Well, I asked for possible names for this story at the end of Wind Mage: Chapter 5 but didn't get any suggestions. Oh well, I'm not gonna wait any longer to post it, so sue me for the title being less than creative. Don't expect super frequent updates for this, but I do hope you'll enjoy it.

"James, I've heard some risky proposals in my time, but this is. . ."

"I know, I know. But he can't train in Atlas or Vacuo. The boy would be lynched before the second semester. People are scared, and I'm hoping he'll get a better reception here at Beacon."

Ozpin relented but still didn't look convinced. "I suppose you're right. But he's still too young. Plus, he'd throw off the team balances. We create teams for a reason. It's why we only accept students in multiples of four. He'd either be all alone, or he'd have to be assimilated into another team."

Ironwood hadn't been expecting that, but pursued his goal regardless: "Four is, indeed, a symbolic number. Four Kingdoms, four basic elements, et cetera. But the principle of teamwork can be learned just as well with a five person team. Alternatively, allowing him to be alone would teach him self-reliance and the skills necessary for solo missions. Either way, there shouldn't be a problem. As for his age, didn't you recruit a girl of fifteen?"

"Yes, but that girl is also the niece of Qrow Branwen, and he personally trained her. Not to mention that with her skills, she is a match for some of our second-year students."

"I don't see the problem, then. The boy is skilled and wise beyond his years. Remember what he was able to accomplish immediately after unlocking his Semblance?"

Ozpin frowned behind his mug of coffee. "Of course I do. Everyone with even the slightest link to Atlas has heard one version of the story or another. Which is why I'm hesitant to allow him to train anywhere near my students, especially the Schnee heiress."

Ironwood couldn't refute that. As soon as that boy was recognized, things could turn ugly. "Ozpin, I know the risks. But the boy needs a home and people to understand him. Our military can only do so much, and the people of Atlas despise him."

The Beacon headmaster was torn. On one hand, he was inviting potential disaster to come to his school. If people became aware of the tragedy this one boy had been through, panic would envelop the student body. He'd be avoided like the plague while the rumor mill made him out as some kind of villain. On the other, he could leave a young man, practically a child, to fend for himself in a nation which hounded for his blood. Though the rumors made him out to be, the boy wasn't cruel or malicious. Individually, some people might aid him, but the masses would deter most supporters. If the boy came to Beacon, people would at least not hate him so wholly.

"Why Beacon, James? Why not send him to Haven?"

"Oz, think about it. If he's here, you can keep an eye on him. I barely know the Headmaster of Haven, and I know the environment at Beacon will be good for him. I know your school can help him to regain some sense of normality."

Ozpin looked down on the paper on his desk. The one form that could change a young man's life forever.

Name: Shiroi Akujin

Age: 16

Height: 5'6"

Weight: 146 lbs.

Hair: Black

Eyes: Red

Former Schooling: None

Semblance: Skeletal Manipulation

Aura Level: 79/100

Ozpin scanned to the bottom of the document, passing over medical information and legal status, coming to the section labelled Extra Information/Notes:

Unique semblance. When fighting, displays savagery and brutality, but is shy off the battlefield. Orphaned at young age, trained by village Huntsmen. Fled after destruction of village. Has since been given refuge by Atlas military.

At the bottom of the page was a line for a signature. His signature. All Ozpin had to do was sign the paper or hand it back, and he'd be finished with this matter.

The two men stood in silence for what felt like hours, but couldn't have been more than a few minutes. It was a battle of wills: would Ozpin stand firm against the boy's admission, or give in to Ironwood and allow one of the most dangerous powers on Remnant to enter Beacon?

Ozpin sighed, breaking the silence. With deliberate care, he took a pen from his desk and signed the paper before filing it away.

"You had better know what you're playing with, James. If the boy hurts a single student of my school, you will be facing dire consequences."

Unaffected by the warning, Ironwood's stern face turned into a slight smile of relief. "Thank you, old friend. With your school's training, both Akujin and Remnant will benefit."

James nodded his head and bid goodbye to his fellow headmaster, but just before he entered the elevator, Ozpin called for his attention.

"Before you go, I have one thing to ask. What does his name mean? Most young and women of his generation are named for a color, or can be translated as such. What about him?"

Ironwood stood absolutely still. Turning his head just enough to see Ozpin, he answered slowly: "No one knows his original name, what you see is what he's told us to call him. It means 'White Demon.' Apparently, it was the name his village used for Grimm, and he adopted it after the incident. If that's all you'd like to ask, then goodnight Ozpin"

Ozpin heard the elevator descend but didn't pay the sound the slightest attention. He was drawn into the implications of Ironwood's words. The boy willingly referred to himself as a demon. No, it was worse than that; demons were just things created by parents to make their children to behave. He was named after the creatures of Grimm; real-life monsters that took numerous lives every year. To those villagers, he was no better than a machine of hatred and destruction, and he had internalized the sentiment. He believed them, even if he didn't want to. He was fully sapient Grimm.

"Oh, I'm so happy my little sis is going to Beacon with me!"

The speaker, currently enveloping her younger sister in a bone-breaking hug, was one Yang Xiao-Long. The seventeen year-old, standing at 5'8" with moon pale skin and soft lilac eyes, she was the pretty much the definition of blonde bombshell. Her wavy golden hair fell just past her waist, and was obviously well taken care of.

She wore a tan leather jacket, which looked a few sizes too small for her, over a yellow top that barely covered her ample chest, leaving her stomach completely exposed. Black shorts that showed off most of her legs were covered in the back by a tan hip cape. On her feet were knee-high leather boots and orange socks of about the same length. On her arms were two weaponized bracelets, the Ember Cecilia, and she had fingerless black gloves on her hands.

The girl getting the life crushed out of her was Ruby Rose, Yang's half sister. She was two years younger than her sister, and if her sister was sexy then she could be described as cute. Her skin was the same shade as her sisters, but she had silver eyes. Her hair was black with red highlights toward the tips, and she had it cut just short of shoulder length. The odd color had come from her mother's side rather than their shared father's. In fact, Ruby looked almost exactly like her mother as far as her body was concerned. She was half a foot shorter than Yang, whose mother was a good deal taller.

She was wearing a black blouse and a similarly colored corset with red strings. A black skirt with red trim on the edge completed the gothic look that she had. She wore black stockings and combat boots with red soles and laces. Attached to her shoulders by two silver crosses was a rose-colored cloak with a hood, and in a holster behind her waist she was carrying one of the most dangerous weapons ever made: a high-impact sniper scythe, aka the Crescent Rose.

"Yang, you're causing a scene!" the younger girl whispered. She didn't want to be the center of attention on the first day for Oum's sake!

The elder girl finally put her sister down as the Bullhead took flight toward Beacon. "So? All eyes on me, that's how it should be!" Ruby wasn't sure if the rhyme was intentional or not, but she was not amused by any means. At least it wasn't a pun. Yang made the absolute WORST puns.

"So Rubes, see any cute boys here? Anyone catching your eye?" the blonde teased.

"Yang, Dad would ground you in a heartbeat if he heard you," Ruby deadpanned.

"Pff, so? He's not here, let's live a little!"

Despite her distaste for her sister's teasing, Ruby was indeed observing the students around her. In all honesty, she was pretty intimidated. She had been moved up two years, so she didn't have any friends to help her along. Not to mention that all the other students were older than her and many of them probably knew each other. She did notice one person, however, who was standing in the very back of the Bullhead.

He had very dark skin, distinguishing him as a Vacuo native. She wasn't sure if it was genetic or if he was just extremely tanned, but it hardly mattered. Skin color wasn't much of a concern to people in this day and age. His hair was so black that it seemed to absorb even the nearby colors. It served to enhance the color of his eyes, though. They were deep red, like a pair of rubies set into his face. The contrast between the two colors was mesmerizing and terrifying at the same time. He wasn't much taller than her, maybe four inches, with a frame built for speed and power: His body was lean but corded with muscle. If he wore loose clothing he could pass for scrawny, but underestimating him in a fight could be a huge mistake.

Besides, that was only if her were wearing loose clothing in the first place. What he had on at the moment was a tight white shirt that hugged his body. It had no sleeves, so his arms were on full display. His pants were black jeans which, again, left little to the imagination. They didn't look so tight as to be uncomfortable, but enough so that they didn't slow down movement. His black sandals were designed with a similar concept, being tightly bound to his ankles and the bottoms of his shins. They were open in the toes, which seemed like a strange design choice.

After a few moments, the boy noticed her stare and looked curiously back at her. He didn't seem displeased, he was just returning her curious gaze with one of his own. Sensing a chance to meet someone new, an outsider like her, Ruby approached him.

"Hey. You're by yourself too, huh?"

He just nodded, not visibly put off by the statement. Ruby took this as a good sign and continued.

"I'm Ruby. What's your name?"

"Shiroi Akujin," he said. His voice was surprisingly low for someone so small, not that she was one to talk. If he were a singer, he'd be a solid baritone, though he could also work as a bass. It was smooth and soothing.

"Are you from Vacuo?"

"Originally, yes. I'm coming from Atlas now."

"Cool. I'm from Patch. How old are you? You don't look like you're seventeen."

"That's because I'm sixteen. They decided to bring me to Beacon a year early."

"Awesome! I got in two years early, so this is kind of awkward for me too. Do you know anyone else here?"

"No. I don't talk to people much. They avoid me if they can. I'm surprised you didn't."

"Well, I don't really have any friends here, so I wanted to see if I could get to know you. It's hard to make friends, isn't it?"

"I guess. I've never really tried it, though. People ignore me, so I usually just do my own thing."

Ruby didn't like where this was going. Sure, he was a bit intimidating, but for everyone to outright ignore him was just wrong. "People ignore you? That's not right! Nobody should be ignored."

"You're right, they shouldn't. But for something like me, it's at least better than being hunted down."

This was the first thing Yang heard as she found and collected her little sister. "Woah kid, are you a criminal or something? Ruby, who the hell are you hanging out with?" She nearly shouted the last part as she took up a defensive stance in front of Ruby.

"I'm not a criminal," the boy said without the least bit of emotion in his voice. "I'm Shiroi Akujin. I think we're called 'Grimm' in your language. People hunt us, because we hurt them. I just happen to be smarter than the others, and I don't hurt humans, so I don't get hunted anymore."

Ok, now they were confused. Yang was the one to ask the question: "Wait, a Grimm? I've seen a few Grimm in my time, and you aren't one of them, little boy."

"Like I said, I'm the only Shiroi Akujin that doesn't kill people, so far as I know. In that sense, I'm nothing like the others you've faced."

Both girls fell into silence. This boy had a screw loose somewhere. Maybe a few of them, actually. No normal person would liken himself to Grimm, no matter how vicious he was, and the boy in front of them was more impassive than anything else. Grabbing her sister's hand, Yang slowly walked away from the strange boy, taking looks at him over her shoulder as she retreated.

Ruby, on the other hand, was woken from her confusion when she felt herself being forcibly moved. She used her free hand to wave goodbye to her new "friend," which he returned with the same neutral look he'd had on for the entire conversation.

Once the girls were a fair distance away from the strange boy, Yang took a lecturing tone with her sister, which was extremely rare. "Ruby, you need to be more careful. That kid wasn't right in the head, and because of that there's no telling what he might do. I know that I told you to make friends, but stay away from people like him. It'll just get you in trouble."

Ruby had her head down during the entire speech. It wasn't her fault that the person she approached had been a weirdo. And even if he was a touch crazy, she didn't think he was dangerous. After all, he didn't display any hostility at all when she approached him. He just seemed really reserved.

After enduring her sister's entire fifteen minute lecture, the ship landed at Beacon, and the students were trusted to find the auditorium before the Headmaster's speech. Though, within the space of the next ten minutes, she instead found her way into ANOTHER LECTURE. Seriously, what was it with her and lectures today? This time, she was being informed about how to properly handle Dust, not that she hadn't already known.

The lecturer was the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. Ruby and bumped into her, knocking over several cases of Dust. When the heiress had begun the lecture by waving an open vial of Dust, things only went from bad to worse. Long story short, Dust is just like its household counterpart in that if it gets into your nose, you can end up sneezing. Unlike the bunnies under your couch, however, this Dust is highly explosive.

Weiss Schnee was a petite girl that stood just barely taller than Ruby, but her without her heels might have been shorter. Her skin was paler than Ruby's, with icy blue eyes. Her hair was done up in a long white ponytail that ended at her mid-thighs. She wore a white, sleeveless dress which turned light blue toward the bottom. She wore a jacket with a similar design, the inside of which was red. A sleek rapier with revolving Dust cartridges was attached to her waist.

Thankfully, just as Ruby's patience was starting to wear thin from all the lecturing, another girl walked onto the scene. After thoroughly pissing off the Schnee heiress and leaving Ruby feeling both glad and defeated, that girl just walked off without another word, denying the youngest girl from thanking her or trying to make a friend. Yeah, today was just NOT Ruby's day.

So what do you think? If you have any thoughts or ideas be sure to leave a review. Always up for some constructive criticism. And as I've said, Wind Mage will be my major story so this one will be updated less frequently.