Noble-Prodigy

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Requested By : Polemoduke

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Ozpin reclined in his seat at the back of the teacher's meeting room, watching the rest of his staff settle back into their seats after their break, and took a long drink of his cocoa. It was warm and fresh, and made the small, sterile feeling office room a bit more homey. If only just. Most of the rest of the staff had their own drinks to the same ends. Small comforts, while they did their jobs and tried to ignore the staleness of the rarely used staff room, built far out on the campus, close to the cliffs so they could all watch the incoming hopefuls' Initiation.

And, after, to name the teams that they formed.

"You look absolutely overjoyed." His Deputy said as she sat down, meeting his eyes with a raised brow that asked, clearly, "That bad?"

"Merely a…" He sighed, "A few miscalculations, on my part."

"How so?" She asked, quietly enough that the others - mostly distracted by Port narrating footage of the Deathstalker the young hammer-wielding Mistralian had lead her cadre against - didn't hear. "I know you hoped for Miss Nikos, Miss Rose and Mister Arc to pass. Did you have other plans in mind?"

"I did." He nodded, "But… Well, the smallest bit of randomness, the slightest risk someone does something to cause a problem, and it's bound to happen, I suppose."

"...They picked the wrong sets of Relics." She sighed, "Didn't they?"

"Yes." He sighed morosely, "They did."

"Oh, by the Gods, Ozpin." She sighed, chuckling knowingly under her breath. "How big were these plans, then?"

"Miss Schnee and Miss Belladonna would have-"

"Been a disaster!" Glynda scoffed, shooting the man a confounded look as if he'd just suggested she seduce a Beowolf. "A F-" She hissed and lowered her voice, "A Faunus and ex-Fang militant on a team with the Schnee Heiress?!"

"They would have taught each other much." He defended tersely, pursing his lips and tapping a finger on the rim of his mug amusedly. "How not to judge books by their covers, how to overcome entrenched prejudice-"

"And how to hide a body." Goodwitch cut in, "Oh, yes, very good planning indeed."

"Well." He scoffed, "Don't I feel judged."

"As you should!"

"But it would have worked, I'm certain of it." Miss Schnee was young and impressionable, but from what his research had shown, rather ambivalent towards the Faunus in general. All her dislike, he felt, was very much just parroted words and implanted feelings. "Perhaps they can room nearby… And a friendship might come about naturally."

"Ozpin…"

"What?" He raised a brow, "Do you not want me to believe in my students?"

"Good Gods…" The Deputy Headmistress rolled her eyes and turned to the others, clearing her throat to get their attention - and dodge his question, he didn't doubt. "Now, if we're all ready and settled in, shall we get to it?"

"Of course!" Port, as ever, opted to raise his voice and speak for the group. "What else were we waiting for but you two, whispering in the corner as ever? Ah, sweet, sordid nothings, hm?"

"We were hardly whispering." Goodwitch, as always, couldn't help but rise to the man's baiting. Ozpin himself found it hard to resist chuckling at the woman's scowl, and then he nodded apologetically when she seemed to somehow sense it and turned to him, eyes narrow. Turning back to the others, she went on, "We were discussing team formations. And how disappointed Ozpin was that his preferences were, as always, ignored."

"Sadly, yes."

"As they likely deserved."

"Ah." He grimaced theatrically, hand to his heart. "You wound me."

"Mhm." She rolled her eyes, "Shall we start with the simplest ones, then?"

"Winchester's group." Oobleck nodded, frowning deeply, "As loathe as I am to allow a group like that to exist… Well, Winchester himself is the best leader amongst them. Anyone else, and they'll spend the year fighting. Or the decision will simply be irrelevant, and Winchester will seize leadership."

"And without access to our leadership courses." Port nodded, "Not a good prospect, I'd say. Not good at all."

"Indeed." Ozpin nodded, pursing his lips and sighing wearily. It was also an unfortunate team formation, if for very different reasons than the other two, but he could only really make the best of it. As with so many things. "Team CRDL. Cardinal. Lead by Winchester, for as grand as that will be. Oobleck, I trust you can… Tailor your lessons?"

"Challenge his prejudices?" Ozpin nodded and the historian returned it. "I can. Though, given the nature of his bigotry, I won't need to introduce many changes. I already prioritize what is viewed as 'controversial' matters of history to challenge such notions in our future Hunters."

"It's settled, then." He nodded, moving on with a sigh. "Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc, Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee. They fared well enough against the Giant Nevermore they encountered-"

"Whose presence I still intend to thoroughly investigate." Goodwitch cut in, eyeing Port meaningfully. "Especially as a certain someone was supposed to have cleared out such creatures."

"They fly, Glynda." Port defended weakly, "I can hardly put a dome over the bloody forest. Now can I?"

"And the Giant Deathstalker?"

"That…" The man raised a finger, mouth open to argue before he sighed and shrugged tiredly. "Alright, that one I will own up to. I didn't check the damn caves, and should have. But no one died!"

"And we're all fortunate that is the case." Ozpin sighed, leaving aside which of them would have been sent to answer the Council's questions if someone - Miss Schnee or Miss Nikos especially - had been killed. Even if most of their concerns would have been disgustingly political. Shrugging the luckily avoided idea off, he went on, "Miss Schnee, doubtless, has been taught at least the logistical aspects of leadership already."

"Only in the business world."

"Doesn't that apply well enough here? At least for a start." Port asked, "She'll have a mind for logistics, so managing team supplies will come naturally."

"Management isn't leadership." Goodwitch argued simply, "A simple market manager has similar lessons, at the very least in principle. They would be poor leaders, however. And in the short time we have observed her, Miss Schnee seems…"

"Domineering." Ozpin offered gently, "Controlling. She doesn't need to learn to command, she has been taught to presume command and authority by virtue of her name. Giving it here would only reinforce a litany of negative beliefs she may hold."

"Putting someone she would doubt in place would do similar…"

"Not Mister Arc then." Ozpin frowned - he had high hopes for the young man. Mostly without any rationale, admittedly, but… His instincts told him he would go far. And he'd shown a lot of out of the box thinking just getting his 'authentic' application through the door.

Something he might have to ask him about, sooner or later.

"No." Goodwitch agreed, "Not him. And Miss Rose is too young, Miss Schnee would never accept her."

"That leaves one option." Port pointed out quietly, "They will have to be-"

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"-lead by Pyrrha Nikos." Ozpin declared suddenly, making her heart seize as every eye in the audience - and through the dozens of cameras she could see scattered around the auditorium, hanging over the crowd of students, staff and visitors. She shot the man a look and he met her gaze, smiling knowingly, and went on, "She will lead her team, team PRWJ, Prodigy, in their tenure at Beacon. May we all wish her the best of luck."

"M-Me?" She gasped, heart racing, "B-But I'm not-"

"You're one of the best fighters here, Pyrrha." Weiss argued quietly, waving to the crowd - and the cameras, more pointedly - and smiling primly in the same manufactured way Pyrrha had been. "No one can doubt you. Who else could they possibly have picked?"

"I… See…" She frowned, "B-But-"

"Hey." Her new partner said, laying a hand on her shoulder and smiling when she turned to him. "Don't worry. You'll do great, partner. I trust you."

"We trust you!" Their youngest shouted, bouncing past her partner, who squawked an admonition, and wrapping Pyrrha in a hug, face pressed into her side while she bounced and squealed. "Ohhhhh, we're gonna be the best team at Beacon! I'm so excited!"

That, at least, made her smile.

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"With that settled," Goodwitch sighed, "we turn to our last First Year successfuls."

"Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna."

"The Faunus girl?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow and Oobleck chuckled, sipping from his thermos and shrugging his shoulders simply. "I see the bow, Headmaster. Out of everyone here, presently, I am intimately familiar with Faunus' fears, and how they meet them. Ideally, Headmaster, you will allow me to approach her for therapy…"

"I already did." Ozpin sighed, shaking his head wearily. "She refused. She 'doesn't want to be outed accidentally', in her own words. And, while I can't share much, due to our agreement, I will say she has a number more concerns than your average Faunus."

"I suppose she would." Port rumbled, crossing his arms and humming quietly. Thoughtfully, even. "Belladonna… Now there's a name even I can pick out of a list."

"You have concerns?"

"Only of the Fang related variety…"

"Just because she is a Faunus-"

"That is not my point, Bart." Peter growled, "And you know it, I should hope."

"Bias is often implicit." The historian smiled gently, "Even I trip up on it, often enough. It does your character no harm to consider it. Her nature and her nurture are both irrelevant. The Headmaster would never allow a true terrorist into our Academy."

"Never." He nodded, smiling warmly at what he could, at least, call a success out of everything at the moment, "She has her past, true, but… Well, she came to me after foiling a Fang plot to kill quite a number of people. I won't spell it all out, of course, as they aren't my stories to tell. But I believe she wants nothing more than a chance to escape her past, to better herself."

"Even if it could be a ploy…"

"Your faith, as ever, is uplifting, Glynda."

"Mhm." She rolled her eyes, "You have faith, I'll have data."

"I'll keep an eye on her." Port offered the Headmistress with a sigh. "Subtly, of course. As always."

"You do have a way of leaving your students' eyes glazed over and tired…"

"Why thank you very much!"

"Not a compliment." Goodwitch sighed, folding her hands on the table and turning to Ozpin with a frown. "Regardless of your 'faith', I definitely recommend against the young lady for leadership. Not only because of her past and security implications therein, mind you."

"Oh?"

"If she is running from all of that…" The Headmistress frowned, face more… Sympathetic, suddenly, than ever. "I just feel like the weight of leadership isn't something she needs right now. Whatever is lurking in her past, she should face it on her own time. Being bogged down by all of this…"

"It would be unfair." Ozpin nodded, "I agree with you, Goodwitch. Who do you recommend, then?"

"I would like Lie Ren as a leader." Goodwitch pursed her lips, "He is level-headed, calm under pressure, and from the special exams, smart enough to handle catching up with his peers and leadership. But, well…"

"He's too quiet." Port offered, "I watched them, along with Bart, and, well… His partner seems to lead him 'round by the nose, more often than not. His attention is almost solely focused on keeping her out of the worst of her troubling impulses."

"Does that not speak to his abilities to come into his own?"

"Perhaps." Ozpin nodded, "But his meekness poses problems of its own. A leader has to be able to stand apart from their team, to command and inspire all around them. Tell me, Headmistress, do you believe that Lie Ren is that person in this formation?"

"I…" She sighed, "No. Perhaps in the future, but he is not the most promising among them."

"Miss Xiao Long perhaps, then?" Oobleck offered, reclining in his seat and tapping a finger at his chin as he thought, "She's a powerful combatant, an excellent academic by her records, and charismatic enough. She could fare well."

"Her background shows her attending many of her sister's functions where a parent would otherwise have." Goodwitch added, humming appreciatively, "Their mother- Sorry, mothers are absent, so she likely has a good head for this line of work. And the drive to handle it, too."

"True, but…" Ozpin sighed and shook his head, "Scroll down, Headmistress. To the bottom."

"The…" She flicked across the screen of her Scroll a few times until she seemed to find what he meant and frowned. "Is this… A legal release?"

"She demolished the better part of a bar." Ozpin nodded sadly, "The owner agreed to not press charges so long as she was kept away from his establishment and, well…"

"So long as she isn't made a team leader." Goodwitch frowned, "Why would he make that sort of demand?"

"I believe he's a criminal, and feared that she would use that authority to push her team into causing him trouble." Ozpin sighed, "Hence the lack of lawsuit. Regardless, she and I both signed onto the agreement. And he won't need to worry over law enforcement in his bar if we violate it."

"Oh. Oh no…." Goodwitch sighed, already sounding absolutely exhausted, And for good reason, he would wager. "That just leaves…"

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"Nora Valkyrie." Ren blinked, eyes widening as a bit of uncharacteristic panic suddenly shot right up his spine. The woman behind him practically flinched at her name, as if she expected, on instinct, that she was in trouble. Before the Headmaster smiled and, seemingly realizing what was happening, she started to very nearly vibrate on the spot excitedly. "She will lead team NYBL, or team Noble, consisting of her team-mates Lie Ren, Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna. I sincerely wish you all luck."

"Reeeeeen."

"No." He blinked, staring straight ahead and standing oh so perfectly still as she bounced out of place and in front of him, clapping her hands excitedly. "No, no, no, no-"

"I'm literally the queen of the castleeeeee~!" She cheered, leaning forward to peck him on the nose and grinning. "And first decree iiiis! Pancakes every morning."

"No, no, no, no-"

"Oh, c'mon." The blonde chuckled, laying her arm on his shoulder as the crowd's clapping and applause rose, and the lights brightened for the end of the ceremony. "Can it really be that-"

"Yes." Ren sighed, just as Nora nodded sagely, arms crossed. "It really can be that bad…"

"Now, we just need a teeeeeeam uniform!"

"Oh." Yang blinked as Blake tried to escape slowly, before the ginger-haired girl shot forward and caught her in a princess carry, powerful arms ignoring her kicks and squirming as she turned, grinning ferally, back to Yang. "Oh no…"

"Oh yes!" Nora cheered, "C'mon, time for dessssiggggn wooooooork!"

"N-No, we don't need to-"

"Trust me," Ren laid a hand on her shoulder, "it isn't worth it."

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