As much as I would love to poke our nose in Oz's business even more, let's be a persona protagonist for a bit and get those sweet sweet social links.
[X] Reject Curiosity, Embrace Gluttony- you'd been sweating bullets in that shop class after Naia fired up the forge to start making new studs for his club- if nothing else, you could really do with a drink. But really, you just wanna settle down, get some food, and talk to your friends, and maybe the friends you haven't met yet. Besides, the cable isn't going anywhere… it's, a cable. They're hardly the most ambulatory of creatures.
[X] Reject Curiosity, Embrace Gluttony- you'd been sweating bullets in that shop class after Naia fired up the forge to start making new studs for his club- if nothing else, you could really do with a drink. But really, you just wanna settle down, get some food, and talk to your friends, and maybe the friends you haven't met yet. Besides, the cable isn't going anywhere… it's, a cable. They're hardly the most ambulatory of creatures.
[X] Reject Curiosity, Embrace Gluttony- you'd been sweating bullets in that shop class after Naia fired up the forge to start making new studs for his club- if nothing else, you could really do with a drink. But really, you just wanna settle down, get some food, and talk to your friends, and maybe the friends you haven't met yet. Besides, the cable isn't going anywhere… it's, a cable. They're hardly the most ambulatory of creatures.
I imagine that there are reasons why this is a mandatory class. It is not all about personal skill, but also understanding weapons in general and the limits and requirements. Hunts are generally a group activity, so knowing about, and being able to assist with, your allies' weaponry is valuable. Not to mention the possibility that special occasions might require special measures. Literal magic is a thing, so the possibility exists that even The Transistor and Process might meet explicit and effective countermeasures beyond high-yield E.M.P. spam that would meet the unfortunate implications of the the targets being more heavily E.M.P. shielded than the human brain is, but grim might not care until it is strong enough to literally melt their flesh. For other people, they will generally have strengths and flaws to their weapon, and sometimes you just really really need, say, reach, or deep puncturing, or something to cut swarms of tendrils... which is a reason for teams that can cover a broad ranger of specialities, but it still helps to have a detailed understanding of more than just your own skills.
(Not sure if the cut off is 8pm east coast or west coast, but either way I just wanted to put my choice out there.)
I'd say go to the cafeteria, the cable isn't going anywhere and I'd rather get a bit more settled in before, as others have put it, Harry Pottering it. Plus close bonds are always critical, social links > maybe plot, at least at this time. That won't necessarily always be the case, but being able to rely on and trust others is pretty important for when we do need their help/they need our help, and while we can pretty much already do that for our team getting closer to RWBY would help as well.
Excellent chapter, I've said it before but the characterization is arguably the best part and we got a ton of that plus two new interesting characters, not to mention an important goal for improvement. Looking forward to the next update! (And yeah, I think the restriction for upgrading the Transistor is more than reasonable. Feels very game-like, but not in a bad way, more in a "I'm the DM and I want you to have fun and experiment, not curbstomp and stick to one system" kind of way. Cleverness = good, pure Munchkinning = boring)
That's curious. Ruby knows about a historical figure? I suppose Summer Rose told her tales from history on occasion or this professor was mentioned in multiple Mechashift Armaments & The Hands of Heroes volumes. (Do you think the cancer beam will work through this professor's semblance?)
Moving on! We're going to see older students eventually. Any of them that share Jaune's lunch period are unlikely to tolerate anti-Faunus bullying. Would anyone be interested in getting Jaune involved in Cardin's defense if Cardin is inappropriately punished by a fellow student? Ex- using Dust to physically separate him from a victim, giving him a semblance-based curse, or destroying his property.
That's curious. Ruby knows about a historical figure? I suppose Summer Rose told her tales from history on occasion or this professor was mentioned in multiple Mechashift Armaments & The Hands of Heroes volumes.
To be fair, this is a guy whose Semblance is "I'm a Geist". With how ridiculously overpowered that is, AND the fact he's some kind of war hero, it's a bigger surprise that Jaune hasn't heard of him before. It's also slightly worrying, that someone with a publicly-known Semblance that effectively makes them invincible isn't a bigger deal. It implies that such a thing isn't unique, and that implies that our enemies could have abilities on the same scale.
[X] Reject Curiosity, Embrace Gluttony- you'd been sweating bullets in that shop class after Naia fired up the forge to start making new studs for his club- if nothing else, you could really do with a drink. But really, you just wanna settle down, get some food, and talk to your friends, and maybe the friends you haven't met yet. Besides, the cable isn't going anywhere… it's, a cable. They're hardly the most ambulatory of creatures.
That secret basement is not going anywhere and I feel we should have our talk with Ozpin beforehand.
I imagine that there are reasons why this is a mandatory class. It is not all about personal skill, but also understanding weapons in general and the limits and requirements. Hunts are generally a group activity, so knowing about, and being able to assist with, your allies' weaponry is valuable. Not to mention the possibility that special occasions might require special measures. Literal magic is a thing, so the possibility exists that even The Transistor and Process might meet explicit and effective countermeasures beyond high-yield E.M.P. spam that would meet the unfortunate implications of the targets being more heavily E.M.P. shielded than the human brain is, but grim might not care until it is strong enough to literally melt their flesh. For other people, they will generally have strengths and flaws to their weapon, and sometimes you just really really need, say, reach, or deep puncturing, or something to cut swarms of tendrils... which is a reason for teams that can cover a broad ranger of specialities, but it still helps to have a detailed understanding of more than just your own skills.
That's curious. Ruby knows about a historical figure? I suppose Summer Rose told her tales from history on occasion or this professor was mentioned in multiple Mechashift Armaments & The Hands of Heroes volumes. (Do you think the cancer beam will work through this professor's semblance?)
The latter, most likely- Ruby is to Huntsmen and Huntress's weaponry as a large chunk of Twitter is to K-Pop stars. Er, the less horny part of that demographic, anyway.
... Alright even in my head that one's a solid maybe- anyway, yeah, pretty much all of her information on Huntsmen and Huntresses are just subcategories for information on their weapons and what they can do. She picks up a lot on osmosis alone, especially since Huntsmen and Huntresses do gain some measure of fame over time, which, you know, being the oldest living soul on record who has survived and fought in two wars despite not having a physical form anymore- pretty darn famous after a while.
Even setting that aside, Mulberry is pretty distinctive- even assuming it was just something she'd read in passing at some point, he was going to set off alarm bells sooner or later. As for why you didn't recognise him, the simple answer is that you've just never heard of him- Colour War war heroes have never been an interest of yours, and, unfortunately, your grandfather passed before you were really old enough for any of his stories. Even if you had, I mean, right up until his head got blown off, he was just a guy in a suit of armour.
Then he thoroughly demonstrated that he was a guy, in a suit of armour.
First, in order for the Transistor to create its own soul, it probably has to disconnect from Jaune's. Otherwise it's trying to stuff a soul into something that technically reads as already having one by dint of Jaune running his soul through it, which is likely to have negative consequences ranging anywhere from "nothing happens, no room for new soul to form" to "two souls trying to occupy same space creates soul equivalent of nuclear detonation."
Second, it might be worth getting some lab rats to observe from conception to death in order to get a better picture of what the formation, existence, and dissolution of a soul looks like.
[X] Follow The Lightning- You'll admit- you're not wholly free of Blue and Bracket's prime vice yourself. Besides, it's just following a cable- it shouldn't take that long, anyway. Even so, you probably won't have enough time to get anything substantial from the food hall, let alone relax with people.
[X] Reject Curiosity, Embrace Gluttony- you'd been sweating bullets in that shop class after Naia fired up the forge to start making new studs for his club- if nothing else, you could really do with a drink. But really, you just wanna settle down, get some food, and talk to your friends, and maybe the friends you haven't met yet. Besides, the cable isn't going anywhere… it's, a cable. They're hardly the most ambulatory of creatures.
[X] Follow The Lightning- You'll admit- you're not wholly free of Blue and Bracket's prime vice yourself. Besides, it's just following a cable- it shouldn't take that long, anyway. Even so, you probably won't have enough time to get anything substantial from the food hall, let alone relax with people.
[X] Reject Curiosity, Embrace Gluttony- you'd been sweating bullets in that shop class after Naia fired up the forge to start making new studs for his club- if nothing else, you could really do with a drink. But really, you just wanna settle down, get some food, and talk to your friends, and maybe the friends you haven't met yet. Besides, the cable isn't going anywhere… it's, a cable. They're hardly the most ambulatory of creatures.
Moving on! We're going to see older students eventually. Any of them that share Jaune's lunch period are unlikely to tolerate anti-Faunus bullying. Would anyone be interested in getting Jaune involved in Cardin's defense if Cardin is inappropriately punished by a fellow student? Ex- using Dust to physically separate him from a victim, giving him a semblance-based curse, or destroying his property.
Given the level of roughhousing accepted amongst Beacon students and staff (Yang got thrown hundreds of feet into the air during a food fight), using Dust to remove him from a victim might not be over the line. That said, I'm a big fan of "talk shit, get hit", so if he wants to pick a fight with, say, Coco Adel over Velvet and get his armor caved in just shy of doing the same to his chest... Sucks to suck?
You admit to yourself that your curiosity about the cable is quite overpowering- there's a definite urge to follow it and see where it goes, something almost childlike demanding you go on the obvious adventure- then your stomach grumbles with far more insistence than last time, and monkey brain wins out over inner child.
"Sorry, Blue. Looks like stomach wins this round."
{Well, it's not like it's going anywhere, I guess. C'mon, let's go and shut your gut up before you attract a beluga or something.}
You snort, tell him to shut up, then move along to catch up with the group.
Ascending the stairs to Beacon proper, you find a surprise in the form of your team and RWBY, just sort of milling about just outside.
"Hey, where've you been?" Yang asks. "We've been waiting for almost ten minutes."
"What did you talk to Mulberry about?" Ada asks.
You blink, still processing the fact that you're not alone, and it takes you a moment to answer.
"Uh, nothing big, just, talking about the Transistor," you tell them, piquing at least three interests, and probably more.
"Well tell us more about it at lunch- c'mon, I'm starving!" Creme says, just about bouncing on the balls of her feet as she walks.
People take that as their cue, and the procession begins, the eight of you moving through the halls, chatting about, whatever.
Somewhere along the way, you realise that this is probably the first time anyone's waited for you after class. It's…
It's kinda nice.
Once you've made it back to your lockers, and 8 of 9 weapons (or 10 of 11 depending on how pedantic you're feeling about paired weapons) are stashed away for safekeeping. Yang takes special care that her gauntlets are unloaded this time, much to the relief of everyone around her.
While it does somewhat grate that you have to admit it- Mulberry's demonstration was effective.
"Hey, uh, Jaune?" she says.
You turn and see she'd shuffled up next to you while you were putting Zero Hour away, and it takes some effort to not immediately jump back when you realise how close she got without you hearing her.
Proximity warning, much?
{Jaune, you turned that off months ago. You got sick of it just walking around your own home.}
… Oh, yeah.
"Hm?"
"I, uh, just wanted to say thanks. I appreciate not starting my first semester at Beacon by ending it with a cracked skull."
You blink, that fuzzy warmth of gratitude welling up in your chest as you try to think of something to say.
"It's no problem."
Yang grins, her hand coming up to rub the back of her neck- you don't think your response surprised her all that much.
"Wow, you're really that casual about saving someone's hide, aren't you?" she jokes.
You can't help but shrug at her, genuinely a little unsure what response she's looking for.
"I wasn't gonna let you or Ruby concuss yourselves. And, I guess I didn't trust anyone else to get to you fast enough."
"Trusted Blake," she points out. "The last thing I heard before I passed out was you yelling at her to catch Ruby."
You spot Blake out of the corner of your eye, and the Transistor sequesters a view of her to a small box, letting you observe her in greater detail.
For a second, you think she might not be paying attention, then you realise her bow is perked up.
… You could fuck with her big-timeright now-
"... Yeah, well, Blake was fast enough," you tell her, closing the locker. "More importantly, she was still listening."
With that, you walk off, observing Blake from her little corner in your eye the entire time.
You can't be entirely sure you understand her reaction, but it's somewhere between confusion, paranoia, and…
Yep, that's… just the tiniest bit of blush.
Goddammit, why can't people pick one side of the emotional spectrum and stick to it-
|||
The dining hall is huge- and that's coming from someone who's been inside Beacon's library. The hall stretches a good two hundred metres from one end to the other, four massive tables and eight equally massive benches dominating the length of it, one corner of the massive room dedicated to the serving area and the kitchen behind it. It's too far to check with the Transistor, but you're pretty sure that's Chef Splot on the other side, what with the hat and the beard net.
Everyone grabs their lunch- you grab what appears to be some boneless chicken thighs in a thin pepper and cream sauce if you believe your nose, and some pasta to go with it, and a couple bottles of water just to deal with your parched throat- and settles down at a table- sticking you between Ada and Ruby, the tiniest girls you know, and meaning you don't need to worry too much about your elbows.
The chicken is wonderful- the skin is still crispy, despite sitting in sauce for who knows how long, it tastes very, for lack of a better word, chickeny, and the sauce has the kind of kick you were hoping it would- and you end up finishing it quite quickly, just leaving the pasta to mop up what's left of the sauce with.
"Good, huh?" Creme says, only halfway through her serving of some kind of curry, some white rice and torn naan serving as sides and utensil.
Ada took the same dish and seems to be struggling quite badly with its spiciness if the tears in her eyes are any sign.
"Very," you say, refusing to be ashamed of being an efficient eater. "Actually, it reminds me a lot of something my sister used to make."
… Come to think of it, it's… almost the exact same recipe Jools made. Less pepper, maybe, but…
{Guess her fight addiction wasn't the only thing she brought back from Beacon.}
Mm.
"I have a question," Blake says, between nibbles of a tuna sandwich grabbed from the fridge section, "how did you know Yang or Ruby were about to faint? I was right next to them, and I didn't realise they were about to pass out."
Uh oh.
"Yeah, actually, I noticed that too- the Transistor just kinda tapped you on the shoulder, and then you were off like a greyhound," Lumen says, looking over at you.
Lumen you bastard why would you jump in on this-
"Alright, alright, enough with the third degree," Creme says. "Look at him, he's ready to bolt."
"S-sorry," you say.
"Touchy subject?" Yang asks you quietly.
"No, no, uh… just, not something I'm good at explaining."
You take a moment, and a swig of water, trying to boil down Turn()'s stage one into something that can be explained to the average 8-year old.
"I can, um… move my thought processes onto the Transistor, which speeds them up by, uh, a lot, to the point, where, time basically stops for me. I had about five minutes to, get over the shock of Mulberry blowing his head off, and to plan my route through the crowd before his helmet even hit the ground. The only catch is I need to actually be touching the Transistor for it to work because it needs a direct connection to my nervous system to pull that off."
"Is that Turn, or whatever you called it?" Ada asks, and you must let something through on your face because she just smirks at you. "Hey, I can sometimes pay attention."
She would look a lot smugger if she wasn't turning red from the heat of her meal.
"It's… sort of the precursor, to Turn(). Turn() is the next step, of, actual time dilation, but that's... a whole other can of worms."
"So you can just speed up your brain whenever you want to, no strings attached?" Blake asks. "I'm a little envious, I won't lie."
"O-oh, no, plenty of strings attached- if I do it too often, or too long, the snap back to using an actual human brain is, um… bad."
"Nauseous bad?" Ruby asks.
"Extreme neurological disorder bad. Nerves can only transmit signals so fast, especially compared to the Transistor, so… it's, better I don't get too used to the faster one. It's like going from a racing car to, an old horse and cart."
You remember the last time you thought that Turn() had no strings attached- you still have chills in your fingers sometimes from it.
You notice Weiss staring at her fruit bowl, a mild look of unfocus on her face; like she's remembering something else.
{Well, you did use Turn() in front of her. Hell, you used it on her- if she doesn't put two and two together, I'll be surprised.}
That's… when did you-
Oh. Right.
… Fuck, that was basically a week ago, wasn't it?
{Six days, give or take a couple of hours.}
God.
That's… yeah, okay, she remembers, then.
You should probably check up on her at some point, right?
{Couldn't hurt. If nothing else, you two get along just fine.}
Well. Another thing for the to-do list, then. Wonderful.
{Oh, heads up, the guy you almost got into a fight with yesterday is coming up.}
What, where?
{Other side, just passing Creme.}
You watch as the same boy from yesterday-
{Again, Dove.}
You will remember his name when he damn well earns it, Dove, walks past Creme, tray in hand, before stumbling on something, and doing something to draw a pained yelp from her.
The rest of the table jumps back a little as she bites back a string of downright sulphurous curses, while Dove tries desperately to save his lunch. Once he does and turns around to check on her, he looks every bit the poster boy for shock and remorse.
"Creme!? What happened!?" Ruby asks her, her voice panicked.
"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry," he says, "I just lost my footing, and- are you alright?"
"Nothing, it's nothing, he just caught my tail between his leg and the bench," Creme grinds out, "argh, don't curse, you're in public-"
She scrunches her face up, slowly curling in on herself as she processes the pain.
"Are you sure you're alright?" he asks, his concern still sounding genuine.
"It's fine, just, think stubbing your toe, you really gotta take a minute."
She could not be less convincing, at that moment.
"I'm, really sorry, again," Dove says. "Perhaps, you should consider tucking it in? This is a pretty crowded place, and if it had been someone heavier than me... well, it might break pretty badly."
"Maybe you should consider watching where you're going," Ada snaps, only just beating out Blake and yourself for the title of first person to tell him where he can shove it.
There. It's not even a second, barely a microexpression, but his eyes flick to her for a second, and the mask of well-meaning but misguided idiot slips away for just an instant, replaced with…
Nothing. It's the blandest look you've ever seen on a human face- you might as well be looking into a porcelain mask. Then it's back again- that easygoing smile, his eyebrows and free hand raised in placation.
"Hey, I tripped on my own feet- it was an accident, really," he says, but there's a certain insistence to it that wasn't there before.
"Ada," Creme says gently, pulling her head off the table, "it's fine."
She turns to Dove, giving him a downright sweet smile, completely at odds with the pained tears in her eyes.
"Thank you," she says, to your surprise. "I'll think about your advice, okay?"
It seems to catch Dove off-guard- you watch him grind to a halt for a moment before he smiles at her, and it might have passed as just a goofy little grin of gratitude if you weren't looking at his eyes.
"Well, see you in, erm, whatever class we have next," he says, before walking off to sit with his team. They start to talk, he says something, then Cardin and the one with the dumb haircut laugh.
Sky, you note, doesn't seem to find whatever he said very funny at all.
Back over in people you care about land, Creme deflates for his passing- a sigh of relief leaving her as she curls up again, eyes still watering with pain.
"You okay?" Yang asks, placing an arm around her shoulders.
After a deep breath, Creme straightens, trying her best to look okay.
"My tail's still aching, but besides that," she says, "I'm just glad we got rid of him."
Creme snorts with derision, shaking her head a little.
"'Hide my tail-' can you believe him? I know some people mean well, but… geez," she sighs, settling on honest frustration by the end of it.
"Um," Ruby starts, a nervous quiver in her voice, "I-I don't actually see what's wrong with that advice it seems honestly kinda, practical? I mean this is a crowded area and these floors don't really have great grip even before spillages, so even just, bunching your tail up and not letting it droop off the bench seems like it would work? I'm sorry am I missing something really really bad here?"
Creme giggles, waving off the younger girl's ramblings.
"Ruby, when people tell Faunus to hide their Faunus parts, that's generally their way of saying 'don't look like a Faunus if you don't want something bad to happen.'"
A few gears skip in Ruby's head as she comes to a very uncomfortable revelation.
"... Ohhh. Oh… Oh."
… You feel a little bad, now. You had absolutely nothing to do with that, and it still feels like you watched a little bit of innocence die.
Creme winces again, reaching back to massage her poor tail.
"Want me to take a look at it? Could be he actually did some damage," you offer, immediately dying a little on the inside when you remember some of the things you've talked to Creme about and how badly that can be construed.
Just as you predicted, she raises an eyebrow at you, and you have to fight to keep the flush off your cheeks before it's noticed by anyone else.
"Sure, I think we've got time."
|||
Thankfully, Creme hadn't actually had anything too bad done to her tail; it was just developing a respectable bruise around its circumference. Nothing that wouldn't heal up in a day or two, but it would make sitting rather awkward for the rest of the day.
After a few experimental flicks and sways that definitely wasn't her fucking with you, she seemed satisfied with your diagnosis, choosing to just take a painkiller and go about her day. By the time the two of you are finished playing doct- by the time you are done with your pro bono medical examination, lunch is over and you both have to rush to basically opposite ends of the school to your next class.
You arrive in the lecture hall at speed, just about catching yourself on the doorway before you pitch yourself down the stairs like a badly-aimed early dream of mankind.
"Mr Arc," Professor Goodwitch starts, not looking away from the blackboard she's cleaning as thoroughly as possible, "you're five minutes late."
"Sorry," you puff, the exertion finally catching up with you, "I was, in the dorms, a-a friend hurt her tail and she wanted me to make sure it wasn't anything serious-"
"Let me rephrase- you're only five minutes late. I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I'd rather you not break your neck on the stairs trying to get here on time. Now please sit down, you look like you've tried to sprint a marathon," she explains, an amused smile on her face.
Oh.
… You don't, really have anything to say to that, so you just sit down.
Glancing around, you don't see everyone who's signed up- Weiss, in the front row of the class, notepad and pen at the ready of course, Rashmi and Naia all sat near enough to chat, and around the middle, Sky Lark, looking just a little troubled.
{So, the boys, your potential girlfriend, or the only decent person on CRDL?}
You almost feel like you should pick anyone other than Weiss just to spite him, but that would hardly be fair on her.
In the end, you just pull yourself into the nearest seat before your legs give out- that was a long sprint, with no warmup or cooldown. The conversation quickly comes to a halt, drowned out by the sound of chalk tapping and scraping across a blackboard, before Goodwitch turns to gaze over the class.
"Welcome to Glyphcraft 101," she starts. "Allow me to make one thing clear- this class is not going to be easy, but more importantly, it is going to be slow. If you were to take this elective every semester for the next four years, by the end of it, I would expect you to be able to create something on par with that blue flame I created yesterday. This is not a discipline for the impatient, and it is not a discipline for the imprecise. If that does not sound like your cup of tea, well, the door is right there."
She glances over the class, her face like stone, gauging the reactions of her audience- once she's satisfied that nobody is looking to bolt, she relaxes, if just a fraction.
"Well, we have a lot to get through and not much time to get through it in, so let's begin- firstly, we will be exploring the history of Glyphcraft, its inception, and how it developed throughout the years, combined with more contemporary work, covering the mechanics involved in it, and then we shall end the semester with a practical test."
Weiss raises her hand, first at speed, then slowing as she restrains her enthusiasm.
"Miss Schnee."
"What will the practical test consist of?"
"Over the course of one hour, you will be expected to create a complete glyph ring, that I will then test myself, both for the sake of safety, and because I do honestly doubt anyone in this class will be able to manipulate their Aura that well within the next 6 weeks, with the exception of Mr Abha and Mr Arc."
You instinctively shrink into yourself when you suddenly feel three pairs of eyes on you, before forcing it down and sitting up.
"You two did take Professor Peach's Aura Arts elective, yes?"
"U-um, yes, I did. It seemed, interesting."
Wait, why are you trying to defend your choice? She just said it would help you advance in this class.
"It is, believe me- Peach and I met during the Aura Arts elective when we both attended Beacon," Professor Goodwitch tells you, only just catching herself from wasting time reminiscing on the past, instead turning to one of the other blackboards, writing up a title, and continuing to lecture as she fills it out.
"Now- almost everything we know on the subject of Glyphcraft can be traced back to one man and his texts- by the name, of, Piranesi- born, going by modern calendars, somewhere around 4000 B.T. Everything known about Glyphcraft as both art and science can be traced back to him- whether he invented it or is merely the sole author that survived, we cannot tell."
Your eyes raise, both at the realisation that you've heard that name before, and at the timeframe you're looking at when it comes to this discipline.
Almost 5200 years ago, that's…
{The Kingdom that came before the Kingdom that came before Vale.}
Yeah.
On a hunch, you decide to raise your hand and confirm your suspicions.
"Mr Arc?"
"Is this the same Piranesi that wrote On The Souls Of Grimm?"
Professor Goodwitch schools her face very well- the only sign of any surprise regarding your question is a blink and the way the tendons in her neck tense ever so slightly.
"... Yes, it is. Piranesi's most famous works lie in the realm of Glyphcraft, of course, but he wrote hundreds of texts throughout his life, on just about any topic one could imagine. From experimenting with magic circles to positing that Grimm are alive and experience the world in the same qualitative way humans and Faunus do, to complaining about the sudden rise in the price of fish, and devising a way to farm them instead of forcing sailors to brave Grimm-filled oceans for their haul."
"Wait, are you saying this guy invented fish farming?" Sky asks, frowning deeply in his confusion.
"He theorised about it, at length. He was less a man of many talents and more a man of one incredibly broad talent," Goodwitch replies, her lips quirking up in a little smirk at her own joke. "Now, the reason I bring him up is twofold- one, he is the primary source of all knowledge we currently have on the subject, and two, Beacon is one of the few places where his body of work on Glyphcraft is available in a fully uncensored fashion. As a matter of fact, we are the only place on Remnant with access to his original works, besides the Jade Mountain of course..."
Goodwitch begins to lecture on the history of Piranesi's work, and as you pull out keywords and books to check out later, you find yourself wondering how the others are doing. You don't really know what Lumen and Ada are up to right now, or if they're up to anything, but you're pretty sure Creme's in CQC training right now.
How's that going, you wonder?
|||
The gathered students met Ozpin in a normal classroom, after which they'd been ushered out into one of the cloistered gardens, dotted around Beacon- spots of green throughout the building, with a few seats and gazebos placed throughout to allow people to settle in and enjoy the outside without venturing all the way out to the downright labyrinthian garden that Groundskeeper Forn kept, or out to the airship docks to watch the Elden go by.
The sun is shining down through the narrow opening above, leaving the air warm, and just a little humid.
You glance at the others in the class- taking in everyone else who figured this class was something worth being curious about. Haru, you expected, Yang as well- the two odd ones out for you are Leathers and Ruby.
From her moaning and groaning, you know that Yang basically bullied her into attending this class, only to then bully her into taking the gunmanship elective with her.
Leathers, you… have no real good reason to understand why he's here. Last you checked, he wasn't much of a melee combatant, beyond occasionally bonking someone on the head if they happened to get close enough. You… suppose he could just be here for the barney, but still…
The most concerning of the lot is Kapila, that Vacuoni girl with the beautiful tattoos on her hands- she's been anxious as all hell ever since she turned up, arms crossed, one leg tapping away as she worries away at her lip, slowly chewing it raw- you have no idea what's up with her, but you weren't raised to ignore people in obvious distress.
So, you sidle up to her, when you have the chance, and just kind of… ask, you guess.
"Hey, uh, Kapila, right? You okay, honey? 'Cos, you're gonna hurt your lip something awful, you keep gnawing at it like that."
Kapila glances at you, then down, as if only just noticing what she's doing, and finally stopping gnawing on her lip.
"... My skin is unused to Vale's cold, and the winds. It is drying my lips out."
"That why you're tryna chew your lip in half?" you ask her, trying your best to make it obvious that you don't believe her.
She huffs, but it's not directed at you, you think- more like she's deliberating telling you something, and you choose to not interrupt her thinking.
"... This is… the longest I have not been beside Rashmi's side in years. I'm… worried, I suppose."
You raise an eyebrow at that. You'll admit that you had a small list of ideas on why she was so antsy, but separation anxiety wasn't up there.
"Why you worried? Beacon's safe enough."
"Lord Ab-" she starts, before cringing and correcting herself, "Rashmi, is… not an attentive person."
"Think he'll get lost?"
"I have watched him, on more than one occasion, come to a closed door and forget to open it before trying to walk through. He broke his nose doing this as a child."
You can't help it- you giggle, and the downright murderous look Kapila gives you only makes them worse.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, he just- he sounds like my brother."
Once you get over your sudden giggle fit, you do acknowledge that the girl does seem to be in genuine distress over this, and figure you should probably help her.
"Okay, do you know what elective he's in right now?"
You watch her brow furrow as she wrestles with the Valish language in her head for a moment.
"I, do not know this word- circles and lines, with odd symbols around the edges. The Goodwitch professor was manning the table."
Realisation sparks in your eyes.
"Oh, Glyphcraft! Yeah, Jaune's in that class. Do you want me to text him, ask him to keep an eye on him after class?"
"Will he do this?" Kapila asks, her voice somewhere between suspicion and surprise.
"Sure, if I explain- he's pretty good about that kinda thing. So- you want me to do it?"
Again, you see her start to chew it over in her head, weighing pros and cons, before finally, silently nodding. With her blessing, you pull out your Scroll and shoot off a message to Jaune, asking him to keep an eye on Kapila's… whatever Rashmi is to her, you're not one to theorise. Hopefully, he'll see it before the end of class.
Kapila smiles, finally relaxing a little.
"Thank you. I feel a little ashamed, burdening you with my problems when I cannot even remember your name."
"I'm Creme, and it's no problem- if I'd let you be, you'd probably have chewed yourself a new lip piercing."
She giggles.
"Thank you, Creme."
You talk a little more, you find out that she wasn't lying about the cold doing her lips some bother, and promise to get her some lip balm. While all that's happening, Ozpin is quietly working away, clearing the garden of anything that might get become an obstacle, moving it all out into the cloisters.
"Um… I'm not, the only one a little uncomfortable with this, right?" Ruby says, watching Ozpin as he shifts a particularly well-made bench out of the way, muttering something about Professor Goodwitch under his breath.
"Hey, I took gunmanship, you took unarmed combat training, that was the deal," Yang tells her, for the fourth time in ten minutes.
"No, no, it's just… it's Ozpin teaching us! He might be the greatest Huntsman ever but he's like, 70 years old, I don't wanna end up hurting him!" Ruby hisses under her breath, trying to keep from being overheard by the man himself.
Yang pauses at that, frowning gently with concern as she realises what her sister is talking about.
"I have to agree with Ruby," Kapila says. "I am surprised he teaches this class directly, at such an advanced age."
"Well, he must be pretty confident in his ability to not get hurt, if he's doing it himself," you chime in.
"Indeed, Miss Daylaw!" Ozpin calls from the other side of the garden, placing a bench upright against one of the walls. And you suspect, for some reason you can't quite put your finger on, out of harm's way.
The sudden acknowledgement from the person you are talking about draws a terrified squeak out of Ruby, while Kapila simply looks straight ahead, a slight blush of embarrassment in her cheeks. Ozpin turns from his impromptu landscaping, and walks into the centre of the garden, pulling his neckerchief and jacket off, casually folding them up and tossing the pile to the side, sailing through the air and landing near the upturned bench.
"I understand," he begins unbuttoning his vest, "that some of you may see me, in my advanced age, and think me fragile."
Kapila's blush deepens at the light jab. Ozpin pulls the vest off, folds it as well, and lands it directly on top of the growing pile of overwear without so much as a glance.
You can feel your stomach start to sink into your boots, as Ozpin begins to crack his knuckles, then flicks his neck from side to side, very rapidly limbering up, his apparent age melting off his frame as he readies himself.
"This first class is designed to disabuse you of that notion in its entirety. Today, there will be no formal instruction- you will fight me, as a group, until either I, or you, cannot stand."
You watch as he drops into a low stance, a fist coming up so fast that the short cuff of his jade-green formal shirt still snaps in the air, a sound like a whip cracking, echoing off the walls of the suddenly too-small garden.
"Now. Who's first?"
|||
… Eh, she's probably fine.
Your class whizzes by, all things told, and you end up learning a lot- though most of it was just expanding on what Goodwitch showed you yesterday.
Aura is, once several thousand years of mysticism around it is dispelled, and several thousand years of science are applied to it, just a form of energy that humans create and manipulate. Aura is also an incredibly versatile form of energy, changing to suit whatever purpose its user needs, given the right formation to take.
You also learned something interesting about Weiss, after a little preliminary experimentation with Goodwitch- Schnee glyphs, her Semblance, do resemble glyphs, mind-numbingly complex ones, even, but…
"You have no idea what any of it means?" Goodwitch asks, sounding genuinely curious.
"No, ma'am."
Goodwitch hums, staring at the summoned glyphs for a moment, taking in the details.
"... The design is unique, certainly- do I see the SDC logo in there?"
Weiss snorts, somewhere between frustration and amusement.
"It is the SDC logo. My father commissioned the current logo based on the glyph," she says, and she couldn't sound less happy about it if she tried.
"Ah, that does make more sense," Goodwitch says, and after a few more questions, comes to the conclusion that Weiss's glyphs are purely instinctual- incredibly powerful, more so given the right Dust, but she doesn't appear to have gained any knowledge on the subject from her Semblance.
{Hm. Guess you're still the odd one out.}
The rest of the class involves Goodwitch handing out paper, pencils, and sheets with symbols on them, telling people to practice copying them because it will be necessary sooner rather than later.
The symbols vary greatly, but seem to have no basis in any language you know- lots of short, straight lines, large, swooping curves, and single dots in the spaces created by them, and you have to write them by hand.
UGH.
{Your handwriting needs work anyway.}
U G H-
You feel someone sidle up to you after a moment, and a glance to the side tells you that it's Sky.
"You, uh, looked like you were dreading this," he says after a moment. "Figured you might want some moral support or something."
After a deep breath, you remind yourself that Sky and Dove are two very different people, and then you answer him.
"... Yeah, just a little. I, er, never really had much reason to practice handwriting, so…"
"Yeah? That have anything to do with your sword?"
What
"I, er, watched you earlier- you were just tapping at thin air, and it didn't look like a physical tic, so…?"
Ah. You didn't think anyone would notice, damn.
"Uh, yeah, it's an AR keyboard- I use it to take notes. It's not strictly necessary, but I prefer keeping the habit up for when I use actual keyboards."
Placing your hands out, the Transistor displays a hologram around your hands, showing the virtual keyboard you barely pay attention to anymore.
"Woah," Sky breathes more than says, a dopy grin stretching across his face. "That is awesome."
You smile a little- it's hard to not feel some pride in a compliment aimed at something you've been fine-tuning for years.
"Um… agh, what did I come over here to say-" Sky mutters to himself, gently rubbing an eyebrow in thought before his head snaps up again. "Oh! Um, I wanted to, er… I wanted to say sorry about the shit Dove gave you earlier."
Ah.
{Interesting choice of words.}
"Not saying sorry for Dove, I see."
Sky snorts, shaking his head a little at the thought.
Ahh... And here you were kind of hoping you were just suffering from confirmation bias.
{Afraid not.}
"He wouldn't apologise for it if you put a gun to his head. I-" he sighs, frustration plain in the sound, "I want- I wanted, to think he was a good person with some misguided views, but then he goes and pulls something like this, and laughs about it afterwards..."
"And it becomes a lot harder to pretend?" you finish for him.
"Yeah," he mutters. "So, um… I'm sorry, I wish I could say it won't happen again, but…"
He trails off, sighing to himself.
"Hey, I'm not the one you should be apologising to, and you're not the one who should be apologising. Don't worry about it, man."
You can feel him staring, and you see the confused frown on his face.
"You're… really cool about this. I can't tell if I've misjudged you, or if you know something I don't."
"Sky, do you know what class we have first thing tomorrow?"
"Uh…"
He takes a moment, brow furrowing in thought as he tries to dreg his timetable from his memories.
"N… no, I got nothing."
"Combat Instruction."
Sky blanches just a little, and you allow yourself a tiny smile at his reaction.
{You gonna go after him tomorrow?}
Well, not actively, of course, but, should you happen to be put in a position where you can get your hands on him…
You're gonna obliterate that prick.
|||
Class is over soon enough, the act of practising your glyphs absorbing enough that time just flies. By the end, your best attempts are, at the very least recognisable as the glyphs they're supposed to be. Glancing via Transistor at Weiss's, you can't help but feel somewhat inadequate, though.
{Good god, the only way she could have done better was using a printing press.}
5% deviation from given patterns- too much flourish.
Would that really matter in terms of casting?
Glyphcraft is incredibly exacting when it comes to measurements. It might not blow up in her face, but it would see a drop in efficiency, at the very least.
Huh. Maybe yours aren't so bad after all.
Oh, no, yours would be like pouring water into a rusty colander, if whatever circle you made with them didn't finish the job Goodwitch's tablet started.
Ouch.
{Your capacity for empathy is truly unmatched, Bracket. If I didn't know better, I would swear you can see into the hearts of men.}
I do, regularly. They're filled with blood.
You involuntarily snort, before looking down and seeing your pen- well, Sky's pen, really, you really do need to remember to give it back afterwards- has started to soak out from the point where you'd left it, ruining not only the glyph you were working on, but the one next to it and it's started coating your hand in ink.
After a quick Restore() from the Transistor to clean up, you place your pen down and gently rub your temples in frustration.
Ugh, physical writing sucks.
What was it Mrs Punch always used to say about your handwriting?
{'Somewhere between that sandeater gobbledegook and the maddened scratching of rats.'}
Eesh...
{Oh, shush, she was like 120 when she taught you. Probably thought the invasion of Vacuo was still going on.}
Exaggeration. A mild exaggeration, but still.
Before you can spend too long reminiscing on old teachers, the bell rings, and, once your reference sheets have been retrieved by way of telekinesis, Goodwitch dismisses you.
"For those of you who desire to practice your glyphs in your off-time, the library has several runic dictionaries you may use as reference books- they are not to be removed from the library. Next week, we will be continuing with practice, and learning more about the origins of Glyphcraft…"
{By the way, got a message from Creme- turned up a while ago, actually.}
And he only just told you… why?
{Wasn't important important- she just wants you to keep an eye on Rashmi.}
Huh?
{Look, just-}
-Hey Jaune can u do me a favour and keep an eye on Rashmi? Apparently he's super clumsy, like, walk into a door and forgetting he hasn't opened it clumsy? Kapila's in my class and she's worked herself up to a panic worrying about him hurting himself while she's not around-
-U don't need to do anything big! Just, talk to him on the way to history I guess? U know just keep an eye on him for ten minutes, it'd be a big help for her-
You blink, reading it again, and again when you realise it still hasn't quite sunk in.
That's…
{You're all going to History anyway, this is literally zero effort on your part- just grab his attention and keep it for ten minutes.}
Oh, true.
… But how do you actually talk to him-
{Ask him what he thought of the class, joke about your terrible handwriting, just… be yourself, Jaune. My gods, you'd think you were boring or something.}
Gulping, you walk over to him as he begins to leave the class, his oversized blade in hand, the sheath tied on as he places it out in front of him, tapping left and right and oh he's using it as a cane okay.
Rashmi's a squat fellow, you notice; shorter than you by quite a few inches, but filled out stockily to make up for it. He's customised his uniform perhaps the most extensively of everyone you've seen so far- over it, he wears the yellow cloak that you've seen him in before, large enough for his frame that it covers him from neck to thigh almost completely, obscuring the rest of his uniform from sight. When he moves, you hear the gentle jingle of some kind of metal underneath, but you couldn't begin to guess what form it took. Jewellery, perhaps?
Of the little you can see, he does appear to be wearing slacks, at least, but they're of much higher quality than your own, and his shoes are, well, beautiful, actually- a pair of loafers, embroidered to within an inch of their life with gold thread in wide, roaming teardrop patterns made up of much smaller spirals.
You look at him, and you can't help but think that, if Weiss wasn't enough to raise the average tax bracket of your class, Rashmi just finished the job.
He turns, glancing at you, and you see he's still wearing those shades you've seen him wear before- large, round things, so dark you've no idea what colour his eyes could be.
"It was fine, honestly. Perhaps a little heavy lecture-wise, but having a name to look up in the library is quite nice."
You both stop, Rashmi's brow furrowing in confusion as you stare at him in astonishment.
Did he just…?
You watch him cringe in pain for a moment before it passes just as quickly.
"... Ah, I did it again, didn't I?"
"... As...suming you mean answering someone's question before they've even started saying it, yes."
"Deepest apologies- I understand this is considered rude in Valish culture."
You blink, a little slower this time, just… genuinely baffled by what he's saying.
"Um… not, really, I think? Interrupting people in general, sure, and I can see it getting annoying after a while, maybe, but I don't think there's a particular social rule about answering someone's question before they say it. That's… more of a party trick than anything."
He laughs lightly, the sound something like a cross between a songbird and a half-hearted cough.
"I see, I see. And, yourself? How did you find it?"
"I… don't have the handwriting for this class," you admit honestly.
"Oh? How bad can it be?"
"It's… bad. I've never really been good at it, and, yeah, I haven't been doing a lot of it for a long time now."
"Your tapping at the air, I assume."
"Is it that obvious?"
Class Quest Acquired: Acolyte Of The Jade Mountain
Glyphcraft- almost revered in ancient times for its power over the elements, the body, the mind, sadly fallen out of use now that more immediate methods of construction, manufacture, and destruction are available. But, hey, somebody's gotta appreciate the classics, right?
Requirement: Pass Goodwitch's tests, both by learning the knowledge necessary to create a safe circle to pulse Aura through, and improving your fine mobility skills to the point where you can draw it without outside assistance. Or, find another solution,
Reward: Unlocks the Glyphcraft(Novice) skill, allowing you to create simple Glyph Circles of your own design, after some trial and error.
|||
Four Hours Later
{Sun's setting. It's time to go.}
You take a deep breath, pulling on your suit jacket, and making sure your tie is straight.
Do you wish a more advanced entourage than Cell-01?
Frankly, you're barely okay taking 01 with you. You still don't know how you feel about this, on the whole. You're less paranoid that he's just going to throw you out of the window to silence you, sure, but there's still a teeeeeeny-tiny bit of your mind that can't quite let go of it.
Still, the Process needs some representation at the meeting, so 01 is who's coming.
"Jaune? You sure you don't want us to come?" Ada asks.
You look over your shoulder at her, and see genuine concern in her face- hell, your whole team is on edge, now that you look at them. Ada's just staring at you, brow furrowed in worry as she expects an answer, Creme is silently working away at the history homework with the kind of anxious fury that makes you wonder when her pen is going to go through not only the paper but the Process-matter desk she asked Tulip to make her, and Lumen is just sitting on the edge of his bed, an unlit cigarette in his mouth, staring at you with an entirely inscrutable expression.
{They're worried, Jaune.}
You never would have guessed.
{I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that you're acting like you're about to attend your own funeral.}
You stop fiddling with your tie for a moment, leaving it loose around your neck as you realise that Blue's right.
You pin down the thought that's been bothering you for so long- this idea that Ozpin is going to somehow harm you if you go see him, and you try to follow it back to its roots.
Why? Why do you believe this?
Of all the ways that he could possibly hurt you, the worst possible way would be via direct force after calling you to see him- even if you weren't on edge, you know the boys and the Process are looking out for you at best, and acting as a downright terrifying deadman's switch at worst.
If Ozpin wanted rid of you, he'd just have, like, expelled you. Or otherwise played it cool- you don't doubt the man could gaslight you, your team, and the entire school at large if he really wanted to.
And then he didn't. He just… invited you up to talk. He basically gave you a note saying "yes, that happened, we have to talk about it, come see me when you're ready."
Of all the ways he could possibly have dealt with you, this is not only the most suspicious, but it actively places him in danger, even if he did manage to blindside you to death.
All of this and more pins the thought under its own flaws, until it's finally deemed paranoid ramblings, which it is, and summarily executed for its crimes against your mental health.
You can almost feel the change in your posture- some minor tension you hadn't realised was in your shoulders seeps away, and you find yourself standing a little taller, a little more confidently.
Turning, you smile at Ada, and something in it must catch her off guard because the concern quickly turns to somewhere between doubt and surprise.
"I'll be fine. We're just going to talk. That's all it'll be."
Confused silence is the initial response, before Lumen glances over at you, pulling the cigarette from his mouth, the filter gnawed flat.
"... What made you change your mind?" he asks after a moment.
Blinking, you wonder when he might have figured out how paranoid you were about meeting Ozpin. Have you mentioned it to him?
{Not explicitly, but you have been quite cagey about talking about it for a while. It's not a huge leap of logic.}
You guess…
After a moment of thought, you decide to just drop it- he figured it out, but the how is irrelevant now. Instead, you just, kinda shrug, drawing your cheeks up into that sort of resigned not-smile people always make when they're not happy, but not angry enough to do anything about it.
"Way I see it- if Ozpin wanted me dead, or gone, or expelled, or whatever- he wouldn't invite me up to his office to do it. He certainly wouldn't pass me a note mid-team naming to do it- let alone one that admits that what happened, happened, it's something we have to talk about and to come and see him when I'm ready to see him. That's a lot of concessions for someone who wants to get rid of me."
Lumen stares at you for a moment, before nodding slowly, accepting your logic.
"So… I'm willing to meet him on his terms. Which means, going by myself. Well, me, the Transistor, and the Process, but still."
"Three's a crowd, hm?"
You snort at Lumen's gentle jab.
"Yeah, and seven's an angry mob."
Turning back to make sure everything's okay-
{You look fine. C'mon, now you're just stalling.}
Fine, fine. Telling the others not to wait up for you, you exit the dorm room with your sword following behind, and 01 on your shoulder.
The trek through the now mostly-silent halls of the school is eerie, to say the least- the only illumination at this time of night is the candelabra lining the halls, casting a warm but somewhat inefficient light, that left the rafters in darkness and long, fuzzy shadows that someone could hide in if they were determined to.
Still, you follow the Transistor's map and quickly find yourself in what looks like a reception area- a desk along one wall, leading up to… a, lift. There's nothing special about the reception, besides where it is in the world, and what's on the other end of its lift.
You glance over at the desk, and realise that it's unmanned- you're on your own here.
{Could crack the computer if you want. See if we can't call the lift down ourselves?}
No, no, he gave you a password for a reason, and if you needed an attendant, you don't think he'd forget to ask her to stick around after hours for you…
Oh. Of course.
You walk up to the doors, clearing your throat as you do.
… This is so stupid-
"Uh… Cocoa with marshmallows."
The door dings, the indicator above it flashing a down arrow, indicating the lift's descent.
It arrives within a minute, and you step on, eyes widening at the dizzying array of buttons on the inside- you, guess you want to aim for the penthouse, so, boop.
"Hey, hey! Hold the doors!"
Your head snaps up, and you see a black-haired man jogging, then running for the lift, looking rather desperate to catch it. Instinctively, you put a foot out to open the door again, letting him catch up just in time to get in before it closes again.
"Hey," he puffs, "thanks, kid- woah."
His voice is low, gravelly, and his breath carries the smell of spirits, strong ones at that- you think you might have just burned out every nose hair you have just breathing it in. The stranger steps into the lift, staring wide-eyed at the Transistor as it shifts to the side and the doors close behind him.
You feel your stomach drop as the slow ascent to Ozpin's office begins, and a few moments pass in silence. He glances at you for a second too long, something about you causing him to frown and lean in a little, those deep red eyes warming your face like two lit coals.
For a moment, you feel incredibly uncomfortable under the scrutiny, until something pops into the back of your head, and soon you're scrutinising him just as thoroughly, looking at the hair, the eyes, the cut of his jaw, because he is just… sodamn familiar and you can't place a reason to why.
It takes a few moments, but eventually the two of you…
[] Turn away.
With a grumble and a shrug of apology, the two of you go back to being complete strangers- whatever familiarity you'd hoped to spot wasn't there after all.
Still, no reason to say you can't get to know each other on the ride up, though.
