RWBYKnights: Volume 1 [Old Version]

Chapter 10: An Old Acquaintant Pt. 1

"Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the four Ace cards. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose!" Ozpin congratulated a Weiss looked in shock, with Yang hugging her sister, Ruby froze as she couldn't believe what the headmaster was saying. Down in the seats, Yelena was enjoying the celebrations as let out small chuckles here and there, the often overreaction the young huntsmen had to their groupings reminded her of the quieter times within her father's army, the nights spent partying or mourning for the fallen, she felt like she was at home...

Yet, beside her, Free was asleep, leaning on his chair, he let his wooden arms hang, seemingly bored from all the celebration.

"As it was well known, huntsmen would always work in groups of four, which is why in most cases, each yearly batch of young, aspiring hunters could always be divided into four, but... There will always come a time when this formula would be broken, as for this year, we have two extra students to join in." Yelena perked her ears at the mention, nudging Free to wake up, the boy beside her looked around, instantly recognizing what was happening, and stood straight.

"Please step forward, Yelena and Free. Having retrieved the two Joker cards, from this forward, you two will work together as Team FrYe (pronounced: FREE). But unlike the other group of huntsmen, you two will work together, as a single unit." Ozpin congratulated as the two shook each other's hands, having grown accustomed to already working together, they nodded in comradeship. Yet, at the other side of the hall, a man leaned on the wall, having taken interest in the duo... no, the white rabbit...

"Her?" The man muttered as he walked off...

~~~

Yelena woke up at dawn, as usual, and looked around, her dorm room was pretty big... and empty, with both her's and Free's bed at opposite sides of the room, a large space mainly separating the two. Having remembered what her father had said after he arrived from his tour, the room was supposedly fit for 4 people, but now? Not only did accommodations cut in half, but neither one had anything with them, as school supplies were to be provided on the first day of class, which was today, the room was literally empty. 

Yelena stood up and took a stretch, changing into her school uniform, it surprisingly fits on her, the black coat that contrasted her pale skin and white undergarments, her skirt was relatively long, as it extended all the way down to her knees, with her black leggings underneath also was to her liking, as she posed in front of the wall-mounted mirror.

(Insert imagination here:)

She quickly walked out of the room, leaving the sleeping Free, she wondered how would he fit inside his own uniform with his bulky wooden arms, before noticing his own uniform on his bed, seemingly custom-designed to have his sleeves removes. As she quietly opened and closed the door to her room, she was met with hundreds of luggage belonging to other huntsmen laying on the hallways outside. Some were mountains that stretched all the way to the top, while the others were neatly arranged together.

From one of the stacks of luggage, she could tell that the door beside it was where team RWBY was at, considering Weiss' white luggage was there, as well as considering her luggage seemed to be filled with dust, she dared not touch or even graze a bomb ready to blow. Walking down towards the fields outside, she once more felt the morning winds blow right past her, her hair drifting with the wind.

Soon enough, she once more heard the grunts of Pyrrha training, and wanting to ask the red-head how she felt about Jaune leading her team, JNPR, she began approaching the place she first met the fellow huntress. Yet, as she did, she could faintly hear a conversation happening. Two voices, one being Pyrrha... the other?

She quickly stopped herself before she was about to reveal herself, holding onto a wall, she quietly peered the corner. Pyrrha was up, standing in her exercise outfit, she was breathing heavily as she took a sip of her canteen before continuing a conversation with a man who stood on the stone pavement.

The man himself was a Faunus, with a serpentine tail hanging behind him, the man had a muscular stature, even more than that of Free, Jaune, and some of the other professors she have had an opportunity to take a glimpse at. The man wore padded jeans as well as sneakers, yet, what struct Yelena the most about the man was his jacket. While it by itself was just a simple jacket, something familiar caught her eyes, an insignia was found on his shoulders. Although from her distance, it would look indescribable to most, she immediately recognized it as it was, and quickly left the area, not wanting to be noticed by the man...

~~~

Free looked at Yelena in confusion as she jotted down her notes. As they were at the back row of the classroom, only Free could see that something was wrong, as Yelena's face seemed like she had seen a ghost.

"So... did something happen?" He innocently asked as the professor, Peter Port, was focused on team RWBY at the front row. As he said that, Yelena quickly snapped out of her trance, shaking her head, she slammed her pen to the ground.

"What? No, nothing happened." She quickly replied, with her partner raising his brow, their attention was quickly pulled to the sight of Weiss skewing out a small grimm with her rapier, still visibly annoyed at the fact that Ruby was chosen as leader. Shrugging, Free continued to slack, seemingly already knowing the lesson, with the bell ringing, it signalled the end of class as Professor Port stepped out, yet, as the door slowly closed behind him, it stopped as a hand held onto it, and opened the door.

A man stepped in, his hair and beard were unkempt, with shades covering his eyes, Yelena gasped at who the man was as she quickly covered herself with her notes standing up. As everyone stared at the man, he was unlike that Oobleck or Peter, no, he was a Faunus, but to the white rabbit...

"Greetings everyone, I will be your strategy assessment professor, you can call me Ace." The man smiled as he stood in the middle of the class.

~~~Author's Notes~~~

I legit had no idea what differences were between Acquaintance and Acquaintant and google did not help at all...

Also, best man Ace is now in the story. Hooray!