The Conquerors bloodline

Chapter 151: Clifftop Racers

The introductory speech by Ozpin was short and using his own words, brief. His voice lacking in energy as he stared out over the crowds of new studentry, lingering on Ferry and Lili for but a moment and when he did his hands turned pale from clenching his cane tighter.

The speech itself was certainly lacklustre, something about 'knowledge wasn't enough' and 'lacking in purpose.' Something Lili completely agreed with, she could only imagine how many of these fools came here thinking they could become 'heroes' the knight in shining silver armour who dashed around the world to save those poor souls whose lives were in danger.

Idiots, pathetic idiots, she hissed in silence. There were no heroes, there were no knights in silver armour only egoistic fool's hell bent on feeling good about themselves while ignoring those whose lives were already forfeited. The evidence being herself and even Ferry and Summer to a degree, hell, she would even consider the atrocities of the Jacques Schneethe CEO of the Schnee Dust Companyto be evidence to just how false that thought process was.

No came for her when her mother sold her away, no one came to save her in the years she was being tossed around between owners. The only who even did something was Parc, a man who felt nothing about killing those men no they were monsters, horrible monsters. Only now she felt remorse that it hadn't been her own dagger to be the one to sever their throats.

Honestly, if Parc hadn't bought out those two huntsmen, Carmine and Bertilak she recalled them being named. She probably would have killed them in their sleep. They were animals who needed to be slaughtered. But now though, they were pets following on their master's heel. One there for the treats of wealth, the other because she could no longer live without Parc's suchor.

When she did recall that Carmine woman, her face grew a light shade of red. The Recollection of one night when she had been unable to sleep and wanted to head out for a breath of fresh air only to pass by Parc's room and hear the strangled cries and moans of the woman she knew to be in there sending her bolting back to her room with her tail between her legs hiding a faint moistness that had accrued there.

Rapidly shaking her head, she forced her mind away before the memory could even affect her body and brought her gaze to her surroundings. They had found themselves sat together against a far wall in the ballroom of Beacon.

Wrapped snuggly around her was her cloak which left little to the imagination of her surprisingly abundant bosom. Around Ferry was a darker blue blanket. One that covered the frill lightly top on poofy shorts that many of the boys had come to ogle. Plenty of those own eyes had ogle at Lili though quickly turned away when they saw her size and just assumed, she was a little too young for them.

Which understandably pissed the-girl-who-was-over-a-year-older-than-all-of-them off.

Ferry's head had already come to lay over top of Lili's, her cheek pressing deep into Lili's chestnut hair while her ears flicked every now and then, her eyes shut as she lightly snored into the night.

Lili on the other hand had found herself unable to get back to sleep. Just looking around at the horde of bunched up bodies giving her sour feelings similar to those packed barracks she and all the other slaves had been relegated to. Too hot, too many people letting off heat, too many stenches of boys and girls, even the faint tingling of what was undoubtedly musk coming from a lightly writhing sleeping bag in a near hidden portion of the room.

With a twitching cheek, Lili dug through her bag, prying out a small white Scroll she had gotten from Parc and pulled it open. Tapping through a few things while also plugging a set of earbuds into the machine, ultimately ending up on an online video sharing site and just put in the name of an old streamer she used to watch before her untimely sale. Hoping that a bit of distraction may give her even a bit of tiredness to finally force herself into sleep.

She was soon glad she did as it muffled out Weiss Schnee's unbearably screechy voice when she went to abuse that poor young Summer lookalike once again like she had upon arriving and during the speech.

***

Stood atop the cliff face overlooking the Grand Emerald hued forest of the aptly named Emerald forest. Ferry and Lili and all the other new students were subjected to a just as pathetic speech as yesterday evening. A speech that was quickly ended only to be followed by the metallic plates all the students had been stood atop, one by one flinging them skywards leaving them to land by their own means. One such boy, the same vomit spewing one seeming awfully confused at the fact he was expected to hurtle through the air and not die upon landing.

The boy unleashing a horrified squeal as he was sent flying. Earning him a pitying but amused chortle from Lili as she watched him spin uncontrollably.

"So, we expected to do this as well?" Lili crossed her arms and faced the tired looking Ozpin and a glowering Glynda. Meeting their eyes with her own smirk and stern, unrelenting glare.

Ozpin nodded, downing nearly half the mug of coffee he had in one, "you are expected to go through initiation like all the others, yes. You just won't be expected to find a partner. Hence you two will be sent to roughly the same portion of land in approximately five minutes when most the students should have cleared out of the range of the launchers."

Lili simply shrugged and lowered herself into a prepped position awaiting herself to be launched. Ferry taking her own ready position, though nervously clasping her whip as she had never been violently hurled through the sky before. It didn't seem that dangerous, especially not compared to the hordes she'd seen. She could probably just send her whip out and grab a branch to slow her descent while Lili could just summon herself a set of wings to slow herself down enough not to inflict herself massive bodily harm.

When they were both sent off only Ozpin and Glynda were left stood atop the cliff. Glynda flicking through a few live recordings of students who had already found partners and those who had not. Her eyes diverting to Ozpin's mug holding hand to see it jittering slightly.

It was unnerving to see Ozpin so uncomposed. Whatever had gotten to him like this was obviously still fresh in his mind to the degree he looked to have not slept a wink from the bags under his eyes.

"Are you alright, Professor?" she questioned worriedly.

"Peachy, Glynda, absolutely peachy," he mumbled a response while letting out a loud yawn. "I simply have a lot to think about."

"About what exactly?"

"Something that you needn't concern yourself with. Private matters you see." He offered her a slight, reassuring smile, completely failing to alleviate her concern.

Her brows furrowed and her lips pursed doubtingly but still dutifully returned to monitoring the new acceptants. Seeing how those two new girls had caught themselves and met up and were already making their way north towards the ruins. The Ferry girl being the one to guide them both, almost looking like a professional at traversing forested areas.

"It is hard to believe someone survived that," Glynda mumbled, a mournful look overtaking her expression as she recalled her once beloved friend of Summer Rose. Her passing having been a shock to most all the members of Beacons staff at the time as well as to those close to the family like she had been at the time.

Glynda had spent a good portion of the previous night going through police reports from around the world searching for any reports on Ferry being found but found nothing anywhere to even say there was a single survivor of the cruise liner. Just why had she reappeared here and now of all times when for all intents and purposes she didn't even exist anymore.

"Hmm?" Then something strange happened, on one of the screens a figure, a man, older than any of the students was seen calmly strolling through the forest. Oftentimes tossing a red and black dagger into the air, letting it spin a few times before catching it. Continuing to do so and sending it hurtling through the common Beowolf that came to harass him like it was nothing. "Ozpin, it seems someone has wandered into the testing grounds." She lifted her head to the headmaster just in time to watch the hairs across his body go on end.

"Really? Will they be getting in the way of the student's initiation?" he asked.

Glancing back to her tablet, she spoke, "possibly, I can see two students are nearing his po- what? Is-is that a pickaxe?" she mumbled, her eyes falling to squints as she watched him arrive by an old ancient ruin not too far off from the ruins the students were expected to find. In his hand what looked like a fiery, glowing pickaxe which he sent into the earth forming in it a deep gash with every strike until his form disappeared deep into the earth and out of camera range. Oddly enough, the hole he had created seemed to collapse in on itself until all that was left behind was a flat piece of terrain lacking in grass. Almost like he had not been there in the first place.

"Which students would that be?"

"Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee, but it appears he ha-"

"Leave it. For now, ignore him. If Ruby and Weiss encounter him, I want you to bring them to me as soon as possible." He turned and began to walk back to the academy.

"What? Ozpin! You can't be serious, I can't just leave an unknown out there while we have students taking their initiation!" She argued, stomping behind him flaring her hands out over the forest.

Ozpin's stride paused and he spoke, "then you can go and investigate him. Just, do be careful." He continued marching back to the academy. Glynda left standing with a soured, annoyed expression watching him grow smaller in the distance.

"First Blake Belladonna, then the Arc boy, then Ruby Rose and those two girls, now this! Heavens I am sick of this," Glynda caught her voice before it could come out as strangled, frustrated screams. "Why do I have to do everything myself?"

Glynda lightly bowed her legs enough that she could pull her riding crop, the Disciplinarian, from her boot and using it as a catalyst for her semblance. Sent a part of her aura through it casting with a slight flourish and pose, the energy through the earth to crack a few flat plates from beneath her feet that rose her into the air and sent her flying towards where this unknown individual was last seen.