Chapter 243 - My CO Stash #43 - Beneath a Broken Moon by Unseen Lurker (SkyrimXRWBY)

-Ay FUS RO DAH mane! Nuff said~

Sypnosis: He was a hero, vanquisher of men and beasts, daedra and dragons. But now, Fate calls him elsewhere. How will he fare in this world, so unlike his own? "Wait... are those... rabbit ears?"

Rated: T

Words: 92K

Posted on: fanfiction.net/s/10755330/1/Beneath-a-Broken-Moon (Unseen Lurker)

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Chapter 1-3 (exceptional)

Within the frozen reaches of one of Nirn's harshest lands, a stand-off was currently taking place.

On one side, a hulking, savage humanoid creature 3,5 meters tall, with rough grey skin, long, braided hair and beard, and wielding an uprooted tree with a large boulder tied to its end as a weapon. This was one of the giants, mighty beings that even the most seasoned veterans would think twice about fighting. They rarely travelled alone, and even more rarely attacked unprovoked, but such had been the case here.

On the other, a smaller and comparatively much scrawnier being, standing at about 1,75 meters, clad in robes and with his weapon left unused, strapped to his back.

Any uninformed passer-by could be forgiven for thinking that the latter of the two was in a rather ... precarious situation.

Up until they noticed the alarming number of frozen spikes dotting the taller contender's body, not to mention that the entire front side of the beast was charred black.

The giant suddenly collapsed to its knees, and then fell face forward to the ground. It wouldn't rise again.

The other being sighed, as the flames in his hands died down. The damn thing had appeared out of nowhere… What a lone giant was doing in this region and how in Oblivion had it managed to sneak up on him in the middle of the frozen forest would forever remain a mystery.

Oh well, he had dallied for long enough here. He wanted to be back at the college as soon as possible. After looting the corpse for anything that wasn't nailed down (earning him about 250 gold, the steel helmet of some poor sod who hadn't been as lucky and a giant toe, which he immediately discarded, why in the name of the Nine did giants carry these things around was something he did not want to know), his hands began glowing:

"Arvak, come."

A large purple orb appeared in front of him, and from within, the purple, flaming skeleton of a horse sprang forth. Many a man would run in fright of the nightmarish creature, but he just chuckled as he petted its snout:

"Good boy, Arvak" The specter neighed in delight.

With that, the man mounted up. Arvak was by far one of the best rewards for his services he had ever received, and the fastest method of travel he had available. Well, he had experimented with continuous use of Whirlwind Sprint, but that had only resulted in a sore throat and a few bruises from being launched forward in the air while traversing steep slopes.

And so he rode, and soon the scenery changed around him, the frozen forests of the Pale giving way to the frozen tundra of Winterhold, he would be reaching home soon.

Or so he thought.

Suddenly, the man felt a disturbance ripple through the air, and looked up at the darkening skies as the wind picked up around him.

'This is not natural.' He thought with a frown 'There's sorcery at work here, and a powerful one by the looks of it'.

Then he heard a noise that made his blood run cold, a noise that preluded one of the things Skyrim's inhabitants feared the most. He turned his head...

To see the white, swirling front of an incoming blizzard, so large and sudden it more closely resembled an avalanche.

He spurred his steed to run faster, and as if giving chase, the incoming storm devoured the distance between them.

He tried to use Clear Skies, but the ice cloud surged forward unaffected.

It was obvious to him at this point that whatever this thing was, it was deliberately trying to catch him.

And despite his and Arvak's best efforts, soon it managed to do just that.

For a moment, all the man felt was the biting northern cold and a sense of weightlessness.

And then he felt nothing at all.

/

When he finally came to, the first thing he saw was a thick canopy of trees, through which the moonlight shined.

'Uuurgh...What in Oblivion happened? My head feels like I've gone on another drinking binge with Sanguine...'

Slowly he rose, and as he shook the blurriness from his sight and from his mind, he remembered what had happened.

'Arvak's not here, so he probably returned to the Soul Cairn... The Blizzard caught us... and somehow carried me all the way here, wherever here is.'

He frowned. Had the freak weather somehow brought him to Falkreath? No... even in the darkness, he could see that the trees were all wrong, too green, too bright, and many of species he didn't recognize. He was someplace else, someplace different.

A beastly growl came from the nearby bushes, and the one responsible soon followed.

At first glance, it looked like a werewolf to him, and as insane as it sounded, he actually felt relieved for finding a familiar element in this place, even if he could not account for the bony spikes, red markings, the white bone mask or the baleful, red glowing eyes that held nothing but malice, hatred, and hunger.

The beast howled, and then pounced on him.

A bolt of lightning turned it into a pile of ash before it got halfway to its target.

'That might have been a little too much power...' The man mused, arm still outstretched and crackling with electricity.

Then, another howl echoed in the distance. And another. And another.

Soon, he found several pairs of red eyes glaring at him through the foliage.

'Oh, I see...' he thought dryly, as he finally reached for his weapon 'It's going to be one of those days, isn't it?'

/

Professor Ozpin was in his office, taking care of the recently formed teams' paperwork, when a knock rang on the door.

"Come in."

Glynda Goodwitch, his subordinate and fellow teacher walked in with some urgency in her step.

"Ah, Glynda, what seems to be the problem?"

"Sir, for the last 40 minutes, something has been driving the Grimm of the Emerald Forest into a frenzy. Our cameras picked up these images a short while ago." she stated, as she clicked on her scroll and a large screen appeared in the office, showing a person following a trail... with quite a few dead, fading beowolves behind him, some bodies missing heads, others were missing limbs, all badly burned.

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. The man, for it was clearly a man judging by his build, was wearing black robes with strange, golden ornaments, a pair of gloves with golden scale-like spikes along the forearms, his face was hidden by a golden mask, mostly undecorated except for the pair of tusks and a black, gold-trimmed hood, in his hand he had a massive, bloody axe of sharp, jagged design, with red-glowing filigree across the blade. He looked uninjured, but considering that his posture showed that he was tiring, that was likely to change very soon.

His other eyebrow joined the first when a King Tajitu, drawn by the carnage, blocked the stranger's path, and the man responded by throwing large, explosive fireballs into both its faces, taking advantage of the serpentine beast's pained thrashing to escape.

"Glynda, go rescue this man before he gets overwhelmed, and bring him here. Take a Bullhead."

"At once, Sir." The woman walked off quickly.

Ozpin kept watching the footage, wondering about the stranger.

/

"Yes, definitely one of those days..." The man grumbled as he made his way through the forest.

When he had first been attacked by the werewolf creatures, he believed that perhaps they were part of some kind of undiscovered branch of Lycanthropes, a unique strain of your run-of-the-mill moonhowler perhaps.

When he came across the bear creatures and proceeded to turn them into ice statues, he became less certain, but still willing to give the idea a chance, after all, he'd met werebears before.

Then came the giant f.u.c.k.i.n.g two-headed snake and out the window went that theory, along with a reasonable chunk of his magicka reserves just to give the damn thing the slip. It was a good thing that Hadvar wasn't around to see it, poor ophidiophobic bastard would've probably fainted on the spot.

Soon, he walked into a cliff, overlooking what seemed to be a massive ruin built within a large chasm.

"Oh that's just great..." He grumbled, then looked to the sky in an attempt to get his bearings...

...

...

What...

in...

...Oblivion?

There were two things very, very wrong in the sky.

One, there was only a single moon, Secunda was nowhere to be found.

Two, that moon was broken, one of its sides shattered into several fragments.

The gobsmacked man could no longer deny the suspicion that had been creeping in his mind.

Wherever he was... he was not on Nirn...

Loud howls came from behind him. The werewolves had returned, about 50 of them leaving the treeline to surround him. Either he had to get through them to escape, or take his chances with the abyss.

"To Oblivion with this." He said as he prepared to jump.

But before he could, a loud, roaring sound was heard, and a large metallic structure appeared in the sky.

The man gawked.

What the f.u.c.k?

What sort of sorcery was keeping that metal giant afloat?

The thing turned so one of its sides was near the cliff, and a gate opened, revealing a woman inside, who raised a... riding crop?

What the f.u.c.k?

She waved the thing, and several purple beams shot forward, flying into the werewolf horde and killing a few.

What. the. F.u.c.k?!

"Quickly, get in!"

That snapped the man out of his shock. So, the werewolves, the chasm, or the strange metallic object. He was still pretty tempted to just take his chances with jumping, but whoever this woman was, she might have some answers about what in the name of Akatosh was going on.

And so making his decision, the man jumped into the strange flying contraption.

"Pilot, get us out of here." She stated.

The man at the controls did just that, but some of the beowolves had already recovered from the earlier attack, and were rushing towards the ship.

The woman prepared to drive them off, when the stranger grabbed her arm gently, shaking his head.

Eyebrow raised, she watched as he let go of her, faced the beasts, took a deep breath, and just as they began to leap, shouted:

"FUS RO DAH!"

The wave of Unrelenting Force slammed into the incoming monsters, disintegrating some and blasting the others back to the cliff to crash against those who had remained there.

And with that, they made their escape, ignoring the enraged howls and roars.

The man sighed in relief, then turned to see the woman looking at him, a surprised expression on her face.

She had strangely bright green eyes, unnaturally pale blond hair, and a rather...strange attire. But still, he couldn't help but feel that she was quite beautiful, more so than many a woman he'd met before.

"Thank you for your timely intervention, milady, you have saved me from quite a mess." He said politely, after all, she had just saved him.

Glynda quickly regained her composure. This man... she had never seen or felt anything quite like what he had just done. It seemed to be a Semblance, but the sheer power... Who was he?

"Think nothing of it. Just what were you doing in the Emerald Forest, in the middle of the night?"

"Emerald Forest?" The man shrugged "Your guess is as good as mine I'm afraid, Milady. One moment I am on my way to Winterhold, the next a sudden Blizzard, and then I wake up here."

He did not miss the brief confusion in her face.

"Have you not heard of Winterhold?"

"Can't say I have, no."

"And what of Skyrim? Tamriel? Nirn?"

The woman once again looked confused.

"I'm afraid I'm not familiar with any of those terms. You are currently in the kingdom of Vale, on the continent of Vytal, if that helps." was her reply.

Yes, definitely not on Nirn anymore. Great, just Great.

The man sighed and decided to change the subject. "Where are we headed, Milady...?"

"Goodwitch, Glynda Goodwitch." She answered, a bit surprised by his old-fashioned yet polite manner of speaking. "And we are currently in route to Beacon Academy, where the Headmaster, Professor Ozpin, would like a word with you."

A school, eh? Not quite the one he had expected to go to, but he supposed it would have to do given the circ.u.mstances.

"How did he know of my arrival?"

"We caught you on the cameras we have spread throughout the forest, you were causing quite the stir with the local Grimm."

Now was the man's time to be confused.

"Cameras? Grimm? What are those, Milady?" He gestured towards their surroundings "And for that matter, what sort of contraption is this?"

Glynda once again raised her eyebrow. What was wrong with this guy?

/

Ozpin patiently waited for Glynda to bring in their guest.

Soon, there was knock on the door, and in came the two, the man following Glynda, looking distracted even through the mask.

Not that he didn't have some reason to be. Gods damn, he was quite proud of his college, but this place was making him feel pretty darn inadequate.

"I am glad to see you were successful, Glynda."

The stranger looked at the person in the chair, a middle-aged man with unkept silver hair, also wearing a strange garment. The look in his eyes reminded him old Tolfdir and Savos Aren, calculating, but yet caring.

"Professor Ozpin, I take it?"

"Indeed, I am." the professor nodded "I am glad to see you are safe. You know, we were quite surprised to have found a man that seemingly appeared out of thin air in the Emerald Forest, even more so with the abilities that that man displayed against the Grimm. That being said... who are you?" He asked politely.

The stranger considered his options, and ultimately decided to go with the truth. He was out of his element, did not know nearly enough about this world to make up a convincing lie, and besides, if they had meant him harm, they wouldn't have gone through the trouble of picking him up.

"I'll try to keep it short." The man glanced at the pile of papers in the desk " A headmaster's job is never done, after all."

"You sound like you speak from experience." Ozpin replied, eyebrow raised in amus.e.m.e.nt.

Both the teachers could feel the man's smile through the mask.

"Allow me to introduce myself." He said as he removed it...

To reveal a young man in his early twenties, with shoulder-length wavy brown hair, short-trimmed beard, and a green tattoo of a wave-like pattern over his left eye. His yellowish-brown eyes reflected a wisdom and experience that far surpassed his age.

"Tristard Soverick, The last Dragonborn, and Archmage of the college of Winterhold, at your service." He stated with a polite, formal bow. "Now tell me, professor, how familiar are you with inter-planar travel?"

Chapter 2

For the last two hours, Tristard had been telling Ozpin about who he was and where he came from, or at least the short version of it. The Headmaster was accepting, but lady Goodwitch was sceptical, until the man showed proof in the form of a few spells, and items he had been carrying. Ozpin then explained to the dimensionally displaced mage about this strange new world he found himself in. A world where only humans and Faunus, which were basically humans with animal traits, existed, and they faced a dire threat. The creatures of Grimm, the beasts he had slain in the forest, soulless, relentless monsters of countless shapes and sizes, who seemed to prey on Man, for no reason other than they could, but mankind had endured through sheer tenacity, something they called "technology", which allowed them to build all sorts of weapons and other things, far beyond anything Nirn had to offer, the strange crystalline substance known as Dust, which was used for everything from fighting to providing everyday comforts, and the power of Aura, a manifestation of the soul which granted various abilities to people, he briefly wondered if there was any similarity to his thu'ums. As if that wasn't bad enough, while the four kingdoms where experiencing a long period of peace, the threat of war was ever present. Which was why this academy he found himself in trained young boys and girls to become hunters and huntresses, champions whose duty was to fight the Grimm, and on occasion humans as well.

All in all, he thought the place still beat Apocrypha and the Soul Cairn, hands down.

As he was mulling over this information, he couldn't help but think that he was missing something...

Wait a minute...

A new realm...

With a broken moon...

...

Tristard sighed in exasperation. "Oh, Gods dammit."

"Is there something wrong?" Ozpin inquired, while Glynda raised an eyebrow. The archmage shook his head. "Not at all, Professor, it's just that I only now realized that I had some forewarning about this situation..."

/

The Augur of Dunlain, he was called.

Once, he had been one of the most brilliant and promising students of the college, a gifted genius the likes of which occur only once in a generation, and a curious individual who craved knowledge in all its forms, pursuing the disciplines of magic with a drive that bordered on obsession, until an accident during an experiment had turned him into this large sphere of light before Tristard, forever trapped in the catacombs beneath his beloved college.

The man had earned knowledge, at the cost of nearly everything else perhaps, but he was willing to share it with those he found worthy, which these days meant pretty much just the Dragonborn, with whom the Augur often shared theories and discussed philosophies. And just as they had finished one of these conversations...

"Seeker of knowledge, hold."

Tristard stared curiously at the being.

"Do you recall what I once told you about your path?"

"Aye, that it was a good one, one untraveled by many."

"Aye... and soon, it will lead you to a great trial."

The man's curiosity increased. The Augur shared yes, but only when asked. What could be so important that he had found it necessary to speak?

"How so?"

The being seemed to shine brighter.

"From beyond Oblivion, a realm calls,

And beneath a broken moon, darkness falls.

Fangs and flames, a deadly Game,

And devouring all, the Beast shall rage untamed.

If you wish to stop this Shadow,

Be the White Knight,

Alongside the maidens of Red, White, Black and Yellow."

And with that cryptic advice, the Augur vanished, leaving a confused archmage behind wondering about its meaning.

/

"... Months passed since then, and with other more pressing matters, I forgot this prophecy, 'till now." The man finished his tale, and noticed the listener's thoughtful expression. "You know something about this."

Ozpin nodded, both in confirmation and approval of the man's perceptiveness. "Indeed, I believe I know at least who that last verse refers to."

The headmaster pressed a button on his desk, and the large screen once again appeared in the office, much to the mage's surprise and curiosity, must be those "cameras" Lady Goodwitch told him about.

The man watched the images... and it took all his self-control not to let his jaw break through the floor.

In the very same forest he had found himself in a few hours ago, four young women were going toe to toe with a raven-like Grimm larger than some dragons he'd killed. The one with golden blond hair kept the creature's mouth open while using her gauntlets to shoot balls of flame inside, the black-haired one wearing a strange ornament that resembled the ears of a khajiit leapt on its back and repeatedly slashed at it with her blade, the regal-looking white-haired one used her rapier to weave glyphs in the air, freezing the massive bird's tail and trapping the beast, and the younger girl, with black hair and red bangs, wearing a red hood and wielding a scythe bigger than herself finished the thing off by beheading it... after dragging the damn thing up the cliff.

Silence filled the office as the screen faded.

"Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna, Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose. These four have just two days ago passed their initiation, and become students here at Beacon Academy as team RWBY." Ozpin explained.

"Well... They certainly seem to match the description... I can't help but wonder if my aid is even necessary..."

Ozpin offered Tristard a mug of the beverage he called coffee, which the mage politely refused, (certain events with a certain Daedric Prince had made him weary of any drink other than water and potions.) "That, I do not know. The girls show promise yes, but they are still young, and quite inexperienced. Perhaps you're here to provide the experience? Or a new perspective? I truly cannot say." He then took a sip of his own mug. "But I do have a proposition for you."

"Do tell."

"If we're to believe this... prophecy of yours, then those four will be very important in what is to come, and it would be in everyone's best interests if you were around to provide support, so that being said..."

"You want me to join the academy in some capacity." Tristard finished for him, to which Ozpin once more nodded approvingly.

"Yes, that would be my suggestion. Now I'm afraid that magic as you know it is not something the people of Remnant are capable of using. Our power comes from within."

"So does mine in some ways, but I see your point. That would mean, since teaching is out, that I would be in a better position to intervene if I became a student." A janitor was also an option, but he would not be the one to voice it.

"You are quick on the uptake. Yes, not only would it allow you to remain close, but it would also help you to know more about our world. I suppose you have no issues with this?"

"Why should I? Everyone has to start somewhere. Why, just 3 years ago, I entered the college of Winterhold with nothing but my clothes and a rusty sword, and now I am it's Archmage. You might want to be careful about that." He finished jokingly.

Ozpin chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind. Now then, since you'll be joining, I will need to prepare some doc.u.ments, and for that we will need to think of a story for your past, I believe your true origins should be kept a secret, at least for now." Tristard nodded in agreement. "And you will also need to perform the initiation exam..."

The mage and the teachers spent a little more time coming up with a background for him and discussing a few minor details, after which Glynda escorted him to a spare room so he could rest for the coming trial.

/

"Oh man, I wonder why they had all the students assemble here all of the sudden." Fifteen-year-old Ruby Rose wondered aloud, as teams RWBY and JNPR stood alongside the other students in the large room.

Weiss Schnee replied annoyed. "We'll learn why we're soon enough, Ruby, you'll just have to be patient."

"I'm curious myself, actually." Their teammate Blake Belladonna replied. "We're supposed to have the week off to settle in, so it shouldn't be about classes."

"I hope it's nothing bad." June Arc, the leader of team JNPR, said apprehensively. Having entered Beacon with forged doc.u.ments, the young man had a certain amount of paranoia about being found out. Pyrrha Nikos, his fellow team member, considered one of the best huntresses in training, put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "Relax, Jaune, I'm sure it's not."

The chatter on the Amphitheatre died down as Ozpin stood in the platform.

"Good morning, students. If you look around you, you will see many others like you, aspiring hunters and huntresses, from many different backgrounds. I make it a point to allow in my academy people from all walks of life, and in a way, that's why I've called you here today."

There were a few hushed whispers as the Headmaster paused.

"Yesterday evening, a traveller from outside the kingdoms accidentally wondered into the Emerald Forest, where he was caught on camera fighting the local Grimm, and he displayed such skills while doing so that after we rescued him, I offered the young man the position of a student, to which he agreed. In a few minutes, he will begin his initiation, which is what we are gathered here to watch."

More hushed whispers.

"Now I am well aware that all of the teams are full, which is why he will have to retrieve a relic like you did, and the relic he picks will decide which team he will join as a fifth member."

Whispers became full blown chatter once again.

"So, we have the chance of having a guy in the team, uh?" Yang Xiao Long wondered aloud, to which Weiss replied.

"I certainly hope not, it's bad enough having to deal with the dunce."

Ruby sank to her knees, an aura of gloom around her.

"Hey, no need to pick on my sister, Ice Princess. Besides, what's so bad about it? I certainly wouldn't mind, and if he's good-looking, even better." The blonde finished with a grin. Weiss just shook her head exasperated.

"It's about to begin."

A massive screen appeared behind the Headmaster showing the cliff overlooking the Forest, currently occupied by professor Goodwitch and the potential student, whose appearance earned him some curious stares from the students.

"What's with the outfit?" Yang wondered, eyebrow raised. "The guy looks like an rpg character or something."

"And that mask. Who wears a mask like that these days?" Weiss added, with some suspicion in her tone, since the first answer that came to her mind wasn't exactly a pleasant one. Blake wondered the same thing for similar reasons, but quickly came to the conclusion that there was no connection.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Nora Valkyrie, a hyperactive member of team JNPR, who likely had ADD, said excitedly. "Look at those tusks, maybe he's an elephant Faunus? Maybe he's using it to hide a trunk? Geez, I wonder if he likes peanuts. Do you think he likes peanuts? Because I..."

"Nora." Lie Ren, the stoic final member of JNPR, and the poor bastard who had to run damage control whenever Nora got a bit too excited, interrupted her ramblings. "I seriously doubt he has a trunk, Faunus or not."

"Well, I guess we're about to see what he's capable off." Ruby stated, as the chatter finally died down, and everyone began watching.

/

"So, what exactly is this trial about?" Tristard inquired, as he stood on the square platform on the ground like Lady Goodwitch asked him to.

"On the North side of the emerald forest there's a temple, which you'll have to reach. Inside, you will find a set of relics, one of which you will have to choose and bring back. The forest, as you're well aware at this point, is filled with Grimm, and they'll be trying to stop you every step of the way."

"Enter forest, get to ruins, find relic, return, kill everything between the two points. Eh, feels like home." Tristard couldn't help but chuckle at that. "I suppose I should begin making my way down the cliff then?"

"That will not be necessary. You will be launched."

The dragonborn barely had the time to blink in confusion before he heard a noise that dozens of close calls in ancient nord tombs, dwemer ruins, dungeons and bandit hideouts had taught him to dread.

The click of an activated mechanism.

"Ozpin, you son of a..." Whatever else he was going to say was lost to the wind as the Launchpad did its job, and the mage was sent cartwheeling through the air, the result of his failed attempt to leave the platform.

Glynda scowled as she watched him go.

She would have to scold him for that later.

/

Tristard was one of the few beings in Tamriel who could safely say he had had a bird's eye view of the world.

Riding in the back of dragons did come with a few perks.

It was one of the reasons that he wasn't quite as worried as most other beings in his place would be, in fact, he couldn't help but casually compare the perspective while mounted and the one he had now, there were subtle differences.

In all honesty, he was more pissed at Ozpin because the Headmaster hadn't deigned to warn him about the whole catapulting thing than about actually being launched. He was still going to have words with the man, though. Painful words.

Soon he reached the apex of his flight and gravity made itself known again, and as the ground began to get dangerously close, the other reason he wasn't all that bothered became evident.

He was also one of the few beings in Tamriel with the ability to survive the fall.

Three little words.

"FEIM ZII GRON!"

His form shimmered, becoming a transparent ethereal blue, and the mage descended through the canopy, his body fazing through the branches like a phantom, landing in a kneeling position and becoming corporeal once more as he stood and watched his surroundings, before heading North as instructed.

/

Yang chuckled when she saw the guy being launched. "Damn, that was even funnier than yours, Vomit boy."

Jaune wasn't quite sure how to answer to that, and Weiss frowned disapprovingly. "Such rudeness. Why would Headmaster Ozpin allow someone this disrespectful to join his academy?"

"Perhaps they know each other?" Blake suggested, she wasn't quite sure, the way the guy talked, it seemed like he considered Ozpin an equal. No one had an answer for her.

The group went silent once more as they watched, curious as to what his landing strategy was, growing a bit concerned when didn't move while getting closer to the ground, and then surprised when he finally did something.

"What was that? Did he just turn in to a ghost?" A bewildered Ruby asked.

"I actually think that's pretty accurate." Pyrrha replied as she watched him with an analytical eye. "It seems like his semblance is intangibility, and he used that to deny any damage from the landing, but I don't know what or why he shouted like that."

Ruby was even more confused. "What-a-bility?"

"Intangibility, you dunce, it means he can pass through solid objects." Weiss answered annoyed.

"Awesome..." The younger girl said with that awed childish enthusiasm that at this point everyone expected of her.

And she had seen nothing yet.

/

Tristard stopped in the middle of a clearing. The forest was quiet. Too quiet.

"Laas yah nir!"

Unlike most other Thu'ums, Aura Whisper wasn't a mighty shout, but rather just that, a discreet whisper, which revealed to him every being close by, not by their souls, as Remnant's inhabitants might think if they heard the name, nor by their life force, like the detect life spell, but by their potential to be a threat, which was why it didn't differentiate friend from foe, and was capable of detecting the constructs of the dwarves, the unliving, and as he just found out, the Grimm as well.

Aaaaannd they had him surrounded. Lovely.

As if realizing they had lost the element of surprise, six were... beowolves charged him from different directions, claws ready to rend and tear.

Chain lightning arced through the air, incinerating the three beasts in his field of vision, after which the mage rolled forward to avoid a vicious swipe at his back. As he rose, lightning turned to ice and the offending monster was knocked into a tree by the massive spike of ice impaling its gut. Tristard turned to the two remaining ones, who had stopped their charges when they saw their brethren's fate, and were beginning to circle him, looking for and opening to strike. They were larger, bulkier, and had a few scars, which if Tristard remember what Ozpin told him correctly, meant they were older, smarter and likely more experienced in fighting humanity.

He reached for the axe on his back and held it in a battle stance, the red filigree glowing brighter, as if anticipating the coming slaughter. The creatures eyed the weapon wearily, there was something about its wickedly sharp appearance that made them restless.

"Not quite as... flashy as what you are probably used to facing, perhaps..."

The axe's blade ignited, bright orange flames fading into wisps of green and purple.

"... but Gurahyol comes with its own set of tricks."

Breaking the standoff, one the beowolves pounced on him. Tristard dodged to the left and lashed out, lopping off the creature's arm and immediately cauterizing the wound. Its pained howl was cut short as it fell to ground in a strangely stiff manner, and Gurahyol went through its skull before the paralysis wore off. The last remaining one tried to reach him as he removed the weapon, but he was ready for it.

"IIZ SLEN NUS!"

The beowolf found itself trapped in thick layers of ice, the mage merely walked up to it, and swinging in a wide arc, beheaded the thing.

With the fighting done for the time being, Tristard couldn't help but remember how many times back in Tamriel he had surprised his opponents with this weapon of his own creation. Mages, while feared for their power, we're generally considered weaklings when it came to physical prowess, one of the reasons Nords disliked them so. Many had assumed the same about him, and few had lived to regret their mistake. It was amazing how so few people seemed to be aware of the existence of battlemages. And while it was true that, like most bretons, Tristard had a great affinity for the magical arts, unlike most bretons, he had been an experienced thug long before he had learned his first spell.

Remembering something else Ozpin had told him, the mage examined Gurahyol. The paralysis and flame components of its enchantments had been effective, but sure enough, its magical charge hadn't been restored in the battle, and the soul trap hadn't activated. Grimm truly had no soul. This might become a problem if he didn't find another way to recharge the weapon.

Filling this information for later research, he started leaving the clearing, when a loud hissing noise was heard. Only his well-honed battle instincts allowed him to jump out of the way as something lunged at where he had been, creating a large crater on the ground.

The creature rose and turned to face him. It was massive, to the point that most of its serpentine body was still hidden by the foliage. Pale white scales shined in the clearing's light, it's grey, red-mark bone mask covering only the top of its head, a head that was marred with burns so severe parts of its skull were visible. Its left eye had been burned off, leaving only an empty socket, and its right one glared at the dragonborn, an eye that showed nothing but maddened pain and hatred.

Tristard groaned.

"You again?"

The king tajitu lunged once more, intent on killing the one responsible for its torment.

"WULD!"

The mage disappeared from sight, not to mention from the way of the attack, and reappeared near the Grimm's body, lodging Gurahyol's blade deep into it. The snake hissed in pain as more hideous burns were inflicted upon it, and a great force slammed into Tristard from behind, sending him flying through the clearing. Trough bleary eyes, he noticed he had been blindsided by the creature's other half, it's lifeless black head being used as a battering ram. It would seem his fireball spells the other night had been more effective than he expected. Taking advantage of the its opponent's disorientation, the serpent surged forward and began constricting him. Glee joined pain and hatred in its eye, the prey's weapon was out of reach, ironically still stuck to its body, and its pitiful attempts to break free from its coils were doomed to fail. Revenge upon this human was near.

Tristard grinned.

The beast's first mistake was believing its victory was assured.

Its second was turning him so he could stare at what it believed was his impending demise.

This had begun with fire. It was only fitting that it ended in fire.

"YOL TOOR SHUL!"

An inferno sprang into existence, hitting the surprised monster's face. The Grimm's world became fire, it became agony.

It became darkness.

The charred stump where the head had been fell lifelessly to the ground, and Tristard escaped the loosened coils, wincing as he did. It would seem the beast managed to break a few of his ribs, but that was easily solved with a healing spell. He looked at his handiwork.

"You should've taken the hint when I blew up your faces." He grumbled as he dislodged his axe from the corpse, and finally began making his way North again.

/

Shocked silence reigned over the Amphitheatre.

When the prospective hunter had suddenly stopped in the middle of a clearing and whispered something, a few eyebrows were raised, but it was soon made clear he had noticed the Grimm ambush. Then he had used lightning and ice to dispatch most of his foes, with no apparent usage of dust, much to everyone's confusion. Wasn't his semblance intangibility?

When he had drawn his strange looking axe, which obviously lacked a foldable frame, Ruby had jokingly told Jaune that apparently, he wasn't the only one with an appreciation for the classics.

Then the thing set itself on fire, again with no apparent dust usage according to Weiss, and he proceeded to dispatch the remaining beasts, once again confusing everyone when he froze a Grimm solid by literally screaming at it.

And now he had just turned a king tajitu into barbecue, also by shouting at it.

"How is he doing that?" Weiss wondered out loud, as she tried to understand what she had seen.

"I don't know." Pyrrha was equally perplexed. "But I think we were wrong about his semblance."

"What do you mean?" Blake asked.

"I don't know how he created lightning and ice without dust, but every time something bigger than that happened, he shouted those strange words beforehand. If I had to guess, I'd say those were his semblance."

"A brilliant deduction, Ms. Nikos."

The group nearly jumped, at the unexpected voice, and looked at the source that was standing right beside them.

"Professor Ozpin." Weiss said politely. "Could you please elaborate. How can words be a semblance?"

Ozpin gaze never left the screen. "From what he explained to me, Mr. Soverick calls his semblance "Dragon Shout". In times of need, these words come to the forefront of his mind, and by shouting them, he is capable of creating several effects to turn the tides of battle in his favour." The headmaster took a sip as the group's eyes, as well as those of everyone within earshot, widened in surprise. This guy had an incredibly powerful and adaptive semblance.

"That is so awesome!" Ruby and Nora shouted excitedly, stars twinkling in their eyes.

Before anyone else could speak, a loud growl caused everyone to turn back to the screen, and quite a few to gasp in alarm.

"Oh, my." Ozpin said in a curious tone. "I wonder how he'll work his way out of this one?"

/

'This is getting very close to being labelled as one of those days.' An annoyed Tristard grumbled in his mind. Let it be known that if there was a word to describe the Dragonborn's luck, that word would be "unpredictable".

Sometimes, he could make the journey from Fort Dawnguard to Solitude, basically from one end of Skyrim to the other, without any major incidents.

Others, he couldn't go from Rorikstead to Whiterun without being attacked by at least 5 bandit groups, 3 trolls, a band of giants with their respective mammoth heard, 2 dragons and a homeless Khajiit on skooma (Disturbingly enough, the hardest one to get rid of, the son of a whore just wouldn't. Stay. Down.). And thus he began to label these days, when everything went wrong and even the Gods seemed to be out to get him, "those days".

The reason for which he thought today qualified as such?

The beast that had stomped out of the woods to meet him. Ursine in appearance, it was massive, a colossus of muscle and bony spikes, the black fur of the Grimm seen only through the spaces between white armored plates, marred with the scars of hundreds of battles. Dwarfing the Ursae he'd fought the other day, it was an Alpha in every sense of the word.

Another tense standoff was had between man and beast.

But while the man prepared for battle, the beast simply stared at this interloper into its territory, a calculating, intelligent glint in its eyes. For Grimm grew not only bigger and stronger with time, but smarter as well. They began to be able to strategize, to reason on a primal level, to act against the bloodl.u.s.t and recklessness that marked their younger years, which was why the older Grimm were considered top level threats that only experienced teams of hunter should engage. This particular Ursa had been around for a long time, it hunted and was hunted in return, and what it saw in front of it was no human prey.

It saw a fellow predator, fangs bared, wings stretched, and fire pulsing in its jaws.

It realized that if they fought, there would be no victory.

And so, with a final growl, the beast turned and made its way back into the woods, leaving a slightly confused Archmage. After a quick use of Aura Whisper to make sure it wasn't a trick, Tristard merely shrugged and went on his way.

"Alright, perhaps not quite one of those days... yet."

/

Complete and utter silence.

That's what filled the Amphitheatre at this point, as every single student stared in shock at the impossible scene.

It ran.

The Grimm ran.

That went against everything they knew. The Grimm were relentless monsters, they never stopped until their prey was dead, or they were. And here they saw someone who had scared off a gigantic Ursa just by staring at it. Who the heck was this guy?

"Interesting..." A pleasantly surprised Ozpin said to himself.

"Professor Ozpin." A stunned Blake asked. "What just happened?"

"Ms. Belladonna, you are aware that the older a Grimm is, the stronger and more intelligent he becomes, right?" The headmaster answered, and most of those around nodded.

"Well, as you could plainly see, that Ursa was quite old, a veteran fighter, and whatever it saw in Mr. Soverick, it seems to have decided it wasn't in its best interest to fight him."

Ozpin was quite pleased, Tristard was doing quite a good job of proving his worth. Perhaps too good a job, judging by the awed expressions of many of the students.

Yang stared at man on the screen as if that would solve the mystery that he represented. Slowly, a smirk appeared on her face. Soverick, uh?

She really wouldn't mind if he joined their team.

/

A few hours and dozens of slaughtered Grimm later, Tristard had finally reached the temple, which consisted of a small circular ruin, with barely standing walls and pillars, and within he found his objective.

"Relics my arse." He muttered, as he looked at various chess pieces spread in a circle of pedestals. Now he just had to choose one...

His eyes stopped on one particular piece.

The White Knight...

...

Had prophecies always been this easy to understand or was he just getting better at it?

With a shrug, the Archmage grabbed it.

/

"YES! The awsome newcomer is one of us now!" Ruby and Yang cheered as they high-fived each other.

"He'll certainly be interesting to work with." Blake said with a smile. Weiss kept silent, and while she wasn't as happy as her teammates, she was somewhat pleased. At least the guy had proved he could hold his own.

"Indeed." Ozpin said with a satisfied smirk, he knew the misplaced mage would understand the admittedly rather obvious hint. "I'll have to take care of the paperwork, but as of right now, Mr. Soverick has become the official fifth member of team RWBY."

"Oooh." Ruby was nearly jumping in childish enthusiasm. "I can't wait to meet him. I've got sooo many questions. How did he pull that lightning and ice trick? How does his axe work? How...?"

...

Enthusiasm became dread.

"Oh no..."

/

"Well... shit."

In the small amount of time he was inside the ruin, the open field around it had been filled with beowolves, the horde he had escaped from the other day if he had to guess, eagerly waiting for the chance to tear their escaped prey apart.

Eh, they were just beowolves, he shouldn't have any major prob...

"SCCCRRRREEEEEEEEE!"

"When will I learn to stop tempting Fate?" He sighed in exasperation, as two of the raven Grimm, Nevermores he recalled, soared overhead. They seemed smaller than the one he had seen being killed, though. The beast's brood, perhaps?

This time there would be no "airship" to pick him up, and there was no cliff he could jump...

Oh well, it wasn't the first time he faced insurmountable odds, and he'd be damned if he let it be the last.

Still on the relative safety of the ruins, he called upon the magicka, and has a blue glow appeared in his hands, he waved them in arcane patterns, and cast the Dragonhide spell, it's light blue brilliance surrounding his whole body before fading into a faint outline.

After that, he reached into his robes, and removed a blue phial. He'd have to use them sparingly, but the current situation more than justified it. Moving his mask slightly, he drank the whole thing in one gulp, and immediately felt his magicka reserves restored.

His preparations done, the Dragonborn walked out to meet his enemies, Gurahyol resting on his shoulder.

"The creatures of Grimm, they call you..." He stated while facing the horde.

The Grimm were confused. This lone human prey, he did not fear.

He did not fear, he did not hate, there was no emotion coming from him other than calm, resolute acceptance.

"For millennia you have preyed on mankind..."

Slowly, but steadily, an aura of power manifested.

"For millennia you have sought our destruction..."

Under this presence, the beast grew restless, nervous even.

"...And for millennia, man has weathered the storm."

Even in their young, reckless minds, they were beginning to see what the Alpha had seen.

"Let us see if you can fare any better."

It was far too late.

"STRUN BAH QO!"

For what seemed like an eternity, but were actually a few moments, silence reigned over the Emerald Forest, as if it knew what was coming.

As if Nature itself wished to avoid what was coming.

And then, the skies of Remnant erupted in fury.

Chapter 3

It came out of nowhere. Like a beast waiting in ambush it fell on them.

Clouds, black and thick, suddenly darkened the bright blue skies. A breeze picked up.

It was only the beginning.

It kept growing. Soon, the breeze became a violent gale that threatened to rip them from the ground and send them crashing into the woods. Without warning, a full-blown deluge began, a torrential downpour that turned the soil to mud and hindered their movements.

And then, with a resounding, thunderous roar, a bolt of lightning fell, smiting a small cl.u.s.ter of beowolves. Many more followed.

The Nevermores, despite their best, desperate efforts, found themselves completely at the mercy of the heavens. The gale winds tossed them around like rag dolls and lightning struck them mercilessly, relentlessly. Exhausted, one of the creatures collapsed and crashed into the clearing, crushing a fair number of its unlucky, earthbound kin, while the other was speared trough by one of the bolts and fell off in the distance, somewhere in the woods.

At this point, a panicked, confused frenzy had settled over the creatures of Grimm.

But even when faced with the rage of the wind, the fury of the rain and the wrath of lightning, the doubt creeping into their minds wasn't enough to override their primal instincts, and so they attacked.

Only to learn that at the heart of the maelstrom, another was taking place. A maelstrom of steel and magic, smaller, but far more dangerous.

/

Tristard dodged a beowolf trying to tear off his throat, more out of reflex than actual need, and as the beast made another attempt, he grabbed its own to hold it at bay, letting a Lightning Bolt spell surge through it, and then silencing its pained howls with a swing of his weapon, the jagged edge of Gurahyol burning strong despite the heavy rain, a large cloud of vapour surrounding it. Another tried to strike at his back, but the daedric battleaxe flashed, and the offending monster found itself without a head, after which the Archmage turned his attention towards an incoming wave of creatures:

"FO KRAH DIIN!"

A breath of sheer cold followed the shout, turning every Grimm, every blade of grass, every drop of rain in its path into hoarfrost statues. Unlike the Ice Form shout, the purpose of which was to incapacitate, the freezing Frost Breath would be quite fatal. The Dragonborn contemplated for a moment the ethereal beauty of his handiwork. Unfortunately, this distraction allowed one of the beasts to sneak up on him and bite into his shoulder. Or at least it tried to, because no matter how much pressure it applied, it couldn't pierce through the human's skin, the only thing it managed to break where its own teeth. Still, the mage struggled to break free, and as if instinctively feeling that their foe was trapped, more beowolves joined the first, the sheer weight of the unintentional dog pile threatening to do what their frenzied attacks failed to accomplish.

Only for them to be violently pushed away, as a circle of massive green tentacles erupted from the mage's robes, throwing Grimm in every direction. Their master protected for the time being, the eldritch appendages receded, and Tristard got to his feet, his golden mask hiding his annoyed expression. These bastards just wouldn't take the bloody hint. Perhaps he needed to use a more... persuasive argument.

With the creatures incapacitated for a precious few seconds, he called upon the magicka, willed it into taking a particular form. Lightning once more crackled in his arms, but it was different, more intense, more potent. Like moths to a flame, stray bolts fell on him, but did nothing more than help power the spell. After a few more moments of gathering power, the Archmage unleashed it all. With a mighty, blinding flash, the beam of concentrated lightning that was the Lightning Storm spell shot from his hands, moving in a wide arc in front of him, disintegrating each and every Grimm it touched, leaving only ashes and devastation in its wake. The clearing suddenly became much emptier, and this swift annihilation of most of their numbers broke the remaining Grimm. Self-preservation finally speaking louder, these few survivors ran into the woods, seeking to escape from this opponent, this predator who posed as prey.

With the battle won, Tristard lifted Gurahyol to the skies and let loose a wordless, victorious shout. If any of the creatures had remained, they would have seen an enormous, winged reptilian beast roaring its victory to the heavens.

Thunder was the storm's response, as if it was celebrating as well.

Yeah, he should probably do something about that before he ended up accidentally destroying the world.

"LOK VAH KOOR!"

It obeyed his will, and with one last boom of thunder, the storm vanished as suddenly as it appeared, the muddy soil and broken trees the only proof that it had actually happened.

'Well, I guess that answers that question.' The Dragonborn mused as he gazed around him, watching the corpses decomposing with abnormal speeds, releasing clouds of black smoke, seeing the destruction that Storm Call had wrought. Perhaps it had been a bit of an Overkill on his part, but he had wanted those damn birds out of the sky, and unlike his usual encounters with aerial enemies, Dragonrend wasn't an option. Plus, he was alone in this test, or else he wouldn't even consider using it.

That being said, he had accomplished what had been asked of him, so he should probably start the long and tedious trek back to Beacon...

Wait...

The Archmage facepalmed. Why in Oblivion hadn't he thought of this earlier?

Powered gathered once more in his hands, this time in the form of an ethereal purple glow, and soon after Arvak joined him in the clearing. The first thing the spectral horse did was trot to his master and rub its head on his shoulder, making Tristard chuckle.

"Aye, I'm glad to see you're safe as well, Arvak. I'm sorry I didn't check up on you sooner, but I've been somewhat occupied." The specter neighed in response, indicating that there was no problem, which made Tristard chuckle again. Such a good horse.

"Well, then..." He mounted the phantom steed, and spared one last glance at the battlefield. "Let us ride."

As they did just that, he couldn't help but wonder how would his meeting with his new associates go.

/

The Beacon Cliffs

Weiss Schnee liked to think that she wasn't easily surprised, but these lasts few days seemed to be trying their hardest to prove her wrong.

First was the... explosive first encounter with her partner and team leader, Ruby Rose. She couldn't deny that they had started off on the wrong foot, what with the Dunce's clumsiness and her own... difficult behaviour (she was perfectly aware that others would've said she had been a bitch, but she would never admit it out loud), but the events of their initiation had surprised her, for she realized that the younger girl, for all her childishness and recklessness, had her heart in the right place, and the will and potential to be a great huntress someday. And so she decided that she would at least make an effort to try to make this partnership work.

And now this.

When the Headmaster had explained that one of the teams would be getting an extra member, she had honestly hoped it wouldn't be hers, because she felt it would be hard enough to deal with as it was. When the guy first appeared on the screen, she hadn't thought much of him, other than the fact that his mask reminded her of... unpleasant memories, but she rationalized that the mask alone wasn't enough to suggest he had any connection to the White Fang, and that it would be unfair to dislike him just for that. She decided that if Ruby deserved a chance, then so did this guy.

And then he had started doing the impossible, and doing it again and again.

Using words to become intangible, and breathe fire and frost was by itself weird to say the least, but it had been explained by Ozpin as being his semblance, and while unusual, was something she could understand.

But then there was the lightning and ice he used, and the strange flames of his axe, which had thoroughly confused her. She had payed close attention, inspected every detail, and she could safely say that at no point had this Soverick guy used dust. Where they another aspect of his semblance then, or something else entirely?

And then to add to the mystery, the Grimm were afraid of him. Well, not at first, but the longer he fought them, the more hesitant the monster seemed to be, until an Ursa Alpha of all things refused to face him, and the few beowolves to survive his rampage, against everything humanity thought they knew about the Grimm, fled with their tails between their legs.

Oh, and had she mentioned he had conjured up a freaking storm like a cheap trick, which had reached the academy itself judging by the rain on the windows and the thunder in the distance, and caused it to disperse just as easily? The creepy tentacles that burst from his body, when she and the others had started to fear they would lose their new teammate before they had a chance to meet him? The massive beam of lightning that annihilated nearly the entire horde? And how when all was said and done, he had made a skeleton horse appear out of thin air?

In other words, she didn't know what to think. On one hand, it was good to know that they had this kind of firepower on their side. On the other, how the heck did the guy manage to do that? Just who was he?

As they neared the initiation cliff, following Headmaster Ozpin, who had prompted them to come and meet their new colleague, Weiss glanced back at the others.

Ruby looked positively giddy, in fact, the younger girl was damn near skipping in excitement. Weiss suspected that had something to do with that obscenely sharp-looking flaming axe. Had it been anyone else, she would have thought such an obsession with weapons to be disturbing. To her credit, the red-hooded girl actually made it an endearing trait.

Not for the first time she wondered how the heck could Ruby be related to their other teammate. Yang had been the first to break the utter, utter, silence in the amphitheatre, when everyone was still trying to process what they just saw.

"Well... I guess you could say that he... took them by storm."

And queue a perfectly synchronized groan of annoyance from everybody within earshot.

Now, the buxom blonde (She was NOT jealous, not at all) was walking alongside her sister, and while she didn't act any different from normal, there was a glint in her eyes that hadn't been there before. Weiss wasn't sure what to make of it.

And then there was Blake. The last member of their team was quietly following the siblings, a contemplative expression on her face. If Weiss had to guess, she'd say the ebon-haired girl was trying to understand what they had witnessed, without much success.

Soon they reached the cliff... where someone else was already waiting for their new teammate's arrival...

/

Professor Goodwitch had been caught by surprise by the sudden storm, and while she was safe from the lightning at this distance, her waterlogged clothes and soaked hair showed that she hadn't escaped unscathed. The woman was now twisting her cloak in effort to rid it of excess water, and doing her best to suppress the shivering from the cold. The girls and the Headmaster hid their surprise (and in some cases amus.e.m.e.nt) at the woman's state, mostly because of the way she was murderously glaring in the general direction where the storm had come from.

"Glynda..." Ozpin ventured cautiously, he did not wish to incur the woman's wrath. "Why are you...?"

"I created a barrier to shelter myself from the rain." The woman interrupted in a calm, collected, slightly shivering tone, but the Headmaster knew her well enough to recognize the cold fury underneath. "But that small period of time was enough to leave me in this state." Her glare never left the forest. Ozpin couldn't help but grow a bit concerned for Tristard's safety.

For a few minutes, the group stood there in silence, until Ruby finally dared to ask.

"So... how long do you think it will take him...?"

An axe lodged itself in the Cliff's edge, causing her to "Eeep!" in fright. A gloved hand followed, and soon the rest of the Archmage, dusting off his robes, and muttering something that sounded suspiciously like a promise that he'd one day find a way to murder the foul cliff.

"That was quite an... impressive performance, Mr. Soverick." The Headmaster stated praisingly.

"No thanks to you." Tristard replied bluntly. "It would have been nice to know that I was meant to be catapulted off the sodded cliff before it happened."

"Perhaps." The Headmaster stated. "But that would defeat the purpose of a test, wouldn't it?"

Grudgingly the Dragonborn conceded to that particular point, and then he noticed that someone was glaring at him. One look at the source was more than enough to understand what had happened. Realizing the danger he was in, the mage immediately tried to diplomatically defuse the situation.

"Forgive me, Lady Goodwitch." He said sincerely, bowing his head but at the same time doing his damn best to keep looking her in the eyes, because all that water was having some very... interesting effects on her white shirt, and he had a feeling that she'd know if he stared, mask or no mask. "I wasn't aware that you would remain here for the duration of the initiation, otherwise I wouldn't have resorted to such methods to deal with the Grimm. Here." He reached into his robes, pulling out a small red phial and held it out for her to grab. "Take this, with my apologies."

Surprised by the honest, heartfelt apology, most of Glynda's anger turned to curiosity, as she took the object and looked at it questioningly.

"And what is this?"

"A potion. That one in particular is used to cure disease. It should be able to handle any cold or fever you might suffer."

Eyebrow raised, Glynda once again looked at the contents of the phial. This would require some analysis. But for now, she did the only thing she could think of.

"Apologies accepted, just make sure it doesn't happen again."

Now Ozpin was thoroughly impressed. Fully capable of holding his own against overwhelming odds, willing to go for a diplomatic approach in more delicate situations, and he just managed to calm Glynda down to boot!

Truly Tristard would make a fine addiction to Beacon Academy, and to Team RWBY in particular.

The Dragonborn for his part, just chuckled. "Duly noted, Lady Goodwitch."

Then he finally noticed the other people present, staring at him with expressions ranging from surprised to curious.

"My new teammates, I assume?" He had seen them before, but now he took the opportunity to examine them in greater detail. Strange garments, but then again, his own probably looked strange to them as well. And what was it with this world and attractive women? Any one of them put anything he had seen back home to shame, with the possible exception of Serana. Not that he saw the vampire in that light. Despite her being Gods know how many millennia older than him, during the whole "Vampire Doomsday Prophecy" situation they had somehow developed a strong "Older Brother/Younger Sister" relationship, with all the teasing and overprotectiveness that entailed. Anyone who so much as thought to harm or woo her would have to answer to him, and proceed to get a face full of axe. And exploding fireballs. And then he'd sic Odahviing and Durnehviir on them.

But he digressed. Now it was time to finally meet the Maidens of Red, White, Black and Yellow.

"Oh, where are my manners?" He removed his mask, which disappeared into his robes, and did a polite bow, hoping for a good first impression. "Tristard Soverick, at your service."

The girls hadn't expected that. Contrary to what each of them envisioned, behind that mask was a guy not much older than they were. With that wavy brown hair, short-trimmed beard, and tattoo over his eye, he was quite good-looking, handsome even, in a rugged sort of way. Yang threw Weiss a smug look that said, "told you so". They were also somewhat confused by the overly polite way he addressed them, and it was Weiss, more used to such behaviours, that reacted first, approaching him as he rose and holding out her hand.

"Weiss Schnee, pleased to meet you."

The white one, Tristard mused as he shook it, and indeed white seemed to define her, from hair to clothing. The scar over her left eye did not detract from her beauty at all, and much like his own mark, he suspected there was quite a story behind it. From what he'd seen in the "footage" and what Ozpin had explained to him, she was the closest thing the team had to a mage, using her semblance of glyphs to boost herself and her allies, and the substance, "Dust", to produce many effects similar to his spells, which made her a prime candidate for attaining information on the subject. Her icy blue eyes showed some reservations, likely she wasn't quite sure what to make of him, but also a measure of respect, he guessed he could work with that.

"The pleasure is mine, Lady Schnee." He answered, and the sincerity behind it seemed to catch the girl slightly off guard, but by then another of the girls approached.

"Hi there!" The smaller girl said excitedly, a bright smile on her face. "Name's Ruby Rose. Nice to meet you."

The red one, strangely the only one whose hair did not totally match the color. With a red hood, over-sized cape and cheerful silver eyes, the girl was a picture of childish optimism and innocence, it reminded him so much of... Well, anyway, she was the leader, and yet the youngest out of all of them. He had to admit, he had been somewhat uncertain about those particular pieces of information, but he witnessed the feats she could accomplish, some bordering on the insane, which he strongly suspected might be due to structural and biological differences between the humans of Remnant and Nirn, it was the best explanation he could come with for how in Sheor's name was a small, thin girl like her able to so easily wield a scythe bigger than she was, when most orcs he'd met would hesitate to even lift the damn thing. That aside, the girl was quick, both on her feet, what with her semblance being speed, and in her mind, and now that he was standing before her, he could see what Ozpin had been thinking. She definitely had a potential for greatness. Aye, he would follow this one, and help along the way.

"Likewise, Lady Rose." He replied with a grin as they shook hands, while another new face approached.

"Well, good to see you getting along so well with someone right off the bat, Rubs." She said in a teasing yet caring tone, before shifting her attention to him, while the red-hooded girl stuttered embarrassedly. "Yo, I'm Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's older sister, nice meeting you."

Tristard blinked, looked at one girl, then the other, then spoke his mind.

"You two look nothing alike."

The blonde just chuckled at that. "Yeah, we get that a lot."

The yellow one. With long, wild hair of a shade that put gold to shame, and bright lilac eyes, this one showed a confident, energetic and very carefree demeanour. She was also quite... well endowed, which wasn't helped by her... revealing outfit. As they shook hands, he fought down the urge to wince. The girl had one hell of a grip, but that was to be expected, she was a brawler after all, with a level of strength unheard of in Skyrim, which coupled with a deceiving amount of agility, made her a brutal, devastating fighter. They would have loved her back in Jorrvaskr.

"I believe we will get along well..." Lady Xiao? Lady Long? Lady Xiao Long? Ah, sod it."... Milady."

And then there was one.

She approached quietly, and for some reason he was reminded of a cat, sizing him up, trying to decide if he was friend or threat.

"I'm Blake. Blake Belladonna."

The black one. Hair dark as midnight and feline, amber eyes, and with what was perhaps the strangest outfit he'd seen so far, she seemed to be the quiet one of the group, and more than any of the others she had the bearing of an experienced fighter, and with a fighting style based on stealth and subterfuge, she would have been quite successful in the Dark Brotherhood, if he hadn't finished those bastards off himself, there were only so many assassination attempts he could put up with, and their "attempt" to recruit him for "stealing the clientele " had been the last straw, he had done the world a favour getting rid of that old hag, and another getting rid of them.

But once again he digressed.

The girl seemed quiet and collected, yes, and a bit withdrawn, perhaps, but there was something underneath, to him those eyes seemed... haunted, for a lack of a better term. But he would not ask, nor would he judge, it was not his place. Gods knew he had his own closet full of skeletons.

Also, that strange ornament on her head really did remind him of a Khajiit...

By the Gods, did those things just twitch?

Nah, he must've been seeing things.

"Delighted to make you acquaintance, Lady Belladonna." She nodded, they shook hands, and then she retreated once more, truly a quiet girl.

"Now that you have all been introduced." Ozpin rejoined the conversation. "I believe it is time to make this official."

The girls stepped back, as one Headmaster stood before another, the latter of the two removing the chess piece from within his robes and handing it to the former, who nodded approvingly.

"Tristard Soverick, you have braved the Emerald Forest alone, showing great skill and power, and collected the White Knight piece. Thus, you will be joining Team RWBY, under the leadership of Ruby Rose. Welcome to Beacon Academy."

"T'is a position I will fulfil to the best of my ability." The Archmage replied, then turned to the younger girl, and put his fist to his chest in a show of respect. "My axe is yours, Lady Rose."

Fl.u.s.tered by such respectful behaviour from a guy she had just met, the blushing Ruby could only stutter.

"W-well... hhhm... yeah, welcome t-to the team."

Yang nodded at that, Weiss and Blake just smiled.

"Now, I believe it is time for the girls to pack their bags." Ozpin stated.

"I'm sorry, what?" A bewildered Weiss asked.

It was Glynda who replied. "Girls, the room you are occupying right now is too small to house a fifth person. Fortunately, situations like these, while uncommon, are not unheard of, and we have a couple of rooms on campus for just this purpose. You will be moving to one of them."

Tristard didn't miss Ruby dejectedly mumbling. "But we just set up the bunk beds..."

He'd have to ask about that latter.

"I trust there will be no issue with this, Mr. Soverick?" The teacher asked him with a pointed look.

He fought down the urge to snort. During his tenure with the Companions, he had shared quarters with Aela the Huntress, and the woman fought, ate and snored like a beast. This couldn't be much worse.

"I have no issue with it if they don't, Lady Goodwitch. Besides, I travel light, so I will not be taking up much space."

"Well, then." Ozpin said. "I believe we should return, you look like you could use a rest."

No one noticed that, during these conversations, Tristard had been moving, subtly positioning himself, waiting for just the right moment.

"Aye, a warm meal, a bath, and a good night's sleep to sound lovely right now. Oh, and Ozpin...?"

"Yes?"

"FUS!"

The Headmaster of Beacon Academy was promptly blown off the cliff.

The girls gawked.

Glynda once more glared at him.

"Was that really necessary?"

Tristard just shrugged.

"A bit petty on my part perhaps, but nobody tricks me into being catapulted off a cliff and gets away with it."

And done.