Roommates - Chapter 2 Teaser

Heading to the clinic in a bit for some testing. Hopefully nothing serious, but it still has me worried. I'm putting this up for now since finding the time and peace of mind to write has been difficult lately. I'm really sorry.

Anyway, this chapter shows we're getting into some plot and characterizaion. Jaune's segment will show how hard it is living in Vale when you're an outsider.

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Glynda was not in a good mood.

The deputy headmistress of Beacon Academy stomped down the hallway, heels clicking loud in the wide space. Every step reverberated with tension and her glare could've killed an Alpha Deathstalker. The few people who were outside immediately rushed inside and locked their doors behind them. While she never harmed anyone - both for practical and moral reasons - she was still a powerful Huntress who didn't take any lip. People knew to stay clear out of her way.

The same couldn't be said for some students, much to her eternal frustration.

Ozpin always had his favorites among the students. Glynda would know - she was one of them almost twenty years ago. The headmaster (just a professor back then, though he was always the one who held the power) needed protectors. Salem was gone, but new threats were always emerging. Cultivating talent was needed in case some other monstrosity from the first world tried to eradicate the second one. It was no different than the Atlas Specialist program, the Mistral Praetorians or the Vacuo Rangers. Trained and prioritized at a young age.

But it also meant favoritism. James believed in harsher standards for his hand-picked recruits like Winter. Ozpin subscribed to Vale's idealization of freedom and seemed to believe that encouraging it made for better Huntsmen. Glynda respectfully disagreed. A mindset like that was how you ended up with the Branwens. One a loyal drunk and the other turned into a mass murdering bandit before she was stopped and put into Tartarus for life.

Right now the latest one was causing trouble. Ruby Rose, daughter of her old friend Summer. And she'd clearly inherited her mother's heroic streak, which includes chasing after criminals despite the risk to civilians. It was a typical story. Heart in the right place, actions not so much. She seemed to think life was one big comic book where civilians were always saved at the last second and buildings were conveniently empty.

And of course there was her sister. Yang Xiao-Long. Half-sister, technically, though that hardly mattered. The type who seemed to think rebelling against the system made her some kind of icon. In some ways, Glynda could sympathize. Growing up with your birth mother abandoning you and spending the next two decades in Huntsmen supermax prison would affect anyone. It was little surprise she acted out.

Still, it in no way justified the chaos she got up to. The report from three days ago about a brawl in a nightclub sent a fresh wave of pulsing pain through her temples. Her only justification being 'that guy's totally a criminal asshole' was not impressive. The only reprieve was that the aggrieved party, one Hei 'Junior' Xiong, wasn't pressing charges, if only because it would be a blow to his reputation if people were to find out he and his whole gang were beaten down by someone who hadn't even taken Initiation yet.

If Glynda had her way, the younger blonde's antics would've caused her to be suspended from Beacon for the next year, but of course, it wasn't up to her. It was up to Ozpin, and he saw something in her and Ms. Rose that made them viable recruits. And so, they got slaps on the wrists.

The deputy headmistress let out a long-suffering sigh and grabbed for her keycard in her shirt pocket. All she wanted now was to change out of these clothes, get a good can of beer, munch on some snacks, and then curl up in her nice, warm bed. This place was her haven, her sanctuary, her little slice of heaven away from all the chaos of the outside world.

...Even if she did have to share it with someone again.