The Garden of Remnant [Non-Canon]

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He shrugged, letting his cane drop to the floor as he rested his hands on its head. "I'd be somewhat disappointed, but if miss Belladonna is truly willing to vouch for you then I'd take no action against you. You would go out, supposedly find some way to make lien to eat and sleep be it through freelance contracts or some other means, and you would be a hunter, of sorts. In the more literal definition of the term, as someone who hunts grimm for sport and profit.

"What you would not be is a Huntress"

His tone grew more somber as he continued.

"The grimm may be our most numerous and obvious foe on Remnant, but they are far from our only, and perhaps not even our most dangerous. There are forces out there that wish to tear the fragile peace our world has apart for any number of motivations, and many of them are not the sort that will charge into the open for you to face with blade and stoicism."

He walked over to his desk to set his cup down as he continued

"If such forces you consider above or beneath your skill or concern, then so be it. You may leave this office and find your own way through Remnant from there."

He returned to his chair, cane set beneath his legs as he looked back up to Shiki

"But if you wish to do more than just cut down beasts, and give us an outside perspective on the creatures and killers that accost us from the shadows, then its help we'll gladly accept. We'd just need you to be with someone to help you in the right direction. So, miss Ryogi, it's your choice. Is this goodbye for good, or simply, so long for now?"
 
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Her first response was to sigh in vexed fashion, staring at Ozpin for a few seconds longer before she threw her gaze off to the side. It was less that she didn't want to be militarized, or whatever the process was if this wasn't a military, and more that she just thought it was a bad idea. Human contact and a chain of command... Her idea had been to go off and live as some kind of hermit, maybe even locate to the grimm-infested wilds themselves. Just a monster living among monsters. It was certainly poetic, though she never cared for such things.

Granted... That wouldn't be much of a comfortable life for as long as she lived it. And not a fulfilling one by any stretch.

"...Blake?"

She addressed the faunus without looking back at her, her confliction reflected by her face. A second opinion might help; her headache was still thumping and she didn't feel like making these sorts of decisions right now.​
 
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Blake had been listening with a mixture of curiosity and worry as the conversation progressed, having shuffled her way over to one of the support pillars to lean on so she at least looked somewhat relaxed. Not that either of the eyes in the room weren't astute enough to notice her tensed shoulders and focused staring. Ozpin was still... an enigma was far as Blake was concerned, and she still hadn't decided whether she trusted the man completely or not. Not to mention that feeling he always gave off of knowing way more than he was sharing. And Shiki was... well... Shiki was Shiki. it was only natural to be curious how two personalities so radically different yet almost equally intimidating played against each other, and she'd lost herself somewhat in her spectating that she almost forgot she was a participant in the conversation till Shiki's question snapped her back to the fore. Her eyes flicked between the two as she bit her lip, having honestly been completely comfortable in the backseat of this one.

But in the week and change Blake had known Shiki, this was probably the only time that she asked for help.

ugh.

On one hand, while Shiki might not have been too concerned about her eyes being militarized, Blake sure as hell was. There was just... too much she didn'tknow about Ozpin, and as hypocritical as this sounded she found it really hard to trust someone who seemed to just radiate secrecy. Plus, Shiki having to work with someone else, well... she supposed it'd have to depend on who it ended up being, but it seemed more likely to end in frustration and bad blood than any sort of camraderie.

that said...

Eventually Blake shrugged. "There are definitely... things out there we could use your help with that aren't just monsters. And... it'd probably be easier to stay in touch if you were kept in the loop around here."
 
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She didn't answer, gaze turned only halfway in Blake's direction and eyes cast down towards the floor in silence, her mind doing its best to push through the dull ache and put what she knew together. So that was the choice she was being offered. Solitude versus a more palpable purpose. She wouldn't have to stomach the school life like the rest of them here (prudent, considering what unfolded the last time she attended school before her coma); and the only one at true risk of her dormant impulses surfacing at any given moment would be Ozpin's chaperone. Though there was some worry that her eyes would be overly exploited, Shiki had no intention of following any orders she didn't want to or felt uninformed about. Why should she just to please them? She'd have liked to see any of these so-called hunters try make her do anything she disagreed with.

And in the end, what they were offering was... a sense of belonging. A place. It wasn't much, but it was a start if she was ever going to do any good here.

"...It better be a comfy bed."

She finally relented with an exhausted sigh, closing her eyes and crossing her arms at the chest.

"And I have a condition that you call me Shiki. It's what I prefer."

The Ryougi name meant nothing here, after all. As did the customs she'd never really cared about anyway.​
 
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Ozpin smiled slightly, a mixture of relief and expectancy as he nodded slightly. "If that's what you prefer, Shiki. Miss Belladonna, if you could show Shiki to room 208 on your floor, its currently empty. It'll take her new mentor a day or two to reach here. I'll be sure to let the cleaning staff know to leave the good pillows there" He said with a small grin.

Blake stared for a few seconds before finally giving a curt nod. "Thank you professor oz-rub.... Ozpin. Thank you. Lets go Shiki" Blake said, turning on her heel and power walking out of the room to the elevators like she'd just seen a ghost.

-----------

Ruby watched Blake and Shiki go from where she was peeking over the edge of the glass to the office inside, doing a fairly impressive half pull up so just her eyes were poking over the floor to the window. Though she was pretty sure Blake and her made eye contact for a few seconds there

"...Man. This plan woulda made way more sense if I could read lips. OK WEISS I'M COMING DOWN SO DON'T DROP ME!"

Weiss squinted from where she was near the base of the tower, befuddled by that statement."What do you mean- OH MY GOD RUBY NO!"

"WEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...."
 
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"Right. We're done here, then. Tell that trainer of yours not to be too much of a bother for their own... sake...?"

Shiki trailed off, looking nonplussed at the small break in Blake's tone and her suddenly walking off as if something had bitten her like that. It was a small thing, something she probably wouldn't even have paid attention to normally, but for someone as even-headed as the faunus normally was it was notably unusual.

"...Have a good one. Professor."

After a moment's pause she gave the silver-haired man a half-lidded smirk before turning to follow Blake into the elevator and lean against the panel beside her, eyes trained on Ozpin like a hawk until the automatic doors slid shut. She let her eyelids close, breathing out in contentedness and folding her arms as she rested her head against the wall.

"That went well enough. What were your friends doing, though? Backup in case the old man didn't play ball?"

She gave a dark giggle.​
 
Blake didn't reply for a few moments, face covered with her hand as she let out a tepid groan.

"No. I have no idea what she was doing."

Well. She actually was pretty sure she knew exactly what Ruby had been doing (and who could have possibly helped her get up that high ಠ_ಠ), but it was more a general vexation and wish that she hadn't of done it. Blake couldn't even blame Ruby given what she'd put the other three through last month, but still... It would have been nice to have a bit more trust there.

She sighed, and shook her head, letting her hand drop. "I'll deal with. For now, lets just get you to your room. I know we theoretically just napped for a whole dimension's worth of travel-" she said as the elevator reached the ground floor and the doors slid open "-But I still feel like I'm about to collapse-"

"-Dimensions eh? Is that where Miss Mystery and stabby is from?"

Blake blinked at the interruption as she tilted her head towards the open door and found that they were face to face with a bright, curious grin as Yang caught her breath, the door to the stairs swinging slightly on its hinges still from getting slammed open moments earlier.

"...Seriously? You too?"

"What do you mean 'me too'- Oh wow Ruby's plan actually worked? Nice sis."

Blake just glared dully at the blonde for a few moments before she shook her head again and brushed past her. "Like I said, I'll explain. C'mon."
 
"You beat the elevator?" Shiki probed in lieu of any sort of answer to the blonde's question, nonetheless closing her eyes and walking through the elevator doors to stop next to Yang with a smirk of indifference and shake of the head. "That's a lot of effort just to come to some crackpot conclusion, don't you think?" The newly-christened huntress initiate didn't know what sort of response this woman expected to such a farfetched theory. It had to be some kind of trick, right? Nobody was open-minded enough to take the confirmation of other dimensions existing on board like it was nothing.

"Anyway... aren't you gonna check if your sister survived that fall or not? I know that's what I'd be doing if it was me. Whatever, though. See ya."

She shrugged, sweeping past Yang altogether to leave. Whatever impression Blake might've given her friend, it was readily apparent that the dismissive Shiki was fairly intent on not being followed to her room. They could play Nancy Drew with Blake or the head teacher all they liked; she wanted them staying out of her hair.

Until she got some rest, anyway.

@Schnee Corp Lawyer
 
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