RWBY (Salem: Dawn)

Expectations-

(Axi)

In the morning when I finally awoke I looked up at the ceiling, my head was still groggy from the good sleep I got. I wasn't used to it. At Shade they made me do all kinds of stuff late at night like janitation and sometimes, even worse things than that. I know, hard to believe. What's worse than janitation jobs? My weapon for that school, given to me from my father, was revoked before I left. They didn't let me take it.

"Good morning!" I heard someone say in my ear. I turned in surprise to see Irene; as I would soon learn her name.

"Um. Morning," I tried to be polite.

"You were there when that guy; Scav, ruined my airship. Do you know him from before all of that?" She looked at me with her blue eyes, as if trying to depict my very soul. I shook my head.

"Sorry. Not til that day  did I ever see him or his friend," I pointed to the guy; Layric, who turned his head at me on que.

"He kind of freaks me out...in a good way," She whispered. I nodded, not really sure what she meant. I just wanted to go back to sleep.

"Good shot," I remembered, deciding to entertain the conversation anyway. I thought back to the incident, remembering how perfect the shot was. If he went up three feet it would've hit me right between the eyes.

"Anyway, what are you doing?"

"Me? Why are you asking me this anyway?"

"I'm your friend. At least...it'd be nice if we could be friends," She stood up and offered me a hand. I took it but shook my head.

"Sorry princess. Board members aren't allowed to be friends with trouble makers. Bad for business," I winked and made my way to the exit; leaving her with a hurt expression. I carefully stepped over the sleeping bodies, finally opening the door to go get my weapon. I saw Scav standing outside as if he were waiting on someone.

"Hey," He said, giving me no choice but to stop.

"Yeah?" I asked, kind of annoyed because I really wanted to see my new true friend. I didn't care who my partner was going to be, my real ally was my weapon.

"The numbers are even. Last night a student tried to kill Irene. I stopped him, and they kicked him out," He nodded to the school,"Our new home..."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Just some general hospitality. Anyway, be careful of where you go, Irene told me she saw two shadows last night...a grim and human. Not fighting," Scav looked around nervously, and I did as well. As much as I'd like to think myself as tough; the idea of grim and a man working together chilled my bones.

"Wait. Seriously?" I asked, my voice raising. He sighed and closed his eyes for a second.

"Just be careful."

"You too," I said, walking forward. I felt his eyes on me until I was out of sight. Was he messing with me or was he serious? I wasn't sure. He was a hard one to figure out.

I finally made it back to the blacksmith, but this time,  I felt eerie. Something was off. Was it a new presence, his son? I didn't think he'd be this powerful...

I walked inside and practically did a double take,"Headmistress Claren?" it explained the strong presence I had felt.

"Ah. I see you left just a few moments after me. I thought I'd be nice and retrieve your weapon for you, but it seems like you do have your priorities set straight. I admit, this surprises me," She smiled at me.

"Very straightforward, a good businessman," The blacksmith added in. Wait, were they talking about me before I got here?

"Thanks," I took the compliment, ignoring my thoughts.

"Just finished the final details. Silver and red, as promised,"A new voice carried it's way through a door leading to another room. A young man maybe about seventeen, entered the room. He looked exactly like his father minus the unorganized facial hair.

"Hello, Mr.Fallus," Claren nodded politely to the new comer.

"Ms.Claren," He responded enthusiastically," A pleasure to see you!"

"And you. I'm sorry I can't stay and chat, but I have a school to run! This one here is a bit troublesome. Transfer from Shade, but they didn't allow his weapon to follow his path. He had to get a new one; payment is on me, all here." She pulled out a scroll; an electronic holoscreen device for everything from money to communications to security control.

"Transferred the exact payment just now. If you'd excuse me, we have to go. Come on, Axi," Claren headed for the door.

"Here you go. And armor, suited for comfortable movement when carrying your weapon," The blacksmith's son handed me the weapon I wanted; built even better than I had expected, that reached up to my shoulders and some clothing that had a bit of weight to it. Before hurrying to catch Claren, the blacksmith clicked a button on my halberd and it decreased size; splitting in half and folding to just the right size. It was about two and a half feet long in this shortened form.

"Thanks!" I shouted before running out. She was standing next to an airship I hadn't noticed before. She walked up the ramp, and I followed suite, the only other one I had entered before was the one to get to this continent.

The ship immediately took off, not a second after I entered the back.