Monday, 7th April 79AGW.

Malachite’s Dorm, Beacon.

5:00 am.

His scroll shouting that he was falling woke him up pretty quickly, and the grumbling of his teammates helped give him the extra push to kick his legs out of bed and turn off his alarm. Lima let out a long yawn and rubbed at his eyes for a minute. Teak was still asleep, with his arms and legs wrapped around his pillow, and he couldn’t help but snicker at the sight.

He stood up before padded over to the dresser he had stuffed his clothing into; he snatched a pair of sweatpants and an old shirt. If they were going to be exercising before class, they should put off the showers until they came back to get changed into their uniforms. Getting them sweaty already would be a waste.

He quickly used the bathroom and tidied himself up in the mirror before returning to the room. Lux was awake; no doubt, the sound of the door had woken her.

“Morning bright-eyes,” Lima said easily.

“Morning,” Lux yawned, before sliding passed him into the toilets.

Lima studied the room for a minute, Claire and Teak were late risers by the look of it. Claire was even snoring, which was hilarious. He cleared his throat for a moment before sitting down on his bed.

“Teak! You failed all the exams! We have to go retake them!” Lima cried in faux panic.

Teak sat straight up in bed and stared at him in horror.

“I failed!? B-but-” Teak squeaked, before groaning. “Lima! That’s not funny.”

“It’s a little bit funny,” Lima said, smiling, “Come on, we need to tell Claire that they’ve banned all dual-wielding at the beacon, and they are kicking her out.”

“Lima, that’s mean,” Claires whined, having woken up already. “It's also weirdly specific.”

Lima just grinned.

Monday, 7th April 79AGW.

Malachite’s Dorm, Beacon.

5:30 am.

“Yoga is an old art, passed down through the millennia; originally gifted to the humans by the ancient being Yogurt, so that we might worship his creamy goodness-” Lima said solemnly before he was viciously cut off.

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Lux said incredulously. “Teak, there's no god of yogurt; Yoga is an old word whose meaning originally meant to represent a connection. It can be used as a form of meditation, or simply a flexibility regime.”

Lima pouted.

Claire clapped her hands together as if in prayer and hummed loudly, drawing all of their gazes.

“Yuuummmmmmm, Yooooooogurt, Yuuummmmmmmm.” Claire hummed tranquility.

Lima started laughing, and Lux rolled her eyes before huffing.

“Claire.” Teak pleaded. “Don’t egg him on.”

“Just copy my poses for now,” Lux pouted as her lesson was derailed.

Lux stood up and settled into a standing position, breathing evenly. There was a pause as everyone watched her quietly, and she cracked an eye open to glare at them.

“Hurry up,” Lux demanded.

“Y-yes!” Teak squeaked and scrambled over to copy her.

Claire had already stood up, and Lima completed the line.

“Arms by your side, slowly lift them up high,” Lux said calmly until they were above her.

The others lifted their arms and slowly followed her example, well Teak and Lima did. Claire already knew what she was doing, so she was just making faces at them and trying to get them to mess up. Lima enjoyed himself during the calming exercise, but his mind was entirely stuck on yogurt.

His stomach rumbled.

Monday, 7th April 79AGW.

Training Hall B, Beacon.

6:30 am.

The closest training hall that they found was actually attached to the dorm hall. It was a large square multistory building with a pair of double doors on one side. It was also conveniently unlocked, whether that was a subtle hint to the students that extracurricular training was encouraged or that the cleaners had messed up, he wasn’t sure.

They were all pretty sweaty after the long session, and by the end of it, only Lux had been able to keep running through the poses as she slowly upped the difficulty. Teak had dropped out first, and Lima had managed to beat out Claire by a couple of minutes. Claire had just been happy that there were others around that seemingly shared her interest or were willing to try it out at least.

Lima was impressed; he had been conditioning himself for over a decade and training for flexibility for several years, all in the pursuit of a flexible grappling style to defeat Sage’s bullshit semblance.

Lux had clearly put in a tremendous amount of focused effort on this in particular; given her acrobatic fighting style, it was clearly paying off. Claire likewise seemed to have a great deal of progress in this area. Teak just looked exhausted, the poor guy, although his slight build had seemingly helped some.

The training hall wasn’t empty; there were actually half a dozen people spread out across the massive room, shadowboxing, performing kata’s, and sparring with each other.

“So, how are we going about this?” Lima scratched at his chin, “Free for all? Teams? Singles? One vee three?”

He smirked at Lux after the last comment, and her eyes locked onto his intently.

“We didn’t get our weapons, so is this just going to be unarmed?” Claire said nervously, “I’m not really any good without my weapons.”

“I’m not really good with either,” Teak mumbled.

Lima clapped him on the back, sending him stumbling forward.

“Three-vee-one it is,” Lima said cheerfully, “Me, Lux, Claire verse Teak?”

“What?” Teak squeaked in alarm.

“Wow,” Lux said incredulously. “That seems rather lopsided.”

“Oh right,” Lima snickered, “Claire vs. Teak, round one.”

Claire stepped out and settled in across from Teak; neither of them looked particularly confident.

“In the blue corner,” Lima said loudly, “He’s sleek, he’s quick, and he has a galaxy brain, Teak!”

“Stooop,” Teak pleaded, looking around at the other students. “Everyone's looking at us now!”

“In the red corner!” Lux grinned, “She’s vanishingly quick, and quite nimble to boot, Claire!”

“Oh god,” Claire said, looking a little embarrassed by all the attention herself.

“Three, two, one!” Lima glanced over at Lux.

“Fight!” Lux said obligingly.

The two embarrassed teenagers watched each other for a moment before Claire darted towards her opponent.

“Claire is eager to start the fight,” Lima commentated, grinning, “She’s not giving Teak any time to use his galaxy brain.”

“A savage kick to the hip from Claire,” Lux winced, “Teak’s reeling from that one, he's off-balance-”

“Teak!” Claire squawked.

“Teak lands a surprising overhand!” Lima said urgently, “Straight to the tit! A debilitating strike to be sure.”

“Claire’s using the painful strike to fuel her counter, OH!” Lux shouted, “A near miss, her foot glanced off his thigh that was a fight ender right there.”

“Claire is definitely embracing the ancient art of kick-em-in-the-dick,” Lima said seriously. “Teak’s defense is good; he’s managing to keep Miss Diamond from reaching the rest of the jewels.”

Lux started laughing and stumbled through her own commentating.

“T-teak manages to land another solid hit, to t-the collarbone this time; he must be disappointed.” Lux giggled.

“Claire sweeps his legs!” Lima said urgently, “-and just like that, the fight is over.”

“Winner, Claire Diamond!” Lux giggled.

“It’s not funny,” Claire panted embarrassedly, “Stop giggling!”

“Nice tit-punch Teak,” Lima cackled.

“I want to die.” Teak groaned red-faced.

Lux dragged him to his feet, and Lima ran the fight over in his mind.

“Claire, you’ve got all the reflexes built up from weapon combat; you just need to spend more time fighting without one.” Lima said thoughtfully, “Your defense needs a bit of work as well; you tend to hold your hands too low; probably because you're used to blocking with your swords.”

“Yeah,” Claire said quietly, looking at the ground.

“Hey, don’t be sad,” Lima said quickly, “That leg sweep was a thing of beauty.”

Claire flashed him a smile before Lux spoke up.

“Teak, you need to work on everything,” Lux said bluntly, “But more specifically evading, and deflecting should be the first thing you learn.”

Teak just nodded, still panting.

“Your offense is pretty much covered,” Lima said thoughtfully, “The way you punched her in the tit, you’re an absolute barbarian, my dude.”

“I didn’t mean to!“ Teak pleaded, latching onto his shirt red-faced. “I said I was sorry, but she just kept on trying to kick me!”

Claire cracked and started laughing as well, but she pulled the shorter boy into a hug.

“I forgive you, Teak,” Claire said, snickering.

Teak sniffled for a moment before Lux spoke up again.

“My turn,” Lux said intently. “I still haven’t figured out exactly what it was, but no using your Semblance, you cheater.”

Lima blinked at the comment; it was almost exactly like what he had routinely said to the old bastard.

“Hey, you were using yours as well,” Lima defended.

Lux hmphed before stepping back into the place that Claire had occupied. Lima moved over to Teak's previous spot and turned to face her. He glanced over at the other pair hopefully, but Claire immediately shut him down.

“Were not commentating,” Claire said smugly. “Three, two, one.”

Lima shook his arms out and lowered his stance, watching the yellow eyes of his opponent.

“O-oh.” Teak said suddenly. “Fight.”

Lux’s eyes widened as he dashed straight towards her; she must have thought he would fight like he had last night, evasively. He’d only played it that way because he was unsure what their semblances and weapons were. After a decade of trying to inflict some measure of damage on Sage, Lima had grown most comfortable when on the attack.

Lux stepped to the side as he reached her, chambering a kick up at his face. Lima spun underneath it; he crouched all the way to the floor and wrapped his other hand around her standing ankle before tearing it straight off the ground.

Lux fell backward for a moment before his kick smacked into her desperate guard, and she was sent flipping over in the air. She managed to get her feet under her before she skidded to a stop. Lima was already going after her again, but this time Lux didn’t wait; she met him in the middle.

He palmed her straight punch off-target and kicked her in the calf, before rotating around her. Lux spun to keep him in view, and he lunged towards her again.

Lux deflected his first jab, then immediately angled to block his next one. Lima switched from his punch into a low tackle that drove her into the floor on her back. Lux kicked up at his face, but he just circled her.

Lux tried to get up, and he advanced, kicking her back down.

She backed up to get some distance, and he lunged at her again, but this time he latched onto her ankle when she tried to kick him, capturing it under his right arm. He pressed forward, swung his leg over her leg, and fell back onto the floor.

Lux tried to kick him with her other leg, but she didn’t really have the leverage or the angle to do more than glancing hits.

Lima rolled onto her leg and extended it slowly.

“Super-mega-death-leg-breaker!” Lima cackled.

“I’m out!” Lux said, panicked.

Lima let go immediately and sat back on his hands, grinning at her.

“What the hell was that?” Lux pouted, rubbing at her knee.

“Super-mega-death-” Lima started.

“That’s not what I meant.” Lux huffed. “Your fighting style is weird.”

“I believe the word you were looking for is effective,” Lima said easily, he glanced over at where he left his scroll open. “We have thirty minutes left; Teak, get back over here. I need a real opponent.”

Lux stared at him with narrowed eyes for a long moment before she hmphed again and went to sit by Claire.

“Do I have to?” Teak said weakly.

Monday, 7th April 79AGW.

Dining Hall, Beacon.

7:30 am.

They headed back to the rooms to shower and get dressed before down for breakfast. The kitchen was housed in a building that bordered the Dining Hall, with an open food countertop joining the two buildings that was covered in containers. It was a lot like the cafeteria he was used to back at Sanctum; grab a tray, a plate, or bowl, and pick what you wanted.

They quickly found an empty table and sat down.

“Not many people here,” Lima asked curiously. “What time does breakfast finish?”

“8:15,” Teak said thoughtfully. “I guess they might have all beaten us here?”

“You’re giving them all way too much credit,” Lima said, amused, “If I hadn’t woken you and Claire up, you would still be asleep.”

Teak pouted before he ducked his head to continue eating. Claire was eating with one hand while reading their schedule with the other.

“It's pretty much the same classes alternating between two days. So we have Grimm Studies every day at 8:30 am, it goes until 10:00 am,” Claire said, chewing on her spoon. “So that’s our first class for today, it's in Lecture Hall, A6; I have no idea where that is.”

Grimm studies, Lima thought. That sounded right up his alley.

“There was a big map just outside,” Teak said, smiling, “We can check it when we're done.”

Claire flashed him a smile.

“On Mondays, the second class is Crafting and Upkeep; it starts at 10:30 am, goes until 12:00 pm.” Claire continued, “That one is in the ‘Workshop,’ another one to look for on the map, I guess.”

Lima nodded in thought; his missing arrows had been bugging him since the fight with the Nevermore's.

He would be able to make some more in that class, although he wasn’t sure if they had the gravity dust crystal on hand, he’d probably have to buy that on his own. One decently sized crystal could be used for about six arrows, so he should only need the one.

“How long is the break period?” Lux asked curiously.

“An hour and fifteen minutes,” Claire said pleasantly. “Monday third period is History from 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm; Lecture Hall A9.”

“What's the last class?” Lux prompted.

“Fourth period is always Practical Combat, 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm at the amphitheater.” Claire hummed, “It also has after 5:00 pm listed as ‘Self-Directed Sparring.’”

“Hmm, maybe we should move our spars to then and do something else in the mornings,” Lima suggested.

There was a general agreement from the other three.

Monday, 7th April 79AGW.

Lecture Hall A6, Beacon.

8:25 am.

Peter Port, the Professor of the Grimm Studies class, was a rotund man, with grey hair and a large bushy mustache. Lima grinned as the man beamed up at them all; the old guy had a presence that filled the room.

“Monsters, demons. Prowlers of the night,” Professor Port said dramatically, “Yes, the creatures of Grimm have been known by many names throughout the ages, but I merely refer to them as prey!”

The man gave a boisterous laugh to punctuate the statement.

Lima snickered; the guy was a hunter who had survived past middle age in the single most dangerous profession in the world. Despite him hamming it up a bit, it was clear the guy was strong and had dealt with who knows how many of the enemies of humanity throughout his life.

“You shall too, of course, upon graduating from this prestigious academy; now as I was saying,” Professor Port said, ignoring the pointed silence. “Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world.”

Lima was amused to note that the girl in red at the front of the class, uh, Ruby? Was somehow falling asleep; there was no way Port hadn’t noticed, so he was simply ignoring it.

“Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces!” Professor Port said seriously.

Lima felt his jaw tense a little at the wording; it brought forth some long-buried memories he didn’t want to dwell on; he’d spent enough years stuck in that thought spiral already.

“That’s where we come in.” Professor Port said firmly, making eye contact with several of the students. “Huntsman, Huntresses; Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves.”

“That is what you’re all training to become,” Professor Port said with finality, before grinning suddenly. “But first, a story! A tale of a young, handsome man; Me!”

Lima snickered again; the man was a storyteller at heart.

“When I was a boy, several years younger than you all are now, I lived in a village on the southwestern coast of Sanus; I was born there in fact. You wouldn’t be able to find it on a map. It was a small village but fairly well defended given its size.” Professor Port said amicably, before adding more solemnly. “It’s…no longer around, of course, a story many of the outskirts villages share, but it lasted for almost three decades.”

Lima studied the man intently; they had something in common then. His own birth village was no longer around-the panic and fear of that night itched at the back of his mind before he crushed it ruthlessly.

“Never-the-less, our village was used to fighting off the small Grimm in the area, and we even had some Huntsman around to deal with the more dangerous threats at most times.” Professor Port said thoughtfully, “They weren’t there at the time of this story-I’m still not sure why, even to this day. My best guess is that they were called in to fight a more dangerous threat in a nearby city-this of course, left our own undefended.”

The man's face had grown colder as he recalled the details, and his tone lost some of its cheer before he shook his head and smiled at them.

“Regardless, we thought nothing of it at the time, we had been experiencing almost three months of peace; not a single Grimm attack. I remember it being one of the happiest times of the village.” Professor Port smiled, “Of course, the Grimm ended up attacking almost as soon as the Huntsman and Huntresses had left, the timing was awful.”

Lima frowned; that happened on occasion. Grimm would sometimes manage to slip through defenses and attack somewhere for critical damage, despite all the protections in place. It had occurred in Argus several times, although the Grimm had been exterminated quite quickly afterward.

“I wasn’t a Huntsman back then,” Professor Port said distractedly, lost in the nostalgia. “My Aura was unlocked, and I was working as a woodcutters apprentice at the time, so my only ‘weapon’ was a woodcutters ax.”

Ruby let out a little snore, and the Professor once again completely ignored it. Weiss was practically vibrating in her seat in anger.

“Despite smelling of cabbages, My grandfather was a wise man.” Professor Port laughed, “Peter, he told me, you’ve got to learn how to fight if you want to survive out here; we all do. He’d been an advocate for arms training for the villages for most of his life, and because of his concentrated efforts, we all at least knew how to put the pointy end into the enemy.”

Lima laughed; it was a term the old bastard had used more than once. It must have been a pretty common saying in days since passed. Professor Port grinned at the interest shown in his tale.

“So, thirteen Beowulf attacked the village-no Alpha thankfully,” Professor Port said with a serious nod before he frowned.“We managed to fight them off, but one of them was acting particularly strangely.”

He tilted his head curiously.

“Most Grimm will simply attack their target on sight, and kill it.” Professor Port said thoughtfully, “A single Beowulf grabbed one of the children, a little girl, and attempted to drag her out of the village, but otherwise did nothing to harm her.”

Lima blinked at the idea; he’d never seen a Beowulf do something like that, hell; he’d never seen a Grimm do something like that. Even the predatory fliers that picked things up in their talons generally tried to shred its victim in its grip. He’d seen Grimm retreat when they were overwhelmed, and he’d seen them try to slip into stealth after engaging to gain an advantage.

He’d never seen one try to kidnap a person; it was bizarre.

“I followed it, with nothing but my Ax in hand; I was terrified, of course, but I refused to let that stop me from saving her.” Professor Port said firmly, “I tracked it down, and did my best to kill it, the girl managed to escape during the fight; I actually lost hold of my ax several times, but I fought with a determination, and in fear of my life.”

Despite his best efforts, Lima could imagine it; he remembered his mother desperately clinging to a Beowulf that was attempting to come towards him while the other three tore her to shreds.

“In the end, the Beowulf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I managed to wound it enough that it could no longer fight.” Professor Port said with a gleam in his eyes, “I collected the young girl, and dragged the still alive Grimm back to the village; with my clothes torn, my body bloodied, but my head held high.”

Lima wished his own tale had been as triumphant.

“I was celebrated as a hero on my return,” Professor Port said a little shakily before he shook his head and laughed again. “The moral of the story for those not paying attention; I was very lucky.”

There was a general rumbled of surprise throughout the class, and Ruby finally woke back up.

“I was a barely trained civilian who was lucky enough to have his Aura unlocked, I probably would have died there otherwise.” Professor Port said seriously. “Listen to me now; A true Huntsman or Huntress must be honorable, they must be dependable, they need determination, they must have the intent to kill those who would align themselves against humanity, they must be strategic, well-educated and wise.”

The atmosphere in the class was heavy for a long moment before the Professor smile slightly once more, and the tension slowly vanished.

“So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?” Professor Port said cheerfully.

Lima put his hand up, but he wasn’t the only one. Weiss, Pyrrha, Blake, and Cardin all raise their hands at the same time.

“I do, sir!” Weiss called firmly, drawing the man's attention specifically to her.

Lima let his hand fall easily.

“Well, then! Let’s find out.” Professor Port said, pleased. “Come down and face your opponent.”

He crossed the room to the double doors on the right of the lecture hall and opened them. A large metal cage sat almost directly behind them. Lima could see the Boarbatusk sitting angrily inside, butting its head against the cage. He wondered how long ago the man had captured the thing; after a certain amount of time in captivity, the creatures of Grimm were prone to just dissipating if they were trapped. He must have gone and found it this morning, subdued it, and then placed it in the cage, ready for their lesson.

Weiss slowly made her way down to the large open area at the front of the room and stood opposite the doors; her rapier held tightly in her hand.

“Um,” Teak said quietly, “This seems really dangerous.”

“Nah,” Lima said easily, “A single Boarbatusk has zero chance of killing anyone in this room; it wouldn’t be able to deal enough damage to break anyone’s Aura before the Professor killed it. Hell, I’d kill it if it was about to murder anyone.”

“Oh,” Teak said in understanding, “I wasn’t really thinking about it like that. I suppose this is like how you helped me during the test; if we can kill them in controlled environments first, we become more able to kill them out in the real world.”

“Exactly,” Lux said, smiling.

“Why didn’t you put your hand up, Lux?” Claire said curiously, “I thought you would want to fight it.”

“It’s a single low-level Grimm,” Lux said smoothly, “I’d rather fight the Professor.”

Lima didn’t really agree; he was kind of sad that he didn’t get to kill the thing, but clearly, Weiss had wanted to destroy it more; his opinion of her rose slightly at her eagerness.

Professor Port retrieved his weapon off the wall-mount and strode over to stand beside the cage, completely at ease, even as it rattled ominously.

“Go, Weiss!” Yang shouted cheerfully.

“Fight well!” Blake called a moment later.

“Yeah!” Ruby said happily, “Represent team RWBY!”

“Ruby! Be quiet.” Weiss snapped, “I’m trying to focus.”

Lima frowned as Ruby slumped back into her seat with a weak apology. His opinion of Weiss once more dropped back down; she really was kind of an asshole.

“All right,” Professor Port said, smiling, “Let the match begin.”

He cut straight through the padlock holding the door of the cage shut, and it swung open.