Chapter 265 - My OC Stash #65 - The Beast of Beacon by Coeur AlAran (RWBY) (2/2)

”I agree. I'll ask the faculty to stifle any curiosity. Please do not show that off.”

”You think I want people to see it? Am I free to go? Or are you intending to keep me locked up for helping deal with a wanted criminal?”

”You're not being detained.”

Adam nodded and stood, pushing his chair back and making his way to the door.

”Adam…” Ozpin's voice made him stop. It took a good ten seconds before the headmaster spoke again. ”I want to say do not make me regret giving you this chance, but I fear I already do. Instead, I'll say this. Do not waste this chance. If I believe you a danger, I will take whatever steps I must to stop you. I will not ask you to surrender. I will not ask you to reconsider. Threaten my students... and I shall kill you.”

Adam wasn't fool enough to assume an old man couldn't fight, especially when said old man ran a school for huntsmen. He might have gotten there through administrative skill and connections, but he might just as easily have gotten there by other merits.

”I know how to control myself,” Adam said. ” And I will. If I didn't, I'd only prove her right.”

/-/

Adam scanned his scroll again outside the station, sighing at the familiar empty feeling in his stomach as he looked down the fifty or so messages he'd sent Blake and the zero replies he'd received back. Thumbing higher revealed a happier time of constant bickering and chatter. Had she blocked him? Could he blame her if she had?

Or had she gotten rid of her scroll when she left? That would only make sense given she might fear the White Fang would use it to track and deal with her – or that someone in Vale might discover who she was by looking at it. It might be that she was just not receiving his messages rather than ignoring them. At the very least, she'd have responded with surprise to his messages that he was joining Beacon.

Either with shock or horror, he thought glumly. I wonder which…

”Ah, Yang. That's him!”

That annoying voice again. Adam grimaced and turned in time to see the little girl in red dragging a much taller girl with a long golden hair toward him. For a second he thought she might be a lion faunus with a mane like that, but he doubted it. She was walking alongside a motorbike, guiding it along the pavement with a hand on the handlebars.

The thing was bright yellow. He felt offended just looking at it.

”So,” she said, her voice friendly, rich and thankfully not as squeaky as the smaller one. ”You're the guy who helped my little sister out? Thanks for that. The name's Yang Xiao-Long. Nice to meet'cha.”

Adam regarded the hand warily. Ozpin was in the building behind him, however, and might very well be watching. He could also sense eyes on him from somewhere, no doubt the blonde teacher who had been vehemently against letting him anywhere near the students. Better to show he could do this now. I'll have to deal with a lot more humans in Beacon…

”Adam.” He took her hand and shook it, hiding his scowl. ”And it's fine.”

”I'm Ruby!” the little one chirped. ”I didn't say so in the shop – oh, and that was so cool. You were like whoosh and slash and bang!” She mimicked firing Blush from her waist. ”And can I see your sword? Can I know how you made it? Can you make Crescent Rose red? It'd really fit my cape.”

Adam leaned back.

”Chill, Ruby.” The blonde – Yang, he reminded himself. Best to start learning their names as though they were equals – pulled her sister away. ”Sorry about her,” she said to him. ”Ruby's always been obsessed with weapons. Probably fangirled all over yours.”

”C-Can I hold your sword?”

No. A hundred times no. A filthy human touching his weapon. But again, they were watching. Yang's motorbike was angled in such a way that he could see the vague shape, black skirt and white blouse of that teacher with the glasses and the scowl in the side mirror. Watching him. Ready to intervene if he acted out of hand. Ready to cut off his chances before they'd even begun. He'd show her. He'd prove he could do this, even if it meant putting up with such ridiculous levels of excitement. With a shake of his head that initially had the girl sulking, he unhooked his weapon and held it out.

Ruby squealed painfully and snatched it from his hands. Yang nodded her thanks in a kind of `you didn't have to but thanks for being nice` sort of way. He shrugged back. If he killed every human who got on his nerves, he wouldn't have time to do anything. He felt n_a_k_e_d without Wilt and Blush there. If Ozpin was going to attack, now would be the time.

”The blade is so pretty. What is she called?”

”Wilt,” he said, nodding to the sword. ”And Blush for the scabbard.”

”Like roses?”

”Hn. That was the idea.”

”That's so cool! We match!” The girl showed off her cape and weapon. It wasn't hard to see the rose motif. ”This is Crescent Rose and I'm Ruby Rose. And you have rose weapons and a rose on your back. We're like a super awesome team. Oh wow, imagine if we got to go out on hunts together. Wouldn't that be awesome!?”

Adam tried hard not to let the horror show on his face, though judging by the way the girl's sister snorted into her hand he hadn't nearly been successful. Faunus children weren't something he liked to deal with at the best of times. Human children were worse. Human children obsessed with him, his weaponry and his fashion choices took the cake and ate it.

”Sorry Ruby, but I think you need to graduate from Beacon before you can partner up with a huntsman like him.” Yang prompted her to give the weapon back and Adam took it, offering the older sister a short nod. Not gratitude per se, just a little acknowledgement that she was marginally less annoying than her sister.

Children could be worse than a_d_u_l_ts in some regards. The older generation at least made efforts to hide their hate, and in some way had an excuse for it. Not one he would ever accept or forgive, but those that lost parents to faunus at least had some logic in hating them. The children did not. They just hated because faunus were different. Because they inherited and mimicked cruelty from others without understanding what it did to people.

Luckily for her, the brat – Ruby – seemed far more interested in weapons than his horns. In fact, he wasn't even sure she'd once looked above his waist – and not for the reasons a more self-conscious person would have thought. Great. I've found the only person who doesn't care I'm a faunus and I have to worry she'll try and fornicate with Wilt.

Humans. They were all so messed up.

”I'll graduate!” Ruby promised. ”Just you wait. And since I get to go to Beacon now, I can graduate even sooner. I'm going to be a huntress a whole two years early.”

They thought him a professional huntsman and he saw no reason to dissuade them of that notion. According to his research, Beacon worked on partnersh_i_p_s and teams and he already had his partner picked out, whether she realised it yet or not. It was not some annoying human brat with a fetish for the colour red.

It's an annoying faunus with a fetish for trashy p_o_r_n, he thought fondly.

”Thanks again for helping my sister out.” Yang placed a hand on said sister's shoulder, more to keep her still than anything. ”If you ever need a favour and I'm around, feel free to call. I owe you one.”

As though some human girl could help him. ”It's fine. I was just…” He sighed. ”Just doing what a huntsman is supposed to do. No thanks is necessary.”

How galling.

Accurate, though, and if he was going to show Blake he could do this, he'd better start playing the part. At least he could pick what jobs he went on after he graduated. There were plenty of villages where faunus lived in isolation, ignored by many human huntsmen who didn't consider them worth the effort. He could protect those people.

The duo thanked him again and left, or rather the blonde all but forced her sister to go, picking her up, putting her on the bike and obviously ignoring her excited chatter as they tore away with a final wave back. All in all, the meeting hadn't gone as poorly as he expected it to.

They clearly hadn't recognised his face, and since they'd not bothered to ask his last name, they missed that. Even though he wore a mask, the name of Adam Taurus was known in Atlas. Given that Ozpin recognised him the second he applied, it was known in Vale as well. He thumbed his eyepatch, feeling the familiar tug of burned skin underneath. While he couldn't wear his mask, he wasn't going to walk around parading what the SDC had done to him either.

”Satisfied?” Adam asked out loud once he was done. ”Or are you going to scowl at me for the rest of my education?”

Goodwitch huffed and turned away, stalking back into the station without saying a word. Adam laughed mirthlessly. It wasn't funny, but it amused him a little to see how upset she was. Not that he couldn't say she wasn't right to be.

Him, in a school like Beacon, learning to be a huntsman.

”What a joke…”

/-/

”You have had a lot of bad ideas in your time but this is by far the worst!”

Ozpin chuckled. What else could he do when he fully agreed with what Glynda was saying?

”Do you really think he's being honest? Do you really think he can change after all that he's done? I'm aware he doesn't have an arrest warrant in Vale, but no one would bat an eye if we took him in. Atlas would laud us as heroes.”

”Mr Taurus will be attending Beacon.”

”Ozpin!” Glynda protested, slapping a hand down. ”This isn't a game. He's a terrorist!”

”As is Miss Belladonna.”

”And I'm no keener about that decision either. Arrest them both!”

That would be the easier solution, but not the easiest action. While he was confident he could deal with Adam Taurus in an even fight, there would surely be a lot of damage done in the process. Better than in a police station than a school, he could agree, but better it not happen at all.

”If I had rejected him, Glynda, then we would give the White Fang back one of their most powerful and violent members. I'm not happy about having him in Beacon either, but I'm less pleased with the idea of having him in the White Fang. We can watch him. He will be surrounded by huntsmen and huntresses at all times of the day.”

”By children!”

”They are a_d_u_l_ts now, Glynda. We will be sending them against Grimm, which I should hope are a little more monstrous than a single broken faunus.” Hope. Even he wasn't sure if that was the case, but they couldn't coddle their students. ”Have a little faith in them.”

”And Taurus,” she snapped. ”Am I to have faith in him as well? Am I to believe he will change his ways and become a model student simply because he wishes to? Is that what you're asking?”

”No. I am not and will not ask it.”

”Do you really think he can change? Or that he will?”

”No.” Ozpin's smile became just a little sadder. ”No, I don't. While I would like to say I believe the power of friendship and having a team will change him for the better, I am not sure it will. Some are too lost to hate. Too broken.”

”So what, you pity him?”

”I pity the man he once was and the man he might have become. I do not pity what remains.” Ozpin stood with a sigh. ”For I fear the Adam that might have been is long dead.” He stepped past Glynda, feeling her eyes on him. ”Monitor him. I shall have Port and Oobleck do the same. We'll put some rules in place. His weapons are to be tracked. His locker is to be watched. He will need to register each time he attempts to leave campus, where he's going and then sign back in. If he misses a single lesson, I want to know why. We won't be taking any chances with him.”

”And if he steps out of line?”

”Then I shall deal with him personally.”

/-/

”Sheesh, sis, you sure know how to pick 'em.”

”What do you mean?” Ruby asked, looking up from her position on the bike. They were at the ferry back to Patch, so moving slow enough in a queue for them to talk. ”Adam was super cool. Did you see his-”

”Yes, I saw his weapon.” And the eye-patch and the scowls and the barely hidden disdain. Course, Ruby had missed all that. Too busy climaxing over a hunk of metal.

When she first saw him, she'd thought he looked pretty hot. What could she say? She was a girl and she liked to look. That soon changed. There were plenty of guys who could look s_e_xy frowning, and he was kinda good looking, but his demeanor was just a tad too grumpy. A real downer, and not the s_e_xy and moody kind. It'd been painfully clear he wasn't interested in talking to them and only did so because he was expected to.

At least he was polite enough to not throw it in Ruby's face. I honestly expected him to.

”I'm sure he was cool and he did help you out, so he's good in my book. I'm just saying he wasn't the friendliest person I've ever met. In fact, he might be the least friendly. I've had enemies in Signal who've been happier to see me.”

”He just fought and beat Torchwick.” Ruby naturally came to the defence of her new hero. It wasn't new. Yang would have called it a crush if she didn't know Ruby would have been like this for anyone. She was just that obsessed with huntsmen. ”He was probably annoyed about that.”

Maybe he'd been in a mood. Yang guessed she would be as well if her evening got ruined and she had to spend it being debriefed at a police station. He got a pass for that. And for helping Ruby out. Besides, it wasn't like they'd ever have to see one another again. She was off to Beacon, now with Ruby, and he was off to go kill Grimm.

Hopefully Ruby could make friends with someone a little less gloomy once Beacon started…

Adam is going to be quite unlikeable early on in this, and that's by design. I'm intentionally letting him be a bit of a twat, constantly assuming Blake is wrong, that she should have stayed and that he can win her back by ”proving she was wrong” to leave in the first place. Obviously, that's all stupid shit. Obviously, it's intentional for the story. He's a little bundle of edge in canon and he has to be that prior to any character growth here.

While I know most people will be m_a_t_u_r_e enough to realise I'm merely writing the character as he's portrayed, I still have to add that here since a vocal minority tend to assume that if I write a character a certain way, I'm saying that's my own opinion or something. Or worse, me self-inserting.

All in all, even if I'm sure this story will be hated, I'm kind of excited to write it. It's so much more interesting to be writing a character as messed up as Adam compared to someone as simple as, say, Ruby. That also includes his rather obvious racism in this chapter, always making snide comments on ”humans” like it's some kind of slur. Ruby starts the show off being such a nice character so there just isn't much room for her to grow. She gets what, more nice? It's boring from a writing point of view. Unless I write a story where Ruby becomes evil, that is. Go the other way.