Catatonia

"Wow…" Muttered an awestruck Ruby as she took in the entirety of Beacon. "It certainly is a sight isn't it." Arthur said also taking in the sight of Beacon, a sight he never thought he would see in person.

"Ruby" Arthur said as he tapped her shoulder to get her attention causing her to turn around. "Look." He said as he pointed at a man's collapsible staff causing Ruby to squeal in delight as her eyes started to shine as she also saw someone with a fire sword.

"Easy there, little sister. They're just weapons!" Yang said as she got a derogatory stare from Arthur and a berating from Ruby on how weapons were extensions of ourselves, ending her little speech by fawning over more weapons she was seeing.

"Well, why can't you swoon over your own weapon? Aren't you happy with it?" Yang asked as Ruby transformed Crescent Rose from its compact state to its scythe state as she started talking "Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose! I just really like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people, but better…"

"I have to concur with Ruby on this. People are nice and all but they have a tendency to… lie… whereas just looking at some ones weapon you can come to understand them more than a simple conversation." Arthur said agreeing with Ruby.

"Oh, and what do my weapons tell you about me then" Yang asked as she brought out her Ember Celicas and cocked them.

"Sleek, Simple and packs a punch" Arthur said bluntly his words causing a vein to bulge on Yangs forehead as she cracked her neck causing Arthur to freeze as he rephrased his sentence "Sleek, Beautiful and packs a punch?" getting a wide smile from Yang as she returned her Ember Celicas to their inactive state. As she said "Well… Anywaysmyfriendsareheregottagocatchupkayseeyabye!" as she dissapeared almost as fast as ruby along with four other indescript people.

"Well, that happened…" Arthur muttered under his breath as he watched Yang disappear into Beacon, but was startled as he heard a large crashing sound behind him sending him jumping as he turned around to see Ruby lying amidst multiple cases she had accidently knocked over.

"What are you doing!?" Berrated a girl with white hair put up in an off-centre pony tail style. This girl of course being the Ice Queen, Weiss Schnee.

"Uh, Sorry!" Ruby yelped as Weiss retorted "Sorry!? Do you have any idea how much damage you could have cause?" only to get a confused "Uuhhh…" from Ruby as she picked up one of the cases only for it to be snatched by Weiss.

Opening the case Weiss brought out a vial of red Dust and explained about it and that it was mined at a Schnee quarry while simultaneously flailing the vial around causing Ruby to sniffle from the particulates of Dust she was breathing in.

Knowing what was about to happen Arthur took one large step back as moments later Ruby sneezed causing an explosing of Fire, Ice and lightning to encapsulate Weiss covering her in soot that soon disappeared without a trace.

"Unbelievable! This is exactly what I was talking about!" Weiss shouted as Ruby began frantically apologizing. Finally deciding he should step in Arthur said "I believe that is enough, I believe Ruby has apologized enough for that incident." He said trying to defend Ruby only getting a contemptive glare from Weiss as she continued "Do you know what could have happened!? Someone could have been killed!"

"Probably, but then the blame would go to you for bringing in large quantities of Dust in unsecured containers that, if you didn't notice, were throwing dust at Ruby causing her to sneeze leading to what just happened. So in the end Princess, it falls to you for not securing your Dust properly" Arthur stated getting a an even angrier glare from Weiss.

"It's heiress, actually" Said the black haired girl he had been waiting for "Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." The girl Arthur knew as Blake Belladdona stated.

"Finally! Some recognition!" Weiss said as a smug grin came to her face.

"The same company infamous for its controversial labour forces and questionable business partners." Blake added getting chuckles from Ruby and a light smile from Arthur.

"Wha- How dare you- the nerve of… Ugh!" Weiss said as she grabbed the Dust vial from Blake's hand and stormed off. Ruby shouting that she will make it up to her as she left. "Welcome to Beacon…" Ruby muttered downtrodden as she turned to thank the other girl only to see her speaking with Arthur before walking away. Just then Ruby saw a hand appear in the corner of her eyes as she turned to see a blonde haired boy holding his hand out for her.

"Hey… I'm Jaune" he said as Ruby took his hand and stood up as she introduced herself "Ruby… Aren't you that guy who threw up on the ship?" She asked.

"He is…" Arthur said as he returned to Rubys side but noticably taking a step away from Jaune.

"Look all I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!" Jaune argued, trying to make his motion sickness seem like it was a bigger problem than it actually was.

At this point Arthur had shut himself off from the conversation as he began to look around inspecting Beacon with fascination in his eyes at the place he never once thought he would visit himself. Even if it would be a brief visit if he didn't prevent Beacons downfall in the future.

"…thur…Arthur!" Ruby called out, snapping Arthur out of his contemplative daze

"Hmm, oh Ruby, sorry I was thinking, did you need something?" Arthur asked

"We were wondering if you have any idea where we're supposed to go, we may have gotten a little side-tracked…" She said as she scratched the back of her head and giggled.

Looking around Arthur saw a large building to the side where he could seen people entering "I'm guessing over there" he said as he pointed towards the large dome shaped building.

____________________________________________________

Entering the auditorium Arthur froze as he stared into the large crowd in a panic, taking deep breathes in an attempt to calm his mind as he closed his eyes. "Arthur? You okay?" Ruby asked seeing the evident panic on his face.

Opening his eyes Arthur looked towards Ruby with tired, blank eyes as he said "I… don't like crowds…" getting a sympathetic look from Ruby as she said "I'm the same, there's too many people, I feel like I'm always being watched. It's really unnerving"

"That's not it… I don't want to talk about it…" Arthur said avoiding Rubys questioning gaze at the first part of his sentence.

"Ruby! Arthur! Over here! I saved you spots!" Yang shouted from the centre of the crowd once again causing Arthur to freeze as he stared blankly at Yang's location with dead, emotionless eyes. "Oh! Hey, I-I gotta go! See you after the ceremony!" Ruby said as she turned towards Jaune. "Arthur? You coming?" she asked him seeing him not reacting "Arthur. It's okay, just follow me" Ruby said as she grabbed Arthurs hand and pulled him towards Yang, his grip getting tighter and tighter the further they went into the crowd.

"Oh, Already holding hands now are we?" Yang asked as she noticed Ruby pulling Arthur along, not seeing his blank stare. "It's not that he has a problem with crowds. Look he's completely out of it." Ruby said as she waved her hand in front of Arthurs blank white eyes, not even getting a blink from her. "Do you think we take him to a nurse or something?" Yang asked getting no in reply as Ruby explained he should be better once they were away from the crowd.

"Anyways, apart from dead eyes here. How's your first day going?" Yang asked getting an annoyed glare from Ruby in return as she muttered "I exploded after you ditched us, I literally exploded, there was fire and I think some ice…?" Yang replying with a wide smile and saying "Are you being sarcastic?"

"You!" shouted Weiss as she appeared behind Ruby causing her to jump and yelp "Oh, God it's happening again!"

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!..." Weiss berated as Yang muttered "Oh, my God, you really exploded…".

"And you! How dare you say I don't know how to handle Dust! I followed every procedure perfectly!" Weiss said turning towards Arthur not getting a response from him at all which just annoyed her even more "Hello? Anyone in that empty head of yours!?" she shouted still not getting a response from Arthur.

"Leave him alone!" Ruby shouted before Weiss turned back towards her and held up a pamphlet labelled 'DUST for dummies and other inadequate individuals' in front of Rubys face who asked "What's this?". As Weiss began her speech on how the Schnee Dust Company takes no responsibility for injuries or damages.

"Uuhhh…?" Ruby muttered not quite knowing what to say. "You really want to start making things up to me?" Weiss asked immediately saying "Read this, and don't ever speak to me again" before Ruby could say anything they could hear the microphone being prepped on stage as Professor Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch walked on stage. With Ozpin beginning his speech.

"I'll keep this brief. You have travelled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." Leaving as he finished his speech with Glynda taking his spot behind the mic and explaining that all the students will gather in the ballroom for the night before initiation begins in the morning.

"Also, Arthur Fielder. Please meet with me by the headmasters office. The headmaster wishes to speak with you. That is all, you are dismissed" Glynda finished as she quickly left the stage.

"He seemed kind of… off" Commented Yang not getting a response from Ruby who was staring at the still catatonic Arthur.

"Ruby?" Yang asked as she turned to look at Ruby. "I'm worried about him Yang, he hasn't moved at all…" Ruby commented, "I'm going to get him away from the crowds, maybe he will get better then".

"I'll come with" Yang said as she followed Ruby who was still leading Arthur by the hand away from the crowd towards a bench on the other side of the yard, successfully getting him away from the majority of the crowd.

Sitting Arthur on the bench turned to Yang and asked "Now what?" to which Yang just shrugged her shoulders "Shake him maybe?" she suggested getting a small nod from Ruby who began to shake Arthur as if trying to wake him from sleep "Arthur? There's no more crowd, It's okay" she said not getting any response from Arthur.

"It's not working, What now?" Ruby asked trying to figure out how to awaken Arthur. Yang was also trying to think of something, soon something came to her mind and she told Ruby to step away. Raising her hand Yang swiftly brought it down slapping Arthur across his cheek sending his head to the side. "Yang!" Ruby yelled as she ran over to Arthur to see light slowly returning to his eyes.

"Arthur!" Ruby asked as she stared into his eyes that had now regained their normal clarity as he held his cheek. "Ooowww..." staring at Yang in blame causing her to shrug and say "Hey you weren't waking up from your little trance there" her words surprising Arthur.

"Oh" Arthur said as he lightly bowed his head to Yang "Thanks then" before Ruby asked him "What was that? You were just gone, you didn't even react when ms.Goodwitch called your name, not even shaking worked"

Arthur not really wanting to talk about it tried to avoid the question by asking "What did ms.Goodwitch want?"

But instead Yang answered him "Oh, no you don't. answer Rubys question she was really worried about you." It took Arthur a few second before he let out a large sigh as he began to explain.

"Do either of you know what Catatonia is?" getting a "Nope" with a popped P and a shaken head from Ruby.

"Well, it's a medical condition where the body shuts down becoming immobile for some it also manifests as the loss of speech, for me I get both of these as well as my mind shutting down preventing me from seeing or hearing anything." Arthur explained

"So you have this 'Catatonia' thing then?" Yang questioned.

"Yes, but in all reality my catatonia is a side effect, or I guess you call it my minds way of protecting itself." Arthur elaborated "You see, catatonia isn't something you just get, there needs to be a reason for it, all mostly related to sicknesses of the mind." Arthur said as he leaned against the backrest of the bench and stared off at the shattered moon. "Bipolar disorder, Post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, schizophrenia. These all could cause the manifestation of what you just saw."

"And what do you have then?" Yang asked getting a punch on her shoulder from Ruby but she quickly waved her off as Arthur answered her. "Post- traumatic stress disorder… P.t.s.d, and honestly I don't really want to talk about it…" his eyes starting to go blank a gain but was stopped when he shook his head to get rid of the memories. "So, please don't ask." Getting a sad nod from Ruby while Yang just stared at him before releasing a light sigh.

"That's okay, you can tell us when you're ready. We should get going, Yang needs her beauty sleep." Ruby commented with a slight mocking under tone that didn't seem to faze Yang as she instead replied with a chipper "You know it."

Feeling that he was holding something soft Arthur looked down at his hand and saw that he was clutching to Rubys hand like a vice. Quickly releasing his hand Arthurs face flushed slightly as he said "Sorry!" while Ruby started to clench and unclench her hands trying to get blood flowing back into it before turning to him and smiling.

____________________________________________________

"That boy is not well. If he falls into that state while in combat it's a death sentence not just for him but for his team mates as well!" Glynda argued.

"Yes, it would be. But it seems that those two girls were able to bring him back." Ozpin commented as he watched Ruby and Yang quite literally knocking him out of his trance.

"Even still. He is still a danger to himself and others! I cannot endorse this, it's too dangerous "

"That he is, but I believe that he can overcome it. Once he can do that, then we can see how far he can go…"