The atmosphere of Ozpin's office was still. The uniform motions of the clockwork tower relaxed the sole occupant of the room. Gears and cogs churned away; their purpose being fulfilled. Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy, gazed down at the school campus. Taking a sip from his coffee cup, his thoughts turned to the next batch of students that would attend his Academy.

With a new academic year came with it new students looking to refine themselves into huntsman and huntresses. Each one of them carried individual potential and it was him and his staff's job to see that potential unlocked. There were those who would come to the academy more skilled and others who were less so. In the end it did not matter. They would train at Beacon to become better than they were, to surpass their limitations and become worthy of the title that they wished to claim.

It was a good teacher's job to be as unbiased with their students as possible, to not allow for any favouritism to possibly affect their growth. Unfortunately, Ozpin was not blind to the fact that some were better than others. Not just in raw physical strength but in overall potential. He knew that there were some to keep a closer eye on because of this.

Yang Xiao Long was a prime example of this. Fiery, passionate and stronger than many of his third years. Her fighting capabilities were the best in her combat school class and her Semblance was a powerful one, yet she still had a lot more to grow. Unfortunately, she had two glaring weaknesses. The biggest one would be her emotional stability. Her unfortunate habit of jumping into situations without thinking things through, letting her emotions guide her. This wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing if it wasn't for her being unable to temper said emotions. Beacon was not Atlas, Ozpin didn't want to hammer his students into soldiers, with rigid and dulled emotions. However, he knew that if Yang's emotions were not sorted out; it would cause issues. The second weakness was her inflexible fighting style. She was a brawler and a very good one at that, but Ozpin knew that she relied too heavily on her strength. If she was unable to land clean hits on her opponent and the fight dragged on, she'd begin to get frustrated and thus lead to the problem of her first weakness. She also lacked a good ranged option as her weapon was made to enhance her punches. This meant she would have to clear the gap between her and her opponent in order to fight most effectively. If this could not be done then she would be left without many options. There were methods around this however they would need to be taught and that was what Ozpin was here for.

Then there was the Mistral Regional Tournament champion, Pyrrha Nikos. When he had received her application to Beacon Academy, he was honestly rather surprised. He imagined she would go to Haven where it was closer to home. Even so, he would be more than happy to accept her to Beacon if she passed the entrance exam. The headmaster couldn't see her not passing if she tried even remotely. It has been a long time since he had seen anyone who was nearly as gifted as she was in combat. With her earning titles such as 'The Invincible Girl' and 'Goddess of Victory' it was evident she captured the hearts of the public with her displays of prowess in the tournaments. She was even the mascot of a cereal which, Ozpin thought, was not a common achievement amongst Huntsman. But he knew that no one was perfect. He worried that her numerous victories and unmatched fighting capabilities would make her too self-reliant, unable to give responsibility up to her peers and teammates when it mattered. There was also her ability to socialise in general. Having spent most of her life put up on a pedestal may have made her unable to develop proper social skills that are vital to a child's development. He would need to keep an eye on how she and her team developed. Hopefully everything would work out the first time, though that was overly optimistic for the headmaster.

The last of the new students on Ozpin's mind was Jaune Arc. Jaune Arc, what a strange boy he was. Ozpin knew as soon as he looked at the young Arc's transcripts that they were fake. He had many students come to his school since he had become headmaster and he looked over all their transcripts. It was a policy of his, always looking at the new age of students, picking out those that would rise above the rest. He knew a fake transcript when he saw one and the one that Jaune submitted was a prime example. Ozpin's first thought was to simply discard it and forbid Jaune from entering the Academy. However, he saw something that gave him pause. The transcripts were perfect, too perfect. This wasn't some half-baked attempt to get into the Academy with an over glorified recommendation letter, this was professionally done. Jaune Arc needed to get in even if it required less than legal methods. Either Mr. Arc was up to something nefarious or he truly, desperately wished to go to Beacon Academy. Either way, Ozpin decided to allow him in.

'This was definitely going to be an interesting year,' he thought to himself.

Ozpin's thoughts were broken by the ringing of his Scroll. Pulling it out of his jacket, the headmaster saw who was calling him and placed the device to his ear.

"Qrow."

"Oz." Qrow's voice answered from the other end. He sounded tired and frustrated, something that Ozpin didn't like to hear from his friend.

"We need a Bullhead at these coordinates right now," Qrow continued. "Autumn just got attacked, two women and one man, and we don't know if there's any more of them out there."

Ozpin's whole body tensed as his mind fired at a mile a second. His hands dashed over to his holographic console, sending orders to his pilots. "I'll send it to you as soon as possible. Do you need any backup?"

"Better safe than sorry. Though, I need to tell you, there's a plus-one here with us."

'A plus-one? Another person to consider.' the headmaster thought. "I'll send Glynda with the Bullhead. Do we know if we can trust this person?"

There was a small pause on the other end of the call before Qrow replied with, "Hard to say. He helped keep her safe, but I'd like to know why he was here in the first place."

Ozpin nodded his head, the tension in the air alleviating a slight bit. "Good. We'll discuss everything when you get here."

"Alright. I'll see ya then."

The call ended and Ozpin fell back into his chair. This was not something that he wanted to hear. A maiden being attacked while under his protection was one of the worst things he could think of happening. Players were moving like pieces on a chessboard, and he knew it was only by chance that he didn't lose anything this day.

Amber was willful, not allowing herself to be tied to the cities where it was safe for her. Ozpin knew that allowing her to go wandering around the wilderness was a dangerous idea but telling her 'no' would just make her resent him further and run away the first chance she got. He'd lost track of too many Maidens to let her slip through his fingers. So, against his better judgment, he allowed her to go out into the world with the occasional supervision from Qrow. She was still instructed to not use her powers openly for fear of drawing attention. This caused arguments every time they saw each other but Ozpin was always able to convince her in the end. She was still unhappy with the arrangement but accepted it was for the best.

Suddenly, for the second time this day, the headmaster's thoughts were interrupted. The elevator to his office made a soft 'ding' sound and then smoothly opened its doors.

One of his staff members, a pale man with combed blonde hair, clean white lab coat and black rimmed glasses, stepped into the large clockwork office.

"Ah, Professor Gannon. How can I help you?"

Professor Arcade Gannon, the school's doctor and science teacher approached Ozpin's desk with a small assortment of files and papers that he flipped through with calculated ease.

"I came to let you know that the new prospective students' medical reports have come back with no glaring issues." Arcade said, reaching into his pile of documents and placing one on the desk. "I also need you to sign this. Don't want a pack of feral lawyers to come bother us while training our hormonal teenage super soldiers."

Ozpin Felt a sinking feeling in his gut at the idea of more paperwork at this time. The New Year brought with it new students, new chances at a better future, but it also brought with it paperwork. So...so much paperwork. Sometimes it felt like he would drown in it.

"I'll get it to you at the next staff meeting," Ozpin replied, "Unfortunately, it is a good thing that you happened by my office at this time. I need you to prepare the onsite medical facilities. We may have incoming injuries."

This seemed to catch Arcade's attention, "Oh, do we now? Correct me if I'm wrong but this wouldn't happen to have anything to do with Glynda stampeding over to the landing pad would it?"

"You are correct."

"Well then," Arcade began, "I'll get started on the prep as soon as I get back then."

Arcade turned to leave the office, obviously concerned at the prospects of receiving injured people. But then, something in Ozpin made him pause. 'I wonder' he thought.

"Before you go, may I ask you something?" Ozpin called out.

Arcade spun back to face the headmaster, a look of curiosity and slight apprehension.

"Of course. What do you want to know?"

"You used to travel, did you not." Ozpin asked. "Did you get attacked often whilst on the road between settlements?"

"More often than I would have liked. Most of the time it was just regular Grimm but an unfortunate number of times there were people involved."

"The people that attacked you, what were they like?"

"Raiders, Bandits, Pirates, Briggins, Highwayman and a collection of other increasingly fancy words for generally the same thing." Arcade replied.

"Thugs." He spat. "Thugs looking to terrorise helpless people just to make their own lives just the tiniest bit easier. Oh, there was also the occasional assassination death-squad sent to kill us by an insane, genocidal, megalomaniacal dictator." There was a pause before Arcade continued with, "I'm of course joking with that last bit."

Ozpin nodded his head, "I understand. Thank you for answering my questions."

Arcade nodded and began to make his way back to the elevator. Stepping inside the doors slid close and leaving Ozpin on his own once again.

He felt slightly at ease now knowing that Arcade was going to be preparing for Amber and Qrow's arrival, as well as this other person. He needed to figure out what to do with them after all the panic was over. 'I'll need to see who they are and what their intentions may be. Once I know that I'll figure out what to do.'

His gaze turned once more out the window of his office. Towards Vale, as well as the rest of the world. A world that he knew was shifting. Pieces were being moved by the players. But right now, something was telling Ozpin that the game had just entirely changed.

Qrow took the Scroll from his ear and turned back to Amber and Six. "Alright people, we've got a Bullhead coming to collect us from here, so we just have to sit tight."

The once unnoteworthy road where the two travellers had, not too long ago, been walking down was now littered with damage. Scorch marks covered large stretches of the ground with torn stone and dirt littered across like scars on flesh. It was obvious that a fight had just taken place. Whether or not anyone would pass by before nature washed it all the way was anyone's guess.

Amber was panting while examining her body for any lingering damage. Aside from Qrow, she had come out of the fight looking the best, with only a broken aura and some minor bruises. She was glad that they didn't need to walk to get to a Bullhead station. After that last fight more walking seemed like a method of torturer right now. Her eyes turned and rested on Six, worry obviously portrayed in her eyes. She saw his fight. She saw how deep that sword cut into his chest. She saw him die. At least, she thought she did.

'Does he have some sort of healing semblance? Did he purposely get hit in order to trick that woman!?' Amber thought, almost spilling it out in distress.

Thud! "Screeeeeech!"

The Courier brought a heavy boot down upon the lost limb. Out of the palm of the dead appendage came a large beetle like Grimm. It squirmed and wriggled violently in pain as it's home was stepped on.

"Now what the hell are you?" Six asked as he picked up the limb to examine the creature further.

Qrow's eyes hardened as he gazed at the unfamiliar man. He didn't like him. His instincts told him something was wrong, and Qrow had learned to trust it after all he's been through.

Reaching into his shirt he took out a flask of alcohol and began to unscrew the lid, "A better question would be 'Who the hell are you?'".

In a flash of motion, Amber quickly snatched the metal container from his hands, her face clenched with fury.

"We just got out of a fight where we almost died and you immediately go to start drinking!?" her frustration continued as she spun to face Six, "And you…you IDIOT! How could you do something so stupid as to get into a melee fight with someone who was clearly a more competent fighter, with nothing but your handguns!? She was wielding Huntsman Class weapons and knew how to use them! Not to mention that stupid risk you took by letting her almost stab you so you could get that last hit on her! Had you been a millisecond too late she would have killed you and then what? What was your plan then?"

Qrow was definitely surprised by this outburst from Amber. She had gotten mad before but never to this extent. He raised his hands in an attempt to calm her, "Woh, woh Amber. I think we just need to calm down and- "

"No. She's right."

Both of them turned to Six, who had now placed the arm in some bag. He pulled the brim of his hat to cover his face as the pair of them looked at him.

'Is he embarrassed?' Amber thought.

"I'm sorry Amber. I knew I wouldn't be able to beat her conventionally, so I made a split second decision." The Courier looked up towards Amber. "It was a terrible plan, I realise that now, but it was all I had left to keep you safe and end that fight. I apologise."

Inquisitive, diplomatic and cunning. From the first few minutes that Qrow had known this guy he'd already gathered that he was good. Dangerous would be the word he'd use. Now Qrow trusted him even less than he already did. This guy was bad news.

Amber, on the other hand, broke eye contact and puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.

"Just...don't do that again. I don't want anyone to die."

"Neither do I Amber." Six said with a chuff of amusement, "Neither do I."

'Says the guy who just dismembered someone.' Qrow thought.

"Don't mean to burst your bubble but we really should focus on keeping an eye out for any more on welcome guests before the Bullhead arrives."

"Right." Six nodded, "I'll clean-up over here and keep an eye out."

"Ok...that sounds ok." Amber agreed.

The three of them began to settle in for the wait. Six began arming and checking over his guns, his mind wandering to the fight before. Qrow, after convincing Amber to giver his flask back, drank himself into a calmer state while keeping vigilance. Amber was not so subtly glancing back to Six every now and again while she fiddled with her own weapon after retrieving her cloak and horse.

Six was bothered by how that Last fight went. He was able to match the metal legged boy but that dark haired woman on the other hand…

He had beaten her yes, but only by the slimmest of margins. He'd won not because he was more skilled or had better weapons but because she got too overconfident and he had a trick up his sleeve. She was a lot faster than him, able to close the distance between the two in an instant. And in a melee fight, he was at an extreme disadvantage. In that fight, she was better than him.

To Courier Six, that was unacceptable.

He'd need to get better. He'd need to get to the level where he could match her again in a straight fight without the use of his guns. Only then could he feel secure in his ability to survive.

That was all something to deal with later. Right now, he had to figure out exactly what was going on. He had a new mystery to uncover. The gloved severed arm that he now possessed. Any normal person would be morally against carrying around a severed limb of a person but Six was nowhere near normal. He plans to examine it later to figure out exactly what it was. Or, more specifically what that woman was planning to do with it to Amber. if he was able to figure that out, he'd be one step closer to answers.

It wasn't too long before the promised Bullhead arrived. It's metallic body was a stark contrast to the nature that surrounded the trio. It landed a few paces away from the small group, though it's two engines did not stop turning. A door on the side of the small aircraft, bearing the symbol of Beacon Academy, slid open to reveal a blond, middle-aged woman with a long-sleeved shirt, black skirt and a black and purple, ornately styled cape.

As this new woman caught the sight of Amber her expression turned to one of relief as she jumped out of the Bullhead and dashed towards the younger girl.

"Amber!"

"Glynda!"

The two of them embraced each other as both Six and Qrow began to make their way towards the ship.

"Are you alright? What happened?" the newly identified Glynda frantically asked.

"How about we save the Q&A for when we're in the air," Qrow started, before pointing his thumb behind him, "hope you've saved room for a horse."

As if on cue, Cotton the horse let out a loud whinny.

Glynda suddenly didn't feel that she'd enjoy the trip back home.

Hope you all enjoy the new chapter.

Special thanks to MarcusAurelias for Beta Reading for the chapter.

See you all in the next one.

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