5 Ch 4: Reprimand or Interview? (1)

"I hope you two realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly. You put yourselves and others in great danger." Glynda scolded as she prowled around the twins. After they had let the criminals escape, Glynda had dragged Ray and Ruby off to the Vale police station. The twins now sat side by side in a small, dark interrogation room beneath the sole light source, enduring Glynda's rant as she worked herself up for what promised to be a scathing scolding of epic proportions.

"They started it!" Ruby protested, trying to head off their impending doom.

"That's a child's excuse, Ruby. Miss. Goodwitch, those people tried to mug us. Our actions were completely justified in the name of self-defense." Ray said, seemingly unperturbed by the situation.

"I just said that..." Ruby murmured sheepishly, lowering her head and sinking lower in her seat.

Glynda's sole response to their excuses was to pause and shoot them both, but mainly Ray for his smart mouth, a stern glare. Her look made Ruby nervous but only seemed to amuse Ray, which caused Glynda's eyes to narrow before she returned to her stalking and scolding.

"If it were up to me, you'd be sent home… With a pat on the back…" Ruby perked up hopefully, and Ray's right eyebrow raised in skepticism hearing this.

"And a slap on the wrist." Glynda snapped her head around to face them suddenly and swung her wand-crop down with a smack barely missing Ruby's hand as she jerked back with a squeak. Ray just smiled wryly at the play being acted out before him by the concerned teacher as he reached out to pat Ruby's head, calming her down.

"But… there is someone here who would like to meet you both." Glynda continued with a sigh. With that, she moved out of the doorway, revealing a grey-haired, middle-aged man carrying a plate of chocolate-chip cookies in one hand and a cup of steaming hot cocoa in the other as he calmly walked in. The man wore an unzipped black suit, with long dark-green dress slacks, over a dark-green, buttoned vest and green shirt with a green cowl around his neck, accented by a small purple cross-shaped pin. Hazel brown eyes peeked out from behind dark spectacles giving the impression of being able to see through everything. Both Ray and Ruby immediately recognized this man as Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy, the legendary academy for training Huntsmen and Huntresses in the Kingdom of Vale.

The Kingdom of Vale, in the eastern half of the central continent of Sanus, was one of the four kingdoms that ruled over Remnant. Each kingdom had one school for Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training to complete their advanced training, after they had finished their basic training at one of the many primary combat schools, before being sent out to hunt Grimm.

The Creatures of Grimm, or simply Grimm, are the monsters of Remnant. They are soulless, literally, creatures of destruction that feed on the negative emotions of people. Born mindless beasts, Grimm instinctually seek out settlements to spread death and destruction so that they may feed on the negative emotions generated. As Grimm age, they grow not only in size but in intelligence as well, becoming more cautious in their actions after having learned that killing people will only bring more in an endless cycle that can only culminate in their death. While all Grimm have glowing red eyes, a bone mask with red markings over their skulls, and pitch-black hides covered in bone-white plates and protrusions, they come in various forms mostly resembling that of common animals. Flying in the sky, walking on the ground, swimming in the oceans, the Grimm infest all of Remnant and are a constant threat to all of the planet's inhabitants.

"Ruby Rose…" Ozpin said, bending down to stare into Ruby's eyes.

"Rajeev Rose…" he moved to stare into Ray's eyes now.

"You two… have silver eyes…" Ozpin said mysteriously, looking back and forth between the two of them.

"Uh um," Ruby stumbled over her words, not sure what to make of this man she was meeting for the first time but had heard so much about. She glanced over at her brother for help, but his only response was to frown slightly, take out a pair of aviator sunglasses from his inside jacket pocket, and put them on.

[That's not being mysterious. That's being creepy. Not the best first impression, old man.] Ray thought to himself as he evaluated the second player in Salem's game from behind the cover of his sunglasses. A dim golden glow began to shine in the depths of Ray's right eye but went unnoticed by the others in the dark room, thanks to his sunglasses.

"So! Ruby. Where did you learn to do this?" Ozpin suddenly straightened and asked, gesturing with his head at the Scroll in Glynda's hand that had been expanded to tablet size and was currently playing a recording of Ruby and Ray's street fight from earlier.

"S-Signal Academy." Ruby answered with a nervous smile, unsure of where this was going.

"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" Ozpin pressed, staring at Ruby over the top of his spectacles.

"Well, one teacher in particular."

"I see…" Ozpin finally took a seat across the table from the twins and set down the plate of cookies down in front of them.

Ruby looked at the cookies and then back up as Ozpin before slowly reaching out for a cookie like a small, scared animal. Reaching the plate, she quickly grabbed one and stuffed it into her mouth. Ruby paused for a moment to chew and gauge the adults' reactions. Seeing nothing wrong, Ruby let out a quick smile before she proceeded to use both hands to scarf down cookie after cookie. Ray leaned forward to rest his elbow on the table and his cheek on his fist as he just watched his adorable sister, her cheeks puffed out like a squirrel, eat with a smile.

"It's just that I've only seen one other scythe-wielder of that skill before. A dusty old crow." Ozpin reminisced. Ruby mumbled something incomprehensible around her mouthful of sugary goodness in response to Ozpin, spraying crumbs everywhere in the process.

"Ruby." Ray lightly scolded, "Look at yourself. You're making such a mess". Ray reached out with a handkerchief to wipe the crumbs from around her mouth. Ruby's eyes narrowed into crescents of pleasure as she innocently rubbed her lips and cheeks against her brother's handkerchief.

"*Cough* Sorry, that's my Uncle Qrow!" Ruby apologized and clarified, her mouth now empty and clean.

"He's a teacher at Signal! I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. And now I'm all like-- Hooowaaah! Witchaaa! Hoooooow" Ruby got more and more excited as she spoke, climaxing in her trying to show off her awesomeness at the end with sound effects to accompany the made-up martial arts stances and moves she jumped up to demonstrate.

"So I've noticed." Ozpin replied with a blank face, not showing any reaction. Ray just closed his eyes and shook his head at his sister chunibyo actions.

[It's fine. Cuteness is justice, and Ruby is the cutest.] Ray's sis-con mentality was in full force as he silently watched his sister make a fool out of herself with a smile.

Ruby noticed her twin's patronizing smile and sat back down with a blush, prompting a loving head pat from Ray, which caused her blush to deepen. Ruby lowered her head to hide the smile tugging at her lips.

"And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?" Ozpin pressed on, trying to ignore the toothache he was starting to get from watching the sugary atmosphere between the twins.

"Well... I want to be a Huntress." Ruby sat up straight and became serious again.

"You want to slay monsters?" Ozpin questioned, his fingers steepled before him. He stared deep into Ruby's eyes, searching for the deeper meaning behind her words.

"Yeah! I only have two more years of training left at Signal! And then I'm going to apply to Beacon! You see, my sister's starting there this year, and she's trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress 'cause I wanna help people". Ruby began to talk faster as she started getting excited talking about the career she had always dreamed about.

"Our parents always taught us to help others, so I thought, "Hey, I might as well make a career out of it!" Hehe." Ruby's small laugh marked the end of her self-control as she began to talk even faster and her voice rose an octave.

"I mean, the police are alright, but Huntsman and Huntresses are just so much more romantic and exciting and cool and, *gaaahh* you know!" Ruby was panting slightly at this point from excitement. She looked between Glynda and Ozpin excitedly with a fervent, pure, excited gleam in her eyes, having barely maintained enough control to not jump out of her seat again.

"Hmmm…" Ozpin turned his attention towards Ray.

"And you, Mr. Rose?"