The first chance he got, Daniel left Beacon and went on a shopping spree to get new clothes and toiletries. As he quickly found out, 200 lien did not go as far as he had expected. In the end, he settled with generic toiletries and clothes off of discount racks and thrift stores. But they fit, and for the first time he could remember, people besides his team would pass near him; some even bumping into him before offering a quick apology.
Back in his old town, he was shunned for being the son of the town drunk. Mothers would hide their children from him, shopkeeps tossed him out of their stores at best, and his own peers constantly beat him up. At Beacon, no one knew his past, or his secret. They treated him like they did everyone else.
He almost dared to think he might've found a home.
And thus time passed. Daniel and the rest of team DDLN were trained in a variety of classes, ranging from tactics to history, to combat. Daniel hands down enjoyed Professor Glas' classes the most. All the other teachers were nice enough, but Professor Glas was possibly the most welcoming and open person Daniel had ever met. He still hadn't told him his secret yet though. It would've been impossible to hide it from his teammates, and Daniel had a suspicion that Professor Ozpin had said something to the combat instructors, as he had yet to be picked for a match. To Daniel, that was already too many people. He had realized a long time ago that the more people that knew about a secret, the more likely it was for the secret to get out.
Daniel just hoped that if it got out, the public wouldn't have as bad of a backlash as he feared they would.
It had been two weeks since the clothes incident and the students of Beacon were enjoying a Friday off for a kingdom-wide holiday. Teams were spending the time in a variety of fashions. Some were catching up with friends. Some were studying for upcoming tests. Others were taking full advantage of the clear skies and warm sun by relaxing and doing absolutely nothing.
Teams DDLN and LSTR were launching clay pigeons off the edge of the cliff above the emerald forest, and practicing fighting.
"Fore!" Lewis yelled. Lunare pulled a lever, and his contraption bucked, twisted, and at long last shot out a pigeon in a randomized direction. Lewis twisted towards it and played a soft tune on his guitar. The energy lazily but quickly floated up after the pigeon and destroyed it in a spectacular burst.
"How many times must I tell you, it's pull, not fore?!" Tiberius said irritably.
"Dude, you need to like, chill out," Lewis replied. "I still hit the birdie."
"It's not a birdie, it's a clay pigeon!" Tiberius admonished. "I don't even know why you're even playing. Trap shooting is a gentleman's sport. One that requires both skill, and sophistication."
"Well if that's the case, you should do just fine, Tiberius," Lunare commented. "Why don't you give it a try?"
Tiberius thought for a moment, then nodded in concession. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to go after a few. Load me up, will you Lunare?"
Lunare nodded and loaded another pigeon in. Tiberius pulled one of his chakrams off of his back and inspected it. Unbeknownst to him, Lunare stole a glance over at Lewis and shared a knowing wink with him. Tiberius looked up and they quickly looked away. "The pigeon is loaded and ready for your command Tiberius."
"Very well then," Tiberius said, taking a stance and pulling back his arm. "Pull!"
The machine bucked again and the pigeon streaked away. Tiberius followed its path with his hand for a moment, then tossed the chakram towards the pigeon. Just as it reached the pigeon, Lewis let loose a hard and fast guitar riff. The energy flew into the pigeon and destroyed it, knocking the chakram off its path. Tiberius, who up until that point had been making only minute gestures to steer the chakram to the pigeon, was forced to do a violent maneuver to save the chakram from the depths of the forest. It spun awkwardly to the ground and landed edge first at Tiberius' feet, digging a deep gash into the earth.
"You fool!" Tiberius cried, picking up his chakram and inspecting it. "You broke it!"
Lunare gently pulled it from Tiberius' hand and inspected it with mild interest. "Nothing to worry about Ty. It's just a dent. A quick and easy fix." To emphasize his point, he reached into his coat and bought out a small hammer. He turned the charkram over and began tapping the dent back in place.
"As if a touch up will solve that. My chakram will never fly straight again!" Tibeius said angrily.
Lunare looked up from his work and eyed Tiberius coolly. "Are you suggesting that my work has shown my abilities to be sub-par to your standards?" he asked with a smile and a voice colder than dry ice.
"Of course not Lunare, it's just that-"
"Then I would advise not insulting the mechanic. Especially not when you have so many gadgets on and around your person at any given time."
"What do gadgets have to do with-"
"I am a mechanic Tiberius," Lunare answered. "To me, anything electronic or mechanical is a gadget and by definition, something I am to disassemble and reassemble on a whim."
Tiberius wisely decided it was for the best that he keep his mouth shut for the duration of the repair.
Meanwhile, Daniel and Schatten were sparring a dozen or so meters away from Tiberius, Lunare, and Lewis. With the combat instructors incapable, or unwilling to call on him to fight, Daniel was stuck with practicing with his friends whenever he could. Dakota, who claimed he had some experience teaching others how to fight, was leaning against a tree and occasionally critiquing their form. Since no one on LSTR knew about Daniel's disability, he had elected to tell them that his aura was fluxuating as of late, and that Professor Glas had said that the best way to heal was to use it sparingly. That was why he and Schatten were trying to disarm each other, instead of the usual lowering of the aura.
After what was a grueling match, Schatten finally got the upper hand by swinging his claws on his left hand towards Daniel, causing Daniel to throw his sword up in a block and get it caught between two of his claws. Instead of twisting and disarming Daniel like Daniel expected him to do, Schatten instead used the sword to keep Daniel rooted to one spot and slashed at Daniel with his right claws, stopping a hairsbreadth from his neck. "Game. I win," he said shortly.
On the sidelines, Nicholas cursed softly and handed Ryler a Danish he had pilfered from the mess hall earlier in the day. They had placed bets on who would win and he had just lost. Ryler took his winnings and was about to eat it when Nicholas put a restraining hand on him. "You're gonna want that when I win next round."
Dakota sighed and moved towards them. "Danny; that's the third time today you've fallen for that attack."
"I know, alright," Daniel said irritably. "And stop calling me Danny!"
Dakota pushed Daniel to the side and took a stance in front of Schatten, unclipping his pipe as he did so. "Attack me and throw that attack you just tried with Danny in when I least expect it."
Without answering the request, Schatten launched into a flurry of blows at Dakota. Daniel was certain that he'd be instantly sliced to pieces, but Dakota held his ground surprisingly well. At one point, Dakota grabbed Schatten's right arm with one hand, and blocked a vicious left slash with the pipe; angling the attack so as to let it slide to the side and leave Schatten exposed. He took advantage of the opening by landing vicious blows into Schatten's side. Growling, Schatten kicked Dakota's knees out from under him, and the crashed to the ground. Dakota disengaged and rolled to the side to avoid the ground shaking stomps Schatten delivered to the spot he had occupied mere moments before.
Dakota stood up and the two circled each other, Dakota in a street fighting stance, Schatten crouched low to the ground, claws extended before him, wolf ears flat against his skull, mouth bared in a snarl. Each eyed the other with cold calculation. Deep down, Daniel knew it was all a training match, but at the moment it seemed like a battle to the death.
Dakota broke the stalemate by dropping his chain into his hand and whipping it towards Schatten's claws. The Wolf Faunus back flipped out of the way and skidded backwards a few feet. Before Dakota could close the distance, Schatten launched himself once more at Dakota. As he did, his belt emitted a loud BANG and he accelerated even faster towards Dakota. The former gang member sidestepped out of the way and brought his pipe down hard on Schatten's head. Schatten hit the ground and rolled to a stop, groaning.
Dakota walked calmly towards Schatten, spinning his chain in a slow arc. "I hope you remember what I asked you to do," he commented.
Schatten let out a vicious snarl and swiped at Dakota's legs. Dakota jumped backwards and Schatten used the moment to activate his belt once more. In an instant he went from lying down on his back, to airborne, high in the air. He landed on his feet next to Dakota and attempted the same attack that had caught Daniel's sword in between his claws. Dakota didn't allow him the chance. Instead, he caught one set of claws on his pipe and whipped the chain around the others, effectively snaring them. Before Schatten could do anything else, Dakota slammed his forehead into Schatten's and the unfortunate Faunus stumbled backwards and landed in a heap.
On the sidelines, Ryler morosely handed Nicholas the Danish back. Nicholas inspected it, then immediately handed it back to Ryler. In the brief span he had held it; Ryler had managed to get the half he had held covered in dirt and grime.
Daniel stood with his mouth wide open. The fight hadn't even lasted two minutes, yet was as grand and epic as any he had seen in tournaments on TV.
Dakota swung his chain in a wide arc and let it naturally wrap around his arm. He then reached down and helped Schatten to his feet. "Jump jets in the belt?" he asked.
Schatten nodded. "Got them as a birthday gift from Lunare. Still need to work on the settings though. I only meant to get to my feet, not fly ten meters up."
Dakota nodded and turned back to Daniel. "In case you didn't see, Danny boy; instead of going for a standard block like you, I angled mine to be nearly perpendicular to Schatten's claws. I put it at a slight angle to keep his claws away from me, and to open up for attack. If you had done so as well, you could've gotten him on the hand and followed up with a cut to the side."
"Oh, like the guy in the alleyway," Daniel offered, the memory resurfacing.
Dakota frowned slightly. "I'd rather not talk about that, but you're correct. But that raises the question, if you pulled it off there, why didn't you do it here?"
Daniel frowned in thought. "I guess I don't feel afraid, like I did in the alley," he answered. "Back then, I didn't know if I was going to survive."
"So you fight better if you feel at risk?" Dakota asked.
"Yeah, but why do you ask?" Daniel queried.
"Oh, no reason," Dakota answered before launching into an attack.
The sun was setting by the time teams DDLN and LSTR made it back to Beacon, nursing bruises from the day. As the weary students climbed the stairs to the floor their dormitories were on, they found Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch waiting for them on one of the landings.
"Wonder what they're doin' here," Nick wondered out loud.
"Oh no, I can't remember if I melted down my Rage cans yet," Lunare whispered.
Ragequit energy drink, or Rage to most, was a drink that could be described as liquid pixie sticks with three times the sugar and caffeine of a regular energy drink. It had been a banned item at Beacon for some time now due to one student having a heart attack and nearly dying from drinking thirty of them in one sitting. Naturally this coupled with the sugar content made it a highly sought after item by Beacon students, becoming a sort of pseudo currency. Lunare had smuggled in several cases when he arrived at beacon and had used it to purchase items for some sort of secret project he'd been working on during every second he wasn't at classes, working on schoolwork, or dueling with fellow students.
A.N. Don't bother looking for it, Rage isn't a canon beverage in RWBY. It's something that I made up to explain some plot points later on in this story, as well as some that I may make should there be sequels to TBH. It gets it's name and flavor from Michael from Achievement Hunter. He heads up the Rage Quit show for Achievement hunter, and at one point agreed to have at least a dozen pixie sticks dumped into his mouth.
"Good evening," Professor Ozpin said as they approached. "Judging from the general exhaustion among you, I believe that it is safe to assume that you all took advantage of your day off."
"Well, apart from the deliberate damaging of the Royal Pain," Tiberius began.
"Hold on, whose the Royal pain?" Daniel asked confused.
There was a burst of stifled laughter from team LSTR. Lewis joined them as well, for some odd reason.
"Dude, Ty just called himself a-" Lewis began.
"It's my Chakrams, Grigio." Tiberius said, shooting a glance at Lewis and the rest of his team. "I named them Royal Pain."
Daniel blinked. "Oh. Sorry; I just thought,"
A withering glare from Tiberius quieted Daniel instantly.
"While I am sure that it was very enjoyable, I'm afraid that I must spoil your evening with a bit of paperwork," Professor Ozpin continued, undeterred. He pulled a tablet from underneath his arm and handed it to Daniel. "Mr. Lanweilig neglected to have the parental release form filled out. As team leader, I trust that you will be able to send these documents to your legal guardian and have them filled out and returned to me by Monday. Otherwise, I'm afraid the school will be forced to dismiss you."
Daniel gulped nervously, a cold steel ball settling in his stomach.
Professor Ozpin gently moved in between the teams and they wordlessly parted to allow him through. Professor Goodwitch paused a moment longer.
"One more thing Mr. Grigio; I was informed by one of the cleaners that your team's dormitory smelled like smoke. Please remember that smoking is prohibited on school grounds and is a violation of the student code of conduct."
And with that, she too was gone.
And, Cliffhanger!
Okay, while the whole application process isn't outright explained in RWBY, one can assume it involves a crap-ton of paperwork; including parental release form. Seriously, just learning how to be a Huntsman/Huntress can get you killed. No way there's not something to keep parents from suing Beacon if their kid gets hurt or killed.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
