that Semblance, one that she would eventually move past as she grew into her powers and practiced with it. The same could be said about Ruby Rose’s silver eyes, which she had inherited from her mother, Summer Rose.

This meant that both of them would eventually become fantastic weapons against the Grimm and against Salem if they proved trustworthy.

“The shock value did its work, and for the rest of the class, I believe that everyone was paying attention. But before that, I did my usual, you know, asking the students what traits they thought were most important for a hunter to succeed. And I have to say that young Tia gave a very… Arc answer.”

As everyone looked at him in confusion, Port leaned back, sipping at a flask that most decidedly did not contain coffee. “Sacrifice.”

That caused everyone there to still for a moment. That kind of mentality was one that very few students ever evinced. Indeed, it was practically nonexistent until their fourth year, and even then, not often. Ozpin also was surprised, and he wondered how that would fit into Tia leading her team. It was obviously early days, but he had hoped to see some sign on the various cameras that she was reaching out to them, pushing past her strange communication issues. Still, martyrs can also serve in some fashion. I wonder what young Mister Arc would have said if he was asked the same question?

“Were there any other standout responses?”

“Ruby Rose’s. Her answer was willpower, the will to want to make the world a better place.” Although Port had a chuckle in his voice as he said this, everyone there also smiled and raised their cups in a salute to that. As Port had said to Ruby at the time, that was a very simple motivation, but if one had the willpower to see it through, well, those kinds of hunters were usually among the best the world could offer.

Peach and Oobleck spoke up next, giving their own impressions of the classes. There were several standouts among the students regarding their historical knowledge and what that said about their knowledge of various terrain types, which would serve them in good stead in the future. A few students each identified as knowing enough about camping and so forth to make some decent teachers’ aides for her going forward, which she would submit in writing to Ozpin and Glynda for review. Such students would get a small additional stipend to their Beacon accounts to be used in the Beacon stores. But the headmaster preferred to not burden students who were already dealing with leadership issues with further work like that, so they had to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

From there, the three of them spoke about possible problem children, both positively and negatively. Students who were acting out in class or didn’t seem to be taking the classes seriously but who obviously did have the knowledge to back it up went into one category. Miss Rose was most decidedly one of those, Port having noticed her notetaking skills were not up to snuff.

“I believe we can let Ms. Schnee take care of that,” Ozpin announced complacently. “She does not strike me as a young woman willing to allow her partner to continue to waffle about.”

“Perhaps not, but if you report the same next week, Bartholomew, I’ll send a message to her to meet with Lilith. Her ability to concentrate in class is but one of many issues that young Rose might be dealing with,” Glenda added, shaking her head. Along with being the nurse - a fully accredited doctor - Lilith Moonbright was also a student counselor. If anyone could help Ruby deal with the transition from fifteen-year-old who hasn’t even finished Signal to Beacon freshmen, Lilith could, without getting the young Rose’s back up.

Her sister was also in that same category, as were Tia, Apacci, and several others, if for different reasons. Students who had proven they had the combat skills but were obviously not as academically inclined as they needed to be to thrive here at Beacon with its mixed classes.

Here, the same response was given. If it was first-day jitters, that was all well and good. If their team leaders didn’t take care of it, the teachers would step in. Not before.

At the other end of the scale were those students who had yet to show any combat ability and also evinced the same lackadaisical manner regarding their education or had shown other mental or physical issues. Some of those had already been noted, students who needed to work on their endurance or general health. For them, Professor Martin Bluefoot’s aura control and growth classes would become a second PE class. For others, they would receive lectures on proper hygiene, proper dietary needs and so forth from Lilith, the school nurse.

Those with social or simple laziness issues, though? Some of them would need careful handling.

“Winchester, Lark, and Bronzewing all showed racist tendencies in class. They’re not idiots, so they began to listen to my lectures soon enough, but it’s a bad sign. I also saw them glaring at some of the faunus students,” Peach growled. “I still say we should change our policy on bullying.”

“You know we have reasons for keeping the policy as is. Teams coming together to deal with someone bullying a team member is an excellent way of bringing them closer. Furthermore, it teaches students to solve their own problems. We will continue to only step in if the problem does not solve itself after the third strike,” Ozpin said complacently.

His professors were not altogether happy with this, Oobleck and Peach being chief among them. Both of them believed that allowing students to retain a racist mindset for long was detrimental to their future as hunters. And that allowing such students to remain within Beacon was a blow to the perception of equality the school aspired to in general.

But here, Ozpin had ulterior motives, ones that all of the professors there knew, unlike why he had allowed Ruby to come to Beacon early. The Winchester family was extremely rich, well-connected, and influential within Vale. It was even rumored that one of the counselors who ruled Vale was a Winchester.

Ozpin knew for certain that one was. Indeed, he knew all the counselors, although they did not know it. But that meant dealing with these three in particular, since Thrush and Bronzewing’s families were also influential if not quite up to Winchester’s level, was something that needed to be handled by the rest of the student population, rather than bringing the professors down on their heads.

The meeting broke up soon after, and as everyone was leaving, Ozpin asked, “Glynda, I noted that you are meeting with the Arcs today? But your notes didn’t indicate a reason.”

“I am. Before Initiation, Tia and Harry submitted a request to live in one of the townhomes. As they are on separate teams, we have yet to move them into one of the houses, and I am uncertain if they have gotten their teams to agree to it regardless. It falls upon me, and the bursar if need be, to explain the added costs, duties, and so forth if they still wish to do so,” Glynda reported shaking her head.

“And explain to them that they must live with their teams rather than one another, I presume?” Ozpin asked, shaking his head with a faint chuckle. “I know the Arc twins are close, but I think any young man moving out of his home would want to leave his sister behind, too, especially one that seems to have already started a relationship with someone like Miss Nikos.”

A relationship I need to watch closely. Pyrrha is still both my and Ironwood’s choice for the Autumn operation if his scientists can figure out a way to transfer Amber’s aura to someone else, Ozpin mused. I may have to change my choice if they truly are in a serious relationship. Someone with divided loyalties like that would not agree to such a… dubious experiment.

“We will see. Although I will also mention to Mr. Arc our policy on relationships,” Glynda grumbled before exiting the room ahead of Ozpin.

OOOOOOO

At the same time as the teachers had been talking about the students, Harry and his companions were lining up in line for cafeteria food, only for a loud hail to interrupt their ongoing discussion about what they could expect from the next few classes. “Yo babe! Why don’t you ditch your brother for a bit? He can probably look after himself, and if he can’t, maybe the Invincible Girl can hold his hand for a period while you sit with a real man.”

Tia blinked, looking to where the voice was coming from, then turned back, ignoring Winchester, the one who had shouted this from a nearby table. Instead, she continued to listen to Harry, who had similarly ignored the call, comment on something that Peach had said in class, ruefully admitting that the professor was probably right in that their camping gear needed to be upgraded a bit.

This complete dismissal brought a scowl to Cardin’s face, but before he could try to continue his flirtations, if that was what he was doing, Yang stepped in. Having already gotten her food, she walked past Cardin’s table, thumping him in the head with an elbow. “Read the room, dude! The cafeteria ain’t the place to flirt anyway, and it’s obvious Tia isn’t interested in anyone right now. Either get some better lines, or wait until ya can at least show something off to her. Tia’s said several times she isn’t interested in weaklings.”

Normally Yang wouldn’t have thrown Cardin a bone like that. He did seem to be a bit of a douchebag so far. Indeed, Yang would have more normally simply sat back and watched the train wreck coming. But she figured that dealing with Cardin might prove more amusing later if he thought he had a chance with Tia. He really doesn’t. Hell, I doubt any guy does. From what I can see, Tia’s almost uninterested in romance. Or really, any boy beyond her brother. Still, that will just make it even more hilarious later on. So Yang’s speaking up like this was the equivalent of getting Cardin to shut up for now and stoking the flames for future fun.

Behind her, Ruby realized this and rolled her eyes at her sister’s antics while also wondering, Why the heck does Cardin think he’s a ‘real man’ whatever the heck that means, in comparison to Harry? I mean, I don’t know him all that well, but come on! He killed that monster Centipeder thing during initiation. I don’t know what Cardin did, but he sure didn’t kill any Grimms that awesome. She didn’t say it, though, simply following after her sister, looking around for a table for this trio of teams even as her mind turned over the term ‘real man’. Seriously, what the heck does that mean? Is it height? Is it just an ego thing or a money thing? UGH. Boys are so weird.

Moments later, they all sat at a table near the entrance to the cafeteria, which was itself a separate building from the rest of the buildings on campus. The chatter of the other students already sitting down reached out for Harry and Tia as they sat beside Pyrrha and Mila, the two partners having kept seats open for them.

The food was filling, but that was all Harry could say about it. After a few bites, he stopped eating so voraciously, simply picking at his food from then on, shaking his head as Pyrrha asked him what was wrong. “Oh, nothing, just cooking by the lowest bidder, as I was afraid of. The ingredients seem okay, but there’s nothing much to approve of beyond that.”

“You mentioned the other day that you are something of a cook,” Ren opined from across the table. “I would be interested to see how good you are.”

“Something of a cook, he says,” Tia snorted.

The others all looked towards her, finding that the girl had raised a fork to her mouth and hidden her mouth behind the forkful of food as she spoke before biting into it. At that point, she rapidly looked down, tucking her chin into her scarf as she chewed.

Cute, came the thought for many of them, including Sung-Sun and Weiss, as they looked at Tia. While her phobia of others watching her mouth move was somewhat strange, this foible was not enough to take away from the general cuteness of the girl when she acted like this.

Yep, someone is a major bro-con for sure, Yang thought, her eyes twinkling with the thought of the amount of teasing and taunting she could get out of this. Although it looks to go both ways because Harry looks to be just as affectionate with her…

As Yang watched, Harry grinned at his sister, his green eyes dancing merrily. “I have to admit to being something of a dabbler in the culinary arts,” he said deadpan, shaking his head. “I’ve always been interested in cooking for as long as I can remember.” Which is a good deal longer than most think, he added internally. “And concern over the food was one of the reasons why Tia and I wished to move into one of the separate housing modules here on campus.”

“That, and I believe you owe me a meal,” Pyrrha murmured provocatively as she bumped her shoulder against Harry’s.

Harry replied by squeezing her thigh briefly underneath the table, nodding slightly to her. Aloud, he said, “of course, I’d be willing to cook for our team as well. I’m interested in seeing if I can force Nora into a food coma with my special Apple cinnamon pancakes.”

Ren looked intrigued at that, while Nora began to drool at the mention of pancakes, which were not offered as a lunchtime choice here in the cafeteria. She began to shake Ren from side to side, moaning, “Rennie, he mentioned pancakes! And I only had eight of them this morning!”

“How can you eat so many pancakes and stay as thin and fit as you do?” Mila asked in some confusion looking Nora up and down.

“Lots and lots of exercise, and I’m just awesome like that! I have a separate stomach for pancakes and everything,” Nora explained blithely.

“Is that cooking offer for people open to more than your team, Arc? Because if so, I’d love to taste your cooking,” Yang questioned, batting her eyes coquettishly.

“If you’re willing to contribute to buying the supplies, sure,” Harry answered with a shrug, and Weiss promptly pulled out a scroll and made a note on it, as did Sung-Sun. The two of them exchanged glances, then nodded once to one another as Yang began to tease about how Harry could “Suggest something in trade rather than lien…”

Harry rolled his eyes at that but didn’t reply as Sung-Sun spoke. “More importantly, as Harry suggested last night, we need to talk about teams. Far be it from me to question Professor Ozpin when it comes to hunter matters, but it is very clear that the teams here were… perhaps not the best organized, particularly in terms of leaders.”

To these delicate words, Weiss nodded in firm agreement. “I do not doubt Ruby’s Hunter credentials. She has already shown an abundance of knowledge on Grimm and showed an ability to think on her feet during initiation. However, leading a team is something else altogether. There is more to it than fieldwork or knowledge of Grimm to consider, and…”

The heiress’s words were interrupted by loud laughter coming from one of the other tables nearby. There, Cardin had stood up and was tugging on the ears of a rabbit faunus who had come into the cafeteria late. The girl stood there, trying to keep a tray of food from tipping over as she protested this treatment, her words unheard over Cardin’s boisterous exclamation of “Holy hell! They’re real! Wonder if all the rumors about bunny faunus are real too?”

“Despicable!” Sung-Sun growled, her hands clenching on the table as she reached into the long sleeves of the winter-style uniform she was currently wearing. Mila and Yang had questioned her about that before, but the explanation that she came from Vacuo, and even in summer like this, Vale was ridiculously cold to her, was an acceptable explanation. The real reason was that Sung-Sun Greenscale was the daughter of one of the biggest Vacuou Mafioso families, and she didn’t feel dressed without a few blades on her person. And now the human daughter of a human-faunus pairing was thinking bloody thoughts about what to do with the small throwing daggers she was currently carrying.

Nor was she the only one. Blake, Mila and Apacci looked furious, while Yang and Ruby looked sad, and Weiss scowled as if what she saw was beneath her. Ren and Nora didn’t look to be paying attention, but Harry was quietly angry as his gaze cut over to Tia. “I wonder where this school’s Arturia is? Still, if he or she isn’t around…”

Tia laughed into her scarf at that but was already hopping to her feet to follow Harry as he stood up and moved towards Cardin and his victim. Pyrrha instantly followed while the rest of their teams slowly stood up, wondering what would happen.

As they walked between the tables, Harry glanced at the cafeteria personnel only to sigh in annoyance. Not one of them was looking at what was going on. A few were cleaning, others were looking down at the food, and a few had already made to enter the kitchen despite there still being students trickling in. None of them looked to be in the mood or interested in noticing the bullying going on. “Now, is that Beacon policy or their own beliefs coming into play? Regardless, I think it is one more reason to not eat here.”

Tia snorted at that but said nothing. By that point, the two of them had reached the group. Having seen them coming, the rest of Cardin’s team had made to stand up, but Harry waved a hand at them, genially smiling as a nearly unseen spell flashed out from his hands. The sticking charm would not last long on someone with their Aura awakened, but it would keep them in their seats for a few minutes and hopefully stop this from escalating much. “No need to get up on our account, gents. We only want a word with your illustrious leader here.”

Turning, his own hands still gripping the young girl’s ears, Cardin sneered at Harry. “Oh, what about Arc? Coming to speak up for this animal? I mean, look at her! She’s got bunny ears. You know what they say about bunny faunus, righTTTT?”

Cardin’s voice cut off into a grunt of pain as Tia’s hands flashed out, grabbing his wrist and squeezing. His hand convulsed, releasing the girl. He tried to break Tia’s grip, but before he could, Harry gestured to the ground below Cardin, which rose up, grabbing at his feet and pinning him in place, crawling up his body until everything below the waist was encased in stone.

Snarling, Cardin finally succeeded in pulling his wrist out of Tia’s grip, turning his attention to Harry. “You bastard! Using your semblance tricks because you know you can’t face me in a real fight!”

“Don’t worry about that. The stone will fade back into normal in time… Maybe. As for facing you in a match, that sounds like a great idea, if that what it takes to get it into your thick shells that you four aren’t the big men on campus,” Harry answered with a snort.

“You’re awfully brave for someone backed up by the Invincible Girl!” Shouted one of Cardin’s other teammates as the charm faded, letting them surge to their feet. But while this preempted whatever Cardin had been about to say, none of them made a move to attack.

The reason for this was because by this point, the rest of the three teams had moved up to join Harry. Pyrrha and Tia. Blake, Mila, and Apacci all looked ready to throw down right then and there, while Sung-Sun and Weiss simply sneered down their noses at Cardin. The rest were somewhere in between, bar Nora, who was hopping up on both feet, even more eager for a rumble than Blake and the two faunus. So perhaps Cardin’s teammates wishing to take the better part of valor rather than take on Harry and the others had more to do with being so vastly outnumbered than just Pyrrha’s reputation.

Regardless, Harry grabbed onto it with a faint smile. “All right, if you think I’m only brave because of my partner, how about we settle this in combat class? All three of you against me in our first combat class tonight.”

Harry felt that was a sign that the school wanted to put as much of the education into the students' hands as possible, forcing them to put in the work to keep in shape, build on their teamwork and work through issues on their own time. That was not easy, given the amount of work from their regular and Hunter-related classes. Students needed to have the drive to grow to be able to advance here in Beacon.

With that gauntlet thrown down, the trio couldn’t back away, and all of them agreed to it before making for the cafeteria entrance. As they did, Cardin growled angrily at Harry. He had wanted to challenge Harry, to beat down the asshole in front of the Invincible Girl and his sister. But now, if he demanded to join his team, it would make him seem weak like he thought he couldn’t win without them.

With that avenue cut off, his anger turned on Tia, and as the stone around his legs receded, he pointed at her, his finger thrust into Tia’s face. “You! I thought you were hot, but now I see you’re just a faunus lover like your little turd of a brother here. Everyone knows he got lucky in Initiation, carried along by the Invincible Girl’s coattails!”

“Harry is not little, and I’ve never had a lover yet,” Tia said in her normal deadpan tone behind her turtleneck, taking the questions literally, her eyes gleaming a bit in amusement. The only one who spotted this was Harry, and he groaned inside, knowing that Tia had deliberately said that to get reactions from the others.

Tia was not disappointed. Mila, Nora and Yang bellowed laughter, with Mila shouting, “How’d you know he’s not little!?”

Apacci, Ren and Sung-Sun rolled their eyes, twin groans echoing out from the other two young men, while Pyrrha and Blake blushed, although Blake’s blush was accompanied by a faraway look in her eyes, her hands moving as if they were holding a book for some reason, a small, lascivious smile on her face. However, Weiss and Ruby had the best reactions. The shortest of the girls both blushed so red it looked like they were having heart attacks as they shrieked, “you just don’t come out and say something like that!

“You’re so embarrassing, Tia!” Ruby added, shaking her head. “God, that was as bad as some of Yang’s jokes!”

Snorting, Tia turned away from Cardin, heading back to her meal.

This third dismissal of him – the large youth could all too well easily remember how Tia ignored him when they first met - goaded Cardin to respond even though he was now almost entirely surrounded by teens who had reason to be annoyed with him. “You and me bitch! First combat class, I’m gonna put you in your place.”

That caused Tia to stop in turn, staring back at Cardin for a moment, then, visible only to those who knew what to look for, she smiled behind her scarf. “Challenge accepted.”

With that, she turned back and continued back to the table. The rest of the team slowly followed her, and Cardin glared at Harry one last time before moving around them, grabbing his food from the table and heading out after his teammates.

“Thanks for the help,” a soft, shy voice said.

Harry turned to regard the rabbit Faunus, frowning slightly. “Since you’re not a freshman, I haven’t seen you in class before this. That must mean you’re from one of the older grades. Why didn’t you stand up for yourself?”

“Why would I? It wouldn’t change anything. Cardin would just have picked on one of your fellow freshmen instead,” the girl said, her gaze flicking to a security camera set up in the corner of the cafeteria.

Following the girl’s gaze, Harry spotted the camera for the first time and then turned back to the girl speculatively. “You made yourself a target, then?”

“Better me than one of your fellow freshmen. And better that the professors become aware of someone’s racist tendencies now before they become better at hiding them,” the girl replied firmly.

“You could’ve just kicked his ass, you know,” Harry drawled, shaking his head. “I applaud the idea, but you still could’ve stood up for yourself if you wanted to.”

“Maybe, or maybe I would have forced Winchester to hide his racist tendencies better,” the girl said with a shrug. “Sometimes violence isn’t the best solution. Besides, I don’t like fighting other people, even in combat class. Fighting anything but Grimm is just wrong, in my opinion.”

Harry winced at that, understanding the girl had a point but felt that way of thinking was somewhat naïve. “I just hope that the majority of the freshmen faunus won’t follow your example. Until you stand up to bullies, they’ll keep pushing as long as they can. It’s only when you stand up to them that they really stop. And this is a combat school. Using violence to solve problems shouldn’t be so unusual. Hopefully, they’ll get the message when Tia and I lay down the law.”

The rabbit faunus shrugged again, looking away. It was evident that she didn’t really agree with Harry on that point. She thanked the two of them once more for stepping in and picking up her tray of food, she exited the cafeteria quickly, not even giving them her name.

“That was awesome, fearless leader!” Nora greeted Harry and Tia as they returned to the table. “And I didn’t even know we could issue challenges like that! Three-on-one, that’s going to be fun! But if they keep doing that kind of crap, I call dibs on the next round. Their legs will be mine!”

“Eh, wait a bit for that, Nora. We don’t want to go that far just yet. After all, we don’t have enough room in our dorm for trophies,” Harry joked.

“Woo! Rennie, he said ‘yet’, awesome!” Nora whooped, causing Ren to sigh. He smiled though as Sung-Sun handed him a cup of tea, the Vacuan native having prepared a pot, being the first one to sit down to her meal.

“It really was nice to see someone standing up for faunus rights. I’m happy to see someone doing something about it,” Blake said, with Mila, Apacci and several others adding their own words of encouragement.

“Don’t praise me for doing something about it. Ask yourselves why didn’t you?” Harry shot back, his harsh tones bringing all three teams up short bar Tia, who was placidly eating once more, her lips twitching into a slight sneer at the quality of the food, but still putting it away behind a raised hand. “The more people who passively wait for someone else to do something, the less someone will.”

That caused more than one of his listeners to flinch back a little since none of them had made any move to stand up until Harry, Tia and Pyrrha had already reached the point of conflict. But Mila and Blake scowled back at him, with Mila saying, “if we had, it would have become just us versus them thing. That would’ve escalated things a lot.”

Blake added, “The way you all handled it was fine. Anymore would’ve been us becoming the bullies. Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

“I can see your point. You can take escalation or reprisals too far. But sometimes a little retaliation is called for, Belladonna,” Harry answered, drawling out her last name.

While the others all frowned and did a bit of soul-searching at Harry’s words, Blake stared at him, her face blanching noticeably, although this was missed by most save Sung-Sun, who hummed under her breath. Evidently, I am not the only one who knows who Blake is. And just like me, Harry is in no hurry to oust her. Considering she is on the same team as a Schnee, that could be a disaster.

Tia had also turned to look at Blake and now mumbled an “Ahh” behind her turtleneck. For her part, Blake stared between the two Arcs, wondering what they knew, how they knew it, and why they weren’t saying anything.

However, her confusion on that score would continue because Harry had already turned away from her, looking over to Sung-Sun. “You were saying something about teams?” He asked politely as if his former harsh tone hadn’t happened, nor the entire confrontation with Winchester.

Sung-Sun smiled, placing her teacup down and nodding before locking eyes with Tia. “Indeed we were. Weiss had begun to mention some things we wish to speak on, but I feel our team is the worst off at present. Tia, you are meant to be our leader. It was your place to see that we were all prepared for classes and could work well as a team. Yet beyond taking notes for your partner Mila when she went to the nurse's office after Peach’s class, you haven’t done much of anything to build inter-team connections, let alone the things that, as a leader, you should have. I realize it is early days, and you might be dealing with some measure of homesickness or something similar, but acknowledging that you are indeed our leader would not be remiss since you seem to not have been very happy to get the position in the first place.”

Tia didn’t respond, looking over at Harry. Smiling, he spoke up for her as he routinely did when Tia didn’t want to speak. “Tia is not leadership material. You’re right about that, Sung-Sun. She’s never liked strategy games, she has always hated the leadership or tactics exercises our parents put us through, and as you can see, she really can’t communicate as a leader should.”

From there, he explained Tia’s communication issues while Tia sat there finishing her food, uncaring about this so-called weakness of her being shared. I could not care less about the opinions of those I do not already care about and love, and they have never looked down on me for being the way I am. If my team can accept me, fine. But I will not lose sleep over it if they cannot.

Weiss and Sung-Sun were both frowning at this point, as were Ruby and several of the others. It was Apacci who spoke up, however, raising a finger and pointing at Tia and then Harry. “And the school knows about your communication stuff? The rest I figure is just experience, and Ozpin could assume ya could grow into your roles or whatever, like this one and the Dark Queen. But that bit, yeah, that’s a bit of a deal breaker.”

When Harry made to speak, Apacci held up a hand. “I know it makes her uncomfortable, but she’s got that scarf to hide her mouth and everything, so I’d like to hear it from her.”

Tia stared back at Apacci for a second before nodding. “I have no interest in being a leader. I never have. I do not think long term, I do not think about tactics or strategy, or logistics, nor do I have any interest in doing so beyond the need to keep a spare Water Dust stone. I am a fighter. I can be an example, an exemplar for others to aspire to be in terms of skill, poise and ferocity. But I cannot lead them.”

Apacci, Sung-Sun, and Mila all exchanged glances. “Well… fuck.”

“While I would not be so uncouth as Apacci, I believe the sentiment is one I share. Although a part of me is interested in what you mean by being an exemplar of ferocity,” Sung-Sun mused.

Tia smiled faintly behind her scarf, quoting the words Harry had used to unlock her Aura less than a year ago. “For it is by sacrifice that we shield those weaker than ourselves. Unafraid of death, we become the defenders of humanity and those we love. With my arms beside you, rise to champion the world’s hope, a paragon of courage and ferocity. I am what I am, and that does not include being a leader.”

For the second time that day, Tia’s words stunned her audience bar Harry and Pyrrha. The redhead smiled widely at Tia, feeling the girl was almost a kindred spirit for a moment, pleased beyond words that some of the same words she had used to unlock Harry’s Aura had carried over to his sister. Harry was simply smiling at Tia proudly.

After a second, Harry shook himself and turned the conversation back to the previous topic. “So you see, Ozpin made a mistake there. I sort of understand why he did it. Like Apacci said, he thought Tia could grow into the same sort of individual that our older sister is and didn’t read Tia’s profile well enough. But Tia and Arturia are two vastly different people.”

“So we need to decide between us which one should be the leader, huh?” Mila murmured, leaning back and crossing her arms under her large chest, bringing further emphasis to those orbs in such a way that Sung-Sun twitched and Apacci gaped, staring. “That actually might be better for us in the long term. We have more… er… what’s the word…”

“There’s a fancy word for it, but it basically means we have more say in things this way,” Apacci agreed. “So long, that is, that Tia here will follow the orders of whoever we choose.”

Tia hesitated a bit, looking over to Harry, who simply looked back at her. Finally, Tia turned back to her team, nodding her head. “I will,

Knowing that was probably the best he was going to get, Apacci turned to the others. “So, how are we going to do this?”

As Tia was reluctantly dragged into a conversation with the rest of her team, Harry looked over at his own. They were watching all this with interest but seemed to be in no rush to speak up, and Harry turned to the last quartet. “What about you four?”

The four huntresses hadn’t taken part in the talk between Harry, his sister, and the rest of her his sister’s team. Instead, they had been talking amongst themselves in low tones, and now Weiss took it upon herself to speak up. “We’ve been talking about it along with the rest of your team.”

“She means Weiss-cream’s been quizzing Ruby with Blakey throwing in the random question here and there,” Yang grumbled, one arm slung over her sister's shoulder. “Quizzes which she passed with flying colors!”

“Yaaang! No, I didn’t,” Ruby answered morosely, shaking her head. “I scored pretty well on the Hunter stuff, but math, science, history, all of that I didn’t do so well in.”

“Yes, well, you still scored extremely well in the areas of your own interest,” Weiss answered, actually cheering up Ruby rather than trying to further denigrate Ruby, magnanimous in victory, having gotten nearly everything she’d wanted out of this conversation. With Ren backing her up, Weiss had managed to convince Blake and Ruby herself that Ruby really shouldn’t be the full-time leader of their team. “Ruby is still going to be in charge of Hunter-specific training. She and Yang are both extremely well-trained in that area, and I, I will admit to… certain… deficiencies… in my own education when it comes to fighting Grimm. But we do not think that Ruby is ready to deal with the paperwork and logistics side of things.”

“So, does that mean you are taking on a leadership position?” Harry asked quizzically. “Or just splitting it down the middle.”

It was surprisingly Blake who spoke up then, looking a little annoyed but also resigned. “At this point, we honestly don’t think the leadership position is all that important outside of coming up with team tactics, which Ruby will handle and going to that Laws and Logistics class, which Weiss will handle. Beyond that, Weiss and Ren have volunteered to get Ruby up to snuff on the educational side of things. Weiss and I will work together on the paperwork for that class. At the moment, it really doesn’t mean much…” She repeated, glaring over at Weiss, making it apparent that Harry had missed something of an argument.

“Regardless, unless Ruby wishes to understand and be taught about the laws of the four kingdoms and how it impacts our job as hunters, there is still a point, even just starting out,” Weiss answered repressively.

“She’s right. I don’t think I’d even be able to remember the laws, let alone sit through a class on them without going stir-crazy,” Ruby admitted with a shrug, smiling at her partner. “I’d be really interested in learning about weapon synergy, team tactics and making use of the terrain and such like, but laws? Logistics? Why should I care about what laws effect how many rounds for Gambol Shroud I could buy for the same amount of lien I would spend on ammunition for Ember Celica, rather than just memorizing the amount of ammo and thinking about which I want my team to have more of in whatever mission we’re on?”

Harry nodded, understanding the point. Ruby was interested in the stuff directly important to her rather than any of the background. But logistics really was important, something that Beacon made clear given how it handled the monetary side of Hunter training.

For the first semester here at Beacon, ammunition, repairs to weapons and even, should a student want them, repairs or upgrades to their armor were all included in the price of Beacon’s education. After that, ammunition became something you had to pay for if you went above a basic weekly allotment, although repairs to the weapons would remain free of charge for the entire time a Hunter or Huntress hopeful studied at Beacon. Armor upgrades were free for the first two years, although there was a cap to the amount the school was willing to spend on any single student’s armor.

When it came to ammunition, you could argue for a larger stipend for a specific mission, depending on the mission and, frankly, your debate skills, your ability to cite previous precedent and so forth. Which, Harry thought, probably meant that Weiss would do a better job on that kind of thing then she or the others might think. But by and large, Beacon wanted the students to get into the habit of thinking independently early.

“We’ll meet with the professor tomorrow morning to sort out the Law and Logistics class. And as I take that course, I will make a point of sharing my notes with Ruby. That way, if, if it proves that I… I am not as flexible as a field leader should be. Ruby will be able to take over the strategic side of the leadership role in the future,” Weiss added, looking as if the idea of her failing at something caused her physical pain.

Still, it was a sign that Weiss at least knew her limits, and Harry was happy to see it. Seriously looks like I was wrong to think her a less annoying Malfoy when we met yesterday, Harry thought, adding a mental apology to the young woman across the table. He wasn’t certain of how well this dual leadership thing would work in practice, but the four girls seemed satisfied with it, so he hoped it did work for them.

But the mention of the logistics side of things had jogged his memory, and Harry looked over at Nora and Ren. “That reminds me. When the first semester is done, Pyrrha and I will be pitching in to a common fund for the team. You two don’t have to, I understand your circumstances. And don’t try to argue about it, either. This is about making Team Anvil stronger. That’s all there is to it.”

Harry and Pyrrha had talked about that before, and now the former champion nodded firmly. “Indeed. I cannot think of a better way of using the money I’ve earned throughout those numerous endorsements I was forced to take part in.”

Ren opened his mouth as if he was going to object, but that caused him to pause, and before he could say anything, Nora’s arm wound around his neck, choking him into silence as she chirped, “Thanks, fearless leader! And don’t worry, after the first semester, I’ll try to control the boom-booms. Although, that just means I’ll have to get my boom boom on before that, y’know!”

Pyrrha giggled, and Harry rolled his eyes but didn’t see an issue with that. Looking up at the clock, Harry realized they only had ten minutes before the lunch period ended. “Well, with team Ruby sorted and Anvil happy with the status quo, that only leaves Team Argent. Have you all made your decision?”

“We have,” Mila announced reluctantly, gesturing to Sung-Sun. “For now, Greenscale can deal with all the boring leadership crap. Team tactics and so forth Sung-Sun can try to talk us through, will see if they work or not.”

“So long as, that is, your sister here follows through with her own promise to follow my orders anyway,” Sung-Sun added.

Harry looked over at his sister, who shrugged her shoulders, but the look in her eyes was almost telling enough for Harry to put words to her thoughts. Tia would undoubtedly follow Sung-Sun’s orders… When Harry wasn’t around, or if she agreed with them. Just because she wasn’t the one to generate orders didn’t automatically mean that she was good at following them, after all.

I wonder if this team is going to survive. Apacci doesn’t seem all that serious about being a hunter. Mila, well, I’m uncertain about her. As loud and energetic as she is, it’s hard to get a real handle on what her motivations might be. Sung-Sun seems serious enough about becoming a huntress, so maybe she’ll be able to pull the others along? Harry wouldn’t be willing to put money on it either way, frankly. Still, it is early days here in Beacon. Who knows what will happen in the future?

At Tia’s response, Sung-Sun shrugged her shoulders and announced, “Good enough. In that case, I’ll want all three of you to write down your favored styles, your weaknesses, your strengths, and what you need routinely from the Dust or ammunition stores. We’ll also sit down and discuss team synergy and training times.”

“Hey, you know what that means? We’re the only team at this table whose leader was perfect from the get-go!” Nora exclaimed, hopping in her chair.

Rolling his eyes, Harry shook his head while Yang shouted about how her sister was perfect and that it was just that everyone else was a bunch of fuddy-duddies. “Nobody’s perfect, Nora. And just like everyone here at the table has been trained to become a hunter, I was given leadership training on top of that. I don’t doubt that Weiss was given training in etiquette and contracts and so forth, right? That kind of training gives us a step up when it comes to leadership training. Sung-Sun as well, maybe?”

Sung-Sun merely nodded, somewhat amused at Harry’s perceptiveness but saying nothing.

“You’re quite correct on that score, as I have already mentioned, much to my chagrin. Ruby is a fantastic young huntress, but paperwork and such is currently beyond her,” Weiss said, grumbling the first part before becoming more upbeat. The sheer knowledge that Ruby had shown about the Grimm had completely reversed a great deal of Weiss’s negative feelings towards the younger girl when Weiss had been passed over for the leadership role, and while she was arrogant, Weiss wasn’t so arrogant as to ignore areas where she was ‘lacking in information’, in her own words.

That wasn’t to say that Weiss wanted to dwell on her shortcomings, though, and she looked at Tia and Harry thoughtfully. “But speaking about your family, I’ve vaguely heard of the Arcs before. Your family featured a time or two in history books, I believe? Your arguments with Professor Oobleck jogged my memory. You have been involved in some outlying town of Mistral for several generations, yes?”

In truth, Weiss had researched Arturia at one point, having watched her fight with Pyrrha and knowing how close a battle it had been. But the research was remarkably silent on her family because Arturia was an extremely private individual, and Evig Låga was quite a ways away from Mistral proper.

That seemed a good point to stop the serious talk for a while, and Harry eagerly pulled out his scroll, showing everyone pictures of their home and Evig Låga, getting exclamations of shock at the sight of the large treehouse built into the side of the regular mansion.

The exclamation of “seven sisters!” From Blake, Apacci, Mila and Weiss followed, while Nora’s slightly less loud shout of, “holy hell, your parent’s sex life must be incredible!” drew guffaws, groans and blushes in nearly equal measure.

By the time the lunch bell rang, everyone was much more upbeat as they raced off to their first of the regular classes. Beacon was, after all, both a Hunter academy and a regular school. History, Math, Language Arts, and science classes all occurred twice a week. Other Hunter-specific classes, such as Weapons Design and Upkeep or Aura Maturation, happened three times a week for those students taking them.

For these classes, the group split apart. Harry and his team went to Language Arts first, which, beyond having the most normal-looking classroom they had yet seen here in Beacon, proved to be just as boring as it had since Harry had started to go to school for the second time around. He spent most of the class getting a leg up on some team tactics, writing down ideas for his new friends and girlfriend to try out.

When they met up, however, Ruby's haunted, mentally exhausted face was enough to tell him not everyone had as nice a time of it. “Ouch. That bad?”

“UGGGGG...” Ruby groaned, sounding more like a zombie than a person, while the rest of her team, even Weiss, who Harry would have thought would be lording it over the girl or at least smug about being proven right, looked at her worriedly.

“The Math teacher didn’t make any allowance for Ruby’s age, like at all! She’s really behind,” Yang worried, her arm around her sister’s arm.

“Ouch. Well… I bet you could find some primers and what-have-you in the library to help you,” Harry suggested. “And we’ve got some free time now. You can rest your brain a bit.”

“Hell yeah! I might not have been as behind as the little Rose, but I hated every second in those fucking classes!” Apacci growled out. “What the hell does a hunter need to prefect his reading and writing skills?! Classics, what the fuck are the classics worth!?”

“Writing and reading reports,” Harry and Sung-Sun replied in unison before looking at one another in surprise.

Harry shrugged and went on. “Although I agree with you about the classics. Most of them are junk.” That was true on Earth, and it’s truer here, without such greats as Tolkien or C.S Lewis among the classics. I suppose with the Grimm out there, there’s no need to dream up stories about huge battles against evil, although I would have thought escapism would have been even more relevant.

“Regardless of how well we’ve done in classes today, I think we have earned some downtime this afternoon,” Mila said, holding up a hand. “Who is up for some game time? Er… after I head over to the nurse’s office for another poultice, anyway.”

While the rest of her team raised their hands, Tia, Ren, Harry, Ruby, and Yang shook their heads before blinking as they looked at one another. “Don’t tell me you all have meetings with Professor Goodwitch too?”

“No, I need to meet with the bursar,” Ren announced blandly.

That very blandness hinted at the fact that he didn’t want to talk about why that was, and when Pyrrha opened her mouth, Harry gently squeezed her hand, shaking his head at her when she looked at him. “That’s fine. Just remember, whatever it is, at the end of the semester, he and I will be sitting down and talking about our team’s budget. Don’t let him talk you into anything long-term until then, right?”

“Count on it,” Ren answered with a nod.

“What about you two?”

“I was told by scroll this morning I need to look at a few things. They had to send off some paperwork to my dad, and they just got it back to me this morning, so I need to come to sign it, I think?” Ruby pulled out her scroll and looked at the email professor Goodwitch had sent her before nodding. “Yeah, it was countersign. Ughhh…. I could really do with some game time, but nooo….”

Yang grumbled and looked away pointedly when the others looked at her, wondering why she would need to meet with Goodwitch. Seeing that, Ruby perked up and made to speak, but Yang’s hand clamped over her mouth, dragging her into a bear hug. “You all don’t need to know. You respected Ren when he didn’t want to speak, respect me too.”

“Well, Tia and my desire to meet with professor Goodwitch and the bursar isn’t any big secret. We both requested to live on campus in one of the townhomes rather than in the dorms before we arrived because I wanted to continue cooking for our team and us. Or, in this case, teams.”

He looked over at his partner, nudging his shoulder against hers, showing a closeness to Pyrrha once more that set Apacci to scowling and the others to look a little bemused. “What do you think you’re going to be doing?”

Pyrrha frowned for a moment, then looked over at Blake and Weiss. “I don’t suppose either of you would like to explore with Nora and me for a while, would you? We have several hours before our special combat class tonight.”

Weiss checked her scroll, then visibly thought about it for a few moments, as did Blake. But Ruby spoke up before either of them could say anything, shouting, “That’s a great idea! The two of you can get to know one another and find some of the free training zones. We have to sign up for them right, so maybe if we put our names down for some time tomorrow, we’ll get our choice of timeslot. And the two of you getting to know one another better will help the team dynamic.”

That caused Weiss to stare at the girl, then shook her head slowly. “Ruby, when you open your mouth and say things like that, it makes me question my judgment far more often than I enjoy doing so.” With that, she turned to Blake, jerking her head towards Pyrrha. “I think we have a mission to fulfill, ladies.”

“… Did she just compliment me or put herself down?” Ruby asked, cocking her head to one side in confusion. That’s the second time today Weiss has said something that I can’t quite get a handle on how I’m supposed to take it.

“A bit of both, I think,” Yang answered with a snicker. “Come on, let’s get going. For some reason, I think of all the teachers here that you don’t want to be late for anything with is Professor Goodwitch.”

OOOOOOO

Glynda Goodwitch sighed as she leaned back in her office chair. It was easily the most expensive thing she owned, with small massaging devices embedded in specific points, the use of which didn’t cause even a whisper of noise a faunus could detect. With all she had to deal with, Glynda felt she deserved it. Still, at least these meetings will be straightforward, not like dealing with the results of team ORGE and team MAPL having an ‘impromptu battle’. Blast Alexa Purple and her overly flirtatious attitude!

A knock on her office door rang out, and she smiled thinly. “Right on time, Miss Rose. A good start. Enter.”

Ruby entered, looking worried, but her frightened expression shifted a bit as she saw Goodwitch gesture at a cup of tea and some small biscuits set on the desk in front of her. “Sit, please. If you want some tea, you may have some, although I request you do not leave crumbs behind if you partake of the biscuits.”

She waited until Ruby sat down before going on. “Miss Rose, you are undoubtedly aware that you are a minor.”

Miss Rose nodded, sitting down across from her. “Yes, ma’am, my Daddy and I argued about my coming here because of that when Yang and I went home for my stuff.”

“I supposed as much. But as a minor, you must have parental signatures on some things.”

“Yes, ma’am, I’m here to countersign, right?”

Goodwitch pulled out some paperwork, handing them over to Ruby. “That is indeed the easy part of this meeting. The other aspect is that you have not finished your normal high school education. To continue to take the classes you will be taking, math, science, and language arts, you will need to functionally test into those classes.”

“Oh yeah, I know, ma’am. I’m so far behind it isn’t funny,” Ruby grumbled. “Er, not that I’m unhappy about being here or anything! Weiss that is my partner and me, we’ve already begun to make a study schedule for me.”

“Excellent.” Goodwitch was pleasantly surprised and allowed herself to smile a bit. “I’m happy to hear that, Miss Rose. Do not hesitate to ask your other teammates for help, especially in those classes. You’re starting with a handicap, and I hope it will not become a weakness.”

“No, ma’am, I’ll do my best,” Ruby answered.

“Good. You may take the biscuits with you, Miss Rose. And I hope to see you perform as well as Professor Ozpin believes you can.”

Ruby beamed at that, stood up, saluted, grabbed the companies, and zoomed out the door.

Well, she’s energetic, at least. And not afraid to lean on her teammates and is eager to learn. Puts her head and shoulders above some we’ve dealt with here. Now for the older one. “Your turn, Miss Xiao Long. Do not keep me waiting.”

Hearing that, Ruby’s sister walked in, looking even more nervous than the younger girl had. As well she should.

“Miss Yang, why is it that there is a report on my desk of the individual behind an altercation at the bar Hei Days that looks exactly like you?”

What followed was twelve minutes of extremely cathartic browbeating on Goodwitch’s part. It left Yang a quivering, submissive wreck as the girl now knew precisely how much trouble she would get into if she put a single foot wrong. After that, Glynda had a good twenty minutes to herself before her next meeting, the one with the two young Arcs.

“Please have a seat, Mister Arc, Miss Arc.” Glynda once more waited for her students to sit before going on. “ The two of you submitted paperwork and the money necessary to pay to live in one of the townhomes here on Beacon property. Now, while that and your previous grades would have been enough to allow you that privilege, perhaps, you are on two separate teams. So I do not believe it to be a viable option.” She smiled slightly condescendingly, she had to admit. “I am afraid you’ll have to get used to being apart.”

“Actually, Miss, we already talked about this, and while Ren and Nora would be unable to pay the extra fee, Pyrrha and I can pay for them,” Harry answered calmly.

Somewhat surprised but not doubting their ability to do so, Goodwitch bought herself some time by asking, “And how exactly did you talk Mister Lie into it? I think Miss Valkyrie would just go along with it because you would have access to your kitchen and thus more of her addiction right on hand. But Mister Lie is a prideful young man.”

“Pretty much the same reason as Nora, Miss Goodwitch,” Harry admitted ruefully. “But, in this way, we will be able to exchange other recipes. Frankly, miss, none of us want to keep using the cafeteria food for anything except maybe snacks.”

Glynda barely held back a groan at that. The food department here on Beacon was abysmal, and she knew it. Indeed, Ozpin knew it, but the people they had on hand had been signed to a contract, which meant they would still be paid if the school released them and brought in new people. And both Glynda and Ozpin refused to keep on paying them for doing nothing. “But do you not think this was unfair to Tia or her team? They were not getting this kind of treatment.

“So long as we contribute money to the food fund, Harry and Ren will continue to cook for us,” Tia said simply, her mouth obscured by her little scarf, as always.

Goodwitch was somewhat amused, finding it incongruous that the two men on Team ANVL were the ones doing all the cooking, although she supposed that Pyrrha probably had no time in her life to learn how to cook in the first place. And as for Nora, the very idea of leaving her alone unattended in a kitchen was frightening.

“You realize, however, that a townhome comes with great responsibility. You won’t have access to the same laundry rotation as you do in the dorms, nor the weekly cleaning services. You’re also expected to keep your grades to a B+ or better level across the board,” Glynda warned. “Hunter activities and academics both. We also do not normally offer townhomes to freshmen except for students who need the extra space for medical issues. Your request was already unusual.”

Claustrophobia or dietary issues were the main reasons freshmen could request to live in a townhome. Or sleep cycles. Several faunus had extremely strange sleep cycles and needed specific types of beds, which the dorm rooms simply could not provide for.

“I think our previous records on both sides of that coin prove themselves, Miss Goodwitch,” Harry answered firmly. “As does Pyrrha’s and Ren’s. And I think we will be able to convince Nora to crack open a book every few days between us.”

Goodwitch rolled her eyes at Harry’s attempt at humor. “It will not only be Team Anvil but Team Argent who are held to those standards, Mister Arc. I can too clearly see that the moment you are given a townhome, your sister will move in with you regardless of the rules regarding team accommodations.”

Tia shrugged her shoulders, seeing no point in denying the obvious.

“Frankly, Mr. Arc, given the number of previous exceptions we have made for you, I am loath to give you more. This could smack all too much of favoritism.”

“How about I sweeten the deal personally, then?” Harry said. “I noticed you didn’t defend the cafeteria food. How about we invite you over for a meal every week?”

Glynda studied Harry Arc thoughtfully. Good food was an interesting attempt at bribery, and it was quite tempting. Yet, even so, Harry was already going to receive one-on-one instruction from Glynda once things settled down, and he had been allowed to miss out on Professor Ozpin’s initiation speech. Letting Harry and his team have a townhome without a need for doing so really seemed like favoritism. Still, there is the food to consider... “You are that confident in your cooking?”

“Very,” Harry answered firmly.

“Hmm..” Glynda held up her hand, signaling for silence, before pulling out her scroll and dialing a specific number.

“Professor Goodwitch,” Arturia’s voice answered crisply. “This is a pleasant surprise. I do not believe you normally call Alumni to inform them of good news about their siblings. If something happened to either Harry or Tia during initiation, I can be there posthaste.” Despite the seriousness of the question, Arturia sounded almost lazily confident, as if the very idea that her siblings failed could barely be imagined.

Hearing that, Goodwitch was almost tempted to tell Arturia about what had happened during Initiation, the surprising assault from underground Grimm, the battle Harry and his new allies had been forced into. But doing so would be petty, as Arturia already knew the age-old lesson about assumptions and how unpredictable the Grimm could sometimes be. “They are both fine, Arturia. In fact, they are sitting in front of me in my office, trying to wheedle their way into one of the townhomes. Young Mister Arc offered me a bribe in terms of food and…”

“Harry’s cooking! When!? I can pay for an express Bullhead back and any ingredient he needs!” Arturia interrupted, something she wouldn’t normally have done in person, but the topic was too important for such niceties.

Well, that answers that question, Glynda snorted internally, shaking her head.

Harry had heard all this and shared a smile with Tia, although only he could tell, given her scarf. “Don’t worry about that, sis. Whenever you have time to stop by, I’ll cook you something special.”

“Excellent,” Arturia snapped from the other side of the line, with something like a growl in the background. Glynda wondered if the fool girl had answered her call during a battle with the Grimm. “I will most decidedly take you up on that, Harry. Was that all you wanted, Miss Goodwitch?”

“I suppose so,” Goodwitch said before exchanging a few more pleasantries with her former student before hanging up. Then she went back to staring at Harry and Tia, her fingers tapping the surface of her desk. So, the bribe is real and seems truly worthy of being a bribe. However, that still does not answer the question of whether or not I should pick it up.

“Tell me, Mister Arc, can you do a lasagna?”

“I can cook practically anything, Miss,” Harry replied. “I’ve been told my lasagna is very good in the past. Do you prefer spicy, mild, very meaty, or vegetarian?”

“Spicy, vegetarian,” Goodwitch answers firmly. “I will write a letter allowing you to use the cafeteria on Wednesday. Should your meal satisfy, I will allow you to move Team ANVL into one of the townhomes. Until then, you and yours will just have to tough it out. Mr. Potter.”

“Sounds fair enough, Miss,” Harry answered, standing up with his sister and bowing towards Goodwitch, who waved a dismissal, turning her attention to her computer. As the door closed behind the two Arcs, Glynda shook her head. The disciplinarian in me wants him to fail and remain where he is so that there is no sign of bias. The other side of me, however, would rather like to have a good home-cooked meal.

OOOOOOO

Arturia carefully hung up the scroll, setting it into her pocket as she looked around, smiling slightly. “I wonder if I have time to get some food before my flight?”

Alas, this was not to be. Even as Arturia spoke, an intercom nearby went off. “Attention. We are now boarding the international flight to Mistral, landing area five. Repeat, we are now…”

Sighing, Arturia shrugged. Ah well, it was just talk of Harry’s cooking that had me hungry anyway. So eating common faire would have been worse than useless. At least this way, I have a home-cooked meal to look forward to tomorrow. It won’t be Harry’s, but Mother’s cooking is almost as good. And I can call and speak with my siblings once I am there, regardless.

OOOOOOO

Early that evening, Harry, Pyrrha and the rest of their friends headed to the locker rooms to change into their Hunter outfits for the first time that day. While many had used their weapons that day, this would be the first time they had changed into thier full Huntsmen outfits. Meeting up outside of the locker rooms, the twelve students made the extremely short walk to the building dedicated to the combat class.

As they went, Harry’s hands clenched at his side, hearing the whispers and mutters from some other students moving in the same direction. Damn it, why does being a horny teen always equate to fucking stupid and loud?

“Damn, the Invincible Girl in her new getup is right on the line of fucking scary and fucking sexy, ain’t she?”

“Bah, you can keep her. She’s got that scar on her arm, and who knows what other scars she might have underneath her outfit. But look at the mountains on display! The two tanned gals are damned amazing, even if one is a faunus. And the fairer-skinned blonde with the gauntlets has that ‘I’m sexy and I know it’ vibe too.”

“I know right. But fuckin’ hell, that tanned girl!  Show us your mouth babe. I’m already imagining what it’d look like sucking…”

“Bah, you fools don’t understand real beauty! Look at that Vacuan girl or the Schnee girl. Can’t you just imagine how good they’d look dancing? Or, what would they look like once you break through that refined exterior of theirs?”

“Hmm, maybe it’s just me, but the little one in the red hood looks kind of stacked for a girl so short. Enough to give a man ideas, you know?”

“Whatever, man, Nikos is where it’s at! Second I can. I’m gonna try to get some upskirt shots.”

All of these comments were interspersed with others. Some lamented that they wouldn’t have a chance to shine when everyone compared them to Pyrrha. Others thought it unfair and were already planning to just skive through since they would never be able to do well enough to stand out with the Invincible Girl around. Others were jealous of Harry and the other two boys, being around so many good-looking girls, while many of the girls were quite catty, although thankfully there weren’t that many such comments… primarily because Harry’s group already consisted of most of the girls of the freshman class.

Pyrrha ignored these comments with aplomb, staring straight ahead as if she already had her game face on, although Harry knew her well enough to know that she did notice and was quite bitter about the comments. Your beauty is far more than skin deep, my dear, and if these assholes don’t want to try to get to know you or look beyond skin deep, that is their loss.

“You already have me and others willing to stand on that pedestal with you, Pyrrha,” He whispered, causing Pyrrha’s stance to first stiffen, then soften a bit as he continued. “You keep on being you. I’ll be right there beside you and vice versa, my shield.”

At that, Pyrrha’s real smile broke through for a moment, but then her game face was back on as they entered the building ahead of them. So brief was it, none of the other freshmen had caught it, but Harry had, and he smiled internally before turning his attention to the rest of their group, wondering what they were making of the background noise. It was evident that most of them, like Pyrrha, had overheard the comments, bar Nora and Ren, who were in their own little world.

Yang grinned, swishing her hips even more than normal, enjoying the attention while Ruby tried to hide, and Weiss scowled, moving closer to her partner. Blake buried her head in a book. Walking beside Blake, Sung-Sun said nothing, but there was a dangerous glitter in her eyes as if she was taking names and making plans.

Much like Nora and Ren, although far louder, Apacci and Mila were arguing about something. The lion faunus didn’t seem to notice the looks she, or rather her chest, was getting. Or perhaps she just doesn’t care. I can’t quite tell.

Similarly, Tia didn’t notice, although she wouldn’t have cared if she had. Like other people’s opinions, Comments mattered not at all to Harry’s dear twin. She’s got me to do that for her, you bastards. Try anything, anything at all, I dare you. So much for hoping that prospective Hunters at this level of education would have control of their hormones and be beyond gossip. Ugh.

Like all the other classrooms devoted to Hunter classes, the one devoted to combat was built around a half-circle, with raised seats rising from a central stage. But it was much larger, the size of a real auditorium, rather than a simple classroom. The seats were separated by a series of spaced-out stairs leading down to the central platform, letting the students have easy access to them wherever they sat. The back of the room was dominated by two large screens, each connected to a device that seemed to have a port for scrolls. In the ceiling was a large projector.

The four teams separated as they walked up the stairs, with Tia sitting next to Harry, forcing them to separate a bit, with Sung-Sun and Apacci joining Ren and Nora above them rather than being separated by the staircase. Ruby led her team to the row of seats in front of them on the lowest tier, where Ruby visibly began vibrating with excitement.

“Good grief, Ruby, calm down!” Her partner complained, laying a hand on Ruby’s shoulder, only for her to start shaking in time with Ruby’s movement.

“How can I?! This is going to be our first combat class here in Beacon. No more listening, no more taking notes about boring laws or even more boring books, no more math, overdone stories, or exercising! Just letting my sweet Crescent Rose do my talking for me!” Ruby practically cooed, pulling out her mecha-shifted rifle-scythe in its carry mode, hugging it to her chest like a baby.

“That is rather disturbing,” Harry murmured, watching Ruby coo at her weapon. “Tia and Arturia did the same thing, though, so I suppose it’s just a Huntress thing?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Pyrrha said, trying to look away. “I never did the same thing to my weapons at all, ever, no matter what my parents might’ve said at the time about me going to sleep holding Milo.”

Harry snorted at that, and he and Pyrrha exchanged smiles. Pyrrha hummed then, looking down at the stage. “I wonder how they are going to this? I see that projector up there, so does that mean we will fight hard-light Grimm? If they tie that into the earlier lesson with Professor Port, that will make quite a bit of sense.”

“They could put us in the position of past hunters, maybe on famous hunts? Nora suggested excitedly, bouncing up and down in place, although not to the near-vibrational frequency that Ruby was.

“My parents always believed in getting hands-on training as much as possible. So maybe they do it once every week here, and that what we take field trips every other week? Although, come to think of it, did Arturia mention anything about the training they do here, Tia?”

Harry’s sister shook her head, leaning back a little as she examined the area, frowning faintly as the other teams came in. Cardin glared at her and Harry, but Tia stared back, completely unfazed by the larger youth’s glare.

He sneered at Harry too, but Harry simply ignored him, too busy talking to Pyrrha at the others as they wondered what kind of training they were going to get. It was, after all, the end first day, so it probably wouldn’t be anything too strenuous. Right?”

That comment from Mila won sneers and derisive laughter the others, while Sung-Sun put their thoughts into words. “My, I knew most of your nutrients went to expand that chest of yours, but now I wonder if your brain has survived such an uneven distribution.” The Vacuan native continued as Mila roared like a lioness and tried to lunge toward her, only to be kept in her seat by Nora. “When have the teachers we have had today seemed the sort to go easy on us?”

Ruby whimpered, remembering the math class after lunch, and Harry nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah… raise your hands if you think Professor Goodwitch is going to both lay down the law instantly and then throw us all into the deep end?”

All the hands around them, even many of the students across the stairs from their seats, raised their hands at that. Professor Goodwitch had a… reputation. Nonetheless, as students continued to trickle in, the professor was nowhere in sight, and the teens kept on talking, the noise growing and the voices becoming louder.

Then a small door Harry hadn’t seen at the back of the classroom opened, and the professor walked in. The lights from the ceiling hit her glasses in just the right way to make her look like a cartoon villain for a moment, and Harry instantly shooshed the rest of the teens around him.

Goodwitch looked around for a few moments, then slapped her riding crop into her hand. The sound of the *SLAP* cut through the noise as every student there turned to look at her. She glared back at them, one wintry eyebrow rising, and within seconds, there was silence as the previously rowdy students gave the woman their complete attention.

“This,” Goodwitch began without any introduction, “is the Freshman Combat Class, CC01. It is, without a doubt, the most important class you will take throughout your life here in Beacon. I will be your teacher for all four years. However, let me make this very clear. Beacon is not an escalator school. If I do not believe you are improving between one week to another, you will be sent home. Just like in a combat situation, there are no second chances here. I do not care how well you have done in your previous training, so long as it is up to par. I do not care how good you are already, so long as you are continuing to improve.”

She glared at several students saying, including Pyrrha. None of the other students who Glynda glared at lasted even a second, but Pyrrha simply looked back as if wondering why Glynda was even bothering to make such a point. Hmm, arrogance or the fact that she already knows ways to improve or is in the habit of doing so? Time will tell, I suppose.

“During class, I have several rules based on respect. Respect one another, respect me as your instructor, and respect the seriousness of this class. There will be no roughhousing, although I will allow low-volume discussions. But if you are not fighting down here, I expect you to be taking notes on your fellow students or waiting your turn to fight it out here in the arena.”

Hearing that word, Pyrrha’s stomach started to churn. No, please, no…

“In this class, we will start out with simple things. We here at Beacon know that we have multiple students coming from schools where students only rarely fought one another, rarely fought Grimm or just fought one or the other.” The professor’s opinion on that kind of half-baked training was quite obvious by the glare on her face. “Most pre-academy schools concentrate on Grimm vs. human conflict. However, as Huntsmen, we also deal with human versus human battles, and you must also be aware of those.”

“Oh no,” Pyrrha whimpered, her face frozen in its normal public placid, calm look, but her eyes losing much of their fire.

Harry frowned, wondering where this was going, as Tia bumped her shoulder against her twin’s, a scowl invisible under her long turtleneck. After all, he, his sister and Pyrrha would get a lot more out of fighting Grimm than other people. I know Mantle-based schools are the only ones who really concentrate on gladiatorial-style training, but I really don’t see the need to emphasize it like this at this level.

Unaware that several of her audience was no longer as enthusiastic as she could have wanted, Goodwitch continued. “As such, and based on the methodology that metal sharpens metal, three out of every four classes within this room will be based around one-on-one battles against your fellow students.”

At that, Pyrrha allowed her public persona to break. She did so by leaning her head to the side and smacking it several times against Harry’s shoulder.

This drew Goodwitch’s attention, but for once, the professor had to look away from the look of near-betrayal that the redhead was giving her. On the one hand, I’m somewhat annoyed Nikos doesn’t think she will learn anything from this kind of combat, but I saw her take on Arturia, the best of our graduates from last year and beat her. I… honestly don’t see any of our current students pushing Pyrrha to her limits in one-on-one matches.

That was good in a way, as it would force Nikos to look outside for more training to keep growing. But on the other hand, if there was a big enough gap between Nikos’s skills and those of her classmates, that would cause trouble in several ways. And not just for Nikos but for the rest of her class. Still, from what I saw from the rest of her team, maybe Nikos is wrong, and Mr. and Ms. Arc can challenge her. If so, pairing them together every class could at least solve some of the issues I can see in the future.

With a mental sigh, Goodwitch left the problem of Pyrrha for the moment, her eyes sweeping across the class as she continued her normal spiel, walking them through how to use the scroll lock systems, which would allow the students to show their Aura levels on the screen, something that a few of the students, like Belladonna, would not know about beforehand.

“You will all participate in matches tonight to give me an idea of your overall levels. The professors saw many of you in action during the initiation, but not all of you, and we do not have any idea about your Aura reserves. Do not be discouraged if you are paired against someone whose combat style seems designed to offset your own. This is but the first day.”

This seemed to start a vast sigh of relief as everyone there bar Team ANVL glanced towards Nikos and away. With that out of the way, Goodwitch opened the floor to anyone who wanted to volunteer to be the first people to try out the arena.

Instantly, Cardin raised his hand. “I’ll volunteer, Professor. I have a… prior bet going with Miss Arc over there.”

From where he was sitting next to his sister, Harry let loose a snort. “Is that what ya call it?” Still, he had to admit that was some quick thinking. Even Cardin knew he had to be on his best behavior around Goodwitch.

Goodwitch smiled faintly. Good. Foolish to think we professors don’t know about your little altercation, but hopefully, this will serve many goals, both bursting the tension between CRDL and the teams around Nikos and Arc and stopping Cardin’s bullying in its tracks. “Excellent. Miss Arc, have you also agreed to this?

Tia nodded, but even she had looked a little annoyed at this type of combat. She’d come here to further train to fight Grimm, not other people. This was going to be just like her last school, which was boring.

Sensing this and sensing the slight anger in his sister, Harry decided to let her get even more of her anger out than she would have otherwise. “We should make this a little more interesting.”

Tia looked down at him from where she had just stood up, cocking an eyebrow in question, and Harry tapped where Caliburn lay next to him. “Leave your sword behind and use just your semblance. Show Cardin and the rest of us why you earned the name Harribel of the Arcs, Tia. Show them all your motto.”

Tia smiled at that, hugging Harry around the head, pressing his head into her bare stomach in a way that earned some whistles from the students who didn’t remember that they were twins. Or had really dirty minds, like Mila. “Hmm… watch Tiburon for me.”

As she released her brother from her hug, Tia reached up to her shoulder and unclipped her sheath, holding it out. Harry took it, holding Tiburon across his lap. Pyrrha looked at this with some amusement, sudden interest flaring her. “Now, exactly what kind of handicap would you have me fight under?”

Harry looked at her thoughtfully, then said simply, “The exact opposite. No semblance for you, my shield. Fight only with your other skills.”

Pyrrha’s eyes widened very slightly, then she smiled eagerly, the light which had faded from her eyes under Goodwitch’s earlier words coming back with a vengeance. “That sounds grand!”

With a snort of good humor at Pyrrha’s combat junky tendencies coming out, Harry turned his attention back to Tia as she walked down the steps, where Professor Goodwitch stopped her. “Miss Arc, this is not a place to grandstand. If you make the mistake of underestimating your opponent to the point where you think you can defeat them without a weapon, do not believe that I will stop the match when you become overmatched. The bout only stops when your Aura is in the red.”

Tia had never actually seen her aura enter the red, but she shrugged anyway, waving the teacher off. “I am not underestimating Winchester. I am making a point.”

Miss Goodwitch’s eyes twitched at that, and Harry groaned slightly but hoped that Miss Goodwitch had at least read Tia’s bio enough to know that she wasn’t being flippant or dismissive of her, just acting normally for Tia.

“Don’t think I’ll go easy on you just because you didn’t want to cut my pretty face!” Cardin taunted as he took his position across from her. “Or is this your way of saying you give up already?”

Tia shook her head from side to side.

Glynda looked between them and then sighed. Well, we didn’t really see Tia use any kind of Semblance during Initiation, so this will at least be interesting. “Very well, begin.”

With a roar, Cardin charged forward, his mace raised above his head. “GRAHHHH…..ack!” He stumbled to a halt, staring, a lewd grin appearing on his face.

So too were most of the student body; instead of taking an unarmed stance or anything like one, Tia had raised a hand to the zipper on her Huntress outfit. The one began below her nose and went to just below her chest. She slowly unzipped it up from where it ended just below her cleavage, revealing more of those tanned mounds as she did.

“Stå emot och bita, (Resist and bite), Harribel,” Tia intoned, calling upon her Semblance, and her body started to change. Strange, Grimm-like white armor appeared, covering Tia’s upper chest, covering her skin as it was further revealed, causing shouts of shock from the watchers… as well as a few groans of annoyance.

Swiftly Cardin shook his head and charged forward, intent on stomping Tia before whatever Semblance she was using was finished transforming her. But he was too slow.

By the time he took three steps, the bony armor had covered her chest completely, stopping just above her navel. More formed along her sides, going down her thighs, upper arms, and to her hands, with noticeable blisters appearing and small spikes sticking out from the rest of the armor.

From the side, Goodwitch’s watched in no less shock than the others. Semblances were routinely kept secret, and beyond a bland ‘transformation type Semblance’, there hadn’t been any clue as to what Tia Arc’s Semblance could be. Yet even in her shock, a part of Goodwitch’s mind kept working. So those blisters are why she did that bit of grandstanding. She might need to change her outfit if she wants to use her Semblance continously.

Tia’s face was also now halfway covered, and she stared back at Cardin, her mouth and jaw having been covered by what looked like the jaws of a monstrous sharklike beast, its teeth visibly clamped together.

By the time Cardin had crossed the intervening distance, the transformation was done. Now Tia almost looked like a Grimm shaped like a human. Only the dark blue eyes glaring above her white mask revealed her still-human nature.

“Holy shit, you really are a freak!” Cardin shouted, bringing down his massive club. “What kind of Semblance is that!?”

Tia smashed Cardin’s blow aside, returning a blow that nearly caught in the chest. Cardin was able to dodge at the last instant, only taking a glancing blow, causing him to stumble to the side, which he used to twirl into another attack. Whatever he acted like, Cardin did have some training as a Hunter.

This one was also batted aside, not even moving from where she had stood since entering the arena, treating his attacks like they didn’t have any weight at all. This continued for two more strikes then Cardin activated something on the mace’s handle. The next time Tia batted aside his attack, Cardin’s mace exploded on impact, sending her sideways.

Yet it apparently did no damage since not only did Tia stay on her feet, but her Aura didn’t decrease beyond a mere three percent from its total. That won some gasps of surprise, and Cardin howled out, “What the hell!?”

Enough of this, Tia thought. She had gotten the measure of the man across from her and found him wanting. As she slid to a stop from the momentum of the explosion, Tia charged forwards, landing her own strike on Cardin’s mace, causing him to nearly lose his grip on it. Her next blow caught him in the face, and now it was Cardin’s turn to be knocked off his feet, and he was sent flying backward.

“Not to sound like that moron, but um, what the hell? What kind of Semblance is that!?” Apacci scowled. Like most of the other men in the audience, he had been watching in shocked arousal at the seeming strip show Tia had begun, only for the best bits to be revealed covered by that freakish Grimm armor and he was now kind of mildly freaked out.

“I must admit to some shock as well,” Weiss murmured.

“Indeed, I’ve heard of transformation-type Semblances, but nothing like that. It, it almost looks like she’s a partial Grimm,” Sung-Sun added. “I’m both intrigued and horrified.”

“Our former schoolmates called it Horrible Belle, which we shortened to Harribel,” Harry said quietly, shrugging his shoulders. “We’ve no idea where it came from. Arcs don’t have hereditary Semblances or anything.”

“Does that form just enhance her armor?” Pyrrha asked.

“Not quite. While Harribel doesn’t really do much for Tia’s speed, it gives her striking power even greater impact and strength than normal. She can tear Grimm apart with her bare hands. And this isn’t even the full version of Harribel. Right now, what you’re seeing is what we call a partial transformation. When Tia is fully transformed, her entire body is covered with that Grimm-like armor, but Tia tends to lose control of herself a bit when she goes that far.”

“This is her in control!” Ruby shouted in shock. “She’s using Cardin like a bouncy ball!”

“Yeah, it is,” Harry shrugged lazily. “Tia’s not using her claws, just her knuckles.”

Blake, Apacci and Mila all snorted, the hidden faunus and the lion faunus both staring at the action avidly. “It’s fitting for a bigot like him.”

In the arena, Tia dashed to the side as Cardin pushed himself off the ground and into a shoulder charge.

Cardin’s attack was a feint; instead, he brought his mace around again, aiming to attack Tia’s legs. They didn’t seem as armored as her upper body.

But this was a mistake. Tia simply dodged to the side, letting Cardin’s Mace hit the arena floor. The blast caused more smoke than anything else, which Tia used to circle around him.

“Gaah!” Cardin grunted as Tia leaped onto his back, bearing him to the earth like the Grimm she looked like at the moment. He could turn a bit as he fell, but she was still on top of him, pummeling his face, back and side without any letup.

Watching from the sidelines, Goodwitch stood stock still, her face stoic, but internally she was somewhat shocked. Like most of the class, Glynda had never seen a transformation-type semblance like this before, and, moreover, she was wondering what this would do for the class morale. Of the rest of his class, even from what little we’re seeing, only Xiao Long, Mister Arc, and Miss Nikos could fight her. The others in that little group would make her work for it more than Cardin is, but…

The issue wasn’t just Tia’s transformation and the armor that came with it. No, the size of her Aura pool was the other issue. Cardin had landed several blows on Tia’s forearms, some with the explosive Fire Dust in his club, which should have laid most of her students out. Even Arturia wouldn’t have taken those blows without flinching.

But whatever this semblance was, it apparently blocked so much of the damage that Tia’s Aura didn’t deplete at all. Not once had Tia’s Aura, visible on the screen, shifted due to the blows that Cardin was landing. Further, it didn’t seem to take much Aura itself. From the start of the match, Tia’s aura had barely gotten below ninety percent.

Cardin tried to backhand Tia off him, and although he could break her grip enough to twist around and bring his mace to bear, the blow did nothing to her. Tia simply took it on her arm, then hopped to her feet, pulling Cardin up off the ground, holding him at arm’s length, tearing his mace out of his hand and tossing it out of the arena. Time to end this.

“Monster!” Cardin shouted, trying to wiggle out of Tia’s grip as her hand clamped around his throat, squeezing. You’re a monstrous freakkkk….” he spat out despite the air leaving his body quickly.

Tia couldn’t talk in her transformed form. Well, she could in the full transformation, but only in growls and snarls. Actual words were beyond her in that form. So instead, she simply moved to the side of the dais, holding him out over the edge before dropping him next to Goodwitch.

When that was done, she turned to look towards Harry, who clapped happily for her. The rest of the class was a little too stunned to join in, but Pyrrha readily followed, as the rest of the two teams, followed quickly by Ruby’s team. She smiled at that, then slowly zipped up her suit, her armor absorbing back into her skin as she did, careful to wait until the bony protrusions were all gone.

As the transformation finished, Tia’s aura noticeably dipped below the seventieth percentile. That was a largish chunk and professor Goodwitch knew that probably meant that for a normal person, the Aura consumption would have been exhobirtant.

“Well, Miss Arc, while that was an overwhelming victory, I will say there was a bit too much in the way of grandstanding of playing to the crowd,” Goodwitch said, sniffing disdainfully. “I am certain the crowds back home in Mistral would have been gleeful about that sort of thing. Here, however, we strive for simplicity and purpose behind our pace and style. Do not believe you can terrify the Grimm like a human opponent.”

“I have done so,” Tia said simply. “Beowolves hate me for some reason when I transform. So do Creepers.”

Amusement flickered in Goodwitch’s eyes, even though Tia interrupted her somewhat rudely. “That might be fascinating to watch, but do not believe that turning into your Harribel form means that you are invulnerable. You took far too many strikes when you could have dodged. You need to work on that mindset going forward.”

She glared around her at the rest of her class. “This must go for all of you. Missions against Grimm can last a long time. Cleansing missions can last as long as several hours or several days as you clear out large segments of forest or tunnels or defend a town against migrating Grimm. You need to get into the habit of conserving your Aura and body. Even if your Semblance is defensive in nature, always being in the habit of letting your enemy hit you regardless of the enemy in question is not conducive to a long life.”

Tia listened to this advice, and because it was from a professor that Arturia had respected and the fact it dovetailed with some of the things that her brother and parents had told her, she nodded her head, able to talk once more, her mouth obscured again by her long turtleneck. “Yes, Miss. I will work on dodging in the future.”

“Good.” Hearing the earnestness in Tia’s flat tone, Goodwitch waved her off, smiling faintly. Despite her various issues, the girl seemed willing to take instruction at least.

Deciding to have a few normal matches to let the shock of Tia’s transformation and complete dominance wear off, Goodwitch specifically called for several other freshmen to come forward, paring students who hadn’t shown anything in Initiation before this.

Meanwhile, in the stands, Tia sat down between Mila and Harry once more, the lion faunus looping an arm around Tia’s shoulders, causing Tia to twitch a bit at the forwardness of the other tanned girl. “Damn girl, you put that ass in his place right quick!”

“Very well done indeed, you didn’t give away too much of your abilities, and you retained full control of your faculties,” Harry murmured, squeezing her hand. “And I wager you will have shown enough to force Goodwitch to put you against only the best of the rest of us, much like Pyrrha will when it’s her turn.”

“Ooh, comparing your sister to the Invincible Girl, huh? You got that much trust in her skills, Arc?” Yang teased, although a little miffed he had used Pyrrha there specifically.

“Yes,” Harry answered easily. “Although I would wager all of us would have given Tia a better fight than that fool.”

“Your expectations for us are oscillating wildly there, Arc,” Weiss snarked, shaking her head while Tia leaned her head against Harry’s shoulder.

As she did, Harry’s arm wound around her waist, his hand resting on her stomach, causing Tia to smile happily under her turtleneck. Using her Semblance deadened her nerves as she used it, and it was always a relief to feel someone’s touch afterward.

The others all smiled at the sibling love on display, and Tia continued to smile behind her large turtleneck as the rest of her team, Blake and Ruby plied her with questions. The most prominent came from Ruby, as she asked, “Why do you think it looks so much like a Grimm?”

Realizing how that could be taken, Ruby waved her hands to either side wildly. “I mean, not to say you are a Grimm or anything, I totally don’t believe that Grimm could ever evolve to the point where they might be able to infiltrate human society or anything like that. That old movie about the invasion of the Grimm snatchers.” She added, “It’s just a cooky movie. It never gave me nightmares! No matter what anyone says!”

As the others snickered at this, Tia leaned forward, ruffling her hair, causing Ruby to snap out of her momentary panic, and smack her hand away while Tia smiled over at Yang. “little sisters are great, aren’t they?”

Yang grinned at that, giving her a thumbs up, and Tia continued to speak, looking around at the others. “We don’t know why my alter form looks like that. My Aura has always lent itself to defense and strength. Even before I unlocked it, I was far, far stronger and more durable than I should have been. My father thought maybe it was because I got Grimm black goo on me several times before my aura was fully unlocked. And it somehow impacted my semblance.”

Tia wasn’t so sure about that. Nor, frankly, did she care to ponder. “I don’t honestly care. Harribel is part of me. I am the Monster of the Arcs. Rouse me at your peril.”

“Heh, and on that score, that was quite a good show,” He said, smirking a little.

“Good show, he says,” Apacci muttered, shaking his head. “I think she just terrified everyone in the grade! If that’s what you mean by a good show, then sure, it was.”

Harry shook his head. “No. I mean that Cardin and others won’t think to challenge her for a while now. Hopefully, that means that Tia will be free to fight people who might prove to be a learning experience for her, as I said earlier about Pyrrha.”

“Me!” Yang said, holding up a fist. “I’ll see your ferocity and match it with my fire!”

Tia smiled back and did the same thing, their fists thumping together. “Sure.”

“Hell, yes!” Nora muttered while Apacci looked a little thrown off by the very idea, and Sung-Sun was scowling, not in fear but concern. “I don’t think either of us would get anything out of fighting Tia. And I think Ruby is in much the same position. Unless you think you could wear her down?”

Ruby pouted. “Maybe not. Her Semblance doesn’t seem to take practically any Aura, and I doubt Crescent Rose could get through her armor. Maybe if I could build up enough speed but otherwise…”

“Mountain versus tornado,” Harry mused, nodding in agreement.

“The same goes for me, I think?” Weiss muttered while the others wondered how they would match up with what they’d seen of Tia. “If I could keep the range open, I might be able to capture her in a field of glyphs, but Myrtenaster wouldn’t be a threat to you. It might be interesting, but I think the class would not be the appropriate place for such a match.”

“You’d be able to hurt me a few times, but I think you’re underestimating me.” When Weiss looked at her, Tia shrugged. “I wasn’t using my equipment.”

“Oooh yeah, so are you going to have us handicap ourselves like you told Tia, fearless leader?”

“Sure, Nora. No explosions for you. Use any form of Magnhild you want, but no explosions or grenades at all,” Harry answered glibly. “And you Ren… hmm… how about no hand-to-hand? Work on dodging and keeping at range.”

Nora pouted at that, having hoped for the same restriction Harry had given Pyrrha, but Ren merely nodded, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully.

As their discussion subsided, the students turned their attention back down to the matches going on. One match had already finished being a bad mismatch between a student who had a long Range energy-based attack Semblance and a student who couldn’t dodge out of the way. Now they watched two more matches go by, both of them quite boring, before Goodwitch called for volunteers again.

This time a partner pair, a man and a woman, volunteered, glaring daggers at one another. “Oh no, drama,” Miss Goodwitch muttered under her breath, watching the fight closely. “I wonder what this is about.” She watched this match closely, ignoring the side conversations as she said she would for now.

By that point, the teens had turned their attention back to Harry’s idea of limiting themselves. Ruby, Apacci and Mila protested, but Harry won over the others by saying, “Think about it. There will be times in the field when you’re not at your best and are limited in some fashion. Aura exhaustion, maybe, or having to make no noise or having no ammo. In the future, we might expand this idea to thinking about ways to fight handicapped with one arm or leg trailing.”

“That would make for interesting dodging training,” Pyrrha mused, smiling slightly at the idea.

“Further,” Harry went on, now speaking more to the audience as other teens from across the stairs leaned in closer. “Look what happened when Tia deactivated her semblance. I think it’s important to note, and I’ve no doubt that Professor Goodwitch already has, that her Aura dipped after she deactivated Harribel. This Aura Recognition System is a lot more sensitive than the ones our previous school used. We all need to be aware of how much our Semblances take to use in combat and what the downsides are.”

“Correct on all counts, Mr. Arc, which means I won’t penalize you for talking in class,” Professor Goodwitch announced. She had finished upbraiding the two would-be lovers’ abysmal performances for using her class as a way to get out their anger at one another and showing the situational awareness that came from being a very good teacher had overheard Harry’s words.

“In fact, Mr. Arc, why don’t you come down here. And I believe I will set the penalty for you. No semblance this time around.”

This caused the rest of his teammates to wince, knowing that Harry was supposed to call down the rest of team Cardinal. But Harry simply shrugged softly, raising his weapons. “Yes, Miss.”

As he came close, Glynda murmured, “In the future. Mr. Arc, you and I will go over how much of your Aura your Semblance’s uses for its various actions. For now, simply fight as best you can.” Raising her voice, she asked for a volunteer to fight Harry.

At that, Dove Bronzewing, Russel Thrush and Sky Lark all raised their hands. “The three of us have a previous wager with Harry, Miss.”

“My class is not a place to settle wagers, ladies and gentlemen.” Ms. Goodwitch growled. “Furthermore, three-on-one without the one using his Semblance is…”

“Something that could be run into the field, Professor,” Harry interjected, shrugging his shoulders. “I have no problem with it.”

Professor Goodwitch looked at Harry sharply at that, about to upbraid him for his arrogance. But seeing him standing there, Caliburn in one hand simply resting at his side, she paused. What she saw in that stance was not arrogance, but cold deliberation, as he watched the trio of other students walk down the steps and onto the dais.

And they are three of the worst in the class, barely middling range, she thought, whereas going by his previous school’s records, Mister Arc would be in the upper tier, even without his Semblance. He did go most of his four years in high school without one. There is also a difference in their Aura pools to consider. “Very well, Mister Arc, Team RTL, I will allow this. However, should any of your Aura’s fall below thirty percent, that individual is out.”

What followed was a beatdown of epic proportions. Without their leader, the plans of the trio were basic at best, and their teamwork mediocre. They were also extremely cocky and didn’t start taking the battle seriously until Caliburn had nearly shaved off forty percent of Lark’s Aura in one strike. And Harry was fast. Not like Ruby, of course, but his reaction time was in that same range without a Semblance, so when he was hit, he responded almost instantly.

Further, there was Aura to consider on Harry’s side. They landed hits. Harry was fast and extremely experienced at dodging, but even he couldn’t dodge all the time.

Yet when the match was over, and Russel, who had been smashed out of bounds by repeated rifle rounds and looked a little less battered than his fellows, looked at the Aura screens, Harry’s was still at ninety-one percent… and it was climbing. “THE FUCK!? That Aura sensor must be broken!”

“I assure you, Mister Thrush, the Aura Counter is not broken. The Arcs, such as Mister Arc and his sister, have always had massive Aura reserves. Some of them have also been blessed with the ability to refill their reserves quickly. I would wager that Miss Arc’s Aura has also fully recovered.”

“Fuck, some people have all the luck,” Dove groused.

“Hah! I went most of my training until nine months ago without my Aura at all, man. No Awakening Sequence could kindle it. If we had fought back then, I’d still have won. I’d just be beaten black, blue and bleeding, which I was used to back then,” Harry retorted, his tone serious. “The battle isn’t over just because your Aura gives out. The battle’s only over when you’re dead, or the Grimm are.”

Glynda fought back a smile at that, simply nodding at Harry’s words as she gestured all four back to their seats.

“Okay, it has to be said. There is such a thing as too much gung-ho,” Apacci muttered, causing Mila to nod.

Tia shook her head. “No, there isn’t,” to which Nora and Pyrrha laughed.

Shaking her head, Yang hummed speculatively, staring at Harry as he walked up the stairs through half-lidded eyes. “I wonder if he’s as quick to recover in other ways…”

“YANG!” Weiss hissed. “Stop that.”

“I didn’t say anything dirty, princess. Where did your mind go?” Yang taunted, causing Weiss to clam up as Harry reached them, slipping into place between Pyrrha and Tia, who gave him a congratulatory head pat while Pyrrha was too busy trying to keep a blush off her face. Weiss wasn’t the only one whose mind had dived into the gutter.

The next several matches had many of the others in their group called down to fight random opponents. Weiss first fought a young man built along much the same lines as Nora, with an interesting kind of body stretching semblance, which, in Yang’s words, “Must make him really popular with the ladies.” But despite that, he wasn’t really able to put up much of a fight against the well-trained Weiss, who used her glyphs to force him out of the ring with ease.

Similarly, Mila found herself facing Ruby, only to be completely overwhelmed by the girl’s speed. Her hit-and-run tactics meant that Mila’s strength didn’t really count for much, and her Semblance, which she didn’t have the chance to use whatever it was, didn’t lend itself to defense as Tia’s did.

As for Blake, she was pinned up against Sung-Sun. That match was actually quite good. Sung-Sun’s speed and reaction time were almost on par with Harry’s, and she was able to dodge most of what Blake was trying to do, and her strategy almost succeeded, pushing Blake to almost topple off of the dais.

But then Blake used her Semblance to create a clone, substituting with it. In an instant, she turned the tables on Sung-Sun, and a second later, it was Sung-Sun who was knocked out of bounds, her Aura at sixty percent, whereas Blake’s was at forty.

“Well, at least the matches between our group haven’t been boring,” Apacci muttered.

Mila chuckled at that before Apacci paled as his name and Nora’s popped up.

What followed was a beatdown of epic proportions. Apacci was fast, he was agile, and he knew how to fight. But Nora was much the same, and Nora could also hit like a tank even without her grenades. It only took three blows to actually land to put Apacci into the orange, and then, he was hurled out of the arena as Nora punted him away, shouting, “Fore!”

Seconds later, she returned to the group, whistling cheerily. “Well, how about that, guys!?”

“Nora,” Ren said, holding his head in his hands. “Please try not to humiliate our acquaintances or friends?”

“Okey-dokey, Rennie,” Nora answered, saluting.

With a sigh, Ren went back to holding his face in his hands until it was his turn to be called.

He and another unknown youth fought, leaving only Pyrrha and Yang of their group to go.

This was deliberate on Goodwitch’s part. If anyone would have to be cut out of the combat rotation due to time, Goodwitch knew that Nikos would suffer the least from not knowing where she stood in relation to the rest of the class. But it did seem as if they would have time. And Xiao Long is perhaps one of only three other students who could possibly push Nikos… although what is Nikos’s Semblance? Seeing her fight without it should be interesting.

“Miss Nikos, Miss Xiao Long, I think we have time for one more match.”

Yang flipped herself up and over the guard rail, landing and rolling on the dais below before hopping to her feet, her arms thrust out in either direction. “Hell yes! Get down here, P-Money. Let’s see if you’re really all that!”

Pyrrha smiled pleasantly. “I accept the challenge.”

With that, she stood up, striding confidently down the row of chairs to the intersection that the to the classroom. As she went all background chatter, which had grown with each consecutive match, began to fall silent as the students simply watched her go.

Blake Belladonna stared after the redhead. Throughout the day, she had become aware of Pyrrha’s public face and something of the reality beneath. Before coming to Beacon, Blake had been aware of the legend of the Invincible Girl but had largely been dismissive of it. Legends were always men with feet of clay, in her opinion. Even after the amazing combat prowess Pyrrha had shown during initiation was not enough to make her change her mind about that. But now she watched the impact the other girl had on her fellow students and could only shake her head in awe at the looks of veneration everyone was giving the redheaded girl.

The level of recognition Pyrrha had was astonishing, and nearly every side conversation Blake could hear with her bound ears was betting on her winning easily. Even those who had heard Harry’s injunction on not using her Semblance.

Still, Blake knew full well which side of this fight she was on. “Go, Yang!” She and Ruby shouted while Weiss bit her knuckle, wondering how this was going to go.

Yang would lose. That wasn’t a question in her mind. It was how she was going to lose that was the question. “Don’t let yourself get humiliated,” she shouted.

Yang scowled up at her. “Great talk Weiss, really. Nice way to back up your team.”

This also earned her an elbow in the side from Ruby, but at that point, Pyrrha had reached the arena.

Turning to face Pyrrha, Yang bounced in place, throwing her arms up into the air and grinning cheerfully over at Pyrrha. “Pretty awesome that this happens right off the bat, huh, P-money? The match of the year happening on the first day.”

“I believe it is quite grand,” Pyrrha responded, smiling demurely, even as she whirled Milo to one side and crouched down, bringing her Akuo up in front of her. The shield was much larger than the one she had used in the arena. “Come then, Yang, let us show our friends and the rest of our classmates a show.”

Grumbling, Yang shook his head, throwing her arms out behind her as she crouched down. “Oh, I’m going to show you all I got, believe it!”

With a single swish of her riding crop, Goodwitch began the battle, and Yang darted forwards. Twin *BANGS* resounded from behind her as Yang used her shotgun blasts to thrust herself forward faster than she would have been able to move otherwise.

But Pyrrha was still able to react. Remaining in place for a second, Pyrrha targeted Yang’s legs causing her to stumble, although they didn’t do much damage to Yang. While no Arc, Yang had an impressive Aura reserve, and the rifle rounds barely made it go down a single percentage point.

Pyrrha dodged to one side as Yang resumed her charge, but Yang once more used her shotgun shells to redirect her charge this time. With her legs up off the ground, she moved even faster, closing the distance quickly.  Pyrrha dodged Yang’s first few blows, xiphos slicing out to impact Yang’s face, but Yang dodged at the last minute, hissing, “damn P-Money! What about the girl code! You do not go for the moneymaker, Aura or not!”

“Really? What part of you is the moneymaker again?” Pyrrha quipped, blocking Yang’s next blow with Akuo instead of dodging, then lashing out with a kick that caught Yang in the five. She pushed off of that contact, flipping up into a kick at Yang’s face, which the pugilist dodged. Nevertheless, Pyrrha was able to gain some distance, firing at Yang once more as her weapon turned back into its rifle form.

“Hah, got me there, I guess. After all, all of my body is a moneymaker!” Yang responded by trying to hit Pyrrha in midair with her shotgun shells. But Ember Celica, as amazing a weapon as it was, wasn’t exactly all that accurate, and Pyrrha had gained too much distance. She was practically across the arena already.

Yang scowled in irritation, then darted forward again, this time shooting at the ground for a moment with both of her shotgun shells, which caused a massive dust cloud to explode on impact, blocking the view of the watchers to what was going on in the arena, as well as hiding her from Pyrrha.

This time though, Pyrrha wasn’t staying still to wait out Yang’s charge. Instead, she darted forward, and when Yang charged into the smoke, she was met with a shield that smacked her blows out of the way and a spear that nearly smacked into her chest. She dodged at the very last second but couldn’t dodge the follow-on strike from Pyrrha’s sword as Milo shifted forms. Two hard strikes staggered Yang, depleting her reserves. But Yang landed a blow too, causing Pyrrha to back off slightly, and Yang instantly tried to take back some initiative, only for Pyrrha to prove far faster, redirecting her blows, until the head of her spear crashed into Yang’s face.

Yang’s hand lashed out upward, grabbing at Pyrrha’s weapon, only for Pyrrha to nearly lift her off her feet before a double-kick caught her, sending her skidding backward. Dammit! I knew Pyrrha’d be fast, but she can’t be as strong as me, right?

Instincts screaming, Yang backflipped then rolled away, dodging several more strikes, by which time most of the cloud had of smoke it disappeared. She lashed out upwards, again catching Pyrrha’s weapon, this time with one of her shotgun shells, the blast nearly smacking Milo out of Pyrrha’s hand.

But aware of Harry’s injunction to not use Semblance, Pyrrha kept a firm grip on her mecha-shifting weapon and blocked the next two strikes with her shield before going down low with her next hit, taking Yang’s feet out from under her. But Yang placed her hands above her head, landing on the ground with them first, pushing off into a kick that caught Pyrrha in the center of her chest, sending her stumbling.

Yang was then on her feet again and, with a flick of her wrists, shot out her spent shell casings, twirling in place and rearming her weapons from shells on her belt.

Once more, Pyrrha met Yang’s charge, using Milo and Akuo to deflect and shield block before Yang was in the other woman’s guard, her weapon pointed out a position. But then Pyrrha’s knee came up into Yang’s midsection, causing the air to blast out of her and another chunk of Aura to disappear from Yang’s screen, although far less than a hit from one of Pyrrha’s weapons would have taken. With Milo still out of position, Pyrrha hurled it aside to grab Yang by the shoulders, slamming her down into another knee to the face before Yang punched her away, but Pyrrha moved in the same direction as Milo, which she grabbed up, twirling in place, the weapon once more in javelin mode.

Then Yang was on her again. The blonde was relentless, shotgun shells exploding all around Pyrrha as she redirected strikes. Yang used her natural agility and strength to good effect, pressing Pyrrha hard, and she was able to keep up with Pyrrha whenever she tried to jump around. But Pyrrha still blocked or redirected her blows for the most part. One out of five got through, but in return, Pyrrha landed two out of every three. “Why…won’t… you… stand… still!?”

“Hah! Perhaps because I want to win and don’t like getting hit?” Pyrrha retorted.

“GRAAAH!!!” Yang howled, punching the arm holding Milo and finally landing a real blow with her shotgun blast, exploding the limb upwards.

Pyrrha moved with the momentum, flipping backward, and when Yang charged, Akuo came around edge-first, slamming into the side of Yang’s head. The blonde bomber stumbled to the side, growling as she righted herself. Then her eyes widened as she stared at a bit of yellow hair falling before her eyes.

“Oh no…” Ruby whimpered. “Yang, please… don’t…”

Ruby’s voice went unheard as Yang’s violet eyes turned red, and a fiery glow exploded from her, centered around her hair, which glowed with some kind of inner energy, looking almost like golden fire. “You monster! You cut my hair! No one touches the hair and lives to tell of it!”

With speed and strength she had yet to show, Yang closed the distance so fast Pyrrha could barely get her shield up in time. Akuo rang like a gong as Pyrrha gasped in pain, feeling her body leave the ground. Rolling in midair, Pyrrha barely got her feet under her once more before Yang was on her again. “RAGGGH!!! YANG SMASSHHH!!”

Grimacing, Pyrrha was pushed entirely on the defensive, each blow from Yang now pairing off her Aura even as Pyrrha tried to redirect them. She could feel Akuo start to give in places, and Milo’s gears were starting to grind as it shifted from javelin to sword. Thank goodness she already used all her shotgun shells. Still, now would be a great time to be able to use my semblance, but no… hmm… I think I have a handle on her style now.

Pyrrha kicked out experimentally and caught Yang in the leg, causing her attack to halt for a second. Pyrrha used this to leap upward, firing down at Yang as she got into the center of the ring. Yang roared and followed, closing once more, but now that she had room, Pyrrha dodged backward, still concentrating on defense,

In the audience there were some shocked looks going around at how well Yang was doing, but not as many as Harry might have thought. Evidently, Yang had a reputation here already for some reason. It looked like Yang was winning now, and more than one person was wondering if Pyrrha could pull it off.

But those who had an eye for the Aura screens could tell Pyrrha was still winning. Yang wasn’t landing any more blows than before. Indeed, she was landing less, and although deflecting Yang’s blows still took bites out of Pyrrha’s Aura, the redhead was still striking back occasionally, and while it was rare, she almost always hit.

Pyrrha’s being pushed harder than she probably has since her bout with Arturia, thanks to the no Semblance rule. And if that large smile she’s sporting is any indication, Pyrrha’s loving this, Harry reflected with a smile.

Again and again, Pyrrha took advantage of the fact that Yang wasn’t as quick to defend her legs as her body. This is a common error in most combatants since moving your legs out of the way of any attack is somewhat easy. But Yang was so furious she didn’t pull her legs out of the way of Pyrrha’s attacks when it would slow her down. But in turn, Pyrrha noticed something. Her hits are getting stronger!! Is that her Semblance being hit and being angry empowers her strength? What a distressingly annoying Semblance to deal with.

With that knowledge, Pyrrha again changed tactics, going for full-on dodging now by leaping upwards and over Yang. Yang was so furious she didn’t even think of reloading now, which would have been big trouble for Pyrrha. But Pyrrha was able to keep her distance bouncing around the area.

Yang was able to keep up with her, but her style once more started to suffer, and Yang’s situational awareness had already been gone. So when Yang overextended just a little too much, Pyrrha saw her chance. As Yang launched her next strike, her other arm was out of position, and Pyrrha dodged under and into her instead of away again. Her xiphos crashed into Yang’s side, sending her stumbling, as Pyrrha kicked her leg before rolling to one side.

Still off-balance, Yang turned and tried to strike her, but Pyrrha had already turned, launching Milo in javelin form point blank. The hit caught the still off-balance Yang, and her foot skidded out from under her and out of the arena. Yang fell to the floor beyond but then launched herself up back onto the arena.

“That is the match!” Goodwitch declared, her riding crop pointing at Yang, her telekinesis grabbing the girl and holding the berserk blonde in place.

Blinking, Yang slowly came back to herself. “What!? I can still go!”

“You might be able to still go, Miss Xiao Long, but you fell out of bounds. In tournament rules, as I mentioned, these matches were working under. That means you lose. There have been several such losses today, so I am at a loss as to why you still think you are in the match. Control yourself!” Glynda growled.

Yang blinked, then stared around, noting she was still on the edge of the arena. Her aura was at around eighty, while Pyrrha was below sixty-five. “I, I lost by a dinky ring out!?”

“I’m sorry! But you were doing quite well,” Pyrrha said apologetically, placing her weapons on her back. “Right up until you got too angry about your hair. Then your style suffered greatly, and I was able to capitalize eventually on your lack of situational awareness.”

“You know, I’d feel a lot better about this. If you were mean or arrogant or something. You just beat me without using your semblance, and you’re just being too damn nice to be annoyed by it,” Yang muttered, shaking her head and moving forward to shake Pyrrha’s hand. “But I’ll still get back for my hair. When you least expect it, when you think you’re safe, Yang will be there. My vengeance will be swift and punny.”

Pyrrha giggled at that, and the two of them walked off the stage, heading up to the auditorium seats. She slid back into her chair next to Harry, looking at him expectantly, her jade eyes still snapping with an inner fire. “Well, what did you think?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Harry quipped, shaking his head. “You did great. Yang did good too, but yeah, you outsmarted her for sure.”

“Damn me with faint praise, why don’t you,” Yang grumbled, shaking her head as her team patted her on the back consolingly bar Weiss, who was simply shaking her head, very obviously thinking that it should have been obvious who would win the match from the get-go.

Harry wasn’t so sure. Yang had pushed Pyrrha hard, and if she had hit Pyrrha away from her weapon that one time, the battle would have turned against her quickly. That was the most important part of the fight. If Pyrrha had infuriated Yang to the point her Semblance activated after that with only Akuo, that would have been very, very bad. “Did you push yourself is the most important question.”

Pyrrha nodded eagerly at that, looking over at Yang. “Yang is an exceptionally good opponent. I think she would’ve gotten into the semi-finals in the Mistral Tournament. And fighting her without her Semblance was a challenge.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Yang grumbled, rolling her eyes and leaning back in her chair in mock despair. “And there I was getting my rage on, and all that did was let you beat me easier.”

“I’m sorry,” Pyrrha answered, apologizing once more. “But perhaps you should look into further meditation or calming exercises? Using your rage in battle is one thing. Losing yourself to it another.”

Yang rolled her eyes, but Ruby answered for her. “Yang’s been taking anger management classes for as long as I can remember. It’s helped her focus a lot, but control, that’s a different story.”

“Is that about her style, her Semblance, or just life in general?” Blake quipped.

That caused Yang to gasp, and she threw her arm around her partner’s shoulder. “Traitor! Feel the Noogie of Redemption. Turn back from your evil Nikos-loving ways!”

Blake stiffened and tried to get away, but her secret would have been up if not for a sudden snapping noise from below, causing all of them to flinch. Yang hastily pulled her arm back, her eyes widening slightly as her fingers trailed over the top of Blake’s bow and felt something move underneath her touch. What the…

“If you all are quite done interrupting my class!” Goodwitch growled, and Yang threw that idea out the window for later, saluting with the rest of her team as team Anvil apologized.

“Now, you will all receive emails with my thought based on your performances today. We will continue to have one-on-one matches like this in three out of four classes for the first semester. After that, we will start work on team tactics, team or squad-based and specific battle scenarios against Grimm, while continuing one-on-one matches every other class.”

Pyrrha winced, shaking her head as she looked at Harry, asking dryly, “So should I continue to fight in those matches without my Semblance, or will you determine a handicap of each one individually?”

Harry chuckled, thinking that he and Tia were already a bad influence on Pyrrha. There was no way that Pyrrha would’ve ever been the type to have a side conversation while the teacher was speaking before meeting the two Arcs. “Individually, I think.”

“I expect you on Friday to show some improvement on the points I will have laid out for you in the email. If you cannot, expect demerits, at the very least, and if I feel you have been particularly lazy, that will be the least of your troubles. Class dismissed.”

End Chapter

This chapter was supposed to cover the first week at least. I wanted to get a lot of the school-centric stuff out of the way. And although this entire chapter deals with just a single day, I feel I did that. I wanted to show everything leading up to Pyrrha’s first date, then the issues that came from it. Here though, given how busy everyone is, it lets me put that off a bit so that if it turns limey, then it won’t seem as out of character.

So despite it not being the chapter it should have been, I hope you enjoyed this. And sorry for how mistake-ridden the initial post was.