The Iron Lotus of Remnant

Ch 6: Today just isn't his day.

"Calm down Peter." the headmaster urged "We don't know for certain if Yan is..."

"He's probably long gone by now." Xiao added, "He is a Messenger." her arms crossed "Doesn't matter where he will follow the prescripts, just like every Index member does."

"Let's not jump to conclusions just because he failed to give us his daily report" Ozpin got up from his chair "He could still be asleep, it is 10 AM. If he doesn't give us any response until 8 PM, I'll send you and Team JNPR to know what happened to Yan, after the dance of course."Ozpin smiled "As for you Xiao," he turned towards the Fixer "tell us, what do you know about the 'Index' that boy is a part of."

She sighed "They're one of the Five Fingers, Syndicates large enough that they pretty much rule the backstreets without needing to worry about the authorities, all else, I believe Professor Port already told you." she said, as she leaned against the elevator's door

"Then, I'll be waiting for your call, Ozpin. I will have Team JNPR at the ready!" Peter said as he made his way towards the elevator

"I see." he walked towards his coffee machine "Before you go, Xiao," he lifted his empty mug towards her "Please, enjoy tomorrow's party." the headmaster finished, as both she and Peter entered the elevator as its doors closed, leaving Ozpin in his office.

Inside the elevator, Port tried to start a conversation with Xiao, who simply gave small responses. He could tell, she wasn't in the mood for conversation, but then again, when was she?

Well, it didn't matter if he succeeded in making a friendship with her.

They both went their different ways, going straight towards the cafeteria, for he needed something to munch on until Ozpin gave him the green light, and he didn't have any more classes that day.

---

How long was it, since she had to study? Not in the sense of ' learning new things ', she had to do daily with the new distortions popping everywhere. But in the sense of sitting on a table, getting paper to write down notes on the most important topics while a professor taught not only her but a whole classroom worth of students.

The last time she did it, was to join the Liu Association, and even then, the written test was a complete joke. The Liu prefers raw combat prowess after all.

However, it was a new experience, sharing her time with people outside of work for the sole purpose of learning.

There were some topics she found... intriguing. How come, Grimm existed for as long as humanity does, and no one has the slightest idea of how they came to be? How and When Faunus came to be? Implying that they diverged from humans, not the other way around. Again, no one really knew the answer.

"If the Faunus are basically humans, but with animal traits, shouldn't they be considered humans but better?" that made both first years teams, stop eating and turn their heads to the once silent Xiao, who decided to eat next to the students.

The blond boy was the first to react "Huh?"

"Thinking logically, every Faunus is a Human, but with special traits that allow them to have special abilities, such as night vision, the ability to breathe underwater, and even have more limbs. Not to mention how good their hearing is." She mumbled to herself, paying no mind to the stares she's receiving.

"That being the case, shouldn't they be the dominant species on the planet?" What a strange conundrum. Perhaps she should bring that up in Bartholomew's next class?

Everyone at the table was silent.

It was such a strange thing to say, especially out of nowhere.

It caught the two teams sharing her table by surprise, them being unable to form any kind of response.