The Forever Fall Forest was a place of mystery. Lauded for its ethereal appearance, feared for its roaming beasts, but never given anything less than praise. The dreamer found such sights to see in the red petal forest, imagining a world beyond the one he or she stood in. Such ideas for the thinker, conjuring a hundred and one reasons for the trees to never bare their branches, the leaves to never flood the ground, and for the beasts to never tire in the woods. It was a place for many visits, by tourists and Hunters alike, a place full of wonder and danger.

It was a place where the strong would see their flaws, reflected by the petals around them. It was a place where the weak could see their strength, blessed by the trees that never tired of their shedding. It was a place where the impossibilities of reality found their refuge, with the Grimm Beasts roaming endlessly yet life continuing just as easily. In the Forever Fall Forest, near anything could happen, so anything could change.

So it was of no consequence when the eternally falling leaves began to sway, finding themselves trapped in a sudden wind. It was not a gentle breeze sifting through the trees, but a vortex, a cyclone, that sudden grew and formed within the red forest. The leaves, spun about far faster than their normal graceful allowed, some tearing to pieces with others flying above the trees they fell from. Like a cannon into water, or an axe through wood, the wind destroyed the little peace the forest leaves had.

But then just as quickly as the vortex had come, it ended. And just as quickly, the leaves began to fall again, headless to any change that may have come. The trees continued to shed their leaves, the same blood-red greeneries that betrayed the laws of nature. And in the distance, far from the vortex that had come and gone, Grimm continued to end, sifting and searching for emotions of pain.

So no one noticed the new figure standing in the Forever Fall. The figure that stood to its tallest, head tilted down and arms curled up, holding a precious item to its lips. The figure was as still as the trees, green clothes waving like the red leaves. Blonde hair fell down from beneath a green hat, long and pointed, covering blue eyes that were hung in a half gaze.

Slowly, the figure retracted the item, staring at its light as if in adoration for the first time. An ocarina, carefully carved and blue in covered, yet free of any paint. Made from what could not be described in words, etched with a metal band upon its windpipe, and further detailed with a small trio of golden triangles. The figure let out a small breath of air before placing the item away, letting it vanish from sight.

"Whoa, where are we?" The figure turned slightly to see a fairy above him, dark in color with wings glassy and transparent. The fairy was glowing, like a floating ball of light, ringing as it twirled about the figure. "Everything's so… red."

"It's a forest Tael, we've seen them before." The figure turned to see another fairy now, far lighter in color than the aforementioned one. This fairy had the same glowing appearance, hiding its true body beneath the bright light, with wings just as glassy allowing it to float just as easily. "But the red's new. Think the trees are bleeding?"

"Don't say that, sis!" The other fairy whined, ringing lightly in the air. "That would mean that they were in pain, bleeding like that!" As if to demonstrate the point, the dark light creature flew across a few of the falling leaves. They waved at his approach, but made not a word of complaint. "It'd be like they're crying…"

"Alright, calm down, calm down." The lighter fairy half cajoled half soothed, flying over to her brother, leaves parting lightly as she passed. They touched one another, lights mixing into a soothing gray. Though their aura was blinding enough to leave their forms hidden, it was no stretch of the mind to see one embracing the other. "Geeze, the trees are alright, just something new to see. It's alright."

"Sorry Tatl," the younger fairy whined, though making no move to leave the embrace. Rather, the elder of the two rung lightly before making a return.

"You don't need to apologize," Tael's sister spoke easily, the falling leaves avoiding the floating fairies. "Just gotta relax, okay. The trees aren't in pain, we're just somewhere new, but we're altogether, alright?" The dark fairy's wings dropped, the only physical sign that he was heading his sister's words.

"Yeah, alright." Tael rang like a small bell, transparent wings shaking as he assumingly corrected himself. "I'm good. It's just… the most we had to deal with before were poisonous swamps and dry canyons. This just seems… different."

"Not bad though," his sister spoke on, the two splitting their embrace. The elder ball of light twirled amongst the falling leaves, a few of the red petals flipping to avoid her small wind. She rang at each one. "Kinda cool to watch. Think there's a song that goes with it? Like, a forest song or something? I don't know, feels like there should be something."

The fairy floated down to the figure in green, still standing in the small patch of land they had appeared in. The figure had blue eyes gazing upwards, looking at the fairy that floated down to them. The petals were headless of the figure, standing still in the small clearing of trees. Tatl twirled about the green clad figure, stopping only when she was staring into blue eyes. The figure stared back into her bright luminescence, used to the glow.

"Got any ideas, Link?" Tatl asked, bobbing lightly as she spoke.

The green figure raised a hand to his chin, lightly gripping it as his eyes looked upwards. He stared beyond the canopy of the trees, through the falling red leaves and the branches of trees that never showed. Link had a soft smile as he watched them move. But then, after a pregnant silence, he shook his head, shrugging his shoulders in dismissal of their ideas. Tatl rang in annoyance.

"Oh c'mon, you grew up in the forest. Don't you have something? I mean, really?" Her small tirade earned only small laughter from Link, his eyes lightly shutting at his friend's usual antics. Tael floating down next to him, floating above Link's shoulder as they watched Tatl ring with annoyance, her transparent wings vibrating. "That's just stupid! It's like saying I don't know any games to play. It's all we do!"

"Well, you did help save the world before… twice…" Tael spoke meekly from Link's shoulder. The green clad Hylian nodded towards the younger fairy, small still just as present. Tatl, however, was less amused.

"Those were special circumstances and you know that," she pitifully defended. "Besides, we're here now to get away from that." The sudden shift in topics was enough for Link to lose the small but still smile he had. "We got things to do here, things to find and people to see, I think. Who are we looking for again?" She directed the question towards the pair.

"Uh, what did he tell us?" Tatl asked aloud, voice betraying his nerviness. "Three of threes, right? Mind, body, and soul?" Tatl rang aloud at her brothers words, something clicking. Link only felt himself nodding at the words.

"Yeah, that's right!" The elder fairy agreed. "He said that we had to look for them in a place where they were forgotten. So here we are… now we just have to… look for them…" Tatl's voice fell with each word, becoming progressively quieter and quieter. Link only stared at her, silent as he always was. It was Tael that spoke up for his sister.

"So… where do we start?"

A roar was his answer.

In hardly a moment's time, Link spun on his heel, tall posture shifting into a practiced crouch. In the same motion, his right arm drew forth a crystal shield, red and gleaming with light. He placed it between himself and the noise, preparing himself for any sudden assault. His left drew forth a sword from its sheath, etched with ruby red diamonds. He held it behind his body, in a strong grip and flexed arm, already prepared to deliver a vicious blow. Both glowed with a faint light, their strength obvious to even the untrained. It took little time for either Link or his fairies to see the source of the noise.

A great black beast, standing easily to twice Link's height. It had an open maw, drool pouring from its impressive jaw and to the red leaves coating the forest floor. Fur thick as a trees bark was lined across its hide, interrupted only occasionally by large protrusions of white. To Link's trained eye, they almost appeared to be bone. But even those were not the most striking part about the figure. It was not its size, its mass, or its nightmarish shape.

It was the mask it adorned.

The white and red lined mask that hung from its snout. It was an unnatural item, a thing the beast wore like its face. It hide poorly the red eyes of the creature, alight and beady, staring at the young green clad figure with menacing intent. Link's position did not waver, neither did his shield or sword falter.

"Whoa!" Tael shouted, quickly flying behind Link in a panic. The Hylian could feel the dark light fairy shivering behind him. He kept his own blue eyes on the dark beast, hearing it growl with his sharp ears. "W-What is that? A-A wolfo? No no, a… a what?"

"No idea," Tatl answered her brother. Though she did not flee like her younger sibling, she was not keen to fly around the thing so readily. "But it doesn't look too bright, screaming like that before it attacked." Her senses worked, body ringing as she looked the creature over from a distance, no further away than Link stood battle ready. When she started to speak again, it was only too obvious to whom she was speaking to.

"It's got a lot of muscle, and those bony things aren't going to be easy to cut. But the rest of it should be like butter with a sword. Just gotta watch out for it to attack." Link nodded at her words, heeding her advice as he had countless times before. The grip on his sword tightened, the light aura it gave of flickering briefly.

The creature seemed to sense the green-clothed warrior's intent, growling as it fell into a low crouch. Even with majority of its body against the ground, impressive claws digging at the leaf covered forest floor, it still stood taller than Link. The warrior found no reason to be intimidated by such a fact.

He tilted his blade, seeing ahead of what would come. The beast would strike, a strong and vicious blow that would leave no time to counter should he chose to block. But it would leave the creature wide open, the beast likely assuming it would knock the green clothed figure away. That would be his opportunity to strike. A slice across the neck, maybe a draw down his exposed stomach, either would be possible for Link.

And as expected, the creature drew back one of its mighty claws, angled and beating away the falling leaves as it did so. Link gripped his shield tightly, already positioning his feet for a quick escape. Tael shivered behind him, Tatl hovering close above him, the beast let its claw begin to fall.

It stopped mid strike.

Link stared at it, confused and wary. His shield was now positioned towards the swing, aware that if it moved it would be too quick for him to dodge, his window of opportunity forgone in place of curiosity. He watched the beast's red eyes… watching as they lost track of him. Beneath the monster's white mask, the beady eyes began to dull, their focus fade, and fierceness dim. Link had seen it often enough to recognize what was happening. Life was leaving the creature.

No sooner did the thought pass by Link's mind than did the black monstrosity fall to the ground. It made an audible boom as it hit the red-leaf covered floor, its weight forcing many of the already fallen petals to flitter about once more, settling faster than before. Link didn't lower his shield, but he judged the beast as far less of a threat than before. Tatl spoke as much.

"What was that?" The yellow fairy asked critically. "Did it die of fright or something? Decide to have a nap before dinner? What?" She flew in front of the white mask, staring through the sockets at the fading red beneath. They were now almost as dark as the coat of the creature. "Or is it seriously dead? I mean, I'm not complaining, but what the heck?" Tatl flew back to Link, stopping in front of him as she had done many times before. "Did you do something? Anything? Like cast a spell or throw a knife?"

Link stared past Tatl to the dark creature, his blonde brow furrowed in thought as well. His shield was now relaxed against his arm, his sword held in much the same manner. Tael flew out from behind him, cautiously, staring at the fallen beast as a child would.

"Well… I don't mind," the dark fairy honestly spoke. "As long as it's dead. That's good, right?" Link didn't respond, eyes still focused on the creature. He began to walk towards, steps full of caution, but pace far from slow. Tatl, however, felt no hesitation in answering her brother.

"Well, duh, of course it's good!" Her sister critically noted. "We're alive, it's not, and we can keep moving forward. What's more there to think of, right Link?" The warrior didn't respond. He was too busy inspecting the fallen monstrosity. "Link, what's up?"

The warrior did not answer her. He was staring down at the back of the beast, the long white spines of the creature more than strong enough of a hold for him to climb on. His sharp blue eyes were looking towards the creature, lightly brushing away the red leaves that fell in his way. He saw nothing that he had not already noticed. A light coating but dark colored fur, now confirmed to be bony protrusions along its hide, a mask that seemed as set on its face as Link's own face, but nothing that would tell why it had died. Not at first.

It was small, almost unnoticed by even his eyes, but a bit of focus made it obvious. Putting his shield and sword to their homes on his back, crouching down soon after. His fingerless gloves pushed away the fur of the beast, feeling for something, anything that he could tell didn't belong. He noticed it from above, but kneeling down atop of the creature, it become more obvious.

There was a hole in the back of its head. Small, just large enough for him to fit the base of his thumb into, but no larger than that. It was pierced deep enough into the beast for Link to feel the vulnerable inside, whatever they were, beyond any protection of bone or muscle. But he could not feel any tool for the job, neither shaft nor arrow head. It bemused him.

"Link," Tatl's voice came again. He turned to her this time, looking up from the beast he stood on. The light fairy had flown over to him again. "What happened to it?" He only shrugged in response, unsure himself. The wound that finished the beast was obvious, but the tool that made it was a mystery. He retracted his gloved hand, certain there was nothing else to find.

He jumped from its back, landing on the ground with little effort. He turned back to it, staring at the honestly intimidating white mask. The red eyes that once sat beneath it were already faded to darkness, a color matching the creature's thin fur, a clear sign that it was dead.

"Look," Tael spoke up, more in awe than notice. Even with a dark light illuminating him, it was still too bright to spot and hand the fairy may have used to point towards the object of interest. It was of little need, however. It was obvious already to Link and Tatl what was so interesting, at least to the youngest among them.

Thin wisps of smoke were beginning to rise off the beast, dissipating into the air near as quickly as they formed. They appeared almost like the remains of the fire, but Link was not fooled. It became obvious after only a moment's notice that the beast was dissolving, returning to whatever void it came from. Little different than many of the monster he had slain before, though far slower to leave than those of his past.

"Think we should get moving?" Tatl suddenly spoke up, taking attention away from the dead monstrosity. "I mean, yeah it's big and dead, but something killed it without us seeing it, and I don't want to be next on the hit-list." The words had no apparent effect on the green clad warrior. They did, however, have an almost immediate clout on the fairy's younger brother.

"W-Wait, you mean… w-we might be in danger? Like, our life is going t-to end danger!" Link's sharp ears picked up Tatl's sigh easily. That, and the way her wings sagged made it painfully obvious she was more annoyed by her brother's antics. Repetition had that result on most things.

"Tael, we're fine." She spoke matter-of-factly as she flew to her brother's side. The dark fairy was quick to embrace the shining ball of light. Neither moved away. "I'm here, Link's here, and nothing else is here. Don't worry. Besides, if anything really wanted to hurt us, we'd have at least heard it by now."

"Hello!"

The suddenness of the feminine voice had an immediate impact on the three.

Both of the fairies began to shake, likely out of surprise. Their transparent wings shook as quickly as their illuminating bodies. Link turned as well, hands on his sword and shield, though remaining undrawn. His eyes were furrowed, searching the leaf falling forest for the owner of the voice. Trained blue eyes saw past the many petals, ignoring the stiff shapes of the trees. The two put aside, the speaker became obvious.

She was running towards them, waving with one of her hands in the air. It was a she, assumingly, her short stature, thin frame, and high voice were all rather clear signs. But where it not enough, she also wore a black dress, frilled at the ends with red laces. Boots of equal design were on her jogging feet, reaching easily to her knees, and black in color with red laces. A long red hood and cape also hung from her neck, but was only partially seen due to the girl's quick approach.

The long red scythe she held, however, was a bit easier to see. It put any trepidation the black beast had to shame.

Link finally drew his crystal sword and shield at the sight of the weapon, so large that it dwarfed the girl that carried it. A long sharp crescent blade, guarded by metal that was red as blood; it sat on an equally crimson rod, stretching the length of the girl that held it. Only the angle that it was titled at kept it from dragging across the leaf-covered ground.

Various objects hung from the scythe, some obvious and some less so. The counterbalance to the blade was easy to spot by Link's sharp blue eyes, hanging from the opposite side of the intimidating crescent. The sharp tip at the opposite end of the pole served as clear a purpose as the blade itself. The odd pumps, weights, and what appeared to be boxes lining the frame of the scythe, however, were not things Link had seen on a weapon such as this before.

The green clad warrior gripped his shield a bit tighter, putting it between himself and the girl, already near approach. He felt Tatl and Tael fly behind him, both as skeptical of the child as he was. He put the falling leaves of the forest aside as the girl stopped in front of him.

"Whoa hey, no need to worry," the girl was quick to speak, her silver eyes flashing towards his drawn weapons. "No need to get those out, seriously. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I mean, that Ursa Major was really close to you." The girl motioned towards the fallen beast, majority of it faded away already, only little wisps of smoke remaining of the creature's existence.

Link eyed her critically, assuming she was the one to kill the beast. He had few ideas for how she could manage such a feat with a weapon such as hers. The girl, however, saw him staring at it. He did not miss the clear delight that shown in her eyes.

"Oh! Curious about my baby here?" The girl pulled the scythe in front of her, flipping it around with masterful grace. Link didn't budge in his posture, but he could feel his fairy friends shiver behind him, if only lightly so. "This here Crescent Rose, an HCSS, High-Caliber Sniper Rifle capable of firing Dust .50 caliber rounds over 20 times per minute without over-heating. Built for easy storage and transportation, so I can carry it wherever I want!" It almost unnerved Link how she beamed about her weapon. He would swear later he saw stars twinkling behind her.

She didn't appear too threatening; were the weapon gone Link rationalized that she wouldn't be at all. She was a good head shorter than him, appeared free of any scars of battle, and spoke as if they were meeting in a tavern. But… she did kill the beast, or so she said. He pointed his sword at her weapon, Crescent Rose, lightly lowering his shield as he did so. She followed his direction, her silver eyes looking from one to the other. Then, when he pointed back at himself, he could see the fear in her eyes. She was poor to conceal her emotions, at least.

"What!?" She all but shrieked, the forest nearly shaking with her voice. Link, himself, flinched lightly at the loud question. "You thought I was going to… when I was running me… Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, NO! Her head was shaking rapidly left and right, the black bob cut that was her hair thrashing at the speed.

With a dexterity that gave Link pause, the girl rapidly began to fold her weapon away. The shaft pulling in on itself; the blade sliding into the red guard around it; the counter balance falling into the pole; everything fell into place until only a small red box remained, held in the girls hands by an equally blood red pole. She shifted the… sheathed weapon behind her back, to the space between her black dress and red robe. Her hands immediately lifted up as she finished.

"See? Non-threatening, completely safe. No reason to think anything suspicious of me." That was suspicious, but the girl appeared to realize it. "No, wait, that sounds worse! Um… this, okay, I got it!" She straightened herself out, putting her open palms above her chest, just beneath the nape of her neck.

"My name is Ruby Rose. I'm a student at Beacon, Huntress in training, and first year team leader of RWBY." That was something.

Link let out a small breath of air. He smiled as he did so, concluding that this girl was truly no threat. Skilled perhaps, as she still claimed to have slain the creature in a way he knew not possible, but not after his life. He spun his crystal sword about his hand, stopping when the tip sat in its sheath. He let it slide down as he clicked his shield back into its holster. He stood to his tallest as well, looking down at her with a grin. She seemed to return it.

"Okay, so, I'll take that as you trust me?" He nodded towards her, amused at her clear sign of relief, sagging arms and torso curling over towards ground. "Oh thank the Dust, I thought I made a huge mistake." Just as quickly as her relief, the girl straightened herself up, puffing out her chest, perhaps in some show of bravado. Link couldn't be sure.

"Alright, now, new meetings. I told you who I was, but now who are you?" It was dizzying, really, how quickly the girl went from worried about a ruined relationship to critical and analyzing. Her silver eyes were screwed in a way that emphasized some form of analysis, tilting her head back as she did so. "You have a sword and shield like Jaune, but clearly more elaborate than his. But you also have blonde hair like Jaune. And blue eyes like Jaune… and you look about as tall as Jaune…" Her head fell to the side as her words turned inwards.

"Would you… happen to be related to Jaune?" Link honestly shook his head from side to side, green hat swaying with the force. He was rather confident any name she spoke he would know little of. He was used to being the stranger in strange lands. "Huh. Well, you might want to look out for him. You two look a lot alike. But then who are you? Are you a Hunter with that sword? Maybe a merchant looking to collect the sap of the trees. Could you be lost? I mean, this is a dangerous part of the Foreverfall Forest."

"What's the Foreverfall?" It was Tatl that spoke. Ruby did not know that. Her silver eyes were alight in some form of wonder.

"Wow!" she spoke aloud, blinking lightly. "You have a really high voice. Are… are you a girl?" She spoke with a bit of hesitation.

Link could not suppress his chuckles of laughter.

One of his gloved hands rose to his face, gripping his jaw as if to stifle the amusement. It had little effect. He shook his head from left to right, the memories of his numerous gender confusions coming to the fore front of his mind. This was, however, the first time someone confused him for female based upon his fairy's voice.

"Oh, I guess not." Ruby concluded. "I mean, you wouldn't find it that funny otherwise. I mean even, most guys would be insulted but… maybe you hear that a lot, with a voice that high." Link felt his laughter return doubly.

"Okay, yeah, no, that's not him talking." Link heard the ringing of the fairies as they flew from behind his back, light and dark bodies glowing as they hung in the air above him. Ruby Rose, Huntress in training, blinked as she stared up at them. It was not an act that was missed by the observant fairies.

"Impressed, huh?" Tatl spoke in a tone of clear mirth. "Can't say you shouldn't be. I'm Tatl, and this is my brother Tael." The darker of the fairies hovered lightly, bobbing in the air a bit longer, perhaps in the form of a bow. It was hard for Link to tell, given how small they were. "The big guy you're talking to is Link and, for that other question, guess you could call us lost."

Ruby didn't say a word in response. Instead, she only continued to stare at the fairies, hovering in midair with their translucent wings and illuminating bodies. Link attributed the expression on her face as memorized, like one would act upon seeing an object of their desire. That did not sit well with Link. It was, unfortunately, a correct feeling on his part.

No sooner did he have the thought than did Ruby grab Tatl out of the air. The fairy gave a frightened yelp as she found herself caught by the girl's small hands, held like some sort of doll. Her brother was quick to yell as well. Ruby, however, was either heedless of their fright or too entranced by the fairy she was holding. Likely both.

"Oh my gosh! You're actually a fairy! I've never seen a fairy before! I thought you only existed in fairy tales! Wait, do you have tails? I can't tell with all that light." Ruby's thumbs reached into the bright illumination of Tatl, past the translucent wings that hung from the creature. She felt something soft, supple, and fragile.

Then she felt something hard, stiff, and unforgiving. That feeling, however, was focused on her upper arm. She turned in time to see Link glaring at her, his sharp blues suddenly a humbling sight. Ruby let out a grimace as he tightened his grip, her hand already feeling numb. She released her hand immediately, the fairy flying up and out of her grip. At the sight, and objections Ruby had at the actions of Link were left on the roadside. He did not, however, let go of her arm.

"How rude of you!" Tatl yelled as she flew into Ruby's face, the young girl assaulted by the bright light that literally beat at her forehead. It was mostly painless, like being hit with a pillow. It was still enough to make the grip the green-clad warrior had on her a bit more uncomfortable, however. "Here I am introducing myself and you have the nerve to just… suddenly up and grab me like that! Seriously, what were you thinking!?"

"I-I wasn't!" Ruby quickly admitted, her free hand gripping Link's, trying to remove the steel-like grasp. She didn't even get his glove to move. "Can you please let go?" She asked him, silver eyes pleading up to him. "You're like… really strong. A-And it hurts."

"How do you think being felt up by some teenage girl feels?!" The bright colored fairy yelled at her again, earning Ruby's attention, albeit pained. "I mean c'mon! We are lost here and you were just about to offer us help, but then you basically try and kidnap me?"

"N-No!" Ruby shouted back in defense at that. "I-I was just curious, really! I grew up with fairy tales, all the time! Fairies are supposed to be kind, and gentle, and soft, and wise. I-I just thought… I wasn't thinking!"

"Well, can't say you're wrong there," Tatl said back in a tone that oozed disdain. Ruby would have been hurt, were her arm not taking the majority of that front. She bit her lip, wondering what she could say. She looked back up at Link, the Jaune-look-alike suddenly far more intimidating that her blonde friend likely ever could be. Was she… was she going to be hurt by them?

"Wait Link, you can stop now," a new voice suddenly spoke up, though Link's lips didn't move. Ruby turned to see the dark colored fairy floating in between them. It was impossible for her to judge the direction the ball was facing. "I mean… she did scare Tatl, but she was just curious. We act like that a lot. She didn't mean it, really! She just said that like four times." Ruby didn't know the exact number herself.

She did, however feel Link release his grip on her.

She immediately put her free hand around her arm, grimacing as she touched it. It would likely bruise, the blood beneath her skin being stifled for too long, but no real damage that would hinder her. She looked back up to see the fairy floating towards her. Ruby took a step back, the consequences of touching a fairy already too clear in her mind.

"Um, I'm sorry about my sister, a-and how Link acted," the dark fairy responded, Tael if Ruby recalled correctly. She hoped she did, as forgetting his name would be pretty ungrateful. "We're just… a little protective of one another. A-And my sister and I are small, especially compared to you. That makes us fragile, in a sense. So… can you forgive Link for that? I mean, he really is a nice guy, I promise! He did save me and my sister before."

Ruby looked past Tael, to Link who was still looking at her. The small glee he had at her confusion for his gender was gone, replaced only with what she thought was close to an empty canvas. That was how Yang had described a statue once to her at least, and the green-clad man looked every bit the part.

"U-Uh, yeah," she spoke, a little hesitantly. "It was my fault anyways. Just… well, I've been called grabby since I was little. But back then I was grabby and crabby." She giggled at her own joke, hoping to earn some sort of humor.

To her fortune, the dark fairy did laugh with her, ringing like a bell as he did so. It sounded nice to Ruby, letting what little unease she still had melt away, bit by bit.

"So um… do you know where we are?" Tael asked her, his voice full of embarrassment; or was it curiosity? Ruby couldn't be sure. She did, however, know the answer to his question.

"Yeah, you're in the Forever Fall Forest, FF for short!" Ruby said the words with more cheer than Tael had been expecting. "I was here training against some of the Grimm. With the tournament postponed and all, there's a lot more free time. I didn't want to get rusty, so I thought that killing a few of them would be a good way to stay in shape! Made sure to stay close to Beacon though."

"O-Okay, um…" Tael suddenly found himself a lot more intimidated with the rush of information being thrown at him. This wasn't his strong suit, talking that was, especially not to strangers. Fortunately, his sister more than made up for that flaw.

"Alright, loads of more questions," Tatl spoke aloud as she flew to Ruby, lightly pushing her brother aside. "Go wait next to the hired muscle, Tael. I got this." Link spoke not a word either for or against the statement.

"So," the light fairy spoke again, earning Ruby's immediate attention. The young Huntress felt like she was about to be scolded by Goodwitch, given the tone of the ringing fairy. "Sounds like we're not far from wherever you stay at, is that right?" Ruby nodded her head in affirmation. "Cool, so does that mean you can take us there?" Ruby was more hesitant to answer that.

Her silver eyes looked from Tatl, to Tael, to Link, then back. Each one was gazing at her patiently, but she could only see the eyes of one of the three, and he looked more curious than dangerous. The sore spot on her arm, however, told her he was far from that. She was still curious about those weapons of his…

"Well," she started out. "Beacon is supposed to be restricted; safety, security and all that." Ruby spoke the words as if she didn't believe them, or didn't care about them. "So bringing strangers in from the forest would be kinda hard, especially after the attacks and all."

"Attacks?" Tatl asked curiously, flowing with the conversation as easily as she did fly through the air. "Who attacked who?" At the nearly insulted expression Ruby gave her, Tatl scoffed. "Oh c'mon, do we look like we're from around here? None of us even know the name of this forest, and given how weird it is, I'm sure that's rare enough." Ruby pouted her lower lip and nodded. There was truth to that.

"I guess, but the attacks were like all over the news. Tournament postponed until the coliseum's safety could be secured, White Fang threats, that's not exactly stuff people can just ignore, especially now." Tatl didn't miss the way the girl's voice dropped as she spoke, clearly loathing the words she spoke. That wasn't something to push.

"Okay, but just for a little more reference, don't have a clue what the White Fang is or what tournament you're talking about. And, just to make sure you know, don't know anything about Beacon or Grimm either. Think you mentioned something about Dust, but unless you were talking about cleaning, that's news too." The fairy's words made Ruby stare at the creature little differently than when she had first lain eyes on her. It made Tatl a bit nervous, not prepared to be handled roughly by the small girl again. Fortunately, it appeared that the youth was able to control herself.

"I-I…" She tried and fail to speak aloud, not knowing what to say. "You don't… not even Dust? Then… where are you from?" Her eyes looked from the fairies to Link, the darker of the two floating balls lightly hiding behind the much taller green-clothed figure. Ruby stared at him for a bit longer, noticing something about him she didn't before.

He had green clothes; that she knew. He had unique weapons; that she knew as well. He had a strong gaze and what appeared to be a strong sense of loyalty; that she picked up on more from his handling of her. But what she just noticed now were what hung from the sides of his head. Specifically, growing from them.

"And you're a Faunus," She lightly pointed at him, motioning towards his ears. Link blinked at the title, not having heard it before. He raised one of his hands to his ears, feeling down the long point he was so accustomed to. He heard Tael ring next to him, sounding just as confused as he was. Ruby seemed to see the confusion in his gaze. "Wait… you don't even know what a Faunus is even?" It was hard to tell if she was insulted or shocked, both was more likely.

"Where we're from, he's called a Hylian," Tatl spoke matter-of-factly to Ruby, floating above the girl's pointing hand. She retracted it as the fairy approached. "Care to tell us what the rest of those things you mentioned are?"

"Uh…" Ruby let out, thinking about what to start with, eyes looked about the Forever Fall as if to find an answer. She saw one rather quickly. "Well, that's a Grimm," she waved her hand towards the fallen black beast, nearly nothing remaining of it now. "Don't suppose you have a name for that?"

"Nah," Tatl let out easily. "We just call them monsters, lots of different kinds though. Ya got wolfos, dodongos, keese, chu chus, and couple of rare ones too, but you probably wouldn't know their names."

"Oh, okay," Ruby started to nod her head, seeing where this was going. She couldn't tell from the fairy's bright light, but she appeared to be seeing the pattern as well. The red hooded girl began to smile at the realization. "So like, you must come from some far off place, right? Like, did you sail here, or fly… Oh! Or did you use magic?"

It was only too obvious that the girl's eagerness and curiosity were returning in spades, her trepidation from her earlier actions near forgotten. It was enough for Tatl to back away in the air, trying to put herself higher above the ground, further out of the girl's reach. It only made her look like a love-sick puppy staring up at her, stars shimmering in her silver eyes.

"We uh…" Tatl started, unsure of what to say to that. This was, however, where her brother excelled.

"We came from an island, far off the shore." Tael spoke easily, flying to the spot his sister had vacated. The red leaves bothered him little as he flew forwards. "It was a magical island, called Hyrule. We're here on a journey, looking for a friend of ours. She left a long time ago, and we thought that maybe she found somewhere else to live. Honestly, none of know anything about this place or anywhere else but Hyrule."

"Really?" Ruby asked, lightly sucking in a gasp. A part of her couldn't believe what the fairy was saying. That was what made it all the more exciting to hear. "That sounds amazing, but really dangerous. I mean, that's really awesome! But… like… don't you have someone who can help you?"

"Well, we're not entirely unprepared." Tael admitted, his wings drooping as he admitted the feeling. "I mean, I'll admit I can't fight, at all, ever." Every word he spoke made him droop closer and closer to the ground. Ruby almost felt the small fairy's pain. "B-But Link is really good at fighting!" The fairy perked up immediately, flying over to his green-clad friend.

Link blinked, suddenly finding himself the center of the conversation. Tael flew around him, the dark fairy leaving a trail of light behind him as he did so. He was used to such acts, the sibling fairies doing the dance often, usually as a sign of their connection to him. Ruby, however, new to fairies entirely, was mesmerized by the sight.

"Link's like one of the best fighters in all of Hyrule! No one can beat him with a sword and shield, a-and he can learn how to use any weapon like really fast, too! He's slain just about every kind of monster in Hyrule at least once, sometimes twice!" Link began to blush a red that rivaled the hood Ruby wore. His left hand scratched at his forehead, either not enjoying the praise or feeling light headed from it. Ruby only quirked her head.

He was strong, as his grip on her was proof of, but the Huntress in training found it difficult that he would be able to kill a lot of Grimm with only a sword and shield. They were effective, as her years at Signal Academy had taught her the evolution of weapons. It helped that she was a prodigy with their design as well. But that only told her that mankind's improvement against fighting Grimm jumped bounds when they were able to channel dust through their weapons effectively. Swords and Shields didn't really do that. That was unless…

"So, you're a Hunter then?" She asked aloud, walking up to the blushing Faunus. Link blinked back at her, confused by the term. She saw it immediately. "Sorry, it means, um… you kill Grimm, or monsters, to keep other people safe, right?" At the explanation, Link nodded lightly, smiling as he did so. Ruby smiled in return.

"He's probably one of the best 'Hunters' you'll ever meet," Tatl spoke up now, flying around Ruby as she did so. The girl only squeaked lightly, head trying to keep track of the small ball of light. "Most of the things Link's had to kill were monsters most other people couldn't take. He's as serious as a sword mid-swing, if you catch my drift." Ruby wasn't sure if she did, but she hoped she assumed correctly.

"Well, that's great!" She cheered at the confirmation, earning another confused blink from Link. The dark and light fairy siblings joined him on either side of his head, each ringing with their own bells of confusion. "It means that I can probably bring you to Beacon then! I mean, yeah you're not a student, or from Vale, or the country even, but if anyone can help you out, there's gotta be someone at Beacon who can. It's not like you're going to get much further just walking through the forest."

The trio were quiet for a moment, but stopped when Tatl flew next to Link's long ear, whispering into it. Only a moment later did Tael join her, making for a gray light source hovering aside the Faunus. Ruby stared, watching as the green-clad warrior stared at the two from his side. She knew he still had her in his sights, a cautionary act, one that she had been trained to do when confronted with multiple Grimm. Maybe he really was a Hunter.

"Okay!" Tatl suddenly spoke up, shaking Ruby from any reverie she had. "We'll go with you to this Beacon place. But just so we're clear, we're going because you say someone there might be able to help us. If anything goes south, we're gone, got it?" Ruby got it, but she didn't want to accept it.

"Wait, what?" She asked, raising her hands as if suddenly threatened. She felt that way at least. "No one at Beacon is going to hurt you! I mean, yeah, classes can get out of hand sometimes, but it's really a safe place. Safe enough that most of the military doesn't even bother parking there cause of all the Hunters."

"I only got half of what you said, but I'm just gonna assume you're honestly trying to help us out, that right?" Ruby nodded her head, hoping to make that clear. "Well, it's better than nothing." That hit a small nerve with Ruby.

"Hey! I know I was rude before, but that doesn't give you the excuse to keep being rude to me!" Ruby pouted her lips as she finished, putting her hands on her hips as she glared at the ball of light. Behind Tatl, she could see Link staring at her, blinking with what appeared to be a bit of surprise. The dark fairy beside him, however, just wilted.

"Until you prove that you're gonna help us, it kinda does actually!" Tatl fired back, bouncing off of Ruby's head. The Huntress-in-training was more prepared for the blow this time, however, causing the fairy to bounce back painlessly. She watched as the eldest of the fairy siblings began to shake, her translucent wings rising as well. Judging by the quick series of bell rings she was making, she sounded upset. Ruby took a small amount of pleasure in that. Maybe Weiss was wearing off on her.

That was when Link finally intervened.

Ruby watched him approach, her eyes keeping their glare on the light illuminated fairy. He walked towards them with his hands raised, lips parted but not uttering a word. It took little time for him to get between the pair of them, forcing the crimson dressed girl to straighten herself, else she put her head against his back.

He was facing the eldest of the fairy siblings, making motions with his hands as the little ball of light rang in pitches high and low, flying about his face. He made no motion to move away from her, likely used to her antics. Ruby looked behind them just long enough to see Tael approaching as well, but far slower than their green-clad companion.

"U-Um," the dark fairy spoke when he was finally close enough, his wings telling Ruby that he was talking to her. She hoped she was imagining them correctly. "I know my sister can be… rude sometimes, but she's really a nice person. That means, um, I mean, I hope you can forgive her. We are a little lost, so she's not in her best of moods. So um, can you forgive her?" Ruby watched the younger of the fairies for a moment, before a small grin took over her face.

"Yeah, I guess I can, but only because you asked nicely." Ruby extended her finger out towards the dark fairy, though not daring to poke at him. She didn't want to get both siblings against her. Plus, the fairy seemed as skittish as Jaune. That wasn't to forget Link looked like her fellow leader in near every detail, all the way down to height and eye-color. She would really have to introduce them, maybe switch clothes and play guess who. She giggled at the ideas.

"Th-Thank you," Tael spoke kindly, wings extending outwards in what Ruby could only assume was some sort of bow. It must have been hard with people only being able to see your wings. "You're, um… you're very nice for a stranger."

"Eh, it's like my friend says, strangers are just friends you haven't met yet." Ruby couldn't hide the giggle that came from her lips, quoting her blonde friend when his supposed doppelganger was just in front of him. Speaking of, Link had turned back to face her, looking back down at her with a small smile on his face. Not a smirk, but a gentle curve of his lips, nothing mocking or insinuating about it. He looked behind himself, motioning with his head.

"Fine," she heard Tatl let out in a tone that oozed of disappointment. The yellow fairy flew out, from behind the green clad blonde, stopping only when she was beside her brother. She looked up at the young girl, wings moving only to keep her in the air. "I'm sorry for being rude to you and I would really appreciate your help."

Ruby beamed.

"Oh that's alright, it's all in the past, literally." Ruby giggled lightly again before raising her hands. She gripped Link by the shoulders, looking into his blue eyes with her own silver ones. He didn't appear as unnerved by her contact as his fairy friends did, but he did blink at her in a bit of confusion. "So are you ready to go to Beacon?" She asked in a falsely critical tone. "Home to some of the greatest Hunters in training?"

He shrugged in response, nodding his head. Ruby smiled bright enough to show all her teeth.

"Well then let's go!"

She turned around and began to pull Link behind her, the green-clad warrior stumbling momentarily before joining behind her, hunched over to make up for their difference in height. Behind them, the two fairies followed, easily keeping pace even with the ever falling red leaves.

He sighed, an action that was becoming frequent in number. It was not something he was proud of. Usually a sigh indicated some sort of lack of energy or disappointment. Neither were good qualities for a man of his position. Lifting his favorite mug to his lips, he drank from it again, hoping the caffeinated beverage inside would give him the energy to fight back next time.

As another slow sigh left his lips, he knew it was not the case.

His hand moved up to adjust the small spectacles across his nose, pushing them until they sat more comfortable along his bridge, still behind the silver hair that lightly hang down over his eyes. Their emerald lenses turned the blue skyline of Beacon a majestic cyan, something he often found easing to his nerves to watch. Many a time he could recall the simple sight of Vale surrounded in such a peaceful and regal color to be able to settle any worrying matters of his mind. It was easy to see the world as more peaceful when it was made of brighter hues. But now that was no longer the case.

The green scarf held around his neck seemed tighter as the reminders of the present came back. Where he would stare out and see hope for tomorrow, he saw only disappointments for his past, decisions he had made and fell through any faith he had. Terrorist attacks increasing, White Fang numbers rising, Vytal Tournament postponed, civilians scared, and worse of all, students whispering. Whispers were rumors, and often times very little was more damning than a rumor wound up to great portions.

He sighed again.

"You once told me that sighing was a sign of old age." The voice was one he recognized very well, from a woman he entrusted many of his secrets to. He let a small smile take his lips, pleased that it was different from the depressive frown he had worn for the past few hours. He turned around, looking to see his companion walking towards him, Scroll in hand and riding crop in the other.

"Glynda," he returned with a small raise of his mug, bowing his head lightly. The woman repeated the action, without a mug, however. "It is good to see you. But shouldn't you be preparing the students for their sparring tomorrow? I hear Cardin has a lot of ground to cover with his team."

His longtime partner and friend had little patience for his words. A pity, really. Students seemed to enjoy it. Glynda Goodwitch, however, with a white low-cut blouse and long blonde hair, was the very definition of law-abiding. Even her lavender cape, long and hanging just past her knees, moved only as the wind and gravity commanded it. All despite being worn by a woman capable of extreme telekinesis.

"Those preparations were finished an hour and a half ago," his partner returned easily, tapping something on the pad in her hand, maybe a reminder to send him notifications about such events. He certainly hoped not, but he knew better. "I came here to inquire why you are the boundaries of Beacon and not up in your office. Don't say the view is superior from here, but I can know well enough that it is not." He had to chuckle at that, her superior knowledge of him and his habits.

"Just, reminiscing I suppose," he simply said, gaze turning back to the city across the water, illuminated by the sky and sun. "Decisions I should have made, actions I shouldn't have done, the past in general. And don't say it, I know how bad a habit it is."

"I was going to comment that I expected you to be planning your next move, not worrying over your last." Glynda returned his words as easily as he had hers. She took the few extra steps necessary to be by his side, staring across the same body of water to the same city across the way. "But you give yourself too little credit." Those words made him turn.

"Really?" He asked in an amused tone, not used to this rare sight before him. "Do go on." He sipped at the dark beverage in his mug as the woman beside him sighed deeply.

"Perhaps you could not prevent the actions that occurred, but your decisions reduced the possible damage to a minimum most people tend to ignore." She tapped a few items on her pad, outside of his sight. "The army tends to show enough force to make the enemies worried, but don't consider how the people are usually wary of such actions. Most of the politicians and council don't even believe a problem exists until it had blown down their door and started eating their food. You, however, took the middle ground."

"It is a habit of mine, isn't it?" He spoke the rhetorical question as he turned his gaze back to the school. To him, it was the embodiment of the 'middle ground."

Beacon. It was one of the most prestigious schools in the entire world for aspiring Hunters and Huntresses. Applications from across the globe coming to his desk every day, from schools as close as Signal to as far away as Atlas. It stood proudly tall, between the badlands where Grimm roamed and the bustling town of Vale where humans lived. A sign, if ever there were one, of those would want to defend the good from the bad.

It was a middle road, to him at least. Training Hunters to fight against the Grimm rather than forcing a marching order. Allowing civility and fun to be the major part of the students' lives, not drills and tactic trainings. But it also allowed constant reminders of the threats just over the horizons, rather than hiding them beneath neon lights and eternal festivities. There was little ignorance to be had at his school, and that was an achievement in itself.

But one achievement was all it was, and one he had succeeded in long ago. Now Ozpin was faced with the failures of the present, similar decisions leading to different outcomes. Remembering the definition of insanity, it brought a chuckle to his lips.

"Expecting change with similar methods," he chuckled at the words, knowing that they made his friend scowl at him briefly. That was a game he enjoyed to play. "It's hard to see the events of late any other way with the Vytal Festival postponed."

"That is only temporary, and no matter what your actions, the festival would have been delayed," Glynda returned easily, it was a habit of hers. "You can I can both agree that delaying the festival is one of the wiser moves the Military has made, ensuring safety without a blatant show of arms."

"That remains to be seen," Ozpin noted again, eyes swerving toward Vale. "They hope to protect the coliseum, but I can't help but imagine they hope to turn it into some flying fortress of power." He chuckled at his own words, imagining the Council ruling from the cloud tops with barrels aiming down. It truthfully wasn't far different than where they already were.

"I'm being serious Ozpin." She returned in a cold tone. "Or do you believe that I would be following you as I am did I think you were making the wrong decisions?" He blinked once before turning towards her.

She was staring at him with a hard gaze, one she often wore. Her lips were puckered, drawn in a small frown, sitting beneath her sharp green eyes. The lavender of her cape swayed behind her, cut into the shape of arrows she seemed so eager to wear. He looked back at her, for once, unable to think of a proper response. He settled for simply looking at her, hoping she would glance away first. He really should have known better.

There was no denying in any facet of the word that Glynda was loyal to him. A friend since their younger years, a comrade of arms that he was proud to call a partner. She was the embodiment of duty and civility, one who would conquer the unruly truth before even thinking of settling for a comforting lie. Were there any words he could trust, they would be hers. He was just able to stop another sigh from escaping his lips.

It was at that time that he saw something else nearly escape his vision.

From just behind Glynda, an airship was docking. Not a strictly unusual sight, except that he knew of no scheduled times for one to be appearing now. His partner turned to see what had captured his vision, taking note of the ship the same way he had. She began tapping on her pad again, likely looking up an inquiry as to who was on the vessel.

The question was quickly answered, as one Ruby Rose jumped from the door, lifting her hands into the air in a small cheer. It was enough to make Ozpin smile. A Huntress though she was, in training or not, she was still a child, and small acts like that only made it all the more obvious. It was a wonder that Qrow had been able to teach her so well at such a young age.

All musings about the young Huntress vanished, however, when she motioned for someone else inside the air ship. Her arms were making loops, encouraging someone else to come forward. Perhaps it was her sister, or more likely Jaune Arc, as the young team JNPR leader needed a bit of help following his rides on mobile devices.

Those thoughts died as well when another figure came forward, appearing far more curious than pained.

By appearance alone and at a distance, Ruby's companion did appear to look strikingly similar to one Jaune Arc, at least to Ozpin, but there were enough significant differences to make it clear they were not the same. Jaune did not often wear a garb of green nor a pointed hat. He did not have his sword and shield attached to his back. He did not have a couple balls of lighting floating about himself. And, if there was ever one significant detail, Jaune Arc was not a Faunus, which the long pointed ears of Ruby's companion clearly indicated he was. And if all of that was not enough, Jaune had been to his school enough to not be so impressed in the sight as this boy clearly was.

The slack jaw and wide gaze of this new Faunus was a clear a sign of surprise and wonder that Ozpin had ever seen. It was true he had seen the expression often, especially amongst new students or potential attendees. The prestigious name of Beacon and size of the school were not things easily looked over. He turned to ask Glynda if she was aware of who the individual was, but found her now longer there. Ozpin turned, quickly finding where she was.

Glynda was moving towards the pair before Ozpin, her high heels clicking across the stone and shoulders squared. For one who criticized the military so easily, she took up the posture and stance of a soldier very quickly. From the distance, Ozpin saw Ruby notice Glynda, nearly jumping at the teacher's approach. The figure next to her, wearing an impressive emerald green, only look a bit more curious. He had a good taste in color, if nothing else, Ozpin concluded before making his way to the pair.

"Um, hello Professor Goodwitch," Ruby meekly addressed the approaching blonde, waving her hand from side to side in a weak greeting. The taller woman spoke not a word, instead making her way in a beeline for the mysterious figure beside the girl. Ruby noticed it quickly. "W-Wait! This is a friend I just made! He got lost in the Foreverfall and I told him someone here could probably help him!"

"Ruby Rose," Ozpin heard his partner address critically, a tone most assumed was her natural voice by now. "Are you to tell me you brought a complete stranger to Beacon, during a time of heightened security, simply because he said he was lost?" The girl shrunk under the woman's gaze, forcing Glynda to turn head to the mysterious Faunus, who was looking at her with a curious expression and blinking eyes. "And who are you?" The figure blinked again, as if unsure of how to answer. He raised his hands, motioning towards himself then Ruby, likely trying to draw some sort of conclusion with his motions. Ozpin chuckled lightly. He knew Glynda would have none of that. "Speak up!" The professor ordered, her riding crop singing through the air at the command. That was when something truly unexpected happened.

The small balls of lights talked.

"Hey, back off!" The high voice cried out, ringing like bells. Ozpin stared at the floating light ball, noticing now the translucent wings that seemed to nearly vibrate around it. Said ball flew into Glynda's face, all but completely obscuring the woman's vision. "We're just following little red hood over here. You got a problem with that!?"

"Wait, sis!" The other more darkly colored ball of light spoke up then, flying next to his assumed sibling. He pushed against her, light and dark lights turning a soothing gray as they hovered inches away from Professor Goodwitch's face. Ozpin likely sipped at his coffee as he watched the exchange. "I-I'm really sorry about my sister. We were just lost a-and Ruby said we could come here for help. If we have to leave, we can, promise! J-Just don't like… hurt us or anything…"

"Hmph," Glynda snorted out as she waved her hand in front of her face, forcing the small balls of light to take flight away from her. Ozpin crooked a brow as he noticed the emerald colored figure furrow his own. He was defensive about those objects. Interesting. "I don't know who or what you are, but you need to have secured permission before setting foot on Beacon. I suggest securing a means of transport back to Vale promptly."

"What's Vale?" The younger and darker of the two lights asked, earning a chuckle from Ozpin, still standing on the sideline. Lost in deed. "S-Sorry, but we're not from around here… or near here… or like… anywhere."

"How very convenient," Glynda noted, her face twisting into a condemning scowl. She turned said expression on Ruby, who appeared to be shrinking into her red hood and cape. "And I suppose you have a valid reason for bringing them here, Ms. Rose?"

"U-Uh, yeah!" The girl spoke up, doing her utmost to appear confident. "His name's Link, a-and he's from some island place called Hyrule. He's never heard of Vale, or Foreverfall, or Beacon, or any place around here. He also calls everything different, like Hunters and Grimm and Dust are different for him and stuff… B-But he's looking for his friend! So I thought that someone here might be able to… ya know… help him." Ozpin saw his window.

"And I believe that is an excellent idea, Ms. Rose." All eyes turned to him as he finally spoke for the first time. He made a small show of his can and mug, holding himself high in both poise and dignity. Best to let actions speak more than his words. "Helping a young man such as this is what it means to be a Huntress, and you have shown good judgement in bringing him here. What's more, saying to hail from an island of no record. At the very least it is deeply intriguing." Ruby beamed at the headmaster. Glynda did not.

"Excuse me Ozpin," said woman returned. "But I believe that the police in Vale are more qualified to deal with a lost child than we are." Stifled laughter brought her attention back to the floating balls of light. Specifically, the light colored feminine one that was now twisting in the air, as if spinning. "And what is so funny to you?"

"You calling Link a child, duh!" The ball of light didn't even try to hide it. "If you think he's a child, then that makes you toddlers. No wait, that's too kind, babies!" Ozpin was fortunate to see Link appearing nervous by the ball of light's antics, hands raised as if debating to pluck them from the air. It was with just as much fortune that Glynda did as well.

"You may want to have a repairman do maintenance on those drones of yours," the professor supplied to Link, earning a bemused expression from the Faunus, ears dropping at the command. Ruby, however, seemed to pick up what he did not.

"No, wait, professor, that's why I know Link is telling the truth, or a good part of it, or more than a good lie," she rambled as she got her superior's attention. "Those aren't machines! Those are real fairies!" Ozpin took a slow sip of his coffee, enjoying this exchange more and more with every passing word.

"Fairies?" Glynda returned in question, looking at the pair of flying objects. One appeared to be taking pride in the title, ringing loudly with translucent wings flared. The other seemed to bow, as if embarrassed. They acted human enough, at least to Ozpin, but even he was skeptical of seeing the creatures of fairy tales. Skeptical, but not disbelieving.

He watched Glynda reach a hand up, presuming to grasp at one of the floating balls. Ozpin noticed out of the crook of his eyes a frightened expression on Ruby, earning his curiosity. That wonder was settled in the next moment.

Link, the now name green garbed Faunus, grabbed Glynda's hand, stopping her.

Ozpin stopped sipping his coffee, staring at what he was sure was a dead man. Ruby apparently had a similar expression, her hands cupped over her face, perhaps to hide her slack jaw. The pair of opposing colored fairies were ringing, both flying behind Link's head. Link, however, only glared at Glynda, his blue eyes suddenly far sharper than before. Glynda, however, had a green gaze full of just as much venom.

"Release my hand, now," the Huntress ordered in a low tone. Ozpin watched as his partner tightened the grip on her crop, the leather beneath letting out a small cry at the strain. Link, however, appeared determined not to let go until… Ozpin wasn't sure what he was waiting for. What he did know, however, was that it was time to intervene again.

"Right, why don't we settle down?" He spoke easily as he waved his cane in front of the two, forcing Link to step back, thereby releasing Glynda's hand. The professor rubbed her appendage in a way that looked as if it was sore. Intriguing indeed. "I believe this was just a poor form of communication on both of our parts. Why don't we mediate that, hmm?"

He smiled as he looked towards Link, the green garbed Faunus looking up to him. It became obvious now how short the boy was, likely barley scrapping below six feet if he was lucky, but more likely a good five foot eight. Short, but he knew better than to judge based upon appearance. Said boy looked up at him with a curious expression, not uttering a word.

"Ruby?" A new voice spoke up, earning a few twist of the heads.

Ozpin was one of the first to see a fellow member of team RWBY approaching. Garbed in tin materials of black and white, all complimenting the slit girl's slit golden eyes, Blake Belladonna was figure that exuded experience. With high heel boots clicking across the pavement, long strands of dark hair waving in the wind, and, of course, she was still wearing her now signature black bow on her head. The headmaster knew well what lay beneath the thin material, but he was more interested now in the way the girl's golden eyes stared at Link's ears. He smiled lightly at the small exchange.

"Blake! I'm so glad you're here!" Ruby spoke her teammate's name with cheer. The quietest member of the group had only a moment's time before her young leader grabbed her arm, pulling her forward. She stumbled lightly before catching herself. "You won't believe what happened! I was in the Foreverfall practicing with Crescent Rose when I suddenly saw an Ursa Major trying to attack Link here, so I shot at it and then I met him and he's a Faunus who's from some far off land! He's got magical fairies and other Grimm that he just calls monsters and… and well he needs our help but I'm not sure how to help him yet."

"A problem I am sure we will mediate," Ozpin decided to interject. He enjoyed watching conversations often, but he knew the importance of time. There were enough clocks in his office to prove it. "Ms. Belladonna," he spoke as he nodded towards the Faunus in hiding. "I'd like you to meet Link, a young Faunus we have just met." Link blinked lightly before facing the new girl, who stood only just under his own height. He smiled at her, easily so, bowing towards her. Blake stopped, confused momentarily, before bowing in response. They both rose, Link smiling friendly at her.

Ozpin, the ever-observant headmaster, could see the gears turning in the young girl's sharp eyes. Though only a few years Ruby's senior, Blake had seen far more cruelty in the world than he ever would wish upon a soul. It replaced trust with caution, joy with trepidation, and hope with fear. He loathed the last most of all.

"It is… a pleasure to meet you," Blake spoke uneasily, not sure of what to think of the new Faunus. Given her history, Ozpin was far to blame her. "But what is going on?"

"I was hoping that Link would explain that, as so far we have heard only testimony from Ms. Rose and his two fairy companions." Ozpin nodded politely at the two fairies, both ringing at their addressing. He saw the dark fairy quickly fly into the brightly colored one, perhaps to stifle a comment she was close to screaming. It seemed plausible, if not likely. "So, Link, may you perhaps tell us why you are here?" Link looked at him for a moment, eyes looking up to the two fairies. Ozpin followed his gaze, but was quick to hold up a hand to the pair.

"I apologize, but I would like to hear from Link why he is here. I appreciate the companionship, truly, but he can only go so far with saying so little." He lowered his hand, both fairies remaining quiet out of respect. Perhaps there was more civility to the lighter colored one than he thought. The dark did not surprise him. "So, Link," he looked back to the emerald colored Faunus. "Can you tell us why you are here?"

He watched Link's mouth move, hands making small motions as he spoke, but he heard not a word.

Ozpin's face quickly fell into a frown, thinking he was being mocked by the sword bearing Faunus. He looked to his side to see Glynda carrying a similar expression, the usual visage of annoyance that came so easily and naturally to her. Ruby appeared just as confused, head tilted and lips slightly parted. Blake… Blake appeared to be listening? Truly fascinating.

"A noble goal," the dark girl spoke. Yes, definitely listening, Ozpin concluded.

"Wait, what?" Ruby asked as she faced her teammate. "What's noble? What happened? I didn't hear anything! Is there something wrong with my ears? I made sure to wear my guards before I shot Crescent Rose!" The young girl put her fingers to her ears, twisting them back and forth. Ozpin had a far more likely theory.

"Ms. Belladonna," he started, earning the bow-adorned girl's attention. "May you please inform us what Link said?" She blinked for a moment, unsure as to why. Link also looked towards her, almost expectantly. She nodded before continuing.

"He said he left his home to search for a friend that left him a long time ago," she began, looking towards Link as he spoke. He smiled softly and nodded, confirming the words. It was also confirmation of Ozpin's unspoken assumption about Link's ability to speak and be heard. "She was someone who had helped him through an important part of his life, but was forced to leave for a reason he doesn't know. Now that there is peace in his land, he wants to look for her, but decided to leave his home to do so."

"Extraordinary," Ozpin muttered softly, a smile of his own across his lips. He took a slow gulp of coffee from his mug, letting the others muse upon the word. Thoughts gave conversation, and he hated to be the only one talking. "I'll be the first to confirm that you may have been the only one to hear anything Link spoke, Ms. Belladonna."

"I… thought as much, but I don't know why." She quickly began to defend herself, holding up her hands as if in said defense. "He was just… quiet is all." Ozpin hide his growing smile behind his mug, letting the aroma of the slowly vanishing liquid fill his lungs. He noticed the fairies above ringing next to one another, likely carrying their own quiet conversation. He was sure at least one was as observant as him.

"Yes, quiet," the headmaster repeated. "So quiet that we couldn't hear a word. I wonder why that is."

"It's because you all have such short ears." It appeared that Tatl finally broke her vow of silence, no matter how short it was. It earned a few confused brows from the group, but only a nod from Ozpin, who had thought as much. He could not tell for the hearing of these fairies, but he knew little to nothing of them. Stories had more information than he did. "Seriously, all your ears are so short and stubby. Reminds me of the Gerudo almost, but at least they knew how to listen. Good thing dark and brooding over here knows how to pay attention." The headmaster saw the Faunus in hiding blush at the name, likely more insulted than complimented. Tael, the dark fairy as Ozpin reminded himself, seemed to wilt at his sister's words. It was likely a form of embarrassment as well.

"I am not familiar with the term Gerudo, but I suspect it is similar to your interpretation of our word for Faunus," Ozpin returned to the fairy easily, hoping to move this conversation into the territory of fruition. They were already very close. "So, may I ask what you call yourself?" He asked the question towards Link, who silently moved his lips again. Ozpin found humor in that, speaking so softly he needed the sharpest of ears to hear him.

"A Hylian?" Blake spoke the word he spoke. "That's your term for a faunus?" Link shrugged in response, the green garb he wore rising and falling with the action. He appeared rather passive of the situation. Ozpin wasn't quite sure how to see that yet. It could be to their benefit, easily accepting what was around him, or a negative, hiding his true motives carefully. He hoped for the former.

"Hylians are the native people to the kingdom of Hyrule." It was the darker fairy that spoke this time, earning a confused look from Blake. Ozpin noticed Glynda pout her lips as she crossed her arms, lightly poking at her pad as Tael spoke. "They're said to have long ears to allow them to hear the goddesses, the length usually being assigned to those of royalty. Gerudo are… Gerudo are a race of thieves of the desert, all female but with ears shorter than those of Hylians. It's said in tales that they lost their long ears to the desert sands, whipping them away." Ozpin made note of the goddesses, a religion of his land doubtlessly.

"So you claim to hail from a kingdom of all Faunus?" Glynda asked the question with ease, something that Ozpin was sure not many could do. There was a lot of weight to such an insinuation, a kingdom free of any prejudice against the Faunus people, sitting out there in water, yet to be found. He sipped his coffee in thought of it. Link looked unready to agree to the term, waving his head lightly as he shifted his shoulders. With a shrug again, he nodded. Perhaps he was used to being unheard, given how little he attempted to speak. "Interesting. Only four kingdoms have been established throughout Remnant over the course of the eons of Dust's discovery. A new land is not impossible, but it is highly improbable."

"Oh no, it's real," the golden fairy spoke up again. Ozpin was starting to relate her to the head of the small trio. Though, by mere observation of sight, Link was clearly the muscle of them. "Trust me on that one. We've been all around it, from the high mountains of Snow Head to the low plains of the Gerudo Valley. Right now, it's more real than this training ground of yours." Ozpin hid his smile behind his mug. This creature, this fairy, he found appeal in it. It was interesting and forthcoming.

"That's… that sound incredible." Ozpin held no surprise at the amount of awe Blake had in her voice. He shifted his eyes to see the hidden Faunus staring at Link, her curious gaze now one of wonder. "You… you left a kingdom full of faunus…" The headmaster saw the next question coming a mile away. "Where is it? Can you take me to it? I'd… I-I'd like to see a place where Faunus live like that."

"Blake…" Ruby spoke from aside her teammate. There wasn't reprimand in the young girl's tone, more like sympathy. Ruby Rose was an empathetic leader if ever there was one. Ozpin half suspected the B of RWBY didn't even notice her folded hands, imitating a prayer of sorts.

Attention turned to Link, seemingly awaiting confirmation of such a task. Instead, however, they saw only the blonde Faunus put a hand behind his head, beneath the sharp green cap he wore. He scratched at it, pushing the brim of his hat down and over his eyes. A thin line was drawn over his lips. Tatl flew up to him, hovering beside his head. She made contact with him, and Ozpin noticed the small inclination he made towards here.

"We can't…" It was Tael to answer, sounding pitiful in tone. That never came with good reason.

"Why?" Blake was quick to return. "Is it about protecting your home? I-I assure that I can keep secrets well. No one will ever know where it is." Ozpin knew she was just as honest with such an examination of herself. The dark fairy, however, only shook in the air, almost sadly.

"No it's… w-we don't know where it is." A pregnant pause followed the statement. "Remember how we said we were lost? Like, actually lost?" Ruby nodded up to him, not enjoying where this was going. "There was a storm out in the ocean. It… it threw us off. We lost our map, our compass… even the sail. We… we have no idea how to get back."

A sad tale indeed, Ozpin recognized, earning at least a pause from Glynda as she tapped on her pad, likely noting all the details of this meeting. He watched Link carefully, however, noticing how he avoided contact with any of them, focusing only on the light fairy against his cheek. It could be seen as a sign of regret, knowing one so young would never return home. But another… well, everyone had a tell. He couldn't be sure which it was yet.

"Oh." It was all the response that came from Blake. Ruby was far more detailed.

"I'm… I'm so sorry to hear that," the young team leader spoke as kindly as she could, but Ozpin could nearly hear the constraint in her voice. "I-I mean, you must be very brave to still want to find your friend. Maybe… maybe we can help you find your way home! Like, we can find your friend then help you find your home! That'll work, right?"

Link looked up at her, pulling back the brim of his hat to do so. He looked at her for a moment before adopting what Ozpin could only describe as a side-ways grin, one full of acceptance, thanks, but more than anything else, consolation. That was not what he would expect from an individual told only recently he would never be able to return home. But again, he was not sure if it was because of an exceptional level of acceptance, or something else… He sipped is coffee in thought.

"Be that as it may, there is little we can do for you here," Glynda made herself known with her words, her own green eyes focused on the screen in her arms. Ozpin had given up long ago attempting to read the device as she wrote on it. The machinations of the mind were easier to understand than Glynda's writing patterns. "This is a school dedicated to the training of Hunters and Huntresses, dedicated to defending the lives from the threats of the natural and ill-natural world. There is little to nothing we can do for helping you locate a friend you have lost."

Ozpin made it a point to keep his mug against his lips, hiding his reaction as he observed the expressions of the others. Ruby looked pained, as he suspected she would, one to quickly connect and empathize with others. Blake appeared the same, but was far gentler with hers, settling with a short sigh. He half suspected she was still regretting not seeing this kingdom Link supposedly hailed from. The fairies drooped a little, but spoke not a word. It was Link that surprised him.

He gave the same sad smile, then nodded.

No arguments against it, no action to try and change the professor's mind, only calm acceptance, sad as it was. That was a significant point. Where many others given even a chance to stay at his school, humility aside, they would do their utmost to make any excuse to do so. Link's quick denial for such an act meant again, one of two things. He either truly did not care for his school or he did not know about it. They were not exclusive, but neither gave room for a supposed liar or spy to worm his way in.

"Perhaps you're speaking too quickly, Glynda," Ozpin spoke now, lowering his mug as he did so. He gave them a moment to adjust to him, again letting a few thoughts form in their minds. "It may be beyond our current boundaries of operations to assist you in searching for a friend Link, but I see no reason to simply throw you from our grounds and wish you luck. Tell me, how skilled are you with that sword?" His can lifted and pointed towards the jeweled object on Link's back.

Link looked behind himself briefly before raising his hand. He slowly withdrew the items, wisely at that. A quick display could easily be seen as a show of force. He was used to suspicion, at the very least. But with sword and shield drawn, Ozpin was suddenly much more critical of tools.

Though made of metal and well-shaped at that, they appeared to be encrusted with gems and Dust to a degree that he was not used to. A simple piece of decoration in the past, loaded and unloaded as need be, those were the common uses for such material. Link's weapons appeared to be loaded over and out with the material, shining with the sun's light like holy relics. Ozpin half suspected they were.

"Like them?" He heard Tatl say in a sort of sing-song voice. The light fairy flew around the objects Link held, coating them in a trail of luminescent dust. The headmaster had to admit, it gave a very ethereal feel to them. "Meet the Magical Sword and Shield. Forged and enchanted long ago during the time of the First Hero of Hyrule. The blade is enchanted to never lose its edge no matter what it is beaten against. It can channel magic as well as any rod or staff. The shield is able to block just about anything between heavy hammers and balls of fire. No luck getting through his defense." Magic… likely their term for Dust. It made sense they had different words for the same thing. Sharing a language was blessing enough.

Ozpin noted silently Glynda typing out on her keypad, likely snapping a few pictures with her ever-present mini-drones while taking down the fairies words. Ruby, however, had sparkles in her eyes. The weapon enthusiast that she was, it hardly surprised him. It was actually Link that earned the title for oddest expression at that moment. Rather than appearing humbled or proud for the weapons he carried, he appeared almost… embarrassed. Perhaps that wasn't the right words, maybe uneasy or something close to it. Interesting nonetheless.

"And as for his skill," Tatl went on, laughing a little before she did so. It almost unnerved the headmaster, almost. "Link's been called the greatest swordsman in all of Hyrule. Before we left, there was no one who could take him on in a fair fight, and even unfair ones he'd come out on top. Take on a whole cave full of monsters and come out without a bead of sweat, but some new treasure to boot." Ozpin smiled as the fairy finished.

"That sounds quite amazing," he admitted aloud, honest with his words. "Then, perhaps, we may be able to strike a deal of sorts." While the children around him appeared between confused and curious, with brows furrowed and lips puckered, Glynda only gave him a warning glare. He saw Link return his weapons to their sheath, likely uncomfortable holding them out amongst others. That was normal.

"Ozpin," Glynda spoke his name darkly. "Remember what we talked about. It was only minutes ago, so I won't believe you've already forgotten." He doubted she'd ever let him forget a single conversation they had shared, if he was being asked under oath.

"Link," he spoke the Faunus's name again, watching as he stiffened as if expecting orders. Ozpin briefly wondered what his role was in this kingdom he hailed from. "While we are not able to readily help you find your friend now; that does not mean we lack the resources to do so. In fact, it is likely we are more capable of this than the authorities in Vale at the moment. However, we cannot allow someone incapable of fighting the Grimm onto Beacon. It is a policy that we all abide by. A practical tradition really, given our purpose and standing in the world. So, here is my offer." He took a slow sip of the mug he was waving before. Then, lifting his cane, he pointed it towards Link. He noticed with a small amount of glee the way Link tensed at the action. Caution.

"If you can slay a Grimm of my choosing before night's fall, I'll allow you stay on my campus." Ozpin could feel the joy emanating from Ruby as readily as he felt the rage roll off Glynda. It was weird ground to stand on. Link, however, didn't appear ready to jump on the offer. Rather, he lifted one of his hands to his chin, as if in thought.

Both fairies flew down to him, floating by one of his long ears. He made small motions with his head as they doubtlessly spoke, whispering to him a voice already softer than a warm spring's breeze. He smirked lightly at that.

"Ms. Belladonna," he called lightly to Blake. The girl turned to him. "Would you happen to tell me what they are saying?" There was obvious hesitation on her part, likely seeing the fellow Faunus as more potential ally. However, it appeared that the actions of her former comrades had allowed Ozpin's request to win out.

"They're talking about if it's a good idea. Tatl, the light one, keeps saying it's better than nothing, and her brother is agreeing. But…" She bit her lip with one of her fangs before she went on. "But it sounds like Link is actual the more cautious. He… I think he's saying he wants to be alone." Now that was surprising.

If there was any doubt left Ozpin had that Link was truly a foreign Faunus, it was gone now.

"Alright," Tatl spoke up, flying away from Link and up to Ozpin. The headmaster stared at the ball of light as it floated in front of him. "We'll do it, but on one condition." Ozpin felt himself smile, even as he could nearly feel Glynda imagine his skin being peeled away.

"And that is?" The fairy rung lightly before speaking, lightly her way of clearing her throat.

"Link's an equal while he's here." That… was not what Ozpin was expecting. His brows rose questioningly at the statement. He didn't have to look to know that the others present had similar expressions. "That means no special treatment or unfair treatment. He's not some new kid to pick on or war hero to drool over. We're just looking for his friend and you're helping us find a place to start. Simple as that."

Ozpin looked over to Glynda, who appeared to have tapped out the message already. She was nodding at the pad, thought with a scowl on her features. She did not, however, have a word of reprimand for them. That was quite the turnaround. Perhaps that condition was to ease the burden her? Yes, it would but… what purpose did it serve Link? Was that how he was treated back at Hyrule? But which one then, the prince or the pauper? It was not something he could simply ask.

He looked towards Blake, noting how she nodded approvingly at the statement. With her arms crossed and a smile across her lips, it was the fastest he had seen anyone gain the young student's trust, let alone approval. Ruby seemed all that and doubly so, likely for she was given the same kind of attention, being the junior of near everyone by at least two years. Link looked at Ozpin, but not expectantly. It was as if… he had already made a decision, no matter what the headmaster decided. It made the headmaster smile.

Perhaps he had made errors when it came to his school in the past, but that didn't mean he should pass on new opportunities in the present.

"Very well," he spoke to the fairy, extending his hand outwards towards Link. "I accept." Link smiled back at him, gripping his hand with a firm shake. Ozpin noted immediately the strength behind it, higher than he initially thought for someone of Link's stature. That was, again, a thought he filed away for later.

"This is highly irregular Ozpin," Glynda scolded again from the side, but he noted that the flare he expected form her was gone. Perhaps she was just as interested in the outcome of this test as he was. "Usually new entries to Beacon must perform an evaluation test, and only then after completing a test of competency." He chuckled at her usual demeanor. "Sad as his tale may be, it isn't ethically possible to allow every case such as his to be admitted."

"That's why we're doing the test," Ozpin countered lightly, the cheer in his voice unchanging as he answered his partner. "That aside, I doubt there are any other cases like Link here, isn't that right?" He grinned lightly towards the green clad Faunus, raising his mug to lips as he did so. The warrior didn't blink as he gazed back at him.

"Well that's awesome!" Ruby shattered the tense atmosphere with her usual cheer. She jumped in front of Link, her hands clasped to her chest with a beaming smile aimed up at him. He blinked as he looked back at her, clearly unused to the level of energy the child had. "That means you can actually be a student here Link! You can have breakfast with us, go to class with us, do training with us, have lunch with us, watch movies with us, go to Vale with us, and then have dinner with us! Can't sleep with us though, four in a room is crowded enough." Ozpin chuckled as Link looked at her with a bemused expression, complete with a light blush. It appeared he wasn't ignorant of the insinuations either.

"Please forgive Ruby," Blake spoke up instead, putting a hand on Link's shoulder. He turned to her, not appearing offended by the gesture in the least. She smiled at him for it. "But I would like to see you enter the school as well. Your home… I'd like to hear about it."

"You seem pretty eager to talk about that," Tatl flew up to her as she spoke, causing the dark girl to pull her hand away. "Can't say I blame you for being curious about Link. He is an amazing guy. But you seem pretty interested in just Hyrule. Why is that?" Ozpin hid his smile well behind his mug, even as Blake appeared to have her stomach drop to the earth.

"S-She's just a history buff!" Ozpin had little surprise to see the young team leader jumping to her friend's rescue. "I mean, like, she's read almost every book about faunus in the school and Vale, always looking for something new to do and stuff like that. I-It's just a hobby for her, really!" The red cloaked girl nearly bounded as she spoke. She was not the most skilled liar.

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy Red," Tatl followed up, with a new nick-name for the young girl at that. It made Ruby blink. "I was just asking. Geez, no reason to act like I'm gonna burn down the town or something." The fairy rang as she flew away from the duo of girls, circling about link with a trail of gold, before settling in front of Glynda.

While it was obvious to the headmaster that his partner was glaring at the fairy, her own fingers resting above her pad, he could only assume Tatl was doing the same. Given the stiffness of the fairy's wings, it was a likely expression, though the blinding amount of light she gave off did make it rather difficult to judge.

"So, um…" Ozpin turned his attention back to Link, only to find Tael floating up to him. He assumed it was a meeker version of flight, given that the fairy moved at only a fraction of his sister's speed, wings drooping as he did so. "What kind of monster are we fighting? Y-You said Grimm, but Ruby said Grimm are monsters, but like, are they all the same or… what?" An interesting deduction.

"Though Grimm all have similar hunger and needs, they vary about as readily as you and I," Ozpin spoke plainly and honestly to the fairy. He hoped his good nature would ease any discomfort in the floating companion. "It is interesting that you call them simply monsters, but I suppose that is hardly the most interesting difference we have found. But besides that, I am getting away from myself."

He waved his cane as he spoke, metaphorically brushing away his rogue thoughts. Ozpin turned his attention back to Link, who looked at him expectantly, arms crossed and eyes forward.

"You came from the Foreverfall Forest, is that correct?" He watched Link glance to Ruby, who vigorously nodded her head. Link returned the expression to Ozpin. "Well, there is another woods call the Emerald Forest. I believe you will find it closer to your typical trek through wooded lands, with trees of green and grounds covered with light foliage and dirt. However, it is also home to a few more impressive species of Grimm." He gave another moment of silence to gauge Link's reaction. Not a muscle on his face had twitched. He was poised, if nothing else.

"Of those numbers, there is an impressive beast called the Nevermore." He heard a light gasp from Ruby, the memory of the monster that required her team's cooperative effort to slay still fresh in her mind. Link gave her only a glance before looking back towards the headmaster. "It is a Grimm with wing spans longer than the ship your rode in on, flying to deathly heights, and capable of catastrophic damage. It is among one of the more deadly forms of Grimm, especially to the untrained. If you can slay a beast such as this, I will allow you to stay on my campus, with the condition Tatl has specified." The fairy rung at the agreement.

It took not a moment for Link to nod his head. Ozpin made careful note of the Faunus's smile. It was much more confident now than it was before. Interesting in all ways.

"Alright!" Tatl finally let out, flying away from Glynda and back around Link. She stopped when she hovered over his right shoulder, the green-clad warrior grinning at her as she lightly bounced against his cheek. It was clear to see it was out of affection. "Looks like we got a monster to slay, just like old times!"

"Nearly, but I have a stipulation of my own," Glynda let out, earning the collective attention. She tapped at her keypad, giving Link a meaningful glare. He only appeared confused by it. "The test as specified is meant to be a solo mission, done to prove your individual worth for the school."

Ozpin raised his mug to hide his frown of disapproval. He knew well where this was going.

"As such, Tatl and Tael will wait here." The reaction was instantaneous.

"Wait, what!?" The lightly illuminated fairy let out, flying back over to Glynda in a blink of an eye. She rang like a child was shaking a bell, loud and unfaltering. "You seriously expect us to just split up like that! No way! Isn't happening!"

"It will if you want this test to proceed," Glynda continued, unfaltering in the fairy's presence. "Normally Huntresses and Hunters in training must work together to complete these tasks, but the deal was set only for Link's admittance into Beacon." Ozpin was only partially surprised by his partner's actions.

He should have seen it coming, in all honesty. She was not one to simply act from the sideline, especially while her rules were being circumvented for the sake of curiosity. That was his fault, Ozpin supposed. What was worse, he knew there was little way to stop it, aside from another rule. He knew better than most that no such rule existed.

"Th-Then what about us?" Tael asked the question now. The headmaster deduced the fairy's tone as being on the verge of tears. "D-Does that mean we can't stay here? No matter what? A-Are we gonna have to leave Link?" The fairy flew back to said warrior, landing on his shoulder and shaking lightly.

That was when Ozpin noted Link's expression. It was hard, focused, like that of a Hunter seeing his prey. The blue eyes that were looking about in curiosity now focused on Glynda with a deathly stare. It was beneficial to no one.

"Now now, that is not the case," Ozpin quickly amended. "The rules at stipulated in such a manner in order to prevent harm to non-competitors. Rest assured that should Link pass this test, I will in no way force you or your sister to leave his side." He saw Tael visibly sag at the words, likely out of relief. Tatl did not.

"We've been through hundreds of fights with Link before! You think this is any different?!" She flew at Ozpin with those words, lightly kicking his glass frames as she approached. He leaned back to adjust them, avoiding blindness with the intensity of the fairy's light.

"Not at all," he admitted, doing his utmost to hide his smirk as he spoke next. "I am only trying to treat Link as fairly as I would any other student. No restrictions or handouts being offered."

The fairy froze at his words. Check.

"It is?" The simple question came from Blake and Ozpin moved his spectacled gaze to see her. She was looking towards Link with a curious expression. The conclusion to be made was simple enough. It was only made more obvious when Link nodded towards her.

He lifted his hand up towards his shoulder, touching at the dark fairy that rest there. Tael rung as contact was made; Link's finger was being hidden beneath the dark light of the fairy. Ozpin watched as Link brought his hand back up to his gaze, likely making eye-contact with the younger of the sibling fairies. More mute conversation was shared between them, only the fairies light rings being heard. Ozpin sipped his coffee, watching Blake as the conversation proceeded. She saw it easily enough.

"Words of confidence," she spoke simply. "Promising he'll come back."

"He better come back!" Tatl shouted as she flew up to Link. This time, however, the green-clad Faunus had to move his head back as the fairy bounced against his forehead. He didn't lose his comforting smile, even as the brighter of the fairies rang loudly in front of him. "I'm trusting you on this cause you seem so confident. But mark my words Link, you get yourself hurt or lost without me and I'll be sure to chase you to whatever new world you find yourself stumbling into!" Ozpin felt himself grin as Link laughed at the fairy's comments. Companions indeed.

"Don't worry about him being lost," Glynda spoke again, her eyes on the pad as she spoke. "The test is strictly a feasibility test for his skills as a Hunter, not a navigator. Ruby and Blake will accompany him to the forest and locating the Nevermore. They will not, however, help with its fight." She made very clear eye contact with both girls as she finished her statement, silently forcing an order upon them. Ozpin knew that look well, terrifyingly so.

"Sounds good to me!" Ruby cheered exuberantly, arms held up and out into the air. She was nearly bouncing in front of Link, the Faunus looking back at her with amused confusion. "I can't wait to see you in action! I'm sure you're gonna be all like slice and dice and all BAM BAM against it!" Ozpin didn't need sharp ears to hear Blake laughing humorously at her young superior's mindset. She ruffled Ruby's hair, earning a puff of annoyance from the crimson colored leader.

"Perhaps we should leave now then?" She suggested earnestly to Ruby before facing Link. Her fellow Faunus blinked at her once before opening his mouth. He nodded in understanding, turning to look at the sun as he did so. Ozpin supposed it was the constant presence of his bright companions that allowed him to stare into celestial orb so easily. "Alright, the forest isn't far. C'mon." She motioned with her hand, already turning as she did.

Link nodded towards her before looking towards his fairy companions. Ozpin observed him make more mute conversation, the subtlest twitches of his lips accompanied by the fairies' ringing. It was odd, to be sure, but such a thing was a wonder to see. He only hoped that Link would prove Tatl's boasts of his skills. If he did… there might yet still be something he could do for Vale.

"Just be safe, okay?" Her heard Tatl finally speak, lightly bouncing off of the green-clad Faunus's head. It only made him grin before offering a quick nod. Then, without another word, he began walking towards Ruby and Blake, the two girls waiting patiently for him. Ozpin sipped his cup as he took his place beside them.

He watched Ruby, quick to jump up next to Link. She was talking to him, as much was obvious by the attention she was being given by the green-clad warrior. The headmaster hoped the team leader knew better than to ask questions, as only Blake would be able to hear the responses.

"So how long is this going to take?" He turned his attention back to the ball of light beside him, floating between him and Glynda. Tatl's younger brother Tael was immediately next to her, turning their shared light and dark light into a soothing gray. He supposed that was them embracing. It was almost annoying how many assumptions were needed for things he could not see. "Cause you know, I'm not a fan of this, being split up and all."

"Link does not seem to mind," Glynda spoke cold as ever to the fairy, typing away at her pad. She was likely now assigning drones to spy on the test as it occurred. It was logical, if predictable, to Ozpin. "Perhaps until he is finished with this examination you can mimic his mindset."

"Yeah, sure, I'll do that." The sarcasm in Tatl's voice could have drowned a man. "Right after you take a page out of Big Green's book here and actually crack a smile." Ironically at that, Ozpin felt himself smile at the comment, doubly so when Glynda furrowed her brow at the fairy. At least he wouldn't be bored with them.

Before they took more than step towards his office, the professor turned a hard glare towards him, an expression he was very well aware of, but not too keen to be at this end of. He stopped, waiting for her to approach. She did so with haste.

"Are you sure this is wise, Ozpin?" She asked critically, voice in a low whisper. "In the midst of the White Fang panic, bringing a new student that has all the signs of a spy?"

"He is too far and away an anomaly to possible be any tool of the White Fang," Ozpin easily countered. "They would not risk well-trained agents on such ludicrous grounds, no. If nothing else, those same agents would not offer to so easily leave, least of all while they don't know we're listening. Link is odd, far more unique than any student I have seen through these grounds, but a member of the White Fang? That I cannot see him to be."

"And what of anything else?" Glynda posed in return. "We can already confirm humans are working with the White Fang. Perhaps Link is a mole for a pro-human group. Perhaps he is a lone agent with a vendetta. We do not know what he is."

"And we cannot know until he is here to stay." The words were spoken harsher than he intended.

Unfortunate. Most unfortunate.

"Believe me, Glynda," Ozpin slowly sighed as he finished. He loathed to think of the darker truth of Remnant. "Though I would prefer to never have to make special cases or bends of the rules, we live in a world where our enemies see their own code as mere guidelines to their end game. In truth, I do believe Link. I believe him and his fairy companions. And it is because of that faith that we must have him at Beacon."

"I do not understand." He could always count on his partner to speak honestly and bluntly. He was much the opposite, preferring truth riddled in hints and mystery. Now was not to speak in such a way. Not to someone he needed to understand his motives now.

"If Link truly is a Faunus of foreign lands, and if he truly is as strong as his fairies make him out to be, it would be too easy and too damning for the wrong group to turn him into a weapon."

Nothing more had to be said of the matter.

"Now, perhaps we should gather the remainder of Ruby Roses' team," Ozpin suggested. "I am sure them meeting our new fairy friends will prevent a great many of issues."

"I said I was sorry!" Weiss would hear none of what the dark overly bright mini-drone had to say. "I-It was an accident, I promise. The door was open a-and I thought I could come in."

"You're an overly eager and improperly programed droid!" Weiss shouted back at the mini-drone. It rang with her words, translucent wings shirking at her voice. Excellent voice recognition software, deplorable tracking algorithms. "You violated our privacy in the worst of ways!"

"B-But I didn't even mean to do it!" It shouted back almost desperately. Weiss could only sneer at the cowardly machine. "I couldn't… I really didn't mean anything by it."

"Aw, now we aren't good enough for the Peeping Tom?" Yang took charge of scolding the dark mini-drone. Scolding with her usual brand of teasing mixed in. It had the same effect on the mini-drone, assumingly by its outwards reaction. It was satisfactory. "Here I was hoping you'd at least be eager to try again, but it turns out you regret what you saw."

"Y-Yeah, I do b-because I didn't mean to scare you, or insult you, or… o-or anything else." Its speech programming was horribly inefficient, stuttering like some broken records. Whose ever they were, they needed better upkeep of their products, right after Weiss trashed them for their perverse nature. "I-I really didn't mean anything by it, at all, honest!"

"Whatever your intentions were, they are secondary to what you actually did," Weiss corrected the defective machine. "And what you have done is thoroughly shame me and my teammate, make us have to follow behind the headmaster and professor to meeting, and keep in your company for infinitely longer than I would ever wish to."

"Oh back off princess!" Weiss felt herself groan as the other imperfect mini-drone flew front and center. It rang with an unlawfully loud ring, making her ears strain as much as her patience. "You already knocked my brother across the room and the only thing keeping me from doing the same to you is knowing that it'll probably ruin Link's chances of staying at your stupid Academy."

Oh yes, Link, this now mysterious faunus benefactor that Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch have seemingly given an unorthodox test to, in some vain hope that the barbaric and uneducated individual would have any luck of entering their school. His companions, these poorly designed floating machines, being requested to remain behind to prevent any tampering with the testing parameters.

A wise move on Ms. Goodwitch's part, unsurprising given the professor's prodigious history, it ensured that whatever the Faunus's abilities, they were his own and not the hand of some trickery. Given these mini-drones and their attitudes, Weiss already found herself loathe to understand how a foreign barbarian had managed to talk his way in with the headmaster far enough to even gain chance at this test.

It all made only an unfortunate amount of sense when her partner's name came to the front.

"I believe that my height, training, and stature are more than enough to prevent you from sending me anywhere," Weiss addressed the golden ball of light, determine to squint through the veil to see the mechanics beneath. She could not. "And be aware that I am not doing the same to you is the agreement to follow Ms. Goodwitch's and Ozpin's orders." She saw this mini-drones wings flare with the words.

"Oh is that how you want to play it?" She asked, her golden light damningly bright. "Just stomp around and act all high and mighty without knowing a thing about us? You're a real piece of work and I'm saying that after seeing monsters rip though villages." Weiss could feel her lungs fill with a scream.

"Sis, sh-she's right," the darker of the robot's cut in. "I-I should have waited or… done something else. I only made things worse by j-just flying into their room. B-But don't make her made. We don't want her to get mad at Link." The breath she had taken in was slowly released. It was difficult to scream at even robots that recognized their shortcomings.

"Oh come off it Tael, you didn't do jack wrong," the golden mini-drone, unfortunately, kept it up. "I'm gonna keep blaming these two for having a door half way open, that Triple B women telling us they were a kind bunch, only to have you get thrown across the room like a Deku Nut!"

"Eh, so we forgot to close the door," Yang took in again. "Doesn't exactly give you a lot of right to just fly into our room. That's what makes you a Peeping Tom, trying to catch a glimpse of the girls while we were 'exposed'." Weiss was well aware she was not one of the 'girls' Yang was referring to, not while she handled her chest like some sort of cushion. Her point, however still stood.

"Now I'm really starting to wonder on why we need you two here!" Tatl began to shout again. "Ruby Rose may have been grabby, that Blake girl asking one too many questions, but you two are just insult after insult and I'm about ready to just call it quits!"

"Sis!" The darker drone cut in again. Must have been a recursive function on his part. "You know that'll disappoint Link, a-and he promised he'd come back so... we should keep our promise that we'll stay." They appeared loyal to their master. Good thing that was still functional.

A blessed pocket of silence came following the malfunctioning drone's words. It gave time for Weiss to appreciate where they were, marching through Beacon grounds towards Ozpin's office. The CCTS was already behind them, The Emerald Tower well within eye-shot. It thankfully wouldn't be long before they reached it and would be able to receive more than the usual cryptic reasoning of their headmaster.

Dust bless him for his ability to manage a school of hunters in training against Grimm, but would it truly be such a bother to simply spell out the purpose of some of their actions? Weiss felt herself scoff to herself, easily conjuring the innumerable excuses that could be made in justification of the loose answer. Training, higher level thinking, and preparation being the three that came first and foremost to her mind. Patience was next, after she was reminded of the malfunctioning drones she was stuck with.

She let out a controlled sigh. It didn't matter in the long run. The drones were preferable, in truth, to some loose student making their way into their dorm. Yang would have to be properly criticized later for her inability to command a door to shut, but that was the furthest this incident would reach at most, with any amount of luck. Given the events of the day thus far, she felt she was entitled to that much at least.

Besides, she could see Ozpin waiting for them ahead.

"I've see you've made it," he spoke to them with his mug raised, cane in opposite hand. "I'm glad to see you are all properly dressed now. Apologies for the sudden interruption before." Weiss turned her head to hide her flush. Ozpin was the headmaster, he deserved respect.

"It's cool," Yang started. "Wasn't you who barged into the room anyway. 'Least you knocked instead of getting a look at the knockers." And now no amount of tilting her head could hide Weiss's growing flush. At least now there was an appropriate target.

"Yang!" She bellowed out. "I appreciate your ability to take every situation in stride, but can you please have some amount of decency?" The smile she got in return said there would be none. So much for her well due luck.

"Can we please hurry this up?" The golden mini-drone let out. "You said we could see Link from wherever we're going and I think that's far more important than whatever these two teens have to argue about." It was only the presence of Ms. Goodwitch and Ozpin that kept from slapping the drone out of the air like her 'brother'.

"Of course," Ozpin returned. Of course he was calm. He'd be calm in the face of an Ancient Grimm. "Please follow us. I have an intuition you do not have in Hyrule what we are about to show you." Weiss had the utmost confidence they did not.

"Yeah yeah, heard it all before. 'What you see you will never believe', 'Gaze in awe at the power of Time.'" the golden mini-drone was mocking, mocking the headmaster. "Why don't you actually show us this amazing technology?"

"Sis," The darker of the two whined now. A terrifying parallel between him and Ruby shot to Weiss mind. She batted it away with precision. "You know that's not fair, a-and they're being kind to us. Give them a chance, for Link, please?"

Weiss heard the two communicate in rings for a moment, maybe some high frequency channel communication or low byte information transfer. It didn't matter which, the end result was that Weiss, and likely everyone else, couldn't hear what they were saying. That didn't mean they stopped moving.

The group stepped into the metallic elevator of the headmaster's tower, Weiss doing her utmost to leave room for her professor and said headmaster. Yang, predictably, felt the need to stretch along the wall. Neither Ozpin nor Professor Goodwitch seemed to pay her any mind. The 'fairies' hardly took up any room at all, at worst only making the small structure too bright.

It didn't matter. In a short amount of time, Weiss would watch this 'Link' perform his test, likely fail, and then they would all be on their way. Such was reality.

Blake often thought of herself as a realist, never as the dreamer.

She saw the hopelessness in a situation before most others, knowing practically the odds of defeat over those of victory. She was aware of the limitations of man and Faunus alike, both physically and mentally, never assuming either could do more. She didn't believe mankind would turn around and embrace the Faunus any more than she thought Faunus would forgive them for the terrible actions of the past.

To think otherwise drifted too far into the territory of optimism. She was told by Ruby, as a jest, that it was a nice place to visit. Hoping and believing every day that the most impossible of situations would come true, never stopping to worry about failure, always moving towards that mythical ground called success. Such a mindset was bordered closely by cynicism. Those that thought that nothing was possible, everything being forbidden. No hope for a future, no chance of success, no reason to dream, only waiting pitifully until the end. Blake belonged to neither of them.

She saw success in many actions, but just as often she saw failure. She had dreams she longed to see made reality, but she knew the impossibility of their parts. Such were the thoughts of a realist, and those thoughts, that recognition, is what allowed her to survive as long as she had.

But now here came Link.

A Faunus dressed unlike many she had seen before, hailing from a land that only he and his fairy companions knew. A land where Faunus ruled, where they were hailed as rulers and royalty for the same traits that were damned in Vale. A far off mystical kingdom, untouched by the terrors that man forced upon her kind. It was too impossible to believe, she knew this as a realist.

And yet, his very companions were proof that it was more than a tale. Fairies, the things from stories told to children at night, flying about them with ease. Ruby had told her with a blushing face about how she had grabbed the lighter of the two, Tatl. She felt that it was no android or robot, felt it to be as alive as they were, and knew from Link's defensive nature that he valued their safety. If they were real, then this kingdom, Hyrule very well could be as well.

The realist in her said it was impossible, but looking at Link, she wanted to dare to chase the dream of the optimist.

She wanted to see his kingdom, walk the streets he did, speak to the people he lived with, converse and bow to a ruler who was a Faunus like her. No reason to hide under a bow, no reason to attack wearing a mask, no reason to be anything but what she was. Those were dreams; realists didn't have dreams.

"Blake, Blake!" The sudden shouting of her name drew the dark girl from her reverie. She blinked towards the person calling her name, holding no surprise to see Ruby staring at her, eyes screwed as she bent over her. "You okay there? You looked like you were ready to pass out."

"I'm fine," she replied easily, and it was honestly. "I was simply… thinking about his kingdom." She motioned towards Link with her hand, the green-clad warrior sitting in his seat patiently. He twisted his head at her mentioning of him, his curiosity peaked. Ruby looked at him as well, donning an equally confused expression.

A small rumble shook the bullhead that were in, momentarily making Blake rise. Ruby, however, let out a yelp as she tumbled forward, her position compromised. She splayed out the floor, looking up at Blake with an expression of cheer. Blake returned it, though subdued in size. Her leader really was a child, but one full of skill and loyalty. She looked back up towards Link, seeing him blink as he gazed forward with an expression of clear confusion.

"Turbulence," Blake said simply, earning his attention. His blue eyes fixed on her, showing easily enough that he did not understand. "It's a change in air flow or pressure at given altitudes. Since we're moving through it, it forces the bullhead to shake." Link's expression didn't even flinch. She gave a short sigh before elaborating. "It's like hitting a wave with a ship."

Now his head bobbed up and down in understanding. He turned his attention to the side, looking out the back of the bullhead. It was easy for Blake's sharp eyes to see his gaze relax, enjoying what he saw. She turned to look as well.

Her eyes met the canopy of the Emerald Forest. Every hue of green shining off of the leaves, reflecting the warm rays of the sun. The woods would have been a paradise were they not home to so many Grimm, powerful ones at that. Blake recalled her first journey through them, when she met Yang and took the actions that landed her with her first true group of friends. It brought a smile to her lips.

"Now what are you thinking about?" Blake's grin fell as she looked back down at Ruby. The crimson garbed girl was pointing one of her hands up at her, the rest of her flat against the hard steel of the bullhead. "And don't say nothing, because I know you don't smile like that unless you're thinking of something."

"I wasn't going to," Blake answered easily and honestly. "I was thinking of the forest, of how this was where we made our team. It was where I was partnered with your sister, you were partnered with Weiss, and we started everything." She couldn't help but smile now as Ruby all but beamed up at her. "Isn't that worth smiling about?"

"Duh! Of course it is!" The girl spun on the ground, having little difficulty maintaining her balance as the ship continued to fly. It wouldn't be long before the reached their destination now. "This is, like, where it all began! I mean, yeah, it began way back when I decided to be a Huntress and Uncle Qrow started to train me and you were trying to help the Whi-"

Ruby stopped talking as Blake held her hand over the girl's mouth. She heard muffled grunts of confusion vibrate over her fingers, the young girl protesting the muffling. Blake didn't answer her. Instead, she turned her golden gaze over to Link, who was now looking at them with a dubious expression. Thankfully for Blake, Ruby picked up quickly.

"It's nothing," Blake answered his unspoken question. "Just a part of my past I'd rather not speak of. I hope you do not mind." It was as honest as she could allow herself to be. She would not lie to a fellow Faunus, especially one that hailed from a kingdom like Hyrule, but… he was still a stranger.

She was only partially surprised when his curious gaze turned into a warm smile, muscles relaxing up his cheeks as he focused his blue eyes upon her. He nodded towards her, one of understanding. There was only one-way Blake was aware of that someone could understand, and that alone spoke volumes for Link's past. Any questions she may have had for Link, however, were cut short as the bullhead began to slow.

Blake felt herself pull in her seat, the momentum of the craft descending in altitude just as quickly as he slowed in velocity. She stood up, gripping Gambol Shroud on the back of her hip. This may have been a test for Link, but that did not mean she was any safer through inaction. Ruby was standing next to her quickly, as her semblance so often allowed her to do. Link was quick to join them.

"The Nevermore doesn't perch often," Blake told him carefully, making sure she had his eye contact when she did. "It flies high in the sky and tends to impale its prey before it descends. You'll have to find a way to lure it down before you can slay it. Do you understand?" Link gave her a confident grin. Blake returned it. "Then I wish you luck, Link of Hyrule."

"Yeah, me too!" Ruby spoke loudly as she gripped his arm, stars in her eyes as she looked up at him. "I wanna spend a lot of time talking to you later, so you better be able to kill this thing, alright?" He nodded towards her, blonde bangs lightly mixing with her dark locks, given the lack of space Ruby had left between the two.

"Alright, let's go." Blake moved to the open back of the bullhead, jumping from the low height they hung from. It was a short fall, a dozen feet at best, but still enough to cause pain for the untrained. She landed gracefully, the subtlest of her feline features aiding her. She heard the grace impact beside her Ruby's light frame doing her favors from the jump. She heard a much heavier impact just behind her. She turned to see Link, rising to his full height. The bullhead was quick to depart above them, leaving them alone in the woods.

Blake gave him one more critical eye, looking him over as he stood there, staring past them and into the woods. He was short for most of the males they were around, just barely above her own height. His blue eyes were sharper now than they were in the bullhead, the eyes of a Hunter looking for prey. His ears were no different, but she knew he was using them as any Faunus would, listening for the uneven sounds of the forest.

He began to walk forwards, past them with a gaze that never lingered. It took little time for him to move into the foliage of the trees, the canopy shading him from above. Blake looked at Ruby, who nodded towards her as well. The pair moved behind him at a distance, each holding their weapons ready for any kind of strike.

"So what do you think is going to happen?" Ruby asked as the followed the Faunus, their pace a mild walk at best. "I mean, Tatl was really confident Link could do this, but how?" Blake shrugged her shoulders, focusing more on the green-clad warrior in front of her. Though she paid attention to his minor movements, kept record of his form, she found herself more often coming back to his ears.

He carefully stepped over a log, all which remained of the corpse of a tree. Despite the chainmail he wore, he made hardly a sound, settling over the light vegetation on the other side. He placed his hand on a tree, looking about the forest at the same time, eyes always half drawn. Carefully, he brushed a branch away, ducking beneath instead of pushing harshly against it. The forest, large as it was, hardly noticed his presence.

"Bla-a-ake," her leader whined beside her. It earned a low sigh from the feline Faunus, shutting her eyes to remember just who her leader was.

"I think he's tracking it now," Blake honestly to Ruby, though never taking her golden gaze off of Link. "He knows how to move through the woods, leaving a weak path behind him. It's the best way for a predator to move. Plus, he knows it's a bird, so he's not looking for things like broken twigs." She watched him carefully, his ears twitching lightly, head moving towards a far off sound. It made her grin with pride.

"So then, what's he looking for?" Ruby asked the question in a whisper, either catching on to the sensitivity of sounds or being polite to the tracker. Either were possible for the young Huntress.

"Sounds," Blake replied knowingly. "He's using his ears to listen. He's not afraid to let his Faunus heritage guide him." She really was proud of him.

"You mean like you?" Ruby whispered the words again, even lighter than before.

Link turned to look at them.

Both girls froze, staring at the green-clad warrior who had also stopped his trek. He was staring at them, his soft eyes looking at them with a mixture of confusion, a perhaps a bit of interest. Blake clenched her teeth, trying to decide on what was a more appropriate emotion to feel, betrayal or anger. Her fist clenched at her side to the point that her muscles cramped. Looked like anger.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry," Ruby was professing the apology repeatedly in a whisper, ducking into her red hood in a pitiful attempt to hide. Blake couldn't think of what to say to her. Link only continued to stare at them. What was he going to do, ask her what she meant? Accuse her for hiding from him? Slowly, however, Link drew his sword. That was not what she was expecting.

"Link," she spoke his name imploringly. "I understand you may be upset, but…" her voice trailed off as she focused on him, or more specifically, his eyes. They were looking towards her, but they weren't looking at her. In fact, the longer she stared, the more she began to notice his detachment from her and Ruby. It was looking beyond them, his seeing only what he sought. Blake turned around as well.

She came nose to nose with a beowolf.

In all of a blink of an eye, she stabbed upwards with Gambol Shroud, instantly killing the beast with a low whine. It was only after that when Ruby caught on.

"Whoa!" The younger leader let out, startled more by the action of her teammate than the kill. Just as quickly, however, she recovered, her instincts as a Huntress coming on full force. She pulled at the rod that was Crescent Rose, letting it unfold to its full length, kneeling down upon the floor of the forest. Blake was beside her in a moment, pulling her weapon free of the wolf.

The faunus-in-hiding let her golden eyes scan the trees around them, watching with some small amount of disdain as Grimm began to peak out from behind the massive columns of trees. Nearly all were beowolves, a fact that surprised Blake little. They were the most likely of Grimm to hunt in packs, the most communicative by far. Blake bit her lip in annoyance, not noticing them until they were literally on top of them. It only served to remind her that Link had.

"Blake," she heard Ruby ask her name lightly, earning only a quick glance of the Faunus's golden eyes. She couldn't afford to look away from the Grimm for long. Their numbers were already over a dozen, and the forest seemed content to allow more to grow form its woodwork. "Do… do you think we should help Link fight them?"

That was actually an excellent question.

Blake spared a longer glance to her fellow Faunus, turning to see him in a defensive crouch. His feet slowly drew over the light ground cover of the forest, twisting in place to keep an eye on the Grimm that surrounded them. His red crystal shield was held in front of him, always between him and a Beowulf, his sword extended to his side, a different kind of guard. He never allowed himself a movement that complicated his stance.

"It is up to you," Blake responded honestly. "I believe we both would like to help him." She felt the girl nod, making the action vigorously enough to be felt through the air. "But it is a question if Goodwitch will see that as compromising his test." The whine that came from Ruby was just as easy to read.

"That's not fair though." She was sure her leader would have stomped her foot in a pout were they not being circled by dark beasts. Blake was counting to high twenties now, though by favor none of them appeared to be any older than a few years in age. "We at least had partners for our test."

"But it was a test assigned by Professor Goodwitch and Ozpin, as is this," Blake corrected easily. "We cannot risk Link's dismissal from Beacon simply because we wanted to help." She hated the words she spoke, she truly did. To her, it felt like turning a back on a member of her kind.

"Do… well… b-but what if we… no… hng!" Even with her feline ears wrapped beneath the dark bow on her head, Blake could hear her leader's teeth grind annoyance. In honesty, she wasn't far behind, but she knew better than to express negative emotions before the Grimm. "F-Fine, but we're gonna help him if anything goes wrong at all! Promise, right!"

"You are my leader Ruby," Blake spoke with a hint of amusement to her voice, though never turning away from the ever-emerging beowolves. There were easily over thirty now. Where were they all coming from? She wasn't aware there were any packs of such size in the Emerald Forest. "Though I do urge you to make a decision soon."

"Y-Yeah," Ruby hesitantly replied, gripping her weapon until her knuckles turned white. Her cape billowed as she turned to and fro, likely deciding vigorously on what to do. It was always difficult to choose between wants and needs.

She did, however, come to a decision.

"Link!" She called the Faunus's name. Blake offered only a quick glance to see the swordsman turn towards her, shield to his right and sword raised before him. His stance was still solid on the ground, neither foot out of place. "We… We gotta let you fight these guys alone! So that Goodwitch doesn't say we helped you! We'll be right here though! So don't let anything happen to you, okay!?" She pointed her scythe to the air as she spoke, likely indicating the higher canopy of the trees. Blake nodded, naming it a fine place to observe Link without interfering.

Not a moment later did the crimson leader jump into the trees, rose petals following her ascent. Blake watched her, flexing in a nervous fashion. She was sure the beowolves would charge upon such a quick motion, their growls evident that they were close to doing so. It was not a wise move to think without moving, not in front of the Grimm.

She stopped only long enough to see Link give her a wondering look, likely out of confusion for their departure. But just as quickly was it replaced with a relaxed smile, out of place between his sword and shield, framed by the dark figures of the Grimm. But Blake, nonetheless, silently hoping that he delivered everything his fairy had promised.

Blake jumped to a nearby tree's large trunk, burying Gambol Shroud in it. A moment later, she fired it, sending her up into the canopy. Her body twirled lithely around a large branch, stopping only when she felt her heels securely on top of the protruding limb. She held her dark weapon to her side, unsure if the beowolves would follow her, the same for Ruby.

Yet they still did not. Looking down, her sharp eyes saw only a few offer her glances of curiosity, but the vast majority focusing on Link, no solo and alone upon the ground. Their collective bravery must have grown, for they began to circle him with haste. Blake swallowed on a ball in her throat.

"If… If he gets hit once, we're jumping in" Blake heard Ruby whisper behind her. She didn't bother to wonder when the girl had made it next to her, already well aware that Ruby was far faster on her feet than the feline Faunus ever would be. "There are too many Grimm to risk it, and the woods… we can't be sure how many there are. So no chances, okay?" Even if it was spoken with a youthful form of fear, Blake could appreciate the wisdom in the words.

"Agreed," she nodded, focusing her eyes on Link.

Her fellow Faunus was standing now, no longer crouched upon the ground, likely realizing the situation he was in. His ears twitched as often as his eyes moved, counting and sizing up the monsters that surrounded him. Blake watched him spin the sword in his hands, gripping and ungrasping the handle of his shield. Then she saw something unique.

Link stilled, leaning back as he shut his eyes. Confusion took her momentarily, until she saw his chest expanding, the clearest sign she had that he was taking in a deep breath of air. He held it for a moment, releasing it as easily as he had taken it in. When it was gone, he smiled. Blake knew what that meant.

He was ready and the Grimm knew it.

Weiss was never one for dishonesty, at least not when it came to opinions. Lying about such things was tactless and needless, as it portrayed no falsity of information and protected no lives. It gave unfair judgment of situations and likely jeopardized people.

As her father had told her, you should never lie about the situation of a battlefield, the capability of an employee, or the state of your own mind. Her honesty of such things often had her labeled with terms of social isolation and superiority, Ice Queen being far from the first time such a title was given to her. And yet, she did not change.

Her opinions may have changed, and by consequence her words, but she never changed her method of speaking, no matter how many poisonous eyes she may have been given. So, it certainly didn't stop her now.

"He's going to die."

She said the sentence tactlessly, her eyes on the screen with her arms folded in front of her. She didn't need to turn to know the fairies were soured by her words.

"Excuse me!?" She heard the now painfully familiar yellow fairy screech at her. "What kind of stupid, stuck-up, broad of a princess says that?!" Weiss could hear the mini-drone ringing like chime with every word she yelled. She responded to the short tirade with a finger in her ear, mockingly assessing the damage the obnoxious ball of light had done.

"An intelligent one, and far more so than you if you can't see the situation he's in." She nodded her head towards the screen. It adjusted every so often, taking a different angle of the green-clad Faunus, holding gem encrusted weapons again Grimm that now numbered near forty. "He is using inadequate weapons against a large herd of beowolves within their own territory. They are going to have superior knowledge of the layout of the forest and use it accordingly amongst each other. In combination with their pack size, he is at a severe disadvantage."

"Very good Ms. Schnee," Goodwitch complimented her from the side. The white-haired heiress did not even attempt to hide her satisfied grin, titling her nose into the air for good measure. "Your assessment of the situation is valid on all accounts, except for one." Her smile faltered.

She turned towards her blonde professor, seeing the green eyed woman taping on her pad, raising her eyes only to see the screen projecting the image of the Emerald Forest. She didn't once face Weiss. Neither did she speak on about the detail the heiress had supposedly made. Her once confident smirk was now a confused frown.

"What am I missing, professor?" She asked the trained Huntress with carefully concealed agitation. If there was ever one thing her upbringing had taught her, it was hiding her emotions, especially upon her words.

Goodwitch's hard glare told her that she had made a mistake.

"You are not accounting for Link's abilities." The answer came from the headmaster, sitting behind his desk. Weiss turned to him, only to see his expression hidden behind a mug of coffee. She could only assume he was grinning as he drank the hot beverage.

"H-He's right," Weiss turned now to the other drone, darker in color than his elder 'sibling'. All the turning and spinning was making the young Schnee dizzy. "Link grew up the forest, f-for most of his life. The Kokiri, the one's he grew up with… they taught him how to listen to the woods, move in them, fight in them, everything."

"What does everything entail?" Weiss asked, confident that a bit of force in her words would earn further answers. He rang lightly at her question, backing up in mid-air. It was the most obvious sign she had that he was intimidated by her. This time, she hid her satisfactory smirk.

"The place he grew up in, L-Link that is, was called the Lost Woods." Weiss saw Yang put her hands on hips, raising her eye brows as she listened to the fairy talk. She could only assume that the headmaster and professor behind her were doing much of the same. "I-It was called that because anyone who traveled into them were lost forever, unable to find their way out. A-And those that were lost…" the malfunctioning robot went silent for a moment, dipping in the air lowly. Weiss attributed to the action to someone taking a deep breath of air, preparing themselves. "Those that were lost became monsters of the woods, losing their soul forever."

"Whoa, that's kinda creepy." Despite her words, Weiss could only describe Yang's tone of voice as excited, perhaps a bit envious. The blonde was a thrill seeker if ever there was one, and this seemed to be the very definition of playing chicken. "So like he grew in a forest of the dead? That's cool."

"Wow. No," Tatl flew up the buxom blonde, floating in front of her as trails of dust fell from her. Weiss wondered for not the first time if the fairy's shimmering trail could be harvested in some way. It would be a unique was to collect and harvest more Dust.

Then again, it was unlikely it was dust at all.

"Growing up in the Lost Woods was not cool for Link," Tatl spoke on. "We weren't there, but he told us that every day he was warned about what would happen, living with the idea that if he took one wrong step, he would lose his life forever. You think that's cool?" Yang, to her credit, didn't appear to be losing any face.

"Can't be much different than living in a forest filled with Grimm," she countered, putting on a smirk that Weiss dared to call signature now. "Wanna guess where me and Ruby grew up?"

"Probably with someone to take care of you, right?" Tatl fired right back. Silence returned from Yang, for a reason Weiss was very well aware of. "Yeah, Link didn't have those. Instead, he survived by doing two things. One, always paying attention, never seeing anything in just one way. He looked at a tree, and he saw a ladder, a bridge, a swing, and even a house." He sounded practical, but Weiss could not imagine living in a tree even if her life was dependent on it.

"And the second one?" The heiress found herself asking, her brows furrowed as well. Tatl turned to face her, wings being the only indication of her doing so. The luminescent drone let the silence hang for a moment, kept away only by the light rings she and her brother made. When she did speak, it was an uncharacteristic few words.

"Never show your fears."

Blake watched the first beowolf charge, predictably from behind Link. She had her own hand gripped into the bark of the branch she stood on, watching with grit teeth as it approached. Specifically, she did so because her golden eyes didn't see any change in Link. The Grimm was close to him, closer with every moment, but he still stood with a relaxed posture, a small grin facing away from the beowolf.

When the monster finally jumped, rearing back its claw for deathly strike, Blake found the nails of her hands dragging down the bark of the tree up. She heard Ruby pull in a gasp of air, likely lining up a shot with Crescent Rose. But she was thankful to see it was unnecessary.

With what could have only been practiced ease, Link swung his blade backwards, the dust encrusted steel stabbing into the head of the pouncing beowolf, killing it instantly. Its arms fell at its sides, held up only by Link's impaled weapon. It was good, a great strike, but he need to repeat such an act a few dozen times for this fight to be over.

But judging by the roar of the Grimm around him, Link was going to have to do a lot more than that. Blake tensed against the branch she stood on, readying herself to pounce the moment something went wrong.

Another beowolf charged at Link from the side, this one with jaws open and ready to bite through him. Instead of striking it, he side-stepped the dark beast letting it pass by him as harmlessly as the wind. Another was going in for a strike as well, at the same time as beast that had just tried to bite into him. Blake watched, impressed, as Link use the momentum of his deft dodge to impale his blade into the beast's skull, splitting it like butter. It fell dead on the ground. That was when they began to charge in mass.

The dozens of beowolves roared together, each one making the other sound that much more terrifying, more nightmarish. Their claws dug into the green earth as they charged forwards, their full weight going into their attacks. Others were leaping off of the trees, trying to tackle Link from every angle they could. Red eyes were fixed on the warrior in green, jaws drooling with idea of a meal, and throats bellowing with promises of death.

Blake was both humored and curious to see Link completely unperturbed by the significant threat.

He raised his shield at the first beowolf to reach him, angling the red steel to push the creature off in the direction of his choice. It worked. By Blake's eye the dark beast's claw swung wide of Link, leaving nothing to stop the warrior's sword from piercing into the monster's chest. It wasn't enough to kill it, however, but Link appeared to know that. He twisted his footing, turning his back to face the Grimm he impaled. A moment later, he swung the blade forward, ripping it up the Grimm's torso, over his head, and then down the arm of another beowolf. The beast he injured howled in pain, drowned out by the furious cries of its brethren. The monster Link impaled first was already dead.

Link started to jump then. First to the side, narrowly avoiding the descent of the beowolves that jumped from the tree trunks above. Then it was forwards, rolling across the ground as another Grimm jumped from the side, its claws indenting where Link stood a moment before. His shield blocked another, spinning with the force it gave to barely avoid the jaw of another beowolf, this one jumping from atop its pack to get to Link.

Blake found her tense grip on the branch strengthening with every move he made. There were too many Grimm in too disadvantageous a space. This wasn't an open plain where he could divide them up. This was a forest, where the beowolves could attack from any angle, high or low, leaving little room for Link to escape to.

She watched him strike again, letting out a grunt of effort as the red steel of his blade impaled itself into the throat of another Grimm, and its howl silenced as blood flowed from the wound. Link didn't stop, pulling the sword and swinging with the back of pommel. It slammed into the mask of another beowolf, cracking the bony encasing with the force, making the creature retreat in pain. That was when Link surprised her.

He jumped backwards, flipping over the Grimm he had injured, rolling over its body like it was nothing but a log, disregarding the clear intent it had to kill him. When his feet hit the ground again, he put his shield against the injured Grimm, effectively immobilizing it. The rest of the wolves joined in mass to tackle him, their injured companion anything but brethren when it stood between them and a meal. Blake heard Ruby suck in a breath, nervously. Blake herself, however, only watched his sword. It was glowing.

She blinked her eyes the few moments the speed of the battle would allow, ensuring that she was not merely tricked by the little light that peaked through the canopy above. But for every subsequent flash of her eyes, it appeared the light was becoming brighter. She didn't have much more time to think on it. With a high battle cry, Link sliced his sword in front of him, essentially cutting the beowolf he had injured in half. That was the unremarkable part.

What was amazing was the beam of light that came from the sword.

Blake watched, silently captivated as the glowing slash of his sword flew through the air, cutting every Grimm it came into contact with, reducing the intimidating herd into dismembered parts or mortally wounded beasts. It sang as it flew, like metal ringing upon impact. Only now, it didn't dull with time. She heard Ruby give an excited gasp from beside her, nearly bouncing on the tree branch with delight. Her hidden feline ears also heard the girl's exuberant whispering, very likely muttering the 'awesomeness' of Link. Blake, this time, was hard to disagree.

The Grimm seemed to see the larger threat that Link was now, those that were not injured by his flying slash or impaled by his red steel backing off. They growled lowly to one another, communicating in a tongue no one present understood. Link pulled his sword back to his side, holding his shield in front of him. His eyes shifted, ears twitching, both counting the number of the monsters left. Blake already knew the number, thirty-one. He still had work to do. Fortunately, he knew it.

She saw his sword pointing skywards again, held up as he crouched behind his shield. Then she heard a ringing come through the forest, low at first, but slowly increasing in volume. Blake looked to Ruby judging her quickly to see if she heard what she did. The young teen's focused gaze on Link said she didn't. Blake looked down just in time to see her fellow Faunus's next move.

He ran towards a collection of Grimm, the bunch huddling between several trees as an impromptu defense. They barked at him as he charged, though not running to meet him. That was bad. She knew what they were doing, trying to tempt him to sink his blade into one of the thick tree trunks, limiting his movement.

Beowolves were much smarter as a pack. Either Link didn't know or didn't care. To his benefit, it was the latter. Link swung his blade as he had before, Blake expecting it to fire another of the magical slashes. It did not. Instead, Link only held the blade tighter, quickly adjusting his feet, altering his movement, and doing something Blake knew Ruby was gleeful to see.

Link spun with his sword. He made a literal Spin Attack with his blade.

He looked like a top almost, spinning towards the group of Grimm with a speed that normally didn't befit such an attack. The beowolves were just as unprepared for the strike, whining amongst one another as they again attempted to back away, harder against the trees that were their defense. Those trees did little to nothing.

Link's sword, spinning with him, sliced through the thick tree trunks with all the strength of an axe and speed of the wind. He continued through them, slicing and dicing the dark monsters that hid behind them, not stopping. He only did when he was a good distance away, easily twice his own body length beyond, by Blake's quick numbers. Her calculations were interrupted when she saw the aftermath of his attack.

With a groan, one of the forest giants fell over, crying all the way to the emerald floor.

The Grimm on the ground scurried away, avoiding the falling monstrosity. It hit the floor with a dull boom, shaking everything else around it. Blake heard Ruby 'eep' as she gripped the tree tighter. Blake reached a hand for her leader's shoulder, holding her in place. She heard her offer a thanks, to which she replied with a nod. Keeping her eyes focused downwards, she was glad she didn't take her eyes off of Link.

As expected, the monsters behind the trees were dead, cut into halves, thirds, and quarters by the unorthodox attack the green-clad Faunus had done. With the strength to slice through the tree as he had done, she was anything but surprised. What did catch her attention was what he did next. Specifically, how he sheathed his sword. It was quick, in the midst of a sprint forwards, but she could tell his main weapon was definitely put away. She couldn't think of why.

That was until he grabbed the other tree he had sliced through, still standing thanks to its impressively large width. Blake nodded in understanding, seeing the many Grimm that were still scurrying away from the other tree, not to mention the few that had been caught by its fall. He was going to push it onto the others.

She was only half right, Blake soon found out.

To push the tree over required placing palms against the trunk, pushing forwards with the usually superior leg muscles, feet usually secured to the ground. The trunk and arms were reserved for holding the force in place, but usually lacked any significant strength when compared to a person's lower extremities. Link, once again, either didn't know or didn't care. And, once again, it was the later.

Blake watched as he dug his fingers into the trunk of the tree, squatting just beside it. It took her a full moment to realize he was not trying to push it, but lift it. She questioned his sanity for the first time, her evidence being the Grimm that were now rapidly approaching him, likely communicating the image of him still and now unarmed. Blake felt her legs tense again, preparing to jump.

Said muscles drooped when Link managed to lift the forest giant above his head.

She watched, captivated and awe-struck, as the green-clad warrior lifted what was easily hundreds of tons of solid wood and bark over his head, giving out a low growl of effort on his part. The tree above made much the same sound, clearly not used to being moved in such away. The Grimm around him were the stillest things in the forest now, suddenly very mindful of the threat their prey now carried. Blake heard Ruby mutter a 'wow' next to her, the sight likely taking a lot of energy out of her. Link's gloves, which Blake now identified as gauntlets given their slick golden and metallic exterior, were glowing little differently than his sword had before. What was more, Blake's equally golden eyes now noticed the red jewel on of his gauntlets shimmering.

The large tree held above Link's head began to groan again, the only sign it gave before it started to fall, all by Link's command. Teeth grit with the effort, Blake watched as Link forced his arms down, letting the massive weight of bark and wood come tumbling down. The beowolves ran where they could, but the terrain of the Emerald forest was now working against them, too many trees blocking their already few means of escape.

With the same dull boom as before, the tree came crashing down, the forest shivering at the impact. Blake felt bark come up at her fingers. She looked at the destruction; the broken claws, arms, and necks that protruded from beneath the fallen giant. She followed it all the way back to the base, seeing Link taking out his weapons again, looking unfazed by the effort.

The number of beowolves was lower now for sure, but the numbers were still in the double digits. Now, however, the feline Faunus had little doubt that Link could handle it. She looked to Ruby, seeing her young leader gripping the tree with just as much strength, letting her lean over how ever far she could. Blake was right, there were stars in the young teen's eyes.

Blake looked back down to see Link charging at another small pack of Grimm, now knowing that the numbers were on his side, the advantage his to hold. As soon as he was in reach of the beowolves, he sliced forward, aiming for the one closest to his left. He missed, swinging too early. It took Blake a moment to realize that was the intention. The Grimm had back pedaled to avoid the blow, only to find itself against a tree. Link moved forward without restraint.

His previous swing had carried him around, turning into a full circle at only a fraction of the speed his previous Spin Attack had mustered. He did, however, now use the carried strength to his advantage. Link sliced upwards, jumping with the strike, letting out another battle cry as he did so. The strength of his arms, sharpness of his blade, and lack of defense on the Grimm made for a brutal scene. He sliced the beowolf cleanly in two, both halves traveling to opposite sides of the forest. Link still hung in the air, hovering.

From his place in the air, he sliced downwards, sword glowing as it had the first time he had impressed half of team RWBY above. And just as before, beams of light, arcs from his sword, came out. Each one tore into the hides of the Grimm, mercilessly turning them into ribbons. Once, twice, thrice, quarce, then quince. His airtime was done, feet hitting the light emerald colored vegetation on the ground. The beowolves he struck out at hit the ground as well, each with missing limbs or heads, but all dead.

It was fortunate Link didn't let his advantage give him over-confidence. No sooner did he land than did he twist backwards, raising his shield at the same time. A particularly wise beowolf had struck out at him, hoping to hit him in the midst of his offense. It instead found the red jewel of the red shield and no ground to gain. As he had before, Link altered the angle of his shield slightly, forcing the wolf to slide off if it in the worst way. Link stabbed forwards to finish the unfortunate beast.

That left only one beowolf as far as Blake's feline ears and golden eyes could see. Her instincts were good and she knew that number to be final. Judging by Link's glare at the lone creature, his sword pulled free of the last beast he slain and shield held forwards, he realized the same as well. The Grimm growled at him, clearly thinking better than striking out at the Faunus that had so easily killed his pack. Link appeared unprepared to allow it to escape, shaking its head at the creature as if in a silent command. Blake didn't know if Grimm could feel fear, but judging by the way the creature shifted on its hind legs, claws moving over the ground as if attempting to flee, she suspected it felt something akin to it.

But then it made up its mind, seeing it chance of survival to be higher in fight than flight. That action alone proved to Blake the beast was no older than a few years at best. Link stood still as it charged, roaring with every stride it made, tearing up the ground with its claws. He waited for it, shield at the ready and sword behind him.

When it was close enough, arm pulled back to strike, Link jumped.

It wasn't an impressive height, far lower than either Ruby or Blake could pounce and with less time at that, but it was high enough to pass over the beowolf, the creature striking at only air. Fortunately, Link's intention was not to dodge. With brutal accuracy, Link stabbed his sword downwards with a battle cry, decimating the beowolf's head with the strike. It was dead instantly, head literally cleaved in two, both ends still attached to the creature's neck, uselessly.

"That was awesome," Blake heard Ruby whisper next to her. The Faunus had a suspicion that if she were to look at her young leader, she'd see stars dancing out of the young girl's eyes. "I mean, he just killed all of them like it was nothing! You think we could convince Ms. Goodwitch to let him in for that?" Blake, unfortunately, had to shake her head at the comment.

"You and I both know, Ruby, that Ms. Goodwitch would sooner break her scroll than bend the rules in such a way." The disappointed whine that came from Ruby reminded Blake too much of an injured dog. She looked over at her leader, the crimson-donned girl predictably wearing an expression that matched. If she was a Faunus, she was she her ears would be drooping.

"But this is a good thing," Ruby marched on, just like Blake knew she would. "It means Tatl was telling the truth about him, or at least a lot of it. I mean, I don't think Jaune could have done all of that, right?" Blake couldn't hide her mirthful smile. She was fortunate to see that Ruby couldn't hide her blush. "Yeah, that was a bad comparison." Blake chuckled lightly, ruffling the girl's head affectionately. It was an odd quirk she had picked up from her blonde partner, but one she enjoyed committing, especially when Ruby futilely beat of the older girl's hand.

"Come on," she spoke with amusement as she took her hand off of the younger girl's dark hair. She heard Ruby huff in annoyance. "Let's see how Link is doing." She jumped off of the tree, feeling the air rush past her as she quickly made it to the ground. Her feline half allowed her to land gracefully, legs extending out to soften the blow, hands touching down to reduce the stress.

She stood slowly, stalking towards Link with her arms at her sides. Her fellow Faunus was cleaning his blade, slicing the gemmed weapon through the air before quickly stopping it, letting momentum carry wet blood off the weapon. He repeated the action twice before spinning it in his hand, lifting it above his head. When the tip sat at the hole of his sheath, he released it, letting it fall down and back into its home with a satisfying shink.

His shield was reattached with much less flare, a simply twist and click on his back. He turned to face the pair, Blake well aware that Ruby had come up from behind her, the stars likely still in her eyes. Blake offered him only a smile, still more than she gave the random stranger. Though he was still only slightly beyond that, only the broad details about him being known, he did enough to prove he was a tribute to the Faunus race. That was plenty enough for her.

"You're really good!" Ruby cheered for him, quickly approaching his side.

Blake saw the tell-tale sign of the young girl's rose petals, the only sign she had before Ruby was just beside Link. The dark girl hid her chuckle of amusement, brought on by Link's suddenly shocked expression. He tumbled back slightly by the sudden appearance of the young girl. Blake mused that it was some sort of initiation, to be startled by Ruby's semblance.

"I mean, like, Pyrrha and Jaune are the only other Hunters I know that use swords, but you're like just as good as Pyrrha with yours. You look like Jaune, like a lot, but you're like Pyrrha with how you fight. But then you picked up that tree and slammed it down, it was like watching a wrestling match! Oh! But you're little attack when you spun, a-and the way you're sword shot out dust when you struck. That easily makes it a Class-2 bladed type. I thought it was Class-1, you know, because it was just a sword, but you were hiding yours like a pro!" Blake often forget Ruby was a weapon expert, until she started talking about it.

She watched the young fifteen year old stare up at Link, her expression shifting seamlessly from excited to bemused, complete with her putting a hand to her chin and leaning into Link, comically so. The Faunus didn't seem to understand the gesture, talking steps back to avoid being pushed over. He was blinking at her, turning his gaze to Blake in the confusion. She only slightly shook her head, waiting to see what he would do. But then, Ruby decided to talk again.

"Are you their son from the future?"

Of all the things Blake thought Ruby could ask, that was far and away the last on her list. The feline Faunus blinked, slowly, her jaw open and muscles slack. Link seemed to mimic her expression, though with an added twist of his head, still backing away from the girl who so readily invaded his space.

"Yeah I know it sounds silly, but I mean, you look almost just like Jaune, but Pyrrha is like one of the best sword users out there. I mean, yeah, she uses Milo more as a spear, but still. It's kinda hard not to see." Blake watched Link look towards, his expression far more pleading than it was before. She nodded this time, knowing this was a little beyond even her leader's normal behavior.

"Ruby," she spoke the young girl's name. "I think you may be… reaching a little." She chose the word carefully as the silver-eyed youth looked back at her. "Time travel isn't possible and there are few more important things to worry about now." The young girl puckered her lips in childish annoyance, huffing as she lowered her head. It was her sign of defeat.

"However," Blake began again, turning her attention to Link. He blinked his cerulean eyes at her attention. "I would like to hear about your training when this is done. Especially in regards to those skills you used." She offered him her smile again, her golden eyes focused on his. "I'm sure you have as many questions for us as we do for you."

She watched his gaze shift from her to Ruby, face still, caught with the expression of curiosity. Perhaps it was closer to though, with his head straightened and eyes shifting with thought. She didn't miss his ears slightly bob, not with her sharp eyes. It took only a moment later for him to sigh, looking up to her a lop-sided grin.

Not a moment later did a loud squall roar above them.

Blake knew it would, as all Nevermore did. They were birds of prey, seeing anything that occupied the sky as a potential challenger, little different then beowolves amongst foreign packs. She turned her eyes to the sky, seeing the great bird above them.

It appeared little different than the first one she had killed, with the aid of Ruby and the rest of her team. Its wings were easily long enough to wrap around the bullhead they had flown in own, body long enough to dwarf any of them individually. Sharp talons hung beneath it, pulled against its body as it sailed in the air. It would have been majestic were it not a Grimm.

"So what are ya gonna do?" Blake heard Ruby ask. She turned to see Link eyeing the bird as well, a hand to his chin. At least he didn't look afraid. "Are you going to try and kill something? Give it some bait before you jump on it? Or are you gonna try and make it attack you? That's what me and Weiss did, don't recommend it. Oh! Or you could try and catch it in the air, but… that seems kinda hard."

"Ruby," Blake spoke the girl's name softly. "Maybe you should let him decide. It is his test." The girl looked frightened for a moment, likely remembering Goodwitch's unveiled threat towards their interference. Any words she had to say, however were left unspoken.

Link was moving already, past them and into the forest. His head was craned, following the bird as he did. It was smart, Blake realized, as he couldn't very well plan to kill something he didn't see. Ruby and Blake followed him into the foliage of the woods. The first thing Blake noted was that he was slow. Not troubling so, but enough so that he would be the dead weight on any team in charge of tracking and capturing. His footfalls were heavy, gait swing slow, and overall likely bogged down with weight. Chainmail would do that.

"What do you think he's gonna do?" Ruby, poorly, whispered to Blake, neither of the girls having to strain themselves to keep up with the green-clad Faunus. "He's gotta do something, or I'm never gonna be able to help him find his friend!" It didn't bother Blake for a moment the reason for Ruby's worry. It was simply what optimists tended to worry about.

"He's still thinking," Blake concluded, watching Link's gaze switch from the Nevermore high above to the trees that they passed, none of them in a hurry. The bird, however, was gaining ground away from them. "But he has to think faster than that."

They emptied out into another small clearing; fall smaller than the one the bullhead had dropped them off in. It was only enough to allow a small view of the sky, and the Nevermore's tail feathers just peaking from one of the edges. Ruby watched the bird, biting her lip in worry. Blake watched Link.

He was biting his own lip, likely out of thought. His knuckles twitched at his sides, each digit moving as if to grab something different. She wasn't sure why. Maybe that was his method of thinking. Maybe… but Blake didn't honestly think so.

It wasn't how he appeared when he faced the beowolves before. Then, he had a more sure appearance, eyes looking for new things and ears listening for any signs. Now, however, he did none of that. He was more vacant in his gaze, as far as her golden eyes could tell, looking into the sky only because it was the direction his head was aimed. Neither did his ears twitch at the bellowing caws of the Nevermore; instead drooping downwards, almost as if in regret.

"Link?" She heard Ruby say his name, the urgency in his voice clear. Just as clear was her reason for it. "Link, you if your gonna do something, please do it. I mean, you've been awesome so far, but you gotta get that Nevermore. I know you can do it!" Blake was well aware that Ruby possessed no such information. It was just optimist talking again.

She watched her fellow Faunus, watched Link, lower his head. He was scowling at something, scowling at the ground with his eyes shut and teeth set in a hard grind. Even his fists were clenched. His every action now only brought upon more confusion. But then, just as she had the thought, Link decided to act.

He stood to his tallest again, taking a deep breath as he had before, just before fighting the pack of beowolves. That was good. That meant he was getting ready for something. But unlike before, he didn't have a small grin to his lips. That was bad, for most other people at least.

Then, slowly, she watched Link reach into the folds of his tunic.

He was pulling out an item; that was good. It would be difficult for him to attract the Nevermore with only his sword and shield. When he produced it, however, her opinion changed entirely.

It was a mask.

She stared at it, shocked, confused. She expected a grappling tool of some kind, daggers if need be, preferably a gun, but no. All her fellow Faunus had was a mask. A mask that reminded her too much of what she was running away from.

"Link?" She heard Ruby question his name again. He turned to the younger girl, mask still grasped in his hand. "What's that for?" There was no room for confusion for what she was referring to.

The mask was elegant, if Blake were to be honest. It appeared to be made of porcelain, completely smooth and free of blemish. It had hollow sockets for the eyes, oval shaped to fit over a face, and long yellow feathers rising over the top of it. The mask itself was completely yellow, a beak over where the mouth should be. She saw simple yet perfectly drawn blue lines rising up from the corners of the eyes, disappearing into the feathers above.

But it was still a mask. And everything that Blake now hated wore masks. She nearly hissed at it.

Link, however, pulled it towards himself.

He held it beneath him, grasping the sides with both hands turned towards him. His blond bangs hid most of his face, hiding whatever his eyes were showing. But Blake's own golden gaze was sharp enough to see the smile that curled at his lips, a gentle one, one that she now questioned. It took only the Faunus looking up for Blake to realize she had misjudged him again.

There was no reverie or joy in his eyes, no mad glint for evil deeds. There was no sharp gaze of a warrior, of any kind of freedom fighter or self-proclaimed savior. There was only one expression Blake could use to summarize what she saw, and it made her stop.

Peace. He felt amity while holding the mask.

He spun it in his grasp, turning it so the immaculate side faced the duo of team RWBY again. He held it proudly, as one would the memorabilia of a happier time. He gazed at Ruby for a moment, making the melancholy in his gaze clear, before turning to her. Instead of offering her his gaze, Link gave Blake a word, a word he knew she would hear. It was one she almost knew he would say.

'A Friend'

Link put on the mask.

Then he started to scream.

Blake jumped back, completely unprepared for the cry of pain Link gave off. A quick gasp tore through her throat as a yelp of surprise came from Ruby. She watched, horror stricken, as Link clenched his hands against the mask on his face, holding tightly as he continued to yell. His cries were echoing, their volume growing. Blake pulled her hands to the top of her head, the shrill pitch making her ears pain.

"Link!" She heard Ruby scream. She was running for him, Blake didn't need to look to know that, going to help someone she so quickly called a friend. "Link! Take it-" But twice within an hour, Ruby was stopped by the actions of another. This time, however, nothing physical gripped her.

A blinding light poured from Link, blinding Blake eyes as he screams muted her ears. She was stuck in a state of numbness, a terrifying state of lost senses. She couldn't hear anything, not even Link's cries. She couldn't see anything, the light too bright to make out even the arms in front of her face.

But then, with a dull ring, it faded. Blake released a breath of air she wasn't aware she was holding, relieved to be able to hear again, eyes blinking away tears as well. She lowered her arms slowly, careful as if Link would begin to scream again. They fell away, allowing her to focus her golden eyes on the faunus that now so completely baffled her.

He was no longer there. Or rather, something else now stood in his place.

Blake's jaw fell as her neck craned upwards, staring at the creature that was now before. It towered over her, dwarfing her in height. It was coated in feathers, running down the figures form, each blade appearing as long as Blake's own forearm. Each one was colored at their respective tips, green upon gold, one fading gently into the other. They ran down far enough that the last set billowed across the ground. It was only a tangential thought, but Blake thought the feathers made the figure appear to wear a robe.

She gazed at the figure's head again, watching it as it gazed back down at her. Long feathers came from the back of its head, stretching down the figure's back as if hair, colored in vibrant hues of green that Blake had not seen before, not even in the Emerald Forest. They matched well with the jade markings that ran up the figure's face. Its face was what Blake focused on most.

It had the sharpest of blue eyes, looking down at her with an expression she couldn't read. It had a beak, making it incredibly difficult for Blake to tell if the figure was giving an expression at all. The muscles of its face were hidden beneath its feathers, making it even more difficult to tell what it was thinking. But thought Blake could pinpoint easily all the mysteries of the creature, there was one similarity she could not move around.

Its face was that of the mask Link had donned. The same color, the same beak, and the same feathers flowing over its head. Blake swallowed on nothing, unsure of what to do.

"Do not worry. It is still me."

Blake fell to the ground at the voice, her muscles refusing to work. She stared up at the figure, slack jawed and golden eyes wide enough to rival the sun. The figure giggled at her lightly, ducking its long beak into the folds of its feathers, an expression the feline Faunus had seen birds do often, though then as a means for warmth. This was not that.

"L-Link?" She heard Ruby ask from aside her. Her young leader didn't appear to be faring any better than she was. The figure turned its avian head towards the younger girl, eyes sharp yet full of an empathy that Blake hadn't seen before. It looked almost… abject. Its beak opened, perhaps to respond Ruby's call.

A loud caw from above, however, silenced any words that would have been said.

Blake felt the Nevermore's challenging call rumble through her, near no different to the first time she had fought such a creature. She looked up, managing to avert her gaze from the newly appeared, golden, avian figure to see a familiar dark one high above. Its great wings beat against the sky, gliding it through the air as the clouds dissipated beneath its force.

"Please hold," the creature before her spoke again, earning Blake's attention. It was staring up into the sky as well, as focused on the avian monstrosity high above. "I will not be long."

"Long for-" Blake cut off her own question, for the avian figure exploded.

No… that wasn't the right term, but the hidden-faunus could think of few other words to properly describe it. The robe of feathers the creature wore unfolded in a glorious fashion, faster than she thought something of such size could move, every blade moving elegantly with one another. She was blinded with hues of gold and green momentarily, the colors weaving together like water. When the figure stopped, her robe was open, showing what truly lay beneath.

Her robe of feathers had become a magnificent pair of wings, stretching well past the small clearing's allowance. Coverts of feathers fell from them, each one longer than the next, ending only when the primary blades fell far enough to nearly drag on the ground. The light shined off of them, turning the already golden figure into a beacon. The only relief Blake had was the clothes it wore, hiding what were doubtlessly more feathers beneath. Clothes that appeared so much like Link's. A green dress not far in design from Link's tunic.

Then, with a flash it was gone.

Blake looked skyward, catching the golden figure soar into the blue. It became nothing but a dot in the sky exceedingly quickly, a testament to its wings and proof of its strength. It was only when the figure was gone that Blake was aware of her deep breathing, heavy breaths that forced her chest to rise and fall. She licked her lips, feeling the bumps of her tongue roll over the thin layer of skin.

"What…" She looked over to see Ruby, standing with Crescent Rose. She wasn't aware when the young girl had drawn the weapon, likely though when Link started to scream in pain. Ruby was leaning on her weapon like a stilt, the only reason she wasn't on the ground like Blake was. "What was that?"

Blake had no answer.

"That… was not what I expected." It was one of the highest forms of praise Glynda had ever given.

She stared at the screen mutely, her fingers hovering over her data pad, her attention utterly detached from the device. Her Emerald gaze was transfixed on the screen, on her mini-drones that now seemed unable to fly fast enough to catch up with the rapidly departing figure of the Nevermore and newly appeared golden bird.

"What in all manners of Dust was that!?" Ms. Schnee, it predictably appeared, was much more vocal in volume with her surprise. Though one of her hands aimed at the screen, pointing at is as if it were a blemish upon Remnant, her eyes were fixed coldly on the blonde fairy hovering high in air above her. Glynda offered it a small glance, noting that the lazy way it pirouetted through the air gave it only one kind of appearance. Arrogant.

"Oh, that?" Tatl replied easily, her voice as mockingly curious as any language would allow. "Nothing too major, just a simple trick that Link learned a long time ago. Still a little sour that Link proved you wrong? A little worried that he's doing what you can never do?" Glynda was mindful enough to know there was not truly steam rising from Ms. Schnee's alabaster hair… but the similarities were uncanny. She made note of it in the meeting cliff-notes of her data pad.

"Sis…" she heard Tael droningly call to his sibling. "Don't lie like that." Said sister fairy rung highly, likely a little offset that her brother of all people called her out. But her wings drooped just as quickly, shaking left and right as if straightening herself. Her darker brother never appeared to do more than float next to her.

"Fine. It's actually a pretty big deal," Tatl admitted with an utterly detached tone. It was quite the reversal from her teasing just a sentence prior. "It's… it's like asking the biggest favor from a friend, and said friend agreeing to do so without hesitation. You're glad, and you accept, but… it's still a huge deal. Point is though, it's not my story to tell how he did it."

"Yeah, and why not?" Glynda was honestly a little surprised to hear Ms. Xia Long calling out the fairy now. Putting aside the irony of the term, it wasn't like the brawler to start a fight, not without flirting or threats from the opposing party. "You've seem pretty keen on telling us just about everything else about him. Why is this suddenly so bad to talk about? Can't talk about something unless you're gonna brag about it?"

"H-Hey, that's not fair," Tael, weakly, argued against the blonde. Glynda tapped on her pad, noting that the darker fairy was defensive upon insults issued towards his sister, but lacked authority to his tone. If he had any more words to say, however, there were stopped by his sister, flying into his side. Their mixed lights made the lulling dark and harsh light into a soothing gray. She made note of that, too.

"I'm not talking about it," Tatl began, her tone lower than before, lacking the argumentative tone she seemed content to eternally adopt. "For the same that you probably don't want to talk about why you and your sister having different last names, Xio Long."

Glynda hesitated over her pad, noting the speed at which Ms. Xia Long's eyes flared red, teeth grimaced as well. The fairy wasn't done, however, turning her body and wings towards Ms. Schnee. "Or where you got that pretty little scar from." Ms. Schnee seemed to turn into her namesake, an Ice Queen, before scowling at the fairy with the heat of the sun. It was quite the switch.

"That is enough," Ozpin finally spoke up, waving his cane from across the desk he sat at. Eyes turned to him, but only briefly. Glynda didn't move hers. She was used to any tactic he may ploy in the following exchange. "I believe the more immediate matter at hand is how Link intends to use this… new item."

Silently, the rest turned back to the screen, seeing Glynda's mini-drones still flying at their fullest speed to catch up with the avian figures, the large black Nevermore against the speedy nimble golden figure. They were circling one another, neither flying forwards to gain distance any more.

From what they could see, the Nevermore was cawing loudly as it challenged the golden intruder, masked beak opening and screaming across the sky. Its long wings seemed to sharpen, the large blades that were its feathers fully prepared to launch forward without a moment's hesitation. The golden figure did not a thing, at least not a thing that mini-drones could possibly see.

But amidst the tension of the room, focused upon the aerial fight, Glynda heard something else. Her drones were quite versatile, able to perform many different functions, but never to hear a sound. It was a poor truth in their design, but to capture video and stream it to her pad too much from the small and nigh-unseeable drones. Too much information would destroy them. But with her own ears, she could hear much of what happened in the room. It is why she heard the dark fairy speak.

"She's not an item." Glynda made careful note of that.

Link knew this was a Nevermore. Elrora agreed with his thoughts.

He hadn't seen a monster like it before, but he knew enough about the creatures of madness to know it was a threat. Coupled with the words Ruby and Blake had told him, Link knew this was the monstrosity he was mean to kill. Elrora knew by its flight it was a monster meant to rule the skies. Kill this, and Link would have a place to stay, people to talk to, and a perhaps a source of reprieve. Those were all important things to have if he was going to search this strange land, for his companions in the very least.

Elrora pushed her wings, feeling her feathers catch at the air and propel her forwards. She whispered to Link on what to do, asking him on how to strike. She could fly without equal, but she was a chick when it came to battle. Linke was the master of combat. For now, they were the same.

They sky was clear, making mobility less of an issue. Little headwind interfered with the ascent towards the beast. Its size was its disadvantage, making flight around it simple, if a bit acrobatic. Link remembered Blake's words of warning well, the creature's sharp feathers like blades, its mask strong, talons more so. Even with Elrora's help, her memories to aid him, a blow from a creature of such size would be detrimental.

Her strength, however, meant Link would need only one careful strike to fell the beast. Elrora promised him as much, and he entrusted them with his life. Using her instincts, imprinted well into her mind, he increased his speed.

The air was colder the higher Elrora ascended, making the feathers that weren't propelling him forward grip his body tighter. He knew they would, knew from his friend's memories. She promised him they would be okay, that the chill of the air was no more dangerous than the heat of the sun. He knew she was right.

In little time Elrora was just beside the Nevermore, her eyes staring harshly into the large creature's red orbs. It looked little different than the first of these monsters Link had faced, the large creature Ruby had called an Ursa. This bird was larger than that beast, and it flew through the air with the same ease as a Watarara did. But Elrora was smaller, lighter, faster, and very likely smarter. All were the greatest advantages to have in the air.

The monster yelled at him, screeching the air in what could be seen as a promise for death. No sooner did it do so than did it descend, falling through the sky like a dropped rock, wings stuck to its sides. Link followed behind it carefully at a distance, unaware of the monster's intent. Its size was the problem, as a single smack of one of its wings would make flight difficult. Elrora agreed, her memories showing many monster she had taken from the air, though none like the Nevermore, one so like herself.

The black beast turned in midair, its underbelly facing upwards to the sky, its red eyes focusing on the golden figure that was Link. It gave another squawk to him, either a challenge or a warning, he could not tell, neither could the memories of Elrora. What they both knew was the way the creature folded back its wings, feathers extending outwards as its muscles extended. Blake's warnings came to his mind.

Now was the time to act.

Elrora ducked her wings, diving down like falling arrows towards the creature. She spun with the force, her memories telling Link that this would make them faster, sharper, and more importantly, deadlier. All were good when striking first. Link was close to the great avian now, closing the gap with a speed that clearly startled the monster. It gave another screech, faster than the first, more terrified. It was for good reason.

He heard the air rush as the Nevermore flapped its wings towards him. Feathers began to fly at him. They were longer than Elrora's, sharp as a newly forged sword, and moving at the same speed he was, in the opposite direction.

All of that mattered little when Link was already upon the creature's neck.

A moment later, he was beyond it, the force of the impact already moving past him.

Elrora's memories told Link to extend the wings, to let the air catch him before the ground met them. They were still so high, but he did not ignore his friend's words. He did so, finding his speed plummet as his altitude settled, the force of the sudden breaking doing little to him, the form of his friend far more than used to the act.

The creature rushed past them, a massive wound upon its neck and red eyes already dulling. Link knew it was dead, already far before it would hit the Emerald Forest below. Elrora knew if it was not, the impact would do the job. Creatures of the air, monster or not, were not heavy in mass. But they kept their distance, well aware of the instinct of many monsters to kill its killer in their final moments. Link would offer no such chance. Instead, as the large black avian fell to the forest below, Elrora and Link both appreciated the scope of the woods from above.

It was a large forest, carrying over most of his vision and settling into the horizon before he saw any patch of land, aside from the odd small clearing. The canopy was tall and thick, hiding much of the sun that wished to feed the trees below the line. Elrora knew this after seeing it from above and below. Link knew she was right. He turned with Elrora's tail-feathers, seeing the large structure of Beacon in the distance, the castle that Ruby and Blake called him.

Beacon, Link repeated the name in his own memories, Elrora having no memory or thought of the place. It was both harshly familiar and completely foreign. The way it towered over a city in the distance, collected only the strongest of individuals, shined with a green light like its namesake… it all seemed to hauntingly familiar to Hyrule Castle, a place he also once called home.

Elrora shook her head at the thought.

Link looked back down, seeing the creature impact the forest far below. The canopy of the trees did little to soften the fall of the might beast, its weight greater than the trees could endure. But it was surely dead now, no monster able to survive the fall of its own weight, not from such a height. Elrora could not think of any creature in history that could have done so.

Her descent was quick, but with no intention to cause further harm. The forest was already partially ruined by the fall of the mighty beast, and he had no desire to continue the act. Link wished now only to prove that he was a warrior, aided by skills and friends alike. Elrora was more than happy to aid. She flapped her wings as she neared the black bird, seeing the red eyes behind the creature's white mask already a dull crimson red, soon to be taken as absolute darkness. Dead indeed.

Elrora's talons settled on the corpse of the great monster, flexing to secure a patch of it to stand on. It was not the greatest of perches, but it was far suited for the display. If this test was like the hunts of Hyrule, searching for game in the Lost Woods, Link would be better seen atop the creature than beside it. Elrora was the one who would find surer footing. Link could only know, however, once the two girls found him.

They would come soon, Link knew this. If not to see if he was alright, then to judge what he had done. Elrora agreed that younglings were keen to see the aftermath of a hunt.

So far the girls were nice to him, kind with words and actions, offering the exchange of information and services for his own efforts, efforts so far that had been labeled a test. It was among some of his easier exploits if he were to be honest, a thing he always was. Elrora chuckled inwardly at the ease of the notion.

The young girl Link had met first, Ruby, he could already tell he enjoyed her company, and she did his. She reminded him much of Saria, in both size and appearance, though exchanging the red for green and silver for blue. Ruby just as honest as his childhood friend, something he was hoping he was right about. She reminded Elrora of her child, of the boy that refused to let limitations keep him from his future. Elrora whispered that Link was right to be friendly with her.

Link wondered briefly of Blake, of the dark girl that wore a bow of the same color. She was not an enigma to him, but neither was she easy to read. Her every action seemed to be that of someone in hiding, concealing her emotions for fear that they would be used against her. Elrora agreed, her memories telling him of the Watarara of the past who had done much the same. But they were not sneaky, they were injured, not in their body, but of their mind. Link knew of those warriors as well.

Link nodded at the thought, thanking Elrora for the information. Link could not be sure, but he knew that Elrora… showing her had done something to Blake and Ruby. Both of the girls were excited upon seeing his swordsmanship, appreciating the strength he had. Blake seemed to emphasize often his heritage to it, 'Faunus' as she was keen to call him. Perhaps she was one as well, appreciating another of her race who had strength. It was not a possibility he could easily throw away. Elrora, however, no sign she was anything but a dark-haired Gerudo.

But her aghast expression at his Elrora's mask, the sharpness of her golden eyes. They were not the expressions that offered peace. They were the same Link would give to many foes of the past, many insignias he now deplored. This was all thought though, and Link knew that. All he could do now was wait. Elrora would not let him wait alone.

Link was thankful to her, and so, Link decided to let the memories of his friend speak. Elrora, the former queen, was more than willing to do so.

It was the least she could do for the hero of her people.

"Almost there, almost there, almost there," Ruby chanted the phrase repeatedly. For every leap she took in her gait, semblance pushing her forward, she repeated the phrase. She was barreling through the forest, dodging easily the stray limbs and branches that protruded from the large trunks of the trees around her, making her way to the site of the Nevermore's crash.

Ruby pumped her arms to move faster, pushing to make herself to the Nevermore as quickly as she could. She trees were a blurred as she past, the greens of the forest blending together. She didn't care. She only had one destination on her mind.

The deeper she made it into the Emerald Forest, the closer she came to where the Nevermore went down, the quieter it became. Ruby thought at first it might have been just her focusing on Link… focusing on whatever it was that had brought down the giant bird. But the further she went in the less she heard. For every fallen log she jumped, she heard less bird cries. For every tree she rounded, she heard fewer twigs snapping.

It didn't take long before the air was near silent, broken only by the air that rushed past her ears, semblance pushing her forward. She knew the emerald green of the forest was going to be dribbled with red, her petals leaving a clear a trail as any for where she was and where she was going. She didn't care, not really. She only needed to make sure her friend was okay.

Then, all at once, she came into a clearing.

Just as quickly, Ruby had to raise her arms, the sun blinding her. Without a canopy above the clearing, there was nothing to filter the bright rays of light. She let out a quick grimace of pain, eyes constricting to block out the numerous rays. White spots came and left her vision as her silver eyes adjusted. Slowly, she lowered her arms, squinting to see into the clearing.

At first, all she could see were the blurred shapes and colors, nothing more detailed than a cloud. She could see a lot of green in the distance, doubtlessly where the Emerald Forest continued on, the edge of the clearing. In front, she saw almost just as much black, a dark void that seemed utterly and completely out of place in the forest. But she also saw a small ball of gold, atop the darkness.

And as Ruby's eyes adjusted, it became only too clear what she was looking at.

The Nevermore was dead on the ground. Its head was sliced cleanly off, beak still opened as if it were letting out a cry. Its wings were bent horribly, the crash likely doing that damage to it. Dark blood seeped out onto the green of the forest floor, making a horrible contrast of color. It was, however, near definite proof that the deed was done. And atop the Nevermore was its slayer.

Ruby eyed the golden creature for not the first time. And yet, she felt just as marveled as before. A distance thought told her it was because it was because it was a pretty bird twice her own size, something that she almost desperately wanted to snuggle up and sleep against like a pillow. But the leader in her, hardened by fights with the White Fang and team combatants, told her it was the obvious. Specifically, how it was perched over the Nevermore like the Hunter that it was.

Ruby dully made out the tapping of feet behind her, doubtlessly Blake approaching. It was easy to hear when the rest of the forest was quite as the dead. She heard those same foot falls slow as they came to rest beside her. Never once did the crimson wearing leader look to confirm her thoughts. The bird… she was too captivating.

Even with the dark wisps of smoke rising from the dead Nevermore, the yellow of the bird appeared to shin like gold, stopped only by the lime tips of the feathers and green dress it wore. It looked into the sky, eyes shut as if in thought. But then, slowly, it lowered its gaze, staring back down at Ruby. Their eyes met for a moment, the creature showing nothing but empathy and kindness in the gaze. With just as much speed, its head turned slight, looking at whom Ruby assumed to be Blake. It expression didn't change.

"Who are you?"

Ruby felt as if she were talking to same famed Hunter as she asked the question. She wasn't convinced she wasn't. The creature giggled lightly, ducking its beak into this chest again. With its wings unfolded, it ducked into the cleavage of its chest, into the emerald dress it wore. She watched as the avian curved her beak, showing a smile towards the two.

Then it bowed, lowly, standing atop the corpse of a Nevermore, a kill that it had made hundreds of feet in the air, without showing so much as even a breath of effort for the deed. One wing folded behind its back, allowing its distal feathers to fold down its talon-like legs. The other held itself over its chest, giving again the appearance that the creature was wearing a robe of feathers.

"My name is Elrora," it spoke with kindness. "I am the past queen of the Watarara Tribe, Immigrants of Hyrule and natives to no land. In memory, that is who I am."

The creature stood to its tallest again, its beak still curved in a gentle smile, eyes showing the same amount of kindness. Ruby saw Blake tighten her grip on Gambol Shroud, unsure of what to do. Just as quickly, she saw Elrora, the now named avian, slack her smile. The hard material of her beak managed to fall into a disappointed frown. Kindness didn't flow from the blue eyes then. Sadness did.

"You're scared," the Watarara spoke simply, conclusively. "And I understand why. The magic that has brought me here is not common upon my land. I am sure it is lost in yours." Ruby felt her heart twist.

"I-It's not that!" Ruby answered earnestly, quickly making her way in front of Blake. "She's just… well… we don't know what's going on, a-and you, or Link, put on a mask to make this happen. Masks are what… the Grimm where masks, and they're monsters." Ruby watched as Elrora's beak opened and closed, nodding slowly in understanding. That was good, right?

"I see," she spoke easily, her voice smooth as the air she flew in on. "I am a reminder to that painful past." Again the queen bowed, halving her height as she addressed the girls. "I offer you my apologies then. In no way did I hope to stir unpleasant thoughts. I merely thought this was the most effective way to deal with a monster of the sky. I beg your forgiveness for my actions." Yeah, that was really good.

Ruby turned around to face Blake, letting her silver eyes give the hiding-faunus a pleading look, complete with a bit lip and tears at the corner of her gaze. Blake shook on her already uneven ground, eyes clouding as she looked from her team leader to the enigma behind her. With a slow breath, she withdrew her hand from her weapon, earning a relieved sigh from Ruby.

"You're forgiven," Blake spoke to Elrora, looking past Ruby to do so. "You had no way of knowing." The golden bird rose again, her smile thankful with eyes full of simple joy. "But now I have to ask a question, if you're going to answer."

The queen bowed her head, one that Ruby immediately remembered Link doing, a dozen times before. Maybe… maybe he really was in there… somehow.

"How are you here now? When Link put on that mask, why did you suddenly appear? Are you his semblance or something?" The annoyance on Blake's voice was as clear as the curiosity. But those were good questions. Ruby looked back to Elrora, the bird, and saw that she was standing again, her wings wrapped about her body. She was wearing the robes of feathers, reflecting gold, as the beast beneath her dissipated into darkness.

"It is a fair question," she spoke, nodding her head with shut eyes. But before she spoke on, she jumped from the corpse she stood on, landing with grace upon the ground. Only her feathers billowed as she landed, the rest of the forest undisturbed. "What you see, what I am now, is but a collection of memories, emotions, and things I have left behind to this world. Left for the changing winds… as my soul ascended for the Forever Sky."

Ruby wasn't the wisest of Huntresses, let alone in training. It usually came back to her age, being two years the junior of even the youngest member of the first year class. It was something she was reminded of constantly, but something she worked just as hard to improve on. Her age usually meant small words of gossip would be lost on her, conversations that would make Yang giggle or Weiss grimace only make her tilt her head in confusion. This felt like one of those conversations, to her at least.

She left behind her memories and emotions, for the winds she said. The crimson wearing girl knew well enough that no winds were ever entirely constant, so that meant she left on Remnant. That made sense. But… her soul ascended for this… Forever Sky? That was… oh… oooooh.

"Y-You're dead?" Her voice shook as she asked the question, suddenly much more fearful of the supposed ghost in front of her. She could see Blake give her a curious eye, only before turning back towards the tall avian that stood before them. The rising smoke of the slain Nevermore did little to make offer her a kind light to stand in. Neither did melancholy smile.

"Yes," Elrora answered. It made Ruby's eyes bug. "My soul has gone, but my body remains. But I… Link… offered me peace in my final moments." Ruby didn't understand at all.

"What does that mean?" Blake asked beside her, her patience clearly being eroded much faster than the team leader's. Ruby hoped it was because she afraid for Link, that would make sense. Blake always did care about other Faunus. But… something told her she was wrong, that it was something else. "Did he kill you? Did he do something to… hurt you?"

Ruby couldn't remember a time where she was so thankful for seeing such a pained expression on someone. Elrora had pulled her head, her beak twisting into an aghast frown. Her avian eyes were wide, focused on Blake with came across only as disbelief. That was good… right?

"Link did nothing to harm me," Elrora began, voice firm. She sounded honest at least, to Ruby. "He saved my son when he was lost. He guided our people to the Immigrant Winds. He saved my people in our time of need. But I could not be saved, not by what had claimed me."

Her head turned towards, her figure hunching as her head waved left and right. But the movement was stiff, forced, not… not what Ruby had seen others do before. Something was wrong, she could feel it. She took a step forward, leaning down to get a better look of Elrora, to see if she was alright. Maybe it would be better to ask.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked carefully, very carefully. She wasn't scared of Elrora, couldn't be. She was just a giant golden bird that was kept in a mask… able to outfly a Nevermore, and cut through it like paper… and was looking actually kinda sad.

Ruby felt feathers surround her, slowly. It took her a second to realize that the avian was surrounding her, encapsulating her with her wing. But where she normally would have felt a jolt of fear at such an action, she felt only warmth. It took her just as long to figure out why. Link, Elrora, whoever, was wrapping her in a tight hug.

"I'm well, at least as well as I can be in strange lands, flying in a strange sky," Elrora spoke with a peaceful voice. She sounded really calm, something Ruby was starting to get a little jealous of. But… it was a good thing she was calm. "I thank you for your concern, young one. But I am well."

The crimson leader of team RWBY listened intently to Elrora, her body taking long deep breaths. The feathers along her back began to pull away, the creature rising up as she released Ruby from the quick embrace she had wrapped her in. The smile across Elrora's beak was clear.

"Thank you," the golden bird replied. "I apologize deeply and immensely for my previous actions. I just… believed Elrora was best suited for the sky." Was that Link talking? That was actually pretty weird. "It is difficult for me to think of any other more suited to duel a monster in the air." Ruby smiled up at her, empathy to her gaze.

"How did Link help you?" She turned, almost in shock, as Blake as the question. She stared at her teammate, silver eyes looking into Blake's golden ones. Ruby had tears in her gaze still, even as her eyes bulged in shock. Blake had no emotion in her, eyes slit and focused upon the avian creature. Gambol Shroud was still gripped tightly in her hands.

"Blake!" Ruby yelled at her teammate with reprimand. "Now isn't a good time for that! We still gotta get back to Beacon and-" She was stopped by a large hand on her shoulder. It was a very large hand, part of a much larger wing.

"It is alright, Ruby," Elrora spoke from above and behind her, causing Ruby to spin again, crimson cape billowing at the action. "Blake has every reason to be suspicious of me. Link's actions can just as easily be seen as cruel as they are kind."

Elrora focused her gaze on Blake, her beak betraying no emotion of scorn or hate. There was only pity in her blue eyes, as far as Ruby could see. She knew that was all there was.

"I was dying when Link found me," Elrora spoke, her voice addressing the faunus-in-hiding. "He had saved my son from a fall in the skies, leading my people to the Immigrant Winds. Those winds, which chances through lands over decades, were our means to see new lands, to find new homes. If we had lost them, my people would have died into nothing. Link risked his life to find these currents, allowing my people to find their way home." Just as Elrora betrayed little emotion when she spoke to Blake, so too did the darkly dressed team member speak.

"And what of you?" She asked with a nod of her head. "You keep saying your soul is gone, your memories behind, but what did Link do to you?"

"He saved my soul," Elrora replied, saying the weighty phrase with what felt like practiced ease. It made Ruby stifle a ball in her throat.

The great bird didn't speak for a time, instead turning her head to the sky. Ruby did the same, wondering if she had seen something. But all her silver eyes witnessed was the endless blue that she had come to known. Clouds high above, tree leaves much further down, but nothing warranting a longing gaze. Nothing as far as she could see.

"I had searched for the winds before Link had found my people," Elrora spoke on. "But in my search, I was taken by a monster, one that rend my wings from my body and tore into me like a corpse. I knew I was dying before it had even struck its second blow."

Ruby felt herself bunch a few of the long feathers of the bird with her fist, gripping the creature. Elrora looked down to her with a somber expression. Ruby hated it.

"But Link found me before the final blow was thrown. With a great hammer, he destroyed the beast. But he could not save me. It was a fact he and I both knew well. I was… I was in pain, mourning. I would not see my people again, our journey to our homes, or even my son grow."

Finally, after all of the responses, Ruby saw Blake stiffen at the last one given. The bow-wearing girl, lowered her weapon slightly, lips relaxing as her eyes softened, all only by a hair's width.

"One of my last memories, of me to her, were the tears she had, mourning for others as she passed, asking only for peace of mind. Even amongst her final moments, she was a queen, thinking of her people above herself. My near to last memory is of him pulling out a small instrument, blue in color, hollow, and full of holes." Ruby continued to stare at Elrora, listening intently to the story.

She didn't think of it as anything less than a most precious secret. It deserved her full attention. The silence from Blake, she assumed, meant the same.

"Then he played a song." The small perk of joy in the bird's voice was impossible to miss, especially amongst the silence of the woods. "It was simple, a slow melody that didn't befit my people, we so used to singing songs of grand pitch and volume. But… it carried upon the still air as if wind, moving through wounds like a caring mother's touch. It brought forth my last memory."

Ruby leant against Elrora, looking up with her neck craned, as absorbed into the story as she was into the golden feathers of the queen. She didn't look back, but Ruby hoped she knew Blake well enough to guess that she had put her weapon away. Or, at the very least, no longer held it in defense. She was usually right about those things. Elrora took in a long breath of air before speaking again.

"My memory was a dream, but it was one that I am glad to have," she began, her beak undoubtedly curving upwards as she spoke. "I was flying in the air, high above the lands below, riding a wind that my people would have spent their lives searching for. Yet, I was not their leader then. None followed me and none flew before me. Rather, I was above, looking at them below. Below me, yet still in the air with me. They flew with all the grace that befit our people, the young to elderly all flying through the sky with the ease and grace of a cloud upon gentle air. The wind… it lifted them up, their wings were strong and helped them forward. But they had a new leader, one that was not me, yet one that brought tears to my eyes to see."

"My son, Rouru," the queen spoke with love in her voice. "He was no longer the young chick I had last seen him to be. He was… he was taller than me, with a wingspan that would have put my own to disgrace. His feathers were of the sun, his stained colors that of the setting moon. He ruled the sky of day and night, and led our people to prosperity. He was king, a king that my people followed not for lineage, but for belief. They believed in him, and for it, they were strong. And all the while, Link's music played."

Her eyes shut as she finished speaking, looking skyward still.

"Then I felt the winds beneath me strengthen, and I felt myself being lifted to the Forever Sky." Elrora's eyes opened slowly, her smile fading with the same speed. "My soul left peacefully, content with what I had seen. I left behind all that the music had taken from me; my regrets, my sadness, and my fears."

The queen looked down now, facing Blake with unreadable expression. Ruby looked, then back, then up again, only to turn towards Blake once more. She wasn't afraid, as she was happy to see she was correct before, Blake's weapons at her side in a relaxed arm, her gaze open and lined with empathy.

"The mask," Elrora began again, "It is my… it is what she left behind. There was no body, no corpse, nothing to show the passing of her life. I had given her peace, and in return, I sealed all that she was within the mask, letting her soul be free." The queen, or perhaps Link, bowed again, causing a small 'eep' to escape Ruby. She ducked out and away from the golden bird, afraid she'd be crushed by the much larger figure.

"I apologize again for giving you discomfort with my display. But I can assure you that was not my intention." Blake had not a word of response, and the genuflected bird didn't even twitch. "Elrora… she was my friend, and I dislike having to borrow her strength for such tasks. But she promised me, implored me, to use her strength for when it was needed, her token of thanks for freeing her from her misery."

The Watarara Queen stood again, towering over them with her height. She offered a somber expression to the pair, a look that showed empathy and sadness. Ruby could only see regret. Then she watched her hands raise, carrying her massive wings up with her. They settled on her face, grasping at the feathers lining the edges of her features. Gently, with a breath of air, she pulled.

Ruby let out a small yelp as light suddenly blinded her.

It was obvious where it came from and just as obvious what caused it, but the speed at which it happened left her eyes pained, no different than when she had run into the sun. Her arms covered her gaze instantly, though she still stall spots of white with her eyes firmly shut and concealed. But then just as quickly as it had come, the light was gone.

Ruby still saw spots of light, blinking them away painfully with her arms slowly falling. She moved her hands to her eyes, rubbing them painfully to get the few remaining white spots out of her vision. Shaking her head, staring forward intently, she saw what she expected, and still what immensely surprised her.

Link was there again, the same Faunus she had met in the forest only this morning. The same green clothes, the same crystal sword and shield, the same hair, and the same eyes. And in his hands he had the same mask he had pulled out before, following the attack of the beowolves and just preceding the chase of the Nevermore. With hollow eyes and long feathers, Ruby now understood why Link held the mask so close. It was only made painfully more obvious by the longing gaze he gave the mask.

He pocketed the item away, putting it inside his tunic, and as far as Ruby could tell, seemingly out of sight. She watched him take a deep breath of air, ears lightly rising and falling. His eyes were shut, listening. Sound was returning to the Emerald Forest.

Ruby knew, without a doubt, there was going to be a lot to talk about back at Beacon.

Author's Note:

So here goes another venture of mine into areas of dreaded machinations, cross-overs. Well, I did this because I love Zelda, and RWBY won't leave me alone. So, I decided to sink deeper into hell and make this. But, there are a few notes I do need to make clear.

First and foremost, this takes places just after Season Two, and while I know that Season Three through possible Four and Five will come out during my writing of this, I can justify away most of those by saying that the actions of RWBY can change by the introduction of power players such as Link here. For example, it doesn't make much sense of the White Fang to go through with a plan if they gain information that a new recruit in Beacon is onto them. Not to say that this will happen, but you catch my drift.

Events that are caused by actions beyond the control of man should happen. Think earthquakes and volcano eruptions. Doesn't matter who stumbles into a universe; that crap is going to happen. Events caused by the careful planning of individuals should change when new information comes forward. Link, who will never appear in RWBY canon, is that new information. Would you go through with an assassination attempt if you learned that new Hunter was in your way, capable of changing shapes and killing a Nevermore mid-flight? At the very least, you might rethink your plan.

So… let's see how this goes.

My only promises are that Link will be strong, but not a Mary Sue. He has very real troubles that I have only hinted at, but never stated. The biggest hint I'll give now is that he, Tatl, and Tael showed up … but not in the way they told others.

Near all characters will be fairly represented, as close to their characters that are established. I hope that is enough for many of you and pray that you enjoy where this goes.

Cheers!