" ": You talking

' ': You thinking

* *: Narrator/Voice-off

Your POV:

"And that's the match."

Cardin: Gh... Lucky shot... Urk...

"... Could someone please carry Mr.Winchester to the infirmary, i'm afraid a concussion might be at work. In any case, well done, Ms.Nikos. If you keep this up, you should have no problems qualifying for the Vytal tournament."

Pyrrha: Thank you professor.

"Alright, now... I believe we have time for one last match before the end of class. I know it's a tough act to follow... Any volunteer ? ... ... Miss Belladonna ?"

Blake: U- uh, yes ?

"You've been rather absent-minded for quite some time now. Why don't you-"

???: I'll do it.

"... Mr.Mercury, is it ? I know it's rather unorthodox to have guest students fight, but since you're volunteering... Who would be a correct opponent for you here..."

Mercury: Actually, sir, I already have someone in mind... I wanna fight... You.

"... I don't even think this is allowed, to be honest. You should really just pick another student."

Mercury: No, no, hear me out. We all came here to participate in the Vytal Festival, didn't we ? Shouldn't the opportunity to see what a Beacon teacher can do something to not miss in that case ?

"... Well, I suppose this is a good argument. Very well, I accept."

"You... Aren't going to use any weapons ?"

Mercury: I'm a bare-handed fighter. Well, kicker, I'd say. Is that a problem ?

"No, not really. I don't have a weapon either, so this is fair. I'll even give you the first shot, so use it-"

Mercury: YAAAAAH !!

*SHKRLANG*

"... ... Wisely. Which you clearly do not. My turn."

Mercury: Your... tur-

"HMPH !"

*SCHBROOOOOOOM*

Weiss: D- Did he just imprint his face on the floor ?!

Yang: Holy hell, his aura is gone already !

Ruby: Wow... Now that's a cool teacher, don't you agree ?

Emerald: Hehe... Urg...

"Oops, went a little overboard there... hey, are you still conscious ? Do you want to keep going ?"

Mercury: U- Urk... N- No... I'm fine, I think...

"The first wise decision you made today. At least you can tell when you're outmatched. I suppose the lesson here would be to gauge the strength of your opponent before deciding on your fight-or-flee response."

Mercury: I'll... be sure to do that...

*BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP*

"That will be all for today. Now, before you go, please remember that even though the Dance is this week-end, you'll all have your first mission assigned to you on Monday, no exception. Miss Goodwitch made it clear, no excuses."

Emerald: ... hey, what gives ? Butting heads with him like that.

Mercury: Come on, isn't learning just sooo much fun ? Ow...

Sun: ... Hey, Blake. You, uhh... Doing okay ?

Blake: i'm fine.

Sun: Hr-hm. So, I heard there's this Dance going on this week-end. Sounds pretty lame, but you and me, I'm thinking, not as lame uh ?

Blake: ... What ?

Sun: The Dance ! This week-end, you wanna go, or what ?

Blake: I don't have time for a stupid dance. I thought you, out of all people, would get that.

"... ... ... ... Did we just witness the birth of a second ice Queen ?"

Weiss: Hey !

Ruby: he's not wrong, it's not like Blake to be so cold and distant... And I can't even remember the last time she really slept...

"Have you tried putting melatonin in her food ?"

Weiss: We would like not to resort to that, as a team...

Blake: You what ?!

Ruby: We want you to go to the dance...

Blake: That's ridiculous.

Yang: Blake, we're worried about you. This investigation is starting to mess up with your head.

Weiss: You can't sleep, you're barely eating, and to be honest, your grades have been suffering.

Blake: You think I care about grades ?! People's lives are at stake !

Yang: We know, and we're also trying to figure out what Torchwick's up to...

Ruby: Thanks to the intel you guys gathered, we know they're operating somewhere outside of South-East Vale

Weiss: And the Schnee company records singled-out Vale as the primary target for Dust robberies over the past few months.

Yang: Don't forget about their missing military tech too...

Blake: But there are still unanswered questions.

Ruby: Blake, you won't be able to find anything if you can't even keep your eyes open...

Yang: All we ask is that you take it easy for One. Day.

Weiss: It will be fun ! Yang and I will make sure of it.

Yang: Yeah ! we're planning the whole event !

Blake: Excuse me ?

Weiss: Team CFVY's (Coffee) away mission lasted longer than expected...

Yang: So, Weiss and I were asked to pick up where they left of. And now we can make sure that you have the perfect night.

Weiss: And once it's all over, we'll return to our search. Rested and ready.

Ruby: ... So, what do you think ?

Blake: ... ... ... I think this is a colossal waste of time. I'll be in the library.

*Click*

Yang: ... *sigh* Great...

Weiss: She can't keep going like this...

*Knock knock knock*

Weiss: Blake ? Is that yo-

Jaune: Weeiiiiiiiiiiiiss ! *Wink*

Weiss: ... ... ... ...

*Slam*

Jaune: Oh, come on... Open the door... I promise not to sing...

Weiss: ... ... Haah...

Jaune: I lieeeeeeeed~ ! Weiss Schnee~... Will you accompany me~... To the daaaance oooon... uhh... Sundaaaay~ ? *CLONG*

"Keep it down, some people want to sleep here !"

Weiss: ... Are you done ?

Jaune: Uhh... Yes...

Weiss: ... No.

*Slam*

Weiss: ... What ?

Yang: And That, is why they call you the Ice Queen.

Weiss: All my life, boys have only cared about the purse of my last name. Besides, I already have a date in mind.

Ruby: Date or no date, none of that will matter if we can't get Blake to go.

*Beep*

Ozpin: Ah, you're here. Glad you could make it so fast.

"You clearly made it sound like it was a big deal. Has anything happened ?"

Ozpin: Well, maybe... Remember What I said to you the other day, after you reported Torchwick's activities ?

"You mean about all the suspicious activity going on in South-East Vale ?"

Ozpin: Exactly. It had been going on for a while, so I sent someone to investigate...

"Did they find anything ?"

???: It's more like they didn't find anything that's concerning...

"... Oz, who's that booze-reeking old man ?"

???: Ah, just great, another rude brat. Oz, can't you be more careful on who you work with ?

"... Hey, i'm over here, so stop talking to that mirror."

???: Oh, you want some, kid ?!

Ozpin: Both of you, stop that. We're not here to

"Yes, yes, So, what's going on in South-East Vale then ? What did... Whoever that is found out apparently ?"

???: "Whoever" has a name.

Ozpin: Qrow, Ochita, please. To answer your question, since I don't believe you've been introduced to each other yet, this is Qrow, an old friend of mine, and quite the reliable overseer.

"I see, after your personal army, of course you have spies. Well, Oz over here's an acquaintance of my foster dad, so I've been not at all forced to take a look and bring some help of possible. So, what's up there ?"

Qrow: That's the thing. There was supposed to be something there, but...

Ozpin: Maybe I should explain. It was your intel about Torchwick and the White Fang that pressed me into asking Qrow to look into this, but... we've had reports of strange Grimm behavior in South-East Vale for a while. They usually either travel alone or in small packs for some species like the Beowolves, but... this time, dozens, if not hundreds of Grimms have been sighted in the area.

"So... South-east Vale would be some sort of Nexus for Grimms ?"

Qrow: Not quite. It was only Grimm, no traces of the White Fang until very recently. And the added threat was enough to make me do a turn to check things out... or lack thereof.

"Lack... I'm confused, are you implying the Grimm just... went missing ?"

Ozpin: Exactly. We have no idea how, who or why, but every Grimm in South-East Vale, most notably around Glenn mountain, suddenly disappeared right before the White Fang's first activities in the area got reported.

"Right before... Well, they got their hands on some of the brand new Atlas Paladins... Maybe they had to clean up before setting camp..."

Qrow: Before. That was before they even got there, something, or someone, killed off all of the Grimm before the White Fang.

"I don't like that 'Someone'... It's like you're implying someone could fight off hundreds of Grimm"

Qrow: That's exactly what I was implying. They didn't just disappear, something extremely violent happened.

"And... What gave you that impression ?"

Qrow: When you come across a chunk of forest burnt to a fine crisp, you tend to think something must've happened here. That and the craters littering the ground, most of the trees being chopped off...

"Okay, I get it, it wasn't natural. But if it wasn't the White Fang... Or the Atlesian Military, since i'm pretty sure it would've been noticed... What the hell happened there ?"

Ozpin: That's the question we're trying to answer. And through some luck, professor Oobleck is departing next week for a study mission in the Mountain Glenn area.

"... Let me guess. That 'Sheer Luck' can translate to 'You gave him that mission knowing well you could make me tag along as bodyguard' ?"

Ozpin: You catch on quick.

"... You didn't even have to do that, you know ? Just telling me there's a need to investigate a potential natural disaster would be enough... Why me, even, if you already have that dusty old crow ?"

Ozpin: Exactly because of that. it's something that destroyed a good part of the forest and apparently killed off hundreds of Grimm. Do you really think just anyone can wander there ?

"... Well, at least you have enough insight not to send your students do the chores. And i'm here to investigate as well, so it's good. Anything else, while I'm here ?"

Ozpin: We managed to track down the path of the "Grimm carnage", as we came to call it. And whatever it was passed by inhabited areas without any injuries reported. So if and when you find it, do not engage in combat.

"That will depend on what i'm facing."

*Slam*

Qrow: ... Can we really trust him with that kind of stuff ?

Ozpin: If he cannot get to the bottom of that, I don't think anyone else can. Honestly, I don't think it would far-fetched to qualify whatever this is as a "Conscious natural disaster"...

Pyrrha: Hahahaha... well done. Your sword play improved immensely

Jaune: Couldn't have done it without you.

Pyrrha: So... Are you ready to move on to aura ?

Jaune: Uuum... Actually, I was thinking that maybe we just skip aura tonight... ? Might go on a jog or something...

Pyrrha: Come on, I know you get frustrated, but you must keep trying. I'm sure we'll discover your semblance any day now.

Jaune: That's, not it... It's just... It's dumb.

Pyrrha: What is it ? Jaune, you know you can tell me.

Jaune: It's Weiss...

Pyrrha: Oh... What about her ?

Jaune: I asked her to the dance and, she shut me down... Big surprise, right ? Hehe...

Pyrrha: well, I believe the saying goes, there's plenty of fishes in the sea...

Jaune: that's easy for you to say, you've probably got guys clamoring over each others just to ask you out.

Pyrrha: hehe... You'd be surprised...

Jaune: Oh please. If you don't get a date to the Dance, I'll wear a dress. Heh.

Emerald: And finally, Pyrrha Nikos.

Cinder: Ahh, the "Invincible Girl".

Mercury: She's smart, but... I wouldn't call her "Invincible". Now, that teach on the other hand...

Cinder: Do tell...

Emerald: He tried his own luck challenging him to a sparring match. Got his shit ran with one hit, indented himself into the floor.

Cinder: I see...

Mercury: He even got all snarky with that "I should've held back more" afterward... My cheek still hurts, dammit.

Cinder: Anything else ?

Emerald: Well, it might just be me, but... just before the hit, I could've sworn I saw something coming out of his back... Like, black smoke, with something glowing red inside... Maybe that's related to his Semblance ?

Cinder: I see... Nothing on his background ?

Emerald: Nothing at all. It's like he just popped into existence and got immediately recruited by Ozpin.

Cinder: ... That might be closer to the truth than we imagine... Keep him on the top of the list, and add Pyrrha Nikos to it as well.

Mercury: i'm sure you could take him on no problem.

Cinder: It's not about overpowering the enemy... It's about taking away what power they have. And we will, in time.

Mercury: Urg... I hate waiting...

Cinder: Don't worry, mercury. We have a fun week-end ahead of us.