Alright Kids, Off To Class

Classes would start soon, so the two teams mostly focused on eating, with a bit of talking. Luckily for them a table had just emptied as they were looking for a place for all nine of them to sit close together.

Gray ended up sitting between Ruby and Jeanne on one side of the table. Yang was besides Ruby with Blake next to her. Weiss was opposite Jeanne and sitting next to Pyrrha with Nora and Ren being opposite Yang and Blake.

With five people being on one side of the table it made for a slightly tight fit. Not so much that someone was in danger of falling off onto the floor, but close enough that Gray was comfortably (or uncomfortably, in any other circumstance) packed between two girls. In any other situation the girls might have been uncertain about being hip-to-hip with a boy that they had only met two days ago.

That wasn’t a problem here. Gray didn’t even have to use his Semblance to make Jeanne accept the situation. In the first two days of meeting them Gray had grown comfortably close to both Jeanne and Ruby. And sure, his Semblance was used a bit here and there to facilitate a little trust, but Gray would like to think that Jeanne and he had hit it off really well to start with. In fact, come to think of it, Gray hadn’t used his Semblance on Jeanne directly. Not even once that he could recall.

Glancing to his left Gray didn’t notice any discomfort from her posture as she ate her food. Her thigh was leaning against his own, giving him warm feelings, just as his right thigh had the same treatment from Ruby. Both girls were seemingly unbothered by being so close to him, which honestly gave him a surprising amount of happiness.

Riding that surge of emotions, Gray decided that he was definitely going to try and get involved with Jeanne. The same way he was going to do with Ruby.

He just needed to think about how to do that. Normally, girls wouldn’t put up with sharing a boyfriend between them, but with his Semblance he was sure he could think of something.

“Then I jumped in to protect Weiss–”

“–by interrupting my fire attack.”

“And took out the Grimm. Easy peasy.”

“And then the forest burned. Well done.”

“Well, maybe if you weren’t taking so long to kill the Grimm, I wouldn’t have needed to jump in.”

“Maybe if you weren’t so uncoordinated, we could have taken them out together.”

“Girls! Girls! Can we not argue at the table? It’s too early for biting each other's heads off.” Yang scolded the two of them. She glared as only an older sister could do. For both Ruby and Weiss.

Ruby stopped herself from saying what she was going to say to Weiss. She turned to her older sister.

“But Gray asked me what happened yesterday.” She said a little petulantly.

“That’s fine, but no more snide remarks.” The blonde girl said evenly while holding Ruby’s attention. She then gave the same look to Weiss.

“...okay.” Ruby muttered.

Weiss just huffed and picked at her food, not really agreeing or disagreeing.

The rest of the table just gave each other awkward glances.

“Um... so, what happened next?” Jeanne asked Ruby, leaning forward to look at her from across Gray. She gave an encouraging smile when the younger girl looked over.

“We got out of there,” Ruby said. A bit more hesitantly than before. She then went on to talk about how she had the idea to get a bird's eye view to find the temple. Literally. Gray remembered that part himself. Apparently, Ruby and Weiss stumbled on a Nevermore roosting in a valley basin after veering around their little forest fire. Ruby had the bright idea to jump on the angry bird, pulling Weiss along.

The rest is history.

Until Yang picked up the slack and told her side of the story. She and Blake battled Grimm here and there and had arrived at the temple first out of all the girls at the table. It was at that point that Ruby jumped off of the Nevermore, to be caught by Yang.

“Then Nora came riding in on an Ursa.” Yang told him cheerfully.

“Yep, that was me!” Nora yelled across the table. “It was soooo much fun!”

Gray noticed Ren next to her let out an exhausted breath before cutting a sausage daintily, like an elegant lady. An elegant lady with an overly excitable attendant.

Then Weiss fell out of the sky.

“I’d just like to add that I caught Weiss.” Jeanne said, smiling cheekily at the heiress. Her hand was up like a good student.

“...thank you, for that...” The white-haired girl mumbled.

From there the story became a movie-worthy battle of eight warrior-students against two big monsters. Also, apparently there was a moment where Ruby and Weiss almost got along. When the story got to that point both girls silently ate their food and ignored everyone else.

Then the story got to the fight at some canyon ruins and Jeanne’s and Ruby’s leadership skills were gushed over by Yang, Pyrrha and Nora. The two girls just blushed, with Ruby hunching over her meal trying to make herself small. Jeanne, on the other hand, laughed bashfully.

“I-I really didn’t do much–”

“Nonsense. You were a splendid leader, Jeanne.” Pyrrha told the girl. Her smile was genuine and as warm as the morning sun coming through the windows. “I couldn’t have coordinated a team like that.”

“Yeah! You kept coming up with some great ideas!” Nora almost bellowed. The silent Mistral girl next to her nodded sagely at Jeanne. “’Cause of you we turned that oversized scorpion into paste.”

Jeanne ducked her head, playing with a lock of hair as she blushed. Gray could see her smile through the embarrassment in genuine happiness.

“Eh heh... thanks...”

Yang then went on to talk about her teams fight with the Nevermore and the coordination Ruby showed. Finally, she described how Weiss threw Ruby at the bird using her Semblance and Blake’s weapon. With Weiss’ glyphs, Ruby dragged the black bird up a cliff and decapitated it before standing at the top of the cliff heroically. Cloak streaming in the wind and everything.

When the story came to an end Gray couldn’t help but feel awed. If, in fact, it did go down the way they described.

“Wow...” Was all he could say.

That seemed to be the breaking point for Ruby. She dashed out of her seat and picked up her tray, which was mostly empty.

“I think classes are about to start, how about we all get a move on, huh?” The shy girl rushed out in almost one breath before speed walking over to the tray drop-off point.

They all watched after her before Pyrrha got up too.

“She’s right. It is almost time for class.” She said, grabbing her tray.

That got everyone moving. Breakfast came to an end and the two teams made their way out of the dining hall.

As they were leaving Gray thought to himself. Weiss and Ruby were definitely not getting along. That may be a problem in the future. If they couldn’t come to terms with each other, it would affect their teamwork.

Gray pondered this as they looked for their first class.

---

They found their first class, Grimm studies with Professor Port.

Team RWBY sat together along one of the long-curved desks of the inclined classroom. It was like a miniature auditorium like those found in universities that focused less on Grimm and more on intellectual pursuits. RWBY sat at one of the front rows while JNPR sat directly behind and above them. Team TCNO was taking a different class as they had a slightly different schedule.

Gray found himself sitting in between Blake and Yang. Weiss sat in between Yang and Ruby, leaving Ruby with the aisle seat.

The Professor, a man wearing a dark maroon suit, began the class with a rambunctious opening once everyone was seated.

“Monsters! Demons! Prowlers of the night!” The portly man spoke with dramatic flair. One arm was held behind his back as he gestured with his left. “Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names... but I merely refer to them as prey. Ha-ha!”

The man pumped his arm as if he... made a joke? Maybe? Whatever he tried to do, it fell flat. The whole class just looked on, uncertain.

“...uh,” Professor Port uttered before lifting his arm out wide. “And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy.”

Gray guessed that was a good enough save.

“Now, as I was saying, Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world.” Professor port went on to explain as he paced back and forth in front of the students. “Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces. And that’s where we come in.” He stopped pacing and faced the class. “Huntsmen. Huntresses.”

When the professor said that last word, he seemed to look over at Yang and... flirt? The man made some kind of clicking noise with his mouth as he pointed over to her. The he raised his greying eyebrow at her, making it obvious that he was making a pass at the girl.

Yang, for her part, chuckled uncomfortably while avoiding eye contact.

Gray was a little shocked that the man felt that he could do that so brazenly in class. Or at any time, really. He was pretty sure that teachers and students couldn’t mingle like that without repercussions. Though, there have always been rumors from those other universities of teachers and students hooking up. Still, the balls on this man.

Not that Gray was any better, if he was being honest with himself.

He glanced at Yang to gauge how uncomfortable she was. It was difficult to tell but she did seem a little put off as she wore an almost wry smile. Mostly, it looked like she didn’t know how to react.

Damn, even the party girl that wore somewhat revealing clothes on the regular had trouble with the weird moment. Not that anyone would like getting attention from much older people like the Professor, of course. Younger, more attractive people? Sure. Portly old men in the middle of class? Not so much.

Gray leaned over and bumped his shoulder against hers softly. She looked over and saw his concerned face. Yang understood the question on his face and just shrugged, she smiled with a little bit of gratitude. The shrug basically said that she was used to that sort of thing. Still, Gray resolved to sit the whole lesson with their shoulders touching for comfort.

“Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves.” The man continued. “That is what you are training to become. But first, a story...” Professor Port raised an arm in declaration. “A tale of a young, handsome man... me!”

Uh, okay?

The man then went on to talk about his life story.

In detail so grandeur.

Gray frowned. Was he being serious here? Was this going somewhere? Did he hope to teach the class with embellished anecdotes?

Gray sat through the long-winded speech, wondering when it would end. Feeling curious, he turned to his team and saw exactly what he himself was feeling. Their eyes were glazing over, the energy sapping from their postures. Even Weiss was forgetting to sit like a Lady.

Blake looked like she had tried to write some notes before giving up when the portly man hadn’t offered anything noteworthy. Yang was listening to the story, not because it was exciting or anything, but because there literally wasn’t anything else to do. Across her, Gray saw Weiss almost stubbornly try to jot down anything that she thought would help with her studies. Her sight was fixed on the man with a small scowl.

Ruby was dozing off. She was leaning on one hand as she doodled on her notebook. Her eyes were drooping as she occasionally sighed.

“Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a wise man,” The fat man continued. ““Peter,” he told me...”

Gray groaned quietly and tuned the man out.

Perhaps this was an opportunity, Gray thought. He turned on his Semblance and thought about what to do. His hand idly fell on Yang's thigh and caressed the juicy meat. The texture of her thigh-high sock was pleasing to him as he ruminated over what to test.

Continuing to think, Gray’s hand moved to Yang’s warm inner thigh, caressing back and forth as it got closer and closer to her panties. The feel of her warm skin was delicious. And distracting. He was getting the urge to just turn to her and initiate something sexual.

He shook his head. He needed to focus. Fun times can come later.

He reluctantly removed his hand and thought harder on what he could test right now.

Gray was reminded of the questions that he had made that morning on his scroll. One in particular was whether or not he could change someone's behavior. The current happenings offered a possible test for exactly that.

The Professor wasn’t really teaching anything. The students were bored and the hour was ticking away. Perhaps Gray could kill two birds with one stone if he got the Professor to change his tune? Gray might be able to make him teach an actual lesson.

Turning to Yang (because Gray still thought that he needed a witness for his commands to work) he said, “Professor Port will stop telling long-winded stories about himself and instead teach us about the creatures of Grimm.”

Yang didn’t really react to his words; however, he didn’t need her to because almost immediately the man in maroon stopped his speech.

Professor Port cleared his throat awkwardly. “Well, anyway, enough about me. Let us get on to our very first lesson. Turn to page fourteen of your digital textbooks. If, for whatever reason, you forgot to download the textbook onto your scroll I’ll put the page up on my screen here.”

The man moved over to his desk and tapped away on a console, bringing up a holographic screen that floated above the desk for all to see. The students collectively sighed in relief as they all pulled out their scrolls to bring up their own miniature holographic screens, sized just for them. They flicked to the page that the Professor indicated.

Gray shook his head. The man had a whole setup, and yet he would have preferred to yap endlessly about nothing? The boy sighed as he looked at page fourteen in front of him.

The Creatures of Grimm: Size Classifications and Danger Rating.

Now this is what he expected to happen all along.

“You have likely been taught everything on this page in your years of combat school,” The Professor said, pacing in front and underneath the big holoscreen. “However, over the course of this year we will be going in-depth into what makes each individual monster tick. But let us start with a brief overview of the basics.”

The Professor brought out a laser pointer and pointed at the page. More specifically he pointed at the names for each size classification.

“Dwarf, Fiend, Giant, Goliath, Titan, Behemoth and Mythic.” Professor Port listed off. “These are the commonly known names for the sizes, and often ages, of certain Grimm. The last one, Mythic, is purely based on nothing more than legends and speculation. That’s because nothing of the sort has ever been fully documented.”

Professor Port then made a second screen appear. This one was vertical and stood beside the first. On this new screen appeared a three-dimensional rendering of a small, yet no less fearsome creature called a Boarbatusk. The image rotated slowly for all the students to see.

“While not the smallest Grimm to be witnessed in this category. They are one of the most common on the continent of Sanus. Next to Beowolves and Ursai, of course.” The Professor explained. “No. We call this one a Dwarf because, by common consensus, anything smaller than a human and has very little potential to grow past the height of a normal human, falls into this classification.”

Now this was a lesson, Gray thought. Students all around were taking notes, though much of what was said was already known.

“Fiends generally feature monsters larger than humans by a small degree.” With that statement the Professor pressed a button on the desk console and the rotating image changed into a Beowolf. “The Beowolf, as stated previously, are one of the most common Grimm on our continent. Resembling a wolf on hind legs, they can reach heights as tall as eight or nine feet, given that they live long enough. The youngest ones tend to be nearer to six feet.”

Gray looked to his teammates to see that their attention was entirely on the rotund Professor. Any boredom was burned away now that the man was focused on the lesson.

“The Ursa was placed in the same category as the Beowolf despite their capacity to grow larger. And wider.” An Ursa now floated on the screen. “The tallest specimen recorded was estimated to be eleven feet. And that was when it was hunched over.”

The Professor turned fully to the class.

“In the past one thousand years we have never encountered a Beowolf, Ursa or even a Boarbatusk that exceeded the heights that we have come to expect.” Professor Port told the class. “We are confident that you will never see a Beowolf taller than a house. Or an Ursa larger than a barn. This suggests to us that many “species” of Grimm have what appears to be an upper limit.”

The Professor paused before he then turned back to the desk and clicked a button. The image turned into that of a Nevermore.

“However,” The man said a little ominously. “There seem to be many exceptions to this rule.”

Team RWBY and Team JNPR perked up when they saw the bird flapping its wings on screen.

“This one, the Nevermore, can sometimes appear as small as a regular bird that you would see anywhere. They resemble ravens as both are dark and have red eyes, but don’t be fooled. No, these creatures are far more dangerous, especially if you leave them to grow unhindered.”

He clicked another button and a third screen appear on the opposite side of the main screen. What appeared here was what seemed to be live footage. It showed a five second clip of a large black bird... attacking a whole ass train! It’s talons wrapping around a carriage as it tried to rip it off the rails. Huntsmen were trying to defend the train but the bird managed to lift its target. The person holding the camera must have fallen as the rest of the train derailed. The footage ended with the sky appearing on the right side of the screen and a blast of dirt hit the lens.

The classroom was left stunned. The clip didn’t even have any sound but the class full of students felt shock at what they had just witnessed.

The screen disappeared as Professor Port said, “That was a fully matured Nevermore. A Goliath-class creature of Grimm.”

A creature that could grow through four size classifications. Gray had heard they could do that but he had never seen raw footage like that.

“That small clip you just saw was taken in the Badlands between Vale and Vacuo. A place so remote that any Grimm in the area have likely lived long enough to grow as big as they can be.” The Professor said. “By the way, that railway is now no longer in use.”

He then turned back to the desk and made something else appear on the screen where the rotating Nevermore had been. What was shown now was what looked like an elephant, but as a creature of Grimm instead.

“I’m skipping ahead a little, but I wanted to say that the term Goliath also has an entire creature of Grimm of the same name. This creature was called a Goliath long before humanity began to classify Grimm by their size. The ancestors of this region had encountered these things long before the warring tribes of Sanus settled here in the north.” Professor Port informed the class. “At the time, these creatures were probably the largest things we had ever faced, and in memory of that encounter their name was then used to classify others of similar size.”

Gray tried to imagine an elephant the size of the Nevermore he had just witnessed and found it difficult to picture. That thing would be able to trample over entire towns. The sheer scale made Gray feel small.

Professor Port tried to lighten the mood by then talking about Giant-class Grimm, but the class’s collective mood wasn’t so easily lifted. Then the bell rang and the students snapped out of their funk.

“Alright class, off you go. The next time we meet we are going to really dig into the strengths and weaknesses of each Grimm. Even if I have to drill it into your minds.” The stout Professor told them as he dismissed the class.

Everyone got up to leave for their next class, Team RWBY included. They were about to walk up the aisles to leave but everyone stopped when they heard Ruby speak up.

“Sir? Can I ask a question?” She asked with surprising seriousness.

“Why, yes of course you may.” The man replied with good cheer.

“Has anyone ever beaten a Goliath-class Grimm before?” The girl asked. Her expression was difficult to describe. Stoic? Perhaps a little hopeful?

Everyone who hadn’t left the room yet had also stopped to pay attention. Everyone hung on Professor Ports next words. He seemed to sense the seriousness of the question and thought about his answer.

“Yes, child. They have been beaten. Though, at great cost.” He said solemnly.

Ruby looked the man in the eyes for a moment before nodding her thanks. She turned back to leave the room and everyone did the same.

Whatever moment Ruby just had, Gray really didn’t have a clue how to process it. The air had felt heavy with her question. Like there was some kind of imperceptible pressure. It could have been his imagination though, considering what they had witnessed a Nevermore do with a train cart. The mood was already pretty serious.

One thing was for sure though. Turning the Professor into a serious teacher instead of a blowhard was definitely worth it.