Fusilier

Early to Rise, Late to Class

Donnie slowly opened his eyes. He sat up and tried to rub the remnants of sleep from his eyes while looking at the clock next to his bed. It was 6:30 in the morning and he was the only person awake at the moment.
He climbed out his bed and quietly stretched his arms above his head, receiving a few satisfying pops.
He stiffly shuffled over to the small coffee pot he had found, tucked into the corner of the dorm on a counter. He took out a coffee cup from a cabinet and brewed himself a cup.
While quietly sipping from his cup he moved over to his bag and took out his school uniform. He spread out the uniform on his bed and looked at the red and black clothes.
'That'll suit Ruby,' he thought to himself. He shuffled over to the bathroom and shut himself in.
Once inside he slipped on the clothes and adjusted the tie that had come with it. After quickly brushing his teeth he grinned into the mirror and moved out into the dorm.
Donnie noticed that Ruby was starting to stir in her bed. Her small form slightly shifting beneath the covers.
He chuckled to himself and moved back to bag. He bent over to rummage in one of its pockets and produced a pack of cigarettes and his match book.
He made his way to the door with the items. Leaving the coffee on his bedside end table. Once at the door Donnie slowly opened and made his way out into the hall, door closing behind him.
Within minutes Donnie stood out in the courtyard. His pale skin glowed a dull orange in the light of the rising sun.
A match flickered to life in his fingers, the weak flame sputtering in the air. He raised it to the cigarette clamped firmly between his lips. Once the cigarette was lit Donnie extinguished the flame with a quick flick of his wrist.
He turned to his side and picked up his coffee mug and took a long drag of the cigarette. He momentarily plucked the cigarette from his mouth to take a sip of his mug.
There were a few students who were making their way to and from the cafeteria for their breakfast. Donnie leaned back on the bench and let the cool morning air wash over him. Smoke from the cigarette gently curling from the corner of his lips. When the cigarette was finished he plucked it from his mouth and ground it out, tossing the butt into a nearby trash can.
After a few more minutes his supply of coffee ran dry so Donnie decided it was best to head back to the dorm.
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As Donnie quietly stepped back inside the dorm he noticed Ruby's bed was empty. He shrugged, believing she had just woken up.
His beliefs were confirmed when he heard a whisper from behind him.
"Morning Donnie."
Donnie smiled a small smile and softly replied, "Top o' tha mornin' to ya Ruby. How did you sleep?"
She rubbed her eyes and replied with a thumbs up. "What time did you wake up Donnie."
"A few minutes before you did Ruby."
She nodded in return and picked up her red cape from the edge of her bed.
She fastened the ties around her throw and turned to survey the room. By then Yang and Blake were beginning to stir from their beds.
Yang sat up suddenly, murmuring to herself, still half in her dream. When she shook herself awake at last she walked over to Blake's bed.
The black haired girl was peeking out from beneath a cocoon of blankets not wanting to leave them to face the rising sun. Yang reached over towards their edge yanked them off of her. Blake laid there for a moment. Eyes wide with shock.
Then in an instant she had leapt up and began dusting herself off. Donnie thought he saw her bow twitch but dismissed it, thinking it was just his mind messing with him.
As Yang and Blake collected themselves they wished Ruby and Donnie a good morning and stumbled off toward the bathroom to change.
When the both of them returned they found Ruby holding a small whistle and leaning next to Weiss's ear. Yet Donnie did not notice the whistle as he was shifting through his bag.
Donnie had finally dug what he was looking for from his bag, a small picture, when Ruby took a breath and blew into the whistle. He quickly stood up ram rod straight, eyes wide and wild.
He began to smell a slight hint of mud mixed with smoke in the air. He could hear distant screams and shouts drifting at the fringes of his hearing.
Before lapsing into a full flash back he was brought from it by the commotion of the girls beginning to decorate their spaces.
Donnie hadn't realized it but his hands had begun to shake.
"You ok over there Don?" Yang called the question from across the room.
He jerked his head around as he just had begun to remember his surroundings. When his sense came back to him Donnie gave an uneasy smile and nodded his head.
He knelt down to pick up the photo he had dropped, pinning it to the wall above his bed.
"Who's that in the picture," Ruby inquired, having suddenly appeared behind him. He raised his eyebrows at the question looked towards the item in question.
In the picture there stood two men. Both wore matching uniforms and did helmets. On the left in the photo stood Donnie, a wide grin plastered on his face.
He pointed to himself and said, "That Ruby is me right before I was shipped off to France." The young girl gave him a confused look at the mention of the country.
She turned away from him and continued examining the picture. By this time the other girls (except Weiss who had already seen it) had gathered behind the two to look at the photograph.
"Who's the other man next to you?"
Donnie glanced back towards Blake who had asked the question.
He let out a long sigh which left him seeming deflated. "That-," he sighed,"-was my best friend Liam O'Connelly."
"What do you mean 'was'." Yang asked this from over his shoulder. Donnie shrugged in return and said,"I never really saw him again after we got to the front. His unit was transferred a few miles down the trench from me so we never saw each other. And of course there's the fact I got here a year ago soooo."
The three girls seemed satisfied with the answer and interrupted by Weiss who had asked what time their first class was. Ruby grabbed her schedule from a desk and looked into it.
"Let's see, our first class is at 7:30."
Donnie looked at his small pocket watch. His eyes widened and he jumped up to shout," It's 7:25! We've got five minutes! RUN!!"
At that he barged through the doorway. Leaving the girls to scramble for their books. He ran down the corridor. Feet slamming into the carpet. Donnie glanced over his shoulder just as he breached into the courtyard. Noticing that both his teammates and team JNPR were following.
Both teams bursts through the door of Professor Port's classroom, their hearts rapidly pounding from the run there.
"I'm glad to see the last of my students have arrived... finally." His voice dropped to low mutter on the last part.
Donnie chuckled, embarrassed by the scene they had caused. He moved into the front row beside Weiss.
When the professor had made certain that everyone had settled down he broke off into a small lecture about known types of ursai. This lecture quickly turned into a story about his childhood... which went on... and on... and on.
After half an hour of trying to see the point in the story Donnie gave up and started twirling his pencil between his fingers. A few minutes later Donnie noticed that Port had stopped his story and was attempting to get his attention.
"Mr. McManus! Are you listening?"
Having been startled by the outburst Donnie nodded his head. Prompting the professor to continue. Professor Port glared at Donnie and said, "As we are all aware you are from a different world than ours correct?"
"Yes sir."
"I would like to see how someone from your dimension can fight." Port said while motioning towards a small cage in the center of the room. "If you are truly to be a hunter then you must be able to kill a creature of Grimm quickly and cleanly. I would like you to demonstrate how effective you truly are at this. Please collect your gear and report back to here."
Donnie's eyes widened slightly at this, but he nodded nonetheless and jogged out of the room.
When Donnie returned to the dorm he thought close quarters huh. Guess I can try out the new gun then. He moved over to his bed and quickly slid out of his school uniform and into his old military one. It had been slightly padded for extra resistance but still kept all its other features.
Once making sure his helmet was firmly in place he grabbed whatever weapons seemed right. "Let's do this thing!" He shouted to no one in particular as he ran through the doorway, hitting his helmet on the top as he jumped. He winced at the snack but still kept moving. A mix of nervousness and excitement.
After making it back to class he took a moment to check over his weapons. Also partially to have the class admire his uniform. His head held high with pride.
On the side of the cage stood the waiting Professor Port who raised his axe above his head and thrust it down on the lock.
From within the cage a boarbatusk charged free. Roaring in outrage at having been shoved into a cage. It charged at the first thing it saw. The poor creature it saw being of course, Donnie.
The sudden charge took Donnie by surprise as he barely dodged a risk by a hair. While the beast turned for another attack Donnie fired his new shotgun.
It's deafening blast filled the room as a shell slammed into the boarbatusks side. It stumbled but quickly righted itself from the impact in its side. Donnie was prepared for its next charge.
While the beast was recovering he had replaced his shotgun for his pistol and new axe. As it ran at him he fired a bullet into its leg, causing it to collapse.
Taking advantage of the situation Donnie ran to the boarbatusk. He used the momentum of his run to kick the boarbatusk onto its back. He finished it off with a powerful downward swing of his axe to its exposed stomach.
"Well. It seems you are quite able when taking on a single, small Grimm Mr. McManus. Now please go and change back into your school uniform."
At this Donnie trotted out of the classroom again. The whole time with a grin from ear to ear.
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A few hours later Donnie sat in the dining hall by the rest of team RWBY. In front of them sat all of team JNPR whose most energetic member Nora was recounting a dream she had had the night before.
"And then as we were surrounded by Grimm-"
"There were three of them." Interrupted Ren who was sipping on his drink. Donnie raised an eyebrow at this and asked,"She have this dream often Ren?" He simply nodded at the young soldier and allowed Nora to continue her story with some minor corrections throughout.
Donnie smiled to himself. I wonder if those two are a couple or something. Maybe I should ask... he looked between the two students and thought against it. Not my place to ask.
Donnie sat at the table chewing on a piece of potato. His mind slowly drifting in all directions.
He was dragged from his thoughts by Yang who had asked him a question. "So-" she said while turning to him,"-you got any stories about any of your adventures." Donnie shrugged and replied with," I can't tell you much Yang. Before the army I never really left Ireland. And even in the army I never saw much in the way of adventure."
"I thought soldiers traveled a lot." Ruby said this with a slightly confused look on her face. Donnie gave a small smile. "Not really. I was frontline infantry. To travel you would have had to be in the Navy. Oh, and if you were crazy then the Air Force."
Ruby nodded but complete confusion was visible in her eyes.
"So Donnie, tell us about your homeland. This 'Ireland' place you spoke of," Pyrrah questioned in an attempt to shift the conversation away from war.
Donnie took on a dreamy expression as he remembered his home. "Oh it was wonderful. Green pastures and fields, the occasional forrest spread throughout. But the neatest parts are the old castles." Those at the table who hadn't already heard the description listened intently for him to go on.
"The downside to it would have been the weather though."
"Were there any devastating storms?" Asked a now curious Ren who leaned in slightly. Donnie chuckled in response told if the real weather. About the light, drizzling rains that had seemed to go on for days before the sun broke through the clouds.
Before long their stories were interrupted by the class bell. It's ringing signaling that they were to part ways until later in the day.
Donnie and the rest of team RWBY stepped out into the cool breeze and glaring sun. The girls walked ahead of the young fusilier who smiled to himself over the events of the past year.
He began to put a small bounce to his step, the sound of his whistling carrying across the courtyard.

Hello guys! So sorry for the long wait in getting this chapter out. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! Remember to comment and vote!