Chapter Text
Penny Ironwood had forgotten to sleep. Normally this wouldn’t have been a problem, seeing as how Penny set her own schedule most of the time since her parents decided to homeschool her till she was ready. This “ready” turned out to be her sophomore year of high school.
And she had turned 15 last week. A week before she was supposed to start her first day at Beacon High, a school that her fathers had attended when they were her age. Now while Penny certainly didn’t hold any romantic notions regarding the school itself, she couldn’t deny she was more than excited to finally be able to spend some time with some other people that weren’t her fathers or cousins.
“Penny, for the love of Oum, get down here sometime in the next hour!” her father Qrow shouted.
Penny blurted out an affirmative noise, then proceeded to spend the next ten minutes or so having a minor breakdown at the thought of actually going to a normal school. This was her chance! A fresh start, even if it would be one for her alone. And while she had met her cousins and uncle during trips to the town of Beacon before, she had never really had a chance to explore the whole area. She was so excited she felt a little nauseous.
That being said, in order to go through with all of this, she would have to get there on time.
Practically throwing herself downstairs and into the kitchen, she was greeted by the sight of James and Qrow bleakly staring at each other over a pot of coffee. James straightened in his seat at her approach and donned his signature broadcaster smile.
“Penny! How’s my girl? Are you fully prepared? Do you have everything you need for today? Are you going to be okay with your, uh” he motioned down to her skirt, immediately regretting saying anything.
Penny took it all in stride, knowing full well her father meant no harm “Yes father, I believe I am fully prepared for any possible events that may occur today!”
Qrow peered at her with a sly look over his mug “anything?”
Penny took the bait “Yes! Anything!”
James couldn’t resist joining in “So, let me propose a hypothetical to you. Let’s say this school ends up being full of clinically insane individuals with access to a vast arsenal of weaponry. What then?”
Qrow couldn’t help but smirk at his husband’s idea. Penny meanwhile, decided to seriously consider this.
“ I supposed I would probably be aware of the state of said individuals way before I would have to encounter them at close range. This would likely allow me to run or come up with a proper plan of action then.” You wouldn’t have guessed it looking at her slim build and height only being slightly taller than average, but she was trained in several martial arts and was trained in proper firearm usage. With her both James and Qrow working in security-related fields they considered self-defense an important part of Penny’s homebrew curriculum.
Qrow chuckled to himself “Would you two listen to yourselves for a minute? You two sound like AI assistants instead of people. Honestly Penny, sometimes I wonder if you got anything genetics-wise from me at all.”
At this James let out an indignant cry, reminiscent of some sort of demented waterfowl, which of course set Qrow howling, and soon the three of them were wiping happy tears away.
As Penny was regaining her breath, she looked up at their kitchen clock.
“James? I think it’s about time to get a move on. We might already be a few minutes late, and I sure wouldn’t want to disappoint potentially psychotic individuals.”
Qrow cracked a smile “You heard the lady, you should have been driving five minutes ago. You're gonna be late at this rate”
James looked attacked “Thanks in no small part to someone forgetting to set an alarm last night!”
“Well you’ll have to forgive me, sweetheart, I was, how do I put this, somewhat distracted at the time.” This set James blushing. Qrow smiled evilly. “Have a good day Penny.” He turned back to his now lukewarm coffee.
The drive over went smoothly. If by smoothly one meant James repeatedly drilled Penny on the appropriate contents of her bag.
“Remember Penny, no more bladed hair bows! You might think it’s a good idea, but just remember what happened the last time you accidentally fell into someone while wearing one of those.”
Penny didn’t bother responding, she simply turned up the volume on the cars’ radio and hummed along as they drove the last half a mile to the campus. She happened to be wearing a bright green bow that when the middle section was pressed three times in succession, would act as a conventional smoke grenade. She hoped that this would serve as a deterrent should anything actually happen during her first day.
The school building was unassuming. With one major building and two smaller ones off to either side of it. The main building rested at the top of a hill, meaning that some students would likely have to trek up the said hill on a daily basis. Lower down, the school had an obviously well-maintained tennis court, a full track surrounding a large field, and what Penny assumed was a pool covered up for the fall season. This place obviously had money.
“Father, how much exactly will it cost for me to attend here?” Penny was curious, but she didn’t let her voice betray too much. She didn’t want to potentially offend James with monetary matters she mostly didn’t need to be involved in.
“Standard student admission is about $12,000 yearly, but with both myself and Qrow being former alumni from fairly influential families, they might just reduce it a tad bit. Not to mention your grandparents on Qrow’s side have agreed to pay a large part of the tuition for the first year.” His face softened a bit “you really are loved you know, I don’t think myself or Qrow would have had the support you do at your age. Both of our families had very clear paths cut out for the two of us, and as such made sure that whatever support they offered only helped us along with their predetermined paths.”
“Anyways, looks like I have to let you off here. Good luck!”
“Who says luck will factor into this?” Truth be told, Penny was somewhat terrified. She nervously adjusted her bow and stepped into the main building.