TRP is a post-Great War AU RWBY RP set in Mistral City and Haven Academy with no canons, no rank claims, no maidens, and no god interference. We offer a progression system and site-wide events that change the setting based on player actions.
Was this really his place to intervene? Well, he was a teacher and this was a student under his care. He looked out the window, the setting sun made waves of red and orange in the late winter sky. He was reminded of another sunset on another day so long ago.
“Yancy! Are you alright?”
“B-Bleu? It’s nothing… just, leave it alone.”
“You think we’re just gonna let these nobodies badmouth and get away with it?”
“You’re our teammate Yancy. Someone hurts you, they hurt us all. You’re a Faunus, but always remember, you’re our friend.”
He recalled the three of them quite successfully showing that group of bullies a lesson they’d never forget. And he had learned a great lesson of his own. Natalya had been furious at finding out that a group of students had been harassing their teammate, and it had been Yancy nonetheless. Yancy Canarie. A bird Faunus, originally from the Menagerie. She had feathers that decorated dotted her arms and back, colored yellow like a Canary. She had been shy, but it was her dream to be a huntress. She worked hard. She had done everything right. And yet, there still had been those who thought her Faunus heritage and appearance were still something to be ostracized over. Jay remembered that he initially wanted to do little about it, thinking that if there was anything they should do, it was to just talk to some professors about it.
But Robin… She had to do something. They hadn’t even been a team for that long, yet she already cared that much. If they were going to do anything, it was to take care of it themselves as a team.
Jay sighed again. They weren’t a team anymore. He was the only one left. Yancy. Natalya. Robin. They were all gone. Rolling his shoulder, a free hand reached for a pain that wasn’t supposed to be there. Another sunset. Another day. He was here, at Haven. He could make a difference in a young person’s life. Isn’t that what he wanted? Some kind of redemption after….
“Tch…”
They were gone. He needed to stop thinking about it.
He went back to looking at his desk, his fingers scrolled through the file once again. Argent Steele. A snake Faunus from a rural part of Mistral. His story was something of a complicated one. But in the end, he had gotten into Haven thanks to a letter of recommendation from Shin Kurinji… a huntsman, and another Faunus himself. During his time as a huntsman, Jay had heard of the man’s accomplishments. They were nothing short of impressive, for the young man to have that professional as his idol, it was at least one good influence in his life. Did Jay really have a right to be another?
Even if he was doubting himself, he couldn’t let it show. This was his student, he was the teacher, the mentor figure. He had decided to do this because he was worried that a young man was headed down a wrong path… but more importantly, a lonely one. His tipped his fedora to no one, putting on a smile on his face. Argent was going to be there soon. He had called him in under the pretense of a student-teacher progress meeting, he supposed it wasn’t really a lie.
Post by Argent Steele on Mar 22, 2019 14:42:34 GMT -5
Before becoming Shin’s apprentice-in-training, Argent had never really realised how good he had it in Pine Crest.
In his time at Pine Crest, he’d been something to avoid, something to stay away from. It had hurt when friends had started to avoid him, until they were no longer friends. It most definitely had hurt when the adults had hurried their children away, as if his scales were an infection that might catch them unawares if he came too close. But their fear was born of ignorance, not malice - a point the veteran Huntsman had hammered into his head over and over again, come to think of it. Most people were good at heart - you just had to open the way for that heart to come forth.
In his time at Root Institution, he was more of a curiosity - someone who was simply different. Perhaps it was due to the upper crust society being educated there not having the prejudices of their fellows, perhaps it was because he kept his head down and didn’t stand out. Oh, there were certainly bullies who tried to pick on him, but he had had the feeling they would have done the same were he human. Like sharks being drawn to blood in the water, they honed in on anyone not accepted by the crowd - but once you knew how to deal with them, they were as easy to handle as any other calculation in the textbook.
But like all birds that must leave the nest when time comes for them to fly, the world outside what he’d known had been different. In some places, Faunus weren’t allowed to eat at the same place or use the same buses or trams or airships as humans. In some places, Faunus were treated as lesser, as second class citizens. In some places, the Faunus didn’t even have basic rights.
His rage at these had simmered and burned quietly, every injustice burned into his mind, but Shin had hammered the point into him nearly the first day they’d set out together, and did so again every time it seemed like that fire would flare up into an inferno. Fear was born of ignorance, and the hearts of people were inherently good - all they needed was the knowledge and time to process what the Faunus already knew.
Which, if truth be told, was less satisfying than being allowed to act. And sometimes, the words rang hollower than they had when they had been run out of town when their masks slipped, or Jade had been a little too carefree with her tongue. However, it was what Shin believed, and Argent would do his best to believe in it too.
Still, to have been accosted by a band of four ruffians within the first week of arriving at Haven… Well, no one could reasonably be expected to remain quiet when more than a few scales had been ripped off your face while the idiot responsible sneered at you from within punching range. The teachers had shown up before the rudimentary scuffle got worse, though.
Quietly knocking on the door to announce his presence, the Faunus stepped through after a period of courtesy, the skin on his chin where silver scales had been the day before still pink and raw. He’d smeared some gel on it, but not much else. He didn’t walk with his hood up, either. He wasn’t proud of getting into a fight, but he wasn’t ashamed of it, either. Just inside the room, he closed the door behind him and stood at a respectful parade rest, though the posture was nowhere near stiff enough to be considered formal.
“Sir,” he addressed the teacher, expression steadfastly neutral. The question was in his eyes as to why he’d been called with no progress to report, but he didn’t give voice to it. Argent had always been a person of few words, and it seemed that that wasn’t likely to change for the foreseeable future.
He heard the knocking on the door. It was freely open, he gave a quick nod of his head.
“Come in.”
Jay tipped his fedora, motioning to a free seat in front of his desk.
”Sir.”
It was all the young man said. Jay was at his desk, some various papers visible and strewn somewhat chaotically about. Jay wasn’t necessarily the tidiest person… considering he also never really had a typical office space before, there was a certain kind of unfamiliarity to the whole situation for Jay himself.
Jay’s dark eyes glanced to a framed picture on his desk. It was a frame that had belonged to Robin, it had been on her desk at Haven, it was something that somehow now fell to Jay’s possession. It was a framed picture of Team RBYN just before graduation, the four of them stood in front of the school, making a pose for the camera. Robin smiled, laughing at the camera. He stood next to her… with her arm around her shoulder. Yancy had been caught twiddling around one of her feathers. Natalia had some kind of crazy grin on her face. He had almost forgotten that Robin had that sentimentality about her.
He then looked to Argent directly.
“I won’t beat around the bush. Yes, this is a progress report, but it also really isn’t. Yes, I’m a teacher concerned for my student, but I’ve never been a teacher before so I’m really only going with what I feel is right.” Jay told the truth. He said his words so casually it was almost like he believed them himself. Maybe the kid knew who he was, maybe he didn’t. It really all depended if he really paid attention to all those publicly available files that so many other students liked to point out to the newly granted Professor himself. Jay’s mouth turned up in small kind of grin, the self-deprecating kind of humor was something he specialized in. But in the end, even Jay had to give into a semblance of seriousness.
“I read your file Argent, I know what you’ve been through and just recently too.” They both were well aware of the injuries that marred the boy’s most visible skin, a fight? More likely a beat down. “I won’t pretend to say I understand, because I don’t. I’m not a Faunus.” The prejudice, the hate, the sideways glances and whispers out of earshot. He’d witnessed it all before, of course. He didn’t know much about the incident itself, he’d only heard it through passing and even then, the culprits apparently had gotten off anonymously…
“I’m truly sorry you’ve had to go through experiences like that.” His words, they were genuine. Maybe he was talking so much but the truth also was he had so much he wanted to say. There were limits what he could actually do and to what he could actually say. He was still trying to figure out what those limits were himself. What did he really have to say about it anyway? It was experiences like those that made kids grow up much faster than they should have.
He paused. Was that all he really wanted to say? In his mind, he felt like the words could’ve gone out smoother. Maybe he should’ve played for laughs a bit more. He breathed out slowly, waiting to see if he had provoked any kind of negative reaction. He wouldn’t blame the kid… a stranger, suddenly apologizing for something he couldn’t understand or possibly know. He supposed this was why he himself so long ago often found teachers frustrating. Now, he could understand why mentors were always in such compromising positions.
What was the best course of action? Like he knew what that answer could be. He was a huntsman, not a teacher. When he had a problem, he threw a knife at it. And that didn’t exactly work in a school setting.
Post by Argent Steele on Apr 13, 2019 11:10:38 GMT -5
The professor was right. He didn’t, and couldn’t, know what it was like. It was one thing to see and hear what others experienced, and it was another thing entirely to know how they felt. The words sounded genuine enough in tone, but to Argent, they rang hollow. What point was there in apologizing for something that had nothing to do with him? It had as much meaning as the wind apologizing to the evaporating morning dew for all the good it did. Did the professor do this to salve some guilty conscience? He didn’t seem old enough to have participated in the Great War, so perhaps some past issue with Faunus on a lesser scale in his past that he now regretted?
Or maybe… maybe it was him whom the professor didn’t trust. The young man didn’t want to think it was true, but it was a distinct possibility. There were fringe Faunus groups that advocated the use of force to gain what they wanted out there even now. Did the professor see in him the specter of those Faunus? Did he come across as untrustworthy enough to be so worried over?
That thought bit deep. He hadn’t stood by his mentor’s side to end any perceived injustice or right any perceived wrongs - it simply felt like the right thing to do. It felt good to help people, and to receive thanks in return. But to be thought of in such a way…
This is why I hate being around people.
There was a flash of something ugly in the young man’s eyes, a momentary glimpse of something old and weary and angry beyond his years, and with it the slight compress of lips into a thin line. But that was gone as quickly as it’d come, Argent’s expression wiped clean into as neutral an expression as humanly possible. He stepped forward to pull the chair out before seating himself in it, putting off his verbal answer as long as possible. A small inhale before his eyes flicked back up to meet Jay’s evenly, with no trace of whatever had been there before now remaining.
“Thank you for your concern, sir.” Safe, non-committal, even and measured was the reply, hands clasped loosely in his lap and looking straight ahead. He’d learned well how to replicate that emotional numbness that had plagued him in his younger days, and it had helped him fly under the radar more than once during his time with Shin in the field. The snake Faunus was hoping, just a little, that it could get him through this as well without much issue. He didn’t know much about the professor - his inclinations, his mannerisms, or his attitude beyond what he’d already seen of the man earlier in the week whenever he was teaching in math class. It was still too early to tell, after all.
Was he really getting anywhere? If he was speaking honestly, he just couldn’t tell. Maybe it was a bad idea from the start. How often did teachers really reach out and make it their responsibility to interject in the lives of their students? It was hard to gauge, considering neither Shadecloak or the Doc really did either as well. He felt like it was the better thing to do, but maybe that was just optimism?
No. He was doing the right thing. If no one else would, then why shouldn’t he be the one? It was all unknown territory, being a teacher, a mentor. Maybe it was just a few pushes here and there, but he still felt like he had to do more.
And then with his words, he received that stare. Golden eyes looked at him with nothing but pure malice.
Jay’s own dark blue orbs did nothing to shy away from the stare. It was only a moment, barely even enough to be called a glance. Jay knew that stare, the distrust and the frustration. One of the ugliest things one could see in another, but yet it only came out when the world was so cruel in return. Was that the kind of world they really lived in? Jay’s smile faded for a moment as he lifted his head up, acknowledging the young man’s words.
“Thank you for your concern, sir.”
Emotionless words, but ever so practiced in their delivery. As one who wore a perfect mask himself, it wasn’t so hard to perceive that was simply how Argent carried himself. Jay had been a solo huntsman so long perhaps he had really forgotten how to interact with others so personally. Well, it wasn’t really that hard to interact with other people. Maybe he really was just thinking about it too hard. He was continuing to look at it like he was some high and mighty mentor, for all he knew, this child in front of him had experienced so much more in life that didn’t make him so naive.
Jay simply shook his head at the young man’s next question. “No, you’re not in trouble. Heh, I really hate that phrase, makes it sound like I’m some kind of prison keeper.”[b/] He sighed again, slipping some honest ramblings into his words. That was all really Jay was good at, it was hard to think that he had to some up his own life experiences and say that was enough to be a leader. He had never been good at being a leader, daresay a teacher. Looking back, if anyone had asked him he’d picture himself in this profession, he would have laughed and said it was something nearly impossible. Yet, here he was.
He tilted his head again, sitting back his chair as he crossed his hands in front of himself.
“If I’m being honest with you, maybe it’s better you be honest with me.”
His words were simple enough. He was looking for an answer, he didn’t know what he would get in return. He wasn’t looking to scare the kid. He paused again, shaking his head once. “Forget it. It’s not me you need to learn to trust. I get it, I really do. Once you start depending on someone, you find out that people really are as bad as you think they are. And with that, it doesn’t matter if they’re human or they’re Faunus. ” And for once in their conversation, maybe Jay was really showing just how much he’d experienced in the world as well.
“I know you don’t know a thing about me. And I don’t know much about you either. But I do know that if you came to this school wanting to be a huntsman, you need to learn how to trust at least one other person. Ideally three other people. And they need to trust you. You can’t go into this career solo and last very long, I learned that the hard way.” He had done that part… backwards. He had his team, his people he could trust, when that that had been taken from him, he had stupidly decided he could still do the job alone. It had worked. For nearly ten years it had worked. And then one day, it hadn’t.
He felt that dull ache deep in his shoulder again. Wasn’t that another kind of cliche? That a younger person needed to learn from the mistakes of the elder, somehow preventing them from making the same bad judgements as before. He wasn’t sure if that really was how that worked, he couldn’t really think of a role model he had in his life to look up to. He could think of a lot of mistakes he had made in his life, he didn’t know if any of them were really worth learning from.
Post by Argent Steele on May 12, 2019 5:22:56 GMT -5
“With all due respect, sir, how to trust others isn’t something that needs to be learned. Not for me, anyway.”
Those golden eyes glanced down and away, blinked once. The young man took a deep breath and exhaled it in a quiet huff, his shoulders drooping slightly. For the briefest of moments, he seemed to harbor a quiet exhaustion, as if even holding on to the anger that had flashed through him in those earlier moments was difficult. But in the next, he had squared his shoulders back into that ramrod straight posture, and raised his head to look at the professor, a quiet mixture of pride and determination in his steady gaze. This wasn’t the carefully measured neutral response of a few minutes prior, though still filtered through a veneer of politeness and civility.
“Trust isn’t something material to be given out as a show of friendship, sir. It’s something that needs to be earned, not some… measure of conforming to the people around you. To trust someone, you need to know them well; otherwise, it’ll never end the way you expect. And as it stands, I do not know anyone in this school. Nor do they know me. To expect anyone’s trust, or to put one’s trust in anyone under these circumstances is… unbearably naive. Sir.”
It was a risk, speaking so plainly (by his standards) to who was essentially a stranger who had no business poking his nose in places where he didn’t need to and wasn’t asked to, but he had asked for honesty. And honesty, even as diluted and toned down as it was, was what Argent had given him. The professor did seem to ramble on and spend more time in the past than strictly necessary, and it was likely that he was speaking from personal experience. But this wasn’t some feelgood Vale drama where any and all problems could be solved with a little heart to heart. The world of people was unpleasant and messy, where good hearts could be hidden behind scowling faces and sharp knives could be concealed behind a happy smile. He’d been out in the field with Shin for long enough to know that, at least.
Maybe this professor could be trusted. Maybe not. It was still too early to tell.
“At the risk of sounding confrontational, sir, why did you single me out for this? Did you speak to the other four involved in the incident as well?”