A/N: With any luck this will be the last chapter this short. I would definitely like to see much longer chapters. So here is an update on the update schedule. I'm shooting for a monthly update schedule in order to have more time to build more content. I'm also extremely interested in hearing what you guys think of Hound as a character. Let me know in the reviews!

Chapter 3

The first day at a new school. Those words can fill anyone with dread, even if that school isn't the single most prestigious school for those who protect our world from the monsters of this world. That's why I was wide awake before any of my team, imagining in great detail every conceivable way that I could mess today up and become the laughing stock of Beacon for the next four years, just staring at the ceiling as Blake, Weiss, Yang and even Hound remained blissfully unaware of the turmoil that racked my angst ridden teenage soul! What if at the end of the day I didn't just embarrass myself? What if I just wasn't good enough to be at Beacon? I mean the others had a full two years on me, and they were amazing! How could I be as good as them?

Rolling over to check my Scroll, it becomes painfully obvious that if I want to have a fair shot at a shower before class my woes will have to take a backseat. Creeping out of my bed so as not to wake the golden haired shower hog, I notice Hound still in the chair from the night before. It's really not fair that he had to sleep in that chair, I mean it can't be comfortable for anyone. If any of us deserve first dibs on a hot relaxing shower, it has to be the guy who's muscles must be in agony from getting dropped into a strange new world and forced to sleep in an armchair.

Sure in my new goal, I tip toe over to the red chair and reach my hand out to gently grab the black cloth jacket. "Mr. Hound, the shower is open if you wan-" I never get the chance to finish as suddenly my world is flipped over and I find myself staring upwards into eyes that hold only a mix of confusion and ruthlessness in equal measure, as well as a crushing weight in my throat as Hound kneels on it to keep me from crying out. It takes a second to notice the feeling of cold metal pressed against my forehead from one of the pistols I noticed from last night. Somehow, in the state of panic, my brain decides to focus its attention on the now discarded book lying next to my head. Maybe it's just trying not to focus on the fact that I'm about to die.

I can see in greater detail the black binding with gold scratches that looked familiar from my brief look at Hounds journal, but what really catches my eye is the strange symbol that looks like a city crossroad viewed from above, with the same gold embroidery. It only takes an eternity disguised as milliseconds for understanding to enter Hounds eyes and him to stand and roughly pull me to me feet.

"Don't ever startle me." He says in a conversational tone, as if he were politely refusing a dinner invitation. Then in a kinder tone, "Still, I'm sorry for that, just a bit tense from the last few days. Won't happen again." Then proceeded to calmly stroll into the bathroom and shut the door.

My legs chose that moment to give out and I collapsed, shaking, into the arm chair that...HE had just left. I can hear my heart pounding in my ears as tears sting at my eyes. With a look around the room, it becomes obvious that the others haven't even been disturbed by what I had thought a commotion. I can hear the shower start running and that's when I can't hold in the quiet sobs any longer. I've never been so scared in my life and he could have killed me, in my own room with my big sister sleeping right next to me, and through it all was the crushing feeling that I couldn't do anything to stop it. Worst of all was the knowledge that on some level, he was right. I mean I'm at a school for warriors, of course you shouldn't sneak up and startle people like that and I could already hear Weiss and the others saying just that if I told them. But they hadn't seen the way he looked at me! Like I wasn't even a person! As if killing me would have been no more difficult a decision than what to eat for breakfast.

How could I make it through Beacon with a monster like that on my team?