RWBY:Rascal

Animals are very nice friends: they don't ask questions and they don't criticize. 

George Eliot 

The office of the vice-principal of Beacon Academy. 

- Hmm..." Glinda frowned as she fumbled through the student files until she snagged two and set them aside separately. 

The woman sipped from her tea cup. Almost everyone on the faculty was a coffee drinker, but she had enough stress and nerves that she didn't want to put an extra load on her body with it. Besides, she didn't like the taste of coffee, unlike tea. Her gaze slid back to the pending paperwork.

- Hmmm... - a new thoughtful hum and a new sip. 

The picture wasn't adding up. This "sabotage" in the dormitory... Who? Why? Why? What was it arranged for? Ozpin at her words habitually brushed it off, "children should have childhoods" was the usual and expected response. But such carelessness after the attack on Amber was simply unacceptable! Seemingly harmless childish prank operation was, however, carried out at the highest level. There were no cameras in the dormitory itself, but in the surrounding area. Only there was nothing suspicious on the recordings. No, it was someone from the "legal" inhabitants of the hostel, those who had the right to be there. But... why? That was the question that kept coming up. And "how?" - and "how? And this question narrowed the circle of suspects. She dismissed the Academy's employees at once - they were all simple humans and fauns with no skills or physical training. 

Besides, most of them spent most of their time in the service rooms, where the cameras were. Of course, she checked the newcomers as well - unfortunately, the turnover among the staff was very high: ordinary people, frankly speaking, were mostly afraid of the Hunters. Of course, if they accidentally met on the street or in a cafe, civilians did not hurry to run away with cries of panic, but few people wanted to visit the "favorite places" of their defenders. It was understandable, too - when Aura users who got into a quarrel could blow up a neighborhood as if it were a full-fledged urban battle with the use of police assault units, mere mortals would be uncomfortable. What to say about the Academy, where more than a hundred such Hunters are trained? Sometimes she envied James and his ability to enforce iron discipline... well, not everywhere and not everyone, but Atlas was a barracks compared to Beacon.

Glinda shook her head and took another sip-now was not the time to regret her refusal to become Ironwood's deputy, and she couldn't leave Beacon; the suspicion that without her everything would fall apart was growing stronger and stronger every day and every year, confirmed by many examples from her own life. We must get back to the investigation. So, there were only three newcomers, and the dormitory building that night was visited only by a young technician. She hadn't been too lazy to call the head of HR and question him further, but as expected, no oddities or problems. Clarence was somewhat nervous, but that was no surprise - a simple civilian technician, and her reputation was rather formidable, so there was nothing she could do about it.

Mr. Asgard's credentials matched his position, and his skills, as the camera recordings showed, did as well. To diagnose a complex piece of equipment, identify a malfunction, and restore everything by morning, while remaining for rework, without filing a claim for reimbursement for that very rework - very decent behavior, combined with professional competence. Goodwitch noted to herself to write a small bonus to the young specialist - such an approach was worth encouraging.

Except that was where the good news ended. She still couldn't find anyone "from the outside", the staff had nothing to do with it either, which left the students. Two particular students, to be exact. Several dozen people, including upperclassmen, had been subjected to the mauling. Most of the students simply wouldn't have the skills, as it required opening a door, walking up to a sleeping Hunter, and marking his face. The vast majority of her students could only "open" the door by kicking it open. And sneaking up on even a freshman wasn't the easiest task, and here we were talking about dozens of such sneaks. It would have to be an extra-class professional. She knew the older students well - they hadn't had anyone even remotely suitable since her own time and the STRQ team, and those... weren't exactly suitable either, but hypothetically, they could handle it. Senior year. Unless Ozpin was exaggerating their talents - Crow and Taiyang didn't inspire confidence in their skills, even if that impression was completely false, Raven was just the door-kicking type, and Summer... Glinda smiled sadly, remembering her high school friend *(1), yes, that quiet girl theoretically could. But not the students of the current generation. Except... The woman slid her gaze over the folders again. 

Blake Belladonna. Former elite White Fang operative. Specializes in stealth and infiltration. Oh, the things she said to Ozpin when he approved her as one of the applicants. Yes, the girl did seem to have severed ties with the past, but... anything could happen, and it would be foolish to relax in light of the recent attack. Also, by a strange coincidence, there were no fauns or teams that included fauns at all among those who had been drawn. Of course, this could be due to the more acute feelings of these same fauns. Even a freshman student is hard to sneak up on, sleep sensitivity is one of those skills drummed into kids as early as prep school. There are too few Hunters in the world, too often they have to act alone or in small teams, and sleep close to the grimm, with all the risks that entails.

The faun hunter has a literal animal instinct, and therefore the task of sneaking up on him becomes almost an order of magnitude more difficult. So we have to wonder: the fauns were not "painted" because of the complexity of such a move or it was done for ideological reasons? Besides, the question of "why?" hasn't gone away. What's the point of Ms. Belladonna organizing all this? On the contrary, she tries to attract as little attention as possible, even hiding her ears under a bow. Nevertheless, the girl's skill level could allow for such a diversion. And she was worth keeping an eye on, just in case.

The second suspect was far more...ambiguous. Jaune Arc..... Ozpin, studying her and Ms. Nikos' advancement, was smiling strangely at something, sipping his horrible coffee, but at that moment what it was that amused him so much, Glinda had no time to find out - she had other things to do. Coordinating the covering up of potential freshmen professors, for one. Teenagers could be overconfident at times. Or some were just unlucky, but that didn't mean they had to be gobbled up by the grimm. Yes, such candidates won't get into Beacon, but even without that they have Aura and some training, and so the police, emergency services and many others will gladly accept such applicants into their ranks. Besides, she's a Huntress and should be protecting people from grimms, not throwing them off a cliff for them to eat, then sipping coffee and watching the kids get away with it on the Scroll! Well, afterwards Ozpin would just smile and say that "Mr. Arc has great potential."

That's a very controversial statement. Jaune Arc was... suspicious. No, not that, he was Very Suspicious. Excellent credentials, references, his pre-entrance test was a mere formality - old man Klim simply stamped "excellent" and quietly allowed him to take the jump test. Of course, it was against the rules, but when it comes to Hunters, a lot of things are turned a blind eye. The same Taiyang told me that he had a lot of problems with Signal teachers because of his behavior, which nevertheless did not prevent him from knocking out the examining teacher and knocking him out. So there were no questions about the "excellent" student.

Until the first time he went out for a practice fight. Jaune Ark had no sword skills. Nor did he have any hand-to-hand combat skills. And there were such gaps in his "school" knowledge that it was strange how he could even read. He was ridiculous, clumsy and naive beyond belief. That was his main failing. He was too ridiculous. Too clumsy. And too naive. It just doesn't work that way, and Ozpin clearly knew something was wrong with Mr. Ark from the start. And did nothing, moreover, wrapped up her offer to expel such a "weak" student with forged documents. But then what was the result? Jon Arc is not what he seems to be? However, to portray such an inability to wield a weapon, one must either not really wield it... or be a true virtuoso of the blade, like Crowe, who waves his weapon as if in a drunken frenzy trying to ward off a fly visible only to him, but at the same time somehow "quite by accident" manages to destroy his opponents on an industrial scale.

But such a young guy? Yeah, and it didn't explain why the headmaster was turning a blind eye to Ark's other 'oddities'... Ridiculous, clumsy... yes he has only... With a snap, the picture came together. Yeah. Clumsy. Awkward. Socially awkward. So it's no surprise that this guy was able to easily befriend Ms. Rose, an equally socially awkward girl. And his ridiculousness served as a good defense against Ms. Xiao Long, who would otherwise have gone all kite on any guy who thought of approaching her sister. And the fact that the principal was turning a blind eye to Mr. Arc's weirdness and his fake documents... Didn't he make those fake documents for him himself? Yes... that explained everything. The last of the Silver-Eyed Warriors needed a protector, or better yet, a cover team, so that the story of Summer would not be repeated. And a team that included a swordsman of Crow Branwen's level, an Invincible Champion, a person who could hide from the grimm with her Manifestation, and a versatile "heavy" fighter... yes, it was almost the perfect cover. It's all too coincidental for a mere coincidence. Ozpin. 

Glinda shook her head, the old wizard had too many secrets and was in no hurry to share them even with his closest associates. Oh well, even though it was a bit of a shame, she was no longer a naive girl and realized that in much knowledge there were many sorrows. If the headmaster wants to provide security for Silver-Eyed, who could quite possibly become the new Maiden of Autumn, without drawing too much attention to the fact of this security, then let her. And though it's not exactly... correct, they don't have much choice. The enemy is strong and capable of anything. Besides, Mr. Ark seems to really sympathize with Miss Rose, though a personage of that level... who knows. But Glinda trusted the Headmaster, and if he trusted Mr. Ark enough to put him in charge of Taiyang's daughter, she would trust him, too, turning a blind eye to a number of... "strange" moments in the young man's behavior.

True, none of this explained why he would paint the faces of his classmates, and then also lead the laundering process... though... yes, to show them that he could be a leader, to command in an abnormal and difficult situation, to accustom others to following his commands. Though... the way chosen was rather eccentric, but... quite in the spirit of Ozpin, Glinda had to admit.

"And even if I were to tell the Headmaster directly and demand an answer, he'd just sip his booze and smile... eh," Ms. Goodwitch set aside the student files.

But while the calculations were logical and true, there were too many assumptions. She'd have to take a closer look at Mr. Arc, since she couldn't ask the organizer of all this directly. Perhaps we could give him some extra lessons? There's a good reason for it, and there... in the course of training... it's unlikely he'll be able to pretend to be a completely incompetent person for any length of time. Most likely, Ozpin is an experienced and wise man, so it can be assumed that he has found an excellent agent. The main thing was that he should not be like Crowe - she couldn't stand two Branwens.

Still, back to the problem of the incident, Ms. Belladonna was not to be dismissed out of hand either. Perhaps it was indeed a plan of Jon Ark to show leadership without showing strength, but it could also have been just a prank of the former White Fang operative. The fact that she had given up her criminal path didn't mean that she had given up her grudges as well, and in this way she could take out the accumulated negativity. A little revenge for big offenses, so to speak. No matter what one says, cats are as vindictive, cunning and able to pretend complete non-involvement as anyone else. If we think in this way, the quiet and calm character of Miss Belladonna also looked suspicious for a person who chose the path of armed struggle and became one of the best fighters of the movement. Perhaps it was also a mask hiding an adventurous and thrill-seeking nature. Well... in this case Glinda also knew what to do - if children had the energy and time for such antics already in the first days after admission, it was her teaching duty to make sure that this energy and time was spent with real benefit!

It was decided that additional lessons would be assigned not only to Jaune Arc - let them better spend their energy on team building than on making a mess in the dormitory!