Chapter 3

Today has been full of odd happenings for our redhead, Ruby. At first it was all good, spending time with Luffy, shopping at her favorite store, even stopping a robbery. Then it went downhill as the both of them have been dragged over to the police department by Glynda for what seems like an interrogation given the room they're in.

All it had was a single table, a few chairs, and a lone lamp hanging above to bring light to this silent space. The only sounds that can be heard were the clicks of the huntress' boots as she paces the room and her cousin sitting next to her... sleeping.

Glynda stopped pacing to cast her gaze at the snoring boy with narrowed eyes. She walks up to him with her riding crop at the ready, and snaps it on the table. This seems to do the trick as Luffy sprung awake with tired eyes.

"Wake up! This is not the time to take a nap young man!"

she snaps at him with a tone of anger The boy doesn't seem to realize the situation he is in.

"Huh, is it time to eat yet? I'm so hungry, I can eat a house made out of meat right now."

Luffy whines while trying to shake the sleep off.

Glynda scowls at the lack of attention and seriousness he is displaying. She brings her attention to the both of them and starts scolding them.

"You realize that your actions today endangered the lives of innocents."

She states in a harsh tone.

"They started it!"

Ruby countered.

"Yeah, they pulled a gun on us!"

Luffy continued with the counter argument. So naturally, they had the right to defend themselves from the threat.

Although it escalated from defense leading up to stopping the thieves.

"If it were up to me, I would send you home with a pat on the back... and slap on the wrist!"

Glynda said as she snaps her weapon on the table again to emphasize her point. This rewarded her with a small 'eep' from Ruby and a blank stare from Luffy.

"However, there is someone else that would like to see you two."

She continued with a calmer expression

"Oh, you mean the one hiding behind the door?

Luffy asks Glynda with a curious look.

She raises a brow out of her own curiosity of how he would know that there was someone behind the metal door at all.

As if on cue, the door to the room opens up to reveal a middle aged man with gray hair, spectacles over his thin brown eyes, along with sharp facial features. He wears a black suit with a green undershirt that goes with his dark green pants and scarf, and a pair of black shoes.

He brings with him a food cart holding a plate filled with cookies and another piled with a vast assortment of meats, much to the duo's delight. A coffee mug can be seen in his hand, as it practically never leaves his grip.

The delectable food was placed on the table in front of them, gesturing them that it was theirs to consume.

"Ruby Rose" the man starts off "... you have... silver eyes."

Ruby, for her part, just tries to avoid his gaze at the awkward comment. Luffy finished up his snack as this was going on, much to the shock of Glynda.

The plate of meat had a lot more to it than the cookies, yet he consumed it in mere moments.

She could only chalk it up to an insane metabolism

"Ahhh... that was good! Thanks old man, at least you give me food. That mean glasses lady wouldn't even let us eat before coming here."

Luffy says with a sulk aimed at Glynda, who narrowed her eyes at him.

"This old man is Ozpin!"

She interjected bitterly.

Now this insolent kid before her is showing total disrespect to others, how much worse can he be?

The man, now named Ozpin, gave an amused chuckle before getting to point of his visit.

"Now before we get sidetracked, where did you learn to do this?"

He asks while pulling out a tablet sized scroll and showing the video feed of the fight outside the shop.

There were several clips showing key points of the fight itself, some of Ruby's scythe wielding skills and the majority showing Luffy's variety of abilities.

For the most part, he needed to know about the enigma that was Luffy.

They both take a look through the video, each with their own thoughts.

'Huh... didn't know there were cameras around the place.'

Ruby pondered.

"Cool! You watched us take out those jerks with this thing!"

Luffy said voicing his own thoughts on the matter.

Ruby left her train of thought and answered "Uh... Signal Academy."

She knew who he was, but still wondered what brings him here, much less ask such a question to a couple students.

"They taught you how to wield one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed."

the gray haired man replied with mild interest.

"Well, one person in particular."

She says, and then remembers that there are still cookies to be devoured. So she picks one up to take a bite, only to slaughter the tasty treats, just not nearly as fast as Luffy.

During the consumption, she realized that he retrained himself from eating them before she could get one.

'I guess he can be a bit thoughtful at times.'

She thought gratefully. Normally Luffy would devour everything in sight before you could blink.

"I see... there was just one other person I know that showed that level of skill. A dusty old Qrow?"

He inquired.

The pair's faces adopted a look of realization as they knew who he's referring to. Ruby couldn't speak coherently with her mouth full of cookies, but Luffy was able to respond.

"Eh! You know about my dad!"

He shouts in shock and surprise. His dad never said anything about any friends, so he was a bit shocked at the revelation The adult's eyes widened at the statement.

Glynda decided to speak up "Wait, you're saying that man is your father?"

She knows of him as well, but never expected this, especially from an alcoholic. Luffy nodded his head in confirmation.

"Really? I never knew he actually had a son."

Ozpin said in a tone that showed he was just as surprised. He couldn't believe he was kept in the dark about something as important as this, even from an old friend.

Perhaps the thought of telling slipped Qrow's mind, he wouldn't know, but he would need to get in touch with him about their fateful meeting.

Ruby finally swallowed the goodies and muttered an apology for rude manners and then decided to speak on Luffy's behalf

"Well, not exactly... Luffy was adopted. They're not related in any way. But yeah, that's my uncle. He's a professor at Signal.

she softly points out for them to clear the confusion the adults held.

"So by law, that makes you both cousins?"

Ozpin guessed, only to receive a reply in the form of thoughtful looks from the two.

"Not exactly. I'm not related to uncle Qrow either, so I guess cousins-in-spirit."

Ruby explained with uncertainty.

"Anyway, I was total garbage before he took me under his wing, and now I'm all like WACHA!"

she explained by doing silly hand gestures with Luffy chuckling at her antics.

"I've always wanted to be like the heroes from the story books that my family reads to me. So I thought 'Hey maybe I can make a living out of helping others'. So that's why I wanted to be a huntress, to help those that can't do it for themselves."

Ruby finishes her story as she casts a glance at Luffy with a saddened expression.

'Among other things.'

She solemnly thought, memories of a certain tragedy coming to mind.

The two adults see the sullen expression, but decided against prying on the matter, as it looked like something personal.

Ozpin heard enough answers from one potential candidate, now to question the other individual's strange abilities and his motives, assuming he is also in Signal.

"Now then mister..." he starts while trying to get the name of the straw hat boy.

"Oh, I'm Luffy."

he answered the unsaid question with a toothy grin.

"... Luffy, could you take the time to explain these peculiar abilities that you have shown thus far?"

Ozpin inquired, trying to get a grasp on the boy's strength. The actions he displayed on screen were something that truly intrigued him, as this was the first time seeing it.

"Hmmm... It'll be hard for me to explain really well, but I know someone who can."

Before they can ask what he meant, Luffy activated his semblance. This time with a light purple glow on his hand that looks like a symbol of a tome.

"Memory Bond: Archaeologist"

Now that he has access to Robin's vast amount of information about his old world, he can answer some questions with more clarity rather than give very vague ones. Chances are that he may not need it, but he'd feel better off utilizing her knowledge than relying on his own.

He is going to put his trust in this man and give him the full version of the explanation, since he has basically offered tribute in the form of meat.

This was the bond he would go to when he needed to do schoolwork in Signal, which is how he's sort of passing the classes Even with all that intelligence, he can only be very smart as far as common academics.

But when faced with subjects that are only existent in Remnant like aura manipulation and dust, it's not that much help since Robin was never in this world to learn about it, which Qrow had to tutor him for.

"Yosh, now I can answer those questions, Ozzy."

Luffy said in a tone of confidence.

Ozpin and Glynda shared questioning looks as they ignored the new nickname, as if they did not notice any changes. Ruby catches on to this and decides to explain the event.

"What you're seeing is his semblance. It allows him to bond his own memories with the other spirits inside of himself. So he becomes smarter in certain subjects when he does this. The symbol on his hand is proof that it's been activated."

She explained, not wanting to reveal to them that Luffy is the incarnate of a powerful pirate and the said spirits being his old crew .

As much as she trusts Ozpin, it wouldn't bode well to tell them that piece of info. Besides, it was hard enough for her to wrap her head around the unbelievable subject.

Ozpin lets out a hum for the explanation, as he is curious as to what these 'spirits' that she mentioned are but decided against asking. If they didn't tell him that, then it was either a very well kept secret or only known to only family and a select number of trusted individuals, with the latter being more than likely as Luffy doesn't look like he can hold a secret and the fact that Ruby knows of it.

Unbeknownst to them, no matter how much Luffy searched, there seemed to be one crew member missing, so he only has seven possible memory bonds. He doesn't know what this could mean or why it's like that, but it still aggravated him that his crew is left incomplete.

"'Memory Bond'... and you categorize them based on occupation. So far, you have shown 'Navigator', and now 'Archaeologist'. But why bond with that one specifically?"

Glynda inquired after she concluded some of its workings.

It would explain the thunderbolt he created since navigators are supposed to be familiar with weather patterns, but how does a scientist of history help answer questions that hold no bearing to the distant past.

As if reading her thoughts, Luffy elaborated "My friend, Robin, may be into history, but she's by far one of the smartest people I know when it comes to a lot of other things."

In all honesty, Robin was more of a scholar, but she still considers herself an archaeologist.

'So these spirits have names. They must've existed at some point in his life. Given how he knows them that well, they must be really important to him.'

Ozpin pondered, scanning for any little details to paint a better picture. Being in a position of political clout gives him the experience to do such things with ease.

Luffy takes the scroll and skims through the videos, trying to figure out a good starting point. He stops at the video that shows him stretching his limbs.

"So, that would be me using my devil fruit called the Gum Gum fruit. It turned my body to the point that I'm made of rubber, although I lost the ability to swim forever."

Luffy started off. The two adults raised a brow in surprise of the drawback. He gets a bizarre power, yet the only payment is that he can't swim from now on?

"The devil fruits come in three types: Paramecia, Zoan, and Logia. Paramecia are the ones that change your body like mine or affect the area around you like creating doors and such."

"Zoans are the ones that give you animal traits like being a leopard or a reindeer."

"And then there are Logia which turn your body to an element of nature itself like fire or light."

He starts off with the more easily explained matter, since he had this sort of ability as long as he can remember.

He then points to the three different videos, showing his blackened arm, dodging attacks with very little effort, and the sudden knockout before they reached the roof.

"All of those things were from Haki. It's this sort of power that is in all living things, but we don't even notice its existence since it comes from your own will. There are three different types: Observation, Armament, and Conqueror."

Luffy said.

The two didn't show it, but they were beyond shocked that there's another power that any person could learn. But why was it that no one else has it?

"Observation lets me sense the 'voices' of other living things as well as see an attack before it is made, even if it is out of sight."

"Armament is pretty much like wearing armor over yourself to mostly protect yourself or hit harder, but its not like this Aura you use since it's created through willpower."

"Conqueror Haki is the rarest type that only a small number of people can use, but it allows you to exert your will over others. If they are very weak, then they fall unconscious. But there are times when it is resisted or ignored. Is that all the questions you have? Using my semblance can be exhausting and I get a headache with all this thinking."

Luffy was never one to think really hard on anything, so whenever he talks, he tends to voice out whatever thoughts he had at the moment.

"I'll try to keep this brief. When you say you can't swim, does that just go as far as deep water or are there other limitations? Where can one get a devil fruit in the first place? And this 'Haki' you mentioned, since it comes from your will, can anyone else learn it "

Ozpin said with incredible interest.

In all his years, he only heard odd things that are going on in the other kingdoms, so maybe the two are connected in some way.

Meanwhile, Glynda was stuck in her own train of thought

'These Zoan devil fruits sound a lot like the faunus.But as far as I know, the faunus have shown that they can swim.'

The professor gathered

Ruby for her part was stifling a giggle from Luffy having to deal with all the questions. At least they are off the subject about Luffy himself.

Surprisingly enough, neither made mention about the odd occurrence of Haki or Devil Fruits.Even though they might have their suspicions, they also seem a bit open minded.

Luffy was in the middle of racking his head as he organized the inquiries, though he appears to be straining if his red face scrunched up in thought were any indication. After he finally got his thoughts together, he replied.

"Okay, while we can't swim, if we're in shallow water then we would get weaker. I got my devil fruit from this salesman, but he never told me how he got it. And yeah, anyone can be trained in Observation and Armament, but not Conqueror, it's just that people die so young before they can use it."

he sighed after the strenuous effort of mental activity.

Ozpin rubs his chin as he puts the info into memory, not at all disturbed by that last comment on Haki. The mention of the salesman piqued his curiosity, questions of where this man came from exactly or why he's giving out these fruits were coming to mind.

He's done with the poking and prodding, but has one last question.

"Now, you don't need your semblance for this question and this will be the last one, I assure you. Why do you want to be a huntsman, what is it that you search for?"

Luffy lets out a sigh of relief for the fact he can deactivate his semblance, which he did already, and that he gets to go home soon.

"I want to be a huntsman for freedom. If I become a huntsman, then I get to explore the world and have a lot of adventures with my friends. Then there are those mission things that send you out to kill Grimm. Becoming a huntsman means more freedom to me, and I am going to be the one with the most of it. But with these Grimm around, they are trying to take not just mine, but everyone else's freedom to see the world."

he said with a tone of determination and ambition.

There doesn't seem to be any pirates or One Piece in this world, even though he found it.

Now that he completed his first dream, he can make another, so why not become someone that can explore the vast reaches of the planet and pave the way for humanity to expand civilization.

The four kingdoms, in a sense, are like a cage to those that live in them. They keep people in because the dark beasts prowl around outside of their walls. Luffy couldn't stand the thought of being confined, feeling suffocation due to the small amount of freedom you receive

Ozpin smiles at the innocent reason for taking on an occupation that risks your very life. The boy looks like he knows that, but doesn't care as long as he's with his friends and follows his dream. He also has a peculiar way of looking at the threat of Grimm. Ozpin has all the info needed, and has come to a risky decision, but it's a risk he is willing to gamble on.

"Aside from my name, do you know of my position?"

He asks, this time with Ruby answering.

"You're the headmaster of Beacon, the school we are trying to apply for."

she said softly.

Luffy looks at Ozpin with wide eyes, clearly not taking the time to remember people he has never met before. The middle aged man smirks as he is about to give an offer to the two.

"Would you like to join Beacon this year? I feel that your current education would only be a waste of your time, when you can nurture your talents further in a more challenging environment."

At their current level, he believes they can handle the difficulties of Beacon's courses, even if they are more challenging.

But that's what makes growing wondrous, being able to overcome obstacles in the face of adversity.

The two teens beamed at the proposal and looked at each other in excitement. They both nodded their heads confirming their individual consent then turned to face Ozpin.

"We would love to go!"

Ruby said in uncontrollable glee. This was like a dream come true for her, it almost didn't seem real.

Ozpin casts a glance towards Glynda, who gives the look that says that she will go along with this.

"Well then, we will see you in Beacon."

and with that Ruby and Luffy were free to leave the room.

Once it was just the two adults, Ozpin spoke up "That young man... I can't help but feel like he is going to bring a big change in this day and age."

he said to no one in particular. Glynda just stayed silent, not understanding what her superior is thinking.

***********************************

Outside the police department in the middle of the night, Ruby was jumping for joy at the thought of being scouted by the headmaster himself, while Luffy wore a mile wide toothy grin on his face.

"I can't believe this is happening! We just got into the academy that we always wanted to go to, all thanks to that robbery we stopped!"

she said with the ever present cheerful tone. Luffy was just laughing at the sight of the hyperactive teen next to him.

"Yeah that was awesome! Now we get to go with Yang and have more fun with her around. She's probably home by now, lets go tell her about it. Oh, and since you got to eat cookies and I got meat, I don't have to bake cookies anymore."

Luffy said as he thought about the two hanging with his other cousin, Yang, who happens to be Ruby's half-sister.

Ruby looked to him in shock at the comment about her cookies.

As the duo walked to the harbor facing Patch, Ruby realized something about skipping ahead two whole years and slows to a stop.

"You know, this means that we would be leaving our friends at Signal. It will be just us three and a bunch of new people that we never met."

she said with a somber tone. Their friends at Signal won't be able to come along with them, and they would be surrounded by strangers older than the pair.

Luffy stops in his tracks upon hearing this and looks down in thought, Ruby notices this and can't help but feel guilty at raining down on their parade. After a few seconds of silence, Luffy looks back at her with a smile.

"It's not like we're abandoning them, they'll be with us soon enough after they finish Signal. And with new people means we can make new friends, so it won't be as lonely."

Luffy said with great enthusiasm in his voice.

As sad as it is to leave them, it would not be a true goodbye since he is certain they'll see them again. Besides, they can forge new friendships with the students of Beacon, and then eventually the two groups would unite. Ruby smiles at him, thankful for the reassurance before she looks at the time with eyes widened.

"It's 10:30 already! Aww, we are so in trouble. We better hurry home, can you get us there with how much Aura you have left?"

she asked, since it would be much more faster to use Luffy's method of transportation rather than a bullhead or boat, and they don't want to be anymore late to get back home for what would now be a late night dinner.

"Eeeeh! We were there for that long! Then what are we waiting for, get on my back Ruby!"

Luffy said in a panic as the red head complied and climbed up to his back.

He briefly enters the navigator bond to get the right direction towards Patch, and then stretches his arms to the top of a building in his path.

" Gomu Gomu no Rocket " he shouts as he pulls the two over the building and into the sky at high velocity. Luffy then proceeds to access a different bond, this one with the symbol of a frying pan.

"Memory Bond: Chef"

Sure, Sanji was known as the chef of the crew, but Luffy needed him for something else at the moment.

"Sky Walk"

Luffy kicks the air itself like it was an invisible stepping stone, to the point that it looks like Luffy is running through the air. He can only do this as long as there is the memory bond with Sanji, which also depends on if he has the Aura to keep it active.

Even if he just proved to have the leg strength to perform it, he doesn't understand how to do it himself.

Right now after about ten minutes of constant air kicking, they are in the middle of the ocean between Vale and Patch.

Ruby takes in the breathtaking feeling of the wind blowing by with her cloak billowing along. She relaxes a little but keeps a firm grip so she won't fall off, mesmerized by the vivid scenery flying by her until she caught sight of Patch.

"There it is... whew, I thought you were gonna run out, but I guess we'll make it."

Ruby said as she was relieved to be back.

She then noticed the symbol's glow getting dimmer with each passing second, only as far as about fifty meters from shoreline until the symbol disappeared completely. Ruby blinked as her eyes were wide dinner plates and turns to her human airplane.

"Uhh, please tell me you didn't just run out of Aura."

Ruby said while sweating bullets as they lay suspended in the air, above the ocean.

Luffy looked down to see his known weakness and calmly tells her with a smile glued to his face "Yep! I ran out, so you're gonna have to swim the rest of the way. I'm sure you can make it."

Just like that, they start their rapid descent to the sea while they are comically crying and screaming their heads off. The force of the crash when they hit the water separated Ruby from Luffy. She tried to call out to him, but regretted it as she clamped her lips shut when she lost some air and resurfaced.

"*Gasp*... Luffy!"

Ruby shouted in panic before taking a deep breath and diving straight down.

With expert ease she reached Luffy and looped her arms under his before ascending with him in tow. The rise was slow as the ocean fought against the two.

On her own, she'd like to say that she's a strong swimmer. Give her an extra person to carry however, then it's not as impressive.

Her lungs began to ache when she broke the surface with another gasp. After regaining control over her breathing, she then proceeded to swim to shore with two slightly heavy weights, one being Luffy and the other her Crescent Rose.

After reaching shore, she crawled out of the water completely drenched and placed Luffy down on the sand next to her.

"*Cough*, *cough*...*cough*, that was a close one."

Ruby said while panting between breaths and spitting out any water in her system. With two weights pulling her down, she had inhaled a bit of water during the swim.

She moves over to her cousin and presses her hands on the center of his chest, administering CPR. Since Luffy can never learn to swim, Ruby and the rest of her family had to learn these procedures just in case this sort of problem happened.

It didn't last long as Luffy moved a little. With a sudden jolt, he sprung up and spewed out the liquids harshly Ruby sighs in relief for saving the boy from drowning.

"Whew, that was a close one. See, I knew you can do it."

He said casually with a grin as if his life was not in mortal danger.

"Geez Luffy, it can be such a pain towing you around sometimes. Anyway, lets just get to the house before we catch a cold."

Ruby said in a slightly annoyed tone. As much as it bugged her, it was a problem that couldn't be helped, so she's not so mad over it.

The duo stood up and began their trek back to the house so they can tell everyone the incredible news and pack up their belongings for Beacon Academy, not knowing the trials that await to challenge their ambition.