RWBY: Beacon's Bloody Bull

Chapter 4

"The last pair has been formed, sir," Ms. Goodwitch reported, looking up from her tablet, which was showing live video footage of the students in the forest, to address Ozpin, who was standing at the edge of the Beacon Cliffs, watching the students in his Scroll. "Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren," she continued, before shaking her head. "Poor boy. I cannot possibly imagine those two getting along. Still, he is probably better off than Miss Nikos."

"Mmmm..." the Headmaster hummed absently. The blonde woman sighed.

"Forgive me, sir. I know you have your reasons, but I still cannot accept the fact you allowed a known terrorist and murderer into our academy!" Ms. Goodwitch huffed. "You know as well as I do Mr. Taurus is much stronger than any other student at Beacon. Even if Ms. Nikos is the 'Invincible Girl' Argus hyped her up to be, she would struggle against him. If he so desired, he could easily kill a great number of our students, before we managed to stop him." At her words, Ozpin finally looked up from his own tablet, where he had been watching Ruby and Weiss bicker. He turned towards his colleague, and gave her a gentle smile.

"Have a little faith in him, Glynda," he told her. "Not five minutes ago, he came face to face with Ms. Schnee herself, and let her just wander off without so much as raising a hand towards her."

"But he could have just as easily chosen not to," Ms. Goodwitch pointed out. "I am certain that if you had not made it abundantly clear we would be keeping a close eye on the initiation, it would be a different story." It was only then she noticed the way the Headmaster was looking at her. "What?"

"It warms my heart to see how much you care about our students," he told her. Caught off-guard, the blonde woman spluttered, her cheeks tinged pink. "Try to keep an open mind, my dear Ms. Goodwitch. Mr. Taurus was obviously disillusioned with the White Fang choosing to side with our mysterious false maiden, or he would not have handed himself over to police custody. I would like to assume that means he is not as fanatical as some of the other higher-ups in the organization."

"Yes, sir," Ms. Goodwitch mumbled, before clearing her throat, doing her best to get back on track. She looked back down at her tablet. "In any case, Mr. Taurus and Ms. Nikos should reach the temple within just a few minutes, at their current pace." She looked over at Ozpin, the faintest trace of amusement on her face. "Speaking of which, what did you use as relics this year?" There was no response. "Headmaster Ozpin?" The Headmaster was not listening, instead absorbed in his own tablet again, watching Ruby and Weiss continue to argue and insult each other. The blonde woman sighed. Right now, whether or not an entitled heiress and silver-eyed youth that was two years younger than her peers could get along were the least of her worries.

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As Adam and Pyrrha made their way through the forest, the bull Faunus stopped, tilting his head. Pyrrha noticed this, and headed towards him to make sure he was okay. Then she realized he was listening for something. The red-haired girl brought up her sword and shield, preparing for trouble.

"Did you hear that?" Adam asked her. Stopping, Pyrrha closed her eyes, and listened as well.

"Gunfire," she realized. "It seems some of our comrades have encountered the enemy." She turned to the bull Faunus, awaiting his next move. Adam turned to look at the path ahead, finding it to be overgrown with branches and shrubs.

"We should keep moving," he decided. The bull Faunus unsheathed his crimson blade, and began to hack his way through the forest, Pyrrha following behind him. A comfortable silence settled in as he slowly cut a path for the two of them. Or at least, it was comfortable for Adam. Pyrrha, however, had something that she had wanted to ask him about ever since she had seen it happen earlier that morning. Seeing how their journey had slowed to a near crawl, she felt there was no time like the present.