Hunters and Monsters

Chapter 2: Teammates

Becoming a Hunter in Auren's world did not mean having a hatred or vendetta against monsters. Monsters were just other creatures trying to live in the world, just like humans. Most hunters actually had a certain degree of respect for monsters. Very rarely did you find sheer hostility from the hunters. Because monsters weren't purely hostile to humans either. The two sides shared a certain bond, an acknowledgment of their parallel struggles for survival. There were even some hunters that refused to take the lives of monsters, opting for using tranquilizers to capture them. The guild accommodated such hunters by relocating the monsters after capture, or setting them up in safe zones for research.

But the Grimm Auren was now facing was completely different. There wasn't any instinct, any personality in the Grimm Barioth's demeanor. It wasn't a creature that was proud to have grown to adulthood, set on defending its territory and its family. It didn't have any of the wariness of a wise elder, or the blind arrogance of a young adult. It was nothing, nothing but a bundle of raw hatred and viciousness towards the young hunter. Instead of being scared or intimidated, Auren actually just grew irritated.

"I can see why everyone hates Grimm so much..." Auren growled, "You're not a Barioth. Just a sick imitation."

Almost on cue, the Grimm Barioth spun around, whipping its tail at a breakneck speed towards the young hunter. Scoffing, Auren sidestepped to get into a good angle, and simply parried the tail to the side with his shield.

"Please. You gotta have some new tricks, right?" Auren leapt forward, cutting down on its tail with a wide stroke. His sword slipped in between the scales, drawing first blood. The Grimm Barioth roared in rage and jumped backwards, baring its two saber-tooth fangs in a vengeful snarl. Auren simply straightened up again, waiting for its next move. It lunged forward, going for a bite towards Auren's upper body. The experienced hunter predicted this, rolling underneath it and slashing widely and deeply at its soft furry underbelly as he sprung back to his feet on the other side of his opponent.

The beast yelped in pain and staggered slightly, but didn't slow down as it went for a full body check. This time, Auren was caught off-guard, forgetting that the Grimm did not care about their own health. Normally, a Barioth would've backed off a little after taking a painful wound like that. The Barioth's shoulder nailed Auren, sending him flying backwards into a tree.

"Damn, that hurt..." Auren grunted and stood back up, before quickly ducking under a frontal leap that would've sent him sprawling and pinned beneath his opponent's claws. He rolled forward and sprang up in a battle stance.

Auren was still testing the waters. In general, monsters weren't just simple patterns one could memorize and react to. Every monster had its own experiences and instincts to draw on. Of course, being a Grimm had changed the Barioth's behavior quite a bit. But he was starting to get the picture. Aside from the raw hatred, it wasn't so different from fighting the younger, more reckless individuals of the species.

And that meant it was predictable.

Auren went on the offensive, taking every opportunity to slash or stab at the Grimm Barioth's soft underbelly. It growled in frustration as it attempted to bite, claw, whip, and pretty much use any kind of physical attack it could do with its agile body. But Auren knew full well what a Barioth was capable of. He seamlessly dodged, rolled, and sidestepped all of its moves.

His skill did not go unnoticed by his audience, who had quickly grasped how dangerous the new Grimm could be to an unprepared or inexperienced huntsmen or huntress. The team leaders were watching with wide eyes, while Ozpin and Ms. Goodwitch analyzed both the hunter and the Grimm.

"Wait, what's up with his sword?" Ruby was watching Auren's weapon closely, the sword was giving off smoke or some other kind of gas.

"No idea." Jaune replied, looking at where Ruby was pointing. Auren suddenly did a puzzling thing, after one of his barrage of attacks he was unleashing on the Barioth, he slipped his sword into the sheath on his shield. His shield then seemed to extend on both sides for a moment, before the moving pieces slammed back into place. It was done in one fluid motion, and in the next second the blade was out and being put back to work. And it was no longer smoking. "Uh, okay, what was that?"

"I don't know either! Getting rid of some kind of dust buildup or something in the blade?" Ruby was racking her brain for any knowledge of a weapon like that. She'd already noticed that the sword and shield weren't just simple tools, but also carried some kind of machinery within them. But she had no idea what they were used for. Then they noticed Auren was blocking the creature's attacks more, rather than dodging them. To their surprise, the shield now seemed to be glowing with what looked like...Aura?

Just what in the world was going on?

Meanwhile, the creature decided it'd had enough, and jumped away from Auren to create distance. A more reckless hunter may have chosen to press the attack at this moment, believing the Grimm Barioth was on the defensive and retreating. But once again, Auren knew this trick. The Grimm Barioth reared back, taking a deep breath, then expelling a powerful force of icy air from its throat. Even Auren didn't know exactly it worked, but he knew the attack. As soon as the projectile reached the ground, a violent twister sprouted up. It was a tornado of blizzard winds, the suction was immense and anything caught in it was sliced up by both shards of ice and the sheer speed of the wind. The twister moved on its own, ripping up trees and cutting off one of Auren's flanks.

"That's...more potent than normal." Auren frowned, filing away the slight change for later use. He knew that the Barioth used this attack as a diversion and in order to restrict the movement of their prey. The twister wouldn't be aimed directly at him. The Barioth reared its head back, and repeated its action, summoning another twister that went to Auren's other side.

Thanks to the unexpectedly strong winds, Auren was now in a corridor with the Barioth, the twisters cutting off any approach on either side. No matter, he would just maintain a greater distance from the twisters than he would've before.

But Ozpin, Ms. Goodwitch, and the team leaders were having a much different reaction.

"Ms. Goodwitch." Ozpin said, his voice dead serious.

"Understood." Ms. Goodwitch ran over to the team leaders, "Leaders! Be prepared to assist the transfer student, on the headmaster's signal!"

"Got it!" Ruby drew her weapon, Crescent Rose, a transforming scythe mixed with a large sniper rifle, her eyes still fixed on the camera feed.

"W-What is that thing, Ms. Goodwitch!?" Jaune stammered out, "Is that Grimm using ice dust and wind dust? How? How can a Grimm use dust!?"

"Calm down, Mr. Arc. Just get ready." Ms. Goodwitch replied tersely.

"Okay, you're right. Calm down, Jaune, calm down." Jaune took several deep breaths, drawing his sword and making sure his shield was ready, looking back at the screen, "The guy doesn't look very scared, though."

"You're right. That's probably why the headmaster hasn't called for us yet." Ms. Goodwitch agreed. Though she didn't look like she saw eye to eye with Ozpin and his conservative actions. If she had her way, she would've gone to assist the new student already.

The other team leaders were still watching as well, weapons at the ready.

Down in the forest, Auren did a quick analysis of his current situation. His shield was charged, and in a few more strikes his sword would be charged again as well. The movement that the team leaders had noticed before was Auren discharging his weapon into his shield, strengthening it. That was the power of the Charge Blade category of weaponry, as he fought, his weapon would build up energy and empower itself. By spreading the energy between his shield and blade, he could enhance both his offense and his defense. His specific charge blade was a simplistic one, called the Elite Blade. It was standard issue among charge blade users, and while it didn't excel, it didn't under-perform, either. Especially with all the little enhancements Auren had paid his blacksmith to do.

This fight would be over soon. He just had to make sure he didn't slip up. It seemed becoming a Grimm didn't erase its intelligence entirely, as the beast was now maintaining its distance. It was attempting to keep Auren at bay with icicle projectiles shot from its mouth. He simply blocked them with his charged shield, breaking into a full sprint has he rushed the Grimm Barioth. He only needed a few more hits with his sword.

"Come here!" Auren shouted, deflecting projectiles with his shield. His opponent roared, growing frustrated at the ineffectiveness of its attacks. But it wasn't about to let the hunter close in. It began taking hops backwards, keeping itself far from Auren's blade. Auren grinned, as if he knew about the Barioth's fear. He continued his sprint, but as he ran he sheathed his weapon quickly and reached into his pouch. He pulled out a small grenade-like object, a flash bomb, meant to blind monsters. He pulled the pin and threw it, aiming at the spot right in front of the Barioth's face. The flash bomb ignited, sending a flash of light all around the area. Auren had put up his shield in front of his face, making sure he didn't blind himself. When he lowered it, he smiled at what he saw.

The Grimm Barioth was dazed by the sudden flash, and had stopped moving. Auren quickly finished closing the distance, ducking low and slashing again at its soft underbelly. He cut deeper this time, since he wasn't too worried about a counterattack. With a roar, the Barioth began striking blindly in front of it, trying to stop the painful strikes. It was actually risky to strike too much at a blinded monster, because the random thrashing could still deal a heavy blow. Auren had hoped the risk would pay off, which it did, but he was blindsided by a sudden tail sweep, sending him flying away once again. With a grimace, he realized he could only take one or two more hard hits from the Barioth before its attacks started injuring his body.

But his sword was charged. It was time to unleash the Charge Blade's signature attack. He just had to find the right timing now. The flash bomb's effects were wearing off, the Barioth shaking itself out of its daze. It sent Auren a hateful glare, he returned the look with a condescending smile. Almost imperceptibly, the Barioth glanced at the twister that was closest to its body. With a sudden jump, it thew itself into the twister, letting the wind carry it and spin it around, speeding up its velocity, then the creature launched itself right at Auren like a missile, teeth bared. This was one of its most powerful attacks. One that put many hunters out of commission. A charging body slam enhanced by the force of one of its own twisters. That kind of weight and speed would leave a person broken and dazed.

Auren couldn't have hoped for a better move.

He'd seen the Barioth's quick glance, and he knew the path it would have to take to reach him through the twister-riding tackle. At the same time the Barioth was making its move, Auren had sheathed his blade once again. But this time, it wasn't to charge his shield or activate his sword, it was time to transform his weapon. He inclined a special trigger, causing the sword to lock in with the shield. He let go of the shield as it split in half, folding around either side and extending. The end result was a long battleaxe, the blades made up of hidden sharpened edges within the shield.

"DID HIS SWORD AND SHIELD JUST TURN INTO A GIANT AXE!?" Ruby screamed in delight, "THAT WAS SO COOL!"

But Auren wasn't done yet. In the seconds of the transformation, the Barioth was now headed right at him, launched from the twister. He braced himself, pressing yet another trigger on his weapon, causing the axe-end of the weapon to begin spinning rapidly, like a spinning saw. He swung his entire weapon in a huge overhead arc down right onto the Barioth's head before it could hit him. His Charge Blade released all its energy right at the moment of contact, causing a huge explosion and a sickening crunch as the axe quite literally erased the Barioth's head.

Auren released the transformation trigger as he brought his weapon back towards his body, separating it back into sword and shield, returning to his original stance. Like the other Grimm, the Grimm Barioth's body was dissipating before his eyes. "Well, I guess I'm not getting any loot from that."

A beeping from his scroll got his attention. Activating it, he saw that he had gotten all the points he needed for the initiation in one go.

"Wha- Really!? That's great!" Auren was smiling with surprise. He slung his shield back onto his back, with sword in its sheath. He began heading back towards the cliff where the initiation began.

Ozpin observed Auren and the route he was taking, and confirmed he should be able to make it back just fine.

"What did I tell you, Ms. Goodwitch? The boy seemed to know what he was doing, and behold, he did know what he was doing."

"There's still the problem of the entirely new Grimm that just used dust-based attacks." Ms. Goodwitch sniffed, "What if he'd been hurt, or he couldn't handle the monster?"

"If it was something unknown or something he couldn't handle, I'm sure the boy would've ran. He doesn't seem to be the type to pick pointless fights." Ozpin countered.

"That's a lot of faith for a boy who's barely 18 years of age." Ms. Goodwitch countered right back.

"Please, you and I both know age is not a tell-all."

"...Fine. But I have to insist that you pay more attention to the reports about the new Grimm now."

"Oh, I plan to. I'm sure that beast would've done quite a bit more damage if it hadn't been Mr. Auren fighting." Ozpin said, his eyes returning to the screen showing Auren traversing through the forest. He then took out his scroll opened some of the reports he had saved onto it before leaving his office that morning. He frowned in contemplation as he read them over.

In the mean time, the team leaders were also having their own discussion.

"I. Need. To. See. His. Weapon." Ruby declared to Jaune.

"Well I never want to fight what he just fought." Jaune sighed, ignoring Ruby, "I wonder if he'd wanna join my team?"

"No way! I want dibs on the cool weapon guy!"

"It's his choice! I mean, we have to invite him and all, but after that I'm sure he'll get invitations from everyone..."

"Hm...then, I'll just have to show him that Team RWBY is the best!"

Cardin Winchester was standing on his own, silently thinking about how he'd get the mysterious and strong transfer student to join his team. He could use some muscle like that, for sure.

At this moment, Ms. Goodwitch approached the team leaders, "You will be meeting Mr. Auren at lunch. It was originally supposed to be dinner, but seeing as how quickly his test has ended, we decided it would be best to get him sorted out as soon as possible. The footage of the test has been uploaded to all of your scrolls, go back and review it with your teammates, and decide if you would like to extend an invitation to Mr. Auren. Dismissed."

"""Understood!""" The team leaders replied in unison, dispersing immediately.

By the time Auren made it back up the cliff (he hated climbing), the team leaders were already gone. "Where'd the other students go?"

"They've gone to discuss your initiation and see if they wish to invite you to their teams. But first, I have some questions for you, Mr. Auren." Ozpin greeted him, "Oh, before that, congratulations on passing the initiation with flying colors."

"Thank you." Auren bowed slightly as a show of respect, "What'd you want to ask me about?"

"Have you seen that creature before?"

"The last one? Yeah. It looked like a Grimm version of one of the monsters you could find in the colder regions of my home. It's called a Barioth." Auren explained.

"It used ice elemental attacks on you, is that normal?"

"Hm? Yeah, all of 'em could use those attacks." Auren grinned, "Still predictable, even as a Grimm."

"You've hunted a lot them, I take it?" Ozpin took a sip of coffee from the mug that never seemed to leave his hand.

"You could say that. This armor is made up of Barioth parts." Auren gestured to himself, "I love it. Comfortable, cool, easy to move in."

"Understood. Last question for now. Do these look familiar to you too?" Ozpin handed his scroll over to the young hunter. On the screen were blurry pictures of Grimm.

"Hmm...oh yeah, that's definitely a Tigrex. Uh, that could be...yeah, I think I know that one." Auren concentrated on examining the pictures, "I think most of these are monsters I know of, Professor."

"I see..." Ozpin gave a thoughtful frown, "Mr. Auren, it seems you will need to not only act as a student, but as a teacher as well."

"...Eh?" Auren's eyes widened, "Um, I don't have any teaching experience, sir."

"Don't worry. You won't be asked to do anything complex. We just want you to talk about the monsters from your world, and how we could go about fighting the Grimm versions of them." Ozpin explained, "I'll come up with a cover story for you to follow. You will most likely be assisting a teacher named Professor Port in his Grimm Anatomy class."

"Well...if you say so..." Auren shrugged, he'd just have to do as he's asked, "I take it these types of Grimm aren't common or something?"

"I've never seen them before in my life. These pictures just came in in the past few days." Ozpin replied flatly, "Shortly before you arrived. The only one with any knowledge of them is you, Mr. Auren."

"...No pressure, I guess."

"For now, go back to your room and prepare for lunch. We'll have to get you into a team. The other first-year students will meet you at the dining hall."

"Understood."

"Ah, one last thing, we need to talk about how to explain your armor and weaponry in terms of Aura. That way you have a legitimate story for the other students. Let's talk on the way."

"Okay."

"To begin with, your armor is not a big deal since its just a more external aura barrier, but with your weapons..."

Team RWBY was currently in the middle of a minor crisis.

"No! We don't even know what he's like!" Weiss Schnee said, she was an upper-class girl who was heiress to the Schnee Dust Company from the Kingdom of Atlas. She had white hair and a matching white outfit. And she was also adamantly refusing Ruby's desire to invite the transfer student to their team. Weiss was small, only a little taller than Ruby, but she radiated a confident and knowledgeable aura, if not a bit snobbish according to others.

"But Weiss! He's good at killing Grimm, can't you see? And look at his weapon! It's like some kind of Aura-channeling transforming work of art!" Ruby whined in her childish manner. It's worth noting that Ruby skipped two years to come to Beacon, being 15 years old compared to a majority of the other first years, who were 17 years old.

"But he's still a stranger!" Weiss folded her arms indignantly, her rapier, Myrtenaster, shaking at her hip. Ruby just pouted, puffing her cheek out cutely. Even Weiss, who had a rough start with their miniature leader, had to admit she was hard-pressed to resist with such a face.

"Why don't we get to know him first? Aren't we eating lunch together?" Blake, a mature, dark-haired girl with amber eyes suggested. She was the calmest one of the group, quiet and withdrawn. She wore a black and white outfit, with a slightly out of place black ribbon in her hair.

"But he'll get stolen by some other team! I know Jaune wants to get his grubby mitts all over the new guy's weapons." Ruby squinted and wiggled her fingers for emphasis.

"His name's Auren, by the way. It says so right there." Blake pointed at the name of the video.

"Oh, you're right." Ruby and Weiss both looked where Blake was pointing, then looked at one another and shrugged.

"Regardless, we can't expect to work with a stranger all of a sudden while the four of us still need to improve on our own teamwork!" Weiss said. She had a point, but it only made Ruby more stubborn.

"Yang~~~! Help me out!" Ruby called out to her sister, a buxom blonde brawler with violet eyes, who was currently reading a magazine on her bed.

"He's good at fighting, right? Then no problems here!" Yang answered, yawning and reaching for a bag of chips, "Besides, he looks like he'd be fun to hang with."

"Looks? You can't even see his face!" Weiss protested.

"C'mon, you can tell from how he fights. He enjoys it. Plus, he's tall and manly." Yang purred, "And I definitely don't mind that~."

"You two aren't taking this seriously at all, are you?" Weiss groaned, "We can't just add people to the team just because you feel like it!"

"Everyone!" Blake stopped the repeating argument, then sighed in a chiding tone, "I think we should go meet the guy. But Ruby, and by extension, Yang, don't smother him. And Weiss, give him a chance. We haven't even met him yet. But Ruby should definitely be the one to invite him, since she's our fearless leader."

"Well, okay. But I really want him on the team." Ruby conceded, still making sure her already apparent stance was known.

"Alright. It's not like I have a grudge against him or something." Weiss followed suit with a mutter, rubbing her temples in consternation.

The girls all left to go to the dining hall together. Despite their quite different personalities, the team was actually shaping up to be one of the best of the year, and Ozpin secretly hoped that the skilled Auren would accept their invitation.

Auren felt kind of bad. It was only once he saw how little space was left in his guest room for 4 that he'd realized how much stuff he'd brought with him in the wagon. He gave a silent thanks for whoever was ordered to move his things, and then decided to send Ozpin a message.

In it, he requested that he could continue using the guest room even after receiving a dorm assignment in order to store his things. The request was immediately approved, much to Auren's surprise and pleasure.

He'd brought along a few weapons for each category of weaponry used in his world. With 14 categories, that meant he had a lot of weapons, made apparent by the fact that the space previously occupied by three beds was filled by school-provided weapon racks. He also brought along some spare armor sets and underclothing.

His signature blue item box was sitting in the corner, well, taking up most of the corner. In it, he kept all the tools and supplies a proper hunter should have, along with the ingredients to make more. Though, he hoped there was source of ingredients somewhere on Remnant, so he wouldn't be limited to what he managed to bring.

After taking inventory and making sure he knew where everything was, it was almost time for lunch. He'd been advised that wearing armor 24/7 was typically not normal at the academy, so he had asked for a set of casual clothing. In one of the dressers, he found an assortment of colored t-shirts and some pairs of jeans to wear. He changed into a plain white t-shirt and blue jeans. But the light clothing made Auren feel a bit exposed, so he decided to mix things up a little bit. He put on the coat from his Barioth X set of armor, without any of the external plating, making it look like a stylish overcoat. There were some hiking boots in the dresser as well, so he chose those over any of the pairs of greaves he had.

As for weaponry, he decided to stick his favorite pair of dual blades into his belt on his jeans. Dual blades were small and usable at close ranges, making them ideal for indoor combat. The two he selected were beautiful purple tanto with pink floral patterns, the name for the pair being Evening Dusk. Both were forged from the materials of a water serpent dragon called the Mizutsune, an elegant creature known for its ability to use slippery foam as both a form of offense and defense. Just like he had a soft spot for Barioth armor, Auren had a soft spot for Mizutsune weaponry. But he enjoyed them more as ornamental pieces, only using them if the situation called for a water-element weapon.

Now properly dressed, he headed for the dining hall. Upon entering said dining hall, he was immediately noticed by everyone present, which consisted of the other first year students. The first year teams had gotten together a bit earlier than the normal dining hall hours, so that they could talk to the transfer student.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, Cardin Winchester had already seen to it that most of the other teams wouldn't go after Auren. He wanted to make sure that the competition was thinned out, so he used the ancient tactics of intimidation and coercion to achieve his goals. Or in basic school terms, he bullied the other team leaders into giving up on Auren. Unfortunately for him, there were still people he couldn't influence, and Auren was immediately accosted by a small, energetic girl.

"Hey! Auren, right? I'm Ruby Rose. Nice to meet you! Your weapon is super cool!" Ruby said excitedly, before being dragged away by an annoyed Weiss. He was then greeted by Yang and Blake.

"What's up hotstuff? We're Ruby's teammates on Team RWBY, I'm Yang Xiao Long and she's Blake Belladonna. I'm also Ruby's sis. Don't worry! She's only this hyper half of the time." Yang introduced herself with a confident grin, with Blake nodding her head quietly. Yang took the opportunity to look the boy up and down now that she could see his face. He was quite a bit taller than them, broad-shouldered, and pretty good-looking. Not to mention he had a snazzy coat.

"Uh, I'm Auren." Auren replied, before realizing they were waiting for a full name. He quickly remembered the family name he and Ozpin decided to use for his records, the name of his hometown and the last location he'd seen in his world. "Auren Tanzia. Nice to meet you."

"We were wondering if you'd eat lunch with us. We saw your initiation, and we want to learn more about you, if you don't mind." Blake explained politely, "We normally eat with another team, called Team JNPR. They want to meet you too."

"I don't mind. Lead the way." Auren let himself be taken one of the tables, occupied by a certain Weiss who was scolding Ruby, and four other students. Auren vaguely recalled seeing Ruby at the cliff, meaning she was the team leader for Team RWBY, and he also remembered seeing the blonde kid, meaning that he was the leader of Team JNPR. But it was one of Jaune's teammates that started talking to him first. A ginger-haired girl with shining aqua eyes.

And boy, he had thought Ruby was energetic. He was wrong.

"Wowza, you're the guy with the exploding axe-sword-shield thing, right!? I'm Nora Valkyrie, great to meetcha! Listen, we think it'd be pretty cool to have you around, y'know. Since you can explode things and stuff, which is awesome, by the way. But it's your choice. So no hard feelings if you don't want to. But it'd make Jaune pretty happy. Oh, you probably don't know who Jaune is. He's the blonde guy with his head down on the table. I don't know why he's doing that. Hey Jaune! Are you okay? Well, either way, he's our great team leader. Do you know how teams work? You see-" Her machine gun barrage of conversation was cut off by another member of Team JNPR cupping her mouth shut from behind. He was a black-haired boy wearing a green oriental outfit, with bright pink eyes.

"Um, sorry about that. Nora can be a bit noisy, but she means well. I'm Lie Ren, nice to meet you." The boy said apologetically.

"Auren Tanzia. Likewise." Auren shook his head, clearing it of the jumbled mess from Nora he'd been trying to process, and took a seat by Ruby and Weiss while Blake and Yang settled in opposite of them. Next to them was Nora and Ren. To Auren's immediate right was a face-down Jaune, and the last member of Team JNPR.

"I'm Pyrrha Nikos. It's a pleasure." She introduced herself. Pyrrha was dressed in bronze colored armor, and had shockingly red hair in a ponytail, coupled with deep emerald eyes. She extended her hand over the face-down Jaune's back for a handshake. Auren returned the gesture, noting how firm Pyrrha's grip was. She was definitely a warrior of some sort.

As they began to dig in, Weiss finally finished scolding Ruby on how a leader should behave. The scythe-wielder immediately did a 180 in place and started talking to Auren.

"You didn't bring your weapon with you?" Ruby asked curiously, disappointment plain on her face.

"You dunce, you're not supposed to bring your weapon to the dining hall!" Weiss reminded her.

"It's not like anyone can see it. And I don't normally do this either, but I wanted to compare!" Ruby pulled out the folded form of Crescent Rose with a pout.

"Put that away! What if one of teachers saw you?" Weiss demanded exasperatedly. During this, Blake was silently eating, while Yang laughed cheerily and turned to a now frozen Auren.

"Uh, what's wrong?" Yang asked him.

"No one told me you shouldn't bring weapons into the dining hall." Auren replied, glancing around.

"But you didn't...?" Yang tilted her head, not seeing the sword and shield Auren used before strapped to his back.

"I brought these." Auren pulled out Evening Dusk, which had been concealed along with their sheaths by his Barioth overcoat, "I hope I don't cause any issues."

"Whoa! What are those!?" Ruby's eyes widened at the finely crafted daggers.

"Oh my God! Please stop taking out weapons in the middle of a meal!" Weiss's glare shifted to Auren, who apologized quickly. Ruby, however, had had her attention completely taken away by Auren's dual blades.

"How did they even make the metal look like that? It's so pretty! And both of them are really sharp, too!"

Auren couldn't help but feel a little pride at the girl's praise for his weapons. Not because he made them, that honor belonged to the Wyvernian blacksmith he frequented, but because he too shared an appreciation for well-crafted armaments.

"Thank you, I'm sure their maker would be proud to hear that." Auren said as he sheathed the blades, hiding them from view.

"What gives, shield-bro? I thought you used that transforming thing?" Yang asked.

"I use a lot of weapons. It depends on the situation and how I'm feeling. Probably more on how I'm feeling though, since I'm pretty good with all the different ones I brought." Auren replied.

"Regarding that." Blake spoke up, her meal now finished, "Where exactly did you come from, anyways? None of the teachers said."

"Oh, I'm from a faraway place called Schrade. I'd never even heard of Vale or the other major kingdoms until I left home."

"What? Never heard of the four kingdoms?" Weiss had a look of disbelief, "What kind of backwater are you from?"

"It is a bit of a backwater compared to here, huh?" Auren said, turning quiet as he thought about how different his world was from Remnant. He had a tendency to look serious when in thought, regardless of what he was actually thinking about. So while he was just amusedly comparing the little things between the two worlds, the girls mistook his silent thinking as a mournful reminiscence.

"Weiss!" Ruby hissed, "What if his home was attacked or something?"

"Yeah, not cool, Ice Queen," Yang agreed in a whisper.

"..." Weiss looked down, a bit ashamed, "Um, Auren? Sorry for insulting your home."

"Hm?" Auren left his thoughts and looked puzzledly at the heiress, "Don't worry about it. We didn't have a lot of the technology you all have."

Weiss had a relieved expression, and attempted to continue the conversation herself, "Ahem, it seems like you fought that ice Grimm before. None of us had seen that species anywhere in the world. Are they common where you come from?"

"Kind of." Auren had a script to follow for this conversation, designed by Ozpin himself, "Actually, the reason I came here was because Professor Ozpin found out that my home was plagued by Grimm that didn't exist in most of the outside world. But they've started to spread out, so I'm here to both learn more about the rest of the world, and teach you all about the special Grimm from my home."

"So that's why you transferred in all of a sudden." Jaune joined the conversation, having recovered from his initial embarrassment from Nora's out of control speech, "Did something happen at your home? Why'd they start spreading out all of a sudden?"

"Because...they need more prey to hunt. Not much left back there." Auren felt bad lying about this. He was pretty much implying he had suffered the loss of his home, and such a story would garner undeserved sympathy from his classmates. And he was right, the other students froze at his words, unsure of what to say. "Um, don't worry too much about it. Most of us just got sick of isolation, so we left together. It's not like we were massacred or something."

That did the trick. Everyone present relaxed noticeably. Auren had added on that last part of his own accord, but it was a harmless extra bit to his story. He gave a small sigh of relief.

A sigh that did not go unnoticed by one Blake Belladonna. She was a Faunus, people with animal-traits that lived alongside normal humans in Remnant. Auren had been informed about them, but Blake was hiding her cat ears underneath the ribbon on her head. Those same ears had picked up on Auren's sigh of relief. Blake frowned, but decided not to pursue the problem, for now at least.

"So I know we've been kinda hogging you this whole time, but you wanna join Team RWBY? Or Team JNPR at least," Yang suggested, figuring now was a better time to ask than any.

"I'd be glad to join one of your teams." Auren replied, "But I'm not sure which to choose."

"You're better off joining my team." A new voice sounded from behind them. Everyone turned to see Cardin Winchester, looking as smug and confident as ever.

"What do you want, Cardin?" Pyrrha spoke up first with thinly veiled hostility. She was pretty sure Cardin had been bullying Jaune recently, and though today hadn't been bad due to the stir caused by Auren's arrival, she was sure the peace wouldn't last.

"Nothing at all from you, just came to see the new guy." Cardin clapped Auren on the back, "Name's Cardin Winchester. I'm the leader of Team CRDL. We could use a strong guy like you on our team. We're seriously aiming for the top, not like little red riding hood and Jauney-Boy here."

Ruby gave an indignant shout, while Jaune had been looking at the floor since Cardin first announced himself. Auren immediately frowned, his brow furrowing. He didn't like the way this boy was talking. It reminded him of how some of the washed out senior hunters would sometimes talk to the greenhorns at the guild.

"I'm sorry, I've already decided on either Team JNPR or Team RWBY." Auren politely declined.

"Aw, don't be that way. We're cool, you'd fit right in. Jauney-Boy knows, right?" Cardin clapped Jaune on the back too, making the blonde sputter.

"Y-Yeah, they're cool and friendly." Jaune agreed hesitantly in a low tone. Everyone at the table looked at him in disbelief.

"See? Give it some thought. Let me take you over to meet the guys." Cardin attempted to make Auren stand in a friendly manner, but he found the young hunter glued firmly to his seat.

"I already gave you my answer," Auren said flatly, growing more irritated.

"Well let's go say hi at least." Cardin tried to make Auren stand with some more force, grabbing him by the arm. But Auren replied by grabbing Cardin's wrist.

"That's enough." Auren shot his own glare at the bully. But he hoped it wouldn't escalate into a fight, since he had little experience fighting other people. Luckily, he remembered something an old hunting partner of his had told him.

"Auren, you look super scary when you're focusing on a hunt. I thought you were gonna kill me or something." Apparently Auren's face was terrifying when he hunted monsters, something most people don't notice unless his face was exposed by whatever headpiece he was wearing at the time. He could only hope this trick would work on Cardin.

Auren focused on Cardin's face, imagining that the Grimm Barioth was right there. He remembered all of its moves, the way it acted, and the sounds it made. He prepared himself mentally as if he was about to fight it for real. His heart rate rose, he could feel his body tense up, as if it was ready to react to anything the Barioth could do. He didn't know what kind of expression he was making, but Cardin released his arm, and grew a bit pale.

"You'll regret this later. My team's the winning team." Cardin spat, before turning and fleeing back to his team.

"Wow, good job." Yang commented, "That prick got scared just by you looking at him."

"I wanna break his legs!" A now-released Nora declared.

"Um...sorry guys, I just remembered something I have to do." Jaune suddenly stood up, turning to Auren, "You should join Team RWBY. You'll do good with them."

With that, the blonde left them.

"I'm going after him." Pyrrha said as she watched him leave, standing up to follow.

"Me too!" Nora declared.

"Excuse us," Ren said to Team RWBY and Auren, before turning to follow Nora while shaking his head.

The table lasped into silence as Team JNPR left. Auren was the first to speak up, "I'm sorry. It looks like I ruined your lunch."

"Hey, don't worry about it big guy," Yang reassured him, "Team JNPR will be just fine. As for Cardin, he's the one that ruined lunch, not you."

"Yeah. He's a big jerk!" Ruby added helpfully. Blake and Weiss nodded in agreement.

"So, you joining Team RWBY or what?" Yang asked.

"If everyone is okay with it," Auren nodded, "I'd like to join Team RWBY."

"Yay!" Ruby nearly jumped with happiness. She turned to Yang, who gave a thumbs up. Then Blake, who nodded approvingly. And lastly Weiss, who rolled her eyes, but gave a curt nod. "Welcome to Team RWBY! Can I see your weapon collection now?"

At this, Ruby's teammates facepalmed, while Auren smiled.

Hunting with these girls was going to be interesting.