Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1

I wasn't sure where I was, to be honest. All I knew was that I opened my eyes and I was now feeling very fucking cold. There was nothing to be heard except for distant city noises, and that unnerved me far more than it probably should have. For one: New York was loud, very busy even when it was the peak of midnight.

To hear almost nothing at all close to me made me very worried indeed.

Sitting up in my cushion of trash bags in the back alley, I looked around me - unsure of where in the city I was. The 'City of Dreams' was a very big place, and there was a reason I didn't explore much of the city when I was younger. Getting up and brushing off my pants, I searched the immediate area around the bags, finding some junk lying around.

There were soda cans, shattered bottles, a few pipes, a baseball bat, and even an old lamp. The soda cans were the most common thing I could find, and I picked one up to inspect it.

People like Grapes.

I blinked. I read the name of the soda again.

People like Grapes.

...well, no shit people like grapes! Who names a soda that? I rolled my eyes and tossed the can aside before picking up the largest pipe I could find. It was easily half my height, and rather heavy - though that was to be expected from a thin metal pipe. I waved it above my head, the pipe not at all wide as my fingers could grip it tightly with the tip of my thumb and my index finger being able to touch on the other side.

The weapon was far too light. I could just tell that it would dent or break after one hard hit over someone's head. Tossing the pipe aside, I listened to it clatter lightly on the pavement as I continued to look around. I was about to pick up another pipe when I saw it nearby: a bat.

A baseball bat sat on the ground against the other side of the alley. It was metal, with very few dents and a lot of visible marks on the bat, showing just how worn it was. The grip looked to be leather, hardened and worn out like the rest of the bat was. Slowly coming over, I picked the bat up and tested my grip on it.

After seeing that it was rather easy to hold on to, I gave it a few swings. The bat was light - lighter than I expected, but far heavier than the pipe. For one, it wasn't hollow like the pipe was - and the weight I could feel in my hands brought a bit of confidence back. "This'll work well enough," I thought to myself.

It was the perfect weapon for me to use. It almost felt at home in my hands, especially thinking back to the times I needed to use one. Muggers and thugs were more than common in most of New York, after all.

Resting the pipe on my shoulder, I turned to the entrance of the alleyway - seeing it barred by a chain link fence gate. A lock lay on the ground, as did a pile of old chains, which I assumed was meant to keep the gate to the alley shut. Kicking the gate open, I peered around to see an utterly abandoned city street. Tall buildings lined the ends of the street, and the night sky above me was brightened by the moonlight.

My free hand gripped the edge of my jacket, tugging it hard and close to me as I looked curiously down the sidewalk. I turned to see the other side as well, which was just as empty as the rest of the city as far as I could see. The street lamps were on and bright, which helped to illuminate the road rather well. Some of the building lights were on as well, though it was hard to see in them.

I stepped out, trying to decide on which direction I should go in before the front of my old sneaker struck the chains still lying on the sidewalk. With a sigh, I kicked them off and was about to continue walking when...

I stopped, turning to look back at the chains. "Hmm..." I mumbled to myself, thinking hard as I stared down at the chains. There was a decent length to it, and they were still in moderately good condition. Kneeling over, I grabbed the chains and began to wrap them on the end of the bat.

They were a small chain of links, some of them rusted. Despite the difficulty of getting the chains to stay in place as I wrapped the bat, it wasn't very hard to work out a proper way to lock them in. After requiring a few tries, I managed to find a way that had the chains staying where they were - tangled up in a way that they covered most of the bat.

And as expected, it made my makeshift war club a decent deal heavier than usual. That didn't bother me - I could still swing it easily and without too much issue.

Still, I couldn't keep my good mood up for long. Gripping the bat, I looked around to see the still empty streets of the city around me, which brought me back to my current predicament: trying to figure out where the actual fuck I was.

This place didn't seem to look like any place in New York I'd ever been before. And I'd been to a lot of places: only easy to remember places that I could return home to without getting lost easily. I didn't remember how I could have gotten to a place like this part of the city, but there was very little I could do about it now.

I could still hear the city noises, as distant as they were. The buildings around me looked old, but far from decrepit. In fact, they looked to be in much better shape than most of the buildings in New York did. I couldn't help but stare - surprised that a decent looking place in the city was even abandoned in the first place.

I walked down the sidewalk, the chained baseball bat in my hands as I continued to look around. All the while, I looked for something - anything to help me figure out where I was. There were no skyscraper televisions, no Empire State Building wherever I looked, and no sign of the World Trade Center - and those buildings were supposed to stand out no matter where in the city one could be in.

The more I searched, the more and more I found myself being rather unnerved at the complete and utter lack of anything and everything familiar. As time went on, I started to wonder if I was even in New York at all. And if that was the case, where could I possibly be?

I approached an intersection: turning to see that the noise was coming from down one of the streets. It was much brighter down that road, and I could even see people in the distance. I kept my bat low near the ground as I decided to walk towards where the commotions were. As I passed each building, I could make out more details around me. The massive fucking tower in the far distance, the fact that much of the city seemed to be higher than wherever I was at, and the realization that the moon was completely fucking shattered.

That's when I realized the truth. I wasn't in New York, or Earth. I was in the world of a web show that I watched in my free time.

RWBY was one of the shows I liked - not because of its story or action, but because it was one of the only shows that kept going when the world was in quarantine. I recalled just how panicked New York had been when the news of a virus going around struck. It was hard to avoid thinking about it, but it was also very easy to get lost in distractions that kept us from panicking.

And the genre of anime was one of the few things I watched just to take the edge off. I'd watched all of RWBY, volumes one through eight. Despite not being a hardcore fan of the show as most people, I enjoyed it very much - which still got me some hate at school. Regardless, they didn't matter.

What mattered was that I was here now, and that I needed to figure out what to do from here. Whatever had taken me from New York didn't matter: I just needed to focus on what my next actions were going to be.

...

I pinched myself on the arm a few times though, just to make sure I wasn't actually dreaming.

After the stinging pain went away, I focused on making my way through the city. Judging from just how cold it was, as well as the fact that it was such a modern packed city, I had to be in Atlas.

I looked around as I approached the next intersection, seeing more of the city as I looked up. After walking past the blind spot of a particularly large distant skyscraper, I was able to get a view of Atlas Academy - as far and tiny as it was. Still, it was easy to remember from the show.

To see it in real life was a bit awing, and I stared for a good few moments before I moved on. I reached the next corner of the street, just in time to see a few people crossing the street near me.

Said people were well dressed, like rich folk with suits and dresses and fancy hats and all that. The few people chatted as they walked, only to stop when they saw me.

I was a bit put off by their wide eyed looks. Was I really that out of place? I wasn't sure what to think. Was Atlas really entirely for the rich? I looked down at my clothes: a pair of black pants, black sneakers, a gray shirt, and an open green jacket. Simple clothes, right?

I blinked before raising my hand to wave hello at the people. There was the sound of jingling chains, and the people all yelped and stumbled away from me in a panic.

Oh, right. I was holding a weapon. I scratched the back of my head before looking at my chain wrapped bat.

I wasn't very willing to just leave it behind, so I instead decided to avoid visibly walking down the street. Turning to see a thin alleyway, I slipped towards it - hurrying through it and coming across a narrow hallway between buildings and wall, a good place to sneak through.

I spent the next few minutes avoiding attention, especially knowing that I was likely to be viewed as some homeless bum with a baseball bat. I could hear the hustling city now, the sound of people talking and walking, as well as a few cars driving down the road on the other side of the buildings.

I left out an involuntary shudder. It was very cold in the city, much colder than winters in New York. The lack of any kind of snow baffled me, and the fact that I only had a pretty thin jacket for protection against the elements wasn't exactly helping matters. Sooner or later, I'd have to find someplace warm to wait in if I wanted to survive the night.

I passed another building, slipping by the opening of the alleyway before any curious onlookers could spot me trudging along. As I snuck along the back of the building, I could hear something...barely. It was a muffled sort of sound, and I could tell it was in the building I was walking alongside.

I slowed to a halt, pressing my ear to the wall as I tried to listen in on what was going on. I had nothing else to do, so why not? I could hear the sounds of voices, but no words. Metallic clinks and thuds were scattered in there as well, and it almost sounded like there was a fight going on. There was a set of thin slit type windows along the wall near the floor, and I resisted the urge to look inside. The last thing I needed was to end up being caught spying.

Near the windows was a pit up against the building, with a set of stairs leading a few feet below surface level. Right up against the bottoms of those stairs was a door. It was the only door I'd seen during my alleyway excursion, and I couldn't help but wonder...

I made my way down the stairs and reached over, taking the doorknob in my hand and slowly turning it. To my relief and wariness, I found it to be unlocked. Slowly opening the door, I peered inside to find what looked to be some sort of storage room. It was spacious, holding aisles upon aisles of shelves and racks loaded with cardboard boxes and various other items. It was a small room, with interior brick walls and basic wooden pillars along the corners of the room.

My thoughts on the room soon fell short when I realized the sound of fighting could still be heard - ever so slightly. One of the walls had a door that led elsewhere, and I closed the door I took to get in behind me before going over and leaning the side of my head against it to try and hear better.

The sounds were much less muffled now, and I realized they were the sounds of combat - clashing metal and grunts from a male and a female. Who was fighting? If this was RWBY, then it would surely be a huntsman and huntress, right?

It took a good several seconds for the fighting to die down, and I couldn't tell who won. Several seconds of silence rolled by, and I could hear a conversation taking place, the voices soft spoken and distant. I could barely make out a few of the words myself: primarily the words 'training' and 'control'.

Was someone being trained here? I backed away, wanting to avoid the risk of being discovered and went back to exploring the room. I had no desire to make myself known to the people in the room, and I decided to make my way to one of the shelves to see what this place was.

I came across things you'd normally find in a restaurant's storage room: boxes of silverware, plates and bowls, tablecloths and more. Many of the boxes had the same emblem on it: the ornate art of a unicorn with the words "Glass Unicorn" on them.

"Glass Unicorn...the Glass Unicorn..." I found myself muttering to myself as I pondered. I stroked my chin curiously as I fell into thought, wondering just where I'd heard that name before. "Glass Unicorn."

I didn't hear the door open, but I did hear the footsteps close in behind me. My eyes widened, and I whirled around to see who else was in the room.

I slammed into someone the second I looked away. Rather, someone slammed into me - it felt like I'd been kicked in the gut. Stumbling away, my back struck the shelf behind me, rattling a few boxes as the large storage rack jostled lightly against my impact. "Ow," I mumbled, the ringing pain rattling through my spine as I rubbed my gut.

In front of me, a girl a few years younger than me stood, not having moved an inch. She was smaller than me by a good few inches, and she wore a white shirt and a pair of pale sky blue pants, as well as old brown shoes. She had short black hair and pale skin, though the first thing I noticed was the strange collar around her neck. It was tight, thin, and had a yellow gem on the center.

What caught me off guard more than the scar was the sword held tightly in her hand. It was a silver blade, curved and sleek - and it was a little shorter than the bat in my hands.

I stepped back at once, my chained bat still in my tight grip as I gained some distance. The first thing I noticed about her face were her yellow eyes, actually closer to gold than yellow. She looked angered, and that made me very worried.

I realized I was still holding the bat, and I lowered it at once. I wasn't quite ready to drop my only weapon: especially given that the girl in front of me was holding a fucking sword in her hand! "Uhh, I'm not doing anything. I just wanted to look around," I quickly said, raising my unarmed hand to show that I wasn't a threat. My voice was surprisingly steady, but my hand wasn't.

"What are you doing here?" the girl snarled. She stepped forward, and I stepped back once more. The look in her eyes made me realize she was familiar, but I wasn't quite able to piece two and two together yet, not with the panic I was currently feeling.

"The door...uhh, was unlocked," I said, eyeing the door I took to get inside the place. "I came in here to get away from the cold."

The girl narrowed her eyes before she looked at my bat. I did as well, and simply sighed. "I won't try to attack," I said. "I wasn't going to. Just...wanted to defend myself against anyone outside."

The girl only stepped away from me. "Just...go," she growled. "Leave before we both get in trouble."

I was about to protest when I got a good look at the collar on her neck. And just like that, I remembered. I remembered the girl who worked at the hotel, tortured and belittled for almost every single day of her life. I remembered her learning to fight to escape before everything went terribly wrong.

This was Cinder Fall - one of the big bad villains of RWBY. However, I didn't see the nefarious and power hungry woman that most of the show portrayed. I saw the frightened and angry girl enslaved to a spoiled bitch of a mother and her equally spoiled daughters.

"..." I was silent as I stared at the girl for a good few seconds before I found my voice once more. "You're...you're training to be a huntress?" I asked, facing Cinder with my own eyes.

Cinder's eyes widened in response. "What're you-"

"That huntsman..." I began. I didn't remember his name, but I could recall his design. "He's training you, right?"

Cinder's eyes narrowed. "How did you...no. What'll you do? Tell the madam and her two spoiled daughters? What is it you want for your silence?" she demanded, the grip on her sword tightening.

Okay, so maybe this wasn't the right way to go about this. I was quick to talk again before she could decide to kill me and toss me out. "I'm not gonna tell anyone. I personally think they can stuff it," I mumbled before clearing my throat. "I...uhh...you don't like being here, do you?"

Cinder stepped back, and I was about to ask before I remembered that I'd literally just come to Remnant out of nowhere. Delving into her past would definitely get me killed at worst, and have me labeled as a nasty creep at best. I tapped my neck, gesturing to the collar on her own neck. Cinder's free hand moved up to touch her collar before lowering. "S-so?" she demanded.

I looked away. I wasn't sure what possessed me to keep talking. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I knew what would come next, sooner or later. Maybe it was me remembering just how angry I was after seeing the episode on Cinder's backstory. Or maybe it was related to the fact that I was desperate over my situation. "...you could break that collar. Run off," I finally said.

"Run? I...I have a way out of this! Rhodes is training me!" Cinder said, lowering her weapon as she leaned against the wall. "I just need to wait and train for a few years...wait, why are you talking to me? Why are you getting involved? Who are you?"

So Rhodes was his name. "I...I've been around. Guess you could say I'm homeless," I finally said, focusing as much as I could into my ability to lie and bullshit my way through life. "You're the only worker of this hotel. I sneak in sometimes just to stay warm at night. No one notices."

Her eyes widened. "You've seen me around?" she asked.

"I saw them shock you once," I said. "Didn't think I'd actually be able to talk to you face to face, but I've always wanted to help you." That was a truth sprinkled in there: remembering the times I'd work out how Cinder could have been saved, how things could have ended up differently.

Cinder growled. "So you know what they are," she said. "Well don't bother trying to get involved. I won't risk my only way of escaping this madness."

"Do you really think you can last until you can escape?" I asked. "They're monsters. They'll find out sooner or later."

"You don't know that!" Cinder snapped.

I did.

I only shook my head. "Why wait? Break free and train elsewhere. Leave Atlas," I said.

"Leave? And where would I leave? Where could I run? I'm nobody!" Cinder asked. She wasn't quite as mad as earlier. Instead, she just seemed tired. "I don't even know if I should listen to you! Who are you?"

I shrugged. "Arden is my name. Arden Ashe," I said.

"Okay, Arden. Why should I listen to you?" Cinder asked.

"Because...you deserve better," I said, deciding to think back on New York. It was a rough place in general, especially if one grew up in the low income parts of the city. "I lost a lot of people on the streets. No one ever remembers them except for me. You're about to head down that path, I've seen it."

Cinder sneered. "I won't," she said. "I'll escape and become a huntress. Then I'll be as strong as I want. And nobody will be able to hurt me again."

"They'll stop you," I said as I slid against the rack, sitting on the floor. I didn't know how I was going to go about this, but the only way Cinder would be saved is if she gave up being a huntress: gave up on waiting to take the exam only for her to snap and lose it all. "The big academies only accept people who went to the earlier combat schools. The chances of you being accepted are...slim to none."

"There's still a chance," Cinder said. "Rhodes told me they'll accept anyone who's strong enough no matter what. That's all that matters. As long as I pass the huntsman exam, then I'm free!"

The exam. There was my opening to make an incredibly risky play. "And your...family...they will be able to stop you," I said, basing what I knew about schools back at home to support my argument here. "Exams need the signatures and legal permission of parental figures. Rhodes didn't tell you that, did he?"

I hoped this wouldn't backfire on me. If I was right, then I was lucky. If I was wrong, then I could easily claim that I was wrong about that little fact. To my surprise, Cinder's vehemence dropped in an instant. Her eyes went wide with horror, and I pushed my advantage. "Do you think they'll ever want to let you go?" I asked.

She didn't reply. The silence that followed was overwhelming, and I took the chance to stand up. "...I'll leave like you asked. But...just think about it, okay?" I said as I made my way towards the door that led to outside. Despite how much I wanted to stay indoors where it was warm, it was far from safe for both Cinder and me.

"Where are you going?" Cinder asked.

"Somewhere to camp for the night. I don't wanna get you in trouble," I said. "If I'm lucky, then I'll live to see tomorrow." Opening the door, I was about to step outside when a hand gripped my wrist.

"Wait."

I blinked and turned to look at Cinder, the slightly shorter girl holding onto my arm. "Did you mean it? Did you really want to help me?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'll find a way, but right now I don't know how," I said. I could only pray that Cinder wouldn't snap and commit murder anytime soon. "Just...becoming a huntress this way isn't the right way. There's other opportunities, other ways to get to a good future, you know."

"And what about you? What is your good future?" Cinder asked.

I was mildly confused. I'd literally just woken up in Atlas: I had no idea what kind of choices I'd make in the next few minutes once I left the hotel, much less have any sort of idea for a future I would find myself having. "I'm going to leave Atlas myself. Find a place to call home," I finally said. It was the only truthful answer I could come up with, and the only course of action I could see myself making.

"Leave Atlas?" Cinder asked. She seemed a little angry now, and I wasn't sure what I'd done to piss her off before it hit me. Cinder desired freedom, and I'd just told her I was going to leave Atlas while she didn't have such an option. I fought the urge to facepalm myself for being so stupid.

Fortunately, it didn't seem like she would snap and kill me. Cinder let go before she raised her blade to her own neck. Before I could panic or protest, her other hand pulled hard on her collar and she slipped the edge of the blade between her neck and the collar, slicing away at the metallic piece and letting it drop to the floor in front of her feet.

My eyes widened at the simple action, quick to notice the now visible gruesome ring of scarred flesh around her neck. Was she really about to...?

"If you really mean it...then take me with you. Wherever you go, I want a part of it."

...no way. There was no way that Cinder would cave that easily. She was stubborn: and I could already tell that she saw power as the only way to keep herself safe. She had been dead set on becoming a huntress before everything went wrong.

"What about becoming a huntress? Are you gonna work out another way?" I asked.

"...I don't know. But I want out. If you meant what you said, then you will take me with you. I want to leave Atlas," Cinder said.

Stunned by the declaration and the fact that I had just broken the canon of RWBY with a single first conversation, I could only nod dumbly. Cinder didn't even spare a grin as she pushed me out the door, closing it behind us as we were both exposed to the elements.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

It was very easy to get lost in the big city of Atlas. The two of us slipped away from the Glass Unicorn, feeling the cold air become downright frigid. Cinder didn't appear to struggle with the colder temperatures as much as I did, likely because she did have her own aura unlocked - but I did have a decent jacket that helped a little at the very least.

Cinder had asked many times where we were going, and I could only answer "Somewhere warm and safe" over and over. If I'd admitted that I had no idea where I was going, then that was practically admitting that I'd never been in the city before. Thankfully, it was easy to pretend like I did know where I was going, especially given how similar it was to the big city back at home. Navigating it was a relatively smooth process as long as I kept silent about any confusion I had.

The two of us walked down the sidewalk of a less than crowded street. Cinder kept her blade hidden from view using the shadows, while I simply avoided wielding my bat as openly as I had been before. It was surprising just how many people ignored us as we walked by. Maybe it was because we weren't dressed as fancily as they were. Or maybe it was because we avoided attention by sticking near the buildings.

Either way, it worked in our favor as we continued our walk down the streets of Atlas. We made our way farther and farther away from Atlas Academy, which meant we were leaving the more wealthy parts of the city. It had to have been a good half hour before we reached parts of the city that were nearly entirely empty: with older buildings and a lack of people on the sidewalks or cars on the roads.

It was easy to keep looking now that there were very few people out on the streets, and Cinder thankfully stopped asking where we were going or where we would be headed. However, this only meant that Cinder would start asking something else. "How well can you fight?" Cinder asked as we walked.

"I can handle myself fine. Not against a soldier or a huntsman, but they don't usually go picking a fight," I said as I hoisted my bat, the chains wrapped around it jingling lightly. "I usually used stuff like this growing up. Pipes, bats, planks of wood. Though I'm pretty good at unarmed combat if I need to be."

"So can I," Cinder said. "What about your aura?"

I flinched, but forced myself to keep walking. "...uh, I don't have any," I finally said after a few seconds of silence.

Cinder stopped in place, forcing me to stop walking as well. "...you don't have your aura unlocked?" she asked. Her voice almost sounded incredulous for a moment, though that was no big surprise. I was fairly sure that fighting without aura was almost unheard of.

"No...never managed to manifest it or whatever," I said with a shrug. "I know that people with aura can unlock other people's aura, but I dunno how that works, or anyone who would be willing to do that."

Cinder didn't respond, and I took it as a reason to just keep walking forward. Eventually, our journey would come to an end when we came across what looked to be an old abandoned apartment complex. It was entirely dark with no lights on, and it seemed to be the most poorly maintained building in Atlas by far off of looks alone. The front door was boarded up, and the brick walls were chipped and ruined seemingly by the effects of age. The fire escape on the side of the building was old and rusted.

"This place works," I said as I came over to the front door, inspecting it. The boards were tightly nailed over the wooden frame, which meant breaking it was an easy way to let someone know that there were squatters inside.

"Why are we going in here?" Cinder asked, eyeing the building with more than a little apprehension.

"It's abandoned and still in one piece. That tells me it's safe to stay in for tonight," I said. I looked around before my gaze settled on the fire escape. The ladder wasn't lowered, though it was still only a good ten to twelve feet off of the ground. "We can enter through there," I said as I came over.

I tossed my bat up on the walkway of the fire escape, listening to the clatter of metal above. I looked around the alleyway across the fire escape, seeing a large old crate sitting nearby. Dragging it over, I set it right below where the ladder was before climbing up.

It only took a small jump for me to reach the ladder thanks to the boost of height from the box, and I carefully pulled myself up the ladder before settling on the walkway. "Okay, the window on the second story is broken, so we can just climb in," I said as I picked up my weapon. I turned to look down - just in time to see Cinder kick the box away from underneath the fire escape.

For a moment, I feared that she would leave - that she would just leave me behind and find her own way out of Atlas. It wouldn't be out of character for her anyways, she probably thought I would be way too weak to handle being around her. I did let it slip that I had no aura, after all.

My worries died in an instant and Cinder bent her legs and leapt to the ladder with no help whatsoever. Climbing up quickly, she hopped over the railing and slipped into the window in front of me. Shaking my head and sighing, I followed suit and entered the room.

The room itself was an empty apartment, with peeled wallpaper and old worn hardwood floors. There was very little inside: only an old moth-eaten mattress in the corner of the apartment and a wooden chair lying on its side. The only door in the room led to a dark hallway deeper into the building.

"Well...home sweet home for tonight," I said as I came over to the chair and stood it up. I sat down in it, leaning back and hearing the piece of furniture creak under me - only for one of the legs to snap. I hit the floor with a yelp, and a small cloud of dust was almost immediately kicked up. "...ow," I mumbled as my baseball bat clattered on the floor next to me.

Cinder didn't seem to complain, though I don't suppose that she would even if she wanted to. I was fairly certain her sleeping conditions back at the hotel were just as bad as this abandoned apartment, maybe even worse. I was no stranger to poor sleeping conditions myself - I slept outside a lot when it wasn't very cold, if only to escape home.

Home.

New York was gone now, and I was in the universe of RWBY. And I was with one of the most notorious villains of RWBY to boot. I eyed Cinder, who was sitting on the old mattress with a scowl on her face. I knew how dangerous she could be, though I wasn't sure how much of her would change now that she was free.

If she even was going to be free after all this.

Could the owner of that hotel file a missing persons report? Atlas was the strongest kingdom in the world - who knew if their police department was more competent than what Arden knew. Technology in the world of Remnant was many times more advanced than what little he owned back on Earth, and Atlas was far from the corrupt shithole that New York was.

...well, Atlas did have a degree of corruption - but still less so than what we had on Earth.

"...good night," I said after I decided not to get up from the ground. Rolling over on my side, I decided to get comfortable - resting my hand on my arm and tucking in my legs. I didn't get any sort of reply from Cinder, not that I expected one in the first place.

The quietness sank in, and I found myself struggling to fall asleep, especially with the lack of any noise. I fought the urge to move around, knowing that it would only piss off Cinder. Despite that, I could tell that the silence was going to be an annoying factor in the future. For one, it meant that I could do nothing but think.

I spent God knows how long thinking about what I'd do to leave Atlas. How I could keep my word to save Cinder. How I'd be able to work out a future if leaving Atlas was even possible. How I would be able to somehow get aura unlocked and train so I could get stronger. Maybe Cinder could help with that.

No, she probably wouldn't. There was a good chance that she would change her mind and run back to the hotel - as unlikely as that course of action was. Cinder knew very well what awaited her if she ran back, and that was only more and more punishment. This meant that I was going to be held responsible for her safety, and I needed to work out a plan now more than ever.

For now, that meant doing research. I'd snuck on subways and buses here and there, but surely Atlas would be much more strict than New York's public transportation system - and there was little chance that this could work the same way for Atlas airships. Maybe this was related to how airports and traveling between countries on Earth worked. I hadn't been on a plane, much less seen an airport in person - so there was a lack of experience that I could work with.

Then there was the issue of food and water. Surely there were parks and public fountains for water, but stealing food wasn't going to work, especially since I had no means of being stealthy or shifty - and Cinder was about as blunt as a cannon.

There'd need to be ways to earn money. Surely there'd be some jobs the two of them could do to have some sort of income source, right?

Before I could continue thinking, I noticed something in front of me. The dim moonlight shining through the window had been blocked out by something...moving. It was a shadow of sorts, forming the shape of a person that appeared to be sneaking in. I was luckily facing away from the window, but I didn't dare move.

As far as the intruder could tell, I was asleep. And judging by the lack of noise or any sort of anything from Cinder, so was she. My bat lay on the floor next to me where the broken chair sat behind me, and I resisted the urge to inch my hand closer to its grip as I eyed the shadow against the wall.

Footsteps. They were quiet creaks, and I could feel the weight behind them - it was a heavy person, likely a full adult. Maybe they were trying to slip in to get away from the cold like Cinder and I had been. I decided to let them sneak by. The last thing I wanted was to end up hurting someone over a misunderstanding-

The person's shadow against the wall raised a hand - and I could see a tall pointy shape sticking out of it: a knife of some sort. My eyes widened in an instant, and I acted almost entirely on instinct. My hand shot out and grabbed the baseball bat before I twisted my entire body, swinging wildly behind me.

The sound of the impact was wet and gruesome. I could tell that I'd broken the bones of someone's leg with that swing, and I fought the urge to wince as the intruder screamed hoarsely. I scrambled to my feet with my weapon in both hands just in time to see the man dressed in rags dropping on the wooden floor like a brick. He had a scraggly beard and wore a heavy worn brown coat over his body.

Cinder shot up out of the mattress, her sword in hand as she jumped to her feet. The man growled and swung wildly, the jagged razor knife in his hands swinging much too far away from us to be of any danger.

I swung my bat once more, the chains slamming violently against his wrist. He cried out once more as his weapon flew across the room, digging itself into a wall. Cinder came over, watching the man writhe on the floor. "...what happened?" she asked. She was drowsy, but still clearly on her guard.

"He snuck in with a knife," I said as I leaned down and pulled the large coat off of him, ignoring the pained cries as I pulled his injured wrist through the sleeve. "Wasn't about to take any chances."

Cinder looked down at his shattered leg before nodding once. "Should we kill him?"

I blinked. "No, someone dying is a very quick way to get the police or the military on high alert, especially in a place like Atlas," I warned. "They'll catch us in no time, and we'll all be right back where we started, maybe worse."

Cinder's features twisted in disgust, but she nodded. "Then what do we do?" she asked.

"We search him and throw him out," I said, putting my weapon down in order to start patting the man's pockets down. "Then we move elsewhere."

I came across a lighter and some money: four Lien cards, before grabbing the crying intruder and dragging him to the window. He was much lighter than expected. With a heave, I threw him out on the fire escape with the loud clatter of old and rusted metal. I was about to climb out so I could throw him over that too when a loud screech of metal was heard. The man yelped as he and the fire escape walkways of this floor and the next floor dropped to the ground, crashing in the alleyway.

A quiet groan outside told me he was alive.

"...that's that," I said before I picked up my weapon. "We should head upstairs, just in case another wiseass decides to try and sneak in on us again." I turned towards the open door, walking out to see an old hallway with multiple room entrances.

The two of us searched the rooms for anything useful, finding quite a decent amount of things. Out of all the rooms on this floor that we could see, there was a gray and dusty old backpack, a rusted wrench, old books, a worn black and white striped blanket, and a whole pack of unopened condoms. I left the books and condoms behind, but the backpack and wrench were surely useful.

Plus, Cinder kept the blanket for herself.

We managed to find the staircase in the dark and made our way to another room upstairs. The next room we found was completely and utterly empty, devoid of any wallpaper or items that could have been left behind: but I didn't care. I leaned the bat against the wall and pulled out the Lien cards from my pocket, taking the time to count them with the help of the moonlight above. "This should be enough for lunch tomorrow."

The sound of a soft growl filled the room, and I turned to see Cinder clutching her stomach. She glared at me, though her cheeks were tinted pink in the process. Right, poorly fed hotel slave.

"Don't worry, we'll get food tomorrow, and then we'll find some ways to make money so we can leave Atlas," I said.

"We can just keep taking Lien out of other people's pockets," Cinder said as she reluctantly laid down, likely knowing it was best to eat tomorrow.

"That'll get attention on us," I said, putting the money back in my jacket and patting it before I laid down on the floor once more, keeping my weapon close like before. "I have a few ideas, but we need to wait until tomorrow."

That was the end of the conversation, and I laid back comfortably on the floor, staring at the empty ceiling above.

Sleep came much easier than last time.

- the next morning -

I woke up bright and early with a stiff back and a nasty headache. Groaning as I rolled over, I slowly blinked my blurry eyes open. "Ugh..." I groaned. "What time is it?"

"Very early," Cinder said. I turned and narrowed my eyes to try and see where she was. It didn't take me very long to find her: leaning against the windowsill as she looked around her.

I was hit by the cold, and I felt a shudder go up my spine. "Okay..." I mumbled as I picked up my bat, stretching my arms and legs to get the stiffness out of my body. "We should get going. The first thing we need to do is...find food." I realized just how hungry I was, especially given just how much work we had ahead of us. "Come on, we should find a cheap place to eat."

I pulled the backpack on before I stuck the bat head first inside so the handle stuck out the top. Inside the backpack with my weapon was the wrench, and the blanket, neatly folded by Cinder. Before leaving, Cinder brought up the idea of searching the place for more stuff - anything that could be useful to us.

I headed for the door before seeing that Cinder was still looking out the window. "...you alright?" I found myself asking.

Cinder looked back. "I'm fine. Let's go," she said as she walked towards the door. I stepped in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. "What?"

I sighed. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine," Cinder repeated as she stepped over my foot. "Now let's get going."

The two of us made our way out of the apartment building an hour later, being owners of some new loot, which included a switchblade, some old shirts, an old hip flask, a black handkerchief, and a few rubber bands. I kept the handkerchief on my person, tying it around my neck like a bandanna before we left.

Cinder had wrapped her sword in the coat, neatly concealing it and securing the 'package' tightly before tying the long sleeves of the jacket over her torso like a bandolier. Her weapon remained concealed, which did plenty to ease my anxiety as we left.

This part of the city was just about as derelict as I'd expected - seeing very few people: and all of them being homeless to some degree. There were blankets on the ground with people sitting on them, fires burning in old barrels, tents pitched on the ground near buildings or alleyways, and old cars still parked against the curb.

Some people stared at us as we walked by. Others simply ignored us, deliberately keeping their heads turned away as we walked by. No one seemed willing to approach us, which wasn't too surprising - especially with how Cinder carried herself in her pace. Even though her weapon wasn't visible or easy to get in its bundle, she just gave off the aura that she was deadly, and no one seemed to be stupid or ignorant enough to brush that aside.

That only made the walk itself more smooth, gaining more distance from the wealthier parts of the city as we headed towards a relatively busy part of the city. A few intersections passed and corners turned, and we came across a part of Atlas that seemed to be more familiar. There were cars driving around, people walking to and from homes and offices, busy sidewalks, and a lot of voices.

This resembled the more busier city life that I was used to, and I found myself relaxing a little - hands in my pockets as we shuffled past person after person. Cinder's hand came to grip the sleeves of the coat tied on her back, and I subconsciously leaned my body away from as many people as I could, though we still bumped into the occasional individual here and there.

"Where are we going now?" Cinder asked. She bumped into my side every once in a while, likely due to how crowded it was.

"We're going to get food," was all I said as I took a quick gander at all the buildings on either side of the street. There were small shops, restaurants, large stores, cafes, and more - which explained why it was so damn busy this early in the morning. After walking along and reading the names of the various businesses along the street, I decided to settle on a cafe called the "Rise & Shine Bistro".

We were hit with a wave of warmth as we entered the small place, the little sound of the bell ringing as the door opened. Cinder jolted against me over the sound of the bell, and I stumbled inside by accident. "Hey, you alright?" I asked.

Cinder blinked before she looked away. "I-I'm fine," she muttered as she hurried inside, the door closing behind her and ringing once more. A second twitch of her arm told me she wasn't in fact fine, and I could imagine why.

Shaking my head, I decided not to push the subject here and walked over to the counter. The woman who greeted me at the register was middle aged with green eyes and long brown hair tied in a ponytail, as well as a white apron. "Hello, welcome to the Rise and Shine Bistro, how may I help you?" she asked with a cheery grin. If she noticed our shoddy state of dress or shady accessories, she didn't say.

I eyed the menu above the register, seeing what appeared to be breakfast items ranging from simple foods to more fancy portions judging by the increasing price on some of the menu items. Most of them were under 10 Lien, which either meant the portions themselves were small or the economy was in a better state than the US dollar. "Hmmm..." I said, deciding to go with the cheaper items on the menu. "I'll have the baked potato with a side of scrambled eggs...and she'll have the half dozen frittatas. Oh, and some hotcakes on the side."

"Of course, that'll be 19 Lien," the cashier said. I took out all the Lien cards I had - which didn't seem to be much, and handed her one. I watched as she swiped the card on the register, waiting anxiously for what would happen.

Thankfully, it seemed that the single card I gave her worked, with the price on the register dropping to zero as the payment was processed. "Alright, the card has 11 Lien left on it. Pick a table and we'll bring your food out. Anything else?"

"Yeah. Two water cups as well?" I asked.

"Sure thing, with or without ice?"

"With," Cinder said, just as I said "Without" in response to the question. The two of us stared at each other as the cashier giggled.

"Alright, one with and one without," the woman said as she turned from the register to the small coffee bar next to it, where there were drink dispensers and nozzles for what were likely soft drinks. "I'll have those water cups brought out to you in just a moment."

"Thanks," I said before I sat at the first empty table I saw, taking off my backpack and setting it under the table between my legs. Cinder didn't dare remove her coat wrapped sword, instead pressing it between the backrest of the chair and her own back. Several seconds passed, and a younger blonde woman walked over with two glasses of water and two plastic straws, setting our respective cups in front of us before leaving.

"...you alright?" I finally asked, feeling a bit of concern over her behavior. She seemed to be spooked by something.

"...I-I'm fine," Cinder said as her eyes kept jerking to the door nearby. I thought she was expecting to be recognized by people outside, given that both the door and the large windows on either side were entirely made of glass. It took me another moment to realize that she was eyeing the bell on the door.

I didn't remember if the hotel made use of bells, but it probably had to if they scared her. I took a deep breath before speaking up once more.

"Are you sure you're alright? You can talk to me," I said.

"Talk to you about what?" Cinder asked, narrowing her eyes.

"About whatever's bothering you," I said. "It's probably private and whatever, but you'll feel better if you just talk about it. Trust me, it does help."

Cinder looked down, closing her eyes before she let out a quiet sigh. "I miss him," I said.

It only took me a moment to realize who she was talking about. "Rhodes?" I asked.

She nodded. "He was the only other person to care," she said. "And I didn't even say goodbye."

I felt bad, not having thought about the relationship between Cinder and Rhodes. It was clear that he cared for her, and she did the same for him. I wouldn't be surprised if she had second thoughts - but I knew she wouldn't risk going back, not when it meant that there was a chance she'd become a slave again.

I wouldn't let her go through that again either way.

"We'll make it off of Atlas, and we'll find a way for you to see him again," I said, reaching over and taking one of her clenched fists in my hand. I felt her stiffen, but not pull away from me. "I promise, I'll find a way to make it happen."

Cinder stared back at me, her eyes slightly widened as I stared back. I didn't feel as nervous as I did before - maybe it was because I was slightly hyping myself and my own sense of confidence up in the process, but that wasn't what was on my mind right about now.

However, Cinder did seem to calm down just a little bit, her own fist unfurling in my hands before I let them go on the table. "Thank you," she mumbled as she took her glass of ice water and began to sip.

I leaned back with a sigh as I picked up my own glass. "No problem," I replied, feeling myself relax a little. I'd still need to worry about the future, specifically what comes next.

But for now, I could let myself enjoy the peace and quiet.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

The food arrived in a good ten minutes or so, all by the same blonde waitress carrying a tray. One plate held my baked potato with scrambled eggs, set in front of me. The potato was split open and steaming, with the interior loaded with melted cheese, minced bacon bits, green onion, and a dollop of sour cream. The eggs were lightly piled with melted cheese and what appeared to be ultra thinly sliced chives.

The platter of frittatas was set in front of Cinder - each frittata slightly smaller than a cupcake, but topped with more cheese and green onion. From what the menu said, they were loaded with sautéed onions, peppers, and bacon. The last item was set between our dishes, a plate of three moderately large hotcakes with maple syrup and whipped cream topping the uppermost hotcake.

"Enjoy!" the waitress chimed before she left the table with the empty tray. Cinder was the first to dig in, picking up a frittata and biting into it with gusto. The first thing I noticed when she chewed was the sight of her eyes lighting up as her cheeks bulged full of eggs and vegetables. As I cut into my baked potato, she'd already downed a whole frittata, shoving the rest of it in her mouth before she'd even swallowed the first piece she'd bitten off.

"Whoa, calm down," I was quick to point out as she reached for the second frittata. "Eat too fast and you'll get a stomach ache. Plus I'm pretty sure you'll want to savor it."

Cinder glowered at me, though I couldn't take her seriously with the full chipmunk-like cheeks she had. She chewed slowly for a good few minutes before she swallowed. I ate a few forkfuls of cheesy flavorful mashed baked potato goodness, sighing as I leaned back and savored my own food.

The two of us ate our own food, relatively quietly as the bistro got a few more customers, which made the place a bit houser and much more busy. "We need to find a way to make more money," I said, spooning some scrambled eggs into my baked potato, and scooping both eggs and potato up in my fork. "An official job would take too long. We're both kids in the eyes of the law, so no business would even think twice about turning us away."

Cinder swallowed the last bit of her second frittata, wiping some crumbs off before she reached for her third. "What about jobs that let us fight? We're both good at that," she said.

"I'm not as good as you are," I said as I leaned forward over my plate. "I don't have my aura unlocked for once, so that's something I'll have to worry about."

"You said someone else could unlock your aura?" Cinder asked.

"Yeah. I don't know if you know how, and if I recall, it's not easy," I said.

Cinder looked down, her finger rolling a piece of charred onion on her platter before she spoke up once more. "I think I can do it," she said. "Rhodes has been teaching me aura techniques. I didn't understand much, but he told me about how aura is an extension of our soul, and that the best way to achieve symbiosis with ourselves is through meditation."

I blinked, not having expected Cinder of all people to make that offer - especially since we didn't know each other that well. "You'd really do that?" I asked slowly.

"Don't get the wrong idea, I need you to get me out of Atlas, that's it," Cinder said, sporting a light pout on her facial features. "And...I wanna thank you for getting me away. I don't think I'd make it very far without you."

Huh. I wasn't expecting her to be nice about it, but I didn't expect gratefulness either. Maybe she really was a nicer sort at her younger age. "Thanks," I said. "And you could probably teach me as well."

"Why would I do that?" Cinder asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because you're stronger than me, and you'd probably be annoyed if you had to keep protecting me if we got into fights," I said. "Like what if we end up fighting way too many people? Or worse, a huntsman?"

Cinder pondered this, chewing on her next frittata as she looked down at her platter. Eventually, she came to a decision. "Alright," she said, sitting up a little taller as she swallowed her bite. "When you get your aura unlocked, you'll find yourself under my tutelage. Understand?"

"I understand. Thanks, this...this really means a lot," I said as I smiled. The possibilities filled my head - the chance to master aura, the chance to unlock a semblance, the chance to be able to fight better than I'd ever been able to before.

Cinder appeared to preen a little bit at the words. "Of course it does," she said before she went back to eating.

The two of us finished our own plates several minutes later before we dug into the plate of hotcakes, cutting them up and devouring them in the span of a few more minutes. By that, I meant Cinder ate most of the cakes while I took a few pieces.

After thanking the bistro workers and stacking the empty plates neatly, we left the restaurant and continued to walk down the sidewalk. "The only real option we have in leaving Atlas is sneaking aboard an airship. We can't fly one since we don't know how, and we have no documentation to let us leave the kingdom. We'll need to bribe a pilot to let us hitch a ride, either to Mistral or Vale."

"Vale," Cinder said. "We'll got to Vale. N-not Mistral."

I winced, remembering that the orphanage that Cinder had originally come from was in Mistral. Vale seemed like the safest choice, so I nodded. "Vale then," I agreed with Cinder. "Atlas has a lot of airships, so finding one that flies to Vale won't be much of an issue. It's finding a ship that'll let us hitch a ride that's the problem. There isn't much of a way to tell which pilots will accept bribes and which pilots will call security."

Cinder furrowed her brow. "If you've considered all this, then why haven't you left long ago?" she asked. "It's like you started all this when I came along."

I did my best to not show my panic. Clearing my throat, I sighed. "It's because I didn't have much of a real shot before I met you. The two of us have a better chance at escaping together than separated and alone," I said.

Cinder narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure?" she asked.

I raised my hands. "No aura. No real shot at literally doing anything without getting caught or attacked. Crime in Atlas is a big deal, and the criminals that can lay low and avoid getting the attention of Atlas are the most dangerous ones," I said.

Cinder glared at me before her look softened. Some seconds passed before she nodded. "Okay," she said. "I'm glad you're being honest."

"Hm? I figured that's a given," I said. "Why?"

"If you said that you did it solely to help me, then I would have known for a fact you were lying," Cinder said. "Nobody does anyone for anything without some selfish reason. At least you aren't withholding it."

"...huh," I muttered, having not realized just how much more trustworthy being selfish could be. I'd just figured that being honest was the best way to keep away from Cinder's bad side. "...I see. I mean, lying in general would have been a bad thing in this case, so..."

"Let's just keep going," Cinder grumbled as she walked on ahead. I sighed and followed suit, catching up quickly as we approached an intersection. The two of us remained silent with each other as we stopped at the corner of the street, approaching what appeared to be a large public park with trees, a dirt paved path, benches, and even a large stone carved fountain in the center - tall enough to rival the height of a house.

"Fancy," I said. "Let's avoid it, stick to the buildings."

"Why?" Cinder asked.

"Because if anyone's gonna offer work without looking into our backgrounds, then it'll be somewhere out of view," I said, recalling the times me and my friends would be paid for various small jobs around the streets - all of which were started from meetings in alleyways.

I led the way, turning at the intersection and staying by the sidewalk as we approached a slightly less packed part of the city, where there appeared to be large open alleyways and parking structures. This seemed like a place where a lot of back alley deals could be made, though this kind of assumption couldn't exactly be confirmed. Nevertheless, it couldn't hurt to search.

"Where do you wanna look first? The alleys or the parking lot building?" I asked Cinder.

Cinder tapped her chin momentarily before looking at the alleyways. "Alleys," she said. "What exactly are we looking for?"

I shrugged, not too sure myself. "Honestly, it could be anything," I said as I headed towards the alleyway. "You never really know what to look for until you see it, so it might as well be a guessing game."

Cinder grabbed my wrist, and I winced as I began to feel her grip rise in temperature. "What do you mean, a guessing game?" she hissed.

I ripped my hand out of her grip. "It's the truth! Do you know how hard it is to stay hidden in a city like this? Stumbling upon them is literally the only chance we have!" I shot back, making sure to keep my voice down.

"And you chose not to tell me that?" Cinder growled.

"I did just now! And I was worried about making sure we didn't get caught or come across as people needed to be reported," I explained. "You can be mad, but this is our best shot at escaping! Or do you think I'm just trying to screw you over?"

"You might be," Cinder pointed out.

I closed my eyes and sighed. "Yeah...if I am, then you can kill me. But I promise you I'm not. Just...give me a chance, alright? I'm not looking for the police or your old master or whatever, I'm looking for someone or something shady. That's it."

Cinder looked down, clearly deep in thought. I was aware that my argument wasn't great - and the whole prospect of escaping Atlas through the process of illicit means was a very risky strategy, but it was all I had. It was also the only thing I could properly handle myself in, thanks to the kind of life I had growing up.

Eventually, Cinder backed off. "Very well," she grumbled. "You'd better know what you're doing."

I nodded slightly in response, and we slipped into the alleyway, getting treated to a dark hall of brick walls and old trash bags. What followed was about an hour or two of walking through more alleys, coming across more trash, buildings, and indeed some shady people. However, all of the people we came across weren't the ones that did anything illegal other than drugs or piss on the walls.

There were a few people hiding in the shadows that tried to mug us, although Cinder was quick to put a stop to that with kicks and punches. None of them had any more Lien, unfortunately - but it meant that Cinder now had our safety to worry about rather than me.

It didn't take long before we were completely and utterly lost in this maze of alleys, continuing to gamble on the off chance that we would find someone with a little power in the shadows of Atlas. We made our way past more and more thugs and slum dwellers, losing sight of the outside world as we entered the underground of Atlas. And by that, it was meant to be taken literally.

One of the paths we took led down a massive abandoned sewer pipe, slipping into the darkness. "Looks like we found...something," I muttered quietly. "Does aura help with night vision?"

"It helps as a sixth sense, not night vision," Cinder said. She'd stopped walking ahead of me now, instead opting to walk behind me as we made our way down the sewer pipe. I didn't complain, as it meant that Cinder was likely not as aggressive now.

Still, that posed a slight problem. "If you can sense better, shouldn't you be at the front? I mean...I can't really-" I began.

"I can unlock your aura now," Cinder said, interrupting me as I spoke.

"You can? How?" I asked. "Don't you need...I dunno some sort of ritual? A code phrase?" I thought back to when Pyrrha first unlocked Jaune's semblance in the first volume of RWBY, although I didn't know much about what she'd said.

"No!" Cinder snapped, almost incredulous at what was likely a stupid question. "Rhodes said that the more in tune that one is with their aura, the more powerful they become. I said this before, remember?"

"...right. Meditation," I said. "Have you been doing that?"

Cinder nodded, barely visible in the darkness of the sewer pipe. "I've been doing it every night for the past five years," she said quietly. "I can do it."

"Should we find someplace safer to do this?" I asked. "We might get ambushed here."

"There's no danger here. Nobody is anywhere near us," Cinder said, and I felt her grab my arm with one hand. "Now quit moving!"

I did so, and I felt Cinder's other hand rest on my forehead. Her fingers were slightly calloused, but not at all rough. I did my best to keep from fidgeting and closed my eyes, not sure if I was meant to feel anything.

Seconds passed, and I could feel Cinder's grip on my arm tighten ever so slightly. I remained absolutely still, feeling my heart pounding as my anxiety only shot up. I could only be glad that I wasn't sweating on top of that.

Eventually, Cinder just let go of me - and I sighed. I couldn't feel anything coming from within me, much less anything coming from Cinder. "...well, it was worth a try," I mumbled. "We should probably-"

A thud hit my ears, and I was barely able to make out the silhouette of Cinder kneeling on the ground. The sound of heavy panting made my heart skip a beat, and I was quick to drop in front of her, gripping her shoulders carefully. "Cinder? Hey, Cinder, you alright?"

"I am! It just took a lot out of me," Cinder said, her voice soft as she breathed heavily. "Your aura is unlocked."

I blinked before looking down at me. Sure enough, my body was glowing ever so slightly - a gray hue emitting from my clothes. I looked back up to see the hands holding Cinder's shoulders were also glowing, something I hadn't noticed at first. "Wow," I said quietly.

"Wow is right," Cinder panted as she shook her head. She forced herself up, getting me to stand up in the process. "Let's...let's just keep going-" she began to say before she tripped, stumbling against me.

"Steady," I whispered, feeling her shoulder pressing weight against me. Thankfully, Cinder didn't seem to want to push herself away from me like I would have expected. She was either too tired or she just didn't care. "We could stay here for a minute."

"N-no, we have to keep moving," Cinder said. "Just hold onto me."

I nodded, before remembering something. Taking one hand off of Cinder's other shoulder, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the lighter from the attacker from last night. Flicking it open, I sighed as a small flame flickered from the old lighter, illuminating the interior of the sewer. It was entirely empty: dried out with the inside walls and ceiling of the large pipe made of a chipped and worn out brick lining.

The two of us kept moving for a good few minutes, with me helping Cinder along before she managed to handle standing up on her own. "How do you feel?" Cinder asked as she brushed herself off.

I bit back the reply I'd been thinking about 'me being the one who should be asking that' and simply shrugged in reply to her question. "I feel energized, but that's about it," I said honestly. I was still a little nervous over what I was supposed to expect, but worrying about it wouldn't help. "I know aura needs training and meditation and all that, so I'm not expecting much until I can start making use of it."

"Good. You already know what to expect," Cinder said, briefly nodding as she stretched her arms. She seemed to regain her energy quickly, bringing her walking pace back to normal as she seemingly recovered from her fatigue rather quickly. "Knowing your limits is the best way to start improving."

I nodded, knowing that was likely something she had learned from Rhodes. I was about to talk again when Cinder held a hand up. I stopped right as she did that, unsure of what she was doing before I watched her pull her sword out of the coat bundle tied around her waist. "Enemies?" I asked.

"Enemies," Cinder said. I looked down the pipe, just in time to see a small group of people walking forwards into the light - at least five of them.

"Lookie here, boys!" a gruff voice chuckled. At the center of the people was a man wearing old clothing, holding a sword in one hand and a pistol in the other. The others all held pipes and knives, sneering as they approached us. "Two lost little lambs stumbling into our den of wolves..."

Cinder growled in response to the admittedly basic attempted barb. I winced, not only at the clear insult, but at just how basic it was. Analogies of lambs and wolves weren't exactly the most intimidating. Not that I was very scared, especially given who I was traveling with.

"Do you guys live here or what?" I asked, my hand reaching towards the handle of my weapon in my backpack to pull it out before Cinder shook her head at me, barely turning and side eyeing me in the process.

The man raised his sword, grinning nastily as he stepped forward. "None of your business. You won't be able to leave here anyways," he sneered. "Kill the boy, but leave the girl alive. I want a little fun for later."

The other men all jeered, pipes slamming against the brick walls in an attempt to be scary. It did little more than piss Cinder off even more - so much that I could start to feel the heat coming off of her body just by proximity alone.

"Arden. Lights off," she snarled as the men slowly advanced on us with laughs and jeers.

I didn't need any saying twice, and I flipped the lid of the lighter back on, cutting off all of the light in the sewer in an instant. Everything descended into chaos at once, with the sound of clashing metal and the bang of a single gunshot being accompanied by very brief flashes of fire at short intervals. I could hear the sounds of bodies striking the walls and floors, as well as the crying out and screaming moments before they fell silent.

It took less than twenty seconds for everything to go quiet, the only noises I could hear being the occasional groaning and crying coming from the floor in front of me. Once I was absolutely sure that the coast was clear, I was quick to turn the lighter back on, the small flame revealing the bloodbath before me.

There was blood splattered and sprayed on the walls and floors, and all the men that had threatened us now lay with horrid burns and deep slashes, some with arms or legs severed and lying a few feet away, and at least one of them cut entirely in half. Cinder stood in the middle of it all, her face and clothes covered in streaks and specks of blood. The blade of her sword was covered in red as well, though she was wiping it off on her sleeve.

"That was fast," I said, holding in the urge to vomit. I'd seen gruesome violence before on the internet or in the movies, though seeing it in real life didn't quite hit me the same way. For one, the movies didn't include the smell of death. "Think I'll be able to fight that fast in the future?"

"No," was all Cinder said as she began to kneel, starting to check the pockets of the bodies around her. As she looted the corpses, I stepped past her - avoiding as much blood on the sewer floor as I could while I peered down the rest of the pipe with the help of the lighter.

"I see a bit of light," I said, eyeing the end of the pipe: where there was a distant orange glow far away. "We should keep going."

"Almost done," Cinder said. I turned to see one of the men still alive, moving his severed arm slowly as he groaned. It looked like he was trying to turn over so he could crawl - although Cinder was quick to slam her foot on his side. "They all need to pay."

I winced, coming over and stepping my sneakers in the mess of blood as I held my hand out. "He'll bleed out anyways," I said, having seen the nasty burned slashes on his body, just the same as the others she dealt with. "No need for overkill."

Cinder glared at me. "I'm not going to let a single one of them live. If he gets someone, he'll come after us, or he'll find someone to come after us!"

"Then kill him quick so we can get out of here faster," I said. I wasn't stupid enough to try and convince Cinder to let him live - not now at least. But the most I could do is discourage her from constantly acting on her anger, and hope it would make for the two of us to get along better at the very least.

Cinder narrowed her eyes before she kicked the man over on his back, thrusting her sword down in his chest and ending his life with a gurgle and a choked exhale. She didn't wait more than a few seconds before she ripped her weapon out. "Happy?" she asked, wiping her blade against the dead man's clothes.

I sighed. "A little," I muttered as I prepared myself to ask the question I was just thinking about. "Is this the first time you killed someone?" I inquired, knowing the answer ahead of time.

Cinder looked at me, her eyes a little wide before she looked away. She no longer seemed upset - but instead just exhausted. "Yes," she muttered as she sighed. "Why?"

I looked away as well. "I hope you know that killing is...well, bad. Obviously. And I know that we're going to have to...take lives." I didn't feel very comfortable admitting that. The fact I now had unlocked aura meant I was likely going to be on the front lines of danger now. "But if you don't need to kill, I say it's easier and safer to just not."

Cinder narrowed her eyes before she looked back at me - although she remained rather quiet. I'd expected her to rebuke me for saying something such as that, especially given just how glad she was when she killed her tormentors. But to my surprise, she seemed deep in thought. Maybe even uncertain.

I spoke up once more when her gaze fell on the bodies she left. "Don't feel bad about these guys, they're scum," I said.

"I know that!" Cinder snapped before turning around, standing up straight as she exhaled tiredly. "I was just about to...never mind. Come on."

I didn't push it, instead following her while holding the lighter up as we continued our walk down the pipe. I could tell that she wasn't feeling very comfortable now, occasionally tugging at her blood stained sleeves long after she put her sword away.

I wasn't very sure what we could do now, especially with the end of the pipe holding a dim light as well as a degree of uncertainty. The battle had taken the wind out of my sails now that I'd had another roadblock to deal with. I'd been in fights before, breaking bones and causing more and more pain with people I fought with in the streets or alleys. But I never had the chance nor willingness to kill anyone.

Would I really have to do it? Could I possibly handle the thought of ending a life-?

"Here."

Cinder pressed her hand to my chest - her clean sword hand. It was full of Lien cards, at least a dozen or so of them, "Did they really have this much?" I asked, grateful for the distraction - albeit a short one.

"Yes," Cinder said, and I took the money before pocketing it. "You're better with Lien than I am." And that was the end of that conversation.

I found myself smiling: a bit relieved that Cinder was able to say something like that. It meant more than the fact that she admitted a weakness of hers - it told her that she was at least willing to rely on me.

She wasn't going to just up and abandon me, not when she admitted that she still needed me in some form - even if it was just with money. That filled me with more relief than I could have ever expected.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

We exited the dark pipe, entering another hallway much larger than the path we'd just been in. With just one look around, we realized we were in the actual sewers of Atlas - with a deep and dark river of filthy water trailing down the middle. Hanging from the ceiling above were dim orange lights, partially illuminating the sewers. On either side of the river of sewage were raised walkways with railings.

"Eugh..." I mumbled, pulling the handkerchief still wrapped around my neck over my mouth to mask the nasty smell that was hovering around us. It did very little to stifle the smell, but it was something. Cinder grimaced, but otherwise didn't react. "Let's head left."

Cinder turned to her left to see a completely empty walkway path. "More guessing?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah," I mumbled, not too ashamed at guessing. I moved to turn around. "Besides, the right side could always end up leading to-" I began when I saw Cinder's eyes widening.

I was barely about to ask what was wrong before she grabbed my shoulder to push me. I'd just finished turning to look down the other side when I stumbled, just in time to see a man a dozen or so feet away, holding a rifle aimed directly at me. "-oh-"

I was barely able to raise my hand before the gun fired, the shot echoing loudly down the sewers as I felt the impact. I didn't even hear Cinder's shout as I flew back and hit the ground.

The pain was what struck me at first as I slammed into the ground, the handle of the bat sticking out of my backpack scraping against the ground as I slid back from the impact, but that was quickly followed by relief. I felt no blood, no hole, no other sensation other than horrible aching. My hand patted my chest frantically as I sat up and looked down.

Sure enough, there didn't seem to be any sign of any kind of red. However, there was the flicker of gray light that covered all over my body, and I realized in a split second that I'd brought my aura up just in the nick of time. I hadn't even done it on command. Was it something that happened automatically?

No, it couldn't be. Maybe it was a conscious action without even knowing. Maybe it acted the instant I realized there was a danger to myself. After all, I did know that it took training to utilize aura as a defensive measure. As my aura faded, I could feel myself rejuvenating rather quickly. My aura hadn't broken from that shot - only faded after flickering momentarily, which meant I still had some left.

I looked up just in time to see Cinder kick the man over the railing, causing a splash as the rifle in his hands dropped to the floor. She whirled around, her eyes widened in panic as she saw me sitting up. "Arden!" she cried as she ran over, dropping to her knees and letting the sword go. It landed next to me as her hands fell on my chest. "Are you hurt?"

It was a little bit amusing to see her so worried for me, though that amusement died out when I remembered that I'd actually been so damn close to dying just now - from being shot by a thug of all people. "I'm fine, I promise," I said. "Brought my aura up just in time."

Cinder sighed in relief. "You didn't sense him?" she asked.

"No, I think I have to train for that. Right?" I asked. "I didn't even feel something was wrong."

Cinder shook her head. "No, you need to hone your aura," she sighed. "Ugh, you'll have to train yourself from the beginning."

"How come you didn't see him at first?" I asked, inhaling deeply as I felt the shock quickly go away.

"My aura is still a little drained from unlocking yours," Cinder explained. "The less you have, the weaker your abilities get. And all abilities use aura."

I slowly nodded before looking ahead. "What did you do with the guy who shot me?" I asked.

"I knocked him out and kicked him into the water. If he's lucky, he won't drown," Cinder said. I winced - death by shit was a bad way to go. Still, I didn't feel too bad given that he'd tried to shoot me in the first place.

Though that did beg the question. "A group of thugs then a guy with a rifle? I think we're getting close," I said as I pulled myself up, before I came over and picked up the rifle off the ground.

The rifle looked futuristic, similar to the guns I saw the Atlas soldiers holding in the show. This one seemed thinner, and was gray and black rather than white and blue. I held onto it, deciding to keep it as a weapon for myself.

"If you blocked the shot in the first place, then that means you know how to bring your aura up to defend yourself, right?" Cinder asked. She'd picked up her sword and came over to me.

"It was sort of something my body did automatically, I guess," I admitted. "Does that mean I need to keep willing my aura to stay up like a shield?"

"Partially. You need to bring up your defenses with willpower. Your aura is an extension of not just your soul, but your body. Your soul is how you bring it up, but it's your body that makes use of it," Cinder explained.

"Then that means I'll need to train both my soul and body to use my aura?" I guessed.

"I did mention symbiosis," Cinder said. "But enough of that for now. We need to figure out where these people came from."

"I say we go this way," I said, pointing the ride down the right path where the guy had come from in the first place. "Maybe we can find a home base or something or anything."

"Home base?" Cinder asked.

"Something tells me it's a gang that we're gonna end up finding here," I said as I began walking alongside the wall of the sewer passage with Cinder following me close behind.

We continued our walk down the sewers, relying on the light from the ceilings to help us find our way. I'd put the lighter away to save as much fluid - or fire Dust since we were in the world of RWBY - in case we needed to use it elsewhere. We didn't dare speak up, lest we get distracted from searching for anyone or anything that may attack us further along.

Eventually, we came across some noise further down the walkways - the apparent sound of voices in the distance. I raised the rifle up against my shoulder as we slowed down our pace, approaching the cause of the noises carefully.

We found the source of the sewer noises a good few minutes later - and it was nothing like I'd have possibly expected. Hanging above the river of sewage were several platforms supported by metallic struts from the ceiling and below. Either side of the platform was held in place by the walkways on either side, almost like bridges. On the platforms were rows of metal tables, as well as odd looking machines, stacks of cardboard boxes, and plastic buckets along the floors.

There were people with gloves and masks working at the tables, either operating machines or sealing boxes and buckets and whatnot. It didn't take a genius to understand what was going on - especially if one saw a certain scene from Breaking Bad.

"...oh," I said, watching as a sealed plastic pouch full of white substance was lowered into one of many open cardboard boxes at the end of the table.

"Well? Is this what we're looking for?" Cinder asked quietly.

"...not exactly," I admitted nervously. Illicit drugs were a very touchy subject, especially given just how bad they could be. I was all too aware of what drugs could do - the kind of pain and death they could cause just by being around.

I was tempted to get Cinder to back away so we could both sneak out of here when-

"Hey!"

"What're you doing?"

Cinder whipped her blade out quickly as three men from across the walkways aimed pistols and rifles at us. The people working at the tables all froze at once, their masked faces looking up to see us frozen in place.

"What do we do now?" Cinder hissed as we kept ourselves still.

"They won't let us leave," I said. "We can probably fight our way out, but that's bad news for us either way."

"Correct, young man."

Cinder and I turned to see a man walking from around one of the tables. Unlike the others, he was dressed decently with black pants and a clean white button up collared shirt. He had short hair and stubble on his chin, as well as a scar on his cheek, as well as a pistol in his hand.

This guy must be the one in charge. For some reason, I wasn't quite so intimidated by him compared to the fact that we'd stumbled onto an actual drug den of sorts in Atlas. I wasn't sure how much my world applied to the world of RWBY - but drugs were an insanely dangerous kind of occupation, and I wasn't prepared to deal with that.

"You wouldn't be the first street urchins to stumble upon my operation - although you're the first I've seen to be in such a mess," the man said, eyeing Cinder in particular. I winced, knowing of the blood that her clothes were covered in. "I'm not very mad about the deaths of my hires," the man said, continuing on. "Though I am curious. If you were able to kill so violently, that must mean you have considerable skill. Or aura.."

I shook my head. "Well, we're not huntsmen students or anything like that. We're...well, we're homeless," I admitted. I wasn't stupid enough to throw the prospect of authority around a bunch of criminals, especially people more than willing to kill us.

The man was silent for a moment. "I see. A pair of homeless teenagers with aura being able to kill my last group of hired men?"

Hired men? The homeless looking guys who attacked us were hired men? I wasn't so sure how to feel about that. Hiring people off the streets wasn't the most reliable way to gain manpower: although it was possible it was a way to pay less in the long run.

Or this man paid people because he knew they'd be desperate for both work and income - and who's to say that they weren't looking for free drugs on the side?

"We're looking for work," Cinder chimed in, interrupting my thoughts in the process. My heart skipped a beat just as I felt my gut grow cold. "We can fight, and we both have aura. As long as you pay us Lien, we can-!"

I gripped her arm and whirled her around at once. "I know we're desperate, but this is the last form of income we need!" I hissed.

"And why is that?" Cinder growled as she pulled her arm out of my grip. "You promised we'd find a way to make enough money to leave Atlas! Well, this is our way!"

"Because drugs are the worst! Not only that, they'll never let us go!" I shot back, making sure my voice wasn't loud enough to be heard. "We'll end up trapped in their operation for as long as they want!"

"Then we'll free ourselves when we make enough money! It's that simple!" Cinder replied.

"It isn't! Nothing is ever that simple!" I warned her.

"If I may."

We both turned around to see the man, having come over and approached us. "I hold nothing against you for having second thoughts over this line of work. But I shall have you know that I am nothing like the other greedy drug lords that you no doubt heard of," he said.

"We have no reason to believe that you're telling us the truth," I shot as I kept my grip on the rifle. I could feel the others tense up as I seemingly raised the gun in my hands. Thankfully, no one appeared to be ready to pull the trigger - though that could change at any moment.

"You're correct. You don't," the man said. "But I'm not stupid enough to try and cross or screw over someone who can spill as much blood as your compatriot."

Cinder grinned, and I fought the urge to sigh. The last thing I needed was Cinder being encouraged to be more violent. "Probably won't stop you from trying to get greedy or risky with this kind of stuff," I retorted.

"Oh?" the man asked, his eyebrow raised. "This operation is nothing more than a side hustle, and if never will be more than that, so to speak. I have no ambitions in expanding or taking over the drug industry. This ensures my ability to lie low from the authorities."

The man's polite features fell into a rather annoyed expression as he looked up. "But that also means the larger and less savory figures see me as 'vulnerable', which happens to hold up business and lose what little profit I make in this venture."

I frowned as I pulled the handkerchief from my face, grimacing at the smell once more. I was rather unsure what this man had to gain from being so open. "So what does this have to do with us?" I asked.

The man simply grinned - not a sneer or an evil grin, but a professional quirk of the lips. "If you truly are looking for work, then I believe I may have an answer for you," he said.

I narrowed my eyes, having a rather good idea of what this man was about to say. "And what exactly do you want?" I asked. "We're not killing anyone for you. We aren't hitmen."

"Trust me, that's the last thing I want - especially in Atlas," the man said before he once more looked at Cinder. "Though if your clothes are of any indication, then that means I'll need to send someone to clean up one of the entrances."

Cinder looked away with a growl, and I rubbed my eyes tiredly.

"But no - I won't pit you against any of my opponents like an attack dog. I want you to ensure that nobody tries to steal my product again," the man said. He put his pistol away before gesturing for us to come with him.

The men aiming at us lowered their weapons, though they were clearly distrustful as they glared at us. Both Cinder and I glared back in return before slowly following the man in charge of this particular drug den, heading towards the tables on top of the platforms. On one side of the sewer walls was an opening, which led down a well lit hallway leading towards...somewhere. We followed the man silently down the hallway, followed by the three armed men.

We walked for about ten minutes before the hallway ended at a wall, with only what looked to be a set of metal twin doors in the middle. The man pressed a button before waiting a few seconds - the doors sliding open to reveal a large elevator. Stepping inside, he gestured for us to follow suit, which we did. The only armed man with a pistol followed us in, while the other two riflemen stayed outside.

The doors closed, and the four of us waited as the elevator took us up by two floors. Despite the ride taking at twenty five to thirty seconds at the most, it felt very much longer. My gaze flickered to Cinder in the corner of my eye, and I was surprised to see her visibly worried. Her eyes darted from a corner of the elevator to the door next, to the little screen labeling the level of floor the elevator was at.

I even caught the little jerk she made when the elevator halted all of a sudden, followed by the doors opening. "Right this way," the man said, walking out of the elevator into a small hallway. To my surprise, it looked like the sort of hallway that an office building would have. We followed him into the hallway, then into a room on the left, which turned out to be an actual office.

Turning around, I saw the elevator closing with the last armed man staying inside, having not followed us out into the hallway. "So your drug business is in the basement of your 'actual' business then?" I asked. I watched as the man walked behind the desk in the office, taking a suit jacket that was sitting on his chair before he pulled it on, brushing his shoulders off and straightening his outfit.

"Yes. But that's not important," the businessman slash drug peddler said. "You'll meet on this floor only, and you'll make your way to and from this place only through the sewers. A bit of a safety measure for myself. In any case, I do have a job for you. Would you like to hear it?"

It was very much a rhetorical question - even I could tell that. Asking us if we were interested despite the fact we'd already followed him here would have been pointless if it weren't for the fact he'd been acting professional towards us this entire time. Even Cinder wasn't foolish enough to call out the obvious, simply nodding alongside me.

"My operations are very small. However, my profits rely mostly on quality rather than quantity," the businessman said. "And thanks to the lack of size and influence, it means my product remains vulnerable. I send out a shipment every two days to be distributed by the underground. However, the black market has been and always will be a shady business venture, and I need capable protectors for both my men and my product."

"So you want us to play bodyguard?" I asked.

"It shouldn't be a difficult job. The only real threats to my operations are the homeless. It's easy for them to attack and rob the vehicle without adequate protection, especially since the kind of men I do hire are...less likely to stay loyal. I am hoping that things will change if I get a skilled fighter to guard the exchanges," the man said.

I wasn't too surprised over his concerns with maintaining the loyalty of people hired right off of the streets - but I had to wonder what he saw in us that made us apparently less likely to backstab him. It couldn't just be the aura...or maybe it was? Maybe it had to do with Cinder blurting out our intentions right off the bat.

Speaking of Cinder, I turned to see that she was still rather nervous. It took me a few seconds to realize that she wasn't about to speak up at all. She was waiting for me to make a decision.

I cleared my throat and held up a hand. "Before we hear more, we have one nonnegotiable condition. This is only going to be a temporary arrangement. We're not spending the rest of our lives protecting your drugs," I said sternly.

"But of course! Just about three weeks are all I need. The only things that have been stonewalling my security are the robberies and the lost profit that come from it," the businessman agreed. "So, now the job requirements are clear. I want you to guard the product on the move, as well as ensure that anyone willing to try and rob me gets...discouraged."

I frowned, though I couldn't help but agree about the fact that the tasks were simple and clear. And, he was absolutely on board with no killing. Still... "And if the authorities get involved?" I asked.

"Burn the vehicle and the product and escape," the man said, his voice growing sterner - though not louder or angrier. "If possible, bring as much as you can back with you, but getting caught is out of the question."

Another point to agree on. I looked over to Cinder. "What do you think?" she asked.

Cinder flinched. "I-I agree," she said, and I fought the urge to rest a hand on her shoulder. It was clear that she wasn't going to chime in. It was such a departure from the Cinder that I was familiar with - the cocky, confident, take charge kind of villainess.

I'd forgotten for a moment that this was the Cinder who hadn't snapped yet - the angry yet meek girl who was completely lost to everything outside the hotel. I steeled myself, focusing back at the man behind the desk as I remembered that I was going to be the one who needed to take charge between the two of us.

"Alright," I said. "Guard. Protect. No killing, no attacking. Destroy everything and bail if the military or police show up."

"Yes," the man confirmed.

"Gotcha. Now about payment," I said. "What's the going rate of your product?"

"Two hundred per gram," the man said.

I nodded. That was 200k Lien per kilo of whatever they were making, which meant that they were indeed making a LOT of money given the moderately large number of tables, workers, and boxes I'd seen in the sewers - although nowhere near as many production facilities as the kinds of drug dens owned by much greedier people. "And did you have a starting price in mind?"

"Of course. I was thinking one thousand Lien per job for each of you," the man said.

Cinder's eyes widened, and I crossed my arms. One thousand every two days wasn't bad...although if this job was going to last for a few weeks at the very least, then ten thousand by the end of those weeks wasn't going to cut it - especially if we were going to bribe our way out. Who knows how expensive those bribes could be?

"One thousand and five hundred for each of us per job," I said, deciding to take a gamble. "Nothing more, nothing less."

The man narrowed, and clasped his fingers together whilst resting his elbows on the desk. I glared back, unwilling to budge on my stance in the matter. It was on the lower end of reasonable - but still doable, especially since drugs in general were very expensive indeed. The fact he offered a thousand in the first place was admittedly a bit of a surprise.

Eventually, he smiled. "Of course," he said. "Three thousand Lien for both of you with every successful job completed. Any more questions?"

- a few hours later -

The man had told us to come back tomorrow at noon to start our first 'job'. We left through the sewers, and I made sure to remember the route needed to come back. When we made our way back outside, it was already nighttime, which meant we needed to prepare for tomorrow as well as find a place for us to sleep.

An hour and a half had passed when Cinder and I walked out of a clothing store. She wore a brand new set of clothes bought by what money we had on our person: a pair of black jeans and a cropped orange and red shirt that went just above her belly button. The shirt itself had the emblem of a black fiery flower on the chest, and she wore a black leather jacket as well. Along with the replaced clothes were replaced shoes - specifically black socks and a pair of gray and black sneakers, as well as underwear of her choice - since the ones she'd been given by her old 'family' were old and very uncomfortable.

She looked pretty nice in casual clothing, and I said as much to her as I handed back the old coat bundled around her sword. Cinder had just awkwardly looked away and muttered thank you before she asked about dinner.

We ended up making our way over to a food truck selling burgers near the public park we'd passed long ago. An order and fourteen Lien paid later, the two of us each got a loaded cheeseburger, a shared order of fries, and two large sodas.

Sitting at a bench at the near empty park, the two of us ate our dinner silently. The quiet park was all too peaceful, and it was easy to get lost in the serenity of it all when we finished eating our food. "So...we have the easy part down," I said. "We have a job now. Sort of."

Cinder nodded, lowering her half eaten cheeseburger. "I know you didn't want to deal with that," she said quietly. "You only had to because I spoke up."

I blinked. "I mean, we did get the job. Now we can start saving up money to get out of Atlas," I said. I leaned up and stared up at the sky. "The whole 'avoid drugs' thing was me being...well...cautious. I can handle it now, especially since we actually stumbled onto this whole thing."

"Are you surprised?" Cinder asked.

"Not really. City this big, we were bound to come across something shady while wandering the alleys," I said before taking the time to finish up my cheeseburger, bits of ketchup dropping on the open wrapper sitting in my lap. As I took a fry and picked up some of the wrapper ketchup, I turned to see Cinder still looking down at her burger. "Hey, I'm not mad if that's what you're wondering."

Cinder blinked. "You're not?" she asked in mild surprise.

"Yeah. In fact, I'm kind of surprised that you aren't mad at me," I said, munching on the fry and swallowing. "Earlier, you've been pretty upset more than a few times. Did something happen or..."

Cinder looked away. "...I wasn't mad. I was just frustrated," she admitted. "I didn't mean to make it seem like I was angry at you..."

"...so the killing?" I found myself asking quietly before I finished up my soda. "Or was that you trying to take it out?"

Cinder didn't answer, simply looking away for a few moments. "I'm sorry..." she muttered.

I placed a hand on her shoulder after wiping them off with a napkin. "Don't worry. At least we're talking about it," I said.

Cinder flinched. "I-I'm not going to start getting weak around you just because of a talk!" she shot out, almost as if realizing that she was being vulnerable. She pushed my hand off of her - surprisingly gentle as she did it. "We still need to leave Atlas," she said, clearing her throat.

So the earlier pride was more or less an act, and the earlier anger was stress? I found myself smiling as she went back to munching on her cheeseburger. Cinder really was on a different path than what she'd become in the original show.

"Yeah. Let's focus on that," I said as I took one last fry, leaving the rest for Cinder before balling up my wrapper and empty drink cup to toss in the trash.

Chapter Text

The first time we did our job was admittedly a little boring at first. The next day, we made our way to the sewers and back up to the mysterious small-time drug lord's office through the elevator - where he gave us details of what our first escort mission would be. The drugs would be carried in an unmarked black van, crewed by one driver and two armed men - the riflemen from yesterday. This delivery would be made of fifty kilos of the drug product, disguised in boxes that would presumably carry...whatever this business of his made.

"You will ride in the back with the crates. And the path you'll take will involve old back alley roadways that cut between buildings," the man said. "Expect enemies all around you and tight spaces."

Cinder and I nodded in reply. "Anything else?" I asked at the time.

"Remember what I said about if the authorities get involved. Destroy everything and escape," he had said before sending us off.

That was a long time ago, with at least two or three hours having passed since then. Now, we were sitting in the van by the sliding doors, a few medium sized pallets of crates crammed between us. All was silent, and there was little to do other than wait for something to happen.

The van had no windows on its main sliding doors, nor on the doors in the back either. The driver and passenger's seats were blocked off from the rest of the van, meaning we had nothing but the interior to look at. The only thing keeping us out of the dark was a single dim light built into the ceiling of the van. Cinder and I didn't really find the time to speak, the two of us focused entirely on protecting this cargo.

My bat rested against the wall, my hand wrapped tightly around the grip as the van drove along. The drive itself was relatively smooth, with a few turns being made over the course of the past few minutes. I resisted the urge to fidget or stretch, especially with the lack of room to really move around.

Cinder didn't seem to be faring better, basically fidgeting with her eyes looking around often. The idea of her being nervous was a bit much to believe, and I couldn't help but feel a little amused.

My amusement faded as I remembered that we had a job to do. I wondered if she would remember to avoid killing anyone if we ended up running into trouble. To make matters more complicated, I started wondering if other things could end up going wrong. What if the van was entirely blown up with us inside? What if we came across a huntsman level threat? What if-?

"I...don't have a name."

I blinked. The sentence had caught me off guard, and I turned to look at Cinder - who was crossing her arms and looking down. "What?"

"You never asked if I had a name. You never referred to me by any name," Cinder muttered, and she drew in on herself - hugging her knees to her body in what was clearly an obvious sign of discomfort. "I don't have one."

For one, I found myself more than a little relieved that I had never called her Cinder once. I wondered how I never actually referred to her by name once.

"I just wasn't thinking about it. Names didn't feel important at the time. Do you wanna pick one?" I asked.

Cinder fell into silence once more, and I could feel the gears starting to turn in her head. "I-I don't know what name I could get," she muttered quietly.

"Well, what's your semblance exactly? Your special ability? If you have one," I asked. Cinder was as good a name as any, and I wasn't about to remember if she got a new name. If I called her Cinder when her chosen name was likely to be something different, then that would be awkward.

"I-I can burn things," Cinder explained. S-superheat anything I can touch."

That sounded straightforward enough. She doesn't know the specifics of what her ability can do - and even I was smart enough to know what the ability to make things like sand or even the air ultra hot can do.

I waited a while, several seconds passing before I spoke up again. "Well...how about Cinder?" I asked, pretending to think about the semblance and its applications that could be related to name. "Your eyes look like they're burning - and your power fits the bill. Cinder."

It was a weak excuse at best, and the girl only looked down - pondering to herself as time passed. The rumbling of the van took over the silence of the conversation once more, and I felt a little nervous of what she'd feel about it.

Eventually, she nodded. "Cinder sounds...good," she said reluctantly as she looked over at me. To my surprise, I saw a hint of a smile on her face, a barely noticeable quirk on the edge of her lip. It was admittedly cute, almost as if she were trying to hide the fact that having a name gave her some form of satisfaction.

I found myself wondering if she could ever smile brightly. It was a bit disconcerting with how often she was miserable or just plain stressed out over the days that I came to know her. Before I could say or think anything else, the van screeched to a halt - jolting us against the wall of the vehicle as we were shaken back to our work.

"Looks like we're up," I said, and Cinder nodded. Grabbing our weapons, we both slid open the van doors and hopped out to see where we were. Around us were buildings, and I realized we were in some back alley part of the city - much farther away from the center than we'd expected. However, what surprised me was the fact that apparently, the sky was nowhere to be seen.

All that hovered above us was rock.

We were in a sub-level of sorts, underneath the surface of Atlas. I guess I shouldn't have been very surprised, especially with just how technologically advanced this kingdom was - I mean, they managed to anchor Atlas to the massive crater that Mantle was built in and around, after all. If the superstructure holding the anchor could be built, I imagine everything in between could be as well.

Lights from the buildings illuminated everything around us, and we looked around to see five men and women standing in the way of the van. They were dressed in gray suits with combed hair and sunglasses, holding hammers and knives.

I winced. "Another gang," I said as Cinder narrowed her eyes. She was about to step forward when the sounds of footsteps from behind caught our attention. I turned to see three more men in similar suits and weaponry moving to block the way back.

"I thought we were supposed to go up against ragtag robbers," Cinder growled.

"That clearly isn't the case now," I said as I raised my bat. "I'll take the back, you take the front."

Cinder didn't nod nor say a thing - instead lunging forward with her sword in hand. The sounds of combat filled the air as the three men from behind the van tried to rush me.

I raised my aura just in the nick of time as the blow of the hammer struck me with an explosive glow. I felt the pain, but it was nowhere near as bad as actually getting hit directly with a hammer, since I could still see and hear things just fine. Gritting my teeth as the blow rattled me, I wildly swung my bat right into his gut. The loud sound of impact was followed by a pained cry as he stumbled back.

The other two men went around him, and I ducked with another swing to the leg of the man holding a knife. He was instantly swept aside, and landed on his side with a pained grunt. Growling, he swung his own knife wildly at my ankle, which I stepped back from.

I was met with the third man, holding a monkey wrench as he slammed it into my bat with a clang of clashing metal. I pulled my bat back before swinging it harshly at the man's waist. It struck, and he was sent tumbling to the ground as the second man jumped at me.

umped at me.

I jumped away from the attack, stumbling and landing on my back as the man landed in front of me. Swinging my foot to strike his hand, the knife was kicked away, and the man roared in pain from what was likely a broken finger. I pushed myself to my feet and kicked hard against his face, silencing him as he lay limp on the ground.

It was clear that these guys didn't know how to fight very well - only knowing how to jump and swing a weapon. They wouldn't last long in a real fight. The man with the monkey wrench snarled as he ran towards me, weapon primed in a way that it was obvious in how he would swing it.

I swung first, my bat flying up to catch the man's arm with a loud crunch. Even I winced as the man cried out and dropped the wrench, gripping his arm in pain before I swung down to the side. The blow struck the side of his face, and he dropped like a sack of potatoes. All that was left was the last man with a hammer...

Only to see him pull out a small handgun with one hand while the other was gripped over his stomach. My eyes widened in momentary, and the first thing I did was throw my bat at him. The heavy weapon hit the ground a few centimeters away from the man, loudly clattering against the concrete.

The man recoiled regardless, covering his face with his good arm and giving me a precious second to react accordingly - which was to run towards him as fast as I could. Before the man realized what had happened, I had already jumped up, both feet primed in front of me to slam into his chest with as much momentum I could have possibly mustered in the past few seconds.

The drop kick landed, and I could see that there was a good amount of force behind it - sending the man flying back and rolling across the ground painfully. I landed on my back, my aura raised and flickering painfully as I stood up. Despite the fact that I'd basically come out of that scuffle without any real harm, the pain and aching was still an annoyance - something I'd have to deal with in times to come.

I picked up my weapon, checking it over to see if the chains were still wrapped on tightly before making my way back to the van. Ahead of the vehicle was Cinder, who was holding up the last woman by the collar of her bloodied shirt. "I'm done back here," I said as I jutted a thumb towards the unconscious or dead men lying in the wide alley.

Cinder nodded before tossing aside the body. The other four were clearly dead, with plenty of blood on the ground, as well as a few limbs here and there. I wasn't about to get involved with that, and I simply made my way back to the van doors, where the driver was just getting out.

"We're gonna have to backtrack if we wanna get to our destination cleanly. We were supposed to avoid killing, but avoiding it isn't much of an option," he said. I winced, but the man didn't seem to be peeved at the loss of life. "Getting blood on the wheels won't be good for us, so we'll find a different route."

"Is that safe?" I asked. "That's probably another chance to get ambushed."

"Maybe, but it's a lot safer than literally leaving a trail of blood," the driver said, and he got back into the van. I climbed into the back, as did Cinder when she'd finished checking the bodies. As we shut our doors, we could feel the van backing up down the alley. Our hands remained clenched around our weapons as we waited for something, anything to happen.

But nothing did. For the rest of the journey, the two of us waited for any and every possibility of another fight, only to find out that there was none. About an hour later, the van stopped - and the two of us got out to see that we were somewhere even shadier - an old interior parking space with worn brick walls and an eroded ceiling. We could see naked piping and old wiring hanging from the ceiling, and it didn't take a genius to figure out the place we were at was no doubt abandoned for years.

The driver and the guard climbed out of the van, with the driver coming over to us while the other man got to work unloading the product. "You two - guard the entryway," the driver said, holding a few duffel bags over his shoulder as he pointed at the garage door. "Our...ahem, partners and customers will only be coming through that one entrance, so if anyone tries to cut and run, I need you to stop them."

"Who would be stupid enough to do that?" Cinder asked.

"Addicts. Those who'd rather steal the rush instead of pay actual money for it," the driver said. He pulled out a small handgun that was holstered to his side, hidden under his jacket. "I know killing is something we wanna avoid, so if they try and attack you - knock them out and kick them away."

"Heard," I said before Cinder could interject or say anything. I wasn't stupid when I saw the aftermath of the fight earlier - she hadn't been holding back in any attempt to avoid killing. "Come on. It should be easy work guarding this place."

Cinder frowned before she followed me. The two of us remained quiet, sitting by the garage doors as people of all types came in and out with their secret purchases. Many of the 'customers' looked wealthy and clean, while some others were ragged and dirty. One thing I'd noticed was the lack of any sort of Faunus among these people. Every single person here was clearly human.

Not that I'd ever seen a Faunus in real life before. I was only in the RWBY universe for a good few days, and I legitimately had not seen a single animal feature - obvious or not - in Atlas, which was rather concerning to me. I wasn't sure what the political stance on human and Faunus relations were back when Cinder was a teenager, and I hadn't seen or heard a single mention of any White Fang or Schnee related things at all since arriving, so it was difficult to work out just how bad things were.

I kept an eye on any and every character that made their way to the large supply of drugs, with some people buying full backpacks or duffel bags' worth of the product. I kept my grip on my weapon tight as I stared at everyone that approached the line. A few jittery people were the ones I kept an eye out, yet they didn't do anything stupid or crazy. Minutes flew by like seconds, and I watched the pallets slowly yet surely get emptied out, with the duffel bags of Lien being paid for these drugs only getting fuller and fuller by the second.

Around a few hours had passed when the pallets were fully emptied out. The last of the people had left, and we were getting ready to leave. "Not gonna lie, I was expecting...you know, something a lot more subtle than literally selling this stuff like it's a food stall," I remarked when I helped load the pallets into the van.

"Nothing is more subtle than the location, kid," the driver muttered. He was counting the stacks of Lien in the duffel bags before he handed them off to the guard. "It's not gonna matter how exactly we sell it if the place isn't safe."

"And if the place does get found out?" Cinder asked. "We're essentially backing ourselves into a corner."

"You let us worry about that," the man said tiredly as he sat in the driver's seat of his van. "But in case it wasn't clear before - if the cops or the military get on us, it's every man for themselves." And with that, he shut the door.

Cinder slammed her door as I climbed in on my side. As the vehicle started, I looked over to see Cinder being...very upset. "Hey, is something the matter?" she asked.

"We did...nothing," she growled. "We took down a few people, and that was that."

I frowned. "Were you expecting more?" I asked. "I dunno about you, but I'd rather not end up killing more people."

Cinder only huffed in response.

I scooted over to her, and she didn't seem to reject my movements - thankfully. "I saw those bodies. You didn't hold back against them, like at all. Why?" I asked.

"Because they tried to kill us," Cinder growled., pulling her knees up to her chest like she did before.

"Killing them doesn't cancel it out," I said, sighing at this delicate situation. "I know you'll probably hate me for saying this, but keeping people alive is better. Death only draws more attention, and you end up feeling worse."

"Worse?" Cinder snapped. "I feel fine! I was stronger than them, and they died because they picked a fight that they couldn't win! Winning feels great!"

"Then why are you in such a sour mood now?" I pointed out. Cinder flinched, and she only gritted her teeth in response. "Just be honest. Do you enjoy killing? Does the idea of killing make you feel good?"

Cinder didn't respond at first. She instead looked down, resting her chin on one of her knees as she glared at the back of the van.

"It doesn't," I answered as I took in her reaction. "I know you don't like it. You like the rush in the fight, but you absolutely don't find any joy in killing."

"And how would you know?" Cinder asked. I fell silent for a moment deciding whether I should speak or not before I finally did.

"Because I felt like that once," I finally muttered. I felt Cinder raise her head to look at me. "I know what you're feeling, and it has nothing to do with fighting. The rush is what you feel when you secure your own safety."

"What are you talking about?" Cinder asked.

"Self defense," I said. "I've had people try to kill me before. Whether it's an easy or hard fight, the result is the same. You win, and you get to live. And nothing beats the feeling of when you earn your own safety in a fight for your life." I looked down, remembering myself as a kid in the streets of New York once more, in a shitty home in a shitty part of the city with everything half broken here and there.

The silence was louder than any words, as the van rumbled back up to the surface of Atlas. "Have you ever killed someone before?" Cinder finally asked quietly.

"No. The thought of it makes me sick. I know it sounds weak, but I just don't want to. I just don't like it, and I'll never understand anyone who thinks killing people is...good or something," I grumbled, thinking of the times I ran off the second I would beat someone down. "And you shouldn't kill either. It's a rabbit hole that only means everyone is going to go after you."

Cinder didn't respond for quite some time, and I felt her shift as she buried her face in her arms. "...even you?" she whispered.

I reached over and patted her head gently. "I don't know," I whispered honestly. I couldn't find it in myself to be reassuring towards, especially with the serious topic at hand. Cinder didn't respond, nor did she push or shrug off my hand as I ruffled her hair slowly.

In fact, she seemingly leaned into it.

When we returned, the two of us were brought back up the elevator towards the businessman's office alongside the van driver, who carried the duffel bag loaded with Lien. As we made our way down the hall, we could see that he was waiting for us outside his door.

"I have to say, my thoughts that things would run smoothly were admittedly rather less than faithful," he said as he opened the door to his office. The two of us and the driver walked inside, followed by the man closing his door behind us. The driver came over and plopped the bag of money on top of his desk before he stepped away.

Cinder and I sat at the table as the businessman slash drug peddler came over to the bag, zipping it open and looking inside. Reaching in, his face split into a smile as the man pulled out a large handful of Lien cards, letting them fall back into the bag. "I was told that you managed to properly stop an attempted assault before you even reached the area," he said.

"They didn't know how to fight," I said as I leaned back in my seat. "They could swing a pipe or a wrench, but that was about it."

"Well, I have to say that I'm impressed. Most skilled fighters in Atlas apply to enter huntsman or primary combat academies. The rest end up in the military. I was admittedly worried that the two of you may have been falsely advertising, but I'm happy to say that I was wrong," the man said as he pulled the duffel bag off of the desk, setting it by his chair.

With his desk clear, the businessman reached underneath to pull out a small black unmarked briefcase. Setting it down, the man turned it around and unlatched the small locks on either side of the carry handle, opening it to reveal several stacks of clean Lien cards, neatly packed together. "This is the exact amount that we agreed on. And you shall receive this much Lien for every day you successfully protect my men and product," he said with a grin.

I leaned forward, eyeing the stacks. "Why're there so many cards? I know there are cards that can carry a few thousand," I said.

"It's less suspicious this way," the man explained. "People will ask questions if two commonly dressed people such as yourselves held around such an exorbitant amount of funds on your person alone. Trust me, people will notice and feel the need to report it."

I frowned, considering his point. On one hand, it made sense: especially when it came to needing to split money up. The plan was to stockpile the money someplace safe while keeping some on hand for things such as food and clothes. On the other hand, the sheer amount of cards we'd accumulate in the span of the next three weeks would be a problem, especially in terms of storing that money.

It didn't seem feasible that the RWBY world made their currency a mix of reusable cards that was produced just as much as cash back at home was. There were credit and debit cards in this universe as well, so it only made me feel all the more confused on the matter. Taking the briefcase, I counted six rows horizontal and five aisles vertical of Lien stacks, with each stack having five cards.

I did the math in my head, counting one hundred and fifty Lien cards. Three thousand divided by one hundred and fifty was twenty - which accounted for the value of each Lien card in the case. "Alright," I said as I closed the briefcase and took it, shoving it in my backpack. The briefcase was small enough for that, and it would do for the next few days. But I'd need to work out a way to actually store all of the money once we got enough of it.

"Quite a pleasure doing business with you," the man said, waving a hand as he dismissed us. "Same time in two days, if you will."

I didn't respond, my thoughts clouded by the issues at hand. As we took the elevator down to the sewer levels once more, I sighed quietly to myself. "This is gonna be a couple of rough weeks," I grumbled.

"But it will be worth it," Cinder said. "Right?"

I looked over to the girl next to me, her face hopeful. I sighed and grinned back at her. "Yeah. Don't worry, we'll be flying to Vale in no time if we keep this up," I said.

The little smile she gave me in return made me forget all about my bad mood.

Chapter Text

Cinder and I left the building, making our way back out of the sewers and slipping through the alleys with the route we now knew like the backs of our hands. On the way out, I stopped and took out a handful of Lien cards from the briefcase inside my backpack.. Doing that in view of the public would have been very attention grabbing.

As we reached the city once more, it was late in the afternoon with the streets being much busier than usual. "So...where are we gonna get food this time?" Cinder asked as soon as we entered the sidewalks. I fell into thought, my mind wandering to the many restaurants this city was sure to have. Sooner or later, we'd need to start relying on cheaper and easy to eat foods as the weeks passed, especially since we had our goal of trying to save as much money as possible for escaping Atlas.

But at the same time, I was really curious to try some more actual food from the world of Remnant, and I knew for a fact that Cinder really wanted to try some actual food as well. I didn't remember much from her backstory, but I could tell that she wasn't even fed properly in the hotel, much less her original home before her 'adoption'.

Cars streamed back and forth on the roads as I continued to think, and the sidewalks bustled with people heading to and from place after place, either heading home after a long and tiring day of work, or out to have a relaxing or fun night out in the city.

It got annoyingly noisy real fast.

"Well, we can find some places around the area. Should be some good restaurants. Then again, we should be saving money, so we'll probably find someplace cheap," I said as I began to walk. I kept my hands in my pockets, shielding the cards of money I had sitting inside from being pickpocketed. My backpack was secure as well, with my bat and whatever else I had inside on top of the briefcase.

Cinder and I made our way through the streets, eventually coming across a rather small restaurant at the corner of an intersection - a small Mistralian ramen shop that was rather busy. It took us a few minutes, but we managed to find ourselves a few seats at the counter, where we had our orders promptly taken after we combed the menu. The two of us just ordered classic ramen bowls, and we found ourselves waiting quietly in a loud setting.

"You're not mad, are you?"

I blinked and turned to look over at Cinder. Her question admittedly baffled me a little bit, and I wasn't sure why she asked. "Why would I be mad?" I asked.

"...for killing?" she whispered.

I sighed. "I'm not. I guess...I just don't wanna end up dealing with death day in and day out for the rest of our lives. It'll start to haunt you," I said. "It's scary to think about, so I do my best to stay away from having to kill."

"...so will you stay away from me?" Cinder whispered.

"No," I said, and I took her hand. "We're leaving together. I promise."

Cinder looked over at me, and I found myself realizing that she was...afraid. I smiled at her in reassurance, making sure she knew that I was being honest when I said it. "We can't do this without each other. So just...have a little faith, okay?" I asked.

Cinder looked down before slowly nodding. "O-Okay," she mumbled. And with that, I let go of her hand before she could start feeling uncomfortable. It didn't take very long for our ramen bowls to arrive. As I opened up my chopsticks, I was getting ready to eat when I turned to see Cinder staring at hers, both sticks still stuck together.

"Everything okay?" I asked.

Cinder didn't answer at first, instead staring at them before looking over at me with a mild sense of sheepishness. "How do I...use these?" she asked nervously.

I found myself smiling at the cute and admittedly funny sight before taking the chopsticks off her hands. "Here," I began as I broke apart the two smooth wooden sticks. The next minute or so was spent on tutoring Cinder on how to hold chopsticks, using my many years of living off of noodle cups to my advantage.

When Cinder tried ramen for the first time, she'd slurped so hard on the noodles that they flopped up and smacked her in the nose in the process. I fought the urge to laugh as she hurriedly wiped away at her face, face pink in mild embarrassment. As we ate, I found myself having a little fun watching Cinder learn how to eat ramen for the first time, even laughing out loud when she gave up and started to eat with her hands - giving no care to how this looked to the others eating near us. Eventually, she was able to get the hang of using chopsticks, and soon the two of us continued to eat our dinner.

Dinner ended quietly, having paid for the food as we left the little ramen shop. As we walked down the street and away from the restaurant a good half hour later, I noticed the little smile Cinder wore on her face.

The two of us walked around the city for quite some time, our stomachs warm and full as we explored the streets. I was feeling a little more comfortable around Atlas, finding myself getting more and more familiar with certain streets we returned to. There was little else to do other than to find a place for us to sleep, and we ended up finding ourselves looping around a few streets. "Not sure we should bother going back to that ramshackle apartment," I said as I eyed the buildings around us. "Places like that are about as dangerous as the alleys. Remember that one guy who snuck in?"

"But we easily beat him," Cinder pointed out. "We could do it again to anyone else who would climb in."

"Because one of us was awake. If we wanna get some actual sleep, then we need to put some thought into someplace that's actually safe," I said as I kept my head on a swivel, eyes watching alleyways and buildings for anything interesting. "Hotels would be way too expensive. We'd burn through half our money at the end of the three weeks. Asking people if we could bunk would probably get the police or military called on us."

"Well, what other options are there?" Cinder asked.

"We need a place to ourselves. Someplace that no one will be able to get to. It'll serve as a way to stash what we earn, and be big enough for the two of us to be able to actually live in," I muttered to myself.

"And what about practice? You still need to actually learn how to use your aura," Cinder said, reaching over and poking my arm.

I froze at the mention of aura training. "Oh yeah," I muttered, having forgotten momentarily with the events of today having been rather stressful. "That too. In any case, searching is really all that can be done until we come across someplace that fits all of our needs."

"And when will that happen?" Cinder asked.

"I don't know. I haven't been to this part of the city, so I don't really know all the places," I said as I looked back. "We'll find a way, don't worry."

Cinder frowned. "If you say so," she muttered. I couldn't help but feel just a little worried by her tone, and I went back to searching the area. Eventually, we made it to another residential district - with the passing sights of houses and apartment buildings replacing the shops and restaurants from earlier. Unlike the apartments from earlier, these ones were full of life, with parked cars along the edges of the streets and the lights all turned on.

"Damn," I mumbled as we walked by. The two of us searched for something, anything we could use - but nothing. We made it to the next intersection, where we continued our search for a home. As we moved down street after street, past countless buildings, we ended up making our way back to one of many abandoned areas of Atlas. "I guess...we could always see if there's a good place to stay around here. I don't see much," I admitted as I looked up at one apartment.

While I was a little bit nervous around the presence of such abandoned areas, I was grateful that it was similar to home. Like New York City, Atlas had a handful of areas that were generally avoided due to the fact that they were old. After all, most people tended to prefer newer places to have their homes or businesses - and they stayed away from areas that got worn down, at least until the people who ran the city could bother giving a damn about repairing or replacing the older buildings and roads.

And so, the abandoned areas provided a wide variety of shady areas for homeless people to live - or underground criminals to conduct business. I wouldn't have been surprised if there was some form of black market around here if we looked hard enough. However, that wasn't why we came here.

"The roof."

I blinked and turned to Cinder, having been a bit distracted in my thoughts. Cinder was looking up at a nearby building, pointing up at the very top. "We could sleep on the roof," she said.

I was about to turn that idea down before I took a better look at the building. It was abandoned and worn down, but not as badly as the other building we'd stayed at before. There was no visible fire escape on either side of the building, but there were plenty of ledges and extended frames for the many windows that I could see.

"Actually..." I muttered, slowly working out details in my mind. A few seconds passed as I surveyed the building, interest slowly filling my head as I grinned. "Yeah, this could work out for us."

"What do you mean?" Cinder asked.

"There's no fire escape, which means no one can get inside. But..." I crossed the street and headed over to the building, with Cinder following close behind. "If you want, we can just climb up the wall of the building and find a place to get in."

Cinder blinked. "Then how will we get out when we wake up tomorrow?" she asked.

"Well, there's stairs inside. Just hop out the second or third story," I said with a shrug. "Come on, let's head in. Then we can train and go to bed."

Cinder said nothing else in reply, simply watching as I secured the backpack straps and looked up at the building. After taking in a few deep breaths, I leapt up, grabbing the closest and highest ledge I could reach. Pulling myself up, I pushed my foot against the windowsill before reaching for the next possible ledge. "Did this all the time when I was younger," I grunted as I began to pass the second story, reaching for the lowermost ledge on the third. "Mostly just to get away from cops."

I stopped my climb momentarily to see Cinder having hopped up as well, climbing up the windows and ledges next to me and catching up quickly. I smiled before continuing my climb up the building. One thing aura granted was a boost in stamina. I didn't feel as tired, and it was easy to put some extra focus on climbing without having to worry about losing my grip.

We passed the fourth floor in a few seconds, followed by the fifth and sixth. Judging by the floors above, the building was easily eight floors tall. As we reached the seventh floor, I looked around and spotted one of the windows being slightly open. Unfortunately, it was a few windows away - and Cinder was the closest to it. "That window over there. It's a little open," I said, pointing it out. "Can you get over there and open it all the way?"

Cinder nodded, and she hopped across from window to window. I wasn't quite as risky - instead slowly making my way over. My backpack was heavy, and the last thing I wanted was to drop from this high a height because I was feeling adventurous. Plus if I did fall, I doubt my untrained aura could handle the impact.

I shuddered, urging myself not to look down and instead turning to see Cinder, who reached the opened window and was currently prying it upwards with a grunt of effort. To both of our reliefs, it finally opened, and Cinder quickly climbed inside. Seeing as we now had the means of heading indoors, I quickly followed suit - climbing my way across the seventh floor wall as I slowly reached the open entryway-

-before my foot slipped. With a choked cry, I found myself slipping only for a moment before both hands gripped tight on the windowsill. "Damn..." I breathed shakily as my loose feet dangled below me. Before I could look down to try and see if there was any ledge or windowsill below I could land my feet on, a pair of hands gripped my own. Looking up, I saw Cinder's panicked expression as she began to pull me up.

"Are you alright?" she panted as I slowly pulled my torso into the window, flopping head over heels in as soon as the weight of my backpack pushed me in all the way. The two of us landed on the floor, our breaths shaky and heavy as I slowly realized that I was legitimately close to falling to my death. It wasn't the first time I had a near death experience, but such a feeling never really went away whenever it happened.

"I'm fine. My foot slipped or something," I muttered as I lay back on the floor, sighing tiredly as I felt my heart rate slowly calming down. "How about you?"

"I'm okay," Cinder said, her voice equally as quiet as she rubbed her forehead. Leaning over to look out of the window, she sighed. "I'm not making my way down that way."

I nodded as I slowly sat up to shrug my backpack off of my shoulders. "Yeah, I'm fine with that," I remarked before looking around. Instead of an abandoned apartment room, the entire floor looked to be empty minus a few rooms in the corners and a stairwell against one of the walls. "Huh. We have the whole room to ourselves. Sweet," I said.

Cinder slowly got up, closing the window and looking around. "This will make for a good enough training area," she said. "Do you want to start training now?"

I nodded. "Alright. What's a good lesson to start with?" I asked.

"Meditation. You have your aura unlocked, and you could activate it defensively to some degree, but we don't know how well you can utilize it in other ways," Cinder said. "Rhodes taught me that you shouldn't start using aura until you are absolutely in tune with how your aura works."

"Alright," I said. "How do I meditate?"

Cinder sat down in front of me, legs crossed. "This is how Rhodes did it. Sit and stay silent. You at least know how to activate your aura, so keep it activated and wait," she said.

"Okay? Wait for what?" I asked, as I followed her sitting position.

"You'll see," Cinder said as she closed her eyes, resting her hands on her knees. "Meditation will strengthen your reserves and your proficiency in wielding your aura."

I followed her example, closing my own eyes and breathing in deeply. Meditation was something I was rather familiar with, seeing it on the occasional movie and even seeing a few people do it in real life. I hadn't understood its applications back home, but I could see the purpose now.

Thankfully, it was rather easy to get into the process of meditation with how quiet the night was. I was expecting myself to start feeling bored or fidgety as time went on, but to my surprise - it was easy to lose myself in the quiet. With my eyes shut, I could feel my own heartbeat in my chest. I could feel the warmth in my body, as well as the slow rise and fall of my chest with every breath I took.

It was a surreal experience just to get lost in the meditation. It wasn't something I'd ever thought I'd end up doing, but life had many ways of surprising me, I suppose. Like the fact I was even in the world of RWBY at all. I was making friends with Cinder, and I was even using an aura like a proper huntsman in training - despite my lack of real skill.

No. Current lack of real skill. I'd get stronger with my new abilities, and survive in this world. I didn't know what to expect from the other kingdoms, even with what I watched from the show - but if I wanted to keep both Cinder and myself safe, then I'd have to start pulling my weight. And that meant putting everything I had into improving myself.

Some time passed, though I couldn't tell how much. All I knew was that I was starting to feel warm inside. I could feel more and more aspects of my body, such as the pulses in my wrists and neck. I could even feel the blood moving in my veins, as well as tingles and slight twitches from muscle contractions in my arms and legs. But out of those feelings - the small ball of warmth deep within me was the most noticeable. And it was getting larger.

Was that my aura? It had to be, right? There was no explanation as to why the heat inside my body would make itself known over everything else that I could feel. Before I knew it, my eyes were opened. And I found myself back in the room in the abandoned building. Cinder was still sitting in front of me, cross legged and as silent as before. For a moment, I thought that she was still meditating - at least until she opened her eyes.

I noticed for a split second that her eyes seemed to glow as soon as she opened them - her bright amber eyes almost golden and alight before they faded. "You broke your focus," she said, her voice quiet and calm.

"You could tell, huh?" I asked as I uncrossed my legs, turning and stretching them out as I slowly stood up.

"Your aura was disrupted. When you master enough control of your aura, you can start detecting the auras of other people who have theirs unlocked," Cinder said. She too stood up, and I couldn't help but admire her demeanor when she was teaching. Other than being calm, she was relaxed and somewhat within her element in comparison to the apparent paranoid and twitchiness she had during the past few days.

It was a bit refreshing to feel.

"What did you feel?" Cinder asked.

I looked down, trying to recall as much from that session as possible. "Well, I felt like I could start feeling everything in my body. The blood moving around, my heartbeat, and even parts of my muscles moving around," I said.

"Good, that saves us some time in practicing our applications of aura," Cinder said. "Now, onto combat."

I stood up, stretching my arms and legs. I couldn't say that I wasn't expecting something like this, but I still dreaded it to some degree. Cinder had more combat skill than I could, having been trained by an experienced huntsman over the course of a few years.

"Okay, so what kind of combat training is this gonna be? Like an actual spar or more like a fitness workout-?" I was about to ask moments before Cinder literally flipped in front of me, a hand on the ground as she swung her legs towards me.

I barely managed to stumble back from getting a foot slammed against my forehead, and I watched as Cinder's feet landed onto the ground, her head turning to face me. "Guess," she said before she lunged at me.

I was quick to react this time now that I knew what to expect. The girl threw a flurry of punches and swings at me, landing a few hits. None of them hit my aura, mostly because I hadn't been able to raise it in time to block any of the incoming attacks. Instead, they all slammed into my arms and body, each one very painful because Cinder apparently hit like a truck.

"What happened to raising your aura? You did it to stop a bullet!" Cinder hissed as she jumped back to throw a harsh side kick. I lunged back, though her foot still slammed into my arm. Wincing at the piercing impact, I tumbled off of my feet and rolled back to gain some distance, only for Cinder to dash forward with her foot raised for another axe kick.

"Shit!" I was barely able to think before I reached my hands up, grabbing her foot and wrenching it to my left side - only for Cinder to throw her other leg to my right side, pincering me in a manner. For a second, there was a moment when I was holding up her entire body weight above the floor.

Then Cinder dropped her torso to the ground, bringing her legs together and trapping my arm and torso between them. Her hands on the ground, she pulled herself back - wrenching me forward and flipping me over her with a harsh grunt of effort. Before I realized what was happening, I'd already slammed my back on the floor with a thud, knocking the wind out of me completely.

Cinder had managed to get herself back on her feet in the middle of throwing me around, and she brushed off her clothes, sighing as she calmed her breathing down. "If you wanna throw someone by their leg, you'll have to be faster than that," she said.

I slowly sat up, my arms, sides, and back aching hard. "Noted..." I mumbled, waiting for my breath to come back to me. "As for raising my aura, I couldn't get enough focus on doing that, not when I was focusing on defending myself."

Cinder huffed, though it seemed to be more out of exhaustion rather than annoyance. "Then we'll focus on that. Rhodes taught me how to manage both fighting and defense. Parallel processing, he called it."

I nodded. "Yeah, I heard of that. Doing things so much that you get used to doing it subconsciously. Or out of reflex. Whatever the term is," I said.

Cinder nodded. "Rhodes had me focus on something small and slow. Like keeping my aura up while having me defend against one punch at a time," she said. She fell silent before looking down. "But before he did that, he had me practice getting my aura up much more quickly."

I frowned. "You could have had me start with that, you know," I said.

"It was a while ago. I...forgot," Cinder grumbled with a pout.

I sighed, deciding to move on from that little topic. "Well, at least now I know what exactly to expect for when you fight," I said. "So raising one's aura. Is it different for everyone?"

"You were able to activate your aura defensively when you saw the man with the gun, right?" Cinder asked. I nodded in reply. "You saw that you were about to get shot, and your body likely felt the need to block it."

"That sounds like it'd be some sort of automatic action rather than something I need to focus on," I said.

"Perhaps, but the action in of itself is going to be reflexive in nature," Cinder explained. "Which means if you want to gain better control of your aura, it'll take a lot more meditation."

Great.

"Okay," I mumbled. "Back to sitting and staying quiet?"

"For at least two more hours," Cinder instructed, sitting back down in front of me with her legs crossed once more. "After that, it'll be time for us to go to sleep."

I nodded slowly, and the two of us went back to meditating. As I lost myself in the silence once more? I couldn't help but wonder more about aura. What other mysteries were there when it came to the manifestation of the soul?

What else did I need to complete in order to gain a better understanding of myself? As the glowing warmth in my body began to grow, I continued to ponder.

Chapter Text

- the next day -

We woke up very early the next day, which we started with more meditation on the insistence of Cinder. I wasn't about to complain, especially since she warned me about not being strong enough, especially with the lives we now led. For about two hours, we sat silently and put as much focus in our aura as possible.

We ended up skipping breakfast when we left the building, taking the stairs to the second story before hopping out the window there. We both agreed that this building would be our home until we could leave Atlas due to just how abandoned the area was according to the first place we slept in - which was full of homeless people. It was also easier to just enter through the second story window from now on.

After we left, we spent the next hour walking around the city as it started to get busy. We expanded our knowledge of the streets by making our way towards places we hadn't been to - though not so far from the sewers or the abandoned block of the city that we couldn't find our way back.

With that little venture brought us to one building in particular - a very useful building.

Cinder and I stared up at the large building labeled "Lien Trade-In" above its glass doors. It was a large silver building with carved wooden pillars and a set of stairs before it, almost reminiscent of the old banks that were in New York City. "Well, would you look at that?" I muttered as I rested my hands in my pockets. "You don't think that building does what the name suggests, do you?"

Cinder only shrugged to herself, and I fought the urge to face palm. I'd forgotten that she only ever knew the orphanage and the hotel for almost the entirety of her current life. I made my way towards the building, seeing it to be rather lively in nature with how many people entered and left the premises. As I opened the door, I felt my eyes widen as I looked inside.

The building was mostly full of automatic kiosks in private booths, as well as a few desks with suited men and women working at them. The booths were set in aisles, almost like an office building of sorts. Stairs surrounded the area, leading to a second story where presumably more work on money was done.

Cinder peered in from behind me, and we walked inside the building, making our way to the nearest booth. "Why are we here?" she hissed, keeping her head on a swivel. "We have Lien, why do we need to-"

"We need to have fewer cards," I whispered back, quick to cut off any more complaints. "We can't keep hauling briefcase after briefcase around the city. And we don't have anywhere safe to stash our money without running the risk of it being found."

Cinder fell silent at that, and I sighed. "Just trust me on this. It'll help a lot." I opened the door to the booth, waiting for Cinder to come in as well before closing it behind us. Turning, I noticed the large ATM-like device against the wall, across from a bench. "Okay, let's see how this works."

The large touchscreen glowed white, before it quickly flickered into a multi selection menu the second I pressed it. There were a few options on the screen, mainly "Lien to Digital", "Card Transfer", and "Value Shift". After some thinking, I pressed the "Card Transfer" option, where I was instructed to slide in Lien cards to have the values transferred into either a fewer number of more valuable cards or more numerous yet less valuable cards.

After selecting the former, I opened the briefcase and counted what Lien I had before. I'd pulled out a handful of Lien cards to keep on my person the night before, which meant the rest was about to go into the machine. Looking down, I saw a slot labeled "Insert Here", and I did so with one card. The first vanished into the machine, and the machine whirred for a few seconds before the number 20 appeared on the screen.

I slipped in the next card, bringing that total up to 40, followed by another. As I slid in card after card, the number on the machine rose by increments of 20. It took about five minutes to make sure I got all but eighteen of the cards in the briefcase into the machine, bringing the total to 2,500.

"Why aren't you putting all of them in?" Cinder asked as I pocketed the last eight cards.

"Because we do need to pay for food today. This also means we're saving money. So no more eating out at restaurants. We're gonna start running off of cheap foods," I said as I pressed the "Finish" button. The machine hummed as a loading bar filled the screen, with the two of us watching.

Soon, the machine ejected a single card for me to take - worth two thousand five hundred Lien on it. "This will be easier to keep a hold of," I said. "But it also means that we'll probably need to start combining multiple days worth of cards into a single one over time. Maybe every week or so."

"What? Why?" Cinder asked.

"Because it's easier in the long run," I explained as I put the now empty briefcase back in my backpack, as well as the newly acquired Lien card in my pocket with the other cards I kept on hand. The card was different due to its blue stripe, which was a good way to avoid getting it mixed up with the others, which had silver stripes on them. "Besides, look at it this way - as time goes on, we'll need to buy new stuff anyways, no matter how much we need to save. Backpacks for both of us, wallets to keep some extra cards in, etcetera."

Cinder looked down, clearly deep in thought. "I guess so," she muttered. "Well, what now?"

I patted my pocket where all of our money was safely in before I zipped my backpack shut. "Well, I guess now we work out what we do next. Wandering around the city isn't going to be very productive, so we should get enough food for the day before continuing to train."

Cinder nodded. "Alright," she said, and she opened the door to the booth. The two of us headed out of the building and out into the streets, where the streets seemed to be a lot less busy. There were fewer cars before, and the sidewalks were mostly cleared out in comparison to the heavily congested crowds from earlier. We made our way down the mostly cleared out sidewalks, crossing the streets to get back to the area of the city we found ourselves the most familiar with.

"I saw that store when we first passed this area," I said as I pointed across another intersection, where a large grocery store was. People poured in and out of the busy place

"Should we go there first?" Cinder asked.

"We should buy another backpack first and use that to carry our food and water whenever we need it," I said. "I'll remember this intersection, so we can just look around for another shop before coming back."

It took us another few minutes of searching around, but we eventually found a store that mostly sold clothes alongside other items like shoes, pillows, blankets, and backpacks. It reminded me of the nearby Kohl's back at home, which sold almost everything imaginable. The two of us ended up going on a bit of a spree with what we could buy whilst still having enough to pay for food afterwards.

Cinder was especially fascinated by all of the clothes they sold, not understanding much of how fashion worked other than wearing a jacket over normal clothes. Despite wanting to try out different outfits, she instead stuck by me as I looked over the store to see if there was anything interesting or important we might need to get.

The two of us exited the store about a half hour later with a brand new backpack, a guitar case for Cinder to carry her sword over her backpack, which also held most of our new purchases like a pair of toothbrushes, some toothpaste, a small pot, a stack of paper bowls, and a small box of plastic forks and spoons. The last few items we got were a black jacket for me to wear over my thinner jacket, and a red and black scarf for Cinder. When that was over and done with, we began to make our way back to the grocery store, where we would be able to buy our food.

And we would've gotten there sooner had we not been fully stopped on a somewhat less busy part of the streets. We were walking towards the intersection when our way was blocked by a pair of unruly teenagers wearing common clothes. One of them held a knife, and another bald one was dragging a wooden bat on the pavement behind him.

"Lookie here, bro," the knife wielding teen sneered. "What do you think you're doing on our turf?"

Cinder scowled. "None of your business," she said, her arms crossed. "What are you doing?"

"Didn't you just hear us? This is our turf. And if you wanna get past, then you gotta pay the toll," the bald teen growled, his hand held up as if to accept payment. "So pay up."

I crossed my arms, getting equally as annoyed as Cinder was. "This ain't your turf," I remarked. "We don't want any trouble, so just lay off, man."

"We will. Once you cough up a hundred Lien," the teen with the knife threatened - although he wasn't doing much of a good job. The two were clearly amateurs to street life, given that their clothes looked clean. They weren't even holding their weapons right - instead imitating what thugs apparently did on television.

"Nah," I said as I stepped forward, followed by Cinder. "We don't think we will."

The two growled. "You'll regret that!" he yelled, lunging at us with the knife in his hands. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't nearly as fast as he thought he was, and he ended up running right into Cinder's waiting fist - sending him flying feet first before he slammed into the pavement.

The other guy flinched, especially when I turned to face him with my hand on the handle of my bat, which was still sticking out of my backpack. "Okay, okay! You can go, just don't hurt me!"

I lowered my hand, still glaring angrily at the guy for disrupting what was a good day. "Fine. Come on," I sighed to Cinder before realizing that she was digging her shoe into the back of the other teen's head. "We have stuff to do. These guys aren't worth the effort," I said.

Cinder let out a huff. "Fine," she muttered, and she gave a final kick to the groaning body on the pavement before we continued on our way, leaving the last standing teen to hurry to his fallen friend. "We should've just beaten them both up."

"Not worth it. They're not even people who had to survive on the streets," I said. "Their clothes were clean and new. I bet they're just a few spoiled guys who thought they could do whatever they wanted just because they thought they could act scary."

"Pathetic," Cinder spat, hands shoved in her pockets.

"Which is why we should ignore them. They aren't threats, so why waste your thoughts on them?" I pointed out. Cinder's scowl softened into an annoyed frown. "Come on, let's get some food and go back," I sighed. "I'm just about done walking around anyways."

Cinder agreed, and we crossed the street to the grocery store - entering to find what looked to be an actual normal grocery store that sold fruits, vegetables, meats, and more. Like before, Cinder left the actual shopping to me - taking a basket and filling it with items that would last us a few days before we needed to go shopping again.

I made sure Cinder paid attention to what I grabbed, avoiding items that needed to be refrigerated and going for things such as fruits first. The basket slowly filled up with the cheapest items I could gather, like instant noodle cups, granola bars, and some canned foods like tuna and soup.

The last things we got were a pair of large plastic multi gallon water bottles from a brand I didn't recognize nor care to read - picking it solely because it was the cheapest option they had. "This is enough water for at least three days," I said, handing them to Cinder - who carried them with no effort. "I think this is enough."

"How are we going to cook anything if we don't have any fire at the place we're staying?" Cinder asked, raising an eyebrow as we made our way to the self checkout area.

"Well...I was thinking that you could use your semblance to heat up water," I said. "At least for the instant noodles." Cinder raised an eyebrow for a moment before looking away. "Sure," she muttered.

I chuckled as I began to scan the items in the basket. "Thanks," I said.

Cinder remained silent, instead watching as I put our gathered items in plastic bags and paid them off. When we left the store, we stopped outside so we could put the bags into my backpack, which was definitely more of a struggle than I'd expected thanks to the amount of stuff we already had. Thankfully, we barely had enough space, and our backpacks felt very full - but not heavy enough to slow us down by much.

We still needed to carry our water outside the backpacks, with both Cinder and I holding one each as we headed down the sidewalk. "It's almost lunch," I remarked as we walked back towards the block where we ended up sleeping last night. "What do you wanna do after we eat?"

"What else is there to do? You need to get stronger," Cinder said, her tone resolute. "I can tell that your aura is improving quickly, but not fast enough. Though, if your progress stays the same when the few weeks we need are up, then you'll probably be twice as good with aura than you are now."

I sighed. "Yeah. Guess I'll need to push myself harder," I said. "I can activate aura. Is there any real method to getting through this more efficiently? Or is meditation the only way?"

Cinder grinned. "There are a few ways," she said. "I can't promise that you'll like them."

I grinned back and nudged her shoulder, which only widened Cinder's smile. "Bring it on," I said. "I'll take every lesson you throw at me."

Despite my enthusiasm, the smile on Cinder's face didn't exactly make me feel better.

- a few weeks later -

"Hey!" the van driver slash product seller yelled as one of the men in line rushed forward, grabbing a handful of vacuum sealed packets before he tried to make a run for it out of the building. He stumbled past some of the others, his arms cradling his stolen packets as he rushed towards freedom, only for me to intercept him.

"Oh no you don't!" I hissed, grabbing the man in rags by his torn shirt before throwing him down. The packets of white slid on the old concrete, and I reached over to grab the nearest one, yanking it in the air before the frantic man could grab it. "Stay away from this kind of stuff if you can't afford it," I said as I tossed the drugs over to Cinder.

"...I need it," the man snarled as he fidgeted and spasmed. His eyes were wide, and he spat and snarled with every word he spoke. "I need it! Give it to me!" he roared ferally. And with that, he lunged towards Cinder, who was collecting the other packets of product...

...only to get a harsh thwack to the face by my shoe before he could get very far. Slamming against his cheek, he flipped hard and slammed onto the old pavement, rolling and slumping on the ground. Unsympathetic to the now unconscious addict's plight, I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and tossed him out of the building.

It was just under three weeks after we'd first started this 'job', with the two of us continuing to work for the small-time drug peddling businessman. Cinder and I found ourselves earning more and more money as we sat in the van every two days, waiting and watching for any and every possible threat in the same repeated routine. During this time, we worked to spend as little money as possible, making sure we had as much money as we could possibly save in order to ensure we could get off of Atlas.

Every night was spent training as well, with Cinder working to drill the basics of aura control and combat in me at the same time. It was hard work, with the next few lessons starting out by Cinder having me master my aura activation before constantly testing my aura by striking me constantly before it broke. Apparently, I had a large amount - as it took a while for Cinder to whittle me down. It was also hard work being able to keep my aura up for that long without losing concentration from the pain - because the amount of pain Cinder could dish out was insane.

Thankfully, Cinder was actually a pretty good teacher. The first week was rather easy to get past, especially since I already knew how to handle a decent fight. Even if Cinder was able to kick my ass in every single one on one duel we had, I was slowly but surely getting better. I hadn't managed to win a fight yet, but I was lasting longer and longer against Cinder each night.

Then there were the lessons about aura. Cinder taught me the basics of meditation, and how the process of being in tune with one's soul worked. According to the way Rhodes had taught Cinder, it had to do with understanding one's self. It was long, convoluted, and a very hard to understand lesson, but it nevertheless helped with gaining some degree of sense with my aura.

For one, I was able to sometimes bring my aura up in a fight without even thinking about it. But the concept of that meant that the second I was aware of the fact, it stopped working - sort of like how breathing was automatic until you paid attention to it.

In any case, I was a little bit distracted. It was our last day of working for this guy, and we'd saved up a hefty amount of Lien, which we kept someplace safe. The two of us stood at the garage entrance, once again keeping an eye on any and every possible shady character that entered. Unlike our first day, we did have to deal with some of the more unsavory people that did try to steal the product and run for it.

Cinder hadn't taken a single life since then, opting to leave a nasty cut or a bruise and knock them out rather than go for the kill. I didn't tell her, but I felt immensely proud of her for exerting some form of self control. Over the course of the past few weeks, Cinder and I had grown closer...ever so slowly.

I grinned and nodded at Cinder as she walked over and handed the product over to the driver before making her way back to her spot on the other side of the garage. Cinder nodded back briefly with a little quirk of her lips, and it was right back to business. Like the rest of the job, silence became routine when guarding the drugs. Despite my thoughts on dealing with this kind of stuff, I did my best to seem professional.

Thankfully, this part of the city was more or less perfect for these kinds of transactions. Any worries I may have had that the police or huntsman forces in Atlas would have caught wind of this and gotten involved slowly diminished over time. Regardless, I was wary enough to know that there was always a chance that the authorities would find out about this eventually. The alleyways always seemed to be quiet - too quiet.

"Well, that's that," a voice said. I turned to see the van driver approaching us. The guard was already pulling the wooden pallet into the van, with the last customers leaving with their newly acquired drugs. "All the product's sold. Time to pack up and head home," he said.

"Alright," I said, grateful that the past few hours flew by so quickly. Regardless of the high pay and the relative security, the thought of having to deal with drugs was still something I had trouble being alright with. "The sooner we get back, the better."

Cinder and I made our way back to the van, helping to do one final check in the area to ensure that nothing was left behind before we both climbed in the back. As the van started, the two of us looked at each other. "It's our last day," I said.

Cinder nodded. "Do we have a plan?" she asked.

As a matter of fact, I did. During the few weeks of our training and work, I'd done my own research. For one, there were plenty of libraries with information on all sorts of things that went on in Atlas. And that included various businesses like third party shipping companies and even Lien transfer services we'd been using since we first found them.

I patted my wallet, which I'd bought a week ago. It now held all of the Lien cards we earned, their values all combined into a handful of very valuable cards. "Just leave it to me," I said as I leaned back against the wall of the van. "Once we get our last ever payment, then we're as good as gone."

Cinder smiled as she looked down at the floor. Several minutes of silence passed between us before her soft voice spoke up. "Thank you," she whispered slowly. "For sticking by me. I don't think...no, I definitely wouldn't have survived if I stayed with you. I'd still be back at that hotel..."

I frowned, and I reached over to pat her on the knee. "Hey, don't say that. You're here now, and we're about to make our way out of Atlas," I said. "I keep my promises, alright?"

Cinder looked up at me, her amber eyes softer and more vulnerable than before. I couldn't blame her for feeling a little nervous - especially since we were actually going to be able to leave the coldest kingdom on the planet. I was feeling nervous myself, especially since we were living the familiar life of the big city to another place.

My nervousness persisted for the whole ride until we reached the building. We ascended the floor levels in the elevator to the businessman's office, which was guarded by two men in suits. I paid no mind to them, focused on the office where we would receive our last payment and be free of our contract of guarding drugs.

If only it were so easy.

"Congratulations on another perfect job," the man said, the briefcase already open with the Lien stacked inside. Behind him were two bodyguards dressed in the same suits as the two at the doorway. As we counted the money, I couldn't help but wonder what the extra security was for.

The drug peddler took the silence as an initiative to start talking once more. "I understand that this was to be your last day. But what if I said that you could make even more Lien?" he asked.

"We aren't interested. We finish what we agreed on," Cinder said, speaking up to reject his offer before I could. I wasn't too surprised, especially since Cinder most definitely wanted to leave Atlas more than she wanted to get rich.

"Yeah," I said, shutting the briefcase and pushing it into my backpack. "Thanks for the job, but our work here is done."

We turned to leave, only to find that the door was blocked by two bodyguards, both with pistols in their hands. For a split second, everything was tense, and I found my heartbeat starting to race as I realized what was going on. Judging by the sight of Cinder's widened eyes slowly narrowing, she did too.

"Oh, it isn't," the man said as he stood up. "You see, your work in protecting my product has caused my business to strengthen. My profits have skyrocketed, and they are quite literally only thanks to the two of you."

I turned to glare at the man, only to see that the two men behind him were also pointing their pistols at us as well. "So you want us to keep working for you? Is that why you're pulling guns on us?" I asked. "You did say you'd let us go when we were done."

"Well things change, it isn't just for that reason - I must confess," the man said. "You see, I was quite content in letting you go after the end of your term when I found something that belonged to a client of mine."

The man gripped the monitor of his screen, turning it around to reveal what was on it. Cinder's anger turned to horror as she saw it - and I felt my heart skip a beat. On his computer was a Missing poster with Cinder's face on it. "So...you're gonna turn her in?" I asked.

"Yes. See, the Glass Unicorn is one of many hotels that runs off of my investment. However, they've always settled for giving the bare minimum when it comes to collecting on my shares. I intend to use the madam's missing daughter as a means to take what is rightfully mine," the man said.

I gritted my teeth. "Dammit...her past really caught up to us!" I cursed in my mind. However, Cinder's anger was nowhere to be seen. All that was on her face was pure fear. Her hands shook, and she looked as stiff as a board.

The man grinned with a hint of malice in his expression. "However, I'm not without compromise. Give up your compatriot, and with the new margins of profit my side business has granted me, I shall increase your payments tenfold. You will live rich and comfortable for the rest of your life," he said. "This is your only offer."

I looked at Cinder, just in time to catch a glimpse of her frightened expression. It didn't take long for me to come to a decision. Without wasting time, I drew my bat and slammed it against one of the chairs, shattering it.

"We're leaving," I said, gripping Cinder's wrist with my other hand. "Now."

Chapter Text

The first gunshot struck my aura with a lot of force, and I whirled around to catch one of the bodyguards with my bat. The first man ducked while the second man lunged back. The two were definitely faster than anticipated, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. "Cinder, we gotta fight!" I roared as I swept my leg out to catch an ankle.

As one man toppled, the other took aim and opened fire, only to miss by a few centimeters and shatter a glass picture frame on the wall. I swung again, sending the gun flying out of his hands before I spun out to swing even harder. As my bat impacted the man's jaw with a nasty crack, I heard more gunshots directly behind me, as well as a near feral scream of rage.

I knocked out the guard in front of me and turned to see Cinder beating down the guard behind the drug dealer's desk - swinging her arms wildly as the other guard tried to pull her off. He was rewarded for his efforts with the back of Cinder's head colliding with his face, shattering his nose and his shades in the process. The two fell back, and Cinder immediately turned her fists on him next.

"Stop them! Stop them now!" the man yelled after crawling under his desk to avoid any crossfire. The second guard I was fighting pushed away from me and quickly brought his pistol up to aim, only for me to grab his gun and pull it to the side. I growled and head butted the guard before grabbing his gun and smacking it against his head as hard as I could.

He slumped against the door, unconscious as Cinder leapt from over the desk and slammed her knee into the last battered bodyguard, sending him flying across the hall into the wall opposite of the doorway.

"Run!" I yelled, and I grabbed Cinder's hand, pulling her out of the room and down the hallway where the elevator was. Two more men by the end of the hallway were waiting, and they had their guns out and in hand as well. As they took aim, I pulled my aura up to shield me from any hits, only for Cinder to pull her arm out of my grip and lunge towards the men.

I could've sworn that I saw her feet light up for a split second before she jumped and crossed the distance to the elevator in an instant. Twisting her body sideways, she struck them both with one hand on the head of one guard while her feet struck the chest of the other in an extended kick.

The two of them flew into the wall with loud cracks of impact as Cinder landed in front of the lift, just as I reached her. Before she could hit the button to call the elevator, I grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the adjacent door. "Stairwell! They can shut the elevator down!" I warned as I kicked the door open.

The two of us rushed down the stairs, practically leaping floors entirely with our backpacks jostling behind us. One of the men had recovered and stuck himself through the doorway, aiming down and opening fire. By then, the stairs were far above us, blocking the rounds from getting anywhere near us.

I kept my bat in my hands as we jumped from lower floor to lower floor, following Cinder all the while until we eventually reached the level at the very bottom - where the sewers were. Cinder kicked the door next to the base of the stairs down, and the two of us ran out of the stairwell and into the large tunnel, where several men waited for us, all with rifles aimed at the entrance.

"Dammit!" I hissed before they opened fire once more. We were quick to duck for cover behind the nearest wall, bullets pinging and shattering pieces of brick as they unleashed their weaponry.

We were on one side of the large metal platform that bridged the gap between the walkways on each side of the old sewer tunnels, where the drugs were made. Sure enough, there were the tables with the machinery and various other items - all abandoned by the workers when a fight was to break out. All of the riflemen were on the far side of the tunnels, firing at range with safety but a lack of accuracy.

Despite the past minute or so being so chaotic, I wasn't even out of breath. Cinder wasn't either, even though she'd been so panicked earlier. "Guess all that training paid off," I thought to myself. "What now?"

Before I could start to think of a way out of this, Cinder held up a pistol with one hand and fired a single shot. It was clear that she had no idea how to handle one, seeing as her hand shot up when she pulled the trigger.

Still, the shot landed judging by the pained yell and the sound of rifle fire slowing down by a bit. But I wasn't focused on that. "Where did you get that?!" I shouted over the sound of automatic fire.

"From one of the guys at the elevator," she said as she leaned out and aimed once more, firing as an incoming bullet pinged off of her aura. "Dammit, how do I-?"

"Give me that!" I growled, taking the gun when she ducked back into cover. Leaning out with my aura held up, I opened fire. I was able to get two decent shots, but the kickback was much harsher than I'd expected. I didn't have experience with guns either, but I at least knew that using two hands was a bit sturdier than firing with only one hand.

One shot struck one of the shooters in the arm and dropped him in pain, while the other hit a wall near another, forcing him to duck into cover. Another nearby had stopped to reload, leaving himself open as he reached for another mag.

Without thinking, I'd adjusted aim and fired at him, this time landing on the gut. The man fell, and I jumped out of cover and dashed for the next piece of cover I found - one of the many drug machines next to the tables.

"Dammit! Don't shoot the moneymakers!" one guard yelled. Upon hearing that, Cinder followed my lead and rolled into cover next to me as the gunfire slowed down drastically.

"What now?" she asked.

I looked up at the machine I was hiding behind before grinning. "Burn it," I said. Cinder didn't need to be told twice, and she brought a hand up to slam against the machine. It didn't take long for her hand to get hot, and soon the metallic device began to warp and sputter, glowing bright orange with sparks and hisses.

"Bastards!" one of the shooters yelled, and the gunfire resumed. The nearest one rushed towards us, fury in his eyes as he brought his rifle to shoot us at point blank range from the flanks.

"Move!" Cinder growled, and I leaned away as Cinder's flaming hands picked up the large machine and hurled it at the incoming shooter, the burning machine slamming into him and sending both toppling into the sewage below.

I wasn't the only one to take initiative, grabbing one of the tables and pulling it off the ground, spilling all the drugs and other objects on it. With a roar, I threw it across the sewers and towards the other riflemen, who all ducked and ran as the table smashed against the wall.

I turned to see Cinder burning down another of the drug making machines, a small explosion tearing out the side as metal smelted and combusting wires showered her with sparks. With another growl of effort, she hurled it towards one of the other tables, destroying it in a mighty explosion of blackened smoke and dust.

"You mongrels!" a voice yelled. We turned to see the businessman flanked by three men, all with pistols. The two of us turned and ran for it before they could open fire, moving to run after us. "Stop those brats!"

"Get away!" Cinder roared, and she stopped by the metallic platform from behind the railing, slamming her hands into the metal and superheating it with a bright orange glow. To my surprise, the metal platform began to warp and bend before it quite literally melted, destroying what equipment and materials that had survived before. Like a bridge, it broke and dropped everything into the sewage before filling the entire area with dark smoke and steam with a very loud hiss.

Now was our chance. The two of us ran for our lives with everything we had, using the steam as a smokescreen to escape as bullets flew through the thick mist and hit the walls. I threw the gun aside when we exited the tunnels, dropping it in a sewer grate on the ground before we booked it out of the alleys and towards freedom.

All the while, we kept our eyes behind us to make sure we weren't being followed. Despite not seeing anyone as we turned corner after corner, the city nearby was far too noisy to tell if we were being tailed or not. It didn't take long for us to reach the streets after navigating the path we usually took to get there, and we pulled ourselves into the crowded sidewalks, walking away from the areas and towards the other side of the city.

We remained silent, gripping each other's hands as we kept our eyes on a swivel. There seemed to be no commotion yet, no cause for alarm. We'd managed to successfully blend into the city once more - and that helped our heart rates slow down just a little bit. "We-we need to get out of here," Cinder whispered nervously.

"I know," I said. "Once we find someplace quiet to catch our breath, I'll take us to our escape route."

"And what route is that?" Cinder asked.

"You'll see," I quietly said as I looked back, my eyes continually making sure that we weren't being followed. Even if I couldn't spot any suits, I was quick to notice Cinder's case sticking over the crowds. "Carry your guitar case, so we don't get spotted over everyone else's heads."

Cinder complied instantly, pulling the makeshift sword scabbard in disguise off of her back and instead carrying it in front of her, almost hugging it with one hand. We kept our sides pressed together as we walked, keeping as low a profile as we possibly could.

It took nearly a half hour of walking before we managed to catch a break, hiding in an alley next to a public library. There were no doors or openings in the dark side of the alley, which meant no one could sneak up on us as we rested. "I can't believe that actually happened!" I gasped as soon as I leaned on the wall.

"Neither can I," Cinder muttered, sitting on the ground across from me. She slowly looked up at me, her eyes wide. "You didn't give me up."

I looked over at her, a grimace slowly taking over my face. "Why would I?" I asked, admittedly confused and a tad bit worried. "You didn't think I would, did you?"

Cinder shook her head. "I was just-I don't know. I was scared," she whispered. "What he offered you. Why didn't you take it?"

I took a deep breath, shakily exhaling as I calmed myself down. "I told you. I keep my promises. And when we leave Atlas, we leave Atlas together," I said, smiling slowly at her. "You got that?"

There was some silence between us as the busy streets and sidewalks continued to bustle with vehicles and people near us. Cinder continued to stare at me, almost as if she weren't going to believe what I said.

Then to my surprise, Cinder's wide eyes slowly began to shimmer wetly, welling up with tears. "T-thank you..." she whispered shakily before she slowly pulled herself to her feet, stumbling towards me. As she did so, a few tears streamed down her cheeks, and I began to panic.

"Hey. Hey, you alright?" I asked, standing up as she made her way across the alley. "You weren't hit, were you?" I was barely able to catch her in time as she quite literally slumped herself in my arms. "Your aura's fine. Do you need to lie down? How bad is it?"

"Just s-shut up and hug me," Cinder whispered, her voice hitching as she began to cry. I fell silent at first before I slowly complied, bringing my arms around her back and pressing her against me. Cinder's own arms hugged me tight as well, and the two of us sat in the darkness of the alley, hugging each other tightly as Cinder's body quivered against mine.

It was a minute or so before I broke the hug. "Come on," I said gently. "We need to get going."

"Okay," Cinder whispered, wiping her face on her sleeve and sniffling hard. "S-sorry."

"No sorries, alright?" I said, wiping a stray tear from her cheek with my thumb. She nodded, and I smiled once more. "Let's go."

We made our way into the public library next to the alley, which was packed full of people reading or sitting at various computers. The two of us made our way to one of a few open computers, and I got to work. "What're we looking for?" Cinder asked as she watched me start typing on a public browser.

"Private shipping companies in Atlas," I said, recalling what I managed to research the few times we'd stop by a library in the past few weeks. "A lot of businesses outsource transporting goods and other stuff to companies that own cargo ships."

"And we're looking for one to be our ride?" Cinder asked.

"Yeah," I said. "I did plenty of research on these companies. One of them is our best shot because they can reach Vale. We just need to find...the address of one of their hangars..." I muttered as I scrolled and typed for a good few minutes. Cinder watched as I continued to browse before coming across the needed information.

"Alright, the company operates...on Atlas's east docking bay," I muttered as I came across an image of what I was searching for. All flights to and from Atlas were controlled in the massive sets of docking bays on Atlas's 'front', which was a concave structure built into the side of the floating rock. Large archways served as openings for ships to fly to and from the city. "According to this, we can take the subway system to go there," I said. "Since it's basically an airport where people can fly to and from the city too."

"Then what's our plan when we get there?" Cinder asked.

"We go around to the company hangars and find a ship we can board. I already have all our money secured," I said quietly as I got up, closing the browser and pulling my backpack on once more. After looking around to make sure that nobody was eavesdropping on us, I turned to Cinder. "Are you ready to go?"

Cinder nodded, and the two of us left the building, making our way to the nearest entrance to the underground subway network. After about ten to fifteen minutes of wandering the city, we came across a large set of escalators and stairs in the middle of a particularly wide sidewalk, labeled "Atlas Metro" on a sign hanging over it. A large curved glass roof with thin metal frames stood over the opening in the ground with dark marble walls on either side.

The two of us made our way down alongside a large number of people, leaving the sunlight behind as we descended into the next level below. The escalators all led to a massive lobby of sorts, with benches and tables against the walls, as well as several pictures on the wall. Near the benches were large holographic maps where the train lines were - and there were a lot. Like the actual subways of New York city, it was essentially a maze made up of several dozen subway lines connected by crossing platforms or perpendicular tracks linked up.

We looked to our left to see a large open space in the middle of the area, where one could watch subway trains come and go on either side. The actual subway platforms were on the level below us, with another set of stairs leading down to them. "Huh, I thought we'd have to buy tickets," I thought to myself as I searched for ticket booths or kiosks. But there didn't appear to be any at this level or at the platforms below. "Guess public transportation is free in Atlas. Makes sense."

"What is it?" Cinder asked, and I felt her grip my hand tighten.

"Nothing. Come on, let's find our train," I said, making my way to one of the large holographic maps to find our planned route. Thankfully, I was familiar with how to handle subways - having snuck on them back home once or twice. I just had to find our destination and work out the path of individual subway lines that led us to it. Each line had multiple stops, with some stops intersecting with other subway lines, where passengers left one train and boarded another.

As soon as I was done with the map, we headed to the stairs that led down to the subway platform we needed to go to. "Stick by me," I said, and Cinder's hold on my hand tightened once more.

And so began the process of taking the underground train through Atlas. The subway showed up in mere minutes, slowly coming to a stop at the platform before its large doors slid open. Cinder and I were quick to board, entering the large carriage alongside other people while a handful of others exited the subway onto the station.

The interiors of the train cars resembled the subway cars that New York had, with many inward facing seats underneath the windows. There were also plenty of poles and railings along the walls and the center of the train car for people to hold onto. The train car was very quickly getting packed, and I had Cinder take a seat while I gripped one of the railings near the door.

The entire process was simple, but also very nerve wracking. It was very easy to lose track of what stops we needed to take, as well as keep to the timetables of the train whenever it needed to leave so we didn't waste any more time than necessary.

So while Cinder kept an eye on my back to make sure we didn't get pickpocketed, I kept a constant eye out on the small diagrams on the train walls above the windows, keeping track of every stop we took and counting them down until we needed to leave our current train and move onto the next. All the while, I kept a hand in my pocket to shield my wallet from any potential thieves.

We passed station after station between each stop, with the blurring lights of the subway tunnel walls blurring out of the corner of my eye. I could feel the rumbling of the floor beneath me and the slight listing as the train thundered down the line. When we boarded the nest train, I repeated the process, maintaining a careful watch of my surroundings and making sure to focus on getting off at the correct station.

It took well over an hour navigating the subways, but we eventually made it to the Atlas Terminals - the station easily being the largest of all that I've seen. Unlike the other stations where trains went in all directions, the trains entering this one all stopped at this terminal, which was the final connection point of a dozen subway lines.

When we stepped out of the train, we came across what was easily the largest station in the kingdom. It rivaled the size of Grand Central Station, with countless platforms and double sets of tracks all coming in from one direction. The station was large enough that the interior was easily six stories tall, with different floors having bus terminals, other train platforms, and even a large parking lot according to a map on the way off of the platforms.

"Okay, so freight only platforms," I mumbled as I looked ahead. Large screens were on the walls with constantly changing information about departures, arrivals, and more. However, I paid little mind to that - instead deciding to look around for some sort of door meant for maintenance access. However, my eyes fell upon the bane of our plan as they combed the area.

Security cameras, and a lot of them. To make things even more difficult, there were security guards posted all over the station. "Dammit," I hissed. "Cameras."

Cinder growled. "What're we supposed to do now?" she asked.

"I can handle this, just give me a second," I quickly replied before looking around again. In the middle of the open area were a row of large manned booths, likely where passports and identification were checked before being allowed to head through. "This can't be the only way inside...right?" I mumbled.

"Maybe there's a way through on the upper floors," Cinder pointed out.

"No, freight wouldn't be accessible to the passengers," I muttered as I walked over to get past some of the other people sitting or standing around. "Cargo would be separate. Just gotta figure out how to cross over..."

"There," Cinder said. I turned to see Cinder pointing up at the second story. I was about to ask what she was looking at before I saw it as well - a large sign labeled "Cargo Terminal" above a door, barely visible behind what looked to be a large set of chain barriers to keep people from going near it.

"Thank you," I sighed as I began to walk over to the escalator, with Cinder following close behind. "Yeah, we need to get through there. It looks like it could be guarded."

"Then we do something to get their attention off of the doors," Cinder said as the two of us got on the escalator. As I looked, I saw that the opening that led into the cargo terminal wasn't just a door that led out of the main area - but it was a large conveyor belt system. Below the sign was a large opening covered by a set of black flaps, which lifted whenever luggage of any kind slid inside.

Nearby the terminal was a large waiting area, mostly full of passengers that needed to get their luggage processed. There were three security guards, two by the processing kiosks, and one in the corner farthest from the cargo terminal conveyor belt. As far as I knew, there was one swiveling security camera in this area.

"That's our ticket in," I mumbled. There was the worry about the security cameras or anyone that might be working on the other side of the doors, but I couldn't dwell on that for long. Right now, our main focus was to get past any security and sneak into the cargo terminal without getting detected by the few guards in the area.

But how do we do that?

I looked around to see that the area was mostly meant for the booking of flights primarily with luggage - which meant that most of the people waiting to move onto the terminals to board their flights were mostly large families, and that meant a lot of kids.

And sure enough, there were plenty of noisy kids running around the seats with plenty of annoyed or tired people just minding their own business. Some of them were just playing around, but a few others were running around, hitting the walls and laughing raucously as they roughhoused around the other passengers.

My eyes continued to survey the room as I thought of a plan to distract everyone's attention. Despite the noise, my mind was in full analyzing mode, looking for something, anything that could give an edge in what we needed to accomplish.

My eyes stopped as soon as I noticed something on the wall. A small glass box was built into the wall, hiding a button that said fire alarm behind a breakable glass panel. As if a light bulb had gone off over my head, a plan began to form. A minute later, I looked over at Cinder. "Whatever happens, follow my lead," I muttered.

Cinder raised an eyebrow. "Alright," she said. The two of us looked around for a good few seconds more before I made my way towards a corner of the terminal, having waited for the group of rowdy kids to run back around in a lap around the seats. There were clearly some pissed off passengers, who waved angrily at them and shouted for some peace and quiet.

Unfortunately, I wasn't about to make the problem better. The kids ran around me as I conveniently began to pass the fire alarm, with one pushing against me to try and get past. The kid wasn't strong enough to be rough, but no one else knew that.

After tripping over my foot and stumbling back, my backpack slammed into the fire alarm on the wall. The sound of shattering glass was all I needed to hear to know my plan had worked. The sound of a loud alarm blared through the entire terminal, and almost everyone nearby had locked their eyes on my slumped form before noticing the kid right next to me.

"That brat!"

"Look what you did now!"

"We're already late!"

"You should have kept an eye on your kids!"

The entire waiting area nearly turned into an uproar as passengers began to shout and complain. The security guards nearby were quick to rush over to the crowd in an attempt to calm them down and evacuate them regardless of whether the activation of the fire alarm was unintentional. As the guards were preoccupied with their new tiring task, Cinder and I crept by the now empty benches, using the angered people as our shield whilst I kept an eye on the camera.

The second I knew it was turned away, I grabbed Cinder's hand and rushed for the conveyor belt - the two of us ducking under the chain barrier and disappearing inside. As we escaped public view, I kept an ear out for something in case we may have been spotted - but nothing came.

When a few seconds passed, I breathed a sigh of relief before looking ahead. The area was a cramped hallway, with little to do but sit on the belt as it carried us through the narrow tunnel. "I can't believe that worked!" Cinder whispered a few minutes later, her voice barely heard over the hum of the belt.

"Neither did I," I muttered as we slowly yet steadily neared the end of the tunnel. "I was kinda hoping that everyone would start getting mad, so I'm really glad that happened."

"That's the hard part, right?" Cinder asked. "We just need to pay some ship driver to get us out of here?"

"A pilot. And yes. We just need to make our way to a private cargo ship," I said as we approached the end of the tunnel. "Once we get out of here..."

The two of us rode the belt alongside multiple suitcases and bags out into a large hangar, where the belt ended towards a large sliding ramp that fed into a massive container. The two of us were quick to jump off the belt and onto the ground before we were dropped into the luggage.

After taking a quick look around, we could see that there were plenty of airships inside, with a wide assortment of automated systems loading and unloading the landed vessels left and right. "Okay. We just gotta sneak around and find a ride," I muttered as we began to move.

"What if we get spotted?" Cinder asked nervously, holding onto my wrist as we ducked behind a crate. A large magnetic crane arm hovered by, and I eyed the mechanical limb as it slowly moved away from us.

"We won't," I said as I continued to move behind the crate. "Not if we're extra careful."

"Not careful enough."

The two of us froze in an instant, and we looked up to the sight of a man standing atop the crate we were hiding behind. His arms were crossed, and he had a stern look in his eye. The two handles sticking out from over his back suggested that he was a huntsman.

I would've reached for my bat if I hadn't heard the sudden gasp from Cinder. "Rhodes!" she croaked, horror in her eyes.

Wait, Rhodes? I looked back up at the man, just in time to see his eyes widen significantly. Then I took in his features. The gray clothing, his ponytail, the pauldron and straps over his clothes, and the scar under his eye.

"You," he whispered.

Cinder's mentor was here.

"...shit," I muttered.

Chapter Text

Panic was all that was in my mind. I'd accounted for the possibility of resistance in some way, but to come across the one person that could turn Cinder away from our plan of escape? Either we were extremely unlucky - in which case I'll assume that Qrow was somewhere around the area - or Rhodes was actively looking for us.

I cursed in my mind at the thought of the latter happening. I should have been more aware of Rhodes back then, especially given the bond between him and Cinder. Of course he'd be worried sick if she had just disappeared, if she ran off with me without any way of letting him know about that decision. And even if he did, I seriously doubted that he would have agreed to just let her run off with a complete stranger like me.

Rhodes dropped down from the crate and landed in front of us, prompting Cinder and me to step back as he stepped forward. "What do you think you're doing?" he hissed, less anger in his tone and more disappointment as he approached us. "Do you understand just how dangerous this is?"

"I-I-!" Cinder stammered, clearly too shocked to come up with any coherent words. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. "Rhodes, I...I...what are you doing here?"

"When I didn't find you at the hotel the next time I visited you, I had to learn that you disappeared without a trace! Do you know how long I spent looking for you?" Rhodes continued before his eyes fell on me, narrowing dangerously as I felt a chill run down my spine. "Is he responsible?"

"Uhh...I didn't kidnap her, if that's what you were thinking," I said, holding my hands up to appear as non threatening as possible. Regardless of the situation we were in, I was not ready to throw hands with a huntsman - a fully experienced one at that.

"Then why are you trying to run away from Atlas with her in tow? What have you been doing to her?" Rhodes asked sternly. Despite what little screen time I saw of him involving the huntsman being generally nice, he seemed stricter now. This was further exemplified when he drew one of his maces, pointing it at me in a clear threat.

"N-no! He didn't do anything!" Cinder finally spoke, pushing me behind her with her hands up in the air, intent on blocking any potential attack on me. "He asked me if I wanted to escape the hotel and the abuse. I said yes. So I ran off with him."

"You ran? Why?" Rhodes asked, his harsh tone quickly turning into a surprised one. I watched as he lowered the mace as well, the weapon's head touching the ground as he stared at Cinder. "Why would you do something so...so dangerous? Do you understand what could have happened? Do you understand what a stranger could have done once he had you alone?!"

Cinder looked back at me in worry before she turned her gaze back on the huntsman who was the closest to raising her. "He knew about what I was going through," she said quietly. "He promised me a brand new life away from Atlas. A future where I wouldn't be weak. And for the past few weeks, he's kept his promise. He helped care for me, and he kept me safe."

I slowly lowered my hands in mild surprise upon hearing her words, and judging by the way Rhodes frowned, he was as well. I was admittedly not expecting her to speak up in defense of me, especially since I would have thought that she valued Rhodes more than she would me.

"And what if he's only using you?" Rhodes asked as he stepped forward, his arm poised to raise the weapon gripped tightly in his hands once more. "What if he's not any better than your family at the hotel? How could you possibly know what his intentions are?"

Cinder's eyes widened before they narrowed. "He didn't do this to me!" she cried, and she pulled her scarf down to reveal the scar around her neck, caused by years upon years of shock collar abuse. Judging by the way that Rhodes's eyes widened, he had no idea that she'd had the scar. "He never hurt me!"

Rhodes opened his mouth, likely about to ask about the scar, but Cinder didn't dare let up. She stepped forward with a glare and continued to talk. "He had the chance to send me back to that hotel for a lot of money," she said, her voice cracking as she clenched her fists. "But he refused. Grabbed my hand and fought to keep me safe. He's better than those wretched...bitches! And I-I won't let you hurt him!"

I looked at Cinder, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, take a quick breather before you start choking on the air," I said quietly, noticing how heavy her breaths were. It sounded like she was getting pretty close to crying, and I gently rubbed her shoulder. Looking up at Rhodes, I frowned. "I asked Cinder to come with me because I saw how bad she was living at that hotel."

"She would have been able to escape on her own, within the confines of the law and without anyone getting hurt," Rhodes shot back sternly, his voice soft after seeing and hearing Cinder's emotional outburst. "She would have gotten stronger by the time she became seventeen, and enrolled into Atlas Academy as a huntress student."

"She just would have gotten shocked or tortured again. She would have been worked to the bone. I don't know how much you saw, but her abuse was horrific. Her 'sisters' beat her down. She worked the hotel alone, and she barely ate anything. Do you honestly believe she would have been able to last against them for years?" I insisted in defiance, remembering why Rhodes had decided to fight Cinder the night she killed her abusers.

"She would have persevered!" Rhodes replied.

"They would have torn her down until something bad happened!" I shot back at him. "I'm not the smartest guy around, but I know how you're supposed to enroll in something like an academy. You need parental or guardian permission, and those abusers are her legal guardians! Do you honestly believe they would let her enroll?"

"You only need permission from a guardian while you're not legally an adult," Rhodes explained. "Cinder would have been free to walk out of that hotel and up to Atlas Academy when she turned seventeen, regardless of parental insistence. Nothing would have stopped her from taking that exam."

"That's still a few years away, a very long time to just wait and take all that abuse! I know you meant the best for her, but did you actually try to help her situation at home other than teach her how to fight?" I asked. "Or did you just tell her to suck it up and keep training?"

Rhodes looked down, falling silent for a moment before he narrowed his eyes. "And why go through the effort yourself?" he asked, bringing the subject back to me. "Why would you and her attempt...this? Anyone who would have caught you here would have definitely turned you in without any hesitation."

"Because I've seen her snap and kill her horrible stepmom and stepsisters before killing you and getting adopted by the literal Queen of the Grimm, becoming one of the biggest enemies of the entire world all in an attempt to gain more and more power for the sake of being strong."

Well, I couldn't say that, obviously.

"Because she deserves better than...than that!" I snapped before taking a deep breath, sighing quietly and rubbing my eyes in order to calm down. "I had to do something, okay? And I'm glad I did! Because now she's free and away from them and just about free from everything that ever beat her down and called her worthless!"

There was silence between us as the machines around us continued to work on loading and unloading cargo of various kinds into and from various airships. Rhodes turned his eyes on Cinder, who wiped her eyes and nodded almost defiantly. "Is he telling the truth?" he asked, his voice having quieted down.

"He is, I promise," Cinder said, grasping my arm tightly and pulling me against her as hard as she could, almost as if she were afraid I would be gone if she ever let go. "I owe him my life, more than you could ever know."

Rhodes's narrowed gaze remained on us before he looked away, clearly deep in contemplation. "I see," he muttered, and the silence returned between us, tense and almost strangling in the busy automated hangar.

"...what...what are you doing here anyway?" Cinder finally asked after the silence had become too much to handle.

"My next job was supposed to be me running escort on a Dust delivery from here to Mistral," Rhodes said as he put his mace away. That simple action relieved me more than I'd expected, exhaling loudly as I leaned against the crate. "I was supposed to leave when the fire alarm went off. I was about to do a check at the terminal when I saw you two hopping off the conveyor belt."

I winced at our horrible luck. "Yeah. We were gonna pay off a pilot to sneak us to Vale," I said. "Away from Atlas. Lots of bad memories here. For both of us."

"I see," Rhodes said once again. "And you wish to escape. Do you even have a plan?"

"We have plenty of Lien to get us by, and we're skilled enough to get jobs around combat," I said as I patted my backpack. "Enough of it to get us by for a while. But we need to get off of Atlas."

"And what did you do to earn that money?" Rhodes asked.

I winced, and judging by the narrowing of the huntsman's eyes, he noticed. "We didn't steal it. We earned it...doing..." I began slowly.

"We only ever played bodyguard!" Cinder interjected. "Just...protected some high profile businessman or something. We didn't ask questions."

Rhodes crossed his arms, and Cinder looked away nervously. Eventually, he sighed. "I suppose I won't like hearing what you actually did to get the Lien," he muttered quietly.

"Please," Cinder whispered, her voice close to breaking as she trembled. Her tone was heart wrenching, the desperate pleading almost a direct contrast to everything I'd known about Cinder. "This is my chance to be free. To be happy! I don't need to be a huntress for that! Let us go..."

"Cinder, running off and trying to smuggle yourself out of Atlas is wrong," Rhodes said. "I can't just let it happen. Furthermore, it's dangerous to both of you. Even if you somehow manage to get a flight out of Atlas, there's always going to be Grimm everywhere, and you're not trained at all to handle that."

"We're stronger now! We can..." Cinder tried to say, only for the huntsman to interrupt her once again.

"I'm sorry, but this can't stand. I won't let you do something so reckless," Rhodes said as he reached over to grab Cinder's shoulder - only for me to push her back. "This isn't personal. I can't just look away from all of this."

"You'd send Cinder back to that damn hotel?" I asked, glaring at the huntsman as I stood between him and Cinder. If he were to stop us after all the pain and work we'd put in these three weeks, it would be all over for both of us. I couldn't let this happen. "The two of us have survived in Atlas alone for three weeks. We can survive in Vale," I said.

Rhodes faltered for only a second before the steely stern gaze returned to his eyes. "This has nothing to do with sending her back. And besides, I intend to do something about her situation so she won't ever suffer ever again," he said, stepping forward. "I can bring her a better life, safer and legal."

"If you wanted to bring her a better life, you should have done something years ago. It's too late to save her from the abusers, not when they'll fight with everything they have just to get their slave back. And correct me if I'm wrong, but the courts will always favor the parents over someone not affiliated," I pointed out as I stepped back once more.

"This is Atlas. We have the strongest justice system in the kingdom," Rhodes insisted. "They wouldn't let something like child abuse slide."

"Are you serious?" I asked. "Justice? Cinder was literally the only employee at that damn hotel! Yet nobody batted an eye! You noticed, but did nothing about that! Calling the police would have been a much better choice than just teaching her how to fight!"

"I know that!" Rhodes shouted. "I'm going to make up for that!"

"...it's too late for that," Cinder whispered. Rhodes's eyes widened, and I turned to see Cinder looking up at him. "Thank you for teaching me how to fight. For making me stronger and smarter. It's because of your teachings that I was able to survive with my new friend. But it's because of him that I now have a chance to see the world away from my nightmares."

She looked over at me, taking my hand as she smiled slowly. "I'll always be grateful for your help. But I'll be okay now," she said. "I'm strong enough now."

Rhodes's anger melted away, and he looked down. The two of us waited, unsure of what would be his answer.

Several minutes passed as we waited for a response from the huntsman. Finally, he spoke up. "I understand," he whispered.

"You don't have to worry," I said quietly. "Like she said, you made her stronger. And that in return made me stronger as well. Regardless of what you think about me, the two of us have each other's backs."

Cinder nodded, slowly letting me go and making her way over to Rhodes. "Please trust me?" she asked. "I'll never forget what you taught me."

Rhodes slowly looked back at her before smiling softly. Lifting a hand, he rested it on her head and ruffled her hair. "Okay," he said. He continued to affectionately rub her head before he reached over to his belt and pulled something out - a sword. Specifically, the second sword he had on him, identical to the one Cinder had carried all this time.

Cinder took the blade as he held it out to her. "...really?" she asked, her voice breathy and in awe.

"Yes. You'll need it if you want to survive the Grimm out there," Rhodes said before looking over at me. "And what about you? Can you fight?"

"I know how to use my aura. As for fighting, you don't live most of your life in the streets without picking up some skills," I said, only partially lying.

Rhodes nodded, albeit reluctantly, before he looked over at Cinder. "You said that your plan was to bribe your way out of Atlas?" he asked. After she and I both nodded, Rhodes sighed. "There's...there's an airship in Bay 4," he said as he pointed over to said bay - where a large gray ship sat. "You should be able to buy a spot on that ship rather quickly. I've witnessed that specific pilot take one or two payments and a few extra crates on his ship."

"If you saw him, then why is he still flying?" I asked.

"Because the company he works for has 'lost' my report, and I can't expose him on my own. Besides, he always ended up coming second under higher priorities when much more dangerous things tend to happen around these parts. But for now, that smuggler may be your way out," Rhodes sighed.

"You mean..." Cinder began.

Rhodes nodded. "Yeah. I won't tell anyone," he said. His tired expression hardened. "And I'll be talking to that hotel owner as soon as I can."

Cinder leapt forward, tackling the huntsman in a tight hug. The man stumbled for a moment, surprised by the sudden embrace before he patted her head again. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Don't mention it," he said. The two remained hugging for another minute before he pulled away. "Now go."

The two of us left, with Cinder looking back at him one last time before we ran for Bay 4, continuing to use the crates as cover before we reached the ship. "Are you sure you're okay?" I asked.

"I am," Cinder said as we moved. "I'm glad I got to see him. One last time, at least."

I smiled. "Who knows, we might see him again," I said as I gripped her hand. Cinder's own grip tightened in return.

I spared one last glance at Rhodes's direction before we reached the ship, which resembled the blocky multi-winged cargo airships from RWBY. Sighing, I turned to see the large rear ramp of the aircraft open, full of cargo crates. In an aisle between stacks of crates, we could see an opening that led to a door deeper in the ship. I debated sneaking on board when I heard footsteps nearby.

Turning around, I saw a man in a white and black uniform approaching the ship's ramp. The man had pulled on his helmet with a yawn before seeing us nearby, freezing in place. "Hey, what're you two kids doing here?!" he asked, reaching for the radio hanging off of his flight vest.

I whipped out the Lien card in my pocket before he could press the button. That got him to freeze again, and I took the opportunity to approach him. "There is ten thousand Lien in this card," I said. "And it will be yours if you don't ask questions and let us hitch a ride to Vale."

The pilot's eyes locked on the card before his head slowly swiveled to Cinder. I followed his eyes to see that Cinder was holding her two swords, seeming rather threatening in the process. Before I could say anything, the pilot looked to both sides before promptly nodding. "Okay," he said. "Get on board."

I handed him the card before grabbing Cinder's wrist, yanking her onto the ship with the pilot boarding behind us. As he closed the ship's ramp, I opened the door and saw a ladder leading to the floor above us. After I'd climbed my way to the upper deck, I could see an open area with several crates sitting against the corners.

Cinder followed me in while the pilot headed to the cockpit to power up the ship. "We're really doing this, right?" she asked, shrugging off her backpack.

"Mhmm," I sighed as I sat on a crate, setting my own backpack next to me whilst leaning on a nearby window and peering out at the other landed ships nearby. "Vale...is going to be a very long way away."

Cinder sat against the wall by my feet, leaning her head back and sighing. "Well, we still have some food in our bags, at the very least," she said, resting her swords on the floor against the wall next to her.

I turned to the cockpit, where the pilot was sitting. "Is there a bathroom on the ship?" I asked.

"Back of the room you're in," the pilot said as the ship's engines began to hum. The large ship began to rumble as the entire vessel prepared for takeoff. "Better hold onto something."

There was some chatter on the pilot's console - likely Atlas Flight Control granting permission for the pilot to leave - before the airship jolted. My head hit the window harder than I'd prepared for, and I winced as Cinder pressed herself against the wall, bracing herself from other nasty impacts of her own.

The two of us waited as the airship hovered, barely moving around as I felt the motions of flying around for the first time. It was as if the ground were shifting below me, and I instinctively gripped the edges of the crate I was on. "This is a bit weird..." I muttered to myself.

"I know," Cinder said as she looked around. The airship continued to hover for about another minute or so before finally accelerating - moving forwards slow enough that we weren't hurled to the back of the wall, but fast enough that we did topple or slide regardless. I hit the floor with an "Oof!" while Cinder managed to slide against another crate with a mild thud.

"Okay, we're leaving Atlas airspace," the pilot said, leaning left to look at us. "It'll be about seven hours of flying, but I do have to make a few stops to drop off some cargo on the way. With those accounted for, it should be nine hours minimum."

I sighed before giving a thumbs up. "Cool," I muttered as I continued to lie down on the floor. Leaning over, I could see out the window on the other side - before finding myself almost instantly enamored by the view beyond. Pulling myself to my feet, I hurried to the window to see what I'd almost missed.

As the airship turned, I was treated to the grand view of Atlas in its entirety. Seeing the kingdom quite literally floating high in the sky was a treat in the show, but seeing it in real life was almost like I was in some sort of lucid dream.

The massive rock was covered in superstructure underneath and in front of it. Large spires stood on the edges of the floating structure, and the entire city was visible thanks to its millions upon millions of blinking and twinkling lights in the distance, easy to see in the dark night sky around the kingdom. My eyes followed all around before I came across the structure at the very heart of Atlas: Atlas Academy and its utterly massive CCT Tower.

Above Atlas itself was the Air Fleet - dozens upon dozens of massive aerial battleships with visible fins and wings. They were much too far away in distance for me to properly get a good look, but it was clear that there were a lot of them - and that didn't even include the large swarms of other airships flying above, moving in groups of four or five as they flew around.

Then there was the view below Atlas. The first thing I saw was the massive crater - so deep that I couldn't see the bottom even with the amount of distance we were gaining. Around the crater itself was fhd massive cityscape that was Mantle, seeming to wrap around the large hole in the ground.

All around the city of Mantle was a wall, serving as a barrier between the city and the nothingness that was the harsh Atlas tundra around it. "Wow," I mumbled.

"I never knew this is what Atlas looked like," Cinder whispered in awe. I turned to see her looking out the window alongside me, her eyes as wide as mine. "We've really been in the sky this whole time?"

"Yeah," I said as I stepped away from the window, looking back at Cinder as I leaned on the wall. I yawned and closed my eyes momentarily. "Not gonna lie, I'll be happy to actually be on solid ground when this trip is over."

"So will I," Cinder said before yawning as well - a squeak escaping her throat as she leaned back. I fought the urge to snort and quickly looked back out the window as Cinder stretched her arms and legs. "I'm going to get some sleep," she mumbled. "Everything that happened today got me really tired."

The mention of sleep reminded me of how hectic the day had been, and I was so glad for it to have been nighttime when we left. "Me too," I mumbled as I sat down by our backpacks. Taking my jacket off, I draped it over my torso like a makeshift blanket and leaned back.

To my surprise, Cinder sat next to me and scooted over, practically pressing me against her side as she snuggled up with me. "Thank you," she whispered. "For keeping your promise to me."

"Thanks for sticking with me," I muttered in return, leaning my head against hers as we sat together. As the ship continued to fly farther and farther away, we felt our exhaustion beginning to overwhelm us, and we couldn't stay awake any longer. Yawning a second time, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, Cinder's hand on mine.

Goodbye, Atlas. Vale, here we come.

Chapter Text

I was the one who woke up first, blinking my eyes open to reveal some hazy vision and a nasty headache. Yawning, I slowly raised a hand to wipe my eyes before stretching both my arms and legs. I didn't remember when exactly I'd fallen asleep, and I couldn't help but wonder just how long we'd been out.

As I waited for my headache to go away, I felt the lower half of my body pinned down by a somewhat heavy weight, and I looked down to see Cinder's sleeping face practically staring up at me, using my thighs as a headrest. She was curled up with her legs touching the wall, sleeping peacefully throughout the entire journey.

I could feel my legs get a little numb from the weight, but I fought the urge to move her. I just couldn't find the heart to do so after seeing Cinder asleep on me, her hair somewhat messy as she softly breathed in and out.

"...cute," I couldn't help but think, looking at her sleeping form for a few minutes before I looked around at the windows. It was bright and early in the morning, with the bright blue cloudless sky shining through the windows. "How close are we to Vale?" I asked, rubbing my head tiredly before looking ahead at the cockpit.

The pilot looked back from his seat. "We're just about there. Half hour at the very most before we land," he said. "Hope you had a nice sleep."

"I did. My legs are still sleeping, though," I muttered as I looked back down. After some careful deliberation, I tapped Cinder on the shoulder. "Hey. Wake up," I whispered gently, tapping her shoulder a few more times. I only received a tired groan in reply, and Cinder only shifted in place before falling still once more.

I poked her cheek this time, doing so for a few seconds before Cinder let out another groan, this time opening her eyes - albeit slowly. "Mrrgh..." she mumbled incoherently. "What happened?"

"We're almost there," I said as I pushed my knees up, forcing Cinder to sit up as well as she raised a han d to wipe away at her sleepy eyes. "Come on, let's freshen ourselves up."

Cinder slowly yawned, stretching hard as she blinked her eyes open. "Okay," she sighed as she sat up and stretched her legs, letting out a tired sigh as she arched her back. A few pops and cracks could be heard as she fully loosened up. Without another word, she pulled herself up to her feet and headed to the bathroom, leaving me alone to stretch my own legs and wake them up.

It took a few minutes for the feeling of pins and needles to go away, and I spent another few minutes walking around the area to get my legs back to feeling like normal. When Cinder left the bathroom, I went to use it - washing up and waking myself up properly before heading out to see Cinder in the cockpit, looking out the much larger wrap-around windshield.

And what we saw before us was an incredible sight.

Cinder and I lost ourselves in the view of what was the city of Vale, the large urban setting almost dreamlike to take in, especially from the air. It was like New York City, but not as tall. It also seemed less congested, with the streets visibly wider compared to what I was used to back at home. The buildings were all clean, large, and unique in many sorts of ways. Furthermore, the city itself seemed to stretch on and on, with almost the entirety of the city's edge hugging the coast line, where countless beaches and docks could be seen.

"You two never left Atlas before, huh?" the pilot asked.

"No, never," I said as I looked around us. "Where in the city are we landing?"

"Industrial sector. You can sneak out from there once the ramp lowers, but after that, you're on your own," the pilot said.

"Got it. Thanks for flying us here," I said.

"Hey, thanks for the Lien," the pilot replied. After grabbing our things and double checking to make sure we had everything, Cinder and I made our way down the ladder into the cargo bay and waited.

The ship's large engines rumbled above us, and we felt the entire vessel around us changing its movements as it slowed its pace to a crawl. We were hovering now - likely ready to land once given clearance to do so.

That clearance came through eventually, and the two of us were suddenly jolted against the large metal crates around us as the ship landed with a thud. The two of us were quick to recover and remain hidden between crates, waiting for the chance to escape. A few minutes passed slowly, the moment tense and stressful as we kept an eye and ear out for anything and everything that could possibly happen.

Then the airship's large engines fell silent and the main ramp opened with a hiss, slowly lowering and flooding the cargo bay with sunlight. The two of us ducked into cover once more, hearing the noise of chatting and machinery in the area. I was the first to peer out of cover, looking around to see if anyone was looking in.

To my surprise, there weren't any people that I could see outside. However, there were a few landing pads and a large crane from what little I could see from inside the ship. After a few seconds of thought, I left the safety of cover and headed towards the edge of the ship, with Cinder following close behind me.

"We need to move," I whispered as I looked around. I saw a few workers sitting at a table near the edge of the landing platform, likey on break. After looking around to see no one else within the vicinity, the two of us made a break for it - running out of the ship and sliding down a staircase railing off of the raised landing platform.

I landed at the bottom before looking around. The area was relatively empty, with most of the landing pads raised with ramps and staircases connecting them to ground level. The space between landing pads was large, easily wide enough for forklifts and people to head to and from various areas in the docks. "We'd better find a gate or something," I muttered as I looked back to see Cinder staying close.

The two of us spent about ten minutes navigating the maze of raised landing pads and stacked crates, avoiding anyone that walked by as we continued to sneak around. Unlike the level of strict surveillance one would expect in Atlas, this area was generally just lax in terms of security, something which felt both odd yet believable for a place like Vale.

We eventually found a way out of the docks, where a large brick wall stood. It was easily ten feet tall, and there seemed to be a lack of security cameras in the area, although there seemed to be none at all throughout our entire journey.

The two of us looked around for something to climb - finding a few of many crates stacked by the nearest empty landing pad. "Help me move this," I said as I came over to a relatively small crate, easily half my height. Cinder came over to its other side, helping me drag it over to the wall before climbing up on it first.

With a grunt of effort, she leapt up and gripped the edges of the wall - pulling herself up before leaning down and reaching for me. As I climbed up on the box as well, I jumped up, one hand grasping Cinder's while the other clamped down on the wall tightly. "Gotcha!" she gasped as she began to pull. I put some effort in getting myself on top of the wall when we heard the yell.

"Hey, stop right there!"

I didn't even think after that, forcing myself over the wall and accidentally pulling Cinder over the other side with me. The second I realized I was falling, I pushed my aura up - which flickered as I slammed shoulder first into the ground. Ignoring the ache, I pulled myself up to my feet as Cinder landed beside me, the two of us running for the nearest street as the sound of following footsteps quickly followed.

Neither of us looked back as Cinder and I turned the corner away from the edge of the airship docks, leaving sight of the wall as we hurried down the relatively empty streets of Vale. The two of us jogged for a few minutes before we finally slowed to a walk, looking back to see if we were being followed. "That gave me a heart attack," I sighed as I leaned against the nearest wall.

Cinder chuckled as she sat on the nearest bench, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "You landed pretty hard earlier. Are you alright?" she asked.

I rubbed my shoulder, the mild ache of impact being a lot better than actually landing on my shoulder with zero protection. "I'm fine," I said. "I healed up pretty quickly."

Cinder smiled before she looked around. "Well, we're in Vale now. What should we do?" she asked.

I scratched the back of my neck before looking down the street. "Well, we should probably explore. The city doesn't seem as packed as Atlas, so we should be able to find our way around the place pretty fast," I said. "Is there anywhere you wanna go first?"

Cinder was just about to speak up before the sound of a low growl filled the air. It didn't take a genius to figure out what made that noise as Cinder's cheeks burned pink. "C-can we eat first?" she asked quietly.

And so we did. The two of us continued to walk around Vale, snacking on the few granola bars we had left in our backpacks as we explored the city. There were several small parks around, as well as several apartments, stores, restaurants, and more. "I like this place much more than Atlas," I said. "No fancy tech or super busy streets. Plenty of space."

"Mhmm!" Cinder agreed, crumpling up the wrapper in her hands as she chewed on her bar. After tossing the wrapper in a nearby trash bin, she swallowed and wiped her mouth. "Now that we're out of Atlas, what should we do now?"

I frowned as my mind began to race. "Well...the two of us could always try and get stronger while we're here," I said as I rubbed my chin in deep thought. "The city itself probably has a lot of opportunities, but I don't think we can reliably live here without some form of income."

Cinder frowned. "Well, there must be something we can do," she said. "What if we applied as students to an academy? Every kingdom has one, right?"

I shook my head. "There's three reasons. We need to be able to handle ourselves against Grimm if we want to reliably be able to enter a huntsman academy. And neither of us have ever seen a Grimm in real life," I said. "Reason two. We're not old enough to enlist in a huntsman academy, and I'm pretty sure we need parental consent and transcripts if we can't pass any actual huntsman exam."

Cinder slowly looked down. "Oh," she muttered.

"Reason number three," I said. "Not only do we not know how to handle a fight against Grimm, we don't even know how to fight very well compared to actual huntsman students. Let's focus on that before we try jumping ahead. Is that okay?"

Cinder nodded, content with what reasons I'd presented. "But where will the two of us sleep?" she asked.

I frowned and looked down at my shoes in deep thought as we continued to walk. That was the biggest dilemma I had to work with, and I couldn't help but wonder if there were even any slums we could camp out in. But there was still the issue of food and water, as well as the fact that we didn't have any way to make more Lien. The large amount we still had - almost 18,000 Lien total - wouldn't last forever.

"Hmmm..." I mumbled to myself as I looked around us. I was vaguely aware of some of the stuff or places that would be in Vale, but I had to remember not to call anything out by name or familiarity - especially since I'd actually never been here before. Anything I knew from watching the show would need to be stumbled upon or discovered in real life.

Looking up, I saw the near orange hue in the sky, realizing just how cold it was. How much of a difference of hours was Vale's time zone compared to Atlas's? "Well, it's super early in the morning. We should have plenty of time to search the place and find whatever we need," I said. "Does that sound good to you?"

Cinder nodded, and the two of us set off down the streets of Vale, searching the city for something, anything that could be of any interest to us. As the two of us walked, we saw plenty of people driving or walking to work for the day, opening up the occasional store or heading towards an office building.

As we turned corners and crossed streets, we would come across slightly busier parts of the city. There were more cars here and there, and there were plenty of people simply walking or jogging up and down the sidewalks. We passed by a small park in the middle of a square, seeing a few stalls and tables being set up for the day, alongside a line of people waiting for them to open.

It didn't take very long to come across a place of interest - specifically, a large bar. It was closed in the morning, but I could recognize it by the two people lounging by the staircase leading into the building - the two of them wearing black suits with red ties and sunglasses with red swords in their hands. "Junior's men," I thought to myself as we continued to walk. The two were talking with each other, cigarettes trailing in their mouths as we made our way past. "Those are a gang," I whispered once we were far enough.

"How do you know?" Cinder asked quietly.

"Other than the fact that they were dressed like actual gangsters? They're armed," I said. "They aren't huntsmen either. Maybe we can do something with them later, but for now, let's steer clear." I looked ahead, my eyes searching around the area as the two of us continued to walk. "We'll need to get lunch in a few hours. Maybe a cheap place once more places open up for the day," I muttered.

"What if we tried...getting a job?" Cinder asked.

"Well, we can't just walk up and ask someone to hire us," I said. "I'm pretty sure we need a bunch of paperwork. Plus we're pretty much homeless so there's not exactly much that can get us a job anyways."

Cinder turned to look ahead. "Does it have to be in the city?" she asked.

I blinked and turned to look at her. "What do you mean?" I asked, mildly confused. Cinder pointed ahead, and I followed her gaze to see a large poster pasted on the side of a lamp post on the sidewalk. Walking over, I looked at the poster - which read "Grimm spotted in towns outside the city! Beware!" in thick and white lettering.

I frowned. "You wanna leave the city?" I asked.

"Well...we did live in the city. I kind of wanna see other places," Cinder whispered. She looked away, clearly nervous - which surprised me. She'd been feeling much more comfortable and easy to talk to for a while now, so this sudden shift of behavior was a bit off-putting.

Then it hit me. Was she afraid? She almost looked like she was expecting to be yelled at, and it made me feel a little bit sick. I sighed before patting her on the shoulder. The little flinch she gave when I touched her shoulder made me feel worse, and I smiled. "Yeah. We can visit a town or two," I said. "Maybe it'll give us better chances to make some money than the city."

Cinder's nervous look turned into a wide eyed expression of surprise. "R-really?" she asked, her voice soft.

"Yeah," I said. "Come on, you don't have to look so nervous. If you want something, just let me know."

"I...okay," Cinder said quietly. "So how do we leave the city?"

I looked around to see the rest of the city. "We can always find a train station or something," I said. "First, we need to actually know what towns there are. Although, I'm not exactly sure where a map of the kingdom would be kept..."

We would find one at the local library, having wandered upon it after another few minutes of walking around the city. We walked in, and I got straight to work on doing research, finding anything to help locate any towns or other places that could be of any interest to us. For one, I learned plenty of useful things about Vale - like how much of its landscape was made up of mountains that served as natural defenses, as well as plenty of space by the coast line for many cities to be built. The city we were in right now just happened to be the largest.

There were many places that the kingdom of Vale had overall, such as a coastal village known as Flare, or a small town known as Aerie. However, one stood out to me - an island town known as Patch. I wasn't sure why that caught my attention, but it was noticeably separated from the rest of the continent. "Hmmm..." I mumbled to myself.

"What is it?" Cinder asked.

"Well, there's a town that's set up on an island away from the city," I said as I scrolled on the computer I was using, letting Cinder take a look at a section of the map. "Wanna go there?"

"...where's this...island?" Cinder asked curiously.

I blinked before pointing to the area on the map where Patch was located. "Islands are little pieces of land surrounded by ocean," I said. Cinder stared at the map, her eyes narrowed as she locked in the spot I was pointing at. "Can you...not see it?"

Cinder blinked and looked away, her cheeks pinkening after a few moments. She remained silent for a good few seconds before she finally spoke up. "I...don't understand it," she mumbled. "I don't know how to read it."

I winced, realizing that this should have been something incredibly obvious from the start. She's grown up poor and away from civilization, and the only other environment she had other than that was a hotel with family that never bothered to teach her anything. "...oh," was all I could say to that. "Uhh...I guess you'll need to learn it."

Cinder flinched and looked back down, and I was quick to reassure her - ruffling her head the same way Rhodes once did. "Hey, I'm not mad at you. And you don't need to feel embarrassed or upset about it," I said. "I can help teach you, no trouble."

"I...are you sure?" Cinder asked.

"Yeah. I mean, you learned how to talk pretty well - so it shouldn't be difficult for you to grasp the concept of reading," I said. "I just need to teach you the alphabet first. The basics."

Cinder lowered her eyes once more. "Why are you not mad?" she asked.

I frowned. "I'm not mad because nothing that you don't know is even your fault," I said. "I learned this stuff at age five or six. You didn't even get the chance to learn. It'd be pretty shitty of me if I yelled at you for having a terrible childhood."

Cinder looked back up at me, mildly confused - but no longer nervous. "Okay," she finally said. "So where do we go now?"

I quickly looked up the nearest dock area that sold ferry tickets before we left the library, navigating down the maze of streets and intersections while following the addresses and streets to the coastal edge of the city. Thankfully, it was rather easy to find our destination once we made our way to the nearest beach.

We just had to follow the ships.

The ferry docks were large, with a building sitting on top of a massive concrete and steel dock that extended over the sand and well into the water, where multiple ships of varying types could be moored at various berths. As we walked along the sidewalk parallel to the beach, I couldn't help but notice that Cinder was eyeing the coast - specifically the splashing waves and the smooth sand near us.

"Yeah, I've never been to a beach myself," I said as we continued to walk. "You ever wanna come visit one soon?"

"...maybe," Cinder muttered to herself. "I don't know what people do at a beach."

"From what I hear, people swim and play in the water, or just lie down in the sand and go to sleep," I commented with a shrug. "Sorry, I don't know much about this."

And with that, the conversation ended. However, Cinder's eyes continued to trail at the water, almost mesmerized by it the entire time we walked, at least until we reached the docks. After entering the building, I bought two tickets to Patch before being directed to a berth, where the two of us would wait to get onboard our ferry.

"You're really interested in the water, huh?" I asked after some time passed. Cinder nodded quickly, and I chuckled. "Well, considering neither of us have really been anywhere like that, I don't think we can swim."

"I know. I just...think it looks nice," Cinder said quietly. I smiled before leaning back on my seat.

"Who knows? Maybe we can eat lunch at the beach one day," I remarked. "It should be a nice time."

Cinder didn't say a word to that, but she did smile to herself. Another minute passed before the sound of a bell filled our waiting area. A person on the loudspeaker made an announcement, informing us and anyone else we were sitting by that our ship was ready to board. The two of us stood up and left our seats, heading down a hallway that led to our ship.

The ferry itself looked rather nice on the inside - being treated to a large open area with rows of forward facing seats with tables between each row. The back of the room had a small bar with tables to eat and drink at, and the windows were tall enough to reach the floor. What was further impressive was the view we were treated to - with our right side being the docks while the front and left side held a view of the open waters.

And at the very front of us was Patch - very miniscule and hard to spot unless one looked closely. As we took our spots on the ferry, Cinder rushed to a window seat at once, essentially calling dibs on it as the other passengers began to take their spots. I sat down next to her, my eyes on the view outside as well.

I couldn't blame Cinder for being enamored with the sight, especially when I was equally as impressed with it as well. To think I'd have been stuck in the big city for the rest of my life if I hadn't been transported here.

As I set my things down, I heard the intercom system of the ferry ring to life, with the captain greeting the passengers and letting us know that we were headed to Patch in a few moments. As time passed and passengers settled into their seats, I turned around to look back at the snack bar, feeling myself get a little hungry again. Granola bars weren't filling for very long, and canned food was all we had in our backpacks.

"I'm gonna get us some food for the trip," I said. "Might as well have an early brunch. Can you watch over our stuff?" Cinder nodded, and I left our row to make my way to the back of the area, where two male workers were tending to the bar.

"Hello, sir! How may we help you today?" one of the men asked cheerfully. I looked over the menu, curiously eyeing the list of foods and drinks that they had to offer.

"Hmmmm," I muttered for a few moments, feeling the ship start to move under me. As I leaned on the counter to prevent myself from falling over, I spoke up. "Two cottage pies, two bags of potato chips, and two small vanilla iced coffees?"

"Of course," the man said, ringing them up on the register. "That'll be twenty four and a half Lien." I hid a wince at the price - despite them being fairer than I'd expected. Maybe it was because of how often I reminded myself that we needed to spare as much Lien as possible. I paid up and leaned against the wall to wait for my order.

As I waited, I couldn't help but continue to think about why Patch seemed important. No matter how hard I thought, I just couldn't piece things together. It didn't take more than a few minutes for the food to come in, and I brought the two trays over to Cinder, whose eyes were still glued to the water outside. Luckily, our stuff hadn't been looked at by anyone else, much less moved.

"Brought us some food," I said, setting a tray down in front of her. Cinder's gaze immediately locked on the steaming plate of cottage pie - which was a neat bed of baked ground beef and vegetables under a bed of buttered and cheesy mashed potatoes.

"T-thank you!" Cinder said, and the two of us dug in, enjoying our food as the ferry began to pave its way through the ocean towards Patch. For a while, the two of us had some peace to ourselves - eating and watching the water splashing below us as the ship moved.

At least until I felt shoes against my seat. It was slow and unnoticeable at first - but soon the repeated thuds of kicks against the back of my chair started to get louder and more annoying. It went on for a good minute, and I ended up leaning forward to avoid having my back continuously kicked over and over.

It didn't stop the whole chair from rattling, however - and I ended up spilling a few chips from just how roughly this kid was annoying me.

Another minute of seat kicking passed before I stood up, dropping my fork on the plate with a clatter. "Hold on," I grumbled before standing up and quickly turning around in my seat, coming across a blonde girl sitting in the seat behind me - either seven or eight years old. She was wearing a tan shirt and brown pants with a yellow bandanna tied around her neck.

"Hey, can you just not?" I asked. The girl flinched before she responded in the most kid-like manner possible - by sticking her tongue out and blowing a loud raspberry.

I rolled my eyes. "Brat," I grumbled as I sat back down, only for the seat kicking to resume at full force. I stood up again, this time slamming my hand on top of the seat. "Need me to raise my voice or what?" I asked, my tone darkening at this annoying girl.

Before she could respond, a sharp female voice cut through the air. "Hey! Yang, don't do that!" a woman with a white cloak scolded, coming over at once. "I'm so sorry, I was in the bathroom!" she apologized, bowing at once. However, I was in mild shock - having heard the name she shouted.

Then there was the woman herself. She wore a red dress with straps and a large white hooded cloak, as well as black skirt parts attached to her dress. Her short hair was black with faded red tips, and she spotted silver eyes.

My mind was lost in thought, and I couldn't stop myself from speaking as I realized just who I was looking at.

"...Summer Rose?"

Chapter Text

Summer raised an eyebrow at my mention of her name, her sudden apologetic behavior turning rather suspicious. "How do you know who I am?" she asked.

I stammered for a second, unsure of what to say or think, at least until her words hit me. "Uhh...team STRQ, right?" I managed to say after some thinking. "From Beacon?"

Summer's eyes widened momentarily. "...oh," she said. Chuckling nervously, she looked away and rubbed the back of her head. "I...I didn't think we were still that famous..."

"She's famous?" Cinder asked, poking her head up from the seat next to me.

Fuck it, I was gonna roll with this. "Yeah. I...don't know too much, but I know that team STRQ was one of the best huntsman teams in the world," I said.

"Hah!" Summer snorted before coughing and clearing her throat. "I...I wouldn't say that."

"He's right, mom! You're super famous!" Yang giggled. "I like him now!"

Miniature Yang. That was not something I'd have expected to see here. I wasn't even sure how far in the past we were from the actual events of the show. Yang was a pipsqueak here, so for all I knew, we could be back more than a decade.

My eyes looked over at Cinder. She was fifteen now, which meant she must have been in her mid twenties by the events of Volume 1. I found myself mildly worried, unsure if I was even going to handle being in this world if I were to meet past versions of everyone around.

Summer ruffled Yang's hair. "Hush, I'm not that famous," she admonished with a smile before looking up at the two of us. "Well, in any case, I'm flattered. What are your names and what brings you two to Patch?"

I scratched my ear, chuckling nervously. "Ny name is Arden. Her name is Cinder. We...were hoping to find a job...and maybe an actual home. And maybe some training as well," I mumbled. "We...didn't have normal upbringings."

Summer's expression softened. "Orphans?" she asked. I nodded while Cinder looked away, sitting back down and returning to her food. "I see."

I frowned. "Yeah..." I muttered before deciding to spill some of the beans. Summer was a good person, and it didn't seem like she would choose 'legal actions' over 'heroic actions' when it came to orphans. "Cinder and I were in Atlas for most of our lives. We found each other and...well...escaped."

Summer nodded, patiently listening. "And you made your way to Vale. Also, what did you mean by training?" she asked.

"Cinder and I have our auras unlocked, though too late to get put in a school," I said. "And even if we could get into one, I don't have any legal guardians since I mostly grew up in the slums, and Cinder's family was a bit...abusive." I hadn't meant to say that, but I couldn't come up with another appropriate word for it.

Summer gasped before her gaze shot over to Cinder. "I...I see," she said before clearing her throat once more, regaining her composure. "Well, rest assured, I can help you with that."

"You can?" I asked, surprised.

"She can?" Cinder asked simultaneously.

"Of course! Patch has two combat academies and plenty of space to spare. If you'd like, I could help set something up for you," Summer said.

"You'd do that?" I asked, not at all expecting this. "I mean...we just met."

"That's no excuse not to help someone when they need it," Summer said. "Don't worry, you're not the only ones who end up in situations such as these. Trust me, you'll enjoy Patch."

"Yeah! It's home sweet home!" Yang chimed in.

I blanked out as the information came flooding in. Patch was where Ruby and Yang had grown up - and where Summer's tombstone was. "So...Patch is your home?" I asked once I'd recovered from that little shock. "What's it like?"

Yang moved to the window seat of the row as Summer sat down where her daughter once was. "Well, it's a peaceful place. Like I said, there're two combat schools on the island, one of which two of my teammates works at. One of them is my husband."

I recalled Qrow Branwen and Taiyang Xiao Long being teachers of Ruby at one of the schools. "What's it like in a combat school?" I asked.

"Well, think of it as a normal school, but...no, wait. Sorry, I forgot you didn't get to go to a school," Summer sighed as she rubbed her eyes. "Just think of it as a place where you're taught to read, write, do math, learn history, and other things. Combat schools are like that, but they include curriculums that teach you various things about combat, like learning more about the Grimm, handling yourself in combat, weapons engineering, and mastery of your aura and semblance."

I heard a gasp from next to me, and I turned to see Cinder's eyes sparkling. "There's schools that really teach you all of that?" she asked, her voice holding a sense of awe.

"Yeah, but we got our aura way too late in the game. We can't exactly go to a school like that, not without a ton of things we'll likely never have," I said. "Maybe if we met at a much younger age, but..."

Cinder visibly drooped, and I felt terrible for her sudden shift in mood. I rubbed my hand on her shoulder, sighing. "I know, it'd be really nice if we could go to Beacon or something, but-"

"Actually...I think that's possible," Summer said. Cinder perked up, and I turned to look at her. "Beacon typically accepts students through graduating from a combat school with certification and transcripts. However, they also accept those who can pass their exams and initiation."

"Really? We were going to do the same in Atlas, but-" Cinder began.

"Atlas is...a little different. They tend to be much more strict with who gets the training to become huntsmen or huntresses because they're usually a branch in the military," Summer said. "Places like Beacon are a bit more flexible with who they take into their student body."

"Yet they're one of the most successful academies in the world," I said.

"You can thank the headmaster for his...eccentric views. He values teamwork and experience over raw skill and power, and it makes some of the best huntsmen and huntresses around," Summer said. "So trust me when I say that Beacon will likely be your best chance at getting stronger."

"But we need to be able to get to Beacon in the first place. You said it was possible. How?" I asked.

"Well, did you know that two of my teammates entered the academy without having graduated from a combat school?" Summer asked, to which I nodded in reply. "Well, they came from the Branwen Tribe in Mistral. Qrow stayed with us and later started teaching at Signal with my husband, but his sister...didn't."

"So, we could go to Beacon if we're strong enough?" Cinder asked.

Summer nodded. "I can't get you into Signal, but we can train you. Patch has a large number of huntsmen that you could tail for experience, and there's some Grimm infested areas on the island," she said. "It's just a basic premise, but we could work something out."

"Wow, I...uhh, I didn't expect you to genuinely go this far for us," I said.

Summer only smiled. "Like I said, if people need help, then who am I to not help? Besides, I can tell that you're being genuine," she said. "Don't worry."

I found myself a little concerned, especially with how smoothly this was all going. I knew for a fact that Summer was kind, and that she wasn't about to screw us over - but I just couldn't shake the feeling that something was likely to go wrong.

I looked over at Cinder to see that she was finishing up her food with a much brighter attitude now, and I couldn't help but smile. Consequences be damned - if Cinder wanted to go to Beacon, then that's where we would go. And with that thought declared, I got to work in finishing up my food before the ship docked at Patch.

- twenty minutes later -

There were very few people at the docks when we arrived, taking our things and following Yang and Summer off of the boat and onto the island. "Mommy, are we going home first?" Yang asked as she hopped up and down, her hand still gripped tightly by Summer.

"Mhm!" Summer said before looking back to me and Cinder. "You can come with us. My husband is at home right now. I just need to talk to him and then we can both help you out."

I couldn't help but wonder what kind of help Summer was planning on offering. If it were anybody else, I'd have gotten suspicious that we were asked to follow them home. However, it was Summer Rose - which had to count for something. I looked over at Cinder to see that she seemed to be excited, her hands fidgeting as she looked around with wide eyes.

I did the same after a moment, seeing the town of Patch to be rather large and made of smaller buildings, sort of like the medieval village from a comic book series I'd read sometime in the past with roads and cars here and there. "Seems peaceful," I remarked as we made our way through the town. "You said there were Grimm on the island?"

"Yes, they tend to spawn in a forest that's too deep and dense for huntsmen to accurately search. However, it's mostly Ursai and Beowolves that show up, so it's easy for huntsmen to clear out if any decide to go on the attack. It's nothing serious," Summer said. "In fact, they're likely the biggest reason why we even have jobs on Patch."

"I see. Will we fight any of these Grimm?" Cinder asked. "If they're this dangerous, surely you could use some extra hands to help out, right?"

Summer shook her head. "Even Ursai and Beowolves are incredibly dangerous to those who don't know how to fight them properly. But don't worry, if things go right, you'll be strong and knowledgeable enough to handle Grimm," she said.

"Yeah, like me!" Yang cheered as she pulled her hands out of Summer's grip, throwing punches in the air as she jumped in circles around Summer, Cinder, and me. "When I get bigger, I'll be able to become a huntress like mom!"

"Then you'll need to train extra hard, sweetie," Summer said with a smile before she looked at the two of us. "I hope it's alright, but I was also hoping for Yang to be able to learn a thing or two from this as well. If that's something you're okay with."

I nodded, not seeing an issue with it. "I don't see why not. If you're gonna help us out, you should be the one calling the shots," I said.

"Alright!" Summer said, clapping her hands together once. "Our home isn't too far from the town. I'll introduce you two to my husband and then we can get started."

"Sorry to ask, but don't you have a job or something?" I asked. "I mean, you already said your husband has a job teaching, but what about you?"

"Oh, I'm an on-call huntress. I get called in for certain jobs they need my expertise for. Other than that, I'm a stay at home mom and defender of Patch," Summer chuckled.

"You mean a superhero!" Yang called, charging at Summer and leaping right into her waiting arms. The woman spun around as Yang squeaked and giggled, feet flailing in the air as Cinder and I stepped back.

I chuckled at the adorable sight before noticing that Cinder was oddly silent. Turning to look at her, I felt my own good mood dwindle at the saddened expression on her face. "Don't worry," I said gently as I took her hand. "You got me."

Cinder smiled momentarily, although it seemed a little forced, not quite reaching her eyes. "I know," she sighed before she eyed Summer and Yang once more, a sort of longing visible in her eyes. "Still..."

I pulled her in for a side hug. Cinder fell silent, simply leaning in for a second before we continued on our walk, following Yang and Summer to the edge of town.

The walk took another half hour - with Summer leading us through a forest path out of town, coming across a large wooden cabin. It was tall and built with logs, with a garden on one side and a porch on the other. Nearby was a large wooden shed by some trees, and dirt paths would be seen leading from the house towards the treeline.

I recognized it as a place seen often in Volume 4.

"So this is your home? Looks nice," I said.

"Mhm! Home sweet home," Summer said before she patted Yang on the head. "Honey, why don't you go get your father?" Yang nodded, and hurried into the house with a giggle. As she slammed the door behind her, Summer turned to face us.

"So is this where the training starts?" I asked, shrugging off my backpack and cracking my knuckles and neck. Cinder moved to do the same.

"Almost," Summer said. "I just need to ask a few questions, like how developed is your aura or how your semblances work."

"Cinder unlocked her semblance back when she still lived with her old family," I said before turning to look at her. "I don't recall you saying how you unlocked your aura."

"I-I think I activated it myself," Cinder said. "All I knew was that I could burn stuff in my hands - that's my semblance, by the way. And when Rhodes came in, he started teaching me the basics about aura."

"And she knows a lot, by the way," I said. "Taught me meditation and how to use aura defensively."

"I see," Summer said. "Tell me more about this Rhodes person. What did he teach you exactly?"

Cinder talked about everything Rhodes had drilled into her over the past few years. She learned how to handle a sword, defend herself in hand to hand combat, as well as enough about aura that she would be able to pass that portion of the huntsman's exam without problem.

Summer chuckled. "That does sound like Rhodes, alright," she said softly.

I blinked. "You know him?" I asked.

"Yes. He graduated Atlas Academy a few years before Team STRQ graduated Beacon. I recall seeing him fight in the Vytal Festival, and meeting him once or twice afterwards," Summer said as she looked up with a grin. "The two of us were only acquainted for a few months in those school years, mostly on joint training ops between Atlas and Beacon - but I like to think we became good friends."

"He's the reason we're even here in the first place," I said. "He looked the other way and let us smuggle ourselves out of Atlas," I said.

"Really? I thought he was always one to obey the law. A bit of a goody two shoes, Qrow once said," Summer said, mildly surprised. "Though, I am glad that he did let you two go."

"So are we," I said before looking over at Cinder. "Though he was probably the closest thing to a father figure Cinder has."

Summer's smile turned sad. "Poor thing," she sighed before she turned her smile back to a positive note. "But don't you worry! I won't let you down!"

Before I could speak up once more, the door to the house swung open. A well built blonde man walked out, stubble on his face and blue eyes. "Hey, sweetie!" he called in the voice of Burnie Burns before his eyes came across Cinder and me. "So these two are who Yang was talking about?"

"Mhm! Meet Arden and Cinder," Summer said as she came over to greet her husband with a tight hug and a brief kiss. "You two, this is Taiyang Xiao Long."

"It's an honor," I said.

"No honor necessary. Whatever you heard about Team STRQ is more chaos than actual fame," Taiyang said as he rested an arm on his wife's waist. "So, Summer here wants to help you out?"

"Yeah. We grew up rough and I think our best chance is a huntsman academy. If not Beacon, then maybe the one in Vacuo," I said. "We have aura and we can fight. Not much else we can do."

"Hmmm," Taiyang pondered. "Well, can't say I haven't heard of circumstances like this. I'd have appreciated the chance to talk about this with my wife before she made up her mind-" He looked over at Summer, who gave a sheepish yet not at all apologetic shrug. "-but I'm not opposed. Not on the weekends, at least."

"Besides, they were just telling me how far along they are in learning how to fight. Cinder is mostly there when it comes to aura, and it looks like Arden is the one who needs to learn the most. Is there anything else we need to know?" Summer asked.

"I still need to teach Cinder how to read and write, if there's time for that," I said, wanting to point that out before I forgot. Taiyang's eyes widened and Summer's mouth dropped open. "...what?"

"She can't-really?" Summer asked. Her eyes turned to Cinder, and she flinched, likely having seen the sudden shift of expression in her face. "Wait, no! Don't be sad, I was just surprised! We can help teach you, I promise!"

Taiyang rubbed his eyes. "Okay, so very rough upbringing, I assume," he said. "Before we start, however - do you have any plans to stay somewhere?"

"We do have Lien, so I was thinking we could stay at an inn," I said. "Though we'll need to make money somehow. Maybe we could work part time at a shop or something? Maybe even help defend the town if any Grimm appear?"

Taiyang frowned. "That's another factor that I suppose should have been considered," he said, sternly. Like before, Summer didn't seem too sorry for extending an offer to help in the first place. "But luckily, we have options. For one, the inn does charge cheap for housing due to how peaceful our place is. Everything's easy to get and work with, compared to city life. As for making Lien, hmmm..."

"Well, the general store by the docks is currently hiring, right?" Summer asked. "They could use some strong arms to help out."

"That sounds good. We could apply there for a job in the meantime. Dunno if they'll need documents or whatever," I said as Cinder nodded as well.

"You won't," Summer said. "The store owner owes me a favor, and you need the work. It'll be easy to get you some work."

I was surprised that they were going so far for two teenagers they didn't even know. I wasn't even sure why, and I ended up asking them that.

"Didn't I tell you?" Summer scolded with a grin. "I saw you needed help, and I offered! I know you need to be wary about stuff like that, but we'll prove to you that we're genuine."

"Don't worry, she's super genuine about wanting to help however she can. She is a bit of a goody two shoes, however," Taiyang said. Summer elbowed him in response, to which he didn't even flinch at. "And a bit of a brat on top of that."

Summer gritted her teeth and elbowed the larger man again, this time hard enough to send him keeling over with a pained wheeze. "Ignore this doofus. He just doesn't appreciate how awesome I can be," she sighed. "In any case, since we're here now - I'm going to go get lunch ready for the girls. If you two want any...?"

"We ate on the ship," I said. "But thanks!"

Summer smiled back before heading inside, leaving Taiyang with the two of us. "So, the basics of combat. What do you know?" he asked.

"Well, I can swing a bat and take a bullet," I said. "The most I ever fought were thugs. Nothing serious."

"Well, if I'm going to help train you on the weekends, then I do need to get a handle of your fighting style. I need you to come at me, unarmed," Taiyang said as he raised his hands, clenched into fists.

I felt a little nervous - knowing I was just about to head for a beatdown. I'd lost against Cinder before, but I could tell that Taiyang was much more likely to dish out much more pain. "Alright," I sighed, knowing that this was unavoidable. I lunged forward, throwing a punch at the taller man.

Taiyang ducked back, and I was quick to follow up with a kick - which he blocked with his elbow. The next minute was spent with me trying to land a proper hit on Taiyang, who simply jumped over, dodged, and blocked every hit I could manage.

I was throwing one more punch before Taiyang ducked, my fist sailing over his shoulder. Before I could pull it back, Taiyang gripped it on his other side before pulling, wrenching me over him in a sort of makeshift fireman's carry. The second my feet left the ground, my aura went up.

Before I knew it, I'd been heaved over his shoulder and thrown to the ground, my aura flickering wildly as I hit the grass with enough force to dig me into the dirt. A sudden ache wracked my body, and I forced myself to get back up - only for Taiyang to plant a hand on my chest with enough strength to keep me down. "Not bad. You rely more on speed than strength. However, your blows are blind and you lack precision and timing."

Taiyang released his hand, and I took the chance to sit up, seeing him reaching out. I grabbed his hand and pulled myself up to my feet. "Anything I can improve on in terms of aura control? I know it can be used offensively," I said.

"For one, you need to train your body as much as your soul," Taiyang said. "You're halfway there, actually. Some fitness and strength training, and you'll be able to handle aura fine. But for now, we're talking about your fighting style. Specifically, with how predictable it is."

I nodded. "So I need to be more composed about throwing a punch or a kick," I said. "Any tips?"

"Well, it's not something that can be solved right away. The best way to create an adaptable fighting style is to face off against multiple kinds of opponents. That way you get your body used to some various challenges," Taiyang explained before looking over at Cinder. "It's your turn now. Are you ready?"

Cinder nodded, and she stepped forward. Before I could properly sit back and watch, I was watching a proper fight at work - Cinder's movements were much more fluid and quicker than mine as she threw her own punches and kicks at a much faster rate than I did. Taiyang had to actively step back and dodge compared to when I was trying my hand at fighting him, although he was still able to keep up with Cinder on his own.

Cinder really surprised me when she dropped to the ground and swung her legs out in a harsh kick, one that Taiyang caught with his elbow. He pulled, yanking Cinder off the ground before he hurled her - to which Cinder recovered by spinning out on the ground by her hands, flipping herself back to her feet and going right back on the attack.

However, Taiyang seized his chance, lunging and spinning in the air with a kick on the way. Cinder ducked back, Taiyang's boot grazing her nose before it landed. The second it did, Taiyang spun back and threw out his other foot in a kick aimed right at Cinder's gut - sending her flying through the air.

And right into me.

Her back struck my chest, and the two of us tumbled through the ground, thoroughly bodied by Taiyang as he made his way over. As the two of us sat up, Taiyang only grinned. "Cinder, was it?" he asked. Cinder nodded briefly. "Your fighting style is much more composed and harder to predict, but it still has a long way to go. For one, you could use some muscle behind each blow."

I nodded, falling silent for a moment before finally speaking up. "So what happens now?" I asked.

"Now, we set up a workout plan for you," Taiyang said as he clapped his hands twice. "Up, the both of you. I wanna see you two jog along the treeline surrounding the house. For as long as possible. Chop chop."

Cinder and I exchanged looks, to which I shrugged in reply. "We'd better get going," I said, and we did - starting off Taiyang's boot camp as he watched from outside the house.

It took a few more laps around the house to notice Yang watching out of one of the windows, her face pressed against the glass as she stared at our jogging.

Chapter Text

By the time Taiyang let us ease up on our nonstop jogging, it was well into the night. Even with the boost to stamina and speed that aura granted, constantly running for hours was still an exhausting process. Cinder and I sat by the tree near the house, catching our breath and drinking some water that Summer had brought out for us.

"My legs hurt..." Cinder mumbled.

"Well...they do that after running this long," I sighed as I set my now empty bottle down. My clothes were completely stained with sweat, and my heartbeat was still going very strong. "Damn. And this is supposed to get easier over time?"

"It will if you keep it up," Taiyang said, walking over with a plate of sandwiches. "Trust me when I say that this will help in the long run. Aura may strengthen you, but it's all dependent on your body. Raise the limits that your body can take, and the limits to your aura get stronger as well."

"Makes sense. Are we gonna be hopping between physical training and aura training?" I asked.

"Yes, actually. The way you get into better shape is to train all aspects of your body. Weight lifting and core exercises for your upper body and jogging for your lower body. And workouts for both can go a long way to bringing up your stamina even further," Taiyang said as he set the plate down in front of us.

Cinder and I dug in at once, listening to Taiyang as he continued to speak to us. "Consistency is key. Get your body used to handling a certain level of workouts, then you can move up and do tougher workouts without as much stress or fatigue," he said.

"Understood. You're really getting into this," I said as I finished up a sandwich.

"I'm a teacher, after all. Guess it comes naturally at this point. In any case, keep eating up. You'll end up burning a lot of calories even with basic workouts, and you'll need the energy to keep going," Taiyang said.

This was basic knowledge, some of which I'd known already - but it was refreshing to be told this once more, just to know that it was useful. "Alright. After we eat and rest for a bit, back to running?"

"Well, we're gonna do something more simple. It's something I did when I was bored as a teenager around your age. Twenty push-ups followed by ten minutes of meditation. Rinse and repeat for a good few hours," Taiyang said. "Just something easy."

"Okay," I said before looking up at the night sky. "Will we have time to book a room at the inn?"

"Not tonight, I'm afraid. Guess I forgot to take that into account when I had you jog for so long," Taiyang said. "We do have a guest room in the house-"

"Oh, you don't have to. We could camp out here tonight if that's okay," I said.

"Nonsense. You don't have to worry about imposing on us," Taiyang dismissed, waving a hand. "We can host you for one night. Don't stress too much about it."

I felt more than a little bit awkward now, especially given just how much these people were doing for us. Were they pitying us? "Uhh...thanks," I muttered, unsure of how to feel as I scratched the back of my head.

Taiyang simply nodded, taking the empty plate back to the front door. "Feel free to just knock when you wanna come in," he said before leaving. As he entered the house, I looked over at Cinder, who was finishing up the last of her sandwich.

"Is something wrong?" she asked after she swallowed, wiping her mouth.

I frowned. "I dunno..." I mumbled as I looked back down at the grass. "I guess...I'm not really used to being offered this much help. Especially since it's just us two."

"Well, that Summer person seems really nice. And if she's as famous as you say, then she has to be genuine, right?" Cinder asked.

That was the thing - I knew she was being genuine. That was just the kind of person Summer was. She was where Ruby got much of her selfless and heroic personality from, after all. Still, a part of me felt bad for accepting so much help, especially since Summer did it on a whim. Maybe that was her being too willing to help or trust, but the fact was that she and Taiyang were our only chance of actually getting anywhere in this world.

"She is," I mumbled before sighing. "I just feel a little bit worried. What if we end up...you know, causing problems for them? I don't think they expected to take us as part time students. The last thing I want is to-"

"You need to stop worrying so much," a familiar voice said. I jolted in surprise, turning to see Summer standing by the tree behind us. "Believe me when I say that you two won't be any sort of bother to us. I know it's hard to accept help sometimes, especially with all the terrible things that exist, but you need to remember that there are good people out there as well."

"Like Rhodes," Cinder pointed out. I pondered for a moment, knowing Rhodes did what he did because he wished to help, much like Summer was helping us now. However, Rhodes hadn't done enough to help Cinder while Summer seemed to be doing a lot.

Perhaps even too much.

I shook away the ominous thought and forced a smile on my face. "I guess. Still, don't feel like you're forced to help us. We could always find another way to get stronger if we're too much trouble," I said.

Summer only chuckled. "Don't be so quick to underestimate us," she said, a hint of self aimed pride in her tone. "Besides, something tells me you'll be improving under our tutelage faster than you think."

And with that, Summer headed home, gesturing for us to come along. Cinder and I followed with our things, and Summer led us to the living room - a wide and very spacious area with a holographic television playing cartoons from a cabinet displayed in front of a coffee table and a couch,

I turned to see who was watching the cartoons before my eyes widened in surprise. A little girl, smaller than Yang, sat with a small plate of cookies in her lap. She had short black hair and faded red tips, and wide silver eyes, just like her mother.

"Ruby, say hello!" Summer called. Ruby stared up at us, her wide eyes blinking before she waved a hand - a half eaten chocolate chip cookie gripped firmly in it. "That's my other daughter. She's a little shy, but she's friendly."

"They're sleeping here?" Yang asked. I turned to see Yang walking down the stairs, wearing black sweatpants and an orange T-shirt. "Does this mean we get to see them fight?"

"Not now. And not in the living room, sweetie," Summer said. "Now get ready for bed while I show our guests where they'll be sleeping."

"Are they living with us?" Ruby asked. She was a lot quieter than I'd expected - though it wasn't very surprising, especially since she seemed to be a rather eccentric person only about huntress or weapon related things as far as I could remember.

"Only for tonight, dear. But you will see more of them soon," Summer said as she came over and turned off the television. "Now it's time for bed. Go upstairs and brush your teeth."

"Awww. Okay, mommy," Ruby sighed as she finished her cookie and got up from the couch. "Good night."

"Good night, sweetie," Summer said, coming over to plant a kiss on Ruby's forehead before doing the same to Yang when she came by. As the two girls headed upstairs, Summer turned to us. "The guest room is nearby."

We were brought to a small room on the second floor, near the end of a small hallway near a corner of the house. It held a large bed, a dresser, and a small table. A window with curtains drawn over them was near the window, and the light was a large lamp hanging from the ceiling. "The bathroom is near the stairs if you need to get yourself washed up. We have extra robes in the cabinets as well if you need them," Summer said. "I hope it's comfortable."

"This is more than enough," I said. "Thanks for helping us." Summer smiled at us before she left. As I set my backpack down, I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "What a day," I mumbled to myself.

"She's nice," Cinder said. I turned to see that she'd sat down on the bed, rubbing the covers with a wide eyed expression. Was this really the first time she'd seen a bed in her life? I'd forgotten just how much normal stuff she missed due to her upbringings. Even my own life back home was rough, but I still knew plenty of things that were common to the everyday person.

"Yeah," I sighed. I looked around before stretching my arms and shrugging off my jackets. "Well, I'm gonna go take a bath. I haven't had one in forever," I said, hanging them on the post of the bed. My hair felt like a mess for wearing it for so long.

"I'll go with you," Cinder said, getting off the bed as I made my way to the door. "I...don't know how to take a bath..."

I winced, unsure of how to process this. "You never bathed in the hotel?" I asked. Upon seeing the shake of her head, I winced. "Oh. Uhh...okay."

Cinder took that reply as a 'yes' to her earlier demand, and the teen girl was quick to follow me into the hallway, walking with me to the bathroom's open door.

The interior of the bathroom was simple - a toilet, a sink, a mirror, and a bathtub built into the wall with a showerhead and a sliding door. Built into the wall across from the sink was a hanging rack for towels, and a small cabinet that held bathrobes inside. The shower was simple as well - a simple knob to turn in order to heat up or cool down the water. With a sigh, I pulled my shirt off and let the cool air hit my body. "Do you know how to use soap?"

Cinder narrowed her eyes as she pondered, likely thinking back to her time at the hotel. "...I can scrub floors and walls...I don't know if I'm supposed to do that to myself," she said.

I shook my head before looking into the bathtub. Built into the wall was a small rack with two loofahs, a few soap bottles, and a squeeze bottle that said shampoo. "Okay, so you turn on the water like this," I said, turning the knob and waiting for water to start spraying from the showerhead. As the water heated up, I reached over and grabbed the shampoo bottle. "You pour a little of this into your hand and put it in your hair-" I began to explain, turning to face Cinder.

Only to watch as she dropped her shirt on the ground, her hands reached back to unclasp her bra. Before I'd even realized it, I was lying in the bathtub getting soaked, my legs awkwardly in the air with the rug I'd tripped over hanging off my foot. I winced as warm water matted my hair before forcing myself to sit up. I made sure not to look at Cinder as she came over, pulling me up by the arm. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine. Just...didn't expect you to start undressing," I muttered. A part of me was tempted to look, I'll admit - but I wasn't that interested in it. Spotting Cinder's pants in the pile by the door, I pushed Cinder towards the tub, handing her the shampoo bottle still in my hand. "Just get in."

Cinder did so, and I spent the next five minutes teaching her how to properly bathe herself as much as possible without looking. Cinder seemed to be confused all the while, but promptly listened to everything I had to say. Despite everything happening, I could tell that Cinder was thoroughly enjoying having an actual bath...or shower in this case.

When Cinder stepped out another few minutes and took the robe I handed her, she had a big smile on her face. "That was great," she sighed.

"I'm glad," I said as she pulled her robe on. It was clear that while I wasn't so comfortable with nudity around others, Cinder didn't have those reservations. Maybe it was because she grew up without learning any sense of privacy. "My turn to shower now."

Once Cinder was fully robed and out of the bathroom, I undressed and stepped inside, sliding the cover shut behind me before I got to work - soaping and washing myself up to get as clean as possible as fast as possible. It took me a few minutes to finish up, getting myself in a robe and gathering my clothes before heading back to the room with as little fuss as possible.

When I returned to the guest room, Cinder was sitting on one side of the bed, now clad in her underwear as she lifted the covers to look at them. Knowing that this was probably the most clothes I'd get her to wear - especially since the others were sweaty and in need of proper laundry, I sighed, turning off the light and heading to bed. Sitting on the other side of the bed in my own underwear and a robe on, I pulled the covers over myself. "Good night," I said, glad to finally sleep in an actual bed.

Cinder copied me, draping the blankets over her as she lay down next to me. "...good night," she whispered as she laid her head back on the pillows. As she closed her eyes, mine remained open for a good while, my mind racing over the events of today.

"...so we met Yang and Summer Rose on the way to Patch, and she essentially adopted us," I thought. "We were supposed to find a job and get a change of scenery. Now Summer and Taiyang are our tutors. And they're actually trying to help us get into Beacon. I didn't even plan for something like this! I still can't believe that this is actually happening."

I turned over in bed, facing the wall as I sighed. "But Cinder wants to go to Beacon. And there's nothing in this world for me to really look forward to, so I guess I'm sticking with Cinder," I continued to ramble in my mind. "At least until Ruby becomes a huntress...and Beacon happens...which is followed by Salem making a move, which I won't be able to do anything about because Cinder is here and won't be taken in by the literal Queen of the Grimm, which means whatever will happen here is gonna be chaos and I won't be able to figure things out and I may have just doomed the world..."

Needless to say, it took me many more hours to finally fall asleep.

- the next morning -

The bed was very comfortable, and easy to feel lost in. When I awoke early the next morning, I could see a glimpse of sunlight pouring into the room through the window. "...mmmmmm..." I groaned, my body feeling more relaxed than it had ever felt. I'd slept in beds before, but they were usually old mattresses at home or in a friend's house or two back in New York. This was something else.

As I moved to stretch my arms, I felt my left one pinned against me. Blinking the sleepiness out of my eyes, I looked down to see two arms wrapped around my arm and torso, the grip incredibly tight. Just then, I became acutely aware of the feeling of a very warm and almost naked body pressed behind me, even through the thin robe I'd worn to sleep.

My face burned bright red and I began to shift my body. "Cinder..." I whispered, jostling my body to try and shake her awake. "Hey, Cinder! It's morning..."

"...can I stay here?" came her muffled voice against my body. "The bed feels so good..."

"I know it does, but we have training. And we have to move out anyways," I said, my free hand gently prying Cinder's hands off of me. "We can't stay here forever."

Eventually, Cinder relented - pulling her arms away and sitting up. "...okay," she whispered. It didn't take much to tell that she seemed to be very sad, and I felt a little guilty.

Reaching over, I ruffled her messy hair. "We'll find an inn in town with a comfy bed like this one," I said, smiling to reassure her. "And we'll get our clothes washed and maybe find some new clothes as well. Don't worry."

To my delight, Cinder leaned ever so slightly into the hair rub. "Okay..." she said. The two of us got out of bed and changed, with Cinder double checking our things to see what we had while I made the bed and smoothed out the covers. As we finished up, the two of us heard a knock on our door.

"Rise and shine! It's morning!" Summer's voice cheered.

"We're up," I said with a tired yawn. Walking over, I opened the door to see Summer wearing gray sweatpants and a baggy white shirt that said "Shirt" in black lettering. She too had messy hair, though it seemed like she'd smoothed it out earlier.

"Good to know you're early risers. Huntsmen are expected to be light sleepers in response to any dangers, especially in long term missions like hunting for Grimm nests or pools," Summer said with a grin. "In any case, we're having pancakes for breakfast!"

"Pancakes?" Cinder asked, her head popping up from behind the bed. Summer giggled, and Cinder flushed in embarrassment before looking down. "I-I mean...thank you, madame."

I froze immediately. Madame? Where had that come from? Summer seemed to notice as well, her laugh cutting off in an instant. "Cinder...Summer is Summer. You don't have to call her madame," I said.

Cinder only looked away. "F-force of habit," she admitted. Summer's smile had fully disappeared, taking note of Cinder's hunched shoulders and sighing.

"Don't worry about it, sweetie. You should come downstairs or else your food will get cold," she said softly. I wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that Summer seemed to be walking on eggshells now, as well as the fact that Cinder had suddenly done a full 180 back to how she was in the hotel. Was being in Summer's home really that nerve wracking?

"We'll meet you downstairs," I said before turning to Cinder and making my way over to her. "Hey, is everything okay?"

Cinder shook her head. "T-the bath...this bed...now food?" she whispered nervously. "She's treating me better than m-madame did back at the hotel. I don't know why I-I said that..."

I pulled her into a hug, feeling her body quivering noticeably in my arms. I remembered how unnaturally tight her grip was when I woke up, as well as the fact that she was apparently already awake before I'd woken up. "Did you have a nightmare?" I asked gently.

Cinder remained silent before slowly nodding. I sighed quietly, the answers coming in now. "Did you have nightmares before?"

"N-not so bad...but this one was different..." Cinder mumbled. "It felt like I was back in the hotel...and I was back in that s-shock collar again..."

I simply held her tighter against me. For a while, nothing was said as Cinder leaned into me, silence remaining between us as our moment was spent. "Sorry..." I finally muttered quietly after a minute or two of hugging.

"...don't be sorry," Cinder whispered.

It took a few more minutes for the two of us to recover, but we eventually made our way downstairs, following the commotion of chatter and cooking in the house. The two of us peered into the dining room to see Ruby and Yang scarfing down their plates of pancakes side by side while Summer brought in a large plate with a dozen more on top. Taiyang sat at one end of the table, sipping a cup of coffee as he smiled at his daughters and their messy eating.

That smile turned to us as we made ourselves known. "Hope you had a good night's rest. Come, sit!" he greeted, gesturing to the table across from Yang and Ruby. Two plates with four pancakes each sat in front of our chairs, as well as glasses of water and a small pitcher of syrup. The two of us sat down, thanking the whole family for everything they've been doing for us before we began to dig in.

The pancakes were incredible - fluffy, hot, and sweet with every bite I took. I was beginning to see why Nora was so obsessed with these. However, I didn't show nearly as much appreciation as Cinder did - who was scarfing them down at a rate almost matching Yang and Ruby, although not quite so messy. I smiled, as did Summer and Taiyang at either end of the table.

Cinder finished her plate quickly - and it was almost comical at just how fast her face had fallen after she swallowed her last bite. With a chuckle, I was about to fork over the remaining two of my untouched pancakes when Summer pushed the large plate of pancakes at the center of the table towards her. "Have some more. There's plenty to go around."

"R-really?" Cinder asked, her eyes sparkling as she hesitantly held up her fork and knife. At Summer's nod, she promptly brought a stack of six more pancakes onto her plate, going back to eating as I helped myself to two more pancakes myself when I was finished.

It was a little odd, eating pancakes with Cinder and the entire Xiao Long/Rose family, but it all felt very comfortable - with Yang chatting loudly about some crazy dream she had with Taiyang and Summer constantly reaching over to wipe Ruby's cheeks of any syrup and tiny bits of pancake. Even as I ate and listened to Yang's wild tales, it truly felt like I was actually with them for a moment.

It almost felt like I actually had a home.

It took all I had to not smile so widely at the thought.

Breakfast ended, and I helped wash the dishes with Taiyang as Summer brought Cinder, Ruby, and Yang outside. "Thanks again. For all of this," I said as I scrubbed a plate clean of any leftover syrup. "I'll be honest, I thought things would be a lot more..."

"Difficult?" Taiyang asked. At my nod, he chuckled as he wiped the dishes clean. "Yeah, I hear you. It's not easy accepting help, especially if it seems like genuine support is hard to come by. But my wife sees something in you two, and who am I to say otherwise? Besides, she's a better judge of character than I am."

I sighed. "She's awesome," I said.

"Yeah, she is," Taiyang said with a much dreamier smile on his face. "In any case, today's gonna be a full training day if you're up for it."

"We are," I said. "Just gotta let this digest first. Don't wanna throw this all up so soon." It happened to me once. It was not pretty.

Taiyang chuckled. "Relax, huntsmen in training tend to digest food much quicker. It also means they burn through plenty of energy, which means that in the long term, you're going to have to either eat a lot or rely more on very calorie dense foods," he said. "I typically go for the latter."

I nodded as I washed the last dish. As soon as we were done, I followed Taiyang outside to see Ruby and Yang sitting under a tree. Summer and Cinder were sparring - with Cinder throwing punches and kicks while Summer blocked and stepped away with every lunge Cinder gave.

I leaned on the tree, smiling as Cinder fought hard against Summer - who consistently countered her every move. Yet, Cinder didn't seem to fight as aggressively like before. Instead, she seemed to be more calculating, her blows holding less power and more precision.

Eventually, Summer would gain the upper hand - sweeping her leg and sending Cinder flopping on the grass. "Not bad," Summer said before looking at her husband. "Sorry, wanted a hand at fighting them before heading out. Getting some groceries, that's all."

My mind briefly flashed to when Summer had snuck out of the house to go on her last mission with Raven, and a cold feeling settled in my gut. Forcing it away, I decided to pay attention when Taiyang started to speak, starting his lesson with Yang and Ruby as participants.

Even as he continued to train us, Summer's ultimate fate still rested in my mind. Something told me that if I'd be able to change Cinder's fate - then I'd be able to change Summer's.

But how?

I sighed. I was definitely getting way over my head with this.

Chapter Text

A full week had passed since Summer and Taiyang had first started helping us out. The weekend was spent with exercises and physical training for hours at a time, alongside basic lessons about handling aura and basic training on techniques such as being able to project small shields of aura against our hands, useful for deflecting bullets or small objects - or being able to surround one's fist or foot with aura to boost a punch or a kick.

I still remember the moment when I'd blasted a tree apart with an aura fueled punch - specifically the moment of shock and adrenaline. Cinder had followed up with her own kick against a tree, having the same results. It was an exciting day overall, especially when Taiyang's next lesson revolved around adjusting and feeling the aura in your limbs and ensuring that one had complete control over their abilities whenever they needed to use them.

To our luck alongside some help from Summer, we'd ended up finding ourselves a small job in Patch to earn some Lien on the side - the two of us working full time in a general store by the docks and helping with moving stuff around. It was easy money, and it helped us continue exercising for much of the day.

As for where we stayed, we had checked into the local inn the moment we could - renting the cheapest single room we could for seventy Lien a day. That was four hundred and ninety Lien a week, but the general store paid us each fifteen Lien an hour, which was about a thousand and two hundred Lien a week - which was more than enough to keep our finances up, even with the food and other consumables we had to buy.

We'd just clocked out of our shifts in the late afternoon at the general store by the end of the week, deciding to head over to the cabin for training. Pocketing the Lien cards in my wallet, we'd stopped by our inn room to pick up our weapons before making our way out of town to where the Xiao Long Rose family lived. "Are you feeling excited for today?" I asked, hefting the bat over my shoulder, its chains jingling briefly.

"Mhm," Cinder said, her lips widened in an eager smile. "I think I'll finally be able to land an actual punch on Taiyang tonight."

"And what about your reading?" I asked. It had been awkward explaining it at first, but Summer had swept Cinder up in a hug the second she learned that Cinder had no idea how to read and write. For a few hours every day, Cinder ended up learning from Yang and Ruby - who did their utmost best to tutor Cinder on the matter.

And by utmost best, the two half sisters bickered occasionally and bossed Cinder around way too much. Thankfully, she was never offended or annoyed by it, especially when she talked about how cute the two girls were when they tried to teach her.

"I'm getting there. I can recite and write every letter now," Cinder said. "Reading and pronouncing stuff is hard though."

I patted her on the shoulder. "Considering I hear that it takes months for this kind of stuff to be learned, you're very quick at getting this stuff down," I said. "Especially with children teaching you."

Cinder blushed bashfully. "Well...they are mature for their age. Other than the arguments..." she muttered.

"Don't worry, I'm not saying anything bad. Just that I'm glad we're getting stronger in more ways than one," I said with a grin. "This'll be easy. By the time we get into Beacon, we'll be twenty times stronger than before."

The two of us continued our walk, making our way down the usual dirt path through the trees to get to the Xiao Long Rose cabin. When we arrived we saw Taiyang tending to the flowers and plants outside the cabin, a sun hat on his head as he worked.

"Yo!" I called. "Sorry we're late! We had to grab our weapons."

Taiyang turned, pulling his hat off of his head with a grin. "Oh, hey! Glad you made it!" he said. "Since weapons are going to be used today, training will be a little bit different."

I raised an eyebrow. "Wow. Uhh, alright? What changes did you have in mind?" I asked.

Taiyang grinned as he rested his hat on the ground, standing up and brushing his hands clean of any dirt. "Well, since I usually specialize in hand to hand combat - I figured you would learn much more from someone who knows how to handle a sword."

"Oh. Who's going to fight?" Cinder asked, but I'd fallen silent - unsure of what to think. On one hand, I was still feeling a little apprehensive when it came to training with weapons. Even with aura, I'd had my own fair share of injuries from weapons back home: and it made me more than a little nervous.

On the other hand, if Taiyang was talking about who I thought he was talking about-

The door opened with a bang - and a tall man with graying hair and a gray and white shirt stumbled out, Yang and Ruby giggling as they hung onto his arms like he were a living jungle gym, swinging their legs as the man they dangled from spun around.

I felt my mouth drop as Qrow Branwen himself cackled his lungs out, the girls screaming to go faster as Summer stepped out of the house, a tired smile on her face. The commotion eventually ended when Qrow flopped over on his back, hugging his nieces to his chest as the three of them laughed together.

It all ended when Qrow's red eyes noticed us - widening for a split second before he sat up abruptly, catapulting the girls off of him and right into Taiyang's waiting arms. "So, you must be the new students Summer adopted," he said, his gravelly voice familiar to my ears.

"Uhh, yeah," I said, coughing and regaining my composure. "Uhh, so you're teaching us weapons stuff?"

"Yeah," Qrow said, brushing himself off and shoving his hands in his pockets. The affectionate uncle visage had transformed into the 'cool huntsman' in an instant. "Tai over here says you've been learning quickly. Especially the girl," Qrow said. "So, any volunteers?"

I was about to ask if Cinder wanted to go first, only for her to bring both swords up. "Me," she said, her eyes narrowed as she stepped forward. Qrow grinned, and he stepped forward as well, hands still in her pockets.

Then he pulled a hand from his pocket and gestured with a single finger for Cinder to approach. The girl lunged forward, swiping her swords with a ferocity that I hadn't seen since the few times she'd had to kill back in Atlas.

And Qrow was simply ducking and leaning away from every blow. No matter how fast Cinder was, Qrow was much faster. I watched in amazement as Qrow simply sidestepped and powerful attacks Cinder tried, only to trip her up.

To no one's surprise - Cinder only got angrier - adding kicks to her flurries of attacks. However, that only gave Qrow the opportunity to trip her up harder, as well as knock her further off balance.

Then the battle ended when Qrow apparently decided to stop the spar - ducking underneath an overhead blow and kicking her straight in the gut. "You're very fast. And you show a bit of promise, but you don't have the skill to dual wield - not yet anyways," he said.

"And you can?" Cinder growled as she rested on a knee, panting for breath as she fought to keep her temper down. I reached over and rested a hand on her shoulder, and she visibly calmed down, albeit only by a little bit.

"Yep. I'm not one of the best huntsmen in Vale for nothing," Qrow remarked. "This is probably the only time I'm actually free for something like this, so take notes." He turned to look at me, then the bat wrapped in chains in my band. "That's not seriously your weapon, right?"

"It's been my weapon for a while," I said, hefting the bat up to look it over; it was still just as scratched as when I'd found it. "Picked it up from the garbage on the streets. Hasn't failed me yet."

"Well, it's a poor weapon at best, completely terrible at worst. The chains add too much weight and they aren't gonna help you hit any harder. Unless you master your physical capabilities - which you haven't yet - that weapon will be slow and hit way less than it should," Qrow said.

I frowned, admittedly having gotten a bit attached to my bat. Still, Qrow was a veteran, and he was a very strong fighter in the show. "So what did you have in mind?" I asked, lowering the weapon.

Qrow blinked. "Hm? No arguments? No calling me names about my age? No 'you don't know what you're talking about' remarks? Since when do teens actually listen to teachers?" he asked.

"Ones who are serious about their goals," Summer said as she came over with a smile. "Told you these kids would surprise you."

"I mean, if you want some insults, then-" I began, only for Qrow to hold up a hand. Cinder snickered, and I grinned.

"In any case, you'd do well to heed my advice," Qrow continued. "Taiyang already gave me a rundown on what you're good at. Endurance, quick blows with your precision slowly improving. If it were up to me, I'd test your skills with a variety of weapons."

"You mean it's not up to you?" I asked.

"Apparently according to Tai here, he doesn't want weapon experimentation until we can reliably get you to stand your own against a variety of Grimm types. But he didn't say anything about getting you a starting weapon. A bat won't cut it, so I'll see if I can get you a basic sword or a war hammer or something."

"Qrow..." Taiyang said in a warning voice.

"Okay, okay. No more black market stuff. Jeez," Qrow sighed. "Besides, you have a few weapons in the basement, right?"

"Uhh, I'd rather stick with something blunt, if that's okay," I said.

"Pooh," Qrow grumbled. "Fine. I have a few ideas for you."

Qrow entered the home, coming back out with a handful of weapons - which consisted of a spiked mace, a long steel baton, and a large spiked hammer. "Take your pick."

I raised an eyebrow. "You didn't bring all this with you, did you?" I asked.

"Nah, Summer and Tai keep this stuff in the basement in case the girls need to defend themselves. Robberies happen you know, even on Patch," Qrow said.

"And yes, they do have their auras unlocked. They just don't get to learn how to fight unless they can handle using it properly," Taiyang added. "But they do know the basis on how to hold and swing a stick.

I was more concerned with the fact that the children could use a spiked mace, but who was I to judge how a very not normal world worked? "Can I try the baton?" I asked.

Qrow tossed it over, and I caught it. The baton was a little over a yard and a half long, built with stainless steel and a leather grip. It was heavy - but not nearly as much as the bat. It was easy to move around, and it was clearly a sturdy weapon - much more durable than what I'd been using beforehand. I gave it a few test swings before feeling myself slowly adjust to what was basically a large metal stick. "I think I like this," I said.

"Good," Qrow said before he cracked his neck. "Wanna take a shot at me?" he asked.

I felt my heart skip a beat out of a sense of nervousness, but I swallowed my doubts down and jumped forward, swinging towards the huntsman. As expected, Qrow dodged - but I kept up as much momentum as I could - attacking as quickly as possible. The whole experience was all a blur to me, especially since I didn't have any sort of plan - only to try and land a blow before he decided to end the fight.

That would come sooner than expected, with Qrow wrenching the baton from my head, bonking me on the head, before sending me stumbling back with my new weapon. "Okay, this was too painful to watch. You have no actual form with that thing. You need one for fighting with a weapon, even if it's literally just a stick," Qrow said, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Okay, you're getting the training first."

I frowned. Reminding myself that Qrow's words had merit, I nodded. "Okay...so how do I start?" I asked.

Qrow turned to Summer and Taiyang, gesturing his head towards the house. Summer nodded before coming over and grabbing Cinder's hand. "Come in, let's get your next reading lesson underway," she whispered. When Cinder looked back at me in worry, I nodded to let her know it would be okay. When they were gone, Qrow spoke up once more.

"For once, you're holding it perfectly perpendicular to your wrist. Tilt your grip a little so it's facing outwards. That way more of your hand is holding a little more of your weapon. Seems like a small change, but that little bit of control can go a long way," Qrow said.

I followed his instructions before he continued to speak. "As for swinging it, you're not very precise. They're wild, with way too much power behind them. It slows your attacks down and leaves you open when your attacks miss," he explained.

"Alright. So attack with less power?" I asked.

"Yep. That leaves you less open since you're not trying to come back from a missed swing that could throw you off balance. Trust me, a lot of students make that mistake and it hurts to watch," Qrow sighed.

I winced, mostly out of embarrassment. "Uhh, okay," I muttered. "So how's this gonna work?"

"Simple. I'm gonna build up your speed," Qrow said. "Get ready."

Before I could ask what to be ready for, Qrow had closed the distance between us in a mere second. Eyes widening, I was barely able to bring my arm up before Qrow's foot planted itself into my wrist. My aura flared, and I was sent flying all the way to the treeline.

My back slamming into the tree trunk, I groaned as I rolled over on the ground. "...my spine..." I hissed as I tried to force myself up to my feet. Even with my aura up, I could still feel the backlash of every hit - and it was aching. Luckily, that ache died down fast.

By then, Qrow had walked over, hands back in his pockets. "Not bad. Most people wouldn't have been able to move at all by the time I reached you. Your reflexes are fast. But..." He smirked. "I think we could get them to be much faster."

I sighed, knowing just how much pain I'd be put through. Getting up and tightening my grip on my weapon, I nodded. "Alright."

Qrow grinned before he lunged at me, fist reared back.

- one month later -

Qrow didn't teach us often - especially since he was called away on jobs, likely spying or other missions for Ozpin. The times he did see us were very few and far in between, but it would always be one hell of a workout. Alongside the standard physical training and aura meditation, Qrow's teaching was invaluable - and I was able to effectively wield the baton to the best of my abilities.

Not that my best would ever come close to even landing a tap on Qrow - but it was enough for me to be able to spar against Cinder on equal footing. While I hadn't won a single fight, I sure made it close for her to earn her wins.

The two of us were sparring again now, Cinder's blades clashing against my blunt baton as we traded blows back and forth, left and right. In the span of my training, I was even able to start practicing a few basic acrobatics thanks to watching Cinder fight against Taiyang or Qrow.

I blocked an overhead strike with my weapon before jutting my leg out, catching Cinder's side with a kick. Her aura flickered once, and she jumped back - but I was quick to gain the upper hand. As she backed off, I rushed forward with a slash across her stomach. I missed, as she managed to outpace me and evade the tip of the baton by mere millimeters.

Cinder's leg shot up - her foot striking my baton and sending it flying out of my grip and into the air. However, I was quick to seize the opportunity at hand, and I lunged forward - arms wrapping around Cinder's waist and tackling her to the grass.

The fight quickly devolved into a straight out wrestling match, with Cinder losing her weapons to try and pry me off of her. I was much heavier than her, and it was clear that she would lose this match as I twisted around on the ground, trying to get Cinder completely immobilized under my weight.

"Yield!" I snarled as Cinder pulled at my jacket and pushed her palm against my face.

"Never!" Cinder hissed, and her head flew up to slam against me. Even with aura, the impact alone left me dizzy for a split second - and that was all Cinder needed to break free. Pushing up, she gripped me tight and threw me to her side.

The two of us rolled over, with Cinder now straddling me with one hand pressed against my face and another gripping my wrist. "Yield," Cinder repeated, her hands dangerously feeling like claws against my aura.

I conceded, sighing and nodding. "I yield," I said. Cinder leaned off of me, letting me go and allowing me to sit up. "Damn, I really thought I had you there for a moment."

"Not good enough," Cinder remarked, though the smile on her face told me it was said in jest. Despite Cinder's competitive streak, it seemed that her urge to grow stronger wasn't quite so serious - having grown to enjoy training. I couldn't help but smile back, glad to see her loosening up.

Our moment was interrupted by a pointing Yang. "Mommy, look! It's like you and dad last night!" she called. The strangled choking sound from Summer had me snorting before I realized what position Cinder and I were currently at. Cinder was still straddling my lap on top of me, and I was quick to push myself up to my feet - sending Cinder stumbling off of me.

"Yang, hush!" Summer hissed, though she definitely seemed to be more mortified than angry. She turned to look at the two of us, forcing a smile on her reddened face. "T-that was an amazing fight! Arden, you had the right idea taking the initiative once you lost your weapon, but keep in mind that it's a two way street. When you're in each other's point blank range, everything is fair game."

I grinned. "Yeah, guess I should probably put some more work into unarmed combat," I said. "Anyways, what's next on the agenda?"

"Something different," Summer said. "Grab your weapons and follow me."

Cinder and I exchanged glances before shrugging and grabbing our respective weapons. Summer kissed Yang on the forehead and told her to stay in the house with her father before she stood up, brushing her dress and cloak off before picking up her weapon - her golden axe and rifle hybrid. "Come on, we're gonna have you move up a level in training, so to speak," she said.

"What do you mean by that?" Cinder asked.

"We're going to have you fight Grimm," Summer said.

I jolted in surprise at that declaration, and judging by Cinder's expression - she seemed to be equally as worried as I was. "...great," I muttered, hoisting the baton over my shoulder with a sigh.

- a few minutes later -

We reached the edge of a large forest, far from any town with only fields nearby. The trees were larger and denser than the others around the island, and the whole area just felt a lot more ominous.

"So this is where the Grimm come from, huh?" I asked, peering into the darkness within the forest. Even with the afternoon sun fading away into the evening, the sunlight that shone was nowhere to be seen in the forest.

"It's the only large source of Grimm on Patch. They don't usually attack en masse, but there tends to be a handful that stray out and search for prey. It's up to the huntsmen who live here to deal with them," Summer explained. "However, anyone who gets too close immediately set off the Grimm inside, so huntsmen only really go here to train or to thin the herd if there's been a lack of sightings for too long."

I nodded. "Is there any particular way to fight Grimm? Or is it like fighting an animal?" I asked.

"Expect a lot more aggressive behavior," Summer said. "These creatures are soulless. They will not retreat, nor nurse their wounds. If you cut off a Grimm's legs, it will simply crawl to you without hesitation. You must be quick, but precise."

"What about weak points?" Cinder asked.

"Other than the bone armor that can deflect all but the strongest hits? Go for the head or the chest," Summer said. A low growl filled the air, and the three of us turned to see a pair of dark red eyes glaring at us through the trees. "Watch and learn."

And so, we did. The first creature to come out was an Ursa - the monster of solid black mist and worn white bone stomped out of the forest, the sound of heavy snarling breaths escaping its mouth being all that could be heard. The Grimm were already a bit scary in the show, but to see one in real life? They looked less scary and way more cool.

Still scary, though.

The soulless red eyes of the Grimm seemed to pierce me, and I couldn't help but shudder. The Ursa continued to move slowly yet aggressively - seemingly locked on us before the sound of a metal noise caught its attention. Summer held up her weapon, the large golden axe blade out.

With a roar, the Ursa jumped towards her - claws outstretched and swinging towards her before Summer jumped to the side. Spinning out from the momentum at a great speed, Summer slashed the beast's side three times.

The first two strikes successfully cut through Grimm flesh, causing blackened mist to seemingly spill out. The third strike hit bone armor - the blade bouncing off momentarily. The Grimm bear roared in pain as Summer jumped back before ducking under another swipe of the claws before she swung her weapon once more, faster than the Grimm could retract its arm.

The Ursa roared once more, its severed arm vanishing into black smoke before it stood up on its hind legs, ready to slam its other arm down on Summer when she dashed forward, her large cloak now a streak of white as she performed a flurry of attacks far too fast for Cinder and I to follow.

When Summer leapt back a few seconds later, the Ursa collapsed before fading away into smoke, dissipating very quickly. "And that's how you do it," she said.

I blinked. "...wow," I said, impressed by her speed. Then again, considering who her daughter is, it shouldn't have been too much of a surprise. "Will we be able to fight like that in the future?"

"Well...you'll definitely do very well. But not as great as me," Summer said, a moment of self pride shining through. "But all in all, speed and strength will do very little if you don't know how to fight them. The Grimm like to use large numbers to fight - but each one is dangerous in its own right. The Ursa is usually rather powerful, but they're slow and unwieldy. Beowolves are both very quick and strong, but they're easy to outmaneuver."

I understood. "So each Grimm needs a different fighting style," I said. Before Summer could reply, another snarl filled the air. Turning, she was immediately jumped by a Beowolf - the massive canine Grimm sleek, pitch black, and much scarier than the Ursa she fought.

Yet that didn't stop her from bisecting it with a single strike. As the smoke faded away, three more Beowolves leapt out - the black forms with bone white armor rushing towards me and Cinder.

Cinder acted fast, taking on one of them with both blades in hand. The other two rushed at me, and I quickly jumped back as a pair of claws slashed at me in both directions.

I slid back on the grass, my baton tight in my grip. As the two monsters rushed me, I quickly let loose some aura - letting it quickly snake down my hand and into my weapon before swinging at the first claw that came at me.

The strike wasn't too strong, but the aura I'd channeled into it had increased the output by a very large magnitude. The Beowolf was sent flying from a powerful explosion of aura emitted from my baton, and the second one was quick to take advantage.

I was barely able to raise my baton in time before the swipe of another claw sent me flying. Tumbling on the grass, I looked up just in time to see the Beowolf on top of me.

I brought some more aura into my weapon, and raised it just in time to block a strike from above. The impact sent my weapon flying, but it also caused the Beowolf to overshoot. I watched my weapon hit the ground far away in dismay before turning to see the creature recovering.

"Okay..." I groaned as I looked down at my fist. The feeling of aura building itself up in my clenched hand made itself known, and I turned back to see the Grimm creature racing towards me, growls and hisses escaping the feral monster of negativity as the distance between us shrank faster and faster.

The second I saw it lunge towards me, I threw my fist in the strongest uppercut I could manage. The impact was loud, the sound of crunching bone filling the air as my aura infused attack slammed straight into the Beowolf's neck. The resulting explosion sent me flying back as the Beowolf's head snapped forwards unnaturally.

It disintegrated before it even hit the ground.

I hit the dirt, my entire arm screaming in pain. My aura had broken, and my arm felt ten times more broken as a result. "...ow..." I groaned, laying on the ground as I could barely hear the sounds of battle around me.

That sound eventually died down, and I could make out the sound of footsteps hurriedly approaching. Cinder entered my field of view, a panicked expression on her face. "Are you okay?" she croaked, her voice shaky and her eyes looked close to tears.

I winced, feeling her grip on my shoulders jostle my screaming arm. "...ow..." I hissed. My vision felt a little blurry, and I slowly closed my eyes. "I'm fine. Just gotta take a break..."

As my hearing began to blur as well, I could barely hear Summer's voice - although I couldn't make out any words. With a sigh, I felt myself pass out, the fight having taken everything I had out of me.

"What a day..." I mumbled as I blacked out.

Chapter Text

I woke up in a daze, resting on a bed with the pain from before nowhere to be felt. I slowly blinked my eyes open, seeing a ceiling over me. Moving to wipe my eyes of any sleepiness, I tried to lift my arm - only for a lance of aching pain to make itself known. It wasn't too painful, but it was still very much an unexpected feeling.

Looking down, I could see the cast built around my arm, covering my hand and ending at my elbow, just enough that I could bend it a little. As I began to recall the events of what happened beforehand, I frowned, remembering that I literally punched a Grimm to death. "Yeesh..." I muttered as I looked down at my cast.

It wasn't a fully hard cast - but a somewhat flexible one. I didn't know how long I was out, but my aura was back and easily healing my injuries. It was odd, but I could feel my broken bones and torn muscles slowly repairing themselves - and it wasn't at all as painful as I was thinking, providing more of a tingly feeling throughout my entire arm. Still, I fought the urge to move around again, just in case it impaired the healing process in any way.

Looking around, I realized that I was sitting in the same bed Cinder and I had slept on when Summer and Taiyang had hosted us for a night. Slowly getting out of bed,I used my left hand to push the covers aside so I could move my legs. After a moment spent waiting for my entire body to properly wake up, I was about to head out of the room when the door opened.

Yang peeked in, her lilac eyes widening upon seeing me. "Mom!" she yelled, her voice so loud that it sent a headache through me. "She's awake!"

It took less than ten seconds for Summer to enter the room, with Cinder in tow. Cinder quickly pushed past me, seemingly about to hug me before stopping. "A-are you alright?" she asked, her voice quivering ever so slightly. She looked about ready to cry as she looked over my body, likely looking for something else that could be wrong.

I nodded. "Yeah. I feel fine," I muttered as I scratched the back of my head with a free hand. "No pain, actually."

"That'll be your aura at work," Summer said. "You've been asleep for about...hmm, eighteen or so hours now. It's almost lunchtime."

Just as she said that, I could feel my stomach rumbling. Everyone else could clearly hear it as well, and Yang simply giggled. "Yeah..." I muttered. "So, how did I do?"

"Well, what you did was reckless, for once. However, I can't deny the fact that you did take my lesson about not being at point blank range when unarmed, especially with a Grimm," Summer said. "Taiyang thinks you're taking after him since you killed that Beowolf with your bare fists and aura alone. And Qrow..."

"He wants to improve your training further," Cinder said.

"Huh. It does seem like he'd be disappointed," I muttered as I looked down.

"Not at all, actually. Taiyang and Qrow are actually arguing about who made the difference. And before we get off track, I want to discourage this from ever happening again," Summer pointed out. "Putting your aura into your weapon is a two way street. If you put too much, the backlash of the impact will cause you to lose your weapon again. The same way the backlash of your punch not only broke what aura you had left, it also caused your injury."

I winced. I hadn't exactly put any restraint on supercharging my weapon, and I now realized that I probably put most of my aura into those two blows. "...right. Gotta work on that," I muttered. "Anything else?"

Summer only shook her head in reply. "Not really. Good work, by the way," she said. "Cinder managed to get the Beowolf you launched away from you, and I was able to deal with the alpha when it appeared."

My eyes widened in response. "Wait, there was an alpha?" I asked.

"Indeed. However, that was the true extent of the danger. Afterwards, we retreated with you in tow," Summer explained, placing a hand on my shoulder and closing her eyes. A few seconds passed before she spoke up once more. "But enough about that. Since you're still recovering, today's training is postponed. But you are healed fully, so that cast can come off."

"And besides," Taiyang's voice said. He peeked into the room behind Yang and Summer. "The two of you will be coming with me today."

"Where are we going?" Cinder asked.

Taiyang grinned. "The four of us will be heading into the city," he said.

- a few hours later -

Cinder and I stepped off of the ferry, weapons in tow as Taiyang followed - Yang strolling alongside while Ruby sat on his shoulders, humming to herself. "We're going to get you proper equipment. Like scabbards for those blades," Taiyang explained, pointing at Cinder's swords, which were secured inside the guitar case we'd purchased back in Atlas.

I looked down at my baton, which was fitted through one of the belt loops in my pants, hanging against my thigh. "Is there a huntsman store or something?"

"Well, there are stores that sell equipment to licensed huntsmen," Taiyang said "We'll be going there. They also have stuff like huntsman clothes."

"Clothes for huntsmen?" Cinder asked. "What's the difference?"

"For one, these kinds of clothes are more durable. They aren't exactly armor, but they're created with heavy combat in mind. And so, they can withstand blunt force, high temperatures, and other kinds of damages to give an edge. Furthermore, they're made to be light and easy to move around in. Overall, huntsmen and huntresses wear a wide variety of outfits to suit their fighting styles," Taiyang explained.

I nodded, and my mind began to wander over the various huntsman and huntress outfits I saw people wearing in the show. There was armor like what Pyrrha and CRDL wore, and then there were normal clothes like what Jaune wore with his own armor. I couldn't help but wonder just how this would work - especially since there was the matter of Dust as well.

I don't think I've ever seen Dust with my own two eyes yet - even though I'd spent a few months in the universe of RWBY. I was rather curious about it, and I decided to ask. "What about Dust?" I asked.

"Well, that lesson comes later," Taiyang said. "Dust is mostly used for firearms, but there are some melee weapons that make use of it. And aura does interact with Dust as well, so you could probably put both Dust and aura into a weapon to cause some real damage." He stopped talking and turned around, a stern look on his face. "Not that you should...at least not until we can get you properly acquainted with both first."

I was a hundred percent on board with that. "Yeah. Don't wanna blow myself up by accident," I muttered, Cinder gripped my hand, and I squeezed back in reassurance.

The two of us entered a store after following Taiyang inside - and we were introduced to a wide variety of items that were being sold. Not only were clothes on sale, but pieces of armor as well and even helmets as well. The clothing came in various types and colors, ranging from normal looking clothes and jackets to compression and skin tight clothing, as well as boots, belts, scarves, and more.

One aisle of the store had a variety of equipment - which included scabbards, leather belts, pouches, bandoliers, and more. "This way, Cinder," Taiyang said. "Some hook scabbards might be useful for you..."

I slowly zoned out, eyeing the rest of the store. Browsing the area, I looked around - taking notice of a few things that caught my interest. I still had my wallet in my pocket, as well as plenty of Lien that could best be spent on stuff to help with getting used to Beacon in the future. I ended up making my way to the belt section a few minutes later - wondering if there was something that I could use.

Eventually, I did come across something useful - a leather belt with a variety of items like pouches - each pouch with a circular mark on the latch - each one a different color. "Must be for different kinds of Dust," I thought to myself. Looking around with the belt in my hands, I could see that the store also had accessories for the belts as well, such as holsters, armor plating that hung off the belts, and larger separate pouches.

"See something you like?" I turned to see Taiyang and Yang approaching with Cinder in tow. She held a harness with straps, as well as a few attached items as well. "A belt could be useful," he said.

"Yeah, though I dunno what I should get with it..." I muttered.

"Well..." Taiyang began, making his way over to one of the shelves and picking out a few items. He turned around to reveal that they were tubes with belt latches on them. "This is a sidebreak. Usually fit for police batons or nightsticks, but this works for other weapons as well," he explained.

"Will it fit?" I asked.

"Well, considering we purchased our basement weapons from this store, I know for a fact it sells items to accommodate their basic weapons," Taiyang said. "Is that all you wanted to get?"

I nodded, and Taiyang took the belt and the sidebreak scabbard and brought them to the counter. I followed, taking out my wallet and pulling out one of my Lien cards. As Taiyang set the items down, I handed my card to the cashier. "Uhh, what're you doing?" he asked.

"Paying for Cinder's items. And mine," I said.

"And this too? Pleeeease?" Yang asked, holding up an orange scarf. It looked like the one she wore from her outfit as a Beacon student.

"Sure," I said, taking it. Yang whooped happily, silenced when Taiyang patted her head once.

"You don't have to. I did offer to bring you here," Taiyang said.

"Yeah, but you're already taking time out of your day to help us. It'd be too much if you paid for us as well," I said. The cashier handed my card back to me, and I shoved it in my wallet. "We owe you a lot. The least we can do is pull some more of our own weight."

Taiyang scratched the back of his neck as I handed Yang her new scarf before Cinder and I grabbed our things. "Yang, what do you say?" he asked.

"Thank you!" Yang giggled as she quickly put on her new accessory.

"At least let me pay for the scarf-" Taiyang began.

"Don't worry about it," I said. "Think of it as a gift from friends, alright?"

"Yay!" Yang cheered, and Taiyang only smiled. The four of us left the store as Cinder pulled on her harness - which could be worn under her jacket. The scabbards looped over the top and held Cinder's swords - where she could draw them from over her shoulders.

I was quick to pull on my belt as well, securing my weapon into the sidebreak scabbard before looking around. "So, what now?" I asked.

"Well, lunch. You haven't even eaten dinner last night or breakfast this morning," Taiyang said. "You've gotta be starving!"

I blushed awkwardly. "...yeah," I muttered. My stomach growled again. "I'm down for something cheap."

"There's a fast food diner at the intersection. Maybe we could..." Taiyang fell silent, and Cinder and I did the same. Before any of us could ask what was going on, we heard it - voices. They were far and difficult to hear with the sounds of cars driving up and down the street, but we could hear them. "What in the world?"

Cinder and I looked at each other. "Come on," Cinder said, and I nodded - the two of us hurrying down the street. Taiyang called after us, though it sounded like he elected to follow us with Yang.

It took a few minutes, but the two of us managed to follow the noise, hearing it grow louder and louder as we got closer. After crossing one last street, we managed to spot what the cause of the chaos was in the distance. Large crowds of people were blocking the street, some waving their hands while others stepped out of their stopped cars.

Over the angry hands of the people were large signs on sticks - with the symbol of a canine head imprinted on it.

The White Fang.

Except, this wasn't some terrorist organization. The signs looked nonviolent, with no jagged edges or claw marks in their symbol. The signs with the symbol were accompanied by signs, with various statements scribbled on them, ranging from "Freedom for Faunus" to "Down with the SDC".

"Looks like a protest," I said, staring at the crowd. It wasn't too big, and plenty of people were simply steering clear of it - but it sounded like there were three times as many people just from the nearby yells alone. I was no stranger to these kinds of events, but I was a bit worried - especially since Faunus were treated much worse than your everyday activist or protestor. "Come on." Cinder and I made our way down the sidewalk, squeezing our way between the buildings and people as we tried to get closer.

We eventually managed to make our way to the end of the crowd, just in time to see what the protest was with our own eyes. Standing in the middle of the street were several dozen Faunus in common clothing, all banded together and raising their signs. The Faunus were exactly how they were in the show - people with animal features. I could see ears and tails, as well as different types of skin, and even a few sets of feathered wings here and there.

The Faunus all chanted and called out as one, waving their signs and fists as they challenged the much larger human crowds. Despite their defiance, they were all almost drowned out entirely by the roars of angry humans.

"Go back to your island, damn animals!"

"Get off the street!"

"Stay in the slums!"

"Filthy creatures!"

"Get out of our city!"

The blatant racist remarks did more than enough to make me scowl, especially since plenty of protestors were children and teenagers. I looked to see Cinder, her eyes narrowed and fists clenched as well. "Dammit," I sighed. "And I thought Atlas was bad. I was kind of hoping Vale wasn't as racist..."

"We never saw any people like that in Atlas," Cinder pointed out. "Just humans."

"Exactly," I said, recalling the same thing. That seemed to make it look even worse. "We didn't see any Faunus living in Atlas." That got Cinder's eyes to widen before they narrowed once more.

Unfortunately, the situation only got more and more negative as the people actually began to march against the Faunus. A few teens were at the front, waving their bats as they spat insults at them. They seemed just as hateful as the adults, and that was unnerving to see. I'd seen many nasty scuffles and events when I grew up, but the people involved were never as vile as what I am seeing now.

It seemed like they were genuinely ready for murder.

The protesting Faunus backed away, their chants continuous and steady - but the mob of angry people continued to push towards them, threatening to push us against them as well. Cinder and I had no choice but to follow the group of Faunus as they tried to get away from the humans, just to avoid the mob plowing through us.

Then it happened.

A rock shot out of the crowd, striking a teen boy with a brown dog tail in the head. With a cry, he collapsed, dropping his sign as he clutched his bleeding head. My heart froze, and Cinder let out a choked cry at the horrid sight. To our disgust, the humans only cheered at the first blow.

"Human monsters!" the Faunus woman with wings yelled as he ran to the injured young boy. To our horror, that seemed to set off the mob, and soon they were throwing everything and anything they had - cans, rocks, trash, and more. The teens at the front seemed ready to storm forward as well, and that was when I couldn't take it.

"Son of a bitch!" I snarled as I rushed forward, my aura up and flaring as I ran right into the line of fire - items pelting me as I put myself between the two Faunus who were unable to retreat in time. I immediately covered them as best as I could, the items bouncing off. I could feel the impacts against my aura, but they felt like nothing compared to the absolute beatings I'd been taking for the past month and a week in training.

The vile teens rushed forward with bloodlust, yelling as they raised their bats, only for Cinder to rush in and throw her fist out. For a moment, I thought she was about to send one of the teens flying - only for her fist to sail past his head and shatter the wooden bat in his hands with a loud crunch. Splinters flew everywhere, and Cinder's flame orange aura flickered momentarily.

The teens stumbled back, the one in front dropping the broken handle of his now shattered weapon. The mob seemed to have stopped as well. The protesting Faunus had fallen silent as well, and I realized just how much attention we had on us. Despite my apprehension, I was spurred back into action by the sight of the bleeding boy and the frightened woman near me. Pulling her up carefully, I gestured for her to go with the protestors.

"Get out of here. Now," I hissed. "We'll keep them from following you."

The woman looked at us with shaky legs as she stood up, the injured and groaning teen in her hands. "D-don't hurt anyone..." she whispered. "They'll only get worse."

I nodded, having no intentions to hurt anyone in the first place. "Get somewhere safe. And make sure he's okay." The woman nodded, her wings unfurled a bit as she turned around and stumbled towards the other Faunus - who were quick to assist her and the injured boy.

"Bastard!" someone yelled, and I turned to see the other teens swing at her. Cinder jumped back from one swing before her leg shot up, kicking aside another bat.

"Don't hurt anyone!" I called as I hurried over. "We'll really get into trouble if we do."

"But they-" Cinder began.

"They don't deserve the effort," I said, eyeing the several dozen Faunus and watching them run back to their homes. "Trust me, the police aren't gonna defend us if we hurt anyone here."

The mob of humans were quick to regain their anger, shouting at us for being traitors or animal lovers. The teens at the front were quick to retreat though, abandoning their weapons on the streets. The two of us were about to step back as the mob's ferocity was now aimed at us - at least until a loud shout filled the air.

"Hey!"

It was loud enough to drown out almost all the noise on this part of the street. The two of us turned around to see Taiyang and Yang approaching, with Taiyang cracking his knuckles and neck. He looked furious, and I felt a shudder go down my spine. Everyone seemed to back off as the very tall and muscular blonde haired man approached.

"Taiyang, we were-" one of the people, someone who knew him at the very least, tried to say.

"I know what you were trying to do," he said, his voice calmed without any loss of authority. "I saw that bleeding boy back there. You attacked peaceful protestors, a child no less. And now you're willing to hurt two teenagers who had the decency to defend them."

"Why are you defending them?! They attacked us!" one of the teens yelled.

"She defended her friend and herself," Taiyang said, gesturing to Cinder. Then he gestured to me. "And he used himself as a shield to keep rocks from killing people. Rocks that you threw!" He scowled, eyes narrowing dangerously. "Protests are legal under the eyes of the law. But assault is not."

"But they're just-" the teen tried to say.

"If you finish that sentence," Taiyang warned. The teen shut up and backed up against the crowd. "You're lucky that I stepped in. You attacked any of those Faunus or these two. This makes you criminals in the eyes of the law. I'm well within my right to step in."

The sounds of sirens filled the air, and I turned back to see a police car cut through the intersection behind us, with two officers stepping out. They wore black uniforms with the letters VPD on a badge on their hats and chests. "What's going on here? We have word of civilians being attacked by delinquents," one officer said.

"Actually, we have a mob trying to attack civilians and my students," Taiyang said. "These people attacked and injured a child in a protest."

The officers frowned before looking at all the people. After a moment, one of them stepped forward and blew a loud piercing whistle with his fingers. "Everyone, break it up! Go home now!" he yelled. "This get-together is over!"

Cinder growled. "You're just going to-" she tried to say before Taiyang held up a hand, shaking his head.

Several minutes passed as the police took our statements, as well as asked us many other questions like an interrogation. Despite us cooperating, Cinder and I were furious. Even with everything that had happened, they simply let the mob go without consequence. Even if I'd expected it, especially with the prejudice that many humans had - it was still an incredibly disappointing thing to witness.

By the time they'd finally let us go, a few hours had passed and it was now afternoon. Taiyang, Yang, Cinder, and I sat on the ferry sailing back to Patch. We were all silent, and Yang was oddly morose as she sat in her father's lap.

Eventually, Taiyang spoke up. "The two of you shouldn't have rushed in so quickly," he said sternly. He looked at us with a scolding gaze before he sighed. "But I should have been there much faster. You only stepped in because of the injured boy, didn't you?"

Cinder and I nodded, and Taiyang rubbed his eyes. "You did the right thing, and I'm sorry," he said.

"Don't be," I said. "You're right. We just ran in. It's just..." I tried to find the words, to say something. Anything, but I only sighed. "Dammit."

"We could have knocked a few around," Cinder muttered.

"If you did, then you really could have gone to jail," Taiyang said. "I blame the damned system and the racism we have in this world." He rubbed his eyes. "And to think Vale isn't as bad as the rest of the world."

I winced and looked back down. I was still mad, but I forced it down, unwilling to cause any more problems. When we exited the ferry and headed to the Xiao Long Rose home, Summer was waiting with a worried look.

"What took you all so long?" she asked. "You should have been back hours ago!"

Taiyang was quick to explain, and Summer quickly pulled Cinder and me into a hug once he was done, catching us by surprise. Even if we didn't expect her to get upset at us, we didn't expect anything like this.

"You two are heroes to that boy," Summer whispered, her hug tight and restrictive. I felt rather uncomfortable, especially since I didn't feel like we deserved any praise. Cinder, however, blushed and leaned into the hug.

She eventually let us go, only for Yang to jump up and hug the two of us. Cinder and I ended up knocking our heads together by accident, our auras flaring as she gripped us both. "You're both awesome," she said, and I couldn't help but look away, feeling more than undeserving.

Taiyang chuckled as Yang finally let us go. "Come on, let's have dinner. And hope something like this doesn't happen again," he said. Cinder and I were about to say goodbye when Taiyang stopped us. "Hey, where are you going?"

"...to the inn," I said. "We're gonna buy some food on the way back, and-"

"No, you two are going to eat a home cooked meal. After today, you two need it," Taiyang said, grabbing both Cinder's and my hands with his larger ones. "Come on."

"He won't take no for an answer," Summer giggled. "Besides, he's right. You two could use some good food."

Cinder and I looked at each other before my stomach growled loudly. I hadn't eaten anything all day as well as last night, and I realized just how little energy I had left. "I...wow," I muttered. "Umm, okay."

Despite our apprehensions, the two of us came to enjoy dinner. As it turned out, it was homemade fried chicken and spaghetti - an odd combination but one I didn't complain about. Like the last time Summer and Taiyang hosted a meal, the six of us ate together, losing any of our sour moods to a warm atmosphere and hot food.

When we returned to the inn, we felt much better. Still, I could feel the events of today tugging away in my mind.

The White Fang hadn't grown violent yet. But it would, and soon.

And if I wanted to avoid the worst possibility of the future happening, then I would need to find a way to deal with them.

Chapter Text

“You’re going to see the Vytal Festival?” I asked.

It was a few weeks since the encounter with the White Fang protest. Cinder and I had continued to train and get stronger, and we hadn’t seen any other protests in the few times we went to Vale ever since, but today’s training had ended with an unorthodox statement.

“Indeed. This year, it’s being held in Mistral - so we’re going to take the family to see it in person. We want the two of you to come with us,” Summer said with a smile. “It’ll happen in a few weeks, and we’re bringing the whole family.”

“Yang and Ruby too? How come?” I asked.

“Well, the last time Qrow babysat for us resulted in our house nearly being burned down. And he does have a lot of work - too much to effectively continue teaching you. Think of this as a field trip.”

Cinder looked nervous, but I seemed more skeptical than anything. “...I mean,” I muttered. “The two of us smuggled ourselves from Atlas to Vale. Shouldn’t we need...oh, I don’t know-”

“We’ve already got documentation covered. We’re having you under supervision as students, so you don’t need to worry,” Summer said, patting me on the head. “Come on, it’ll be fun! You could really learn something from watching the fights as well!”

“I-I don’t know,” Cinder said, her voice trembling a little. I remembered that she originally came from an orphanage in Mistral, surrounded by cruel older kids. It was no surprise that she was more than reluctant.

Summer looked concerned, but I held up a hand. “I’ll explain in a second,” I muttered. “But...how long is the festival going to be?”

“Oh, about a month,” Summer said. “Trust me, you’ll enjoy it. We can go together! Like a big family!”

I fell deep into thought. I’d completely forgotten that the Vytal Festival was even a thing, and I was unsure how to feel about it. Some small part of me did feel rather excited to go to Mistral - not only to see it in person, but to actually see what the festival would have been like in a place like that. But another part of me was also a bit wary - mostly because a lot of bad things came from Mistral, like other gangs and Raven Branwen’s tribe.

Not to mention Haven’s traitorous headmaster. My face twisted at the thought of Leonardo Lionheart. While I didn’t very much like the guy, I did sympathize with his loss of courage. That only made me feel a little less sure about going there if I were to see the man in person.

Then there was Cinder. Looking over, she did look very pale - and it was clear that the kingdom held just as many terrible memories for her as Atlas did. Resting my hand on hers, I steadied her quivering hand and patted her shoulder with my other arm. “Hey, it’s okay,” I said.

“I...I don’t know,” she muttered.

“Is...is something wrong?” Summer asked, her voice softening as she looked on in mild concern.

“Before her abusive family adopted her...she came from Mistral,” I said.

“I was weak there too,” Cinder muttered. “I don’t want to...”

Summer got the full picture, and she rubbed her eyes. “How much more terrible could your childhood be?” she whispered before she came over to Cinder. “I understand you must not want to go back to Mistral...but this could be a chance for you to heal...” she said.

I was in agreement. Even if I had my own apprehensions about going to Mistral with everything that could have come out of it, Cinder’s own hesitations could seriously hold her back or possibly even hurt her in the future. “She’s right,” I said after a moment. “You can’t avoid your past forever.”

“And you won’t be alone this time either,” Summer said. “You have Arden. And us.”

Cinder looked away, and she slowly pulled her hand away from under mine. I felt my own worries pop up as she clutched her wrist. “...I need to think about it,” she whispered.

“Take your time, sweetie,” Summer said. As Cinder walked off to be on her own, Summer turned to look at me. “Was it really that bad?”

“She spent almost her entire life being beaten down and treated like garbage,” I said. “Even now, Cinder sticks by me because I upheld my promise to get her out of Atlas. I don’t think she actually likes me as much as you think.”

“She does like you,” Summer reassured. “She turns to you for comfort and help. And if I recall, she jumped into danger to help you when all those people were getting more violent.”

I looked down, not feeling very sure. Maybe Cinder and I had become close friends. She had become affectionate, but there was no telling whether she would have done so to make sure I wouldn’t leave or not.

“She cares for you, she really does. Trust me, I know,” Summer said, as if sensing my doubt. “We’re having mashed potatoes and fried chicken for dinner tonight. Once you get Cinder and talk to her, we’ll all eat together. How does that sound?”

“...alright,” I said. “That does sound good...” And with that, Summer sent me to find Cinder before heading into the cabin. I still felt a little tuckered out from training today, but my slowly replenishing aura did wonders to soothe the aches and pains from hours of combat training.

I eventually found Cinder at the edge of town, sitting along the wooden fence near the path to the Xiao Long Rose cabin. “Hey,” I said as I sat next to her. “Are you feeling okay?”

Cinder let out a soft hum. I slowly leaned against her, taking note of her expression. She didn’t seem to be as nervous as before, but her mood was still clearly down. As I continued to eye her, I couldn’t help but wonder what I could do or say to cheer her up.

“ ...huh ,” I thought to myself. “ Her hair really grew out. ” It had been almost three months since we first met in Atlas, and her somewhat short hair had now grown long enough to reach down to her upper back. It almost resembled Cinder’s hairstyle in Volumes 1-3 of the show if it were a few inches longer.

She was pretty before, but now she was turning out to be even more beautiful - although it was off putting to see her without an evil or scheming expression on her face. Her golden eyes looked thoughtful now, and it was easy to see that she was still lost in thought.

Eventually, I pushed aside my thoughts and cleared my throat. “Look...you know you’ll have me, right?” I asked. “I’m not gonna leave you in Mistral or anything.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about...” Cinder said as she rubbed her eyes. “I...what if Mistral is like Atlas? What if I see more of what happened with the Faunus protests? I...I thought I left everything terrible behind, but what if I start feeling worse?”

I was silent for a moment, pondering her words thoughtfully before I spoke up once more. “What are you afraid of?” I asked.

There was more silence in the air. Then Cinder began to whisper. “...I’m afraid that I’ll lose everything I got. I’ll lose my freedom. My happiness. I-I might lose you...” Cinder whispered. “What if I get taken away?”

The thought of something such as that was unlikely to happen, but Cinder didn’t know that. I rested my hand on hers once again. “It won’t be easy for that to happen, not with Summer and Taiyang looking out for you. And like I said before, you have me. Even if they try to take you away, I won’t let them.”

“But what if-” Cinder began to say.

“I won’t,” I repeated. I gripped her hand. “Trust me?”

Cinder looked down at my hand, before looking up at me. The two of us ended up maintaining eye contact for a good few seconds before she looked away. Her cheeks had pinkened a bit, and she brushed aside a strand of hair that had fallen over her eye. “O-okay...” she whispered.

I smiled before standing up, pulling Cinder to her feet. “Come on. Summer says she has fried chicken ready for us,” I said. It was nearly comical given how quickly Cinder perked up at that.

 - a few weeks later - 

Cinder and I sat on the living room couch of the Xiao Long Rose cabin, waiting for Taiyang to get back. We had our backpacks and other belongings with us - which wasn’t that much stuff, having checked out of the inn in preparation for our trip. Despite Cinder’s nerves being on high alert, she seemed much calmer whenever she was around me. I didn’t mind it at first, but soon she was sticking by me more and more often.

It was starting to get concerning, and I made plans to address the issue when we were on our way.

Meanwhile, Ruby and Yang were very excited to be on their way, their backpacks open with various items sitting on the dining table. Summer sat across from them, helping to make sure that everything they had was secured and organized in their bags.

“So what are we expecting in the Vytal Festival?” I asked.

“Well, if I’m remembering correctly from one of the few times we went to the festival at Mistral, expect lots of food, games, and all sorts of fun,” Summer said. “But make sure to stay safe in Mistral. There’s plenty of gangs and criminal activity, as well as unsavory people who may want to take advantage of the visitors and tourists.”

That sounded about right. “Anything else we should be worried about?” I asked.

Summer winced. “The treatment of Faunus,” she said. “Atlas may have it bad, and it looks pretty rough in our kingdom right now, but Mistral is the worst.” She looked over at Yang and Ruby for a moment before she made her way over to us, lowering her voice. “I’m talking about active abuse by the police and even mobs killing Faunus in the streets. It’s not as bad as it was back then, but it’s not like it got much better.”

I frowned. “...I hope you realize we’re not gonna just stand by and let any of that stuff happen if we see it,” I said.

“I wouldn’t think otherwise,” Summer said with a grin. “But be careful. Even if it won’t be as bad due to visitors from the other kingdom, the racism is still there. Knowing Mistral, though, they’ll want to crack down on it hard to make sure that they look good to the other kingdoms, so there’s that.”

I nodded. “Then we’ll be prepared for that if it ever happens,” I said. “Besides, we’ve had to go up against our fair share of thugs and assholes back in Atlas-” Summer quickly zipped my lip with a stern frown before pointing at Yang and Ruby, who didn’t seem to be paying attention. “...oh, right. Sorry.”

The sound of the cabin’s front door unlocking caught our attention, and we turned to see Taiyang opening the door. “Alrighty, I’ve secured our tickets,” he said, holding up six little slips of paper for us to see. “We even have a private airship waiting for us in the city.”

Summer blinked. “Wow, I didn’t think Ozpin would go so far,” she said.

I choked in surprise, and Cinder jolted. “Wait, Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon?” I asked, more than surprised at the mention of Beacon’s headmaster and immortal body hopping wizard. What did he have to do with this?

“Yeah, the one and only. He owed us a few favors, and I decided to call in one of them a while ago,” Taiyang said. “Why do you think we waited until now to leave for Mistal?”

“Because you wanted to make sure you could find someone other than Qrow to watch the house?” I asked. Summer snorted, and Taiyang let out a loud guffaw.

“Hah! Not a bad reason, but no. We wanted to help you get in as much training as possible,” Taiyang explained. “And besides, private airships tend to travel a lot faster, and we can waste less time using one of those.”

“I mean...is it really okay?” I asked. I had nothing personal against Ozpin, especially since he wanted to save the world - but his methods were questionable at best, especially since he had a habit of manipulating people into becoming his allies against an enemy he withheld information about.

“Of course!” Taiyang said. “He said he and Goodwitch were making plans to head to Mistral for the festival as well, especially since a good amount of Beacon’s student body is traveling as well.”

And he just happened to agree with this? “I feel like there’s a catch. No offense to Ozpin,” I said.

“Not much of a catch. Just a bit of work,” Taiyang said. “He asked if Summer and I could help chaperone the students a bit, especially since all of the faculty still need to keep the school running. He’ll even pay us for the help.”

“Ah,” Summer said. “Well, that is a fair request, but we are bringing our daughters along. And students of our own.”

Taiyang nodded. “Well, I’ll work out the details with Ozpin,” he said. “He’ll understand. In fact, I bet he’s already planned for something like this already.”

I frowned as I leaned back on the couch. “Well, if worst comes to worst - the two of us could look after Ruby and Yang while the two of you work,” I said.

“Or the four of us could stay with you while you work. If that’s okay,” Cinder chimed in. It was the first words she’d spoken in a long time.

“Like I said, there’s not much we can plan for until we know how accommodations will work,” Taiyang said. “Huntsman schools receive visitors for the festival every time it happens, so they always have enough guest dorm rooms to hold at least three times their maximum student body.”

Which meant we’d be staying in Haven Academy.

“Alright,” I said. “When are we supposed to leave, by the way?”

“In about five hours. But I’m planning on leaving to go there now, since the ferry to Vale is pretty lengthy,” Taiyang said. “We can get lunch on the ship, and we can do a proper rundown of what the two of you have learned.”

“Are you girls done with your packing?” Summer asked, looking over at the dining table. The two girls held up their zipped backpacks with wide and eager smiles, the table now devoid of any objects. “Alrighty, we should get going.”

Cinder and I stood up, gathering our things before the six of us walked out of the cabin, with Yang and Ruby chatting eagerly about what kinds of cool weapons, cool outfits, or cool fights they’d see at the Vytal Festival.

 - a few hours later - 

Summer grinned as Cinder read effortlessly from a book she’d brought along. The two of them walked with Ruby on her shoulders, while Taiyang, Yang, and I walked ahead of them. As we made our way to the passenger airship docks, I couldn’t help but look back at Cinder.

“She’s gotten very strong, you know,” Taiyang said, breaking me out of my thoughts. “I see the way you look at her too. You’re very proud.”

“Yeah,” I sighed before looking away, my voice quiet. “But sometimes, I feel like I’m holding her back. She only ever goes with me, follows my lead, does what I ask. She hardly does anything for herself, and it feels wrong.”

“Well, Cinder doesn’t know much else. She trusts you with her life, and that’s something,” Taiyang said.

“But what if it costs her someday? Because of me?” I asked, my thoughts clouding my mind as I thought of all the terrible ways I could get Cinder hurt or worse. “Because she picked me over herself.”

We continued to walk in relative silence for a moment before Taiyang spoke up once more. “I understand what you’re feeling, but you gotta give Cinder some credit here,” he said. “She’s bonding with my daughters, and she’s beginning to understand the extent of what you’ve given her.”

“I hope she understands that her life doesn’t depend on me. She could be much happier if she learned to be able to rely on herself,” I said.

“Maybe,” Taiyang said. “But remember that in a way, Cinder is still growing. You introduced her to the world, and she’s still learning much about it. When time passes, Cinder will learn to become more independent as well. But until then, she’ll rely on you.”

Taiyang did bring up a good point. Cinder only ever spent a few months outside of the abuse and torment in Atlas. “I...I guess so,” I muttered. “I just don’t wanna get her hurt or in trouble. Or worse.”

Taiyang patted me on the back. “Like I said. You’re the one who introduced her to the world. If you could free her and get the two of you to Vale, then I have no doubt that you’re a very capable person. Cinder sees that in you - you just have to see it too.”

I found myself slowly blushing. When did this suddenly become about me? Still, I nodded, and Taiyang patted me on the shoulder. “Have confidence in yourself. Cinder’s a pretty strong girl, but you’re the one who helped her get strong in the first place.”

Compliments were never something I received often, so it was hard for me to process them. In the end, I just shrugged. The conversation ended there, but my thoughts on the matter had changed, now having a lot to think about.

We reached our destination, and the journey from the entrance to the airship landing pads was found to be very smooth - essentially skipping most of the lines and the wait once Taiyang had shown the tickets. It didn't take us very long to be led to our airship - and what an airship it was.

The landing pad was much larger than the one Cinder and I were at when we first arrived in the city. On top of the pad was a large airship with extended landing struts, sporting six large metallic wings and a set of large moving engines along the sides - all of them powered down and facing downwards.

“So this is what we’re taking,” I said as I looked up at the vessel. The ship itself was smooth and sleek, painted a shiny silver with white lining. The only entrance I could see was a wide open back door with a lowered ramp and a tall set of railings on each side. “So you just asked Ozpin, and he gave you the ship?”

“Well, he didn’t give us the ship. We’d have nowhere to keep it on Patch,” Taiyang chuckled. “He’s just letting us hitch a ride.”

“Indeed,” a familiar refined and calm voice said. I jolted and turned to see Headmaster Ozpin himself. The head of Beacon Academy looked exactly like he did from the animated show, wearing black and green formal clothes with his cane slash magic weapon resting in his hand. His signature spectacles and silver hair almost perfectly matched how he looked in the show, though his facial features in real life partially showed his age. And he was tall , a little taller than Taiyang himself.

Behind him was a blonde woman almost as tall as Ozpin, though she wore heels. Sporting bright green eyes behind her glasses and hair tied back in a bun, Glynda Goodwitch stood wearing a blouse and a tight form fitting skirt that went down her thighs. Underneath, she wore tights and the aforementioned heels. She looked pretty, but the constant frown on her face made me feel very nervous.

“Ozpin!” Summer called, and she came forward to hug the headmaster. “It’s so good to see you again!”

“It’s wonderful to see you and your family as well,” Ozpin said, returning the hug warmly. His eyes looked up to see both me and Cinder. “Ah, and you must be the proteges my former students took up.”

“Y-yes,” Cinder said, sounding very nervous. I was as well - knowing just how powerful these two were, as well as the secret they both knew. “C-Cinder. And Arden,” Cinder slowly introduced.

“A pleasure to get to know the both of you,” Ozpin said. “Taiyang here informed me that the two of you wished to attend Beacon, and that they have been training you to prepare for the huntsman exam at the start of the next school year.”

“...y-yeah,” I said, finally gaining my voice. I didn’t exactly know what I was expecting when we would meet the headmaster, but speechlessness and mild fear was not what I thought would happen. “I-if it’s okay.”

“And why wouldn’t it be?” Ozpin asked, his tone kind - though I knew better. I made sure to remain cautious - though not so much that it seemed suspicious. “After all, I’m sure my former students talked about their teammates. Beacon does not discriminate, and sees potential in all who may wish to study there.”

Glynda narrowed her eyes, and I could tell that this was one of many times she didn’t always agree with him on a matter. “I still believe we should implement extended background checks on potential students,” she said.

“If we did that, then it would be meaningless to those who grew up outside of official documentation,” Ozpin said. “We accepted the Branwens, and Qrow remains a powerful huntsman who abandoned the ways of his former bandit family.”

“Only one of the Branwens stayed true to his path,” Glynda reminded.

“One is better than none, Glynda,” Ozpin said, a wry grin on his face. Glynda huffed quietly and remained silent once more. “In any case, I do believe we won’t have much issue with Cinder and Arden here.”

“I may have told the headmaster some of your circumstances, specifically where you started and how you got to Vale,” Taiyang said. “Believe it or not, there were students who went through much worse.”

“Indeed. I’m happy to say that you shall receive the same opportunity to enroll at Beacon as any other student,” Ozpin said. “Though given who your teachers are, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were to pass the initial exam with flying colors.”

“Ozpin. No,” Glynda said, and Summer couldn’t help but giggle.

“Just making an observation,” Ozpin said. “Now, I do believe we have a flight to board.” And with that, the eight of us made our way aboard the headmaster’s airship - with the ramp leading to a small storage room and an elevator at the other side. After the luggage was packed away, we took the elevator up to the deck above us.

When it opened, we came across what looked to be a luxurious lounge area - with couches, a bar, and massage chairs. Unlike what I expected from riding in the ferry, the area would have been mistaken as a mansion’s massive living room if it weren’t for the large stretch of windows all around us. “...fancy,” I couldn't help but say.

“Indeed,” Ozpin said. “Apparently...members of the council are expected to...ahem, uphold certain symbols of status. A private airship was recommended by the others.”

“Oh, please. You still enjoy using it,” Glynda said as she took her seat near the doorway - acting more as a guard than a passenger.

“So you say,” Ozpin said. As Ruby and Yang hopped excitedly towards a couch, Cinder and I sat on another one - placing our backpacks near us as we leaned back and waited. Ozpin went with Taiyang and Summer to the other side of the large room, falling deep into a jovial conversation with laughter.

“Are there seatbelts?” I asked, wondering if we needed any. The ship we took to get to Vale hadn’t exactly been smooth, after all - and normal cars did come with them.

“The airship provides a very smooth and fast ride. You needn’t worry yourselves,” Glynda reassured as she crossed a leg over the other, sitting back in a professional position. “You could get up and walk around as the airship took off, and you wouldn’t be off balance.”

I nodded, slowly looking out the window. Sure enough, the airship took off a few minutes later - with the landscape and city view around us lowering as we raised into the sky. I felt no jerking around or sense of imbalance as we started to fly, the loud engines outside dulled into a low hum from inside the ship. “Wow. Not bad,” I said.

“Mhm,” Cinder said. I felt her hand rest atop mine, just like I’d done so many times before in the past. I looked down, seeing her fingers curl over my hand - and I smiled.

No words needed to be said. As Cinder rested her head against my shoulder and closed her eyes, I did the same, deciding to simply enjoy the ride to Mistral.

In a way, I did feel glad that Cinder would continue to rely on me. I’d be there for her when we landed, and I’d remain with her when we would walk out into Mistral. 

Chapter Text

The trip to Mistral was only an hour and a half long - according to Summer when she woke us up. When we shook off the effects of our little nap, we could see that we'd already landed at the platform - the muffled sounds of the outside world making it apparent that the city was very busy.

"I do hope that you enjoyed the trip," Ozpin said as he approached the elevator door. "I've received word from Headmaster Lionheart that we would be staying in Haven's guest dorms for the duration of the Vytal Festival."

"Alright," I said as I shrugged the straps of my backpack over my shoulders, walking into the elevator with the others. "Cinder and I will find an inn, and we'll probably get-"

"I think you misunderstood," Summer said, resting a hand on my shoulder. "The six of us will be staying in Haven Academy since you two are legally and directly under our supervision."

Cinder let out a sigh of relief. "That's good," she sighed. "We'd probably get pretty lost in the city."

I remembered how prominent criminal influence was in Mistral from a few brief scenes in Volume 5, and I found myself shuddering at the thought of having to deal with more people like that drug dealing businessman in Atlas. "Yeah let's probably stick by the academy," I said, hoping that the festival would cut down on any and all criminal activity we'd be likely to face.

"Not to worry, only the lower parts of the city tend to be more afflicted with illegal activity. It's easy to avoid them as long as you don't go down," Ozpin said as he pressed a button. Once we were brought to the lower deck of the airship, the large ramp leading out opened. Summer and Taiyang began to collect their luggage as Cinder and I headed towards the ramp.

"Oh, and do mind the height," the headmaster said as we stepped out into the bright daytime weather of Mistral. The first thing we were hit by was the cold weather - a chilly wind blasting against us as we stepped out onto the landing pad. At first, my only thought was the cold before I realized just how high up we were.

The first indication were the clouds being around our level, looking closer to us than I'd ever thought I'd see in real life. The second was the view of the lands below - other mountains and forests miles upon miles away from us. Approaching the edge of the pad, I leaned my arms against the railing - looking down to see just how high up we were.

It was rather hard to describe just what it was like to see the city of Mistral from above, but there were buildings upon buildings sticking out of the sides of the massive mountain we were on, as well as a wide variety of paths, roads, stairways, and more. I could see hundreds upon hundreds of people walking around below, either close below us or as specks at a very great distance.

"Wow," was all I could manage to say. I didn't know just how long I'd been staring around us, but it was interrupted when Cinder came over to join me at the railing.

"It's...I've never seen Mistral like this before," Cinder whispered. "What do you think?"

"Well, it's a pretty nice kingdom," I said, coming to realize that in the span of a handful of months, we'd come to see three of the four big kingdoms already. "But imagine all the other places we could see in the near future. Menagerie or Vacuo, for instance."

"Vacuo? Isn't that place supposed to be a desert?" Cinder asked.

"Yeah..." I said as I looked back down. The massive height above the ground didn't bother me one bit, to my surprise. Maybe it had to do with how lost I was in the spectacular view before me. It was very much a far cry from what I was used to - which was city life similar to New York, Atlas, and Vale - so a city with an environment like this was a very welcome change of pace.

The synced gasps of Yang and Ruby near me broke me out of my stupor, and I turned to see. "It's super pretty!" Ruby whispered, her voice in awe as she leaned her head over the railing as much as her short height would let her.

Taiyang stood behind Yang, hand on the back of her collar to make sure the older half sister didn't try leaning over the railing fully. "Yeah, this place is better than Patch!" Yang giggled.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say that..." Taiyang muttered, and Summer giggled.

Ozpin cleared his throat, speaking up and catching our collective attention. "Classes at Haven will continue tomorrow. I was wondering if the two of you would consider helping with the lesson planning for when students from all academies appear," he said.

"Of course! But for now, we should all have lunch," Summer said. "I know the girls would be dying to try authentic Mistralian cuisine."

"If good food is what you're looking for, I would be happy to provide some of my personal recommendations!" a jovial voice called. The eight of us turned to see a tall man approaching us, well dressed in a suit and a brown greatcoat. The first thing I noticed was the bushy gray hair and beard, although he looked somewhat younger than his hair would suggest. "And here I thought you've been delayed, Ozpin."

Ozpin grinned and approached the headmaster of Haven Academy, clasping his hand before pulling him in for a brief and manly hug. "My old friend, it's so good to see you," he chuckled. "I'm sure you remember my former students, the Xiao Long Rose family."

I couldn't help but narrow my eyes a little. Was the headmaster already an agent of Salem? Or had he not fallen to his fear yet? Still, I forced a smile on my face - not wanting to garner suspicion for my reaction.

Lionheart chuckled. "Ah yes, your famed troublemakers. I remember team STRQ," he said warmly. "So good to see you again, Taiyang. And you too as well, Summer." He looked over at Yang and Ruby. "Ah, and you must be their daughters!"

"Mhm!" Yang nodded. "The best mommy and daddy in the world!"

"Delightful," Lionheart said with a grin before noticing both me and Cinder. "And who might these two be?"

"Ah, these are Taiyang and Summer's personal students," Ozpin said. "The two have been working studiously for the huntsman exam at the end of the next semester."

"Scouting for potential warriors already? You never rest, do you?" the middle aged lion Faunus then approached Cinder and me, a smile still on his face. "If my old friend sees potential in you, then I'm confident that you'll do well at Beacon," Headmaster Lionheart complimented. "Although, if you wish to continue your studies at Haven Academy, then our doors are always open."

"Trying to steal them from under my nose? My, the audacity," Ozpin said, and the two chuckled. "But that's quite enough about anything related to school or work. What are your recommendations for lunch?"

- a few hours later -

You could say what you want about the headmaster slash cowardly lion, but he knew good food. Mistral was clearly designed off of Asian culture, and that included its cuisine. The restaurant he led us to served us many dishes such as broiled chicken, vegetable fried rice, braised fatty pork belly, flavorful fried rice, stir fried noodles, crispy fried fish tossed in a sweet and sour sauce, a variety of soups, spiced tofu dishes, and a hot sweet tea that tasted very fresh.

Ozpin and Lionheart chatted during the meal, Summer cleaned up Yang and Ruby's messy eating habits, and Taiyang chatted with Glynda over what Ozpin had been up to while running Beacon. Cinder and I ate heartily, not at all about to waste the chance to enjoy food like this. And it tasted awesome.

Ozpin and Lionheart split the bill, and now the nine of us were walking up one of many winding staircases and ramped paths that led back up to Haven Academy. As we walked, Cinder quietly spoke up.

"I do need you," she said.

I blinked, not knowing where this had come from. "W-what do you mean?" I asked quietly.

"I heard what you said to Taiyang. I do need you, and I always will," Cinder whispered. "You won't get me hurt like you think you will."

I looked down. "It might still happen," I muttered. "You're stronger than me - much stronger. There's not much else I could do to help you."

"You don't need to keep helping me, as long as you and I stay together. You're the reason I'm free," Cinder whispered, leaning against me as we continued to walk. "And you're strong - stronger than you know. You wouldn't hold me back, I promise."

I felt my own face heat up at her words, and a similar warm feeling grew in my chest. I slowly wrapped an arm around her side, pulling her closer as we continued to make our way back up to Haven Academy. "Thank you," I muttered, feeling oddly at ease with Cinder's words.

When we reached the school - I got to see it for the first time with my own eyes. I didn't remember much of what the academy looked like in Volume 5, but I was absolutely sure it would have paled in comparison to seeing it in person. Upon entering the academy grounds itself, we were treated to the sight of buildings all around us. In the middle of the open area between buildings was a courtyard with the symbol of Mistral on the pavement, alongside flowers, shrubbery, and neatly trimmed hedges.

The headmaster led us beyond the courtyard and past the buildings to a massive area that he called the Quad. It resembled a fancy public park with a fountain in the center - the corners of the area holding benches, shrubbery, and lamp posts. In front of us was the Grand Hall - the only place I recognized as the setting for the final fight of Volume 5.

On the left and right side of the quad itself were two large towers - the kingdom's two large CCT towers. I remembered each kingdom only having one - but the towers in Mistral seemed to be smaller than I'd expected. Around the towers and the Grand Hall were other buildings - each one large and at least two stories tall.

"These are our classrooms and dormitories," Lionheart continued, with Ruby and Yang gasping and giggling with glee at the amazing sights. "Each of our students get their own individual rooms, personalized to their personal preferences."

"Wow! What does Beacon have, mommy?" Yang asked.

"Our whole team shared a room," Summer said. "It was...very noisy."

"Ah, but shared rooms allowed you to become much closer as teammates, did they not?" Ozpin pointed out. "Some might see one room per person as a...luxury more than a necessity."

"Ah, but our students do quite well in their academics when it comes to having their own space to study and relax," Lionheart countered. "Teamwork may be very important, but I can argue that the quality of each and every member of the team can contribute as much, maybe even more."

The two headmasters began to bicker - clearly in good nature given their friendly tones and chuckles between words, and Taiyang sighed. "The competition between academies remains as strong as ever," he said with a tired grin.

"Oh, lighten up. Each kingdom's academy does things differently. You shouldn't be surprised that the two would come to odds about some stuff," Summer said. "In any case, we should get to the guest dorms. I still remember where they are from the last time we were here as guest students."

"Of course," Lionheart said. "The other students haven't arrived yet, and I've already sent word that a few special guests will be arriving already."

"That's great! Come on," Summer said, leading Taiyang and the rest of us away from the Quad and towards one of the larger buildings on the campus.

We were greeted by one of the faculty members at the building's entrance, and he spoke with Summer for a moment before leading them into the building. The area looked very much like a hotel lobby - much fancier and well kept than any place I'd ever seen. The floors were made of smooth hardwood, and there were couches, tables, and chairs placed neatly around the room.

There were paintings hanging above the couches and chairs, and ornate decorations on the ceiling, where a large chandelier of golden metal and glass hung in the center of the room. A large set of double doors were at the center of the back of the wall, which led to the guest dorms beyond.

"Like the standard student dorms, there is a room for each individual and a common room for each of the four rooms, for each team. That room is where meetings and study sessions for projects and exams are held if they wish for privacy," the faculty member said as he opened the door leading to a large hallway. "Guest rooms one through four have been reserved for you."

We were led to the end of the hallway, where there were two rooms on each side, with the doors on the left labeled one and two while the doors on the right side were labeled three and four. On the right side next to room four was a separate large room labeled "Common - 1-4" in golden cursive on a nameboard. Across that room was a similar one labeled "Common 5-8", with rooms five through eight continuing down the hallway.

"Keep in mind that the students get out of classes in about four hours," the faculty member explained. "So if you wish to see the headmaster or leave campus, you'll come across the student body. Curfew is at ten at night, although this rule shouldn't apply to you as you aren't a guest student. Still, we recommend following it."

"We understand. Thanks for the help," Taiyang said. The other man left, and Taiyang turned to look at the rest of us. "If you'd like, Summer and I can share our own room, and Ruby can share a room with Yang. The two of you can get your own rooms-"

Cinder gripped my hand. "That won't be necessary," she said. I coughed as my face slowly began to heat up once again, and Taiyang only smiled at us with the kind of smile that screamed 'I know' in facial expression alone.

"Well, Ruby and Yang could share a room, and Taiyang and I could each have our own rooms," Summer said. "I don't think the beds meant for students could support two fully grown adults anyway."

I was so tempted to make a dirty joke about that - but Cinder had already beaten me to it. "Assuming you two are actually just sleeping," she muttered. I fought the urge to snort as Summer's cheeks pinkened.

"Oh, would you look at the time! We should really be getting unpacked for our stay! Good night, everyone!" Summer called quickly before rushing into one of the rooms and promptly shutting the door behind her.

"...uhh, yeah, what she said. Good night," Taiyang coughed, finally having found the words before he too went into a room with his things. As he closed his door, it was just Yang, Ruby, Cinder, and me in the hallway of the guest dormitories.

"...it's only after lunchtime," Yang muttered, clearly lost in what had just happened. Ruby sighed before yawning tiredly, leaning against her older sister's leg. "Guess it's naptime for Ruby~" Yang sang, picking up her little sister and going to another empty room. I followed along with the few suitcases that held their things, dropping it off by the door.

Once the two girls were situated in their room, Cinder and I entered our own room to see what awaited us inside. Sure enough, we were given a rather nice and spacious room - with a large desk and chair on one side, a small couch near a window, a rather large bed pushed against the corner, two small dressers against the wall next to the bed, and a small closet built into the wall across from the windows. The walls were white, and the window had dark green drapes pulled over them. Hanging from the ceiling on a golden chain was a large circular light with silver framing.

"Huh. This place looks pretty nice," I remarked as I set my backpack down by the dresser. "Looks like there's enough space for the two of us on the bed."

"Alright," Cinder said. "So what should we do until it's bedtime?"

"Well, we should be able to walk around the school for a bit," I said. "They did say classes would be out in a little under an hour. Maybe we could spar for a bit."

"Where would we be able to do that?" Cinder asked. I pondered to myself for a moment, wondering where actual on campus fights would be held before snapping my fingers.

"The gym. If there is one," I muttered. "Though there probably is for a big school like this. Come on."

The two of us headed out of the dorms, seeing the wide open campus. Behind the Grand Hall near the student dorms was a path leading to a massive building - easily three stories tall and built differently in comparison to the other buildings in Haven Academy.

It was mostly built out of metal rather than wood - though the metal was painted and it sported the same hip and gable roof that the rest of the buildings did. "That's gotta be it," I said as the two of us made our way towards the building. Sure enough, the large words 'Combat Gym' were printed in white letters on a black nameplate. Below the name was a tall and very wide door with large circular windows on them.

After pushing the doors open with a loud metallic creak, we took in the view. The gym was almost entirely empty, with large sets of bleachers on the edges of the gym. There were six large combat arenas, each one circular and about as wide as the landing pads back in Vale - and there were large benches and tables along the edges of the rings, likely where students waiting to fight usually waited.

"Wow..." Cinder whispered as she looked around. "Students really fight in these places?"

"Yeah," I said. "Lots of space to move around in. Good for training. Almost like back in Patch." I pulled out my baton from its sidebreak scabbard on my belt. "Wanna have a go?"

Cinder smiled, and she was quick to draw her blades. The two of us were quick to make our way up to the closest arena, with Cinder heading to the far side of the circle so we could start on opposite ends. "Ready?" she asked upon turning around.

No other words were spoken. I raised my weapon, and Cinder dashed forward. We clashed with a mighty ring of metal. Cinder's blades slashing away at the thick blunt steel of my weapon. The months of training had paid off - and I was soon accustomed to parrying Cinder's quick and precise strikes with ease, all while being able to maintain my balance.

The two of us were closer in terms of combat skill more than ever, with the two of us trading blows faster than the last few times we'd sparred. I had even managed to land a few blows of my own on Cinder as well, though the concept of aura made defeating my opponent difficult.

Taking down an enemy with bug bites was harder than it looked.

Cinder jumped back as I pushed hard against a notable attempted strike against my side, and she lunged forward again - her leg extended for a sweeping kick. I was quick to grab her leg with one arm, locking her by the knee with my elbow before I pulled her to the side as hard as I could.

The two of us slammed on our sides onto the thick arena mat - only for Cinder to kick off and recover quickly. Flipping back on her feet, she jumped forwards at me - her swords in an overhead strike. I grinned, rolling left a mere moment before it could hit before twisting my body back right when the swords hit the mat. My knee connected with the side of her head, causing her to stumble hard.

Jumping back to my own two feet, I jumped ahead and brought my feet forwards to perform a drop kick while Cinder was still off balance. Despite me putting as much speed and force into my attack, Cinder had already mostly recovered.

But it was still enough to land a hit. She'd brought up her arm just in time to block the kick - and her aura flickered harshly as she was sent tumbling across the arena from the sheer momentum of my kick.

"Gotcha!" I growled, and I jumped forwards with my baton in an overhead swing. Cinder was faster though, and she'd raised a sword to block my strike. She'd held it up at an angle too, which caused my baton to slide down the edge in a shower of sparks.

I was caught off balance by this, and my face promptly met a strike from the pommel of Cinder's other blade. Stumbling back, I jumped over a leg sweep and swung hard in an attempt to catch Cinder's inevitable charge.

It didn't work. My baton flew out of my hands as Cinder swatted it aside, tackling me and pinning me down against the ring with her weight. "Now I got you," she hissed competitively - her smile wide.

I grinned back. "Not yet," I replied, and I gripped her shoulders before slamming my knee up into her gut. Her aura flared, and Cinder let out a choke before I pulled my weight behind me as hard and as fast as I could.

The result was glorious. Rolling back on the arena floor, I managed to catapult Cinder over me and off of the arena, slamming on the floor out of bounds. Turning over, I looked to see Cinder on her back, pulling herself up to her feet in a hurry.

"I win," I said. "Out of bounds."

Cinder stammered for a moment before her face turned red. "In a real fight, there's no ring out! We fight until our aura's gone!" she protested, clearly not taking the idea of a defeat well.

I grinned mischievously. "Oh? What if it's the rule? Plus in a real fight, you could always throw your opponent off of a cliff or something," I shot back as I headed over to pick up my weapon. "Not that I'd do it to you in real life."

Cinder pouted, her arms crossed for a moment before she looked back with a cross look. "Very well. I'll let you have this win. You could probably use one after constantly losing to me all the time," she said.

I felt that remark hit me right in the soul. "Yeah," I muttered, trying to hide the hit that sentence dealt to my pride. Before we could continue our conversation, I heard footsteps approaching. Turning around, I saw a guy wearing black pants and a brown coat approaching. He wore gray armored pieces over his jacket, and a large sword sat on his back.

He looked a year or two older than me, with short copper colored hair and pale blue eyes. "What do you think you are doing here?" he demanded, his tone annoyed. "You're not from Haven."

"Oh, we're visitors. And we were just using the gym. Nothing crazy," I said.

"Well, leave at once," the guy said harshly, stepping up to me, a gloved hand on the handle of the large sword over his shoulder. "This isn't your playground. Unless you want to deal with a proper huntsman student."

It was clear that this guy was throwing his status as a student around like a wannabe hotshot, and I stepped back, not willing to have to resort to violence on our first day in Mistral. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. We were done anyway," I said.

I turned to hop off the raised arena floor before a hand clamped my shoulder. "I don't think you're leaving that easily," the student from Haven growled. "Not until you apologize for that disrespectful tone of yours."

Was this guy fucking serious?

"Dude, we're leaving," I said as I tried to pull myself away from his grip. Nearby, Cinder had grabbed her weapons and was moving to climb back onto the arena. "Sorry you're in a bad mood, but I wasn't being disrespectful."

"Oh, I get it," the student said, tightening his grip on my shoulder with a scowl on his face. "You believe you can act however you want just because you're a visitor."

"We came here because we wouldn't be bothering anyone here. And your headmaster-" I tried to say, only for the student to shove me hard towards the edge of the ring.

"I'm not interested in excuses!" he snapped. "If you think I'm going to be intimidated by a few nobodies like you, then you're about to pay for it!"

"Are you seriously trying to pick a fight?" I growled, taken aback by how unreasonable this guy was being. Before I could even attempt to reach for my weapon, Cinder had stepped up onto the arena, one of her swords in her hand.

"He said we were leaving! You don't need to be an asshole about it!" Cinder snarled.

The student was about to draw his sword before his eyes widened. I tensed up, ready for this guy to try something, but it seemed like nothing was going to happen. The jerk of a student had seemingly completely frozen - at least for a moment. Lowering his weapon from his sword, he stepped forward. "I-I apologize. I didn't realize the two of you were...not causing trouble," he said, his voice going from hostile to charming in a mere second.

Cinder and I exchanged cautious looks. The sudden shift in demeanor was very unnerving, and I couldn't help but wonder what he was trying to do. It all became clear when the student smiled effortlessly, holding out a hand. "Please accept my apologies for my rudeness. If you'll have me, I'd love to treat you to a drink in the city," he said smoothly.

I looked back at Cinder, realizing that he was now trying to flirt with her. Before I could say anything, Cinder had smacked aside his hand. "I'm not interested in anyone as rude as you are," she huffed before she grabbed my hand. "Come on."

"O-okay," I muttered as I was dragged out of the arena and out towards the door of the combat gym. My gaze flickered back to the student still standing in the arena, a glower now visible in his eyes. "Well, we're gonna have to deal with him until we leave Mistral."

"It's his own fault for trying to be rude," Cinder grumbled. "Besides, he's not that good to look at."

I snorted as Cinder eased up on her grip, and the two of us walked out of the gym amidst a large number of students, many in the gray student uniform of Haven Academy while others were in their combat uniforms - dressed in a wide variety of clothes ranging from armor to simple outfits.

"So what do you wanna do now?" I asked as we made our way back to the guest dorms, pushing through groups of students as we walked.

Cinder yawned. "Right now, I just wanna sleep," she muttered as she rubbed her eyes. "You too?"

I did feel a little tired myself, and I nodded. "Alright," I said. "I'm down for a few winks. And...thanks for standing up for me, even if I could've done it myself."

Cinder nudged me in the side. "Uh huh," she said, a little grin on her face. I smiled back as the two of us continued to walk.

Chapter Text

The next day ended up starting very early - with Cinder and I being woken up by a heavy knock at the door. "Rise and shine, you two!" Taiyang called from the other side of the door. "Breakfast is in ten minutes!"

"Ugh..." I groaned. Wiping my eyes, I slowly sat up and stretched my arms. The nap we took ended up turning into an actual whole night's sleep, and I felt even more tired than rested at this point. Shaking my head and wiping my eyes, I slowly blinked myself fully awake. "Ow...my head. What time is it..."

"Too early," Cinder mumbled, gripping my arm and pulling herself up. We were still in our normal clothes from yesterday, bunched up and wrinkled in some places. "We should...go."

"Yeah," I yawned as I got out of bed. The two of us took a brief moment to stretch our arms and legs before we left the room - seeing Summer, Taiyang, Yang, and Ruby outside. "Sorry."

"Oh, don't apologize. Students for huntsman academies do have to wake up much earlier than other people. It takes some getting used to," Taiyang said. "In any case, the two of us have been invited to have breakfast with the staff today. Ruby and Yang will come with us as well."

"The two of you are gonna eat in the student cafeteria. Headmaster Lionheart gave us these-" Summer said, holding out lanyards with laminated cards labeled "Student Guest" on them. "-so you can be allowed to eat with the others. You won't be able to attend classes since...well, you'd be pretty lost on what they're teaching the rest of the students here this late in the semester."

"But you will be able to use the combat gym outside of classes and before curfew, since it's open for all students to use for training on their down time," Taiyang continued. "Any questions?"

Both Cinder and I shook our heads, and we took the lanyards from Summer before hanging them around our necks. "Thank you," Cinder said, and I nodded alongside her.

"No problem, kids. Now get something to eat and make some friends," Summer chuckled.

The two of us ended up finding our way to the cafeteria - which was a separate building on the far side of one of the CCT towers, and looking much larger than the combat gym. Unlike the gym being built to accommodate one to two classes of students at a time, the cafeteria itself was very large and designed to be able to hold the entire student body at once.

When we entered the large building, we were greeted by the sight of what looked like a massive food court in terms of the large number of tables around us. A few sets of stairs led up to a massive second floor balcony, where more tables and seats awaited. Many students had already gathered their food and were walking up to get their seats by the large windows facing out towards the rest of the city.

Underneath the balcony and set between the large staircases was a large counter with multiple servers behind them. There were several lines all leading through a wide aisle between the tables in the center of the cafeteria. Many of the students were already in line, which was moving quickly with how fast they received their food.

And every single one of them - except me and Cinder - wore Haven Academy's student uniform.

When we reached the line, I could feel the two of us immediately being struck with stares. We didn't exactly fit in, and I could tell that they were either silently questioning or glaring at us. No one seemed to approach us, and something made me wonder just how judgemental they could be.

Thankfully, we reached the front of the line, with one of the many workers behind the counter smiling at us. "Ah, you must be the special guests that the headmaster mentioned!" she said jovially as she handed us two large trays, each already loaded with plates of rice rolls, bowls of congee, pan fried meat pies, and ceramic cups of steaming hot tea. "How are you enjoying Haven Academy?"

"It's pretty nice," I said, leaping at the chance to turn away from the awkward silence around us. "Headmaster Ozpin helped bring us over for the Vytal Festival since it was being held here, so we're taking the chance to explore as much of Mistral as we can before it's time to go back."

"Ah, adventurers at heart! When you become proper huntsman students, you'll be able to travel wherever you wish!" the lady chuckled. "Eat up, you two!"

We thanked the lady, and we were quick to find a table far away from the others. There was now whispering among some of the students, and I could feel their gaze following us as we walked. Once we sat down, we began to eat - slowly forgetting about the attention as we lost ourselves in the food. It was all very filling, and tasted just as good as the food in the restaurant we ate at the day before.

"Let's not eat too fast," I said as I lowered my spoon into my bowl of congee. "It'll probably get us full very fast."

"We need the energy, especially with all the training we're gonna do," Cinder said, having slowed down her eating yet not stopping. "Besides, we can always have lunch later."

"Yeah," I said, leaning against my arm, propped up by my elbow on the table. "I wonder if we could leave the school, though. I'm pretty sure the festival itself doesn't actually start for a while, so it'll get boring if we end up stuck on campus for all this time."

"Greetings."

The two of us turned to see that same student from yesterday, now clad in the same gray school uniform as the rest of the student body. Judging by the lack of a tray, he'd finished eating already. "I'm so glad to see you haven't left the school yet," he said, his attention mostly focused on Cinder. His charming smile was on his face, and he didn't seem to be caring about the attention on us now.

"No. Not yet," Cinder sighed as she went back to eating.

"I heard you speaking of lunch earlier. Perhaps on the weekend, I could treat you to one of the best restaurants in the kingdom," the student continued. "The two of us alone, perhaps?"

"Not interested," Cinder remarked as she took her cup of hot tea and began to sip. I only slurped up another rice roll, watching the show with mild interest as the student's attempted flirts were shot down without hesitation. I hadn't noticed it at the time, but most of the students around us were watching as well.

The teen inhaled deeply before sighing. "Please reconsider. I promise you won't regret what I have to offer," he said. Clearing his throat, he smiled. "My name is Roan Kurushimi, and I give you my word that I will make you the happiest woman on the planet."

Cinder raised an eyebrow.

Roan continued to speak, as if feigning Cinder's nonexistent interest in him. "I'm unlike the rest. I am the descendant of one of Mistral's most prestigious noble families. My father is one of the kingdom's council members, and because of him, I was able to make use of some of the best education and training available."

"So you're strong. Big whoop," I remarked as I leaned back in my seat, picking up my meat pie and biting into it, chewing for a few moments before speaking and not bothering to swallow. "You're in a huntsman academy - everyone here is strong in their own right."

"But not everyone is at the top of their class," Roan hissed. "The others of my year can't hold a candle to what I'm capable of. And I doubt you could either. So do yourself a favor and stay out of this conversation before you embarrass yourself."

"Really?" I asked, unimpressed. I'd faced thugs and threats before - and they usually involved all bite and zero bark. This guy was the exact opposite, even if he could be very strong. If he really was the strongest of his year, then this would be a very annoying obstacle to deal with.

Still, I couldn't fight the urge to snap back at him.

"You aren't doing yourself any favors by butting in. It just makes you seem rude," I said. "The two of us were minding our own business, so do yourself a favor and just know when you aren't wanted."

Roan's eye twitched for a moment before he swung his arm. My tray was flipped, and what was left of my congee and tea splattered all over my shirt and jacket. My aura flickered for a moment from the hot splashes, and I stood up at once.

"You'll regret your insolence, pest!" the pompous student snarled.

I only grinned. This guy was nothing. "Aww, can't handle a little feedback?" I sneered. Roan raised his arm, clearly about to throw a punch before Cinder reached out and grabbed his wrist, wrenching him away from me with enough strength to make him stumble.

"And that is why I won't say yes to someone like you," she said. Her voice was calm, but the anger on her face was intense enough that a few students nearby leaned or stepped back.

All except Roan, who seemingly didn't know when to quit. "I-I was only teaching him a lesson! He shouldn't have tried to -" he stammered, pushing himself up to his feet.

"You shouldn't have interrupted our breakfast!" Cinder snapped. Taking my hand, she began to pull me out of the cafeteria. "We're leaving. Now."

I had the urge to stick my tongue out at Roan for being told off - though I was still focused on Cinder, who was gripping my hand very tightly. I could feel the wide eyes stares of the student body as we left the building, promptly making our way to the guest dorms.

"...thanks," I said. "The guy probably would've started an actual fight if you didn't step in."

"You shouldn't be doing stuff like that," Cinder said. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"I wouldn't let it happen, you know that," I said quietly. "I'm not exactly a pushover."

Cinder was silent as we kept walking. "...I...I know that," she whispered. "But when I saw him try to hit you..." She looked down, slowing her pace as we approached the building. "I thought back to the hotel..."

It took me a second to process this, but I winced when it finally came to light. "...I didn't mean to make you worry, I was just sick of the guy," I said. "Besides, you know I wouldn't have let him hit me. I'd have floored his ass if he actually tried."

Cinder snorted. "I know you would," she said. "Thanks for stepping in and interrupting him."

"No problem," I said.

"I mean, I don't know what he was thinking," Cinder grumbled. "He wants to talk like that to me, then be rude to you and act like that will make me say yes?"

"He probably thought him being rich and strong would be enough to impress you. I've seen enough of that happen in the past. 'Might makes right' they call it," I sighed. "In any case, if he comes after you again, you could just tell a teacher or the headmaster. We are meant to be guests."

"Maybe," Cinder said. "But I don't wanna cause any trouble. If he does try to get forceful, I will punch him in his stupid nose."

"Good girl. Don't tell a teacher, just start a fight," I chuckled, and Cinder only elbowed me in return, rolling her eyes. "Do you know if there's a laundry machine somewhere?"

"We could always ask the next teacher we find," Cinder said as we continued to walk. "Maybe we could borrow a uniform for you to wear?"

"Nah, I'm not much of a uniform person," I muttered. "I'll just go shirtless while I wait."

The rest of the walk remained oddly silent after that, though I paid it no mind. I was too busy wondering if we were going to have to deal with that Roan person again in the future.

- a few days later -

Plenty of time had passed since we'd arrived in Mistral. Cinder and I didn't do much other than spar at the combat gym and meditate in the common room. We managed to get a copy of the academy's daily schedule - and Cinder and I would leave the student dorms and head to the combat gym whenever there was no class being held there. Plus, we would do our best to avoid that Roan guy in case he would try to hit on Cinder again.

It was only during mealtimes that we had to run into Roan, and he would try his hand at flirting with Cinder every time he saw her. And like every other time, he'd be rude to me unprovoked and as smooth as possible with Cinder, regardless of how many times she said no. It was even starting to become talk of the school, especially given Roan's apparent status of 'best student of the first year'.

Cinder wasn't quite ready to leave the school in those past few days, and we stuck to our training to pass the time. It was easy enough to forget how frustrating Roan could be when we fought, easily losing ourselves in the fight. I hadn't won any battles since the ring out I managed to obtain by throwing Cinder, but I felt myself getting stronger with every passing day.

Today was a different day, however.

Cinder and I were spending our day in the quad, sparring in the open outdoors with Yang and Ruby as our little audience on one of the benches. The combat gym was being used for a class, and we were getting bored being holed up in the guest dorms.

"Flip him!" Yang called.

"Disarm him first!" Ruby shouted next as the two of us clashed.

"Then flip him into the fountain!" Yang followed up.

"Where're my fans? This is some bull," I grumbled, mildly annoyed by the fact that the two girls were only rooting for Cinder. The cheeky grin on Cinder's face didn't help matters either.

Sweeping my leg out, - I watched as Cinder jumped to the side to avoid getting her ankle caught in my foot, before she lunged forward, intent on catching me before I could get back up. That was when I acted.

Planting my hand on the ground, I twisted my body as high as possible, my leg kicking up to catch Cinder in the chin mid lunge. It worked as well as I'd have hoped, my shoe slamming into her face with enough force that she toppled off balance, the aura around her head flickering wildly.

Flipping myself back to my feet, I twisted my baton into a reverse grip and dashed towards my fallen opponent in an attempt to catch her in a harsh horizontal swing.

Cinder shot her arm out in time, blocking my strike with her blade before she twisted her body, legs outstretched to slam into my side. The first kick whittled away a chunk of my aura - while the second knocked me off of my feet, though I was quick enough to jump back up, just as Cinder did so as well.

The two of us continued to fight in the open square between the two CCT towers, not noticing anything out of the ordinary - at least until it was too late. I'd just managed to gain the upper hand, my baton pressed against her neck as I pinned her to the side of the fountain before she managed to bury the pommel of her sword against my side.

"Submit!" she hissed.

"You first!" I growled, and the two of us tumbled away from the fountain and began to roll on the pavement for a good few moments, at least until we realized that we weren't alone. The two of us struck a foot by the fountain, and we looked up to see Ozpin standing over us, hand resting on his cane.

"Good to see the two of you staying active," the headmaster of Beacon said, an amused grin on his face. "Although, doing so in full view of our guests from the other kingdoms would be considered...uncouth."

I blinked before my eyes slowly fell to what stood behind Ozpin - specifically, a large crowd of several dozen students - males in black suits with red ties and females in red plaid skirts and thin ribbons around their necks.

I recognized that uniform as Beacon's uniform.

"...we were bored," I said. Cinder and I pulled ourselves to our feet, holstering our weapons and brushing ourselves off. "The gym was being used."

"I see," the headmaster chuckled. "In any case, I'm glad you're here. You can direct the student teams to the guest dorms. I'd do so myself, but I have a meeting to attend with the Vytal Festival getting closer. Students from both Atlas and Shade are to arrive soon, and their respective headmasters are to follow as well."

"Sure," I said. "Sounds like you'll be working more than enjoying the festival."

"Indeed. However, working with others to prepare for such an event has its merits," Ozpin said as he walked ahead, patting my shoulder as he passed by me. "And feel free to ask them as many questions as you wish. I'll bring Taiyang's and Summer's daughters to them in the Grand Hall for the meeting."

Cinder and I looked as the gray haired man slash multiple centuries old reincarnated wizard knight walked by, bending over to speak to Yang and Ruby before making his way to the Grand Hall, the two girls following him along. "...okay," I said before looking at the Beacon students. "Welcome to Mistral. The guest dorms are this way."

As we led the Beacon students to the building they'd be staying at, we could hear some mutters among the group: some excited and some skeptical. "You think we'll actually get our own rooms? I heard the teams in Haven don't actually have to share rooms," one guy whispered.

"Yes, each team has four rooms for each member, and a common room for the whole team," I said, jerking everyone's attention towards me. "So you'll all get plenty of privacy."

"That sounds great. Won't have to put up with sleeping next to you bozos for the festival," one student muttered.

"Hey! Rude!" a female hissed, likely the first student's teammate.

"What about the other students?" another person, one with a pair of short feline ears asked. "I heard Mistral is the worst against Faunus."

"Then you have permission to beat them up," Cinder said. "As long as you let them hit you first."

Some of the students chuckled in response. "I like the sound of that. If any of those racists try anything, I'm knocking their lights out," one muttered.

"Of course an animal lover like you says that," another grumbled nearby.

"Asshole!"

"Can you not?" Cinder asked, mild annoyance in her tone as she turned to look at the group of huntsman and huntress students. "You literally just got here."

"Oh, and you can talk to us like that, kid? Are you a student like us?" one of the Beacon students asked, her tone seemingly haughty. Cinder was quick to stop, and that got those following her to stop as well.

"Not yet, but we've had to put up with criminals, drug dealers, people willing to beat Faunus kids to death, and a Haven student who won't stop hitting on me," Cinder continued in a dark tone before I could say anything. "So if you really wanna take that tone with me, I will show you what this 'non-student' can do."

Something in Cinder's tone or words must have gotten something across, because now whoever had decided to try and challenge her had fallen silent. After a moment of quiet, Cinder continued walking briskly, with me and the others following her. "Bad mood, huh?" I asked as we reached the building.

"You have no idea how annoyed I am," Cinder grumbled as the doors opened. Clearing her throat, Cinder adopted a more formal tone as she turned to the others. "This is the lobby."

"Down the hallways are your rooms. How many teams from Beacon came to Mistral?" I asked.

"Sixteen," came a reply from somewhere in the back.

It took me a few seconds to do the math. "Alright, sixty four students. Rooms are numbered in increments of four. One through four is reserved. The first team will have five through eight, the next will have nine through twelve, and so on. Common rooms are labeled for each team and are between every set of team rooms," I said. "Any questions?"

"Yeah," one student said. "We continue our classes at Haven, so do we get a schedule or what?"

"Ask a teacher for copies when they come, because this area doesn't have any," I said. Relegating the specific details of the matter to the faculty seemed like the right move to make. "I do know that breakfast starts at six in the morning, and lunch starts at eleven. All classes end at four in the evening."

The students began to mutter amongst themselves, some complaining about the schedule being different from what they were used to. I didn't very much care, not when Cinder and I had more sparring to do. We squeezed our way through the Beacon students as they began to pile into the hallway to claim their rooms.

"Glad that's over and done with," I muttered. "You don't think they'll try and take our rooms, do you?"

"They're all locked, so we should be fine," Cinder said. "I saw some of those students holding scrolls. It would be nice to have one."

Ah, yes. The RWBY universe's equivalent to smartphones, tablets, and handheld computers. "I bet," I sighed. "I think we'll get one when we join Beacon."

"Why don't we get one early?" Cinder asked.

"Well, they're probably worth tens of thousands of Lien. Better to wait and get scrolls for free when we enroll," I said. "In any case, it's not gonna be worth buying scrolls early when there's not much we could do with them anyway."

"Hmm," Cinder muttered, and it seemed like she agreed judging by the silence. "So what should we do now?"

"Well...I'd rather not deal with that Roan again," I muttered. "So let's explore the city a bit."

Cinder looked worried. "Are...are you sure?" she asked.

"It'll be fine," I said. "It's not like we'll get kidnapped - especially if we stay in the higher parts of the city. Less criminals and less people willing to start a fight in public."

Cinder fell deep in thought. I did remember her talking about the chance to leave the academy once or twice, whenever we felt bored of being stuck there. "Well..." she muttered. "...what if we get lost?"

"We could always just find our way back up," I said as I looked around us. "Haven Academy is at the top of the entire mountain. As long as we get back before curfew, we'll be fine."

Cinder was silent once more, looking away as she pondered to herself. "...as long as we stay together. Okay?" she asked.

I grinned at her agreement. "Promise," I said, and the two of us made our way out of the academy, towards one of many staircases and ramped walkways that led to the busy city streets below. The path followed along the edge of the mountain, leaning over the impressive view below with thick and tall wooden fencing keeping anyone from falling off.

Cinder walked along the edge of the path, hand trailing on the smooth wooden railing as we made our way towards the busy city streets. "Can't get a view like this in Vale or Atlas," I remarked.

"It is nice," Cinder said. "But I prefer Vale."

"So do I," I said. "So, wanna get some lunch?" Cinder nodded, and the two of us entered the main city itself, coming across a large market area with various stalls, carts, and tables selling a wide variety of things ranging from foods to items to weapons.

The two of us made our way through, searching for a restaurant to eat at. As we walked, the two of us chatted about the students from Haven and Beacon, specifically what little we learned about the curriculum they took, such as Grimm studies and some combat lessons we managed to sneak a few peeks at.

All the while, neither of us noticed that we were being followed at first.

We ended up noticing a small ramen bar in the corner of a city block, next to multiple staircases, some of which led down another path through a tunnel dug in the rock, and others that wrapped around the edge of the mountain. "I don't get how people find their way so easily," I muttered to myself. "I'd get lost if we weren't staying at Haven."

"This is different from Atlas or Vale, isn't it?" Cinder sighed. "It feels weird."

"Ah, well. Maybe next time we could get Summer to come along," I said as we began to walk towards the ramen bar. "She'd probably find her way around a lot faster-"

My words were cut off by a startled yelp from Cinder, and she was sent crashing into me, the two of us toppling to the ground. "My swords!" she shrieked, and I looked up to see a cloaked figure running down a stairway into the tunnel, the gleam Cinder's weapons vanishing into the darkness.

"Shit! After her!" I choked out, and the two of us scrambled to our feet to give chase. We rushed into the tunnel with all plans for lunch abandoned in favor of stopping the thief.

Luckily, the tunnel was lit by torches along the wall, and we were able to see the fluttering cloak of the culprit as we ran after them. Cinder had started jumping down the stairs, lunging a dozen steps at a time to speed up.

"Get back here!" she yelled, her voice echoing loudly as we continued to chase the thief. We passed a handful of people walking up and down the stairs, with all of them hurrying against the wall in order to avoid getting trampled down the tunnel. The two were getting further away, leaving me struggling to speed up as well.

"Dammit..." I muttered between heavy breaths. I could see the glimpse of a light brighter than the torches coming from the end of the tunnel. "I gotta get faster..." My thoughts were silenced as I heard a thud and a yelp at the end, followed by several more consecutive thuds.

Reaching the end of the tunnel, I spotted Cinder and the cloaked figure rolling down the last of the stairs, grappling each other as they fought viciously on the they came to a stop, Cinder had been pinned by the cloaked person, who raised one of Cinder's swords in an attempt to strike her down.

"Cinder!" I yelled, and I jumped forward as hard as I could. Like one of the last times I'd fought Cinder, I brought both feet forward to land a drop kick, successfully slamming into the assailant hard and sending the two of us shooting away from the tunnel entrance and across the dirt.

The figure cried out, her voice female as she slid against the ground and releasing Cinder's swords. The blades slid across the ground, and Cinder scrambled forwards to pick them up.

I tumbled for a moment, drawing my baton as I jumped back up to my feet and dashed towards the enemy, using the momentum from my drop kick to avoid wasting any time. Before I could swing, the figure gripped the shoulder of her cloak and tore it off of her, flinging it towards me.

If I had a blade, I could probably have cut it in an instant - but a baton had the annoying effect of bundling the flying cloak around and over it - blinding me long enough to stop my charge. Wrenching my arm down, I forced the cloak out of my eyes before they widened.

A girl with short brown hair roared as she swung two crescent shaped blades at me in overhead slashes, and I was quick to swing my cloak covered baton back up to meet her with enough force for the clashing metal to ring loudly, shredding the cloak with pure force. The girl jumped back, backflipping and landing effortlessly on her feet, growling as she raised her weapons.

I was able to get a good look at her now, seeing that she wore little more than an open torn brown sleeveless jacket and a black bra underneath. A long healed gash was visible on her stomach. Below the belt, she wore maroon thigh high shorts, black tights underneath, and brown worn boots. She wore armor as well, sporting gray vambraces with fingerless gloves and calf guards. On her left arm was a large black tattoo of a bird going from her shoulder down to her elbow.

But what caught me off guard the most were her weapons - the crescent shaped blades that I could now see sported large twin barreled pistols between them. Weapons in RWBY were iconic, and I instantly recognized these ones.

"Vernal," I whispered to myself.

I barely got enough time to handle my shock before the bandit attacked once more.

Chapter Text

"Move!" Cinder called.

I was just barely able to jump back in time before Cinder rushed in front of me, blocking a nasty strike with her swords. Vernal and Cinder clashed very quickly, swings and slashes followed by ringing metal as I rushed around Vernal in a desperate attempt to flank her.

Vernal was quick on the draw, however, and she managed to swing one of her weapons to the side to fire in my direction. Adrenaline did its work, and I was barely able to avoid the shot. This wasn't a bullet, however - but rather a beam of what was likely some kind of Dust powered energy. The thin beam attack pierced a rock wall, shattering a large chunk of it and sending pieces crumbling to the ground.

Sliding to a quick stop, I pushed aura into my feet and dashed at her open side in an attempt to close the distance as quickly as I could, infusing some of my own aura into my weapon. Vernal was quick enough to kick Cinder off of her and jump out of the way of my attack. My baton slammed into the ground, shattering the ground and sending crushed rock flying everywhere from the small explosion of impact.

Wrenching my weapon out of the crater, I raised it to block a horizontal kick from Vernal, jumping back and parrying a strike from her weapon before I blocked a front kick, locking her ankle with my elbow and leaving her balancing on one foot. "What do you want?" I hissed.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Vernal jeered before she brought up her other leg. It was a move I'd done before - however, and I was quick to counter by leaning back. Avoiding the foot to my face by a millimeter, I twisted my body and swung Vernal over my shoulder, throwing her into a pile of garbage against the rock wall.

"We would like to know, actually," I said. Cinder stepped forward, blades in hand as she readied herself to attack the second Vernal got up to her feet. As the bandit shook an old stained takeout box off of her head, Cinder raised her weapon, its edge pointed at her before she could get up. "So, what is the Branwen Tribe doing here?" I questioned.

Vernal's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You know who we are?" she asked.

"Wait, you know who they are?" Cinder asked in bewilderment.

Shit.

"I know a little. Qrow's sister leads the tribe, and people like her aren't too common," I said, quick to play off the reveal as I looked back at Vernal. "And you're probably one of her strays. So why're you attacking us?"

Vernal smirked. "You'll know soon enough," she said. "If you already know who we are, then it should make the next part easier."

The next part?...

Uh oh.

The sound of a loud hum and a red tint in the air suddenly had me on guard. Whirling around quickly, Cinder and I saw a large oval shaped portal of black and red shimmering and swirling in the air behind me. "Shit-" I began to say as I tried to step back from the large hovering doorway.

I was cut off by Vernal tackling Cinder into me, shoving the two of us through the portal. For a split second, we went deaf and blind before we slammed into the dirt on the other side, the sight of a bright blue sky now filling our dazed vision.

"...ow," I muttered before I pulled myself and Cinder up to our feet. Neither of us were in the city of Mistral anymore, it seems. Instead of seeing city life built into the mountains around us, we were surrounded by what appeared to be dozens of tents and haphazard portable buildings of varying states of disrepair. Most of the tents were made with torn canvas or cloth.

On the far sides of those makeshift shelters were large sets of wooden log walls, tall enough to block all but the treetops on the other side. Campfires and fire pits were everywhere, though no fire was lit due to it being daytime. There were also tables, barrels, chests, piles of firewood, and other items of varying nature scattered about.

But what worried me the most were the hundred or so people that surrounded us, either standing or sitting, or exiting their tents. Ages from teens to adults, the various men and women wore everything from regular clothes to clothes that looked befitting of huntsmen or huntresses with some sporting pieces of armor. Many held swords and clubs, while others held pistols, shotguns, or rifles. "...well, that's just great," I muttered as I looked at the Branwen Tribe around me.

"Hup!" Vernal grunted as she leapt through the portal and landed on her knees - with the portal promptly closing itself from behind her. The second that the large oval of swirling red and black disappeared from view, the figure that had been standing behind it was revealed to us.

A tall woman wearing a black and red kimono stepped forward, her heeled thigh high boots digging into the dirt and crushing a pebble with one of her steps. She wore a short black skirt, a sash with long feathers, and layered red armor on her arms. Her kimono was open over her collar, revealing multiple necklaces made of beads, and she wore a familiar large full face Grimm mask over her head. A massive cylindrical scabbard hung on the left side of her belt, a long sword handle sticking out.

Raven Branwen herself approached Vernal as the short haired girl stood up. "You have done well, Umbra," she said. "The tribe is better off for your...contribution."

Umbra? Was her name not Vernal?

"Thank you," Vernal - no, Umbra said, her head remaining low as Raven rested a hand on her shoulder, something that seemed to relax her a great deal. "I've done the best that I could."

"Your best was more than enough," Raven said. She looked over at Cinder and me, the four eye slits of her mask seemingly holding a piercing gaze. "As for you two, I know you're wondering why I had the two of you brought here."

"Do you want us to join or what?" I asked, somewhat familiar with how she worked - specifically her mentality of 'the strongest rule' despite running a small bandit tribe. "Sorry, the answer's no. Not in the business of being bandits with a bunch of strangers."

"You catch on quickly," Raven said, her tone sounding rather bored as she lifted her hand from Umbra and made her way over to us. Despite her heeled boots giving an inch or two of extra height at best, she was still very tall. "But you would do best to watch your mouth."

"And why should we?" Cinder asked, clearly the angrier of the two of us. "You essentially kidnapped us!"

There was silence for a moment before the bandit leader spoke. "The answer is simple. Because unlike the academies in which you hold your petty little spars, I only look for the best. The strongest," Raven said. You were interesting to me the moment you arrived personally with Ozpin. But the way you two fight each other, you hold a vicious nature that most blind sheep that attend those academies don't possess."

I blinked in mild surprise. Was that really the only reason why she decided to 'recruit' us? Because we were good fighters? As underwhelming as that was, Raven was one of the strongest fighters around, which probably meant that Cinder and I were very good.

Wait, she saw us at Haven Academy? Since we arrived? I looked down, frowning as I fell deep into thought. How did Raven see us? How could she have watched us arrive? How could she have seen us battle for the past few days? How did she-

It hit me, and I scowled. "She can turn into a bird. God frickin' dammit," I thought, having remembered what Raven and her brother had the magical ability to do. "So she spies on the school for recruits to join her merry band of bandits? That's troubling."

"Giving it some thought, I see," Raven said. I didn't bother correcting her as she stepped forward. "Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to force you to obey instantly. But you will be expected to change your minds soon."

"And if Ozpin's searching for us?" Cinder asked.

Raven didn't reply at first. Then it happened in an instant - the bandit leader drew her sword out of her scabbard, swinging with a single hand as an arc of red flashed between me and Cinder. The two of us stepped back a mere split second later, wondering if we'd just been killed.

Then the lanyards around our necks dropped from their straps, dropping to the dirt before us. Raven stepped towards us and raised a leg before crushing mine with a nasty snap, doing the same to Cinder's afterwards.

"No one's coming to find you," Raven said as she sheathed her weapon. "I destroyed your trackers before they could triangulate your position. A jump from one side of Anima to the other isn't easy on useless little trinkets like that."

Our student guest cards were bugged? "...oh," I said.

"Oh, indeed. Now, there's no point in arguing or complaining about your circumstances. If you try to flee, you will be cut down by my men. If you somehow manage to make your way through them, you'll have an entire forest of wild Grimm to deal with," Raven said as she strode past us, making her way to the far side of the camp - where a large tent sat on a raised wooden platform. "It's in your best interest to cooperate."

Before she reached the steps of her personal tent, she turned back to face us. "Unless you believe you're strong enough to face me for your freedom?" she asked.

So we had to beat her if we wanted to leave?

"...not now," I muttered, kicking at the broken card slash tracker on the ground.

"Smart," Raven said. "Umbra, you're in charge of the two. They are not to be treated like prisoners. Cage them only if they cause trouble." And with that set of orders, she disappeared into her tent.

Our first meeting with Raven Branwen. We hadn't even expected to come across her, much less be kidnapped by her. And why was Vernal not Vernal? How the hell did this even happen?

What a day...

"You two. With me, now," Umbra said, her tone haughty. Cinder growled and made to raise her weapons before I grabbed her shoulder, shaking my head and gesturing to the large group of bandits around us. Cinder got the message loud and clear, and she put her weapons away.

The two of us followed Umbra towards a tent in the corner of the camp. As we walked, the first thing I noticed was that she was shorter than me by about half a foot. She was much younger than in the show as well, probably just a year or two under Cinder's age. And yet, she was skilled enough to hold the two of us at bay - at least for a while.

And I didn't even see her activate her aura at the time. Did she even have any?

"So, she sees potential in us or what?" I asked, rightfully apprehensive.

"Raven values strength over all else. I haven't seen what she has, so I'm sure you managed to impress her in some way," Umbra said as she approached the tent. Hers was slightly larger, one of the flaps opened to reveal a sleeping mat and a small chest. "The strongest get rewards. You'll be much better in our hands."

"Oh, really? We kicked your ass back in the city, didn't we?" Cinder scoffed. "I'd say we're already better off without this stupid tribe."

Umbra scowled as she looked back at us, eyes narrowed and teeth gritted. "And for that, you're sleeping outside," she said. "But you may get to build your own tent if you beat me in a one on one."

"Done," Cinder said.

I wasn't so sure. "I wouldn't underestimate her," I said, wanting Cinder to be careful. "Those weapons are nasty, and she's probably as skilled as a huntsman student."

"Only a student?" Umbra asked, not looking very impressed.

"You look younger than us. It'd probably be safe to assume that you haven't been training for as long as a seventeen or eighteen year old has," I said, shrugging.

"Hm. In any case, it looks like only one of you knows how to recognize true strength," Umbra huffed with a sneer. "So why don't you listen to him?"

I frowned before looking at Cinder. "Play it safe, but kick her ass," I whispered. Cinder nodded, her anger dissipating only by a little bit.

- an hour later -

I stayed by the tent, feeling rather tense as the aforementioned one on one was about to commence.

Cinder and Umbra stepped forward, a small crowd of bandits surrounding them as they drew their weapons. The two circled each other for a moment, each eyeing their opponent up and down - their stances, their twitches, the way they held their weaponry. Cinder looked like she was indeed playing things safe, keeping her arms close to avoid telegraphing what she was about to do.

So was Umbra.

Then they clashed. The two lunged towards one another almost simultaneously, their weapons striking loudly as they slashed and swung at each other. Every hit was quickly countered, and every counter was quickly deflected. Cinder had always been ruthless in a fight, even when in a practice spar. But she wasn't entirely on the offensive this time.

Umbra spun out in a swinging kick, and Cinder was quick to block with her left elbow before swinging the sword in her right hand. Umbra dropped her leg and ducked to avoid the angled slash before forcing her weapons forward to try and stab her opponent. Cinder leaned back, her back arching as her hands touched the ground. Her legs came up and slammed into Umbra's face - sending her stumbling as Cinder backflipped to her feet once more.

She was being much more calculated this time. She wasn't as fast, nor as aggressive. Her focus was at an all time high, and it seemed like Umbra's was the same. She wasn't on the defensive like before - but rather fully on the attack. Her weapons slashed and carved away at Cinder's defenses, with some hits being blocked while others were absorbed by her aura. Despite the hits, Umbra continued to attack.

And yet, Cinder persevered. She jumped back from another wild slash, and Umbra was quick to jump forward to meet her - springing much faster and slamming into Cinder's face with an elbow. Cinder's aura flickered once more, and Umbra landed on top of Cinder, ready to rail into her.

Cinder's foot caught Umbra on the stomach as she landed, and she kicked as hard as she could. Umbra was sent tumbling into a tent - smashing into it before she twisted around, bouncing back up to her feet and quickly going back on the attack.

"She ain't too bad."

"Guess the boss really does know potential when she sees it."

"Wonder if he's like that too."

"Probably."

The bandit audience of the Branwen Tribe muttered amongst themselves as they watched the fight before them. However, I was deep in thought about our whole situation.

"Unless you believe you're strong enough to face me for your freedom?"

It was clear that the only way Raven would allow us to leave was if we defeated her in some way. Maybe this was her being cocky, but I could tell there was something deeper about this. She knew our current level of combat skill, especially since she'd been spying on us since we came to Mistral. This put us at a disadvantage, and I was lost in thought over what to do.

Plus, something told me that even if we were somehow able to take Raven down to earn our freedom, there was a risk that she would probably see us as strong enough to be an asset to her tribe. It was a tough situation all around.

A loud yell filled the air, and I was briefly distracted to see Cinder deflect one of Umbra's weapons - having been hurled like a frisbee. The second spinning blade struck her leg and her aura flickered once more, this time much more erratically. Cinder's aura was low, and Umbra was still going strong.

The bandits had gotten much rowdier as well, and Cinder was now one hundred percent on the defensive, needing to focus on knocking Umbra back for space to move around. Despite her efforts, Umbra wasn't deterred for more than a millisecond before charging back in. "Not so tough now, are ya?!" Umbra cackled, not letting up for a single moment.

"Shut up!" Cinder growled, swinging wildly to force Umbra back. Her opponent only ducked before slashing upwards at her stomach, which was wide open from the attempted counterattack. Cinder's aura shattered as she flew back and dropped onto a table, crushing it and sending splinters everywhere.

The bandits all cheered as the victor of the duel sheathed her weapons. I was quick to hurry over as Umbra made her way to the fallen Cinder as well. "Aww, you thought you could beat me after getting the jump on me earlier? Must hurt," she cooed mockingly.

Cinder pushed herself up by her elbows, gripping her weapons so tightly her knuckles turned white. I was surprised she hadn't let them go. "Piss off!" she hissed.

Umbra only sneered and moved her leg back to kick Cinder before she could get up, only for me to get in her way. And by 'got in her way', I meant that I grabbed her by the collar of her sleeveless jacket, dragging her back a few inches.

"You won. No need to kick her while she's down," I said, angered by her attempt to injure Cinder after already defeating her.

Umbra growled before wrenching my grip off of her. "Hmph! Be glad your boy toy stepped up. Otherwise your bones would be broken for the next few weeks," she huffed, brushing her clothes off before walking away.

The bandits dispersed as well, their entertainment value gone now that the battle was over. I looked over at Cinder, who was slowly pulling herself up to her feet. "You alright?" I asked gently, coming over and helping her stand up.

Cinder hissed in pain, and she trembled against me. "...I'll be okay..." she whispered.

"You did great," I said. "Trust me, you're a lot stronger than she's willing to admit."

"Oh? And how can you tell?" Cinder grumbled sardonically. It was clear that she was sour over her defeat - but more than that, she felt humiliated.

"She stands out from the rest. She's one of the much stronger ones because she was the one who was sent to grab us," I whispered. "And she has those weapons of hers - much fancier than the guns and swords the other bandits have."

"What do her weapons have to do with this?" Cinder hissed.

"Do you see anyone else in the tribe with cool weapons like that?" I asked, eyeing the one-tone swords, guns, and sticks that the other bandits had. "She earned those by climbing to the top. You may have lost to her once, but you're going to be much stronger than the others."

"And what about you?" Cinder asked.

"Oh, if you lost - then I'll most definitely lose," I muttered, not feeling too proud to admit that fact. "But I'm working out a way to get Raven to let us go back."

"And how is that going to work?" Cinder asked, her voice much more eager.

"Still working on it," I muttered. "She'll be a tough nut to crack. Bandit or not, she's Qrow's sister - and they're evenly matched. If we can't even beat Qrow once together, then she won't be any easier. Battle isn't an option."

Cinder sighed as she looked down. "You'll come up with something. I know you are," she said after a moment of thought. "You're smarter than me...than I'll ever be."

I frowned. "And you're stronger than I'll ever be, and I'm not just talking about combat. You withstood the worst life had to throw at you. And now you're here," I said. "I don't mean in this tribe, I mean free. Away from your abusers, all while getting stronger with every passing day."

Cinder looked up at me, her cheeks flushed. "Really?" she whispered.

I nodded as the two sat by Umbra's tent. "By the way, why didn't you use your semblance?" I asked. "Burning her a bit would've given you an edge."

"I wanted to," Cinder mumbled. "But I couldn't find an opening. I could only focus on my defenses."

I pondered for a bit. "Looks like her fighting style is centered around overwhelming her opponents," I mumbled. "She's aggressive, and will close any openings that could lead towards a counterattack. But she didn't start off with that."

"I think she was gauging me," Cinder explained. "She looked like she was studying my moves before she started to get faster and faster. After that, it was like she was reading my every move. I should have been more aggressive."

"No, this was probably the best outcome. Because now we know how she fights," I said. "She can work out fighting styles just by observing them for a bit. Then she goes on the attack with an idea of how to deal with her enemy quickly. Probably not her semblance since there's no aura that I could see, but it's something to use to our advantage."

Cinder looked away. "And I made it obvious," she mumbled.

"Don't worry, we can probably fight her as many times as she wants. She doesn't seem like the type to say no - especially since she'd probably be super eager to fight in general," I said. I looked up, and I saw that the sun was just starting to set. It was nowhere near nighttime yet, but we hadn't had dinner yet.

My thoughts were interrupted when Umbra returned. "Here," she muttered, tossing two items at us with one hand. Cinder and I caught them, and my hand was immediately alight with a burning sensation. The steaming chicken leg stared back at me, juices trickling down a crispy skin.

"Huh," I said. "Really expected to have to fight for food."

"You think we're animals, is that it?" Umbra scoffed. She was holding a plate in her other hand, which held a pile of rice and a whole chicken breast. "The tribe takes care of each other. And that includes you...even if you aren't actual members yet..."

"Hm," I muttered before biting into the chicken. The skin was crispy, and the meat was juicy yet almost flavorless. Cinder dug in much more quickly, tearing away at the white meat regardless of how hot it was.

The two of us finished up a minute or so later, tossing the bones aside. "Thanks for the food," I said.

"Hmmph! I see you also have manners to your superior as well," Umbra snorted, her expression very smug. "I'm glad to see someone like you is keeping her in line."

"Don't push it," I warned. "You try to attack her, you attack me as well."

"Oh, please. I could take you both down in my sleep," Umbra growled. "But before I get to do that, I wanna fight you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Now?" I asked.

"Tomorrow. Wanna make sure you get some sleep so you could have an actual chance. Wouldn't be a fair defeat for you if you didn't," Umbra sneered. "Besides, she could use the sleep as well."

Cinder clenched her fists, and I scowled. "I just said not to push it," I said.

"Oh, boo hoo - you can't handle the truth. Not my problem you're so weak," Umbra huffed.

"Sounds like you might be too," I remarked. "If you keep poking at Cinder, it means you're too insecure to leave it alone."

"Insecure?" Umbra hissed, easily angered by that simple word. "You think I'm insecure? If you haven't remembered, I kicked her ass!"

"And you haven't beaten me yet," I pointed out casually. "Though if you need to try and pick on us before the fight, you're really worried you'll lose to me tomorrow."

Umbra's face turned bright red with fury before she whirled back around. "Just know that when I beat you, I'm going to break your bones next," she snarled.

Umbra's lack of any sort of control on her temper would help wonders. "Alright," I said. "We'll just wait and see."

And with that, she left us alone for the rest of the day.

- nighttime -

The rest of the afternoon passed by quickly, with none of the bandits causing any trouble for us. They all stared and sneered, but they didn't approach. Umbra still shot us some nasty looks, but she remained on her own.

Cinder and I lay on a spare sleeping mat together, a single piece of tarp serving as our blanket for the night. It was calm and quiet outside, with nothing to feel but a gentle cold breeze.

I was going to be fighting Umbra slash Vernal the best day. How exciting and dreadful at the same time.

"Will you be okay?" Cinder asked, pressed against me. It was almost as if she were reading my mind. "She's strong."

"I'll work out a way to beat her," I said. "In fact, I may have a plan to actually fight her."

"A plan?" Cinder whispered in excitement. "What's the plan?"

I shook my head, holding a finger to my lips as I looked at Umbra's tent. Muffled snoring could be heard from there, though I wasn't willing to take any chances.

'Wait and see,' I mouthed to Cinder, and she nodded.

The two of us drifted to sleep in the cold Mistral night.

Chapter Text

The next day was a busy one when we were woken up. The all surrounding noises coming from shouting bandits, metal clanking, and creaking wood were hard to ignore, and soon I was sitting up and rubbing my eyes. "Ugh...what's going on?" I mumbled.

"A raid," Umbra's voice said next to us. I shook myself clear of any drowsiness and looked over to see the short haired girl sitting outside her tent. Around us were several people collecting weapons and moving various things around. "They're gonna be back by lunch. Maybe later."

Cinder yawned as she stretched her arms next to me. As she did so, I stood up and watched as a third of the armed men and women began to make their way to a main gate, carrying chests and barrels as they headed out of the camp. The sounds of jeering noises and laughing could be heard as the large gate lowered via a pulley system being operated by two bandits. When they left, the gate was pulled back up behind them.

"They're...gonna attack a village or what?" I asked, mildly disturbed.

"Yeah," Umbra said. "Not really much of an easier way to say it."

I was about to ask if this was really okay with them...at least until I remembered where we were. "Yeah...we're definitely not joining and we're definitely not doing that," I said.

"Not like you'll have a choice. And besides, don't knock it until you give it a go," Umbra said, turning to look at me with a cruel grin. "Anyways, you and I have a fight."

"Yeah, don't remind me," I grumbled as I cracked my neck and knuckles. "What do I get if I win?"

Umbra scoffed. "You honestly think you could win against me?" she asked, almost incredulously.

"It could happen!" I protested. "Might trip you up or something."

Umbra laughed - and I was surprised to hear almost genuine laughter rather than a mocking or derisive chuckle. "Alright then. If I win, I get that nice jacket of yours."

That was all? I liked the jacket, but not enough to be too attached to it. Still, I wasn't about to lose even if that was all that was at stake. "Sure. And if I win..." I fell deep into thought as I scratched my chin.

"If you win, you could take something off of me," Umbra said. "Hah! You could even have my weapons if you wanted."

That was a bold claim. Maybe that was due to how cocky she was. Still, she had the skills to back up her words, and the last thing I wanted to do was to end up looking stupid. "I'll hold you to that," I said.

Umbra only rolled her eyes as she stood up. "Get ready to fight," she said, brushing off her clothes before she cracked her neck. "Ten minutes."

"Yeah. Sure," I sighed as she walked off. Cinder was fully awake now, and she looked at me in concern. "Don't worry, I can handle it. I have a plan, actually."

"You never told me what this plan was. Did you unlock your semblance?" Cinder asked quietly. Luckily, no other bandits were near us. Any that we could see were minding their own business without much interest or care directed at us.

"No, I haven't - as much as having one would be nice right about now. As for the plan, you'll see..." I said with a grin. It seemed like it was only enough to reassure Cinder's concerns only by a little bit, now wearing a nervous smile on her face.

I ruffled her hair affectionately, though I was feeling less confident myself. Still, I wasn't about to back down - not when we still had to worry about getting back to Haven Academy. I patted my baton hanging off of my belt, wondering just if I'd even be able to pull off what I had in mind.

- two hours later -

Raven Branwen stood outside her tent, her arms crossed and her mask donned as she and many other bandits waited. It was now time for the duel between me and Umbra - and for some reason it felt like a much bigger audience this time, even though a large portion of the tribe had left to raid some poor village.

The thought of it still made me queasy.

Umbra drew her weapons, the crescent blades unfolding and gleaming in the sunlight. "You ready?" she asked, grinning cockily.

I drew my baton. "As ready as I'll ever be," I said.

Umbra's grin turned into a wide smile before she lunged at me. I ducked back, focusing on remaining defensive and holding back as much as I could as Umbra swung, stabbed, and kicked with a series of precise motions. She was fast and all her attacks were well aimed, but she wasn't as fast as she could have been.

Which meant she was most likely calculating my strength like she did with Cinder early on in their fight. If what I had in mind was going to work, I'd have to be ready to deal with a lot of aggression.

As I blocked a low strike from Umbra, my gaze flickered to my left to see that Cinder was watching, her eyes wide with worry as Umbra continued to advance on me. I ducked to the left or right, rolling out of the way of any wide hits and gaining some space to move around. I was playing less defensively, and moving around to avoid getting hit altogether.

I wasn't sure how long the two of us practically danced about in our 'fight' - especially with Umbra slowly and slowly looking much angrier with every hit I dodged or jumped around. I kept it up, however, knowing that it was only going to be a matter of time before Umbra's patience would dwindle down.

The crowd seemed to be annoyed by this, and I could barely make out discontented mutters and sneers around me. One quick glance showed me many annoyed glares from the bandits, but Raven didn't seem to be as disappointed as the others.

In fact, she seemed downright thoughtful. That was probably a bad sign.

I was brought back to reality when Umbra landed a kick on my gut, sending me sliding back. "Fight me, you son of a bitch!" she snarled.

I grinned at her sudden burst of anger. "Joke's on you, I never knew my mom!" I spat as I dodged another strike. She was faster now, but she'd gotten noticeably sloppier - though she was still too fast to take advantage of her change in fighting style.

"I said fight me, you damn bastard!" Umbra yelled, swinging her leg in a roundhouse kick. Jumping back, I ducked to the left and rolled away from a spinning axe kick. Sliding to a stop and twisting around, I watched as Umbra rushed forward with a snarl, her weapons raised for an overhead strike.

An opening. I hid my grin as I pushed some of my aura into my weapon. Following that, I jumped to the side and swung my baton in a horizontal manner, the attack slamming her in the gut with enough force to send Umbra flying back. The aura in my attack only made it hit harder, and she hit the dirt with enough force to dig a trench through it - dust billowing in the air.

I tossed my weapon to my other hand and shook my wrist, shaking off the brief sense of numbness I felt from that hard of a swing when I heard a roar. Quickly grabbing my weapon back in my dominant hand, I readied myself for a charge from Umbra - only to see two blades flying out of the cloud of dust like discs.

I deflected one into the ground and ducked under the second, though I was quick to keep an eye on the second weapon, knowing it would come back and bite me in the ass - literally in this case - if I wasn't careful. Before I could move to intercept the approaching crescent blades, Umbra came flying out of the dirt, roaring loudly as she rapidly closed the distance between us with her leg extended in a flying jump kick.

Catching her by the leg, I spotted the returning spinning weapon and hurled Umbra in that direction. To my surprise, Umbra twisted in the air and caught it flawlessly - landing right in front of one of the watching bandits before she lunged at me again, hurling the weapon once more as she charged.

I was quick to catch it with my baton - intending to slam it into the ground with a swing. Instead, the weapon got hooked on my own like a ring on a pole, swinging around before hanging haphazardly on my own weapon. I barely had a moment to process my surprise before Umbra jumped at me, hand outstretched to grab my baton and her weapon on it.

"Nope!" I managed to get out before ducking my arm. My free hand grabbed Umbra by the wrist and I pulled her around me, her legs losing balance and stumbling as I threw the smaller and lighter girl back around.

Umbra rolled on the dirt before stopping on her hands and knees, her face red and her breaths coming out in heavy pants as she fought to control her breathing. Or maybe she didn't bother trying to calm down, because her head whirled towards me with a glare that promised painful death for what I did.

I would've been nervous if I hadn't been happy to finally get one over on Umbra. One of her weapons was hanging off of my steel baton, and the other was lodged in the dirt near me. Just to rub it in, I raised my foot and stepped on her weapon - digging the heel of my shoe into it.

Her angry eyes widened, and I could have sworn I saw hissing steam shooting out of her ears. "You'll pay for that!" she screamed, and she jumped back to her feet and roared, jumping forwards to throw a punch aimed right at my face.

It was the most obvious and probably the only attack she could think of when she was this mad. But it was exactly what I was hoping for.

I dropped my weapon and hers on the ground before ducking right under the punch. My head slammed into her chest, driving the breath out of her before I wrapped my arms around her waist. A startled yelp escaped her as I stood up straight - her stomach on my shoulder before I dropped backwards.

The two of us slammed the dirt - Umbra's face practically buried into the ground right before my back did, a cloud of dust billowing from the heavy impact of our combined body weight. The second I couldn't feel Umbra moving, I let her go and stood up - brushing myself off before looking around me.

The audience of bandits around me were silent and in shock. Cinder was beaming widely, and Raven's thoughtful expression had morphed into a mildly impressed widening of the eyes. Grabbing my weapon, I was quick to holster it before picking up Umbra's circular bladed pistols.

"You...you bastard!" Umbra coughed and hacked. Turning around, I saw that my opponent had forced herself out of the dirt - soot and scratch marks on her face as she wiped at her eyes. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and I could somewhat tell that they weren't just from the dirt in her eyes. "You...cheated!"

"No, I played it safe," I said. My heart rate was still going from the adrenaline of the fight, but I was feeling much calmer than before the fight had started. "You're the one who lost your temper and left yourself open."

"Shut up! We're not done!" Umbra snarled, trying to get back up on wobbling knees, only to drop back on the dirt. "You haven't beaten me yet!"

"Enough!" Raven barked. Umbra fell silent, and her hands were lowered from her teary red eyes. The bandits and I all turned to see Raven striding down the stairs of her tent's raised platform - and the crowd parted to allow her to pass. "He won, plain and simple. And it's clear that you can't fight any longer," she said, stopping by me.

"B-but..." Umbra stammered, her breath hitching as she tried to stand. Raven held up a hand, and Umbra held her breath.

"You are strong. But only in the body. This young man-" Raven continued, gesturing to me. "-is strong in his mind, his strategy. Real life is not about who can hit harder or faster. Your skills mean nothing if someone is able to simply work around them."

The leader of the Branwen Tribe turned and nodded to me, a show of respect that I hadn't even been expecting to receive. "It is a lesson that is seldom learned by the young. The fact that you not only know, but make great use of your wits shows that you are very strong," she said. "Umbra concedes her defeat."

The bandits began to disperse, and Cinder made her way over to me. However, Umbra stayed on the ground as she looked up at me, sitting on her knees as she quivered. It was then that I remembered what she said to me earlier before the fight.

"Hah! You could even have my weapons if you wanted."

I looked down at Umbra's weapons in my hands, before looking back at Umbra. "So...I won these from you then?" I asked.

A choked gasp escaped her, and Raven chuckled. "If that's what she agreed to, then yes," she said. "I did hear about your little conversation a few hours prior. You earned it."

And with that, Raven walked away - leaving me, Cinder, and a crushed Umbra. I looked down at the pistols, the blades shining in the sun despite the dirt and dust on them. They were very well maintained weapons, and I was aware that they were much more vicious and effective than my baton.

But they weren't my kind of weapons - nor were they Cinder's. Besides, she wouldn't give up her swords for anything. "Here," I said, handing Umbra's weapons back to her. The short brown haired girl's eyes widened - and she seemed almost hesitant to take them back. "These are yours. Not mine."

"W-what are you playing at?" Umbra hissed. I could tell that Cinder was thinking the same thing.

"Not much," I said. "I just can't use them. I've always been a forward kind of fighter. And taking your weapons seems like too much." I was tempted to say that she would need them more than me, but it would seem insulting to somebody like her.

Umbra looked up at me before she snatched her armaments back, holstering them on the back of her belt as she forced herself to stand. "Is this suppposed to be pity you're holding against me?" she asked, her voice quivering. She was still very mad, but she was definitely more humiliated than anything. "You think I need my weapons to beat you? Well, you're wrong!"

She was lashing out at me, attempting to keep herself from feeling even more crushed than she already was. Despite her attitude, I didn't feel like rubbing it in. I only shoved my hands in my pockets. "We'll just need to fight again, won't we?" I said.

Umbra's eyes widened before she grinned. "Y-yeah! You'd better be ready, because I'm coming at you for real next time!" she hissed. "Y-you think I was being serious? I was just holding back for your sake!"

I rolled my eyes at the bluster, ruffling Umbra's hair - much to her dismay as she spluttered and punched my arm. "Yeah, yeah, you'll beat my ass and laugh about it later," I muttered. Cinder snorted, and I could hear Umbra snapping at her to shut up. However, my good mood was quick to go away when I saw Raven standing by her tent, arms crossed as she continued to gaze at me.

Then her head jerked towards her tent.

I gulped before lifting a hand, pointing a finger at me questioningly. To my further nervousness, she simply nodded. "...okay, looks like your boss wants to talk," I said, turning around just in time to see Umbra and Cinder in the middle of starting another fight of their own.

Umbra's eyes widened. "Then what're you standing around for?! Go see her or we'll all get in trouble!" she hissed.

"If she wants to talk to you, then she'll talk to me as well-" Cinder began, only for Umbra to pull her back, intent on continuing their scuffle.

"I think it's just me," I said. "I'll probably be fine since she didn't kick my ass for kicking yours."

Umbra growled, and Cinder shook her head. "Be careful," she said. I nodded, and I headed to meet Raven outside her tent. Raven said nothing, only gesturing to her tent once more, and I went inside - pushing aside a flap and stepping into the shelter.

It was a luxurious look - especially for bandits. In the corners were barrels and chests, and there were even a few fancy looking rugs and floor pillows on the wooden deck for sitting. A small table was in the middle of the tent, and a rather large sized bed was on the right side - a dresser in front and a long night table behind it holding a tea set and several bottles of alcohol.

A large torn paper map of the world's kingdoms hung from the wall nearby, and several large sets of animal teeth hung from several sets of string connected from one end of the tent to the other. Curtains hung near the bed, serving as barriers for privacy between the bed and the rest of the tent. There was also another opening on the other side of the tent - likely the equivalent of a backyard.

"I'm sure you're wondering what I wish to speak to you about," Raven said as she walked around me, sitting on one of the floor pillows with her legs crossed. "Your performance against Umbra was exemplary, and I see great potential in your friend. I am now certain I made the right choice in picking the two of you for my tribe," she said.

I frowned, remaining standing. "We're not interested in becoming bandits," I said. "I'm flattered that someone like you thinks we're strong, but what we do with our abilities is up to us."

"Oh, I know. Regardless, our tribe is in need of someone like you. You either have great potential in those without aura, or you have recklessness in those you do have their aura unlocked. The former is much easier to manage than the latter, as you saw with Umbra," Raven said. "But it will be very useful to have someone with the benefits of both."

I blinked at that little bit of information. "She doesn't have her aura unlocked?" I asked, mildly surprised. I was aware that Umbra was very powerful, her speed did match with both Cinder and I, but our top speed came from the boost that our unlocked auras provided. Her impressive combat performance was purely her own physical capability?

"Indeed. Those in my tribe will have their auras unlocked only if they show the means of controlling it. Aura is powerful in many ways, but too many see it as a tool to be abused until it breaks. You utilize your aura sparingly, conserving your abilities to use to their fullest potential rather than wasting it like Umbra no doubt would," Raven explained. "She is too immature, as are many of my fellow tribe members. They would no doubt squander their powers if they were to receive them now."

I had a sinking feeling that I knew where this was going. "And...you want me to teach them?" I asked.

"Precisely. You and I are alike. You recognize strength not as the ability to wield power, but the knowledge of wielding it to the best of your capabilities. The tribe respected Umbra for her ruthlessness. But now they hold that same degree of respect for you as well," Raven said. "That knowledge will go further than simply having you in the tribe."

"Looks like I was right. Beating her only makes Raven want me to work in her tribe even more," I thought. "As...as nice as that is, my friend and I really don't wanna stay here. We came with Beacon's headmaster and your former teammates, so I'd really rather not piss them off."

Raven frowned. "Ah, Ozpin. Am I correct in assuming that you wish to join Beacon Academy?" she asked.

I could tell the direction where this was going, and I took a moment to think of a reply. The biggest way I could get Raven to actually like me was to see where she was coming from. It was clear she ran because of the truth of the world, with Ozma and Salem's war in the shadows taking a toll on her.

But then I remembered the ending scene of Volume 9. She was involved with Summer's death by Salem somehow - being the one to take her on that mission personally. This was obviously before that, and that likely meant that Raven likely still believed that Salem could be defeated - which probably meant that she still held some degree of respect for Ozpin.

...except that Raven didn't do this for Ozpin. She chose to help Summer because Summer was doing her own secret mission. I suddenly had a whole new change of perspective, and it was mildly disturbing to say the least. Raven likely had become the way she did by Volume 5 because of guilt - seeing herself as holding responsibility for getting Summer killed.

"Only to get stronger in our own ways. Cinder and I have big plans for ourselves, and we don't plan on being a part of his school," I said carefully. Raven raised an eyebrow, and I continued to speak. "I mean, don't get me wrong - he's a good guy. He cares and all, but something about him...feels off."

"Like he's keeping a secret?" Raven asked.

I knew I had her. "That sounds about right," I said with a sigh as I played ignorant. "And it seems like others are in the loop with him. Glynda and Headmaster Lionheart talk like they know something we don't, I mean. Maybe the headmasters of the academies in Atlas and Vacuo are the same. Makes me feel like something's up."

I was probably laying it on thick - but that didn't matter. Raven smiled at my words. "Maybe you're a lot smarter than I initially believed," she said. "You'll do just fine in any academy as long as you know to keep your eyes and ears open, as well as your skills sharp."

The compliment was unexpected, especially since I didn't think she'd have agreed that I would do well in an academy when it seemed like she wanted the opposite. "Uhh, thanks?" I asked.

Raven closed her eyes, exhaling deeply. "Now that my opinion of you has improved, I would like to discuss a new deal with you and your friend. If you manage to teach Umbra and my tribe to mature, then I shall voluntarily take you back to Haven Academy. No strings attached."

I raised an eyebrow at the change of heart "Wait, really?" I asked. "Where's this coming from?"

"Let's just say I have a good feeling about you," Raven said. "And regardless, you would still provide the primary benefit my tribe needs."

I looked down in silence, unsure of what to say or feel. Was this real? I didn't expect Raven to be so calm. I hadn't even believed she was anything other than a coward with a skewed sense of strength before I actually got to talk to her.

A moment passed before I looked back up and made my decision.

- a few minutes later -

"Good news!" I called. Umbra and Cinder were dirty, clothes scuffed and dusty as some other nearby bandits looked up at me. "Raven and I have reached an agreement!"

Cinder popped up, dashing over to me quickly enough to leave the dirt and dust on her quite literally in the dust. "What happened?" she asked.

"She said she'd let the two of us go if I taught the tribe how to behave," I said.

"WHAT?!" Umbra screamed. "Behave?! I can behave very well, bastard!"

"Enough to use aura and not piss off Raven with how aggressive you are?" I asked. Umbra's teeth grounded together, but she said no more. "Yeah. In any case, your aura isn't unlocked because she said you and the others would probably get yourselves killed thinking you're invincible. She says you're not ready - and I can see where she's coming from."

"Then why doesn't the boss teach us herself, huh?" a bandit asked.

"Yeah! Why's she pawning it off on some kid?" another complained. As a mild riot began to form, it was immediately squashed when Raven stepped out of her tent.

"Because teaching is not my strong suit," Raven said truthfully. "I can handle leading you to battle, but getting you to learn something requires a touch of delicacy I do not have. That should answer your grievances. If you wish to keep talking, however..."

She moved the flap of the tent to reveal her weapon - and the bandits wisely backed down. Umbra grumbled incoherently, muttering about how she'd have to learn from a stupid bozo like me.

"Are you sure about this?" Cinder whispered. "These are bandits."

"When we get back, I'll have an idea for dealing with it," I whispered. "Plus, the aura will cause more trouble with Grimm, so if we're lucky, it will keep them from going on raids so often."

Cinder nodded, and I cleared my throat before stepping back to address what few bandits were paying attention. Those who weren't would be missing out, although I didn't really care much. "So. The first thing you need when you want to master your aura is meditation," I said.

I was immediately bombarded by groans and hisses of discontent - which was to be expected from a bunch of bandits that preferred to fight and beat people weaker than them up. "If you don't, unlocking your aura will result in you breaking yourself apart," I said. That got me some silence, and I continued speaking. "Your aura has a limit. It boosts your abilities, yes. It gives you a shield, yes. It may even give you a special power. But it is a finite resource that needs to be used sparingly."

Cinder stepped in as well, deciding to help. "Your aura is an extension of your soul. Meditation is what strengthens your aura and your body's ability to use it. If you want to learn how to use aura, you need to handle meditating for long periods of time," she said.

Umbra let out a scoff, and I only rolled my eyes. "Playing teacher was not what I had in mind..." I couldn't help but think. Still, if this was the price to get Raven to let us go back, then I would pay it gladly.

Soon, we'd be able to see the others again.

Chapter Text

- a week after the spar -

A full week had passed since I had my duel with Umbra, and to my surprise - she was actually listening to whatever Cinder and I had to teach. Despite the rough start and the rebellious phase to us, it only took a few private words from Raven for her to start obeying. And now, not only was she calmer by a little bit - only a very little bit, she was a bit of a teacher's pet to me.

Only to me and not to Cinder, I was very quick to notice. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that I was the one who beat her in a fight. In any case, Umbra ignored everything Cinder said and only followed along when I had to repeat whatever Cinder said to her. As amusing as it was, it also proved to drive an even greater wedge between the two.

Not that I was expecting the two to get along, and I wasn't counting on it at first. We would be leaving this place soon enough anyways - at least that was what I thought.

But as the days went on and on, I realized that these people weren't exactly learning with any kind of enthusiasm to get stronger. They did listen to me ever since I defeated Umbra, but they weren't taking me seriously enough whenever I mentioned meditation.

Thus, meditation was more or less a difficult concept to get down - especially since fewer and fewer people even stuck to meditation.

Cinder and I watched as the few dozen or so bandits - alongside Umbra - sat with their legs crossed by their tents. It was kind of odd to think that I'd have to teach bandits about meditation, but it was actually working. These bandits were much calmer, still prone to anger and clearly still preferable to the thought of raids, but they weren't needlessly and constantly violent.

I could only hope that we could be done with teaching these people as soon as possible.

It was lunchtime now, and Cinder and I had spent much of our days by our corner next to Umbra's tent. We meditated and sparred amongst ourselves - and the bandits didn't seem to mind. In fact, the overall tribe seemed to be less violent and rowdy than I'd expected when we were first kicked through the portal into the camp. I wasn't sure what I would have seen, but most of the tribe were generally normal people.

The only time they seemed to be riled up was when there were raids. Apparently, up to forty or so bandits would be grouped to go off and attack or loot some poor village, and they would come back with food, water, and all sorts of other things that were stolen. Thankfully, there was no kidnapping or slavery - and it seemed like most of what the bandits did were steal. I guess it made sense, seeing no farms or any way of growing or raising food - it wouldn't have been viable either since the Branwen Tribe was usually on the move every few weeks or so.

To my surprise, the biggest threat to the tribe wasn't the Grimm, the police force of Mistral, or the huntsmen and huntresses of the kingdom - but rather other bandit tribes, as few as they apparently were. It turns out with so many settlements and small towns scattered across the continent of Anima, there were a wide variety of groups made up of bandits, marauders, and pirates that often did worse than what the Branwen Tribe did, including kill and enslave - with Faunus usually being the targets most of the time.

I shuddered to myself thinking of groups such as that, and I looked over to Cinder, who was having a little nap by herself. Getting up, I looked around before spotting Umbra in her own tent - still meditating. "Looks like you've gotten the hang of it," I said. "Are you feeling calmer?"

Umbra sighed before turning to look at me. "No," she grumbled. "I thought you said we'd gain control of our aura if we meditate."

"No, I said meditation will let you gain control of using your aura, not that it will unlock it for you. Only one of us can do that," I said, reminding myself to ask Cinder to do the aura unlocking since I had no idea how one was even supposed to unlock aura. "And we'll only do that once you see the point of meditation."

"And what is the point supposed to be?" Umbra asked.

"To understand yourself," I said, partially bullshitting my lessons slash answers as I sat next to her. "Think of why you wanna grow stronger. It sounds cheesy, but find your true self. Find what you wanna do for yourself, not for the tribe. It's your aura and your soul, after all."

Umbra looked away, biting her lip with a clear sense of unease. "...I don't know," she said.

"Then you'd better start thinking," I said gently. "Or you'll end up in further trouble down the line."

Umbra looked up. "How long did it take you to meditate?" she asked.

"Months," I said. It was almost comical how quickly her face fell. "I meditated for hours at a time for days and days. When I wasn't working or training, I was meditating. It sounds like a lot of work, but trust me when I say it's worth it."

Umbra slowly looked down. "...okay," she mumbled, almost grumbling in clear reluctance. "I'll give it a try."

I smiled before leaning over and ruffling Umbra's hair. To my further surprise, she didn't lean away or push my hands away, instead grumbling in mild annoyance. "She's changing. Rather quickly," I thought. "Was it because I defeated her in a fight? It couldn't be that easy, could it?"

"Arden, what exactly are you doing?"

I turned to see Cinder waking up. "Sorry, I was just passing the time. This teaching stuff has been a lot to handle," I muttered. "What's up?"

Cinder looked down. "Can we talk somewhere private?" she asked. I felt a little nervous, but I nodded regardless. The two of us left the corner and headed towards the other side of the camp where it'd be emptier than the rest of the area.

Most of the bandits that lived in this part of camp had gone out raiding, while a few others had gone out to hunt animals or clear out any Grimm near the camp. The two of us looked around to see the other bandits training on their own, meditating, sharpening or repairing weapons, or what other things bandits did with the plentiful amount of free time that they had.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Cinder looked up at me, her eyes angered. "This is going to be a waste of time," she whispered. "I miss the others. I miss Ruby and Yang. I miss Taiyang and Summer. I want to go back to the way things were..."

I'd figured she would have gotten sick of this place already, but I hadn't really been helping. Sighing, I leaned in and pulled Cinder into a hug. "We're almost done," I reassured.

"But why can't we go now?" Cinder complained. "Why do we need to make these stupid bandits stronger? Why can't we just fight our way out?"

"Because we can't win if we choose to fight," I replied. "Raven and Qrow are siblings and probably equals in combat. If we can't even get close to beating Qrow, then there's absolutely no way we can beat Raven in a fight. This is the easiest way."

"We can run," Cinder suggested. "Fight through Grimm and make it back to Haven."

"Haven's too far," I said, remembering what Raven said when we first arrived. "Look around us. There's no mountain with cities all over it. We're practically across the whole continent. I will get some things changed, and we can go home faster if they work." I sighed once more and tightened my hug on Cinder ever so slightly. "Can you trust me please? I'm doing my best here."

Cinder wasn't responsive - not for a moment. She remained tense for a few seconds before she relaxed against me. "Alright...on one condition," she finally said.

"And what's that?" I asked.

"If we're going to be stuck here longer, then could you train with me?" she asked. "We haven't trained together ever since we got taken here. And now you're busy teaching these bandits."

I slowly nodded. "Alright. We'll spar just to pass the time," I said. "Wanna start now?"

Cinder shook her head. "Not now. Just...can we stay like this for a little bit?" she asked.

I broke the hug before sitting down against the haphazard log wall. Cinder sat next to me before slowly leaning her head on my shoulder. Her arm snaked around mine, and I clasped her hand when it came into my grip.

The two of us spent a good several minutes in silence, enjoying each other's presence as the bandits in the camp continued to do their own thing. It was about the only form of alone time Cinder and I had outside of sleeping, and it felt much more precious than usual.

Perhaps absence does make the heart grow fonder.

"She is right, though. We do need to get back to Haven fast. We might not have enough time," I thought to myself as I sat with Cinder. "There's no guarantee that this job will even be done soon enough."

I fell deep into thought. There had to be a way to leave soon enough. However, a lot of factors were directly against us. The forest around us was too difficult to navigate, and the chance that we could even find a settlement was too low given that they were all likely attacked at some point. The bandits were essentially an army, and there was going to be Grimm everywhere.

Raven was going to be our only way back to Haven. And probably back to that one asshole of a flirt.

I frowned before pushing that thought away. I was going to have to talk to Raven.

Taking a slow and deep breath, I exhaled before slowly looking over at the girl leaning next to me. "Cinder?" I quietly asked after a moment had passed by. "I need to talk to Raven."

"Is it to try and get us back faster?" Cinder asked.

I nodded. "I thought it over, and I guess there really is no other way other than to talk to Raven," I said. "I just hope she'll listen."

Cinder slowly let me go, and I stood up to brush off my clothes and stretch my arms and legs. "Good luck," she said.

"Thanks. I'll need it," I muttered as I made my way back across the camp towards Raven's tent. Many of the bandits still around took notice, their gaze following me as I approached the raised wooden platform.

With a quick sigh, I pushed forward and walked up the stairs, stepping inside before I could be stopped. Pushing aside the flap, I entered Raven's tent to see the bandit leader herself sitting on a floor pillow in front of the low table, studying a map on the table with what looked like a piece of black chalk.

"She's probably planning where the camp will move out next..." I thought to myself before clearing my throat. "Hey...uhh, you got a moment?"

Raven didn't look up, but she did reply. "Speak," was all she said as she rested a hand on her weapon - which leaned on the table by the map.

I took a deep breath, steeling my nerves for what was to come before I finally spoke. "I know...we had a deal to get your people ready for aura, and they're already halfway there - at least most of them are. But...we need to go back. Like very very soon."

"If you're halfway there already, then why not ensure that they're completely ready?" Raven asked, unbothered by my statement.

"I have a few reasons. No one will take me seriously enough to implement meditation or the concept of actually thinking before acting. Most of them won't listen, and fighting them doesn't help because they still see Cinder as someone weak since Umbra beat her," I said.

"You haven't tried to force your teaching on them?" Raven asked.

I hadn't - at least I hadn't been too forceful - mostly because the last thing I needed were multiple bandits trying to jump me at once. I only shook my head. "If I try to beat the lessons into them, they'll only wanna try and fight me more," I said. "It only works for Umbra because she genuinely wants to improve."

Raven stared at me before sighing. "I see where you come from. Unfortunately, discipline for a tribe of bandits seems to be available only in a raid," she muttered. "I'm sure you see what they tend to do when there's no fight to be had."

They either fight each other or do whatever they want. There was some training among them, but almost none of them wanted to actually improve - only intending on growing stronger. "They won't listen. It's not worth it," I muttered. "They're bandits, not an army."

Raven cleared her throat, demanding silence. "That leaves my bandits untrained," she said. "And I know you're only suggesting this because you want to leave - not because you're failing."

"Because we don't have any more time to waste," I said, speaking up. "Cinder and I have been gone for too long and the last thing we need is the whole kingdom being combed for us."

"If you're trying to convince me that you'd be keeping our tribe safe from being located by trying to get back earlier, then you'd be mistaken," Raven said.

I took a deep breath. "I know your tribe would be difficult to find conventionally, but Qrow wouldn't have much difficulty," I said. That caught Raven's attention, and I was quick to capitalize on that. "I know about your old team - they trained me and Cinder for several months. And I managed to pick up on a few things."

"Like what?" Raven asked, her eyes narrowed. It was clear that her former team was something of a sensitive subject to her, and I needed to tread carefully.

"That both you and your brother can turn into birds," I said. "And I know it isn't semblance related."

Raven's eyes widened momentarily. "And what else do you know?" she asked.

This was the point of no return, and I wasn't willing to cross that point. Deciding to back off from revealing how much I knew the truth about magic, Ozpin, and Salem, I changed my train of thought. "I know that the only reason you went to Beacon was to know how to beat huntsmen and huntresses," I said.

Raven seemingly relaxed. "Indeed. Our tribe struggled against it, and we attended Beacon to learn their weaknesses and work out ways we could outmaneuver them. It worked, and our tribe survived to this day," she said before frowning darkly. "If only my brother hadn't abandoned our way of life to serve Ozpin."

"And I think you would probably be much more suited for the task of teaching your clan rather than someone who hasn't even been to a huntsman school yet," I said. "You're their leader."

The bandit tribe leader scowled. "I believe I told you this already - I am not a teacher," Raven sighed.

"You taught me, didn't you?"

I blinked and turned around to see Umbra at the entrance of the tent, pushing the flap aside to step in. "I'm as strong as I am today because of you," she said as she stepped up.

"Very few can actually learn from me," Raven said. "And I notice that you've been complying with Arden here more and more these past few days."

Umbra flushed, and she looked away. "He...knows what he's talking about," she muttered quietly, a mild pink tint on her cheeks.

"And why are you here, exactly?" Raven asked as she rested her arms on the floor beneath her. Umbra fell silent, and Raven only sighed. "I see. Eavesdropping, are we?"

"Umbra's more mature than most of the adults in this camp. They're not gonna listen to me," I said, interrupting them. I noticed Umbra's mild preening next to me, and I fought the urge to grin. "If you want them to actually learn something, it needs to come from someone they'll bother listening to. If they obey you in battle, they'll obey you out of it."

Raven crossed her arms, eyeing us cautiously. I wasn't sure what she'd be thinking right about now, especially since it was very likely for her to tell us no. Everything I'd said had been honest to some degree - especially since the real issue was that the bandits would be unwilling to learn from me, regardless of how important it was.

Raven wouldn't be happy either, and I was hoping for the slim chance that she'd understand that I was essentially not the right type of person to drill the lessons she wanted learned into their heads. And it wasn't like I wasn't trying either - I either went ignored or they'd try to threaten me if I got pushy. Fighting or looting was all that was on most of their minds.

It was very frustrating to deal with. And judging by how Raven talked, she knew that as well.

"So you're suggesting that you no longer have any use for the tribe?" Raven asked.

That ominous statement caught me off guard, and I looked away awkwardly. "That's a scary way to put it, but I guess so," I muttered nervously, unsure of what would happen.

"Oh, that's just complete bullshit. You're not done teaching me yet," Umbra hissed in annoyance.

"You legitimately only need to meditate and calm yourself down, that's all you need to do," I sighed.

"I am calm!" Umbra complained. "You're the one who won't unlock my aura!"

"You're not ready yet. You're almost there, but you're not ready," I partially bullshitted - hoping Umbra wouldn't notice. Thankfully, she didn't, because she sighed and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Hm. Even I can't get Umbra to tone down her temper," Raven remarked - mildly amused. "I usually have to beat her down before she's too tired to whine."

"Guess she prefers the direct approach," I said, smiling at the short haired girl. She didn't look back at me, but she definitely didn't seem irritated. "In any case, my point stands. You brought me here to join the tribe - but it'd take way too long for them to accept me, especially since Cinder and I aren't planning to stick around here."

"So you're gonna leave?" Umbra asked, shooting a scowl at me.

"Well, as soon as possible. We have our own people to get back to," I said. The sudden drop from anger to sadness in her features had me backtracking quickly. "I mean, if you could come with us, I'd be happy. I'm really down to fight you again-"

"That may very well be doable."

I blinked, turning to look at Raven with surprise in my features. Umbra seemed just as taken aback. "What're you talking about?" I asked.

"Despite your unwillingness to join my tribe - you and your friend have been less than hostile about being here. Sulking, yes - but not a single futile escape attempt performed," Raven said. "Not only that, you've managed to defeat and tame one of my strongest."

Her eyes fell upon Umbra. "And perhaps she can grow stronger under your guidance," she said.

Umbra gaped, and I did as well, at least for a moment. However, it didn't take me very long to realize that there was an angle to this. There was no reason why she would let one of her best leave the tribe unless it would benefit the tribe in some way. It only took a few seconds of thinking to figure it out.

"You want her to do what you did when you were a teen, don't you?" I asked, gaining the attention of Umbra's disbelieving gaze. "You want her to go to Beacon with us. She graduates and you take her back as the new you. In a sense."

"Not bad. But you're only half correct," Raven said. "I'll admit, Beacon was an enlightening experience and we learned many things - much more than I'd be able to get into my tribe's head. If Umbra were to train at Beacon, she would become powerful - much more powerful than I could imagine."

"But...why can't you teach me this stuff if you've already learned it?" Umbra asked.

"Because some things can only be learned in person - and I'm only one woman," Raven said before turning her gaze back in my direction. "When she graduates, she comes back and passes down the skills to our next generation, securing our tribe's safety for years to come."

"...I see," I muttered. It was a bit of a curveball, but it did make sense in some way. Umbra would be ideal to attend Beacon for the sake of the tribe the same way Qrow and Raven did when they were much younger. Though I wondered if Ozpin would turn it down if he knew her origins. Knowing the wizard, I wouldn't be too surprised if he somehow found out. "And if we take Umbra with us, you'll let us go?"

"Indeed," Raven said.

"And you trust us?" I asked.

"Trust? No. But you're a terrible liar and likely to be even worse at derailing my plans," Raven said with a wry grin. "I can tell."

I muttered to myself before sighing. If this was really a way out and back to Haven, then I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth - or a gift raven in the beak if that applied. "Alright. Let me grab Cinder."

- several minutes later -

Cinder was understandably nervous as she stepped into the tent with me, stopping by Umbra as Raven stood. "You're really letting us go?" she asked, noticing Umbra at once. She was wearing a brown coat and a backpack, alongside her weapons.

"Indeed. I already made a deal with your friend here," Raven said. "And I'm willing to transport you back to the academy in exchange for his agreement."

"And what would that be for?" Cinder asked.

"We're taking Umbra with us to continue her training," I said with a mild frown. "And...she'll go to Beacon with us. Or after us."

"What?!" Cinder hissed.

"Aww, can't handle having a superior fighter hanging around?" Umbra jeered. The slightly shorter and younger girl stuck her tongue out, and Cinder's face grew red with fury.

"It's done, no going back," I said as I rested a hand on Cinder's shoulder. "And besides, she'll learn to behave outside the tribe. Won't you?" I turned my stern gaze on Umbra, and she sighed. Her silence was enough of an affirmative and I looked at Cinder.

"Hm. As long as she keeps her distance. And learns some manners," Cinder said with a scowl. "Though she'd be too much of a bitch to not get kicked out."

"Loser," Umbra jeered.

"Baby," Cinder snapped.

"Weak!" Umbra hissed.

"Cu-" Cinder began.

"Enough!" I interjected, pushing myself between the two. Inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly, I looked at Raven. "Let's just go."

Raven only grinned like the cat that swallowed the canary as she looked at Cinder. "Oh, and if you try to kill my protege or leave her behind, I'll know," she said. Cinder suppressed a mild shiver, and Umbra only grinned.

I only felt my eye twitch. Raven liked to cause drama, it seemed.

The leader of the tribe picked up her sword - drawing a red blade before swinging it. A portal of shimmering and swirling red and black formed. "Now go, quickly," she said.

The three of us were quick to walk through. We didn't spare a final gaze before passing, nor did we thank her or say goodbye. We were just glad to finally get going - and all it took was a negotiation after changing Raven's opinion of me a few times.

It was a very odd experience, overall. I wasn't going to consider how lucky I was to deal with a more easygoing Raven - even if the easygoing Raven was still very much a hardass.

The three of us exited the portal back into Haven Academy's quad - finding it to be empty and almost entirely devoid of people. However, we found ourselves directly outside of the guest dorms, and we could hear the sound of chatter inside.

"We're here," I said as I looked around. "Guess class isn't in session today."

"So this is what one of those fancy schools looks like?" Umbra muttered with a tsk, shrugging off her coat and stretching her arms. "Disappointing."

"Yeah, well - empty stuff tends to be underwhelming," I sighed. My mind had wandered for a bit, and I found myself wondering who exactly Raven's semblance had acted on. I barely recalled it working only on those she'd bonded with. Summer, Taiyang, and Yang had to be contenders - so it meant that any one of them could be inside.

We got our answer soon, with the door of the dorm building opening. Summer stepped outside before stopping halfway through - her eyes widening in shock. The three of us were frozen as well, not knowing what to expect.

Then she dashed forward, tackling the three of us back a few feet and pulling us into a tight and very crushing hug. "Where have you been?! Your trackers were destroyed and we feared the worst! We searched all over the city and-" Summer babbled before she stopped. Her head slowly turned to Umbra - who had gone very pale. "And who is this?"

I cleared my throat. "Just someone else we picked up," I said quickly. "Sorry we got lost...it was complicated."

Summer's gaze fell on Umbra's arm - specifically the tattoo of a bird on her left side.

".Raven," Summer whispered.

Cinder twitches, Umbra gulped, and I winced.

"...like I said. It was complicated," I muttered.

Chapter Text

"So...Raven."

Umbra, Cinder, and I sat against the bed as Taiyang Xiao Long and Summer Rose stood in front of us. The two of them were stern and intimidating, but they seemed far from disappointed or angry at us. It seemed like they were only interested in getting some answers.

Maybe it was a good thing Summer was able to put two and two together so quickly. Still, Summer looked like she was ready to blow up if we said anything wrong.

"Yeah. Apparently she scouted us the second we arrived at Haven," I explained. "She wanted us added to her tribe, but...we were able to change her mind."

"And it has something to do with this young lady, right?" Summer asked, turning her gaze towards a very uncertain Umbra. She was very stern, her arms crossed and voice calm. Umbra was quiet - as cowed as Cinder and me.

"Yeah. In return for bringing us back here, we're gonna help her get stronger," I said. "For the tribe, she said."

"Oh, for the tribe!" Summer snapped, jolting the three of us in mild surprise. "Of course, all for the tribe! Of all the selfish idiotic things that bitch does, she pawns off one of her bandits on us without bothering to-"

"Don't talk about our leader like that! She'd kick your ass any day-" Umbra snapped, reaching for her weapons before Cinder and I quickly grabbed her, with me planting a hand on her mouth and her stomach while Cinder grabbed her arms and forced her down.

Summer's icy gaze turned on us, and Umbra immediately stopped struggling, her eyes widened. "Oh? You think your leader is some hot stuff, huh?" she sneered. "Well guess who was her team leader in Beacon? Better yet, guess who had to constantly beat her up just to get the simplest of lessons into her head for four years straight?!"

"Summer is no joke, so sit down and stop talking!" I hissed at Umbra before I spoke up a bit more. "Look, Umbra's not too bad. She's a good listener sometimes, and she is very strong even without aura."

"I'm not concerned about her qualifications! I'm more concerned that Raven would bother kidnapping you, let you go, and not give a damn about us!" Summer growled, her fists clenched. "I thought she just wasn't ready to even consider seeing us again, but I guess she just doesn't remember us anymore! No, she does - but she just doesn't care!"

"Summer, she-" I tried to say.

"Shut up! Just shut up!" she screeched. And with that, she shoved her way past Taiyang and shut the door. The loud slam sent shivers down our spines, and we fell silent.

"...she's..." Taiyang began, but it was clear that he was rather upset as well. "She didn't hurt you, did she?"

I shook my head. "We barely saw her. She mostly talked about different kinds of strength the few times I saw her, but...not much else," I said.

"...I see," Taiyang said quietly. He looked away, a tired expression on his face. "How is she?"

"...she's doing well," I said. "I did mention you, but...she looked upset when I mentioned her old teammates. Not as much when I talked about Qrow."

"Well, at least she hasn't forgotten us," Taiyang said, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Look, Summer is happy to see you again, but she's not ready to handle anything revolving around Raven. She...she left some pretty big holes in our lives. They aren't fully healed either, not even this many years later."

Umbra inhaled, but I brought my hand over her mouth once more. "We understand," I said before looking over at Umbra and Cinder. "Can the two of you fight for a bit? I need to talk to Taiyang."

Umbra hopped on the chance for a distraction immediately. "Yeah!" she snapped as she pulled herself out of the hands restraining her. "I'll kick your ass again!"

"Not this time!" Cinder hissed, and the two quickly rushed out of the room - partially out of competitive spirit and mostly out of the opportunity to escape by how frantically they pushed each other out the door.

I looked back at Taiyang as soon as they were out of earshot. "Yang is her daughter, right?" I asked, since I'd never really addressed it before.

"That obvious?" Taiyang asked.

"It's the hair. And some of the features," I lied, not willing to say anything along the lines of 'exposition'. "Did she walk out on Yang when she was born or what?"

Taiyang nodded. "Are you going to let Yang know you met her mother?" he asked.

Now that stumped me. "I don't know," I muttered. "She deserves to know, but I'm more worried about what she'll do when she learns."

"I understand," Taiyang said. "She knows Summer isn't her biological mother - and she is always curious about the woman she came from. I haven't told her much..."

I nodded, having expected an answer such as this. "She'll need to know. Maybe not now, but when she's older," I said. "Just...sorry, I don't really know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. None of this was your fault and you were doing the best you could with what you had. Summer knows this, but..." Taiyang groaned. "I'll talk to her for you. She didn't need to explode on you all like that. None of you deserved it."

"Doesn't mean we don't understand," I muttered, thinking of myself and Cinder. Umbra most definitely wouldn't. "What was your team like, exactly?"

Taiyang chuckled. "Story time, eh?" he asked. "I'll wait till you're all together again. Then we could answer some questions properly." His grin was short lived, and he rubbed his face. "I'll have to tell Qrow, won't I?"

I shrugged. "He's not gonna be happy," I muttered.

"No, he won't be. Raven leaving drove a rift between the two - and they were practically as thick as thieves during our time as a team - even if they argued nonstop," Taiyang explained. "Qrow never really recovered from that."

"If it helps..." I said. "Raven probably didn't either. She didn't wanna talk about any of you."

"It doesn't, but I get what you were trying," Taiyang sighed. "But enough about that. You should go look after Cinder and your new friend before they cause trouble. We'll have our own talk with her once Summer calms down."

I nodded and left the dorm - heading down the hallway before leaving the building, where I came face to face with Umbra and Cinder battling relentlessly in the middle of the quad - this time with an audience surrounding them entirely.

The two clashed violently, roars and screams amidst attacks of screeching and clashing metal. They fought fast - much faster than I could manage. Sparks flew and dust billowed from how quickly they jumped around and leapt across the fountain, somehow not marking it once as they tore into each other.

"...yeesh," I muttered to myself as I made my way through the crowd of students. I'd just noticed that alongside the Beacon students were many that hailed from Haven, as well as several in white uniforms from Atlas. The last group I saw were students that seemingly wore huntsmen or huntress clothing - a lot of which looked casual. This had to be students from Vacuo.

"Kinda crowded..." I thought to myself as the two relentlessly fought. The students around me muttered, many impressed and others apparently finding the fight distasteful. A few others asked when any of the teachers would get here to stop the fight.

I winced as Umbra slammed into the fountain, growling before she forced herself back up - just in time to intercept Cinder's kick. Gripping her leg, Umbra sent Cinder flying through the air towards some of the watching students - who immediately pushed themselves backwards to avoid getting hit. Cinder tumbled on the ground before rolling back up and springing forwards once more. I watched as Umbra did the same, and the two once more slammed into each other with a loud ringing of metal.

I winced as the two fought even more viciously than the last time they fought. Was it because there was an audience this time? Or did they end up winding each other up more than before?

"Enough!"

Umbra and Cinder nearly collapsed against each other when the sudden and very loud shout reverberated throughout the area. Many of the students turned around, just as shocked as I was. Glynda Goodwitch stormed forwards, her crop extended as she wore the scariest glare I'd ever seen on her face.

The students from all four academies were quick to part and allow her to walk to the two girls. Cinder and Umbra had parted - their eyes wide as the headmistress of Beacon approached, heels clacking against the pavement.

"If you wish to battle, you will do so in the gym! You will not settle your differences here! You ended up missing with no warning or explanation, and the first thing you do upon your return is start a brawl out in the open?!" Glynda scolded. Any thoughts I had of Umbra trying to talk back were immediately stifled when I saw the girl being frozen almost entirely.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourselves?" the blonde woman demanded.

Cinder was the first to speak up. "We're sorry," she mumbled. Umbra kept her head low, clearly cowed by the intimidating woman.

Glynda huffed. "You are confined to your dorms for the rest of the day," she said, her voice quieting down without losing any of its sternness. "Dinner shall be brought to you. Hopefully some time to yourselves will help you reflect on your behavior if you wish to attend an academy properly. I will also be informing the headmasters."

I was surprised she didn't question who Umbra was. Maybe she thought she was a student from another academy?

And with that, she left - most of the students disbanding and heading around as the fight was over. I made my way over to the two, who only glared at each other.

"Okay. How did this happen?" I asked.

"She hit me first," Umbra grumbled.

"Only because you said you were his new favorite!" Cinder snapped.

"Oi! I didn't say I was his favorite, I said I was better in every way!" Umbra sneered, her own cheeks pinkening.

I rubbed my eyes. Apparently Umbra had gotten attached. "Favorites aren't a thing. I like you, Umbra. You're strong, smart, and you're willing to learn," I said. That got the brown haired girl to grin.

"But," I said. "Cinder and I have gone through a lot together. We survived and fought to survive to get where we are. And even if the two aren't comparable, I'm not playing favorites. I'm not replacing you, Cinder. I'd never do that."

Cinder looked away, her anger dissipating into a mildly unsure expression. I only sighed and rubbed her hair affectionately. "Come on. Let's go inside and do some meditating. You're better at that than Umbra is anyways."

Cinder was quick to perk up.

"Not for long!" Umbra complained. Cinder only stuck out her tongue victoriously.

"Cinder!"

We turned to see Roan approaching - a wide smile on his face. Cinder was quick to lose her smile as the pompous and spoiled teen shoved me aside and grabbed her hand. "I'm so glad you're alright!" he sighed, Cinder too surprised to break free. "What happened? Has this dissident violated you in any way?!"

"Dissident?" Umbra muttered.

"Violated?" I grumbled.

Cinder finally found the strength to pull her hand away. "No," she said. "He's done nothing wrong. Unlike you."

Roan only smiled. "Me? I haven't done anything to be ashamed of. I only wish to treat you wonderfully, it's what a beauty like you deserves," he said, once again clasping her hand before she could step back. "The festival in the city is in full swing, and I'd be happy to treat you to any meal, game, or ride you desire."

Cinder only shook her head. "I'm not going anywhere without Arden," she said as she stepped away from him, towards me. "And besides, we're not supposed to leave the academy for the day."

"Tomorrow then," Roan insisted, ignoring Cinder's former statement. "One chance is all I need to sweep you off your feet and prove that I'm a better choice of man than...him." He sneered at me, and I only rolled my eyes.

"Then you'll never get that chance because I don't need a boy like you," Cinder shot back, pulling her hand away once again and stepping back. "Now if you'll excuse me, we have things to do."

Roan was pushed back in disbelief as Cinder headed towards the guest dorms, with Umbra walking along. I only shrugged at the jerk of a student before I went with the two girls, walking past a few others and into the building.

"He was weird," Umbra muttered.

"He wants me. And it's so gross," Cinder said with a shudder.

"Ew. He's not even that good looking," Umbra said.

"He isn't," Cinder agreed. "He won't leave me alone. I was hoping he'd have forgotten about me while we were gone."

"So he thinks that if he keeps bothering you, he'll say yes?" Umbra asked.

"Ugh, yes. I just need to find a way for him to just lose interest or something," Cinder grumbled.

"He's not gonna leave you alone. Not until the Vytal Festival is over," I said. "Hopefully he won't try and force you. And if he does, we'll just tell one of the teachers."

"Why don't you fight him?" Umbra asked.

"I don't know how he fights. He says he's the strongest student of his year, and I don't want to rush in blind. You know, the way you did when you and Arden first fought," Cinder teased.

Umbra didn't rise to the bait. Instead, she fell silent, lost in thought as she stroked her chin. "Strong, eh?" she muttered to herself. I noticed, though I decided not to say anything - at least not until tomorrow when we could leave.

The three of us made our way to the common room, which was empty at the moment. "So, are we meditating?" Umbra asked.

"Yeah, at least until-" I turned to see Umbra quickly sitting herself down and crossing her legs near the center of the room. "-dinner," I finished. I turned back to Cinder sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, and I sighed. "Distance...not a good sign."

- a few hours later -

We spent a good amount of time in silence - the meditation helping both Umbra and Cinder to calm down away from each other. It was a bit disconcerting to see, especially since it seemed like the streak of rivalry was about as unpredictable as the stock market.

I was hoping the two would be able to tolerate each other soon, otherwise I would just end up having to deal with short periods of calm and long periods of arguing or fighting.

Summer came to see us when dinner rolled around. The door to the common room was opened, and the three of us turned to see her carrying a trio of large stacked food containers alongside a bundle of napkins and disposable utensils. "Hi," she said quietly. "Can I talk to you guys?"

She looked tired - and her swollen and red eyes suggested that she'd likely been crying earlier. I fought the urge to wince, knowing just how much she'd been hurt by Raven's apparent disregard for the family she had at Beacon. "You don't need to apologize or feel bad-" I began.

"I do," Summer said. "You didn't choose to get captured by her, and I still yelled at you for it. Even if I didn't blame you, you didn't deserve my anger." She sighed. "It's no excuse, but it just hurts to hear that she..."

"You don't have to explain anything. Taiyang explained how close you all were," I said. "It was her leaving that broke everything, wasn't it?"

Summer nodded, not looking quite as miserable now that she'd gotten the words out. "Thank you for understanding. And I am a little glad to know she's alright - even after everything that happened," she said. She looked out the window, a wistful smile on her face.

"Perhaps she'd be willing to visit in the far future," she muttered. Some time passed before she set the boxes down on the table in the common room. "Eat up and get some rest. Tomorrow, we're taking you out to the city."

"For what?" Cinder asked.

"For the festival, of course. You missed a lot over the past week, but the city's festivities are in full swing now," Summer said with a grin before leaving the room. Cinder and I exchanged looks - with the both of us not exactly being so eager to go back to the city.

Umbra frowned. "What's a festival?" she asked, and I remembered that she grew up without any knowledge of what was considered normal to everyone else - same as Cinder.

Maybe that was something the two of them would be able to bond over - if Cinder didn't rub it in Umbra's face first. "Well, I guess you'll find out soon enough," I said as I made my way to the boxes. "But for now, let's eat up. Tomorrow's a big day"

- the next day -

Classes were out the next day, and we were getting prepared to leave the school to explore the large city properly. Umbra slept on the floor with a spare blanket and pillow while Cinder and I had once more shared the bed. To my surprise, the bandit girl didn't complain once - saying the blanket we gave her was about as comfortable as her old sleeping mat.

I remember Taiyang intending to keep Yang and Ruby as far away from Umbra as possible, just in case she'd tell Yang all about Raven. That didn't stop the two from sneaking into our room to say hi - the two half sisters slipping in and closing the door behind them as Cinder and I made the bed. I was quick to notice the brief glimpse of blonde against the corner of my eye, and I turned to see Yang and Ruby looking at Umbra.

Umbra looked back at them, raising an eyebrow. The two girls only stared at her with wide eyes. I wasn't sure what to do or say, but I was somewhat certain that Yang would start asking where she came from-

"Where's your shirt?" Yang asked, peering at Umbra;s exposed stomach. She raised a hand to poke at it before Umbra knocked it aside, thankfully not too roughly.

"I don't need one," Umbra said, turning away to pull her coat on.

"Everyone needs a shirt," Yang said. "Mom says you need to wear one when you go out."

"Yeah, or you'll get cold," Ruby chimed in before looking down at Umbra's thighs. "Why are your shorts so short?"

Umbra huffed as she double checked her backpack. "Because they're fine. And I've lived outside for a while, so I don't need a shirt," she said.

"You lived outside? Were you homeless?" Ruby asked. My breath hitched.

"What? No, I had a home-" Umbra said before I quickly chimed in.

"Umbra, we were planning on getting you some better clothes. You don't have much to protect you from the weather or from any actual attacks," I interrupted, walking between Umbra and the two girls. "For one, there's huntsmen grade clothing that'll help you out-"

"Hah!" Umbra snorted as she crossed her arms in a haughty manner that was implied to act superior. "If you need to rely on clothes to protect you or make you stronger, then maybe you aren't very strong at all."

"It's not about getting stronger, it's about common sense," I said, putting some sternness in my voice. That was enough to get Umbra to listen, her expression turning neutral as she looked at me. "The rules in your old home aren't going to apply here. For one, you're surrounded by people a lot stronger than you are. Summer is a fully graduated huntress, and she probably would have wiped the floor, walls, and ceiling with you if you argued with her yesterday."

She probably wouldn't, but it got the point across. It was subtle, but I did notice the mild shiver running through Umbra's body. I didn't blame her - an angry Summer was a very scary Summer. "What does this have to do with clothes?" Umbra grumbled.

"If you don't get some, Summer will probably force you to wear some either way, especially since you don't have your aura unlocked," I said. "Aura helps protect you from the weather, after all."

"Well, then just unlock my aura and I won't need to worry, right?" Umbra asked.

"We'd have to defer to Summer for that too. She trained both me and Cinder, so she'd know if or when you're ready when it happens," I said. Umbra's hopeful expression fell and she looked down again.

"Can we help?" Ruby asked, speaking up as she came over to both me and Umbra. "I can help pick something for her! Maybe you could have a dress like mommy does! Oh, with armor and belts and maybe a cool jacket!"

"Oi, if I'm gonna have to wear your 'actual clothes' then I'll pick what I want, alright?" Umbra snapped with an annoyed scowl on her face. Thankfully, the two girls didn't seem offended, only confused at her behavior.

"If you're just going to be complaining over something as little as clothes, you're not going to get far," Cinder muttered as she came over with her things packed and ready to go. Umbra growled, and Cinder only rolled her eyes. "Are you done squabbling or what?"

"Oh, I'll show you squabbling," Umbra mumbled as I rested a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"Yeah. We're all ready," I said. "What about you two? Were you coming to see the new girl?"

"Well, we wanted to ask where you were," Ruby said. "You were gone for so many days and we were worried."

"Then mom came back to the room crying yesterday, and we didn't get the chance to ask," Yang explained. "So what happened?"

I looked at Umbra momentarily and shook my head before she could speak. Thankfully, it seemed like she got the message and remained silent. "We were taken, but we're back now. It's a difficult story, so we won't tell it to you...now. Maybe when you're older," I said.

Ruby and Yang looked over at each other before they came forward, hugging my legs and side tightly without warning. I fought the urge to stumble back, especially since I hadn't been expecting any sort of hug. "I'm glad you're okay," Ruby said with a smile.

"Me too," Yang said, looking up as she rested her chin against my side.

I only smiled and patted their heads affectionately before the two girls let go, immediately hurrying over to hug Cinder. Cinder had knelt down when they turned to her, and soon she was hugging the two girls tightly as they hugged her back. I smiled before opening the door.

Taiyang and Summer were in the hallway, talking when they noticed me. "Arden," Taiyang said, sighing as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Are you and the girls good to go?"

I slowly nodded as I saw the weary expressions on their faces. "...are you alright?" I asked.

"We're fine, don't worry. We just had a much needed talk, that's all," Summer said, smiling gently at me as she reached over and patted my shoulder in reassurance. "We won't bring it up again. So, are you ready to have some fun?"

"Yay!" Ruby and Yang called as they pushed past me to go into the hallway to join their parents. Umbra and Cinder joined us in a moment, their things packed as well.

"Good," Taiyang said as he pulled out his scroll, turning it on. "First, we're going to have breakfast in a cafe, then we'll explore the stalls and games until lunch."

"Cinder, Arden. Will you look after Umbra to make sure she doesn't get into trouble?" Summer asked. It was a well meaning enough question, though the slight narrowing in the Xiao Long Rose matron's eyes told me that she was still suspicious of Umbra - and for good reason.

"Yep," I said, clasping a hand on Umbra's shoulder as she jolted. "She's not leaving our sides."

"I'm not a baby. I'm strong enough to handle myself," Umbra complained.

"It's not that," Cinder said before grinning. "And besides, you sure act like a baby for not being one."

Umbra growled as Cinder smirked, and I only rolled my eyes as I split the two apart. "Come on, I'm sure you're hungry," I said. "If we're lucky, we could get our own training in when we get back."

That seemed to calm Umbra down, and Cinder only frowned. I couldn't help but feel worried - the last thing I wanted Cinder to think was that I was genuinely replacing her with Umbra. Despite me reassuring her otherwise, it was very possible that it could happen.

As Taiyang and Summer began to head out, I looked over at Ruby and Yang. "Hmmmmm," I muttered to myself, wondering if there was a way for me and Cinder to have some time to ourselves to talk.

It didn't take me too long to come up with a plan, and I looked over at the adults. "Summer, is it okay if you talk with Umbra?" I asked. "She's been interested in the kind of training you've helped me and Cinder with, and she does need to know more about..."

Umbra raised an eyebrow, and Cinder blinked.

I didn't need to finish my words, as Summer only narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. "Why are you helping her again?" she asked.

"It was her price to let us go, and I don't intend on leaving her out to dry," I said. "If that's okay."

Summer looked down in thought before she looked over at Taiyang. Taiyang only smiled and nodded, patting his wife on the shoulder. Summer's thoughtful and doubting expression softened. "Alright," she said as she rubbed her eyes. "Better to get this out of the way sooner rather than later."

Umbra looked back at me, and I shrugged. "You do need to learn this stuff eventually," I said - not specifying whether I was talking about Raven or the fact she needed her aura unlocked. That seemed to convince her, and she made her way over to Summer and Taiyang.

"What're you doing?" Cinder asked.

"Well, I thought we'd have a few minutes to ourselves. I haven't exactly been a good friend lately - not since we basically adopted Umbra," I muttered. "Sorry we haven't done much of anything together lately.

Cinder's confusion softened as she smiled. "It's okay," she muttered as she leaned against my shoulder, clasping my wrist as she walked.

For a minute - everything felt right once again, and I leaned against her as we walked towards the door out of the guest dorms.

Chapter Text

"You should try it."

Cinder held out a slice of braised chicken to me from my right with her chopsticks, dripping with seasoned chili oils and fat on a plate. I opened my mouth, and she dropped the piece of meat and fat into my mouth. An explosion of spicy and savory flavors exploded as I chewed, and I grinned.

"Mm, not bad," I remarked as I swallowed. Cinder smiled as if she had made the food, and I couldn't help but grin back at her. We were eating brunch at a rather small restaurant near the school, in a different part of the city that we hadn't explored yet. The cafe served items known as daikon cake, scallion pancakes, tofu rolls, rice rolls, and even stir fried noodles. The food was all very good, and the fact we were having it with the Xiao Long Rose family made it all better.

If only Umbra wasn't such a messy eater. She knew how to use chopsticks, but she dripped sauce on the table and all over the edges of her plate. Bits of food were on her face as well, and she ate like she starved - which she very well might have in the tribe.

"Here, keep your napkin close," Taiyang said, having stopped Umbra from shoving another piece of soy sauce drenched rice roll into her mouth. "Eat slowly, savor every bite. Every mess you make is food that doesn't make it in your mouth, okay?"

The girl flushed awkwardly as the blonde man patted her mouth with a napkin, her face red as Cinder and I watched. It was admittedly cute, especially since the dangerous bandit turned potential huntress student was no doubt looking like a kid who had gotten herself caught with a hand in the cookie jar.

Summer wasn't quite as warm to Umbra as her husband was, but she was clearly making an effort for her sake. She smiled when Umbra looked nervously at her, though it was clear that it was fake. She obviously wasn't happy about what she learned about Raven - specifically the fact that she didn't seem to miss her old team whatsoever. I wondered if she was going to try and keep Umbra from applying at Beacon with us.

I wasn't sure why she hadn't shot down the idea right away. Furthermore, she was letting Umbra stay with us. What was Summer's plan?

"Are you okay?"

I blinked and turned to see Ruby, sitting on my left. She was holding a little fork, a piece of chicken jabbed by the utensil. A few dots of sweet and sour sauce were on her cheek, and I wiped her mouth gently. "I'm alright. Just thinking to myself, that's all," I said.

"Oh! Okay!" Ruby said, a wide smile on her face before she went back to eating. She was so cute, I fought to keep myself from ruffling her hair, especially since my hands were a bit oily from eating.

"So what're we doing after this?" I asked, turning away from the adorable silver eyed munchkin to look at Taiyang, who was refilling Umbra's cup of tea.

"Well, the festival opens up for the day in about twenty minutes. We should be done eating by then, and then we could spend the day having fun," Taiyang said with a chuckle, setting the teapot down. "Summer knows we need it."

"You do work too hard sometimes," Summer pointed out as she handed a plate of noodles to Cinder. "And besides, we planned on getting some clothes and souvenirs. We don't get to go to Mistral often as a family."

"That sounds like a plan. We plan on Umbra getting some actual clothes as well," I said. "You know...an actual shirt."

Umbra scowled openly at me. "My clothes are fine..." she grumbled.

"Mistral gets cold, especially this high up. Besides, it's unbecoming," Taiyang said, his voice a little stern. "Trust me, you'll appreciate the change."

Umbra made to speak up before her eyes jerked to Summer's direction. Upon seeing the stern look on her face, Umbra slowly nodded, looking back down at her food. Cinder and I exchanged looks, mild grins on our faces.

- an hour later -

Our brunch was paid for, and the seven of us made our way deeper into the city, where the festival was taking place. There would be stalls that sold food, hosted games, and more. There weren't any rides or fancy attractions that a carnival would have due to just how packed the streets of Mistral were, but there was a public combat ring for huntsmen/huntresses in training to use for public entertainment before Amity Colosseum arrived.

"The students who decide to show off there won't last long when the combat tournament starts," Taiyang said as we passed by a crowd watching two students fight in the space, enclosed with transparent walls allowing people to spectate the match. "Some of the biggest advantages are hiding your skills and strengths, and those who fight will only end up tipping their opponents off about what they're capable of."

"That doesn't stop everyone from wanting to show off," I said. There were a few students with Beacon or Atlas uniforms in the crowd. The fight was very flashy and over the top, and the use of semblances could be seen, one of them clearly fire based.

"That'll be something you need to avoid once you attend a school like Beacon Academy. Your special abilities will serve you best if you know how to use them to surprise your enemy," Summer lectured. "If you rely on it too much, your ability to fight without it suffers."

"Your semblance is pretty handy, but it's kind of easy to work out," Taiyang said. "Especially if you try to use it directly on an enemy. Think of ways that you could get the drop on someone with it."

Cinder fell deep into thought, and I was quick to speak up next. "In any case, we're not fighting in the festival, so there's really no point in watching the fights," I muttered.

"You sure?" Taiyang asked. "You might learn a thing or two from this."

"I might, but in the end - I'd be watching two people fight when I could be learning how all sorts of people fight when the tournament comes around," I said. "Plus, they'll already be fighting in the tournament - so I'm not missing out on too much."

"Hah," Umbra muttered, her own eyes on the arena. "Those two are lame."

"You haven't seen a true huntsman fight," I said. "They're just students in training."

"You call this training?" Umbra sneered. "They wouldn't last a day in the tribe."

"We haven't even gone to a school yet and I still kicked your ass," I pointed out, and Cinder stifled a giggle. Umbra glared, her face going red before Taiyang cleared his throat.

"I'll ask you not to use such words around my daughters, please and thank you very much," Taiyang warned, and I felt my face heat up. Thankfully, Ruby and Yang were busy being carried by Summer ahead of them.

"Sorry," I muttered, scratching the back of my neck nervously. I stole a peek at Umbra to see if she would hop on the chance to make fun of me, but she didn't - just as placated by Taiyang's stern demeanor as I was.

Taiyang nodded. "Now, let's not worry about rivalries or fighting - not when we're supposed to be having fun," he said. "Do you wanna split up or would you rather stay together?"

I was about to bring up the fact that splitting up was likely not the best idea, especially since it was how Cinder and I had gotten kidnapped the first time - but then I thought about it. There was zero chance that Raven would want to have us kidnapped again, especially since she was the one who let us return in the first place. And any organized crime that we may come across was only the most dangerous if we were to leave the upper levels of Mistral.

And it wasn't like the three of us couldn't work together in a fight if we needed to - at least I hoped.

"If you do wanna go off on your own, make sure you know your way back. And avoid going to the lower levels of Mistral. The huntsmen of Mistral and its police force are on full alert for the festival, so things should be less dangerous for you. Not to mention plenty of students from the other academies will be visiting, so they should help out if any trouble were to occur," Taiyang explained.

I couldn't help but agree - even if these factors didn't remove the possibility of danger completely. "Well...I guess we could do some exploring of this part of the city," I said. "If it is safe. It still feels risky..."

"It should be," Taiyang said. "The Vytal Festival is pretty important, and the council wouldn't risk having Mistral look bad by having any visitors or festivities attacked by petty thugs or criminals. Or bandits, as it would seem. And criminals know just how busy the festival gets. If they try something and it goes wrong, then the authorities would be all over them."

That did make sense, now that I thought about it. I looked over to see Umbra not paying attention and Cinder nodding absentmindedly. "Well, then we'll go look for some clothes," I said. "We could use a few extra sets."

"That sounds like a plan," Taiyang said. "Though, you don't have scrolls - so we don't exactly have a way to keep in touch..." He looked down, deep in thought as we continued to walk. "Well, why don't we agree to meet up back at the school at two in the afternoon?"

That did seem pretty reasonable. "Sure," I said. "It shouldn't be hard to find a way back to Haven Academy anyways."

"That sounds good. We'll meet then and have lunch together again, alright?" Taiyang said. I nodded, and we went our separate ways for the next few hours, deciding to cover more of the city's safer parts to see what it had to offer.

Cinder, Umbra, and I would make our way to a shopping district - a part of Mistral's upper levels that mostly had small stores and homely shops. Many sold souvenirs, snacks, and clothing - and it was the latter choice that we stopped by first. The place sold a variety of Mistralian clothes, like kimonos, dresses, robes, scarves, jackets, shirts, and pants of silk, satin, and other fancy or comfortable materials. There were even a few accessories for hair, alongside some jewelry like necklaces and fancy looking bracelets.

They would go ignored, as Cinder and Umbra browsed the clothing stores. I'd managed to convince Umbra to grab a proper shirt - and she went with a white shirt with brown lining to go underneath a brand new black leather jacket, which she wore over the torn sleeveless jacket she already had on. That was about the only changes to her outfit that I could convince her to make.

Cinder had decided to go with a completely new look - specifically a crimson and golden dress with a flowing skirt, alongside black tights to replace her current outfit - at least until she felt like changing again. She kept her scarf and her black leather jacket over the dress, which surprisingly fit very well. Even Umbra couldn't find anything bad to say about it.

After I paid for the new clothes, we left - with Cinder's old clothes folded and stored in my backpack as we continued to walk. "So what do you wanna do?" I asked as I looked over Cinder's new outfit. "By the way, that looks really good on you."

I almost didn't notice the twitch in Cinder's step, and she looked away - a hand tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she walked alongside us. "Do you really think so?" she asked. Her voice sounded quiet, almost meek.

"I do," I said, grinning. "It is a little bit cold here. Wouldn't your legs start getting chilly?"

"Chilly?" Cinder asked, raising an eyebrow in mild confusion.

"Oh. Another word for cold," I said.

"No. I'm warm enough," Cinder said as she looked over at Umbra. "Though, I can't say the same for you."

Umbra rubbed her hands down her exposed thighs. "Piss off!" she hissed.

"You could've bought pants back at the store," I said.

"Piss...off," Vernal repeated, with even more vitriol.

Cinder only rolled her eyes as we continued to walk, and soon we were heading out of the shopping area, heading down to the next level - where it seemed to be much busier. There were many more visitors browsing the area, and the three of us found ourselves struggling to keep ourselves together as we made our way through the crowded streets.

"Where are we supposed to go now?" Umbra asked as soon as she made her way back to us.

"What did you guys have in mind?" I asked. "Spending money on food would drain us pretty quickly, and it's not like we can really shop. I think walking around and exploring is all we can do - at least until it's time for us to get back."

"Well, I'm fine with walking," Cinder said as she leaned against me, squeezing the two of us between several people as we continued to make our way through the city in the mountains. "As long as we keep moving."

"Can't we stop at a few places?" Umbra asked. "You know, to look around?"

"First time shopping?" I asked. "You sure you don't want anything?"

Before Umbra could retort, Cinder tugged my arm, pulling me through the streets and leaving Umbra to run after us. She pushed through the crowds, roughly bumping into them and jostling me left and right to avoid getting downright dragged through. "Hey, what's up?"

"I saw him," Cinder hissed as she pulled me into an alleyway, with Umbra following close behind. Her gaze flickered out into the public. "If he sees me, I'm going to beat him up."

"Saw who?" I asked as Umbra caught up, panting as she leaned on the wall next to us. "Was someone following you? A bandit?"

Cinder looked back, her eyes widened in a frustrated manner. "No. Worse," Cinder whispered.

What could be worse than being stalked by the Branwen Tribe?

"There you are!"

Cinder, Umbra, and I all yelped in shock before stumbling against each other as that annoying guy popped up at the alleyway entrance, a big smile on his face. He only wore casual clothes this time - which still looked pretty fancy compared to ours.

Apparently, being stalked by a rich and spoiled creepy brat. I hated myself for tempting fate at that day.

"You. What do you want?" Cinder growled as she pushed me and Umbra off of her.

"To treat you, of course," the annoying spoiled rich teen purred, his voice slick as he held out a hand. "I meant it when I said I would make you the happiest woman on the planet."

"Who is this guy?" Umbra asked, either choosing not to recognize him or insistent on pissing him off. Her face was contorted in what looked to be mild disgust. I couldn't say I didn't feel the same.

"Some rich guy who thinks money buys everything," I muttered as I took Cinder's arm. "Come on, we have better places to be."

The spoiled teen stepped in our way before we could walk out of the alley. "My name is Roan Kurushimi, and you will address me with the proper respect I deserve, befitting a noble such as myself," he sneered. "I demand that you release the lady's hand!"

Umbra growled as she looked up at the annoying teen. "You're really gonna say something like that and expect someone to obey?" she said. "Weak."

Roan simply stepped forward in a haughty manner. He was taller than Umbra by about a head and a half, and the look of condescending superiority he wore made me wonder how close Umbra was to tearing it off of his face with her bare hands. "I am the top of my class! A street rat such as yourself does not earn the right to speak to me that way!" he gloated.

"Rat?" Umbra snarled before I pulled Umbra back.

"Call her or Cinder anything like that again and I will beat the shit out of you," I warned.

"Like you could defeat me," Roan scorned before looking at Cinder, the ugly glare quickly morphing into an attempted charming smile. "Leave these two, and I will show you a wonderful time."

Cinder responded to that by pulling her hand from my grip and hugging my arm entirely, almost hiding behind me as she glared at him. "The answer's no," she said, her tone warning. "Now get out of our way before we make you."

The wealthy Mistralian huntsman student wasn't smart enough to know when to back down. He simply stepped in our way once more. "You are making a mistake, my lady," he implored. "They don't deserve the attention befitting of your status."

"My status?" Cinder asked, her voice raised as she leaned from next to me. A quick glance to my side showed her bare teeth and narrowed eyes. She was pissed. "We're orphans who survived off of our own ability! You're some rich kid who lived off of daddy's money!" she snapped. "You attack and insult my friend and expect me to just flock to your side? Think you could 'win' me like a prize by making empty promises and throwing money at me?"

Roan stepped back, clearly not expecting Cinder to insult him. Maybe he didn't want to believe that he couldn't win her over, by the way his mouth gaped like a fish out of water. In any case, it was pretty funny to watch. "I never meant to-"

"My answer is no! Leave. Us. Alone," Cinder warned, and she pushed me along, shoving Roan aside and leaving the alley. Umbra followed close behind as we quickly made our way through the crowds, just in case he had the dim idea of following us again.

"I'm not an orphan," Umbra pointed out as she caught up with us.

"I wasn't including you when I said that," Cinder muttered, continuing to lead the way whilst muttering and grumbling to herself. Umbra remained silent, something I was glad for, at least for some time.

"So...that guy really thought boasting about money was a way to get you to go with him?" Umbra asked when a few moments had passed.

That seemed to snap Cinder out of her momentary funk. "Yes! He thought insulting Arden and talking about how rich he was would make me go with him!" she growled. "I hate people like that! People who think money means power! That they would wave it around and think they could walk all over you with it!"

"It doesn't," Umbra said as she found her own voice being raised. Her tone had changed. Any brashness she usually had was now gone, replaced by what seemed to be genuine curiosity. "People really do that here?"

"Yes! It's...the worst," Cinder sighed. "Come on, let's go do something else."

The three of us pushed through Mistral's streets - finding a maze of stairs and caves between certain districts of the city. Time passed as we continued to explore, with the sun slowly setting throughout the kingdom. The streets slowly became less and less crowded with every passing minute, and soon there was plenty of open space for us to walk around in.

Stalls and stores were closed, and people walked up and down the near empty streets as they made their way home for the night. The sky had now turned a deep orange hue - the edge of the sun's rays slowly dipped behind the mountains over the horizon. Knowing how much time we'd spent out here, we probably should have made our way back to the school much earlier.

The three of us decided to double back and head to the school once more. Things were silent between us, and it was clear that our run-in with Roan had more or less soured what little enjoyment we had in walking around the city amidst the festival.

Sure enough, Summer was waiting for us at the main gate of Haven Academy when we finally returned. "You're late," she said. Her arms were crossed and her voice was a little cross. "We were ready to send out a search party."

"We weren't that late," Umbra complained, though she fell silent when Summer's stern gaze turned on her.

"Sorry, we ran into...a jerk on the way back," Cinder muttered.

Summer's expression softened, and she uncrossed her arms. "What happened?" she asked.

"This guy - Roan, some rich brat, he saw us. He goes to Haven Academy and he's been harassing Cinder about making her his girl ever since we showed up in Mistral," I said "He's been treating us like dickwads ever since."

"I was afraid of that. Some people don't actually ask others out if they wanna date. They just...make demands," Summer sighed. "A lot of this kingdom can be...traditional. Old fashioned if you wanna use that term."

"More like uptight," I grumbled. Umbra snorted, and I nudged her on the arm. "It's true and you know it."

"...yes," Summer said before her voice grew stern once more. "I'll let Headmaster Lionheart know what's been happening. Harassment should not be tolerated at all."

"Thanks," I sighed. "He's been super annoying about it."

"How often has he been going after you?" Summer asked.

"The first time, he was being super rude to Arden and nice to me when we arrived," Cinder said, rubbing the back of her neck. "The next time was at breakfast some time later, and he attacked Arden when he asked him to stop annoying me." Summer's eyes narrowed, and Cinder continued. "Then he cornered us at the festival today, called Arden and Umbra street rats before trying to take me away."

Summer huffed. "That is unacceptable!" she hissed. "What's his name?"

"Roan...uhh, Kurushima? No, Kurushimi, I think," I said.

Summer's anger dissipated somewhat, turning into mild annoyance as she rubbed the bridge of her nose between her eyes. "Kurushimi. Of course the councilman's rich son would be spoiled," she groaned. "And the headmaster was just telling me how he was the top student of his year."

"Seems like it got to his head," Umbra said, more to herself than towards Summer. "Easy way to get yourself killed by those weaker."

"It is," Summer grumbled. "But, he's still a first year - and if I know anything about how huntsman and huntress schools go, then he'll be humbled sooner or later."

"What about now?" Cinder asked.

"I'll talk to the headmaster, I promise. No matter how promising or full of potential he may be, it shouldn't excuse such behavior," Summer promised. "I'm sorry you had to go through that..."

"Don't be - he's the one being a hoity toity asshole," I muttered. Cinder broke out into giggles, and I grinned.

Summer only shook her head in response. "Language," she warned, though this was more or less a halfhearted scolding. Turning around, she headed back towards the academy grounds. "Come on, let's go have dinner."

"Finally, I'm starving!" Umbra sighed as she followed Summer along - at a distance.

I turned to look at Cinder, who was looking back out at the rest of the city and mountainside below. "Hey, you okay?" I asked quietly.

Cinder looked back up at me before slowly smiling. "I am now," she said quietly. "Thanks."

I grinned back, pulling her close by the shoulder before the two of us headed back into the school.

- an hour later -

We stayed in our dorms for the rest of the day, content to meditate in order to pass the time. We knew for a fact that Kurushimi wouldn't back off - and we actually heard an altercation in the guest dormitory lobby about demanding to see a 'golden eyed and raven haired beauty' before he was forced to leave.

Cinder shuddered, the two of us sitting on the floor. Umbra had been meditating on the bed as well, but hearing the guy from a distance had more or less ruined what focus we had on our mental training. "I want to go back to Vale," she muttered as soon as he left.

"So do I," I sighed as I ruffled her hair. "We already had a lot to deal with when we were stuck in the Branwen Tribe, but this guy?"

Umbra grumbled. "Why can't we just beat him up? If we prove that we're stronger than him, then we could force him to stop bothering us," she suggested.

"We might not be strong enough to defeat him," I said. Umbra opened her mouth to speak, but I held up a hand. "He's rated as one of the best huntsmen students of this year in this school. That means he's probably very good with his aura. If we challenge him to a fight, he can use that against us."

"Against us how?" Umbra complained.

"If we attack him, he can tell people that we attacked him, and they won't help us. He could do whatever he wanted because 'he only defended himself'," I said. "The only situation where we can fight back is if he attacks us first. Until he does that, we avoid him."

"But he'll just keep following us," Cinder complained.

"I know, but think about how the others will see this," I said. "He's following us. He bothered us multiple times. Once in school in front of everyone."

"Yeah, he threw your own food at you," Cinder commented, her teeth bared as she remembered that moment. "I wish I did the same to him."

"Well, he's looking like a pretty big loser for that. If he keeps harassing us, then more and more people will probably start thinking of him like a piece of crap," I said, smiling in assurance. "Just watch - he'll screw up one way or another."

Cinder sighed as she calmed down before smiling. "How do you always know what to do?" she asked.

"Well, I've been around," I muttered, thinking back to all the funny or stupid situations I ended up in. There wasn't much to say about that, and I leaned back against the bed. "It's pretty difficult to put up with the guy, but honestly - things will work themselves out."

"You really think so?" Umbra asked. "Because I honestly just wanna beat the guy up."

I chuckled. "Well, maybe we might have to fight him," I said. The smile on my face died down pretty quickly after that. "I'm hoping we won't have to, though. I'd rather not risk a losing fight."

Umbra remained silent, and I turned to see the expression of thought on her face. We spent the next several minutes in silence before there was a knock at the door, jumping us from our moments of thought.

"It's us!" Ruby called, and Cinder sighed in relief, getting up and opening the door. Ruby and Yang walked in, holding plastic bowls with lids. "We brought food."

"Mom and dad wanted you to stay inside after someone tried to cause trouble," Yang said. "So we're eating with you."

"Tsk. She's sending the brats to look after us?" Umbra grumbled.

I sighed as I looked back at Umbra. "Do you really want them to tell Summer what you said?"

Umbra gulped before looking away, mumbling to herself as she took the container Yang offered her.

The five of us sat in the room, eating what Haven Academy served in its mess hall out of takeout boxes. For a time, we were having our own moment of peace.

Little did I know that tomorrow would completely flip us over on our heads.

Chapter Text

- the next day -

Classes at Haven Academy were out the next day to commemorate the start of the Vytal Festival's combat tournament - and that meant much of the school was completely and utterly empty. Umbra, Cinder, and I all looked up as the various Mistralian airships took off from several air pads at the edges of the school, flying to the massive shadow in the sky. Each one was loaded with the various students from all over the globe, ready to participate in the world renowned Vytal Festival tournaments.

Despite the offer to watch from the bleachers in person, we turned them down - not too interested in the idea of being surrounded by tens of thousands of screaming tourists and students. Watching from television felt much more manageable. Besides, the first match wouldn't be for a few hours anyway.

Amity Colosseum was absolutely enormous hanging over Haven Academy, the flying arena blocking out much of the sun as it hovered high in the sky. Despite that, it wasn't too far from the academy itself - the airships reaching the colosseum's landing berths after only about a minute of rising in the air. "So everyone's up there now, huh?" I asked.

"It seems like that's the case," Cinder muttered. "Summer and Taiyang are up there with Ruby and Yang, I think."

"And that means we have plenty of time to ourselves," Umbra said. "Time that we could use to fight?"

"Not fight. Train," I admonished. "Keep in mind that we will be going to Beacon in a year or so, which means that even though there's a festival going on, we need to keep improving. Exercising, getting stronger and faster. And considering you'll have to get your aura unlocked at some point, you need this more than any of us."

"Yes. Not everyone is interested in wasting precious time in stupid fights like you are," Cinder jeered, smugly crossing her arms. She was dressed in her older outfit - her black jeans and leather jacket over her cropped shirt. She was carrying her weapons on her as well, since our plan was to head to the now empty academy gym.

"Hey, who says fighting isn't training?" Umbra snapped with a cheeky grin, knowing that she was riling up Cinder. "Just cuz you're too scared to get a few scars doesn't mean you're better than me! I did beat you once already, after all."

"Scared?!" Cinder hissed, storming forward before I pushed my way between them, hands up and in their faces before they could pull out their weapons.

"Hey, hey!" I said, my voice in a warning tone. "No fighting. Or else Summer will be pissed off at the two of you." Umbra backed off quickly, her expression still glowering at Cinder as she stepped away, stomping to the gym. "Are you two gonna be okay?" I asked, turning to look at Cinder.

"...we'll be fine," Cinder muttered as she turned to head to the gym as well. "I hope."

I shrugged, following the two girls towards the empty building. When we reached it, we saw Umbra standing at the entrance, not having stepped inside its open doors. "Hey, what's the matter?" I asked when we reached them.

"It's this guy again," Umbra growled, and I blinked in confusion before peeking into the gym. Cinder did so as well before she ducked away from the door, grumbling angrily.

Roan Kurushimi stood in the gym, wearing the same dark pants, brown coat, and armor from the first time we saw him. "You!" he barked upon seeing me. He drew his large sword - bringing it down on the floor in what was clearly an attempt to intimidate us. "I challenge you for the right to court the young lady!"

"Oh my...really?" I groaned. "She said no!"

"Only because she has settled for someone inferior to me!" Roan hissed. "She will realize her rightful place soon enough, and I shall prove it to her through strength!"

"Hold on, why aren't you up there? Aren't you supposed to-" I tried to say.

"My fight isn't for another hour, and I can easily defeat you and whatever opponent I may face up there," Roan brushed off. "Now stop stalling and face me! Or are you too cowardly to fight a true huntsman student!"

I wasn't stupid. "Okay, you're a student and the top of your class," I said. "So I'm obviously not gonna win. You really think an easy fight is gonna make her change her mind?"

"I hear nothing but cowardice!" Roan pushed on, ignoring me entirely. "Accept my challenge or forfeit the lady right now!"

"I'm not going anywhere with you, damned loser!" Cinder yelled as she pushed her way between me and Umbra, stopping at the doorway. "Get it through your spoiled fat head! I will never like you, got it?!"

Roan only grinned cruelly at her defiance. "You will," he sneered. "I have tried to be polite, but you refuse to accept your truth! You will always suffer at the hands of those better than you, and your stubbornness will not help your case!"

"Don't act like you're doing this for me! You want me for only yourself!" Cinder hissed.

"Does it matter why I want you? If you were to follow me, you would be wealthier. You would have a higher standing if you stood by my side," Roan boasted. "I'm simply better."

"Until you decide to toss her away for some other girl you think is pretty," I shot as I took Cinder's wrist and Umbra's arm in my grip. "We're not fighting you. Period. Leave us alone."

I turned away from the gym, walking with the two girls to find somewhere else to train. As much as I hoped that he would leave us alone, or that he would be less annoying afterwards...

A yell from behind had us turning around in a flash, just in time to see him lunging at us in the air - his sword gleaming in the sunlight as it swung down towards me.

Before I could even process what was happening, instinct kicked in. The sword buried itself into the concrete as Umbra and I jumped away mere milliseconds before the heavy weapon could hit us. The second I slid across the ground, I scrambled to my feet - drawing my baton as Umbra did the same with her weapons.

Across from me, Cinder quickly drew her blades, jumping to her feet as Roan pulled his sword from the ground with ease. "You don't have the right to be insolent! Not against someone of my stature!" he growled. His face was reddened with pure rage as he pointed his weapon at me and Umbra. "You are nobodies compared to me!"

"You're a spoiled baby on a fake power trip!" Umbra hissed. She seemed just about as pissed off as Roan was, her blades raised to kill as she spat out the words with more vitriol than I'd ever heard come out of her mouth. "You're the weakest person I've ever seen!"

"I have power! I'm stronger than you in every possible way!" Roan yelled as he dashed forward - his burst of speed much too quick and too close for me to dodge effectively. The swing slammed against my aura, knocking a chunk of it out as I rolled across the ground. "You're orphans begging for scraps! You don't have any of the training I have! The power I wield! You're all worth nothing! You should all be grateful for my attention!"

"You don't know real power!" Cinder yelled as she jumped in to attack. Her blades came down, both blocked by a single swing from Roan's sword. "You haven't had to fight for everything! You haven't earned every bit of Lien, the clothes on your back, the chance to wake up tomorrow!"

Roan only spat in her face, kicking her away just in time to parry Umbra's strikes - the large blade serving as a shield as he jumped back. Umbra kept up, her assault relentless as she fought to stab at weak points and openings.

As much of an asshole as Roan is, he was clearly a skilled combatant, his larger frame and heavier weapon capable of keeping up with Umbra's lightning quick attacks. He remained on the back foot, forcing Umbra's advance before he halted - locking Umbra's weapons on his own blade and forcing her to stop.

"Weak," he sneered before he twisted his body and his weapon to the side, the pommel of his sword slamming into Umbra's shoulder and sending her stumbling to the side. As soon as Umbra was clear, I lunged in to strike Roan's sword with my own baton.

Despite the attack being blocked, it was still strong enough to force Roan to stumble back a few steps, right towards where Cinder was lunging to strike his back. A split millisecond before her swords could land their strikes, Roan dashed to the side. Cinder slammed into me, sending us toppling over each other as Roan spun back around, his own blade flinging to slam down on top of us.

Despite the two of us being tangled, Cinder and I were able to react just in time, my baton and her blades coming up to block Roan's overhead strike with the loud clash of metals.

"You will buckle before me!" Roan hissed, sparks flying as both Cinder and I fought to hold his weapon at bay. Despite him being much stronger and his weapon being very heavy, both Cinder and I were more than enough to push back any headway he may have.

Then Roan cried out, his aura flickering copper as he stumbled. Umbra had swept back in to attack his exposed back, landing strikes and kicks on the much larger teen. "Pest!" he snapped, spinning out and swinging his blade with as much momentum he could manage.

And it had a lot of momentum.

Umbra was just barely able to bring her weapons up in time before they were struck, sending her flying into a tree in the courtyard with a harsh crack of snapping bark.

Roan turned back to swing at us, only for Cinder to swing at his left and me to swing at his right. Both our attacks landed, and his aura lit up once more. The two of us managed to chip away for a good few seconds before he struck back, slamming his foot to my thigh while knocking Cinder aside with a knee to the side.

"Now you're just pissing me off!" I growled, regaining my balance and swinging for his leg. He jumped just in time to avoid it - only for Cinder to land a slash against the back of his knees. His aura flickered once more, but he didn't seem deterred.

In fact, he seemed even more furious. Upon landing, he dashed right towards me - closing the distance before I could even blink and slamming into me with way more force than I was expecting. Before I knew it, I was soaring through the air and tumbling into the cobblestone path at the edge of the courtyard.

"Bastard!" was all I could hiss as I stumbled to my feet moments after slowing to a halt. I felt a bit dizzy, and my aura had gone down significantly - but I was still in the fight, my fist remaining clenched around my weapon, whilst adrenaline pumped through my veins.

I ran back towards the fight, watching Roan parry Cinder's blows while kicking Umbra back from a flanking attack. His aura flickered with every successful blow the two girls landed on him, and I could see he was fighting much more raggedly. We were wearing him down, I could see it.

But the dickwad was clearly still very far from being defeated, judging by how he was swinging and kicking. Despite the hits he was now taking, he was still dishing out damage of his own. Cinder landed a knee against his chin, only for Roan to slam the pommel of his weapon into her head. Before Cinder could even fall, Roan had spun around and slashed Umbra by the leg, forcing her to back off with a pained cry.

The moment I saw the spray of blood from Umbra's leg, I felt my vision go red. "Asshole!" I yelled as I pushed as much aura into my feet as I could before jumping at him - closing the distance much more quickly than I had initially anticipated.

Much more quickly than Roan was expecting as well, given the look of surprise on his face. I wasn't about to waste this chance. Funneling more aura into my feet, I threw my legs forward - my shoes encased entirely with my aura as Roan pulled his sword up, just in the nick of time.

My feet slammed into the flat of his blade, just before an explosion of aura sent us both flying in opposite directions. Roan crashed into one of the benches, shattering it into hundreds of fragments as I flew back into the courtyard ground.

"Arden!" Cinder cried. Her voice sounded muffled, and I looked to my side to see her scrambling towards me - her wide eyes panicked. "Are you okay?"

I shook my head, trying to pull my composure back as I forced myself to stand. "My legs are killing me...but I'm okay," I muttered.

"That...how much aura did you push?" Cinder asked.

"A lot. Dunno if I used all of it, but I can still walk - so that's a good thing," I said. Despite that, Cinder pulled her arm over her shoulder to help me stand. I couldn't help but feel grateful, regardless of the gesture being small or not. "Thanks. Is your aura still up?"

"I'm almost out..." Cinder whispered. "His blows hurt, and he can match our speed. Umbra's not doing so well either, and she doesn't have aura like we do."

I winced. "Yeah, I'm hoping that kick actually hurt him," I groaned.

"It did much more than that," Cinder said, and I turned to look at where she was looking before my eyes widened.

Roan's sword lay in pieces - dozens of metallic fragments scattered on the courtyard. The dust cleared to reveal Roan on his knees, holding the pommel and handguard of his weapon. All that remained of the blade was the jagged base of the sword - now resembling the largest and shortest box cutter in the world.

...whoopsies.

"You...how dare you?!" Roan snarled as he held his much lighter weapon. If he was furious just a moment earlier, he was downright feral now. With a roar of raw fury, he lunged. Like before, he'd practically teleported towards us, crossing the distance with speed that was far too unnatural.

Those sudden dashes had to be his semblance.

Before we could move, Roan slammed his foot into my gut. What remained of my aura shattered upon impact, and Cinder and I crumpled to the ground. "I'll show you what happens when you defy me!" he yelled, raising the base of his sword to strike us down.

Before the attack could land, Umbra lunged between us, her leg swinging and catching Roan in the gut. His aura flickered much more prominently, signalling that he didn't have much fight in him left. "Careful!" I called as I tried to push myself up to my feet.

Umbra slid under an overhead strike, her foot catching Roan's ankle before she spun around - her crescent blades slashing at his aura near his side. Roan was fighting much more recklessly, his swings slow and predictable. But Umbra wasn't as fast as she was before - the earlier battle having taken much out of her as well.

Cinder and I could only watch as Umbra continued to whittle him down, far too worn out to do much else.

Eventually, Roan got lucky. "Enough!" he snarled, swinging what was left of his sword haphazardly - and faster than Umbra could duck or jump back. A wet sound filled the air, and a flash of red entered my vision. Cinder gasped, and I choked as I looked at the new sharp spray of blood that had splattered on the courtyard ground.

Umbra stumbled back, her posture unbalanced and wounded as she lost all momentum in her offense. Her hands quivered, her weapons shaking in her grip as she looked down at the new cut in her stomach. Blood streamed out of her wound, reddening her pants and practically pouring down her thighs.

Her gaze turned back to Roan, just in time to see him swing downwards once more. A new cut slashed its way from her collar down to her stomach, an even wilder spray of blood spluttering all over Roan's clothes as Umbra fell back.

"No!" was all I could yell, forcing myself to my feet and running for the spasming and dying girl. Before I could reach her, a bloody hand caught me - gripping my neck as I struggled.

"This is what you get..." Roan hissed, his eyes wild as he gritted his teeth so hard I could practically hear him grinding them into dust. His chest heaved with every breath he took, and the hand holding his weapon shook hard as he held it up to my throat.

Was this how I died? To some spoiled rich kid that somehow beat the three of us?

Before I could imagine my life flashing before my eyes, or anything that could possibly come with the thought of dying - I was thrown to the ground. I struck the concrete, coughing and gasping for air as I felt my entire body start to burn. Turning, I could see Umbra and the gradually growing pool of blood she lay in.

My gaze turned left, and I saw Roan on the ground, struggling and yelling as Summer Rose pinned him down. Despite him being larger, the silver eyed huntress had no issue with dealing with him. "You have the right to remain silent! Keep moving and I'll knock you out!" she snarled, one hand keeping his hands behind his back while the other kept his face pinned to the concrete.

I don't think I've ever seen Summer this pissed off before.

Hands gripped my shoulders, and I looked up to see Taiyang right over me. "Are you okay?" he asked. His tone was calm, but I could see the panic in his face.

"Umbra..." was all I could croak, turning to see her lying nearby. Two men in white knelt over her, with Goodwitch standing right with them. "Help her..."

"She'll be okay," Taiyang said, helping me up as Ozpin and Lionheart approached Summer. "You'll all be okay."

I didn't know what there was to say. I couldn't find the words to explain everything, or question how they could say that everything would be okay. I couldn't even muster the words to ask where Cinder was and if she was okay.

I could do little else other than pass out in Taiyang's arms.

- some time later -

I don't remember when I first woke up after passing out. All I remembered was that I was lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling. Minutes ticked by as I looked up at the clean white tiles, the lights dimmed but not too low.

I wasn't sure what to think or say. After everything that had happened, the shift from everything being so chaotic to the sudden quiet was more than a little jarring. I inhaled deeply, feeling my chest contract painlessly. My eyes flickered down, and I could feel no pain or fatigue whatsoever. Either I was on painkillers or I'd been out long enough to recover completely.

Eventually, I turned to see another bed to my left, with white sheets and a metal frame. Cinder lay there, her eyes closed as she slept. Her chest slowly rose and fell, her breaths peaceful and serene as her hair lay sprawled on her pillow.

She was beautiful.

I slowly sat up, trying to get myself to properly wake up as the sensations of pins and needles from my fingers and toes slowly began to trickle up my hands and feet. Cracking my neck and fingers, I stretched out my arms and legs - feeling just how tense and exhausted my muscles still were.

Pushing the covers off of me, I realized that I'd been partially undressed - wearing only my underwear and pants. After a moment of looking around the room, I saw both Cinder's and my things in a neatly folded pile atop a small table across the bed. Once I was certain I was able to walk, I headed to my stuff and got to getting dressed.

Just as I was securing my weapon to my belt scabbard, I heard a soft groan from behind me. Turning around, I could see Cinder slowly sitting up in bed - her posture still exhausted and worn out. The covers over her body shifted, just enough to reveal her shoulders and collar to be bare - and I was quick to turn around before the blankets could fall any further.

"A-Arden?" Cinder's voice whispered. "What happened?"

I rested my hands on the table, leaning forward with a sigh. "...we lost, is what happened," I mumbled. "Umbra...I don't know if she's still alive," I muttered.

Cinder was silent for a moment, and I could hear the shifting of her bed's covers being followed by the sound of approaching gentle bare footsteps on the cold tiled floors. "I'm worried too," Cinder said quietly.

Her hand reached over mine on the small table to grab her things before she started getting dressed. "Right now, I wanna throttle that spoiled rich bastard if he thought he would get away with attempted murder," I growled. Despite some anger returning at the thought of the one who's grievously wounded - maybe even killed - Umbra, I was more worried about whether he was even successful. "What he did...it looked very bad."

Things were silent between us for a moment, before a pair of arms slowly wrapped themselves around my waist. I could feel Cinder's body pressing against my back, her chin against my shoulder. "That fight never should have happened..." she muttered.

"It's not any of our faults," I whispered. "Not our fault the guy doesn't remember that no means no."

Cinder pulled away, and I turned around to see her fully dressed. "I'm a little worried," she said. "You heard him - his dad is a member of the council. You don't think he will-"

"No, we're not going to get in trouble - not for defending ourselves," I said, resting both hands on her shoulders and squeezing gently. I could feel how tense she was, and she slowly held my wrists. "We'll be safe."

Inhaling quietly, she sighed and looked up at me. "I hope so," she said quietly.

Our conversation was cut short by the sound of the doors opening. Taiyang walked in, carrying a very sleepy Ruby in his arms. "You two okay?" he asked gently.

"We're fine. But Umbra-" I began.

"Is stable. We don't know the specifics, but she won't die," Taiyang interrupted quickly, walking over to the two of us. Ruby blinked curiously at me before holding her hands out - a very adorable gesture. "Wanna hold her?"

I wasn't sure how to feel - holding a five year old Ruby Rose herself as if she were my baby sister. Still, I accepted, realizing that he was essentially trusting me and Cinder with Ruby. Taiyang passed her carefully to me, and the little silver eyed girl yawned as she rested against my shoulder. "I'm sorry for...things turning out so bad," I said as I rubbed Ruby's back.

"Don't be. Haven Academy's courtyard does have security cameras - and they show Kurushimi attacking you straight out of the gym," Taiyang said, resting his hands on his hips as he let out an annoyed huff. "And from what Summer says, he's been pestering the two of you - particularly you." His annoyed gaze turned sympathetic as he looked at Cinder.

Cinder looked down, her body language uncomfortable. "He wouldn't say no. He just...he kept insulting us, and he got more and more mean and..." she sighed. "There was really no way he would leave us alone, is there?"

"I doubt it. The kinds of kids that grow up with power are often the ones who believe they can have anything and everything they want," Taiyang said. "Summer sends her apologies."

"What? Why?" I asked. "It's not her fault."

"She feels she should have demanded more action," Taiyang explained. "We did inform the headmasters, but Lionheart was a bit reluctant. Obviously, he's not like them, but Councilman Kurushimi funds a large portion of Haven Academy's running costs."

"So it's all about the money," I growled to myself.

"There is good news," Taiyang said. "Headmaster Lionheart is pushing for the immediate expulsion and the criminal charging of Kurushimi's son for the blatant attempt at murder. The video evidence is pretty clear too, so things should run smoothly."

"If Lionheart is the headmaster, then he shouldn't have to push for expulsion - he should just be able to do it, right? What's stopping him?" Cinder asked.

"The fact that the guilty party's dad is funding a large portion of Haven Academy's running costs," Taiyang repeated tiredly. "He showed up a few minutes ago, and the two are now yelling about the situation."

I held out Ruby to Cinder, watching as she took the silver eyed toddler before turning to Taiyang. "Can...the two of us see Umbra?" I asked.

"Yes, actually. I was on the way here to tell you that she can have visitors. I didn't get to see how she was when I got the news - only that she was stable," Taiyang said.

I nodded. "Lead the way?" I asked.

Taiyang led us through the large school building - the academy's infirmary apparently being large enough to treat about a hundred injured students. The entire first floor was dedicated to emergency operating rooms and high priority recovery rooms.

Umbra sat in a bed when we arrived, wearing a hospital gown. She could sit up, and she didn't seem to be so pale. A nurse was typing away at a small computer in the corner of the room when we arrived. "Ah, you two must be her friends," she said upon noticing us.

"How bad was it?" I asked, not wasting any time. "She lost a lot of blood."

"Indeed she has - however those were the worst of her injuries. Blood transfusions were successful, and her recovery was rather swift," the nurse said as she got up from the computer. "The cuts were deep, and no vitals were hit."

"We had to unlock her aura before the blood loss took her. Bought us some time," Taiyang explained. "Other than the transfusions, her body was pretty quick to heal itself."

"What does give me cause for concern is the state of her body. Her BMI is far too low for her height and weight. Her musculature structure is underdeveloped, and her bones are...a bit light," the nurse said.

"What does that mean?" Cinder asked.

"She hasn't been eating enough. I would have believed she had anorexia before she told me that she just doesn't eat much often. She needs a new diet - heavier in calcium for bone density and protein to get her muscle mass in shape," the nurse said.

"We've been getting her into heavier meals when we found her. We're not gonna let up on that now," I promised.

"Good. I understand she is under your care?" the nurse asked, turning to the only other adult in the room.

"Yes," Taiyang said. "It's...a very recent start."

"Like a day old," I said.

"I see," the nurse said. "If you and I could talk outside?"

"Of course," Taiyang said, and the man and woman exited the room - closing it and leaving the three of us plus a dozing Ruby.

Things were silent for a few minutes, and the three of us exchanged nervous glances before I finally built up the nerve to speak. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine," Umbra muttered quietly. "I'm alive."

"And you have your aura unlocked. That's something, isn't it?" Cinder asked.

Umbra didn't speak. She slowly looked down at her lap, where her hands lay. "I almost died," she said softly. Her voice quivered, and I realized that despite the near full recovery, she appeared to still be in deep shock.

I made my way over to Umbra, kneeling in front of her and taking her hands. "Hey. You're alright," I said gently. "You're alive."

Umbra flinched and pulled her hands away. "I know I am!" she snapped, though her volume lacked any sort of vitriol or annoyance. "I-I know I'm okay! Did you think I wasn't?"

I frowned. "Umbra, no one's saying that."

"You were thinking about it! If you think I'm not strong enough to survive that, then-then..." Umbra's voice slowly fell, and I began to put two and two together.

"Umbra, you...you almost bled out," Cinder whispered, patting Ruby's back as she slept against her shoulder. "It looked bad..."

"I-" Umbra almost shouted again before she saw Ruby stirring against Cinder. "I-I'm okay. I survived. I'm not weak! I'm-I'm not..." Her voice began to shake, and I saw her eyes starting to shimmer. "I'm not a weakling..."

"You're not," I said. "You were strong enough to survive."

"I-I shouldn't have gotten hit in the first place-" Umbra tried to protest, only for me to pull her into a hug. Her words were cut off by a sudden choke, and she began to struggle.

"You're not weak. As much of an asshole that guy was, he was also one of the best in that whole school year," I insisted. "You are not weak."

Umbra quivered in my hold, her cold frame almost tiny compared to mine. "I-I'm not..." she choked before her voice hitched. Before I knew it, she was crying - desperately trying to hide her sobs as she buried her face in my shoulder. Her whimpers were muffled, and she shook violently in my hug.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cinder approaching - sitting on the bed next to me and Umbra as she cried. Any annoyance or rivalry she may have had with her was forgotten, her eyes soft with concern for the smaller girl.

Umbra slowly pulled away, wiping at her face and trying to hide her puffy red eyes. "I-I'm not crying!" she whimpered.

Cinder didn't say a thing, only holding Ruby gently as Umbra hiccuped. I only pulled her into a hug again, smiling when she didn't struggle again. "You have us, you know that. Right?" I asked.

"Why?" Umbra asked. "You're only dragging me around because of Raven," Umbra mumbled.

"Is that what you think?" I asked as I broke the hug once more, wiping one of Umbra's tears. "Cinder and I do like you. Why do you think we agreed to take you with us?"

Umbra crossed her arms almost shyly, not answering.

"You're one of us now - don't discount how much we do care about you," I said. My smile fell as I looked away. "If anything, you should be blaming me..."

Umbra's eyes widened in surprise. "What? Why?!"

"I got knocked out of that fight first. You got hurt protecting us...and Cinder was protecting me," I muttered. "You got hurt because I wasn't strong enough to stay in the fight-"

"I-" Umbra choked. "No, you are not blaming yourself!"

"She's right," Cinder said. "This had nothing to do with how strong or weak any of us were. The way I see it, we were never going to win that fight."

"You outlasted us," I said, gripping Umbra's shoulders and looking her in the eyes. "Don't think of yourself as weak, because you're absolutely not."

Umbra slowly swallowed. "I-okay," she whispered. "I have an aura now."

"Yeah, you do," I said. "How do you feel?"

"I feel warm," Umbra said quietly. "But I don't know what else I'm supposed to feel."

"Don't worry, it'll make sense later on. And you're going to learn how to use it," I said.

"You'll teach me?" Umbra asked slowly, and I was surprised at how meek she was being. Almost as if she were looking up to me and Cinder.

"We will," I said as I stood up. Umbra slowly did so as well - her legs shaky but steady. "Like I said, you're one of us now - and we'll help you out however you can."

"He will," Cinder chimed in. "If I try and teach her anything, she'll just not listen."

"Hey, I can learn!" Umbra whined.

"Not from me," Cinder huffed.

"Maybe that's your problem," Umbra grumbled.

I shook my head as the two began to bicker once more - quietly with Ruby sleeping in Cinder's hold. Maybe things would start to get better between us.

The door to the room opened, and the three of us fell silent. Four men in uniform walked in, followed by a fifth man in a suit.

"That's them! Those miscreants attacked my son!" the man barked. "Arrest them at once!"

Ruby woke up with a startled cry, and I groaned to myself.

Of fucking course.

Chapter Text

"Wait, wait, wait just a moment! Nobody is going anywhere!" Taiyang called, pushing his way against the suited men before they could approach us. Cinder handed Ruby to him quickly as we faced the uniformed people, quick to rush towards me and Umbra.

"Those delinquents assaulted my boy!" the councilman hissed. He was clearly rich, wearing a golden wristwatch, a few rings, and a very expensive haircut. "He defended himself valiantly, and you would see the perpetrators get away with no consequence? I will not have it!"

"Councilman, the headmaster made things as clear as they can be. There are plenty of witness reports and security footage showing your son attacking these teens first, clearly attempting to murder one of them before-" Taiyang quickly interjected, only for the haughty man to interrupt him at once.

"Preposterous!" the suited man scoffed with a dismissive wave. "You would do well to see the truth for what they are! They are nothing more than troublemakers who never should have been allowed into my kingdom in the first place!"

"We were brought as guests to the Vytal Festival, and we stayed out of everyone else's way," I said. "Your son was the one throwing his wealth around to get what he wanted."

"You will speak only when spoken to, urchin!" the councilman sneered, disregarding what I said with another dismissive swipe of a hand. "You won't get away with trying to sully my son's reputation, much less attacking him when he did nothing wrong!"

"He sullied it himself," Cinder said, only to get the councilman's hateful glare turned upon her.

Umbra remained silent, almost hiding behind me.

"You can't buy your way out of this one, councilman," Taiyang said. "Your son is detained, and will be expelled for what he tried to do. The facts are with us."

"I beg to differ," the man huffed. "I will see to it that my son will continue his huntsman education while your brats spend the rest of their lives in the trash where they belong."

"We were defending ourselves," I quickly said. "There's footage-"

"Doctored and inadmissible footage in a court of law. The only way you would go to court is when I call upon charges for the collective attempted assault and emotional distress my son has suffered at your hands!" the councilman accused.

"I don't believe such charges would be able to hold up in court," Ozpin's voice said. We turned to see the headmaster of Beacon step into view, with Goodwitch at his side. "Don't forget that the two of us were witness to the attack alongside Lionheart. As well as the citizens atop Amity who brought attention to it in the first place."

I blinked. People could see us from Amity Colosseum? Then again, it wasn't floating much higher than Haven Academy - probably because the school was already built on the very top of the largest mountain in the kingdom. "Wait, other people saw?" I asked.

"Indeed. More than a few have recorded the altercation as well, I might add," Ozpin said. "A bird's eye view of the altercation leaves little room for interpretation."

"A pity they won't be in your favor," the councilman scoffed. "Not while they're under detainment."

"What are you talking about?" Taiyang asked.

"I'm afraid that due to the fight, the Vytal Festival's tournament has been paused. And the authorities have...brought in those witnesses for questioning of the matter," Ozpin said distastefully before turning back to the clearly corrupt council member. "They cannot be held forever."

"They don't need to," the council member waved off. "Everyone knows the reputation that Valean huntsmen and huntresses have. After all, who would believe three amateurs could possibly believe they could have defeated a prodigy such as my son?"

"And you think they'd believe that we would just attack him out of nowhere?" I snapped.

"Of course! You're nothing but impulsive street urchins who believe they could overpower a proper huntsman in training, hoping to rob him for their own gain," the councilman remarked, sneering as he stepped forward. "Especially when they learn that my son was attempting to show sympathy for your...unfortunate status. He extended an olive branch to assist those in need, and you tried to murder him."

"That's an outrageous claim!" Taiyang hissed, stepping up to the councilman - only for the suited men to push themselves between them. "No one in public would believe it, much less a court!"

"Ah, but whether it's believed or isn't believed doesn't matter, does it? Lionheart hasn't the heart to bring it up in court, and the esteemed huntsmen and huntresses of Vale have no right to speak in a Mistralian court, especially since they aren't proper witnesses of the fight," the corrupt man jeered. "And that footage isn't fit for proper admission as evidence."

I frowned. Were we really being brought to court over this of all things? Not only that, there was a real chance we could be thrown into actual prison. If the councilman could have us charged, he could have us face prison time as an adult. Who knows how much power he held?

"Then it is a good thing that the court will not be influenced by those on the council of Mistral, nor citizens who could be bribed to twist the facts," Ozpin said as he stepped into the room, smoothly brushing by the officers and the councilman. "Not while I have anything to say about it."

"Pah! And what would you have to say about it?" the man huffed.

"Because we will be a part of the case regardless of what you wish," Ozpin said. "I'm sorry to say that while you have yet to properly arrest and declare charges against these children, we have already declared charges against your son, who has already been successfully arrested."

"Charges that will never hold up," the councilman said.

"Oh, they will. And you will have no influence over the proceedings when your son is extradited to a court in Vale," Ozpin said. "After all, your son has not attacked 'street urchins' as you have so eloquently put it, but rather citizens that are under the protection of Vale's sovereignty."

The council member's eyes widened. "You lie! They are no students of Beacon," he spat. "They are nothing more than homeless twits who have no legal representation!"

"You misunderstand, they haven't arrived from Vale with the rest of Beacon's student body - they arrived with me and my staff in my personal airship," the headmaster of Beacon continued. "Under the personal jurisdiction and protection of a member of Vale's council."

The man's shock turned into anger. "I can stonewall your departure and my son's extradition! You'll have no choice but to submit to the Mistralian authorities when I call for-" the councilman quickly interjected.

"As for your comment about Headmaster Lionheart, I had a chat with him after your argument a few hours ago," Ozpin said, brushing off the councilman's attempted interruption. The angered politician could only listen as the headmaster of Beacon continued to speak casually. "As it turns out, this fight is not the only instance of his poor use of wealth and power. Many others have come forward with testimonies and charges of their own upon learning of your son's detainment. If you wish to take this to court, then Headmaster Lionheart will have no other choice but to bring in witnesses that have had their own altercations and misgivings with your son."

I gaped at Ozpin and the way he'd thrown the wrench in the councilman's plans. Then the last sentence registered. "Wait, he's been harassing other students?" I asked.

"Indeed," Ozpin said. "I'll spare you the details, though I imagine you'll hear of them when you three are to attend the court."

"You'll regret going through with this, old man," the Mistralian council member snarled. Any haughty composure he may have had was gone, replaced by bitter rage. "You will never be able to approve extradition!"

Ozpin only smiled. "I think I will be able to have a Valean case approved for trial - outside of your ability to influence. That is...unless you're willing to let Headmaster Lionheart go through with his punishment. If you apologize to him, then you might be able to get him to drop the charges - at the very least. After all, you aren't truly worried for your son's fate - only for your reputation. The truth of what happened would only sully your apparent skills at raising a son," he said. "As well as ruin any chances of holding a council seat in the future."

Nothing more needed to be said. The council member gritted his teeth, and for a moment, I thought he would try to spit in Ozpin's face out of spite - but he didn't. He brushed off his suit and forced his anger away behind a mask of calm.

"It appears...that I have experienced a misunderstanding," he forced out before he turned to leave. The officers followed behind without another word, and Ozpin turned to smile at me.

"...he could have said sorry," Cinder mumbled.

"That...that was cool. Thanks," I said, unsure of what else I could say.

"You are quite welcome," Ozpin said. His smile fell as he shook his head. "Too many times have I seen men such as him. I refuse to stand by and watch you suffer at the hands of wrongfully applied punishment."

"We appreciate it very much," Taiyang said. Ruby had calmed down, having gone back to sleep. Maybe she was used to loud noises. "I'm just upset that something like this happened in the first place."

"True power corrupts many," Ozpin lamented. "Summer should be here soon. No doubt she'll be quite upset that she missed a chance to yell at the councilman."

"She would," Taiyang chuckled. "Are you sure he won't try and push?"

"I never lied to him, Taiyang. These three are under the protection of Vale's banner - and I did try to push charges in their defense first. And since he could not possibly influence the Council of Vale in any meaningful way - much less a court in Vale, he had no choice but to back off."

"Then why bother letting him drop the charges?" I asked. "Sure that douchebag Roan gets punished-"

"Language," Taiyang warned sternly.

"Oh. Sorry," I muttered. "Yeah, the son gets expelled, but the dad gets away with trying to cover it up? If he's the kind of person who does that, then he's not fit to hold a council seat anyway."

"I agree with you, as a matter of fact. But don't think he will be getting away scot-free," Ozpin said, his smile returning in a mischievous manner. "Do you recall the mention of the fight being recorded?"

"Yes. Why?" I asked, having an inkling of an idea of where this was going.

"It may not be admissible in court - but those recordings weren't made with admittance into a court in mind. It's rather unfortunate that the councilman hasn't been keeping up with the trending news." Ozpin said.

"So...the fight was posted online?" Taiyang asked.

"Indeed," Ozpin confirmed, though his smile fell a little. "Of course, I'm certain that the...end of that fight would have also made it online. Regardless, there is little to be done about it now." The headmaster turned to me, Umbra, and Cinder. "You have my most sincere apologies. Summer brought the issue to us, but Lionheart and I were...preoccupied with plans for the tournament. It was our responsibility to act on a student's behavior and we failed."

Ozpin sighed. "And it is due to our failure that those under our protection have suffered," he said.

"It's not your fault," I was quick to say. "It wasn't like I thought he would attack us out in the open, and the tournament is pretty important." I shoved my hands in my pockets. "Besides, there's not much else that can be done now."

"He's right. The three of them have recovered now, and they won't face any punishment for defending themselves," Taiyang said before sighing. He turned to look at us, and I could see concern in his eyes. "But with everything that's happened...I think it's best if we take them back to Vale early. Unless you wanna stay for the tournament?"

I wasn't interested - never have been, and I shook my head. Cinder did as well, and Umbra gave no comment - but she didn't seem like she was going to ask to stay.

"If that is what's best. I don't doubt that this incident will leave their mark, and perhaps some time back home will heal," Ozpin said. "Will Summer-"

"We did...talk about it earlier. Summer was too upset to consider enjoying the festival, and Yang was restless as well when she heard about the attack," Taiyang said. "I'm sorry, I know we promised to stay and-"

"No apologies are necessary," Ozpin reassured. "The needs of your family come first, and you deserve no ire for it." He pulled up his scroll. "I'm authorizing you to take my personal airship back to Vale at any time you please. I won't deduct from the pay I've promised for lending your aid in security for the entirety of the festival."

"You don't need to..." Taiyang began before sighing, seemingly remembering who he was talking to. "But I doubt I'd be able to stop you. In any case, we appreciate it."

"Of course," Ozpin said warmly before looking at the three of us. "We can manage the rest. You have all done wonderfully."

And with that, Ozpin left the room. Taiyang looked back at me. "Come on, let's get your things," he said.

"You...you don't have to leave the festival early because of us," I said. Saying I was feeling rather guilty was a bit of an understatement. If I hadn't done something, anything, then this never would have happened in the first place.

But it wasn't like I could have foreseen this happening, and apparently Taiyang was thinking of the same thing. "You can't blame yourself. You didn't cause him to act out. And you're not the reason he's like that," he reassured. "There wasn't much you could do."

That wasn't too helpful. "I wish there were. Otherwise that sounds like fate," I muttered.

Taiyang could do little more than pat me on the back. "We should get going. Before anything else happens," he said. He looked towards Umbra. "How are you feeling?"

Umbra rubbed her arm as she started to follow us out of the room. "I'm fine," she grumbled. She wasn't quite as meek, but she was definitely restless.

As we made our way out of the large infirmary, Cinder nudged my arm. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I will be. Just...I'm just thinking," I said as I rubbed her hand reassuringly. "Are you alright?"

"I'm alright," Cinder confirmed. "I'm just glad it's over. It...it is over, isn't it?"

"It is," Taiyang said. "Don't worry, we're here to help you out if something else happens." He reached over and ruffled Cinder's hair affectionately. After that, he rubbed Umbra's head as well. "You've never been to Vale before, huh?"

"No," Umbra said after pulling away from Taiyang's affection. "I never really...left the kingdom."

"Then you'll have a lot of exploring to do," Taiyang said. "You will be staying with Arden and Cinder, right?"

"Y-yeah. I am," Umbra said. "If that's okay."

"Of course it is," Taiyang reassured. "Of course, there's more to this that needs to be discussed - maybe on the airship flight back."

"Airship?" Umbra asked nervously.

- a few minutes later -

Summer came to find us when we were busy packing our things, and we were immediately squeezed with hugs. "Are you alright?" she quickly asked. "You recovered fine, right? No lasting damage from that spoiled brat?"

I shook my head. "We're good," I said, squirming uncomfortably. Cinder didn't seem to fight it, and Umbra couldn't move - being stuck between the two of us. "Umbra got some nasty scars, though."

Summer shook her head, tears welling up as she continued to hug us tightly. "I'm so sorry, this is-" she whispered.

"Not your fault," I hissed. "None of this is your fault."

"Come on, Summer," Taiyang said, gently urging his wife to release us as he brought Ruby over for her to carry. "We should focus on packing."

Summer sighed, her breaths shaky before she came over to Umbra. "Are you...alright?" she asked.

Umbra only looked away nervously. "...I'm fine," she mumbled.

"We're all tired," I said as I rubbed the back of my neck quietly.

"Don't worry. We're all going home," Taiyang said as he rubbed Cinder's head. He shook his head as he walked out of the room. "Qrow's going to love this..." he mumbled to himself.

Summer eventually left us alone, and Cinder and I got to finishing packing up what few things we had. When we were done, the three of us simply sat in our soon to be vacated room. I sighed as I looked over at Cinder. "Are you feeling okay?" I asked.

"I am. For now," Cinder muttered. "Is this what we'll have to expect when we go to Beacon?"

I shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not," I said. "I imagine we can handle it. Mistral's a bit rougher than Vale."

Cinder nodded. "Even so, we should get stronger," she said. "That guy almost beat us."

"He had almost a full year of training at Haven. We'll have training of our own before we start Beacon," I pointed out. "And that means we have a lot of work to do once we fly back to Vale."

Cinder silently nodded again before she looked over at Umbra, who was as quiet as she was when she'd first woken up. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Umbra sighed. "I'm fine," she mumbled. "So just leave me alone."

I reached over and gently grasped her shoulder, my grip squeezing her a bit. "You have us now. You know that, right?" I asked.

Umbra shrugged me off, though her movement lacked much vitriol. "...I just..." She sighed. "I almost died."

"We know that," Cinder said, her tone darkening. "We almost watched you die. Arden almost died too."

"To some...some asshole, to make things worse," Umbra mumbled. "...I put everything I had into that fight. And I was almost killed by him."

I sighed. "Huntsmen are just...on a different level. The three of us put everything we had, and we still almost lost," I said. "Which is why we're going to Beacon."

Cinder nodded. "If we're gonna be as strong as him, maybe even stronger, then we need to train," she said. "We have some time before we can apply for Beacon next year. We'll spend that time training."

Umbra inhaled deeply. "...would I be able to handle my aura by then?" she asked.

I nodded. "You'll have help from us. And Summer and Taiyang. Maybe Qrow too," I said. Umbra scowled darkly when I said the last name, and I held up a hand. "...okay, maybe not Qrow."

The door opened, and we turned to see Summer walk back in. "The airship is ready. Do you have everything packed?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said.

Summer smiled before she gestured for us to come along. The three of us followed her out of the building to see that much of the academy was more or less still cleared. Amity Colosseum was a bit further away, hanging closer to the mountainside. Taiyang, Ruby, and Yang waited for us outside - and the seven of us headed out, away from Haven Academy and towards the airship that brought us here.

It was all a white quiet trip - with Ruby and Yang keeping their silence as we boarded the ship. Ozpin and Goodwitch still had work to do in Mistral, which meant that the ship would return to Haven Academy once they more or less dropped us off in Vale.

The first thing Umbra did when we got onboard was sit down, clearly apprehensive about flying. She didn't dare show it more than she already did, pursing her lips and clenching her hands against the armrests when the airship took off. Thankfully, whatever fears she may have had were calmed by the smooth flying.

"I hope none of this has...discouraged you from still wanting to be huntsmen," Taiyang eventually said, breaking the silence. He'd put Ruby and Yang to sleep in one of the large lounge chairs in the airship, and both he and Summer were facing us. "Kurushimi was not the kind of person fit to become a huntsman."

"And we are?" Umbra asked dryly.

"You could be," Summer said, her voice soft. "That kind of person isn't born - they're made. We saw how the fighting went. The three of you fought not just to beat him, but to protect each other. Even you, Umbra."

Umbra blinked, and I could tell that she hadn't been expecting the conversation to turn out this way.

Summer looked down. "I...have reservations about where you came from and why you're here. But you don't have to follow her," she said. "There's a better life for you out there - and it doesn't have to revolve around...bandits."

I thought Umbra would've attempted to make some sort of defense, but she only scowled and crossed her arms before she looked away. Eventually, she looked back at Summer, curious. "You...knew Branwen as a teen, right? What was she like?" she asked.

I blinked in mild surprise. Were we getting this now?

"I doubt she's changed much, given what she's doing now," Summer muttered. Taiyang cleared his throat, and Cinder and I exchanged curious looks. Summer scratched the back of her neck before sighing. "But...she was ferocious. She never got along, never trusted people - at least when we started."

"Qrow wasn't too different. But he got used to leaning on us for support when he needed it. Eventually, she did too," Taiyang said.

"Don't get me wrong, she was strong. And she had beliefs that she protected fiercely," Summer said. "Even if I never liked what she preached, I respected them, and she respected me in return. We were a good team."

"She did...mellow out. We were family, even if we argued nonstop," Taiyang continued. "But when we were in the field...we ran like a well oiled machine. While it lasted...it was great."

I coughed, unsure of why I did so - but I cut off whatever they were going to say. "This...seems like a private talk," I said, more than a little bit awkwardly.

Summer chuckled. "Yeah, I doubt you wanna listen to two old geezers reminisce about the good old days," she said. "In any case...how are you all feeling?"

"We're fine," Cinder said. "I'm more worried about where Umbra will stay."

Summer and Taiyang exchanged looks of their own before Taiyang cleared his throat and spoke up. "We considered that, actually. The three of you will be staying at our house instead of the inn," he said. He held up a hand before any of us could visibly react to that. "It's not up for discussion. I'm not sure how much money you have, but it's best to save it for the future rather than whittle it away at an inn."

"And don't worry about paying us back. We have more than enough money to support you alongside our own daughters, as odd as it may seem," Summer added.

Cinder and I were a bit taken aback. "Are...you sure?" I asked. "I mean, you're already doing a lot, and-"

"It's not up for debate," Taiyang said with a smile on his face, nudging his wife's shoulder with more than a little affection. "You've rubbed off on our daughters these past several weeks. And given that the two of you have been on your own, we figured you could use some family to stick by you in times like this."

I wasn't sure what to say for the next several seconds. Were we actually being adopted by the Xiao Long Rose family? "I...wow," I muttered, my own voice shaky from the news. Cinder seemed shocked as well, her own eyes widened and her mouth gaping. "...uhh...are you really sure about this-"

"We are," Summer said, giggling at my apparent response. "You really should say 'thank you' instead of trying to make us second guess our choices."

"I-no, no that wasn't...I mean, I wasn't-" I began before Cinder clamped a hand on my arm.

"Thank you," Cinder said. "From both of us."

Summer only smiled at us before she looked over at Umbra. "While we're on the way home, you might as well get started on handling your aura," she said.

"With what, meditation?" the normally brash teen asked. "Arden's been making me do that a while ago."

"Good," Taiyang said, gesturing for Umbra to come over. "Then you should feel familiar with it. If you want a better connection with your aura, then meditation is the way to go."

Umbra growled to herself before getting up - slowly, before she made her way over to Summer and Taiyang. The three moved across the airship's main room, speaking quietly as Cinder and I got some space to ourselves.

I leaned back in my own seat, sighing as I let the events of earlier sink in. "What a trip..." I mumbled to myself. "Can't wait to get back to Vale."

Cinder leaned herself on my shoulder, resting against me as she sighed to herself. "Me too," she mumbled before she turned to look up, her hair tickling my chin. "Do you really think we'll get into Beacon?"

"I do," I muttered as I wrapped a hand around Cinder's waist and pulled her closer. She shifted, pushing her leg over mine as she got comfortable. "I mean...you have your semblance and Umbra's already a skilled fighter."

"She is..." Cinder mumbled, no doubt remembering how she'd already lost to Umbra before she got her aura unlocked.

"Not too sure about me," I continued. "I'm still improving, so hopefully it'll be enough."

"Don't worry, it will be," Cinder assured as she leaned her head back on my shoulder, near the crook of my neck. "Once we get back, we're going to spar."

I chuckled quietly as I closed my eyes. "It's a deal," I mumbled.

Any rest I could have gotten on the ship was immediately halted when Taiyang said our names. We looked over to see him coming over to us, his scroll in his hands. "You should look at this," he said.

It was a news conference of sorts, with that council member onscreen, standing behind a podium. It was clear that whatever speech he'd been saying, we probably missed most of it. "My son has disgraced not only the good name of Mistral, but myself as a father," the man said, his expression seemingly mournful. "Alongside his expulsion from Haven Academy, he will...also be facing criminal charges."

"Councilman, do you believe his behavior could at all be influenced by his upbringing? There has been talk about-" a reporter offscreen called.

"Please. I shall not be answering any questions on the matter. I shall take leave to...process this situation, and to hold a reevaluation to myself," the councilman said before departing the podium.

"Wow. He really threw him under the bus," I mumbled.

"He's a politician. In the end, it's going to be about his career rather than his family. And there's no way to change what could happen," Taiyang muttered. "But, the man's facing scrutiny and his son's going to face jail time for what he did. Regardless of what happens, he won't hurt anyone else."

I only nodded in reply. I could have said something about the dad apparently endorsing his son's actions when he tried to get us blamed for the incident, and how he would be getting away scot free, but he wouldn't - not really. His career would probably tank from this, regardless of what fancy speech he gave.

That was probably the best outcome, all things considering.

"I hope this didn't ruin the festival," Cinder muttered.

"It...put a damper on things, but it'll bounce back. It always does," Taiyang said as he shut off and pocketed his scroll. "I'll let you rest. Just figured you'd want some closure, that's all."

And with that, Taiyang headed back to Summer and Umbra. There was little more to be said, and I simply closed my eyes - content with the mild satisfaction over the result of events. Cinder seemed to feel the same, judging by the way she sighed as she closed her eyes.

I followed suit, drifting off to a much needed rest for the remainder of our journey back to Vale.

Chapter Text

- one month after the events in Mistral -

About a month had passed after the events at Mistral, and we'd officially moved into the Xiao Long Rose cabin upon returning to our new home. Cinder and I shared one of the guest rooms while Umbra had another to herself. Taiyang and Summer had constantly visited all of us at night and in the morning to ensure that we were recovering smoothly.

It didn't take long for Umbra to start getting annoyed at that - though there was little she could do to deter them without angering the two adults. Cinder and I took their worry in stride, not having much to complain about the treatment - as slightly overwhelming as it could be.

Between training, working, and sleep, we heard bits of the news revolving around Haven. This year's Vytal Festival had been won by a team in Vacuo - though it had been bittersweet given that the talk and footage of a Mistralian student attempting to murder Valean visitors had apparently almost cancelled the entire festival altogether.

Thankfully, Summer and Taiyang did their best to keep us from dwelling on things, keeping us busy with things around the house. Our training sessions continued strongly, and Cinder's own literacy lessons were almost complete - just about able to write as well as anyone else could.

Ruby and Yang had been placed in charge of teaching Umbra how to read and write. To my surprise, Umbra listened - although reluctantly. Ruby and Yang were more than a little overwhelming for her - often trying to get her to hang out with them more outside of lessons. Her temper was still there, and she called the girls 'brats' more than once, but it never escalated beyond that.

After all, Summer was still a stay at home mom.

Even if living with the Xiao Long Rose family was sweet, we weren't blind to the fact that we were just more mouths to feed. We pitched in with whatever Lien we had alongside whatever we earned at the general store - and spent whatever time we had off the clock training further.

Thankfully, the leftover Lien from our questionable job in Atlas mixed with what Cinder and I earned from our jobs meant that the extra costs on the water and power bills weren't an issue, and we could afford more food on top of that. Most of the time, it was giving an extra two hundred Lien to Summer when she went with Ruby and Yang to buy groceries - and other times, Cinder, Umbra, and I would go to the city to get lunch at one of many restaurants around.

It took a week for Summer to accept the money we were offering, before Taiyang and Qrow had finally convinced her to let us pitch in. It wasn't like we could use the extra money for future huntsman equipment, not when Beacon would provide the material when we got in anyways. The Lien we pitched in would not only go into food, but the occasional cookies for Ruby, and even replacing an appliance or two.

The training itself was much more progressive - especially since we pushed ourselves harder with Umbra training with us. Hours upon hours were spent doing strength training, long term running, sparring, and meditation. And all of that work built up our appetites with every passing day.

This was one of those times.

We'd been spending the past few hours walking around the Vale Shopping Center - which was less an actual shopping center and more a few outdoor city blocks dedicated to shops, stores, and restaurants. The aftermath of the Vytal Festival had many people from Vale returning home, as well as many more from other kingdoms visiting since the urge to travel was still strong.

Right now, we were at a cafe, sitting to rest our legs whilst drinking iced coffee. I watched as Cinder gulped down her iced latte - having tried one for the very first time. "I want another one," she said as soon as she lowered the straw from her lips, her hands gripping her near empty plastic cup - which only held ice.

"I don't," Umbra mumbled as she set her mostly full iced latte down on the table. Her face was wrinkled, almost as if she'd swallowed a lemon. "I don't think I like it. Do people really drink it?"

I rolled my eyes as Cinder snatched up Umbra's drink, much to the short haired girl's ire. "If we keep getting coffee, you'll need to go to the bathroom a lot," I pointed out. "Besides, we're saving Lien to get burgers before we head back."

Cinder set down the second empty cup before getting up, stretching her legs in the process. "That sounds good," she said.

"What's a burger?" Umbra asked, raising an eyebrow and tilting her head in clear confusion. "I haven't had one before."

"Well...you'll probably like it then," I said, deciding to show her rather than try to describe it. "But first, clothes shopping. We need some more variety in what we have."

Especially since we only had one or two outfits total for each of us.

"Are you sure?" Cinder asked. "The clothes we have work fine, don't they?"

"Remember what Summer said before we left?" I asked. "It'd be more practical to have a few more sets of clothes for when there's laundry day. Unless you're fine being naked while your clothes are being washed and dried."

"Hmm," Cinder mumbled thoughtfully. Umbra seemed a bit more receptive, thankfully. As we tossed out our empty cups, we made our way to the nearest clothing store - with Umbra stopping by the glass doors to see the mannequins, dressed up in a variety of outfits.

"Anything that catches your eye?" I asked.

"...I want one of those," Umbra said after a moment of silence, pointing at a black leather jacket with silver studs on its collar, shoulders, and wrists. It definitely looked expensive, but we did have a lot of Lien to spend.

"I'll buy that as long as you buy actual pants," I said. "It's bound to get cold soon."

Umbra crossed her arms and sighed. "Fine," she grumbled, and she followed Cinder inside. The three of us walked around, looking at different clothes like we did back in Mistral.

This time, Umbra seemed to be serious about getting the jacket, as she left Cinder and me to browse the jeans. I was curious about getting some more shirts and socks, going for something simple without any logos - especially since I wouldn't recognize any of them anyways.

I'd gone for socks first, and I ended up just grabbing three packs of eight - one pack for each of us. I was fairly sure if girls and guys could wear the same kinds of socks anyway, so I just grabbed the packs of cotton socks, the ones without any size labels on them.

Umbra came back when I was done with shirts, holding two pairs of black jeans as I came out of the changing room with a few T-shirts, one blue and two gray. "Are these good?" she asked.

"Did you at least try them on first before deciding?" I asked. "I'd rather not buy them and find out that they don't fit."

"Yeah, yeah. A little loose, but I can move around in them," Umbra said.

I nodded, seeing that they were pretty nice looking jeans. "As long as you don't get ripped ones. They charge more for that," I said.

Umbra rolled her eyes. "Please - I'd rather get them ripped in battle than buy ones already damaged," she grumbled. She tossed the jeans into my arms, atop the shirts I was holding. "Wait here. I'm gonna look around and then go get that jacket."

She hurried off before I could protest, and I could only sigh. "Hoping she doesn't cause any trouble," I mumbled to myself, deciding to wait for Cinder and Umbra to get back before I went anywhere.

Some time passed as I waited for the girls - and I started to feel a bit awkward about standing alone with armfuls of clothes in the middle of the store. "So this is what shopping trips feel like," I mumbled. I'd seen groups of girls visit pricey stores back in my own home world, always walking out with what had to be hundreds of dollars worth of clothes.

I ended up leaning on the nearest pillar, keeping an eye out for Cinder or Umbra. Two teen girls with blonde hair walked by, eyeing me curiously before they headed around the nearest clothing rack. A moment later, a tall woman with long and wavy brown hair walked by, holding the hand of a girl around Yang's age - the two of them well dressed.

Oddly enough, both mother and daughter wore sunglasses indoors.

I fought the urge to sigh, wondering how we'd gone from surviving to clothes shopping.

"Arden."

Upon hearing Cinder's voice - I turned around to see her holding up clothing hangers in each hand, each with a fiery orange bra and a pair of equally orange panties hanging from it. "Should I get these?" she asked, eyeing the underwear she was holding. "It's safer to have two of each, right?"

I immediately stepped back, not willing to touch the subject of female underwear. "Uhh, I'm not an expert," I said, hoping my face didn't burn as red as I felt like it was. "If you like it, you should get it."

Cinder shrugged. "Okay," she said before she hung both hangers on my arms. "Where's Umbra?"

"She's getting a jacket. Any other clothes you wanted to get?" I asked.

"I already got that dress from Mistral. I don't really need more clothes now," Cinder said. "After this, can we get burgers?"

Before I could answer, my vision was immediately blocked by a heavy piece of clothing draped over my face. "Got it!" Umbra said. "Can we go now?"

The clothing was pulled off my face, and I saw Cinder holding the studded black leather jacket seen on the mannequin in the front of the store. "Sure, sure," I muttered, silently mourning the hit my wallet would take from this shopping trip. After today, I'd need to focus less on splurging.

"Excuse me?"

We turned to see one of the store employees glaring at us, arms crossed. "May I ask why your friend decided to tear that jacket off of the mannequin rather than pick one from our clothing racks?" he asked sternly.

Just behind him, I could see said bare mannequin lying near the door - its arms removed at the shoulders and lying next to it. Cinder and I turned to stare at Umbra - who could only shrug unapologetically.

- two hours later -

After paying for our clothes and the damages to the mannequin, we made our way out of the shopping district to find the nearest burger joint. Cinder was busy berating a consistently ignorant Umbra over her actions, and I was busy carrying our shopping bags behind them.

"Yeah, yeah - when are we going to get burgers?" Umbra asked after waving Cinder off for a third time.

"We'll get burgers once we find a place that sells burgers near here. We haven't been to this part of the city before, so I don't exactly know," I said, eyeing the streets around us. "Hoping we don't get lost. Ferry trips close at ten in the evening."

"It's only around lunchtime. We'll have a lot of time to figure out how to get back," Cinder said, before pointing down the street. "Can we go there?"

I turned to follow her finger, seeing a street intersection ahead. A restaurant took up one of the corners, looking like a diner from the 80s or 90s. "That one looks pretty good," I said before turning to Umbra. "How hungry are you?"

"Very fucking hungry," Umbra grumbled, paying no mind to the few people that turned their bewildered gazes on her as they walked by. Thankfully, neither Cinder and I cared very much - crossing the street to get to the diner.

Upon entering, we were hit with the sounds of burgers, loud conversation, and some music I didn't recognize playing throughout the restaurant. The interior itself was big - resembling one of those older diners back home, with booths along the tall windows, as well as several packed tables aligned by aisles and rows. Most of the customers inside were teens, probably having just gotten out of school.

"How does this work?" Umbra asked.

"We grab an empty table and sit," I said, eyeing the booths to see if there was one available. Thankfully, there were two or three along the far side of the restaurant, and I led us over to sit down. As we passed by a few teens, I caught a few of them looking at us.

Well, at Cinder.

I fought the urge to grin as one of them was clearly staring openly at her figure as we walked by their table - not that Cinder or Umbra gave any sort of notice. We reached the booth without trouble, and I slid in on one side to sit by the window. Cinder sat next to me while Umbra sat across from us, and the three of us waited.

A waitress came by about a minute later, handing us a few menus and letting us know that she'd be back in a few minutes. I sighed to myself as she walked away. "Figures the place would be busy," I muttered.

"Does this mean the food will be slow?" Umbra asked, and I could tell she was already impatient.

"Hopefully not by much," I said as I took one of the menus and began to look it over. It seemed like your everyday burger joint - serving single, double, and triple cheeseburgers, both fried and grilled chicken sandwiches, chicken wings, as well as a bunch of different side items like fries, onion rings, cheese curds, and even side salads.

The images on the menu looked good enough, and it seemed like Umbra and Cinder agreed - especially with how they drooled. Eyeing over the items once more, I set the menu down. "Chicken or burger?" I asked.

"I haven't had a chicken burger before," Cinder muttered.

"I haven't tried either one period," Umbra said. "Can I have both?"

I held up a finger to argue before seeing the puppy eyes on her face. She wasn't pulling them off very well, but the fact that she was trying them at all was more than enough to break my resistance. "Fine," I mumbled as my eyes fell back down on the menu.

"Me too?" Cinder asked, and I turned to look at her before I could stop myself - subject to the full extent of her much more successful puppy eyes.

"I-fine," I mumbled - and Cinder beamed. The waitress came back as I acknowledged the hit our finances would take, ordering for the three of us.

"Three double cheeseburgers, two grilled deluxe chicken sandwiches, two crispy chicken sandwiches, a large side of onion rings, a large side of fries, and six piece barbeque wings," the waitress said as she scribbled down the order. "Any drinks?"

"Milkshakes," Cinder and Umbra said just as I said "waters." The two girls looked at me, and I could only bury my face in my hands. "Yeah, sure. Milkshakes all around," I grumbled.

The waitress only grinned as she took the menus, and I sighed. "Well, this'll be the last time we go out for a while," I said.

"Awww, why?" Cinder pouted.

"We can't afford to spend this much money too often. Even with what we have and what we earn working at the store, we'll run out soon if we're not being careful," I pointed out. "Then we'll have to never eat in the city ever again."

"Well, Summer's cooking is good enough. I don't mind," Umbra muttered.

"Then if you like the food at home so much, then that's even more reason to save money rather than spend it eating at a restaurant," I said. "Since we already get some pretty good food at home."

That got the girls thinking for a few minutes before Cinder spoke up. "Then we keep the money and save it for food that's really good." Umbra seemed to agree, nodding enthusiastically.

That was as close as I could get to the two of them agreeing on saving money - at least for the time being. "Yeah," I said, deciding to quit while I was ahead. "Sure."

There was little to say about lunchtime. The food arrived all at once in red baskets lined with parchment paper, and the girls wasted no time digging in, biting one sandwich, then a handful of fries, then a sip of milkshake, then some onion rings, then a piece of chicken, then risking and repeating.

Despite the poor etiquette, I didn't really give much of a damn - having eaten like an animal whenever I could - since food was usually scarce back home. Besides, I was focusing more on enjoying my food rather than trying to seem presentable.

By the time I finished my double cheeseburger, the girls had finished all the fries and onion rings. There were some eyes on us, given how much noise we were making, though it wasn't nearly loud enough to break through the busy restaurant environment and the background music.

Thankfully, we burned through the food pretty quickly. Not many people paid much attention to the noise and mess we were making, and the waitress brought over the check. Even as I stared at the exorbitant total on the piece of paper, I sighed and paid up - plus a small tip.

That was a big chunk out of our finances, on top of the clothes shopping and our contribution to the power and water bills of the Xiao Long Rose household.

Still, the relaxed smiles on Cinder's and Umbra's food covered lips made everything worth it.

"Clean yourselves up. There's sauce and oil all over your faces," I muttered as I wiped down Cinder's mouth with a napkin. Umbra grumbled to herself as she did the same, practically scrubbing her whole face with her napkins.

"Thanks," Cinder said before she let out a belch. Her cheeks darkened, even as I laughed. "Sorry," she muttered.

"It's fine," I said as I set the crumpled and dirty napkin on the top of the empty red baskets, which I'd stacked when we finished our food. The only things that were left were the girls' half finished milkshakes. "Come on, we paid already. Let's get going."

"I'm gonna use the restroom first," Cinder said, and I stepped out. As she scooted out of the booth and brushed off her clothes, I looked back to see Umbra staring down at her milkshake, a pondering expression on her face.

I sat back down before reaching over and tapping her hand. "Hey, you okay?" I asked. "I thought you'd have finished your milkshake by now."

Umbra shook her head. "I was just thinking," she said as she looked away. "I'm becoming weak now. Aren't I?"

I immediately put two and two together, frowning at her words. "Taking the time to have fun and relax isn't growing weak," I said before leaning in and lowering my voice. "Also, Raven's idea of what it means to be strong isn't the most accurate."

That got a scowl out of Umbra. "Raven's kept us alive for years. Our tribe stood because we were strong. And we looked out for each other. We're as strong as we can be," she defended.

"You're not the only ones under those circumstances. And robbing everything in sight doesn't make you strong," I countered. "Especially since you're going up against weaker people. People who can't even defend themselves."

Umbra only scoffed as she looked down. "And why would they? They have everything in this city," she grumbled. She turned to look out the nearby window. "They don't fight for safety. They don't fight for food. They can just buy everything. Money isn't power...it's just an excuse to stay weak."

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "...not wrong," I began. "But strength is not limited to fighting. People are strong in different ways. Taking care of their families, taking care of the city. Fighting not just Grimm, but other people to keep the ones they love safe."

"That's not the same and you know it," Umbra growled.

"Then tell me - what exactly are you talking about?" I asked.

Umbra gripped the edge of the table, eyeing me with a fire in her gaze. "People here don't know what it's like to have to fight for everything!" she hissed. "But they're weak! They could die to a single one of our weakest members, yet they'd have everything at their fingertips! This...this city is full of the weak!"

I shook my head. "There's no such thing as strong or weak in this scenario. Here, people just want to live their lives. Your tribe...wants to become strong for the sake of being strong," I said. "And even then...what kind of strong people do you even fight?"

Umbra opened up her mouth.

"Besides huntsmen. Which - let me remind you - the tribe couldn't even fight until Raven came back," I said.

Umbra fell deep into thought, her anger giving way to thoughtfulness. Eventually, she spoke up. "Grimm?" she asked.

I raised my eyebrow. "Is that it?" I asked.

"What do you mean 'is that it'? The Grimm are the toughest monsters out there, and the tribe can fight them just fine! Most of them can handle Grimm without having aura either!" Umbra defended.

"It doesn't take much to shoot a gun and kill a few Grimm. But huntsmen like Summer, like Raven, can go up against a hundred in close range and not even break a sweat," I said. "You have all of this talk about getting strong, but it sounds like your people aren't even focused on the right aspects of getting strong."

"Oh? And what aspects are that? Friendship? Love?" Umbra asked, her tone seemingly mocking.

I shook my head. "People get strong to look out for the weak," I said. Umbra scoffed, but I wasn't deterred as I crossed my arms. "Those who get strong for selfish reasons end up like that guy we fought at Mistral. Lording their power around and punishing those who don't do anything wrong. That's what your tribe is leaning towards."

Umbra flinched. "We're not the same as that asshole!" she snapped.

I raised an eyebrow. "How is going after villages and taking everything they earn not like that?" I asked. "Farmers who spend months growing food, only for it all to be snatched by bandits. People who make and sell valuables for a living, just to have it all taken or destroyed."

Umbra growled.

"It is the same," I said. "But you don't want to see it because now you know what it's like to be on the receiving end. Cinder and I have for a while now." Umbra looked away quietly, and I sighed.

"What's going on?"

I looked up to see Cinder approaching, wiping off her wet hands on her clothes. "Not much," I said as I got up and stretched my arms. "Come on. And don't forget your milkshakes."

Umbra complied wordlessly, her face still scrunched in thought.

- an hour later -

The city was peaceful now as it slowly began to enter the late afternoon. Despite the conversation we had, Umbra seemed to have bounced back, somewhat. We continued to walk around the city, taking the time to explore the rest of the city, touring some areas we hadn't really explored.

Turns out, even the city of Vale had slums, packed with older and worn down buildings similar to some of the older buildings of Atlas that Cinder and I had seen.

As much as I'd wanted to see the slums too - just to see if it resembled much of home - common sense reminded me just how bad an idea it was. And so, we steered clear.

"We'll have to get back soon," Cinder said. "Before dinner time."

"Wait, you're still hungry?" I asked, somewhat incredulously. I hadn't realized at the time, but I was just starting to notice just how much food Cinder and Umbra could put away.

"Maybe," Cinder mumbled, her cheeks pinkening. I only rubbed her hair affectionately - to which she smacked my hand aside. "Stop that!"

"Fine," I sighed before looking over at Umbra.

"Don't even think about it," she said.

I rolled my eyes. "You're all no fun," I grumbled quietly before I stopped. A commotion had reached my ears, one that sounded all too familiar. "Do you hear that?"

The two girls stopped as well. Umbra blinked, and Cinder paled. "Is that yelling?" Umbra asked.

"Uh oh," Cinder muttered. The three of us looked at each other before we hurried down the street.

The first thing we saw when we turned the corner at the intersection was a crowd. Dozens of Faunus stood in the streets once again, waving signs and banners while chanting. Like the last protest we'd seen, there were plenty of humans that yelled back, mostly obscenities.

"What's going on?" Umbra asked, her eyes narrowing at what was surely an odd sight for her.

"It's complicated," I said as I scratched the back of my neck. "I'll explain at home - or Summer will. I'm not too good at that stuff." I eyed the Faunus protest, seeing several of them being teenagers to young adults. I normally wouldn't have given their looks a second thought if it weren't for the sight of one teen girl in the forefront, waving her own sign.

She had dark skin, fluffy short hair, and a pair of rounded tiger ears - wearing what seemed to be white leggings and a sleeveless wrap top that exposed her midriff. Darkened stripes adorned her skin from her forearms up to her shoulders, and a small red jewel on her forehead.

"She looks...familiar," I couldn't help but think. Before I could give it any more thought, a rock was sent flying.

Before Cinder or I could react, the Tiger Faunus had swung the sign in her hands, smashing the rock and shredding the corner of her sign before she resumed her chanting.

Then more objects came - a handful of the more angry people starting to go on the attack.

I sighed. "Here we go again," I muttered before Cinder and I rushed in, Umbra following close behind.

Chapter Text

The next piece of junk that was thrown struck me as we rushed in, aura flickering painlessly. Cinder and Umbra were right alongside me, the three of us standing between the Faunus and the humans in the middle of the street.

"What're we doing?!" Umbra yelled over the sound of chaos around us, and I couldn't blame how utterly confused and angered she looked.

"Stopping the violence!" I called back. Thankfully, our appearance seemed to shift the tide, the more angry people now looking uncertain at the sight at the three of us running in. Some actually seemed to think we were going to be helping them attack the Faunus.

"Hey!" I turned to see the tiger Faunus girl glaring at me. "We don't need your help, human!" she snapped.

"Yeah, well we don't need rocks hitting kids in the face!" I shot back as an empty soda can struck my shoulder, my aura flickering once more. "We're not interfering with your protest."

"Yes you are! Now shove off!" another Faunus teen sneered.

"You're getting rocks thrown at you!" I countered as another piece of debris was thrown, only for Cinder to knock it aside with her hand. "I'd rather not see anyone get hurt - hey!" I barked upon seeing Umbra picking up one of the rocks, ready to throw it back into the crowd.

I grabbed her wrist before she could do so.

"Hey!" Umbra complained.

"No throwing back! That's an easy excuse to get arrested!" I scolded, pulling the rock from Umbra's grip and crushing it in my hand - my aura flickering once more.

"Oh, come on! They started it!" Umbra complained.

"I know, but that doesn't mean it's legal to retaliate!" I said. I turned to glare at the crowds, who were still shouting against the Faunus protests - and us.

"Animal lovers!" one yelled.

"Racist asshole!" I yelled back, beginning to realize that I hadn't actually thought of any actual plan before rushing in, and neither had Cinder - who was focused on knocking aside rocks and debris.

Dammit, what to do, what to do?

"Heya."

I jolted before turning. Approaching from the side of the street was Qrow Branwen, hands in pockets as he made his way towards us. A rock of two hit his aura before the barrage slowly stopped - the counter protesting humans recognizing him as well.

"What're you doing here?" I asked.

"Eh, Tai wanted me to keep an eye on you three. Just in case you got yourselves into trouble," Qrow said as he looked over at Umbra. "So, what're you brats up to?" he asked as he ruffled her hair rather roughly.

Umbra only spluttered and smacked his hand away as Cinder came over. "We saw this happening and wanted to help," she said. "We didn't want anyone to get hurt."

"I see that," Qrow said as he finally stopped picking on Umbra. "Good call on not fighting back either. You kids need a hand?"

"No," Umbra growled.

"Yes, actually," I said, my eyes narrowing as I looked back at the crowd. "The protest needs to happen, otherwise more people will just get hurt."

That and I wanted to avoid a violent White Fang.

The Faunus behind us muttered to themselves, seemingly confused and skeptical. The tiger Faunus girl stepped up to join us. "Why would you want to help us?" she asked, her own eyes narrowing at us.

"Because at the last protest we saw and jumped in, a Faunus kid got a rock thrown at his head," I said. "And he would've gotten beaten to death if we hadn't stepped in at that time."

Cinder frowned, seemingly reminded of that moment. "I hope he's okay," she muttered.

"In any case, if you had human support in the protests, then people would take you more seriously," I said, eyeing the crowds. They seemed nervous now, which I was fairly certain was because of Qrow's presence. He was famous, after all.

"And what do you want in exchange for your help?" the girl asked. "I know how you humans work - you'll act all nice and mighty but then you'll want something in return."

I scratched the back of my neck before I turned to eye Cinder and Umbra - who both shrugged. "Well, we just sorta hopped in. We didn't really think about anything we could want," I said.

"Not that we want anything," Cinder said, nudging me. "We just didn't want to see anyone else get hurt."

The girl scowled. "And why should we believe you?" she asked. "For all we know, you have something planned.

"Not every human is racist," I pointed out.

"You don't get it, do you?" the girl asked. "Not everyone is as bad as them-" She gestured to the crowd of humans in front of us. "-but everyone has some sort of prejudice against us. Just because most people aren't as violent as them, doesn't mean that they're less prejudiced against us."

"We get you," Qrow said, his tone growing serious. "The presence of good is not equal to the absence of evil alone."

"Well, we're helping now," I said. "We're not interested in payment, we're just sick of seeing how bad some people have it these days."

"And how do you know how bad people live?" the Faunus girl asked. Before I could answer, Cinder stepped forward - her hand gripping her jacket collar.

I watched reluctantly as she tugged her collar aside, revealing the faded and twisted burn scars that wrapped around her neck. The Faunus girl's eyes widened, and a few other Faunus gasped and muttered.

"The Faunus aren't the only ones humans like to abuse," Cinder said, her tone quiet yet dark.

The Faunus all looked between each other, glances still unsure but not quite as skeptical. The tiger Faunus eventually swallowed her pride and sighed. "Okay. What did you want to do?" she asked.

I looked at Cinder before she nodded. "Let us join the protest," I said. "At the front. Let the people know that there's humans who'll stand up for you just as much as you'll stand up for yourselves."

"You'd do that?" one dog Faunus asked, almost unbelievably.

I nodded. "Do you have any spare signs?" I asked.

"Will you join us, Qrow?" Cinder asked, turning to the seasoned huntsman next to us. To my surprise, I could actually see a smile on Qrow's face.

"Eh, I'll be more useful keeping an eye on things. You know, making sure that nobody else tries anything stupid," he said, his gaze sharpening as he looked at the nearby crowd of anti protesters.

"At least you're looking out for us. You big softie," I said.

"Watch it," Qrow warned. "Gotta keep up my tough guy persona, after all."

"Just know that if you try anything, we will defend ourselves," the tiger Faunus said as she held out her damaged sign for me to take. I took it and looked it over before holding it up.

"What's your name, by the way?" I asked as I stepped back to stand next to her.

"Why?" the tiger eared girl asked.

"Introductions, right?" I asked. "My name's Arden. My friend's Cinder, and the shortie's name is Umbra."

"Shortie?" Umbra squawked as Cinder giggled.

The Faunus girl eyed me suspiciously before she looked ahead. "Sienna. My name is Sienna Khan."

I blinked. "...oh."

Sienna eyed me curiously. "What?"

"Nothing! Nothing. Nice to meet you," I said almost automatically before I held up the sign. Thankfully, the future high leader of the White Fang didn't say anything, and the protest began to continue.

This time, there was much less yelling and rocks being thrown at us in retaliation.

- at nighttime -

The protest managed to last several hours, and people saw us standing alongside the protestors. Qrow's presence cut down most of any violent acts, and the Faunus were allowed to walk down the streets for a good distance before the police finally showed up, having set up a blockade to bar any more progress.

"I didn't think it would take them this long," I muttered to myself as I stared at the deployable cover sitting in front of three police cars. Half a dozen officers stood in a line, as well as a handful of counter protestors that stood behind the cars, clearly eager to see the nonviolent White Fang rally go away.

"The police probably got bored waiting for us to 'retaliate'. Probably lost an excuse to jump in when this guy-" Sienna eyed Qrow. "-decided to mediate."

"Would've been better to just beat them down," Umbra growled, only for Qrow to yank her back by the collar.

"None of that, okay?" Qrow asked. Umbra only bared her teeth, and Qrow rolled his eyes. "In any case, it looks like the protest is over soon."

Sienna glared. "And they expect us to leave? To bend to their whim just because they brought the 'big bad cops' to deal with us?" she asked.

"It's the safest option," Qrow said, his voice stern enough to keep Sienna from snapping back at him immediately. "Think about it. No violent dispersion, and no stonewalling. You got your protest - you got people to listen, and you got humans in your corner. To get violent now is to lose everything good that happened today."

Sienna narrowed her eyes. Before she could say anything, an older Faunus sighed. "He's right," he said, his dog ears twitching as he lowered his sign. "The fact that we were able to protest this long is an achievement in itself. There's absolutely no doubt that our message was properly heard."

"Yes, but if we stop now, we'll lose all of our momentum-" Sienna began.

"We must not push our luck. Our next rally should see even more progress," the dog Faunus continued sternly before he looked over at Cinder, Umbra, and me. "I would never have thought it would take the assistance of humans for it to happen."

I could only shrug. "I'm more surprised you let us help you," I said as we handed our signs back to the protestor.

"Many of us despise humans, but not all of them are responsible for the hate in this world," the older Faunus said as the crowd of Faunus began to disperse, lowering their signs and heading back home. "In any case, you have our thanks."

We watched as the protest dispersed - thankfully with no violence against the withdrawing Faunus from the police. "You'd be the only one to thank us today," Umbra mumbled to herself before she got a light smack on the head from Cinder. "Hey!"

Sienna huffed. "Don't think this means that Faunus will start seeing you as 'best friends' after one act of kindness," she said. Her ire dimmed down for a moment. "Though...you have my appreciation for helping us."

I shrugged again. "It was no trouble. Besides...throwing rocks is kinda fucked up," I said.

"I imagine this'll get you in Beacon's good graces," Qrow said. "That is, if you still plan on going there next year."

"You know we are," I said, nudging Qrow's leg with my foot. "We're not done training yet anyways. We still have to land one hit on you before that happens, old man."

"Hah! I'd like to see you try," Qrow snorted.

"You're going to Beacon?" Sienna asked, her eyes widening. "So you're future huntsmen students."

"Well...we didn't go to a primary school, so...sort of?" Cinder said, scratching the back of her neck.

"In case you start assuming, we had to get strong in order to even be considered for this," I said. "It's not like people have to spend most of their life training in a fancy kiddie fighting school before they're able to apply for Beacon."

"I mean, legally, you have to," Qrow said. "But ol' Ozpin always thought that was far too restrictive. Not giving enough opportunities and all that."

"Oh?" Sienna asked dryly. "And how could people like you become strong enough to go straight to Beacon?"

"Homeless," I said. "Fought in the streets."

"Slave," Cinder said. "Trained in secret."

"She's a pillager," I added, pointing at Umbra.

"Oi! Bandit!" Umbra protested.

"Same difference," I said. Umbra growled as I crossed my arms. "In any case, the headmaster doesn't really care about where someone comes from or how they grew up."

Sienna blinked before looking down, her expression going from disbelief to what appeared to be deep thought.

"In any case," Qrow said. "Now that this is over and you're all safe, Summer's been worried sick. You were supposed to come back a while ago."

I scratched the back of my neck. "Yeah...sorry about that," I muttered as I looked down. "Got distracted."

"I was there, remember?" Qrow asked, crossing his arms before turning his gaze over at Sienna. "You should probably get going before it gets too dark."

Sienna looked between Qrow and me before slowly nodding. "...yeah," she eventually said before leaving - without saying goodbye.

"...hope she's okay," I said.

"She's probably just a bit tired. Come on, let's go," Qrow sighed, gesturing for us to come along.

- an hour later, at the Xiao Long Rose Household -

Cinder and I sat on the couch, side by side as Taiyang stood before us, crossing his arms as he looked down sternly at us. "Another protest?"

Cinder and I nodded, and Taiyang groaned. "Don't tell me another fight broke out," he grumbled.

"Actually, we joined the protest - peacefully," I said, deciding to omit the fact that we had indeed jumped into the fray when objects had started being thrown once again. "And Qrow kept any actual trouble from happening."

Taiyang sighed in relief. "Well, that's better than the last protest we came across," he said. "I am going to be worried, you know. Even if it's the right thing to do, you shouldn't have to keep putting yourself into danger."

"We couldn't just do nothing," I said. "There were rocks and stuff being thrown, and a kid got hurt."

"That's stupid," Yang complained from the dining table nearby. Summer was in the kitchen preparing dinner - though Cinder and I could tell that she was listening intently. "Why doesn't the police do anything about that?"

"Because the police are racist and wouldn't care less if a Faunus was killed in front of them," I grumbled.

"What he means to say is..." Taiyang quickly said, a stern glare on his face at my blatant retort. "...is that not everyone will be nice to the Faunus. There are stupid people who think some people are worse than others because of animal ears or a tail."

Yang frowned. "That's just stupid!" she repeated, almost like a petulant child. Except she was one hundred percent right, so I wouldn't call her petulant - just vehement. "Animal ears are cute!"

"Not everyone agrees, sweetie. Like you said, some people are stupid," Summer said, and we turned to see Summer walking out with a large steaming pot. The aromatic smell of chicken noodle soup filled the living room, and I could feel myself starting to salivate. "In any case, there's very little that can be done about it."

"Sadly," Cinder muttered. Taiyang patted her shoulder, and Cinder smiled ever so slightly, seemingly just a little bit comforted.

"Don't get my husband wrong - we're both proud of you, but we're also worried. You two have already been through so much," Summer said gently, as Ruby came walking out with a rather large stack of bowls in her little hands. "We just want you to be safe."

I looked down, conceding her point. Even if the racism really pissed me off, Taiyang and Summer had every right to be worried about us, especially with the heart attack we'd inadvertently given them in Mistral with our near death experiences.

I did my best to suppress a shudder - still a bit haunted by the fact that we nearly died.

"When's Umbra coming back?" Yang asked as Summer took the bowls from Ruby's hands.

"She's still outside, fighting your uncle Qrow," Summer said as she laid out the bowls in front of every seat at the table. "I'm surprised those two don't spar more often."

"If Qrow bothered saying yes more often, I'm pretty sure they would," Taiyang said. "Still, she's turning out alright. She's not causing much trouble, and she doesn't seem as aggressive outside of fighting."

"I think that's because she's scared of you," Cinder pointed out, looking pointedly at Summer simultaneously.

Summer sighed, rubbing her eyes as she sat down. "I wish she weren't," she said. "Then again, it's hard not to think of Raven when I see her. And what Raven decided to pull..."

"Honey," Taiyang muttered, coming over.

"She kidnaps Arden and Cinder, then throws them back at us with a member of her tribe. She doesn't even bother saying hi!" Summer ranted as her husband came over and began to massage her shoulders. "Not that I wouldn't slug her for doing something so stupid. And for leaving us all those years ago. And for all the times she got us into trouble before any of that happened..."

Cinder and I exchanged a nervous glance, and Taiyang chuckled. "Raven's still very much a sore subject. But you already knew that," he said.

Summer inhaled deeply before exhaling very loudly. "Okay...I'm okay," she whispered. "I just need to think calm thoughts. Like food." Standing up, she clapped her hands once. "Okay, let's eat!"

The door was kicked open at that very moment. "About time!" Qrow remarked as he strolled inside, followed by a battered and very pissed off Umbra. "I'm starving."

Cinder and I watched as Umbra flopped face first on the couch, the top of her head bumping into Cinder's thigh. "Long fight?" I asked.

Umbra only let out a muffled groan.

"She's not doin' too bad," Qrow said as he flopped down on one of the chairs at the dinner table. "A bit too quick on her feet and far too easy to bait, but not too bad. Still, she's got a long way to go."

Umbra pulled herself up, sticking her head over the edge of the couch. "Screw you-" she began, only to catch a warning glare from Summer. Her face paled immediately and she choked on her words, eventually settling for "-old man." to finish off her sentence.

"Come on, let's not worry about this any longer," Taiyang said as he waved for us to come over. "The soup's getting cold!"

Thankfully, there wasn't any more talk about the White Fang protest or Raven, and the eight of us spent the next half hour eating and chatting, mostly about other things that happened while we were out. I wasn't paying too much attention to that, not when I was thinking about what had happened in that protest.

As well as the presence of Sienna Khan.

I wasn't sure what to think about her - only knowing that she gets very little screen time. I knew little about her other than the fact that she was an apparent supporter of using force - without as much actual violence or death as Adam would've liked to use. Her presence in Vale was also something I hadn't been expecting.

Then again, I wasn't exactly sure about what she did before her onscreen appearance. For all I knew, she probably traveled around to host protests here and there. Either way, our intervention would have likely changed something for the future.

Maybe the White Fang would turn away from its more violent path in the original story.

"Is everything okay?" Cinder asked.

I sighed, lowering my spoon into my empty bowl. I'd finished my meal while deep in thought, finding myself more stressed out than hungry. "Just thinking about Beacon. We don't have too much time to apply."

"Considering that the Vytal Festival always occurs near the end of a school year, you do only have a few months left until the next school year comes around," Taiyang said. "But, your combat progress is already more than adequate, and you only need to get the written stuff down."

"I can read and write just fine," Cinder said. "Ruby and Yang said they don't need to teach me anything else. Unlike Umbra~" She grinned as Umbra shot a death glare at her in response, still shoveling soup in her mouth.

"Not that kind of written stuff. Things like history, math, science. Dust and mechanical studies," Taiyang said. "It's not easy, but you'll have us to help you out."

"But you have to take this seriously," Summer said. "That means studying - and a lot of it. We'll also give you our own quizzes and lessons from what we learned in Beacon."

"Assuming the curriculum hasn't changed," Taiyang muttered.

"It hasn't. I snuck a peek at Oobleck's notes a week ago when I saw Oz - nothing that we hadn't already learned," Qrow remarked as he lowered his bowl - having foregone using a spoon in favor of just picking the bowl up and slurping like it were a drink. "You shouldn't have any trouble teaching the brats."

"Uhh, we," Summer said. "I know you're getting a bit of a break from Ozpin and his jobs, so you can absolutely spare the time to come here and help Arden and Cinder out. Is that understood?"

Qrow let out an exhausted groan. "Ugh, fine," he mumbled.

"We're serious about learning," Cinder said, her tone darkening. "We're not going to waste this opportunity."

I nodded sharply in agreement, and Taiyang grinned back at us. "Good, because there's a lot to cover - and you'll need to keep your memory sharp if you're going to make it in Beacon."

"First things first," Summer said, her own smile growing on her face. "How early can you wake up?"

- a week later -

Umbra, Cinder, and I would spend the next several days studying and training hard. Even with our battle in Mistral, the process of improvement was very difficult, especially with Umbra needing to learn reading and writing from Yang and Ruby.

That wasn't to say that Umbra was any less eager. In fact, the half sisters liked teaching her enough that Summer and Taiyang were comfortable enough leaving the house in our hands. Umbra would be ferociously focused on studying, her intentions apparently set on joining Beacon with us as soon as possible.

As it turns out, things weren't going to be that easy.

"She's won't be able to apply with us?" I asked one morning - on our weekly day off from training. Umbra was in the middle of a study session with Yang and Ruby upstairs, with Summer having had us stay to talk in the dining room after breakfast.

"She's thirteen to fourteen years old. Even if Ozpin wanted to, documentation must be given, and Umbra has multiple red flags," Summer explained. "One is her age - and that's the smallest issue. There's also her background. She wanted to go by the name 'Branwen', and everyone is aware of who they are."

"But didn't Qrow and Raven enter Beacon under similar circumstances?" I asked. "Maybe around our age, though."

"Yes, but the qualifications to apply for Beacon attendance were actually not as strict as they are now. Not to mention that she has officially had her aura unlocked for a very short period of time now. That sort of information is in the system, and for a professional huntsman academy to take her in now would be a big enough issue that the council would have to investigate," Summer added. "Qrow and Raven could at least skirt the issue since there wasn't any form of legal information on them at the time, and they avoided any documentation because they lived out in the wilderness."

That made sense. Umbra's stay in the hospital had surely documented her aura being unlocked on that day. Still... "She won't be happy about that," I said.

"I plan on telling her before lunch, while the two of you are training outside," Summer said.

Cinder and I looked at each other, before Cinder spoke up. "No, we should tell her. It'll probably get through to her coming from us," she said.

I was surprised at her decision, but I was quick to hop on board. "Yeah. We fought together in Mistral, and she's mellowed out since then," I said. "She'll listen to us."

"Well, she'll listen to you. You also beat her in a fight, remember?" Cinder added.

"I doubt she'll let me do it again," I muttered.

Summer didn't look very certain. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah. It'd be rough if she got rejected at the gate. Better to get the bad news over and done with now," I said. "And besides, she has a lot to learn - stuff that she'll be expected to already know in Beacon. It would probably be better if she waited another year or two so she can absolutely get this stuff down."

That would also be another year or two of Umbra getting used to living in a family - in a house with two basically adopted sisters. Maybe she could enjoy this sort of life over the tribe.

Still, the hard part was having to get the situation through to Umbra. "Come on, might as well get this over with," I said.

Cinder and I made our way upstairs, walking down the hallway to hear chatting from Yang's and Ruby's shared room. I headed over to the door, inhaling sharply before knocking on it.

"Come in!" came Ruby's voice. I opened the door to see Umbra sitting at the desk against the wall, with a few books in front of her. Yang and Ruby had been looking over on either side of Umbra, with the three now looking at me.

"Hey, Umbra..." I said. "Can you come out here real quick? We sorta need to talk."

Umbra's eyebrows furrowed, almost nervously. "Uhh, okay?" she asked. She got up, with Ruby and Yang ready to follow suit before Cinder stepped in.

"These two need some privacy," she said gently. "Why don't you read something new? Like any big words."

That got the sisters going, and I was quick to quietly close the door, before looking over at Umbra, who simply waited.

"So, how have the lessons been going?" I found myself asking a few seconds later.

"Come on, out with it. What did you wanna say?" Umbra asked.

Right. No patience.

"So..." I began. "There are a bunch of issues with getting you into Beacon this year. I...don't think you'll be able to get in."

Umbra's annoyance morphed into worry. "Huh?" she asked.

I quickly continued before she could blow up. "There's documentation issues, then there's the fact that you still go by Branwen, and apparently the hospital where you unlocked your aura has information that you had your aura first unlocked, and that if you apply to Beacon right after that, you could end up getting investigated and maybe arrested for being part of the Branwen Tribe, and-"

I had started to speed up, admittedly a little nervous. Maybe I was hoping that if I got all the reasoning out, Umbra would calm down and understand before any sort of anger came out.

"Stop," Umbra said. "What are you saying?"

I inhaled once more before speaking. "You...won't be able to go to Beacon this year. Maybe next year, but the most likely scenario is that you'll be able to go in two years," I said. "I know it probably sounds like a bit much, but this will be good for you, and-"

"Wait," Umbra said. "You're telling me that I'm staying here for another year or two to keep training? While you go on to Beacon?"

I stopped for a moment, unsure of how to frame this before sighing. "Yeah," I said. "We're old enough to apply. But you aren't."

Umbra was quiet, and I waited for something, an explosion of emotions, or cursing, or maybe throwing something. But so far, nothing. A few seconds passed, but it all felt like an hour before...

She shrugged. "Well, if that's how it is," she said.

I blinked. "...wait, are you okay with this?" I asked.

Umbra raised an eyebrow, as if confused by my own reaction to her reaction. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"Well, I thought you wanted to go to Beacon. You know, getting stronger, and fighting, and making Raven proud and all that," I said. "You're...a little bit too accepting of this."

"Hey, I'm not stupid. If those are the reasons, then those are the reasons," Umbra said.

I wasn't buying it. "I'm not saying you're stupid, but you can be a little hotheaded, and..."

Wait. When was the last time she'd been overtly hotheaded against anyone other than Qrow? Either she was just behaving, or she was mellowing out.

Then it hit me.

"What's that smile on your face?" Umbra asked. She was looking a little nervous.

"You really like living here," I said, having not realized I was smiling. "You like being part of the Rose Xiao Long family."

Umbra blanched, her cheeks pinkening. "What're you talking about?" she asked.

"You enjoy being taught how to read and write, don't you?" I asked. "Or being cooked hot meals by Summer, or being trained normally by Taiyang."

Umbra spluttered. "That's just how things work here! I'm just playing along, that doesn't mean I like it! I'm not weak!" she protested.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with settling in," I said, pulling Umbra into a side hug before she could retaliate or back off. "It's nice living here, you know."

"I still wanna go to Beacon! Do you want me to start breaking shit?!" Umbra threatened.

"I hope you don't!" came Summer's voice from downstairs. Umbra paled before groaning.

"Come on, there's nothing wrong with admitting this. Having people you can depend on doesn't make you weak. It means you're smart enough to know where you need help. And having those people help you is really nice," I said. "How do you think Cinder and I survived?"

Umbra's annoyance melted away. "Hm?"

"We spent months in Atlas, wandering the streets without anyone like Summer to help us," I said, gently ruffling Umbra's hair. "But we had each other. We fought together, ran together, and escaped together, all while helping each other become stronger. She taught me how to fight, while I taught her how the streets worked."

Umbra fell deep into thought, and I was quick to nail the point home. "Do you think either of us would have survived if we didn't have each other?" I asked.

The answer was clear. Umbra shook her head.

"And now look at us. We're pretty strong, about to go to Beacon to improve and train further, all because the two of us worked together. Yang and Ruby work together to teach you how to read and write. Summer and Taiyang work together to keep this house running," I said.

"And Qrow?" Umbra asked.

"Eh, Qrow's a special case," I said. "But my point still stands. You've only ever fought around us outside the camp. It's not wrong to appreciate teamwork."

Umbra was silent for a bit, before she slowly nodded. "I guess," she mumbled.

"So, you're okay with staying for another year or two to get better?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I am," Umbra said, before quickly pushing me away. I didn't miss the way her cheeks were beet red now - embarrassed, no doubt. And with that, she pushed open the door to the room, with Cinder heading out as she walked in.

"Well, that was much less violent than I thought," I said.

"Well," Cinder said with a shrug. "She has changed a bit."

I nodded before smiling. "So, wanna do anything before lunch?" I asked.

"I kinda wanna just rest for a bit," she said before heading downstairs. Before I could say anything, she took me by the wrist and pulled me along. "And you're coming with me."

I could only be dragged down the stairs before Cinder sat down, yanking me to sit next to her before she leaned against me, getting comfortable. "Guess we're cuddling now," I mumbled.

"Mhm," Cinder said, nuzzling my shoulder as she pulled her arm around me. "I'm tired."

"If you sleep now, you won't be able to sleep later tonight," Summer warned from the dining room.

"That's fine," Cinder yawned. "I'm still sleepy anyway."

I turned to see Summer smiling before she walked away, before looking to see Cinder already close to dozing off.

I just smiled before I leaned back on the couch, feeling myself relaxing. Tomorrow, training would kick up, and we'd have the future of heading to Beacon to look forward to.

Even so, just one day of doing nothing wouldn't be so bad...

Chapter Text

The past month and a half had gone by a lot rougher than I'd expected. I'd gone through school before, but Beacon's schedule was much rougher. For starters, Beacon went through a six day school week, which meant Saturdays were also school days. I shuddered at the thought of that, knowing that there was little else that could be done about it other than to get used to it.

Apparently, breakfast in Beacon typically began at 7:30 AM but the dorms were far enough away from the cafeteria that most teams woke up between 5:30 to 6:00 AM to have enough time to get ready. There were five classes, ranging from an hour to an hour and forty five minutes in length, as well as sparring classes directed for combat.

Summer and Taiyang did their best to simulate a Beacon school week, often waking us up at 5:00 AM and having us go through actual class material that they could recall for the appropriate class time lengths, often alternating as to keep taking care of Ruby and Yang. It would all end at 6:00 PM, which was when our free time would start.

Speaking of free time, Cinder and I had both quit our part time jobs at the general store to accommodate this prep. Not that we'd be short on money - we still had a lot from Atlas, as well as what we had saved from our work.

Umbra found herself participating as well, following our simulated schedules with less complaints and more interest - even if most of the lessons fell flat. We were fine with it, especially since Summer had us start doing team exercises like she'd had team STRQ do during their school years.

The weeks passed quickly, and Cinder and I found ourselves quickly acclimatizing to our newfound schedules. Waking up in the mornings got easier, and we found ourselves getting less bored and more focused during our mock class times. The only things that didn't change were the sparrings, due to us already being diligent in improving our physique, aura, and combat capabilities.

It didn't take much longer for the day to finally come. It was 4:00 PM as Cinder and I took the bus to the airships, which would then take us to Beacon Academy. Apparently, initiation was the next day - but students were expected to show up the afternoon before. We both brought along our backpacks loaded with our weapons, some extra and brand new clothes we bought the week prior.

I was now dressed in a pair of black form fitting pants with a gray leather belt and built-in pouches on the outer legs, paired with a pair of black armored boots. Above the belt was a black shirt under a gray collared biker jacket, with panels of armor on the forearms, biceps, and shoulders. Other accessories were a pair of gray fingerless gloves and a gray sash that hung from my left side. Black and gray seemed to be my primary color scheme.

Cinder's outfit was a completely different story - resembling actual huntress's clothing rather than a mix of normal clothes like mine. She wore a pair of black high-cut shorts that ended at the upper thighs and a sleeveless black wrap top, both with fiery orange lining and a red flame emblem on each side of the shorts. Over them was a jacket with shortened coattails - with a pair of crossed scabbards for her swords. Her hair was also styled, almost a one to one copy of how her hair looked in Volume 1. The last she wore were a set of black stockings with orange lining under a pair of heeled knee high boots, whic.

Accompanying us was Summer Rose, carrying Ruby with her. "Are you two excited? It's finally time to go to Beacon," Summer asked as she brushed Ruby's hair. The silver haired child only looked out the window, watching the cityscape pass her by. We were almost at our destination, the airships not too far ahead.

"A little excited. I'm more nervous, though," I said, scratching the back of my neck as I looked up ahead. "I'm not sure how much stronger we got."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Summer chastised lightly, still smiling. "You've both come a long way from when we first met on that ferry. You're some of the most diligent teens I know."

"We are?" Cinder asked, her voice taking on an almost prideful tone.

Summer only giggled. "The two of you have been preparing nonstop. No complaining, no lazing about, just a focus on your goal ahead. And I know you're going to go far in life," she said. "I'm proud to have helped the two of you improve."

I flushed at the praise, while Cinder beamed happily. "Thank you," she said, coming over and pulling Summer and Ruby into a hug. The silver eyed mother gasped in surprise before she reciprocated, patting Cinder on the back.

I found myself smiling at the sight before Cinder stuck her arm out and gripped my sleeve, yanking me over and tugging me into the hug - pressing right against Summer's side. We hugged for a few moments, at least until the bus pulled to the side of the road and came to a complete stop.

We walked out, with Ruby staring at the airship with an awed glint in her eyes. "Wow..." she gasped.

"That's right, it's an airship," Summer cooed as she lifted her daughter up. Ruby giggled as we approached the booth. Cinder and I were quick to purchase and grab our tickets, before being directed to the airship that would be heading to Beacon.

Now comes the hardest part. Summer and Ruby waved at us from the entrance as we were to make our way through the gates to leave. It would be a long time before we would see them again.

"You'll get scrolls when you get to Beacon!" Summer said as she waved. "Give us a call once you get them!"

"We will!" Cinder said, the two of us waving as we headed to the gate. "Bye!"

"Stay safe!" I called as well. We continued to wave until they were no longer in sight, and there was little else for us to do other than make it to the airship.

Our transport would take off about twenty minutes after we got onboard, the process of ascending into the air slow and steady. The trip to Beacon would take about half an hour to complete, which gave us some time to relax before we'd go on campus.

The airship's interior was unlike the ferry - having relatively few seats in a spacious interior rather than the other way around. These seats mostly lined the edges of the passenger space, against full glass walls that granted a very wide view of the outside world. Hanging from the ceiling were a few holographic televisions in the corners of the area playing the news or some other show.

Alongside the two of us were about a few dozen other boys and girls that were our age, some in armor, some in casual clothes, and some in fancy huntsmen outfits - with all of them wearing their weapons to some degree.

Cinder and I paid the other prospective students very little mind, looking out at the big city below us - and the large academy ahead of us. Before today, I hadn't remembered just how large Beacon Academy was.

Seeing it now made me realize just how much space it had. The CCT tower in the distance loomed overhead, tall enough to rival some of the absolute largest skyscrapers back on Earth. Around it was a near small city-like cluster of buildings and walking areas. It was hard to see far below, but I imagine we'd get time to explore when we got there.

It was some time into the journey before the silence between us was broken. "We'll be living there?" Cinder mumbled, her eyes roving over the land beneath us.

"Yep," I said, feeling my own nerves beginning to flare up. This was the Beacon Academy, how could I nor get nervous? I took in a deep breath before sighing. "We really did come a long way."

Cinder nodded, resting her head on my shoulder. "I would still be stuck at that hotel if you hadn't asked me to come with you," she said.

Actually, you would have committed multiple counts of murder and joined the literal queen of the Grimm to become one of Remnant's most powerful menaces.

"I'm glad you said yes," I said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "But enough about the past. Are you gonna miss Summer and the others?"

"Yes," Cinder said before her face twisted in a half frown. "Maybe not Umbra."

I chuckled. "They'll all be fine. And Umbra will be one hundred percent taken care of by the others," I said, finding myself hopeful that she would be fully turned away from banditry.

Knowing Summer, she'd make it happen.

"What about Ruby and Yang?" I asked.

Cinder only shrugged casually. "I miss them too," she mumbled. "I just know they'll ask us so many questions the next time we see them."

That was fair. "Hoping we'll do good in Beacon," I said, somewhat still concerned over the actual studying material. "Just need to remember to keep studying."

"But Taiyang also told us to have fun, though," Cinder pointed out.

"Well, yeah. Outside of studying," I said. "Shouldn't mean we just go out and have fun the second that class ends. Plus, there'll be some fun stuff to do there anyways. Like fighting."

Cinder perked up. "So we'll get to fight other students?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said. "And maybe I'll unlock my semblance along the way."

"What do you think it'll be?" Cinder asked, turning to look at me. "Maybe something that works around fire?"

"Nah, you already can make fire to some degree," I said. "Maybe I'll just blow stuff up."

"That would be pretty useful," Cinder said. "Whatever your semblance might be, I'm sure it'll be very powerful."

"You think so?" I asked, not so certain myself. What was the chance that I'd end up with a bullshit useless power?

Those thoughts burned away as Cinder patted my wrist. "I know so," she said, the confidence in her tone enough to make me stop worrying. "Looks like we're about to land soon."

I turned back to see the landing pads of Beacon - at the edge of the school itself. There were three of them, massive in scale with tiny specks that represented potential future students moving around in the distance.

The sound of the news in the background quickly fading out had our heads turning, and we saw the holographic televisions now projecting Professor Goodwitch, who had a stern yet welcoming expression on her face. "Hello, and welcome to Beacon. My name is Glynda Goodwitch, deputy and professor of Beacon," she introduced, her tone stern. "You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."

As she faded from view onscreen, I wondered whether this was the same speech that Goodwitch gave when Ruby and Yang first started going to Beacon.

The airship descended, and the large number of people could be seen more clearly as we got closer and closer to the landing pad. It didn't take us long to land, and we made our way towards the door with the other onboard passengers.

The first thing we saw as we got out was just how much architecture this academy had. There were dozens of stone paths with raised edges that went around what had to be an utterly massive courtyard, as well as large ornate archways, benches, trees, and light posts on the sides. Up ahead was the main path, as well as a super massive building that was built around the absolutely ginormous CCT tower in the far distance.

The largest path led to the entrance up ahead - with a large statue in a fountain built in front of the large doors that led into the academy. Teens were walking up and down the paths, chatting amongst themselves as they walked.

Cinder and I walked towards the building in the distance, our eyes wandering as we took in the sights around us. Even remembering what I could from the show, seeing Beacon Academy in real life was on a whole different level.

"Do you think we have enough time to look around?" I asked as I walked by a brown haired girl with a staff hanging off her back.

"Probably not. We don't want to be late on our very first day," Cinder pointed out. "Let's just get inside. We can always go exploring after we get into Beacon."

That was true enough. We continued looking around as we made our way to the statue - which was carved to represent a robed man and woman standing atop a rock, looking down at a Beowolf below them. The male had a raised sword, and the woman held a large two handed axe.

"Who do you think those people are?" Cinder asked, tilting her head.

I only shrugged. The show didn't go over much about the statue, and I was fairly certain we'd learn about it in the future. "Who knows? They don't look familiar," I said as I stretched my arms. "We can probably ask about it later."

"Hmmmm," Cinder pondered as she looked around. "Do you think any of these people would know?"

We turned to see that a few other students were making their way towards the main entrance of the building, with more than a few of them talking loudly with each other. And not all of them were just making conversation.

A scowl formed on my lips as I saw a teen getting roughed around by a pair of burlier looking guys. They were both dressed in huntsman looking clothing, with belts and straps holding their weapons. One had a large two handed axe hanging off his back, and another had a wide sword with a handle that took up a third of the weapon's length.

The first thing I noticed about the smaller teen was the fact that he was a brown haired Faunus with a short dog tail. He was dressed in normal clothes, similar to me and Cinder - with what looked to be an assault rifle on his back. The two were jeering at him, pushing him around and roughly yanking him back whenever he tried to pull away.

"Great. More people like that Roan guy," Cinder groaned. "Why isn't he fighting back?"

I sighed. "Racism," I said. "If he gets violent in any way, then the big guys will probably just blame it on him being racist towards humans. Or maybe he thinks he'll get in trouble for just defending himself."

Cinder snarled before stepping towards the group, only for me to grab her by the shoulder. "Let me go!" she hissed.

"If you just try to beat them up, we'll both get in trouble - maybe even kicked out of Beacon before we can even apply," I said. "Calm down."

Cinder only glared back before she looked away. "Well, we can't just walk away," she grumbled angrily.

I rubbed the back of my neck, having now just realized Cinder's new tendency to jump in, probably having learned it from me. I never believed I was a good role model - but this just cemented it. "Okay, violence is not always the best option to go for first," I said. "And we really don't wanna get in trouble. Let's just find someone and-"

"Hey!" a female voice barked.

We turned back around to see the two burly teens sneering away from the dog tailed Faunus - towards a new arrival that approached them at a rapid pace. My eyes widened upon seeing who it was.

Sienna Khan herself stormed towards them, wearing a new outfit that I'd never seen on her before. She wore black leg hugging boots and silver leggings with a pair of red thigh guards held in place by black straps. Over those leggings were a pair of black low riding shorts, with a long silver chain looped on a red belt. At the end of the chain hung three daggers, blue, yellow, and red - each one connected to the other with the red being the very end of the chain.

Her upper half was adorned by a dark gray sleeveless top that was cropped just above her naval, outlined in silver with red ornate markings - similar to some of what Mistral's buildings, canvases, and decorative fixtures had. She sported a gray waist cincher lined with red, alongside a red sash that pouches hung from on either side of her. Her shoulders and upper arms remained exposed, revealing the tiger stripes she had on her skin. Her forearms and hands were covered by gray vambraces and black gloves, with red armored pieces over them.

"Great, it's another one," one of the teens rumbled in annoyance. "Get lost, little kitty."

Sienna only rolled her eyes, not slowing down her approach. "Haven't heard that one before," she remarked before she pushed her way past the guys and grabbed the arm of the Faunus getting picked on. "Bother people your own size," she said, almost dismissive.

The two larger teens glared before they stepped towards her. Cinder took that as a cue to act, and hurried over. "Sienna!" she called, catching her attention as she made her way to her, with me moving hot on her heels. "Need any help?"

Sienna's surprise vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. "No need," she said, casually releasing the newly liberated Faunus teen. "Everyone knows that starting a fight this early is a stupid idea." Her gaze flickered to the bullies, who only scowled and backed off.

The glares they shot at us as they passed us to get to the building did nothing to tick us off.

Sienna crossed her arms, waiting for the other teen to walk sheepishly away after thanking her before finally speaking up. "So, you two are going to Beacon. I was starting to think your plans to come here were all talk," she said.

"Well, since when were you planning on going?" I asked. "Last - and only time we saw you, you were part of a rally. Becoming a student at Beacon didn't seem like something you'd do."

Sienna frowned. "If you're really that surprised, you said something about anyone being able to make it in Beacon if they tried," she said. "And I thought I could do more to help as a huntress student rather than just being yelled at in protests. Protests that never bring about change. Just more hatred."

I grimaced. "Are they really getting that bad?" I asked.

"You saw," Sienna said. "People threw things. Injuries were common, and the police would always send us away. If we tried to keep protesting, things would get violent. Arrests, beatdowns, brutality all around."

I winced. I recalled the first rally Cinder and I had thrown ourselves into. This stuff happened at every rally?

"So how does going to Beacon help with that?" Cinder asked.

"Think about it. The Faunus in the city can't protest well because we're seen as less than people to them. But the moment a few humans came to our rescue? When Qrow Branwen himself stuck around? All of a sudden, the protest lasted ten times longer," Sienna explained.

"So you think being a huntress would get you more authority?" I asked.

"At the very least, cut down on the violent responses," Sienna said. "And let's not forget the reputation that Beacon Academy has. It's easy to remember that they're supposedly equal to Faunus and humans, but have they ever done anything to help the Faunus?"

Cinder and I exchanged looks.

"No. The answer's no," Sienna sighed. "Beacon's headmaster advocates for unity and peace against the Faunus. And since I plan on being a student here, I'm going to remind everyone of what exactly he advocates for."

I whistled. "That's ambitious. And also kind of risky. I know for a fact plenty of students are probably gonna be racist," I said. "You might make yourself a target."

"Not to mention that we're put in teams. What if you get a racist teammate?" Cinder asked.

Sienna visibly darkened at what had to be a reminder with how quickly she reacted to it. "It's something I'm going to have to deal with," she said, her teeth almost gritting. She inhaled deeply before promptly walking towards the building, with Cinder and I walking closely behind. What else was there for us to do?

When we got inside, we were hit with just how crowded it was. The space was very large and circular, but there had to be upwards of two hundred people inside. The room - an amphitheater of sorts - was full of noisy chatter, except it was much louder since we were all indoors.

A quick glance up had me realize that this was also the room where combat was held. Raised above were bleacher seats that surrounded the open area we stood in. At the very end of the room, across from the main door, was a raised semicircular stage, probably where Goodwitch stood when judging combat spars.

We'd be fighting in this very space for training throughout our school years in Beacon. But for now, I'd have to settle being crammed like sardines in a tin by the hundreds of others in the area.

A rough bump to my side had me turning to see Sienna leaning against me. "It's crowded," was the only explanation she gave as she pushed herself off of me and brushed off her clothes.

Cinder squeezed her way between me and Sienna, giving us even less space to move around in. "I don't wanna get lost," she muttered, pushing her body against my side as a few more potential students made their way into the crowded lot.

"When do you think Ozpin will show up?" I asked as I moved my arm around Cinder's waist to hold her steady. "I really don't wanna get stuck standing here for hours on end."

"He'll come out soon," Sienna remarked. "This whole place is almost full already."

It didn't take more than ten minutes before Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch finally came out, stepping onto the stage with a microphone in hand. The moment that the headmaster cleared his throat, the entire room fell into a tense sort of silence.

Ozpin looked over us all in a single passing glance before he lifted the microphone to his mouth. "I shall keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction," he said.

Many of the teens muttered, either out of confusion or annoyance. However, this was somewhat familiar to me, at least in what I could remember from Volume 1 of the show. "You assume that knowledge will free you of this waste, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

And with that, he left. Professor Goodwitch stepped up, taking the microphone from the passing man before speaking without a single indication that Ozpin's odd speech put her off. "You shall attend a lecture about the basics of what Beacon expects of your etiquette and readiness. Dinner shall be provided from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM, and bedtime is at 10:00 PM in the ballroom. I do hope you brought along sleeping equipment."

Some of the students, Cinder and me included, hadn't. The amphitheater was once again flooded with voices as Goodwitch left, either excited about having a sleepover, or complaining about likely having to sleep on the floor.

Cinder and I didn't have much to complain about when it came to sleeping arrangements, having slept like logs in much more uncomfortable places than the floor of what would be a clean and air conditioned building. Sienna didn't seem too perturbed either.

The students were then ushered out of the building by faculty members - Port and Oobleck included in a passing glance - to the building that held all of the academy's classrooms, laboratories, and lecture halls. We were sectioned off into groups of thirty, with each group sitting in one lecture hall.

For the next few hours, we went through what was essentially a powerpoint presentation of what Beacon expected of its students in terms of behavior, and standing both during and outside of class hours. It also went over details of the schedule, such as meal times, the length of classes and the types of curriculum offered, as well as other things such as training missions outside of campus and assistance to the public such as community service.

Then there were the sleeping arrangements.

There were more than a few hoots in the classroom over the topic of team co-ed dorm rooms. There were even more hoots from the boys when the school uniforms were revealed, with the girls either scowling or giggling at the immature reactions.

Cinder, however, seemed to ponder at the sight of the uniform jacket and skirt.

The lectures continued for a while as they went over the school library, engineering labs, and recreational facilities like the swimming pool, gym, lounges, and dorm kitchens. There were plenty of outdoors areas as well, such as track and field. Eventually, 8:00 PM rolled around, and the entirety of the students were brought to the cafeteria.

The first thing we noticed when we entered was the buffet style serving line. The three of us each grabbed a tray with two plates, a bowl, and a mug before coming across the many options at the counter.

There were deep pans loaded with mashed potatoes, gravies, sauces, as well as fried chicken, rice, salads, grilled and steamed vegetables, fried and steamed fish, steak bites, roasted potato wedges, fries, beans, steamed cheesy corn, and a variety of soups in large pots. The far side of the counter held desserts like mini cake, pie slices, cookies, cinnamon rolls, and little plastic tins of ice cream in vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate flavors.

Beyond the desserts section of the buffet counter were half a dozen large containers with faucets for drinks - hot chocolate, iced tea, milk, ice cold water, apple juice, and orange juice. We didn't hold back in sampling a bit of everything they had to offer. Minutes later, we made it back to a half empty table with our plates stacked high with all sorts of food. And we weren't the only ones who'd overloaded their plates. Soon, the entire cafeteria was full of the sounds of lively chatter and eating.

Cinder and I ate mostly silently, speaking up mostly to make comments about the food and the surrounding environment. As we ate, we savored the food, enjoying ourselves before the inevitable initiation of Beacon.

If we were lucky, we'd be able to eat like this every day for the next four years.

"Old habits die hard, I suppose," Sienna said.

I stopped, an inch away from biting into my piece of fried chicken. "What do you mean?" I asked, lowering my chicken back onto my half finished plate.

"You two eat like it might be the last meal of your life," Sienna said, resting her elbow on the table with her cheek against her hand. "Even when you slow down, you're always readying yourself to take another bite. And you're looking around - either looking at what other people are eating, or whether or not someone's gonna steal what's on your plate."

I blinked and looked at Cinder, who looked just as confused as I felt. "Do we do that?" I asked.

"Yang said we do tend to make a mess when we eat sometimes," Cinder said.

I looked down. "Huh," I muttered. "I hadn't realized."

"There's nothing to be ashamed of," Sienna said as she took another bite of fried fish. "I'm of somewhat similar habits myself. Growing up in Mistral made having the ears a difficult life."

"Is that why you decided to go to Beacon?" Cinder asked curiously.

Sienna only nodded. "Haven Academy would have presented too many challenges. I was already in Vale - why not stay and make something of it?" she remarked.

I tapped my fork on the plate, my mind starting to race at what could be done. There wasn't much we could do when it came to initiation. If it remained the same as how it was in the show, then there could possibly be a way to work out teaming up, but that was a big if. "You know, if you wanted - we could try and form a team ourselves," I said.

Sienna raised an eyebrow, as did Cinder. "What do you mean?" Sienna asked, her tiger ear flicking to the side in interest.

"You know that Cinder and I are willing to step up to the rallies. We're both willing to help Faunus. Why not have us help with what you have planned?" I asked. "Being a team just sounds ideal."

Cinder looked surprised, but not exactly against the idea. "That...doesn't seem like a bad idea," she muttered. "If that's what you want. We still plan on becoming fully graduated huntsmen and huntresses though."

"So do I," Sienna said. "It's still one of the primary reasons one should go to Beacon. As for your proposal..." She tapped her chin, clearly deep in thought. Eventually, she shook her head. "It's far too early to tell. We won't even know how teams will be assigned. And with how many people are trying to make it into this school, it'd be very unlikely."

Unlikely. But not impossible. I only nodded. "Well, we can only hope. I'd rather Cinder and I partner with you than..." I turned to see the two burly teens from earlier, flirting openly with a group of girls who were all clearly rejecting them.

Sienna snorted. "I see," she said, holding up her mug of hot chocolate. "Well, here's hoping that things turn out well for all of us in Beacon."

I held up my own mug of apple juice, with Cinder's mug full of milk. We clinked our drinks together once - enjoying our brief toast before we returned to eating.

- bedtime -

After a quick trip to a large locker room to deposit our weapons, the students were led to the ballroom, which was massive enough that the two hundred plus teens could lie on the floor comfortably, with a few sharing spaces and others having their own space through luck or forcing others. Cinder and I were one of the two that shared our space near the corner of the ballroom.

Many of the students, male and female alike, changed into pajamas, while others decided to just sleep in their normal clothes. There were more than a few watchful eyes from the faculty over behavior, and thankfully - nobody was stupid enough to try any sexual harassment mid clothes changing.

That didn't stop the stares, however.

Since we didn't have any blankets with us - I just folded up my jackets and used them as a pillow for my head. Cinder had a different idea - having decided that taking off her jacket and shirt altogether was a good idea.

"It's hot," Cinder said when I shoved her shirt over her once more.

"You shouldn't be half dressed anyways," I said, ignoring the fact that many of the males were shirtless - no doubt trying to show off for the females. "Just put it back on."

"But it's nothing you haven't seen already," Cinder pointed out.

I ignored the chill that snaked its way down the back of my neck. "Doesn't mean everyone else should," I said. "Come on, it'll get colder soon anyways."

Cinder huffed. "Fine," she conceded, pulling the shirt back over. "Happy?"

"Yes," I said, yawning as I lay back, resting my head on the folded jacket. "Come on, we gotta wake up early tomorrow."

Cinder didn't argue, cuddling up next to me and resting her head on my chest. I'd gotten used to sleeping close to her, especially since she'd long declared me a source of comfort and stability in her life - which I found incredibly flattering.

As I drifted off, I could only wonder what the future had in store for all of us.

Chapter Text

The next day started early, with a school alarm ringing loudly at 6:00 AM. Cinder and I were subjected to the annoyingly loud sounds echoing through the building, as well as the groans, yawns, and complaining from the other students. We didn't pay much mind to them - simply stretching and gathering our things before making our way to the cafeteria, where breakfast would be served.

It was mostly the same affair as the buffet from last night - pans of toast, bagels, pancakes, waffles, several kinds of cooked eggs, sausage, bacon, hash browns, shredded hash, and a wide variety of fruits. The drink containers in the end held apple juice, orange juice, milk, ice water, and coffee.

Like last night, Cinder and I loaded our plates high with as much food as we could without risk of spilling, and we spent the next several minutes just enjoying our food. Sienna joined us a few minutes later, her own plate stacked with food. "How'd you all sleep?" she asked.

I hadn't expected Sienna to approach us, though Cinder didn't seem to care. She only rubbed her eye before sipping her coffee. "Pretty usual," she mumbled. "We've woken up at earlier times."

"You know you got a few stares from last night," Sienna said, directing her attention to me. "I'd say you have a bit of envy aimed towards you."

I wasn't that oblivious to what Sienna meant. Cinder was beautiful, you'd have to be blind to not see that. "As long as nobody tries flirting with her like an asshole we had to deal with once, that's fine," I said, my mind wandering back to the Vytal Festival.

Cinder huffed. "I was fine not remembering him. Thanks for that," she muttered angrily.

"Remember who?" Sienna asked.

I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply. "Do you know who that guy in the last Vytal Festival was? The one who almost killed a few people?" I asked.

Sienna's eyes darkened. "I know of him. The son of a corrupt councilman. A racist, womanizer, and a brute," she said. "He was arrested for nearly murdering a few Valean citizens - huntsmen in training, I believe. Why?"

"Well, Cinder and I may have been the ones he almost killed," I said. Sienna's eyes widened, and I held up my hands. "We're stronger now, I swear."

"You two? Then he..." Sienna's gaze turned to Cinder - who still looked rather disgruntled. Sienna's features changed, from confused, to angry, and finally to sympathetic. "I see. That had to have been rough."

"Yeah, we're still pretty mad over it. Even if he got arrested and all," I said.

"As you should be. I'm at least glad that he didn't get away with it. I wish his father got more repercussions, because it seems like he had the same mindset - might have even passed it down to his son in the first place," Sienna said. "So you two have been to Mistral for the Vytal Festival then?"

Cinder nodded, thankful for the change in topic. "The ones taking care of us offered in the first place. We got to stay a few days in Haven. Some of the students were nice. But after what happened, we decided to go back home early," she said.

"My condolences," Sienna said. "If it's any consolation, Vale isn't as bad as Mistral can be. Still plenty of racism to go around, though."

We were aware. That didn't mean Vale still didn't have its very rough patches. "In any case, it'll be fun to go to Beacon," I said. "Beacon's acceptance rate is a bit higher than the other academies, so I think we have a good chance."

"But enough about worrying," Cinder said, jumping back in the conversation. "What was your weapon? I think it looked like a chain."

Sienna only nodded. "It's a chain," she confirmed. "With three dust darts. Nothing special."

"Same," I said. "I just have a metal stick and Cinder's got two swords."

"They're very nice swords," Cinder defended.

"Not saying they're not. I'll take simple weapons over something that can break when it transforms any day," I said. "If it has a gun in it, it'll probably explode."

Sienna only grinned. "It all comes down to preference. Those who want the flashier and expensive weapons get to deal with the extra maintenance," she said. "In any case, we don't have too long to keep eating."

"Agreed," I said before looking over at Cinder, who was already scarfing down the rest of her plate. Fighting the urge to snort at her enthusiasm, I just went back to eating my own portion.

Breakfast was finished in less than a half hour, and we took a few minutes to walk around, stretch, and go to the bathroom before we headed to the locker room to grab our things. I grabbed my baton out of my locker and holstered it in place, before joining Cinder at the corner of the room.

I watched as she inspected her weapons before she put them away. "Alright. I'm set," she said.

"Good," I said, cracking my knuckles. "Initiation, here we come."

The two of us headed out of the locker room before we were promptly bumped into by a taller figure on the way out of the doorway. "Whoops," was the only sneering reply we got, and I looked up to see the same two larger teens from earlier strolling by.

Cinder growled, and I gripped her upper arm. "Don't do it. We don't wanna get kicked out for this," I hissed to her.

"I won't," Cinder grumbled, pulling herself away from my grip. "They still tick me off."

"Join the club," I mumbled. "Come on, let's just get going."

The faculty led us through the school, where the cliffs to the forest beyond were waiting. Like in Volume 1, Ozpin stood at the cliff's edge - with a long line of launch pads set up between us and the headmaster. In one hand was his cane, while the other held a mug with Beacon's emblem printed on it.

"What're those?" Cinder whispered as she pointed at the square metal plates in the grass. "Do we stand on them?"

"I think so," I said as we noticed a few students already making their way to the plates, standing on them and waiting. We did the same, standing next to each other as we waited for the headmaster to say something.

Ozpin simply waited for all of us to be ready, eyes roaming over each and every anxious teen. When his gaze came across me and Cinder, I could barely make out the littlest twinkle in his eyes. "Now, I do hope you spent the last night preparing yourself, because this year's initiation will not be an easy one," he said, his calm voice reverberating over all of us, even if it didn't feel like he'd raised his voice in any way.

He took a sip of his drink and began to pace, his cane tapping the grass on occasion as he walked down one way. "I shall make the premise of this year's initiation itself brief," he said. "In this forest are dummies that represent trapped or isolated victims. Your mission is to ensure the safe extraction of your dummy to a handful of landed Bullheads scattered throughout the forest."

I blinked, overly confused. This was not what Beacon's initiation was like in Volume 1 - other than the being launched through the forest bit. Speaking of being launched, I don't think I had even developed any sort of landing strategy.

"Each dummy is to be protected by up to four people. This shall represent your team in the years to come," Ozpin continued. "Which means that the first people you meet in the forest will be your partners and teammates for the next four years in Beacon."

That sounded pretty familiar. Several teens muttered amongst each other, clearly concerned that they would end up with someone they didn't like by accident. I was more worried that I wouldn't end up with Cinder - and it seemed like she felt the same, judging by the worried expression on her face.

"Remember this. The Grimm is your only enemy," Ozpin said sternly, his eyes roving over each and every one of us as he spoke. "Your dummy must remain uninjured and in one piece in order for you to pass. Delays or late arrivals will not be tolerated. Are there any questions?"

There were none. Everyone was fired up now, including Cinder. I shook aside my worries and steeled myself, knowing that I had to be focused on the task ahead of me, if Cinder and I were to attend Beacon Academy together.

Ozpin took one last look before nodding, seemingly content with the silence we gave. "Very well," he said, tapping his cane. "I wish you all the best of luck."

There was a metallic 'clunk' in the distance, and a teen was sent flying. Then another. Then another. The launch pads were activating quickly, with a few second intervals between each one. As they began approaching, my brain scrambled to remember what Summer explained about what a landing strategy was supposed to be.

"Use the trees and anything else in the way for help in stopping," she had explained. "Sticking a landing perfectly won't be necessary for initiation, but you'll have to learn to control the aftereffects of your touchdown in the future. For now, rely on your aura and keep yourself balanced while in the air."

Balanced while in the air? What did she mean by that?

"Good luck." I turned to see Cinder already crouched in position - mere moments before she was flung high into the sky.

I was next.

I barely had enough time to inhale before the air was rushing violently past me. I wasn't even sure if I let out any noise - only hearing the sound of the screaming air. It took me several seconds to realize that I was somersaulting, and I was quick to lean my body opposite of the direction I was spinning just to be able to see where I was going.

Thankfully, my momentum slowed fairly quickly - and I was able to keep myself somewhat upright all the while.

So that's what it meant to balance myself in the air.

A quick glance down told me that the ground was rapidly approaching, the green of the forest getting closer by the millisecond. My aura flooded into my lower body, the feeling of warm energy encasing my knees, legs, ankles, and feet before I broke the treetops.

And a whole tree trunk.

I felt the wood shatter as I shot straight through and hit the ground in a massive ear shattering thud. My vision blurred, my ears rang, and all I could see was the ground as I felt the dirt rain down from above me.

"...ow..." I groaned after a few seconds of dying in the ground, pulling myself up once I was sure that I hadn't broken my aura entirely after that landing - a miracle in its own right.

It took me a few more minutes to pull myself up, shaking away the soreness in my limbs before I drew my weapon and got to moving. The entire forest was filled with Grimm, and I made sure to keep my eyes on a swivel, diligently remaining on the lookout for any movement or anything that stood out of the forest.

Time seemed to crawl to a standstill, and I found myself sweating with how stressful the environment was. The forest was dense, with the shadows of the trees hiding plenty of the terrain up ahead. There were also plenty of bushes, and many of the trees had large twisted roots or branches that hung low over eye level.

Not to mention that I had no idea what the dummy was supposed to look like.

Several minutes passed, and I could barely make out the distant sounds of growling and combat. "Guess some people found their dummies," I muttered to myself as I turned around, checking to see if I was being followed for the fifth time in a row.

Not that the creatures of Grimm were particularly stealthy, but the last thing I wanted was to be caught off guard.

I was glad I was being careful, because I caught the sight of two dangerously thin red glowing eyes in the distance. My feet tensed, almost as if to run before I remembered that I could fight the Grimm. My aura quickly encased my weapon as I watched and waited.

The eyes got closer, before a large arm reached out of the shadows - with claws, white bone armor, and pitch black fur being the first details seen. The snout of a Beowolf was next, teeth bared as it approached me slowly.

Then another set of eyes appeared from behind. I gritted my teeth as I looked around, counting at least four of them approaching me. A small pack it seemed like - hopefully there weren't more Beowolves in hiding.

Thankfully, four were the only ones who came out. I watched as they moved to surround me, looking for the one that would strike first.

I didn't need to wait long - not when all four of them jumped me at once, roaring as they flew towards me with teeth and claws bared.

I ducked and leapt to my side as they crashed into each other. By the time I rolled to my feet, the Grimm wolves recovered from their collision with one leaping ahead of the others with its claws swiping towards me.

I swung my baton, the flash of metal against claws ringing out loudly throughout the forest. I pushed my advantage, ducking under another swing and slamming my aura fueled weapon into the gut of the Beowolf.

The monster was sent stumbling back, followed quickly by the other two Beowolves rushing forward with their own claws swinging. Jumping back, I bounced back forwards and stabbed my baton forward - the attack impaling one in the neck as I kicked the other Beowolf away from me.

"One down," I muttered to myself with gritted teeth as the Beowolf I'd impaled in the neck turned quickly to mist. "Three to go." I rolled away from a nasty bite before swinging down, my baton cracking down against the head of the monster as the other two jumped towards me again.

I leapt forward, pushing some aura into my feet before slamming them into one of the Beowolves with a nasty crack of Grimm bones. It crumbled into mist as well, and I grinned upon scoring a second kill before I twisted my body back, my foot swinging against the side of the third Beowolf and kicking me away from them.

The last two Beowolves snarled as they lowered themselves, clearly ready to pounce upon me - before they both leapt. Before I could defend myself once more, they exploded in a flurry of fiery blasts.

I was sent stumbling back a few paces - the heat of the explosions washing over me with plenty of intensity. I winced as the brightness flashed against my eyes, blinking as I turned away.

Then, the explosions stopped. I released a breath I hadn't realized that I was holding before turning back towards where the Beowolves once were. Patches of grass were alight, and the Grimm were nowhere to be seen.

Nearby was a brown haired girl, holding a large bronze staff in both hands. On one end was a large red dust crystal, with the other having a large white dust crystal. Both dust crystals encased in swirled frames of metal, and the entire staff had leather wraps similar to what some swords had.

The girl was slender and tall, with brown hair that went down to the back of her neck, rounded brown eyes, and a small mole underneath her left eye. She was pretty, with a worried look on her face.

She wore a white blouse with black under-sleeves under a brown open vest, with bronze colored bracers and a brown belt sling over her left shoulder and under her right arm. Accompanying this was a pair of form hugging black pants and brown knee high leather boots with golden lining. Her belt was also brown with golden lining, with a few pouches hanging on her sides.

For some reason, she looked familiar.

"Are you alright?" she asked, lowering her staff as she made her way over to me. "I'm sorry if I burnt you or anything. Fire's still not the easiest to control."

"No, I'm fine. I won't complain about any help," I said with a sigh of relief. I put my weapon away and met her halfway. "Thanks for the save."

"Well, I'm glad to have helped out," the girl said, giggling nervously before clearing her throat. "Umm, I guess we're going to be on a team together. What's your name?"

"Oh, my name's Arden. Arden Ashe," I said. "And you?"

"You could call me Amber," was the girl's reply.

Holy shit. Now I remember where she came from.

I coughed awkwardly in an attempt to hide my surprise. "Nice to meet you," I said. "So, what's the plan?"

"Well, I actually found a dummy to be rescued - but they're stuck in a tree. I was going to help them but then I heard you. You seemed like you needed more help than the dummy," Amber said before she began to panic. "- n-not that you're bad against the Grimm! I just-!"

I laughed. "Relax, I know you weren't saying that. Like I said, I do appreciate the rescue," I said. Her earlier words sank in, and a sense of excitement settled in. "Wait, you found a dummy?"

"Yep!" Amber said.

"And you left it there?" I asked.

Amber's smile wavered. "Uh, yes?" she asked. "It was stuck in a tree!"

I pondered for a second. "Well, let's go over," I said, deciding not to worry about it too much. Hopefully, it would still be there. "If it was stuck in a tree, it was probably a good call leaving it there until you got help."

Amber sighed, practically deflating. "Yeah, I thought so," she said, seeming relieved. "Come on."

The two of us headed further through the forest before coming across a particularly tall tree, where the dummy hung from.

When I mean hung, I mean its foot was caught on a branch and its body hung limply upside down. Upon a closer glance, I realized that the dummy was made of gray shiny plastic, and had those crash test markings all over its body.

"I mean, you could've fixed that," I muttered. "We're supposed to treat them like actual people."

"It was a dummy, and I didn't have much time to think," Amber said sheepishly. "But we're here now."

I looked at the staff in Amber's hands. "That's a wind crystal, right?" I asked. "Think I could climb up there and release it, and you could control the wind to keep it from falling?"

"I'm not that good with wind. I mostly use it to dodge or make explosions alongside fire dust," Amber said, scratching the back of her neck.

I nodded. "Alright," I said thoughtfully, eyeing the tree and seeing a large branch a few feet below where the dummy hung. "Then I'll climb up and free it myself. Watch my back."

"O-okay!" Amber said, her staff raised at the ready as I headed to the tree. Thankfully, it was a rather twisted tree, and there were plenty of footholds and things to grip.

I climbed up slow and steady, reaching the branch I needed to get to and shimmying my way over. Upon getting underneath the dummy, I reached up and gripped its ankle. It was thankfully a pretty light dummy, and I was able to dislodge it fairly easily before he shifted to hold the dummy bridal style.

"You got it?" Amber asked.

"I got it!" I called back before making my way back to the trunk, jumping down to one near foothold and hopping to the forest floor, landing next to Amber. "Alright, our dummy is secure."

"Is anything broken in it?" Amber asked.

"Nope," I said, shifting the dummy so I was carrying it securely on my back, leaning forward with its arms loosely around my neck while I gripped the backs of its thighs. "I'm not very good to anyone like this. Can you keep us covered?"

Amber looked a little nervous. "Well, I can try," she said. "Just stay behind me."

There was little else to say. As difficult as it was to keep the dummy safe with just two of us - especially since only one could effectively fight back if we were attacked - we had little choice but to press on. Staying put would leave us pinned to the Grimm, and we could at least run if fighting back was difficult.

And so, that's what we did. If we heard anything that wasn't a student, we booked it. If any Grimm came after us, Amber blasted it while we kept on running. There wasn't much time to get to know each other better, not while we were focused on surviving and completing our initiation.

It must have been upwards of an hour of us wandering the forest, searching hard to find where the bullheads could be. The trees were tall, with the treetops blocking plenty of sunlight and keeping us from seeing too far ahead. As we continued on our way, I couldn't help but think about how much easier it would have been to just do what team RWBY had done in initiation.

"Umbra would have a kick out of this," I mumbled, though a voice in the back of my head told me that she wouldn't very much care for any sort of mission involving rescue.

"What was that?" Amber asked.

I shook my head. "Just thinking to myself, that's all," I said. "You think Ozpin would have set something up for finding the Bullhead."

"I know, right?" Amber asked, seemingly exasperated. "Maybe he could have had the Bullheads fire up a few flares, or point out that they could be somewhere obvious."

"Maybe he's making this super hard to screw with us," I said. I looked back to ensure that we weren't being followed. Grimm attacks hadn't been common, thankfully - and I found myself beginning to breathe. "I'm more worried about my friends."

"Oh? Who're your friends?" Amber asked before the sound of distant rustling caught our attention. The two of us instantly dropped the budding conversation, turning to the approaching sound with more than a little wariness. Amber raised her staff, the red fire dust crystal glowing as she prepared to open fire.

The rustling got closer and closer, with the two of us backing away to gain some distance from the nearby bushes before two bodies came flying through.

Two very familiar bodies.

Sienna and Cinder blasted through the heavy bushes, landing smoothly with leaves all over their hair and clothing. The two of them panted tiredly for a moment before turning and noticing us. "Arden!" Cinder cried, a smile breaking out on her face before she turned to look at Sienna. "See? I told you we'd find them!"

"That was luck and you know it!" Sienna panted.

I was quick to speak up as she prepared to launch herself at me in a hug. "Hey, I'm carrying our dummy!" I said. "Hugs after we get back!"

"Well, this is convenient," Sienna said, swinging her chain casually as she let it wrap around her arm. She was still breathing heavily, though she kept up plenty of composure. "You two just saved us."

Amber blinked. So did I. The two of us turned to look at each other before looking back at Sienna. "Uhh, what did we save you from?" Amber asked.

The bushes rustled violently once more, and the four of us now turned to see those two larger teens from before - the bullies. They looked tired, and their faces were red in a mix of anger and exhaustion. "There you are!" the one with the axe growled. "Quit running and form a team with us!"

Oh. Anger flooded my features.

"Sorry!" Sienna said, sounding super smug and not at all sorry. "Ozpin said the first four to form around protecting a dummy would be a team. Not whoever makes eye contact with one another."

Sienna's words sank in, as well as the fact that apparently these assholes slash creeps had been chasing them all the way here. "Wait, don't tell me-" I began.

"They hunted us down and tried to get us to form a team with them. Instead of working to find and save a dummy," Cinder explained, making her way to me. "Sorry, looks like the four of us found a dummy. You'll need to find another one if you wanna make a team."

That got both guys even redder from rage before they pointed their weapons at us. "Screw that!" the burly guy with the sword growled. "Give us the dummy and we won't hurt ya!"

"Not a-fucking-gain," I groaned before Amber twirled her staff. Cinder drew her swords, and Sienna spun her chain - the three girls standing between me and the two assholes.

"Not a chance," Cinder snarled.

I was one hundred percent expecting a fight, hoping it wasn't going to be like the last time we fought a huntsman student in Mistral. Even if I couldn't fight, I thought hard to think of a way to get through this.

At least until we heard the sound of crashing in the distance. We all looked up and around us, the sound approaching us at a fast rate.

"That can't be good," Sienna muttered before her ears twitched. At once, we all leapt back - a mere millisecond before the tree closest to us exploded into branches, leaves, and hundreds of splinters.

A massive Grimm scorpion screeched - its white bone armored claws clicking loudly as it stormed towards us.

The sounds of heavy footsteps on grass had me turn to see the other two guys had fled, leaving the four of us to face this monster. Well, three of us and a guy holding a test dummy.

This was all just fucking fantastic.

Chapter Text

The first claw strike of the Deathstalker missed Sienna by an inch, slamming wildly into the ground hard enough to form a crater. Amber wasted no time, quick to swing her staff and fire a blast of fire, followed by a cone of wind. The resulting explosion sent the large Grimm monster stumbling back.

Cinder was on the other flank in an instant, quickly swinging her blades at the Deathstalker's other claw - the weapons superheated in a bright glow by her semblance. The scorpion screeched as the blades gouged out crevices of bone like it were butter, threatening the Grimm flesh beneath - before the stinger came down quickly.

Cinder rolled out of the way before I could yell again, the golden needle of venom slamming into the dirt with enough force to cause a shockwave, and quickly pulling itself out of the ground before Cinder could swipe at it. The monster was too large to do anything other than kill it with bug bites.

And I couldn't do anything other than stay out of the fighting because I was still carrying the dummy on my back. As much as I wanted to help out, the dummy was our key to passing initiation, and setting it down was too risky - especially if there were more Grimm to come.

So all I could do was offer moral support for my new teammates.

"Try and go for the base of the tail!" I yelled. "The stinger can't reach there!"

"I got it, I got it!" Cinder yelled, twisting over another heavy claw strike before leaping on top of the arm and jumping onto its back. The Deathstalker was quick to retaliate, jerking its body violently to try and shake her off. Cinder buried her swords into its back, anchoring herself onto the monster and causing it to screech once more.

Amber fired off several blasts of fire from her staff, one after the other striking the stinger and the limb itself, all while Sienna leapt and danced around the Deathstalker's claws, evading blows and grabbing attempts while lashing them back with her chain.

I would have likely seen more of the fight - had I not been attacked by someone else. The sound of a snapping branch to my left had me turn - just in time to see the blade of a two handed axe coming towards me. I had barely enough time to jump back, the blade swinging so close that my aura flickered in response to the near miss.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I yelled. I made no move to go for my weapon, not while I was still holding the dummy.

"Getting into Beacon!" the guy sneered, lunging towards me with his axe ready to swing once more. It buried itself in the grass mere milliseconds before I'd dodged that too, only for a sword strike from my other side to slash against my aura.

Stumbling back, I glared at the second guy - the two of them preventing any escape. "Are you both fucking serious right now? There's a Grimm right there and all you're worried about is this?!" I growled.

"Who cares about the Grimm?" the guy with the axe laughed. "As long as we get into Beacon, we don't care what happens to you."

"And those girls will come flocking to us when they see that we have their only means of getting into Beacon," the other said before the two jumped me.

With both my hands occupied, there was very little I could do. I managed to dodge one to two hits before they finally knocked me over, tearing the dummy from me and kicking me down.

The next minute, my aura was broken, and I was left lying in the dirt, watching as they ran off, our dummy in their hands. "Bastards!" I managed to call out.

"Arden!" Cinder cried. I turned to see her jumping off of the Deathstalker's severed claw and running towards me. "Arden, what happened?"

"Those two guys from earlier...came back..." I coughed as I pulled myself to my feet. "What about the Deathstalker?"

"They can handle the rest of it," Cinder said as she quickly moved to support me. "I cut off the claws and Amber blew up the tail. What's this about those two guys?"

"They attacked me. They broke my aura and took the dummy," I said, clenching my fist. "Assholes, the both of them."

"You lost the dummy?!" Sienna cried, and I turned to see her jumping back from a charge from the now clawless and stinger-less Deathstalker. It smashed into the treeline before being bombarded from a volley of dust explosions from Amber's staff.

"Did you not hear him?! They beat him up and took it!" Cinder snapped as Sienna lunged back into the fray, passing Amber and swinging her chain. All three of the darts at the end of her chain detached, one after the other - stabbing into the Deathstalker's head and destroying it entirely with fire, ice, and an electric shock powerful enough to electrocute the entire body.

We waited for a moment as the Deathstalker slumped over, its body slowly disintegrating into black mist before Amber and Sienna made their way over to us. "They took our dummy?" Amber asked.

"They attacked me while you were all fighting the Deathstalker," I said. "Then they ran off with it."

"Those...jerks!" Amber growled.

"Not just jerks, they're both cunts!" Sienna spat, ignoring the horrified gasp from Amber. "We have to find another dummy."

"We were lucky to come across the one we had in the first place," I groaned before shaking my head. "Look, there's gotta be more somewhere in the forest."

"That's right," Amber said. "We can search the area - it'll be hard to miss one."

"Of course, they're meant to stick out!" Sienna said. "Which means that everyone else would have spotted one too!"

"And maybe another team will just try to steal ours again if we come across one," Cinder said. "I don't know if a time limit was ever given."

"I think it's safe to assume that we have until the end of the day to get this initiation done," Sienna said, inhaling deeply as she tried to calm herself down. Key word being 'tried'. "Or at least until they send people to pick us up."

Amber's eyes widened. "Wait, we could be monitored! The staff might know that we were robbed!" she said, her tone full of hope.

"Or they might not care," Cinder said quietly. "They never said anything about foul play. If anything, they might want huntsmen that are willing to play dirty."

"But attacking other people?" Amber asked, her hopes quickly being dashed.

"It probably won't matter to them," I said, though only feeling half serious with my words. Ozpin wasn't the kind of person to look very kindly on deceptive tactics or betrayal in general, but there was no telling what he would or wouldn't let slide.

"Ugh! Why did they have to find us first?! This wouldn't have happened if we managed to hide from them in the first place!" Sienna growled.

"Okay, we get it!" I interrupted. "Look, there's no point in raging about it now. What's important is that we get to searching for another dummy before it's too late."

"Agreed," Amber said, and that was that. The four of us got to work combing the forest, moving in a group to defend against Grimm and look around high and low for any dummies that could possibly be found.

The only issue was the fact that I was vulnerable, my aura having been stamped out entirely by the two brutish teens from earlier. I was still feeling sore and annoyed, but I could still fight - my weapon in my hand and prepared for the worst. For now though, I just kept silent and focused on searching alongside the others.

An hour passed - then two hours, and we still found nothing. It was getting close to the afternoon, but we persevered. We combed through areas of the forest quickly, looking for any and all dummies that could have stuck out before moving on in order to cover as much distance as we possibly could, all while defending ourselves from Grimm attacks.

Thankfully, the Grimm we did come across in those few hours of searching were little more than a few Beowolves and the occasional Ursa, all of which the girls took down swiftly. As cool as it was to watch them win against those Grimm, the fact that I did nothing was more than a little bit disconcerting.

That was at least until we finally found a dummy. We were excited for a moment, finally having our ticket to passing Beacon.

That excitement went away when we looked at where it was stuck. The four of us stared down at a deep crevice, where the dummy sat lifelessly and precariously over the side of a ledge. The ledge wasn't too far down, thankfully, but the crevice did go down pretty far - far enough that the bottom almost couldn't be seen unless one squinted.

"...not it," Amber said quickly.

Cinder only rolled her eyes, though she most definitely looked a little amused. "I'll climb down and grab it," she said as she put her weapons away and dusted off her hands. She peered back over, eyeing the wall between ground level and the ledge below. "I can see a bunch of footholds I can use."

"I'm lighter than you. I'll do it," Sienna said, quickly holding Cinder back and handing her one end of her chain whip. "Watch my back."

"Are you sure?" Amber asked as she came over. "What if it breaks?"

"This kind of steel can hold back a truck. I think it'll hold just a little over my weight," Sienna replied.

"Do you need any more help?" I asked.

"I'll be fine. Let's not waste any more time," Sienna replied promptly, holding onto the far end of her chain with one hand before she hopped down, feet propped securely against the side of the rocky crevice wall as she slowly lowered herself down to the dummy that sat awfully close to falling.

I stood right next to Cinder, my own hand over hers to grip the chain. The two of us held tightly, watching as Sienna brought herself to the ledge - standing on the foothold and reaching out in order to grab the dummy's shoulder and pull it from the edge.

"How's it looking?" I asked.

"It looks like it's fine from here!" Sienna said as she hooked the dummy by the armpit and tugged it up to do a fireman's carry. "Pull me up!" she called as she looked up - only for the quiet sound of cracking to fill the air. Her eyes widened, and she leapt up to grab her end of the chain whip - just in the nick of time.

The ledge crumbled almost completely less than a second later, the large piece of jagged rock falling into several pieces before all of them shattered against the ground below - the sound of crashing echoing up towards us.

Sienna dangled from the chain, both hands gripping it while the dummy swayed loosely from around her shoulders and over the arms. It didn't look like it was about to just drop, thankfully. "Pull me up!" she yelled again, a bit more frantically now.

"We're trying!" Cinder gritted. Amber had abandoned guard duty to help us, the three of us pulling back hard as we pulled Sienna back up to solid ground. A few seconds later, the four of us were back together, breathing heavily at what had just happened.

"That was a close one," Amber panted.

"Yeah. Way too close," Sienna sighed as she handed me the dummy. She leaned over the edge and looked down for a moment before sighing again and making her way back to us. "Well, we have our dummy. We can go back to Beacon now."

"Hopefully nothing else crazy happens to us today," I sighed.

Sienna's ears twitched, and her eyes widened in panic. It only took a second for my own words to take effect. A chittering sound from below reverberated through the ground, and I felt a chill go down my spine as the sound of rapidly approaching thumps came from below us.

"I just had to open my mouth. I just had to," I groaned. We turned around just in time to see a massive Grimm spider crawl out, hissing as its many eyes locked on the four of us. Its eight legs, underbody, and abdomen were covered in bone white armor, and its face was shrouded in a mask that covered most of its head except for its mouth and its eight blood red eyes.

Four sharp mandibles hung from its mouth, surrounding a split lip jaw that held dozens of teeth. I wasn't sure if normal spiders had that, but this was the Grimm - and the Grimm could have anything. "God fucking dammit," I groaned.

The giant Grimm spider hissed once more before bringing up a leg - revealing the 'foot' to be a massive armored spike that dug itself out of the ground. The four of us leapt in different directions just as the leg came down, spiking into the dirt hard enough to crack the ground around it.

Amber was the first to react, scrambling back as she fired off explosive shots from the dust crystals on her staff, twisting the large polearm back and forth to launch one after the other. "It's an Arana! We must have found its nest!" she cried.

"The legs! Go for the legs!" Sienna yelled as she spun to her feet, whipping her dart-less chain out to start swinging at the spider. The heavy impacts and flying sparks told me that she was hitting them with aura, though the bone armor was clearly tougher on the spider than it was on the Beowolves or Ursai.

Cinder jumped back quickly, backflipping before pulling out her swords and jumping towards the head of the Grimm monstrosity. The spider screeched and jerked its face forward towards Cinder, almost as if to bite her. To my surprise, a spray of purple flew out, splattering all over Cinder in midair.

My surprise quickly morphed into horror as I heard the sound of hissing, as well as the sight of smoke coming from Cinder as she crashed to the ground, tumbling as bits of the grass began to sizzle and melt. "Fuck!" I yelled. "Cover!"

Amber was quick to react, swinging her staff and launching a wind blast powerful enough to send Cinder sliding back, with the acidic stuff on her person flying off in hundreds of drops. She was rolling around in the grass, parts of her clothes eaten or burned through as her aura flickered wildly. "I think...I'm low on aura..." she gasped. Her skin was reddened, and she looked like she was in pain.

"Just get back!" I hissed as I grabbed Cinder by her unaffected hand, dragging her and the dummy away from the spider. As soon as we were in cover, I lowered the dummy and set it next to Cinder. "Watch the dummy. I'll be right back."

Cinder's eyes widened. "Wait-" she began, but I'd already dashed back into the fray, my weapon drawn even if my aura hadn't regenerated by even a little.

Not that it diminished my ability to fight by much.

One of the more notable advantages to having your aura unlocked was that it was active even when it wasn't activated. Those with an active aura could work out for long and intense periods of time, and the aura would be able to repair and strengthen those torn muscles in a short amount of time. This meant that I managed to build up my strength, speed, and responsiveness at an exponential amount during the heavy combat training and exercising I did before we went to Beacon.

I dashed forward, crossing a dozen meters in the span of a second before I twisted my body forward and slammed my feet into the leg of the Arana, hitting it with enough force to send the leg grinding back, its spike digging a deep trench in the dirt.

The Grimm spider stumbled from the attack, and the other two girls were quick to capitalize on that. Amber launched a blast of fire dust into the monster's mouth, while Sienna twirled around three legs, the chain wrapped around them. With a harsh tug, all three legs were forced together, throwing off its balance even more.

The Arana snarled as its body crushed a tree in an attempt to escape its confinement, but it was too big and slow to do so. "Go for the joints!" Amber called as she fired off a blast once more, this time aimed at its eyes.

I wasted no time, going for the closest leg and jumping up. The leg itself was armored entirely, but the joint that allowed it to move was unprotected. My baton swung down with as much force as I could muster - and it slammed into the exposed black flesh hard enough to make a wet snapping sound.

If I wasn't flooded with adrenaline, I would have probably thrown up at the sound.

The leg hung lifelessly as Amber swung her staff at the leg next to the one I'd taken down, forcing it down low enough that she could jump off the bone and reach the joint, swinging the end with the fire crystal down with enough strength to impale the joint entirely.

Two down, six to go.

Amber and I rinsed and repeated our tactics on the last two legs on our side of the Arana, while Sienna continued to keep the three out of the four legs on the other side of the monster pinned. The Arana was lopsided now, the entire left side now unable to move. It hissed and screeched in agony as it could only helplessly nudge its broken legs.

"Help me over here!" Sienna yelled, and we turned to see that she was tugging the creature back towards the crevice it had come out of. There was no hesitation as Amber and I leapt over to grab the chain and pull.

Unlike when we used the chain to pull Sienna out carefully, it was all strength and speed with the Grimm spider. With as much force as we could muster, as well as the lack of any meaningful resistance from the Arana, we managed to drag the creature next to the crevice before we tugged it hard.

Then it was over. Sienna moved to swing an aura-fueled fist against the Grimm spider's body, stunning it long enough to halt its slow movements. Kicking the tied up legs into the hole in the ground, Sienna and I pulled it hard into the crevice, sending it falling the long way down without any way to climb back up.

The following thud that echoed back up gave us much more relief than expected, and the three of us sighed before turning to see Cinder sitting next to the dummy. I jogged over, seeing more of the full extent of her injuries.

They weren't bad - but her jacket was nonexistent, and there were massive burned tears in her shorts and shirt. A lot of skin was exposed, but she didn't seem bothered by it. "Is it over?" Cinder asked, wearily standing up.

"It's over," I confirmed, letting Cinder walk behind me and climb up on my back. "That spider had better be the last of it."

The sound of humming from above had us all looking up to see a Bullhead hovering over us. "Something tells me that it is," Amber sighed as she rested against her staff.

- a few hours later -

As it turned out, we'd apparently rescued the dummy mere seconds before the initiation was marked as complete, and the Bullhead had been en route when the Arana climbed out of its hole and attacked us. We were some of the last ones to make it back, with everybody else already waiting anxiously in the amphitheater.

More than a few of us shot us looks, some worried, others derisive. Two stood out in particular, sneering at us as they flipped us off at a distance, no doubt eager to rub in our faces that we failed and they passed.

When we arrived, Ozpin stepped up to the raised stage immediately. "I would like to thank you all for attending this year's initiation. However, I regret to inform you that not everybody made the cut. You see, as we monitored your progress and completion, we made judgement calls, took note of your behavior and your actions. And we have made choices that not all of you will agree with."

Several of those smug students now looked panicked as this info came to light. I couldn't help but roll my eyes - did they really believe that they wouldn't be monitored during the process of initiation?

Professor Goodwitch stepped up. "However, it is not our job to make you happy. It is our job to be thinking of the future. The future generation of huntsmen and huntresses, and the future, safety, and prosperity of the people of Remnant," she said. "And so, the headmaster shall announce the names and subsequent teams of those who shall be attending Beacon Academy for the next four years."

Headmaster Ozpin cleared his throat before turning on his scroll, presumably to read off a list of student names. "Arden Ashe," he said.

"What?!" the sound of the two handed axe wielding guy yelled.

"Cinder Fall," Ozpin continued.

Cinder stepped up to stand next to Ozpin, as did I.

"Sienna Khan. Amber Russet."

The other two girls stepped up with smiles, joining us on the podium next to Ozpin. The four of us now stood in a line,

"The four of you shall form team ACKR, with Arden Ashe as its leader. You have our congratulations on becoming a student of our academy," Ozpin said with a kind smile, pronouncing ACKR as 'acre'.

"Bullshit!" the burly teen with the sword yelled. "They didn't pass!"

"Yeah, we brought back the dummy!" his friend complained.

Ozpin turned back to the two, his expression going from warm and friendly to cold and unimpressed. "Indeed, the two of you did. However, team ACKR did return to campus with another dummy, which did much to secure their place here. But not only did the two of you come back without a full team, the two of you assaulted team ACKR for their dummy in the middle of a Grimm attack. I'm sure it will not come to any surprise that the two of you have failed for what would be considered attempted murder."

Several students gasped, with the ones closest to them now pushing away to gain some distance. "There weren't any rules against that, old man!" the teen with the axe sneered uncaringly, apparently having ignored the faculty's warnings against unruly behavior.

"Oh, there aren't?" Ozpin asked. "I do seem to recall mentioning that the Grimm was your only enemy. In what way does that translate to being allowed to attack your fellow huntsmen and huntresses?"

That cut the bullies' words short.

"Furthermore, there was no competition against other initiates for a spot in Beacon. There were more than enough dummies in the forest that everybody who showed up would have been able to form teams and join as a member of Beacon's student body," Professor Goodwitch added, her voice stern and her eyes. "Many of you were far too focused on themselves and not about the others. You two were among many examples who attacked other prospective students in order to claim the credit for yourselves. That is not what being huntsmen is about."

"Those who would attempt to doom others, to abandon them to the Grimm in favor of personal greed, to not set aside differences when lives are on the line, will have no place in any huntsman academy, much less Beacon," Ozpin said. "While team ACKR stood strong and united against a Deathstalker and an Arana, you brutally attacked the team member defending their objective and fled the scene of battle."

This had many eyes glaring at the bullies, the two wilting ever so slightly under the harsh but fully deserved judgement. Many others in the crowd of initiates looked very nervous now, some on the verge of breakdown as they realized that not only were their choices in initiation wrong, they had no chance of getting away with what they did.

"And they were not the only ones," Goodwitch said, her tone harsh. "Approximately forty two percent of everybody here has failed Beacon's initiation because they abandoned other objectives in favor of defeating others - others who were meant to be your allies. Many of you have abandoned or attacked those who would have been fellow students, comrades in battle, for the sake of personal glory. This attitude does not befit that of a huntsman."

Many of the students were now shouting in anger or panic. The loudest in the group were the two teens that had been so smug earlier, their faces red in anger as they seemed to refuse to accept the logic. They were insulting the headmaster now, as if that would change his mind.

"That is quite enough. Being a huntsman is not about winning. It is not about proving yourself superior to your peers. It is about doing your best to protect the people regardless of your differences. It is not about attacking your allies. It is not about personal gain," Ozpin's hardened tone warned, forcing the failed initiates all into silence. "Now, let us continue with the ceremony."

The next few hours were spent bringing up the student teams that did pass, announcing their names and leaders before moving onto the next. Those that passed stood on one side of the room in teams, while those that didn't were on the other in a scattered group.

There were a total of 32 student teams that represented this year's next generation of future huntsmen and huntresses. 128 students out of 220 were the only ones that passed. The two that had attacked us were completely quiet now, still looking incredibly angry.

Then the ceremony came to a close. Those that had failed were sent to the airship pads to be brought back to Vale. Many despondently left, while others tried to protest one last time, to no avail.

We paid very little mind to them, not when all we could feel was excitement at the fact that we had made it into Beacon.

We were in.

Chapter Text

The first thing that happened after the end of the initiation was a medical check to everyone that came back injured. Thankfully, Cinder and everyone else who'd been checked had zero problems, and we were quickly shown our new rooms. The students were all given their own scrolls, as well as basic instructions on how to use them, before being led to the dormitories, where our new rooms would be waiting for us.

On the way, they talked about some limitations, such as the expected levels of water consumption for bathing and laundry. Bathing or showering was to take no more than ten minutes, and laundry would only be done once a week - on the one day of the week where there was no school. That all seemed fair enough, though I had no idea how to work any sort of washing machine or dryer.

Sienna, Cinder, Amber, and I all stood in our new rooms - our new homes for the next four years. It was pretty spacious, with a large window in the middle of the wall opposite of the doorway. Under the window was a set of empty double bookshelves. On either side of the window were two moderately large beds, each with a dark wooden frame, white sheets, and thick red covers.

On either side of the doorway were two large desks, each with two chairs, two small lamps, and a set of drawers. On our left of the room was a door that served as the closet for all four occupants, while the door on our right led to the bathroom that all four of us would share. In the corner by the desks was our luggage - Cinder's and my backpacks, a large duffel bag from Sienna, and a pair of small suitcases from Amber.

"Wow," Sienna muttered as she took in the state of the room. "Not gonna lie, this isn't bad. Plenty of space for four people."

Amber came over to inspect the beds, running her hands over the soft covers. "Wow..." she said. "They're actually pretty comfortable. They do kind of take up a lot of space, though."

"So?" I asked, setting my newly acquired scroll on the nearby bookshelf before sitting on a bed. Cinder joined me, sitting next to me and bouncing lightly on the bed. "We still have our own space to work with."

"...what if we want to get more things? You know...decorate a bit. Maybe set up some other things to make things feel like home?" Amber asked.

"I mean, do we have to?" I asked. "A bed feels plenty enough."

"Oh yeah," Sienna said. "You two were homeless, weren't you? I think I remember-"

"Hey!" Amber gasped. "You can't just...just say that!"

"It's true though," I said, unable to help myself.

"Actually, he's the homeless one. I was a slave," Cinder said, nudging my side.

The flabbergasted look on Amber's face was admittedly hilarious, and I had to stifle a laugh at how her mouth gaped open. "I...I just...I'm so...I'm sorry, but what?!" she choked.

"Long story, and not something we really wanna go over," I said. "Okay, back to the topic about beds and stuff."

Amber stared at us for a moment before she inhaled. "Okay," she said, seemingly ready to move on. "So, I was thinking...bunk beds! You know, stack a bed on top of another. We can get two bunk beds and get extra space for extra things."

"I mean..." Cinder said as she patted the bed. "I can just sleep in the same bed as Arden. The two of us can fit."

"Oh, uhh, sure!" Amber said. "Though...I don't know if we should just say that...two of our teammates will be sharing a bed..."

"That's true," I muttered before turning to Cinder. "It's best if we just make use of the beds we have. And besides, you could have the extra room to be extra comfortable."

Cinder frowned. "Do I have to?" she asked, her voice sounding somewhat meek.

"Hey, you know I'm not going anywhere," I said, touched by her reluctance to be separated, even if that separation was still within the same room. "We're honorary Beacon students now. Even better, we're both on the same team. You can sleep knowing I'll be right there with you, okay?"

Cinder slowly nodded. "Okay," she mumbled.

"You two sure are close, huh? Like...really close," Sienna asked, crossing her arms. Amber was gushing behind her, hands over her mouth and eyes sparkling as if she were watching a real life romance play out right in front of her.

"We escaped Atlas together," Cinder said. "He found me working in that hotel and helped to free me. Then we made enough money to take an airship to Vale. And all the while, he never left my side."

"That's the short of it anyways," I said before yawning. "Look, I'm cold, I'm tired, and I just wanna go to bed. We can set up bunk beds or whatever tomorrow after class. We have to wake up early tomorrow anyway."

"We haven't had any dinner yet. I don't know when they'll call us down for it either, and I'm not ready to sleep on an empty stomach," Amber sighed. "We should bathe first, at the very least. We're pretty dirty, and the water should freshen us up a little too."

"I suppose the two of you will be showering together? You know, to save on water and time?" Sienna asked with a cheeky grin on her face.

"By that logic, all four of us should be sharing a shower together," I said, grinning back. "But I doubt there's room."

Sienna only chuckled as Amber rushed by her to get into the bathroom, her face an interesting shade of pink whilst one of her suitcases was gripped in her hand. We waited a few minutes until the door was shut and locked before Sienna spoke up once more.

"Your weapons are a bit...basic. No dust?" she asked, sitting on the bed across from ours.

"Well, simple weapons are easier to use and are cheap to maintain," I said.

"Probably lighter too," Cinder added. "I don't feel like changing mine."

"In any case, it's not like we could even afford any of that stuff before coming here. We did well using what we have, we'll keep managing with it for now," I said.

We heard the sound of running water as Sienna rubbed her eyes. "You might have to change that sooner than you think. Basic swords? A basic baton? Those won't get you very far, especially since there are students here that have guns."

"You and Amber don't have guns," I pointed out.

I can shoot off dust darts, and my chain has range. Amber shoots wind and fire from her staff," Sienna said as she shrugged. "Alright, my point isn't guns - but something that'll give you some degree of range - especially since there are Grimm that can fire off ranged attacks. Not to mention that if we ever go up against people, they're almost always going to have guns on them. Can't always rely on aura to deal with bullets - sometimes you have to shoot back."

"Neither of us have even used a gun," I countered.

"You used one. Remember?" Cinder asked. "When we ran from the drug dealer?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Sienna asked, her ear tilting curiously.

"Like I said, it's a pretty long story," I said. "And to explain about the gun part - I used a pistol for like ten seconds. Nothing special or cool about it. It was a normal gun, with normal shooting."

Sienna narrowed her eyes, clearly suspicious about the lack of detail she was getting. "Uh huh. Well, weapons can be built into just about anything nowadays," she said. "It's not like anything can be done about this right now, I just wanted to bring it up. Just in case."

"Well," I mumbled thoughtfully to myself as I tapped my chin. "It is something to think about." I turned to look at Cinder. "What do you think?"

"I'm not too sure if I'm being honest," Cinder sighed. "I'll give it some more thought."

"Well don't take too long," Sienna added as she shrugged. "Who knows how soon they'll be throwing Grimm at us?"

We could hear the sound of the water being shut off, with Amber opening the door and stepping out in pajamas about a minute later, holding her suitcase. Her pajamas consisted of a pair of gray sweatpants and a loose brown top. Her still somewhat wet hair was wrapped in a towel, bundled atop her head. "Alright. Who's next?" she asked.

"I'll go next," I said, grabbing my backpack before making my way into the bathroom. As I undressed and began to shower, I found myself mulling over Sienna's words.

"Maybe I will get something different," I mumbled to myself as I rinsed my body. It was too early to consider what to get, much less work out how my fighting would change as a result. Besides, Summer always did say to keep an open mind when it came to combat styles.

Oh, shit. I was supposed to call Summer.

My eyes widened, and I was quick to shut off the water and dry myself off as soon as I'd finished with the soap and shampoo. After getting dressed in pajamas - which was just a pair of sweatpants - I left the bathroom and tossed my bag by the bed. I was about to go for my scroll when I saw Cinder already holding it, talking to someone.

"Is that Arden? Can I talk to him?" came Summer's voice.

"Okay," Cinder said as she got up and handed me the scroll, revealing it to be a video call with Summer's upper body in the frame. "I'm gonna go take a bath now."

"I was wondering when you'd get here! I was almost worried that something had gone wrong!" Summer said as Cinder headed to the bathroom. From what I could see, the phone was propped up in the kitchen, with Summer chopping up something as she talked to me. "Qrow put my scroll's contact info in yours when he told me that you passed. How was it?"

"Oh, everything went fine. Fought a Deathstalker, almost got eliminated because some assholes tried to get us failed, then we got attacked by a Grimm spider, and then we made it back to Beacon," I said. "Those assholes didn't make it in, by the way."

"I should hope not!" Summer huffed as the shower began to run. "We've had to deal with our fair share of bullies. Racists, people who tried to cheat, people who believed huntsmen were above other people. It was exhausting!"

"Well, I don't think we'll have that big a problem here," I said.

"Not necessarily," Summer pointed out with a frown. "There's always going to be the unsavory sort of people around. I bet you that you'll come across more than a few in Beacon, even after initiation."

"Great, now we have one more thing to worry about here," Sienna mumbled in the background.

"Oh? And who's that?" Summer asked, her grin coming back in full force.

"Oh, right," I said before turning the scroll around to face Sienna and Amber. "These are my teammates, by the way. We form team ACKR."

"Sienna Khan. She's Amber Russet," Sienna introduced. Amber waved shyly from the back.

"It is very nice to meet the two of you," Summer greeted. "I hope Arden and Cinder haven't been giving you any trouble."

"Oh, of course not. We all fought together very well," Sienna said. "So, are you Cinder's and Arden's mother?"

Summer fell silent for a second, and I could tell that she was thinking hard. "Well...I suppose you could say that we're an equivalent of sorts. We're their legal guardians," she said.

"Hey!" Taiyang's voice came, and I turned the scroll around to see him come into frame, kissing Summer on the head. "So, you're in Beacon now, huh? How're you liking it?"

"Until we actually get to classes, I dunno," I said. "But the beds and food are pretty nice. And I have some teammates." I turned the scroll back around to face Sienna and Amber, who both waved.

"Nice to meet you girls," Taiyang said. "I heard Cinder's on your team too."

"Yes, but she's bathing right now," Summer said. "Ruby and Yang are both napping right now, and Umbra's sparring with Qrow. Have you all had dinner yet?"

"Not yet," Sienna said. "I believe they'll call us down when the time comes."

As if spoken on cue, the scroll let out a loud ding. I turned the scroll back around to see that a notification popped up in the middle of the screen - 'Dinner shall be served in ten minutes'.

"Looks like the dinner bell has rung," I muttered. "We gotta go."

"Oh, alright. Make sure to eat and exercise a lot, okay?" Summer asked.

"Look after each other and stay safe," Taiyang added. "Have fun, alright?"

"Okay, mom. Bye dad. I'll call back when we can," I said with a grin before hanging up. I set my scroll down before heading to the bathroom door and knocking. "Dinner's almost ready."

"Almost out!" Cinder called, and I heard the water shut off. In just a minute, Cinder came back out, her hair dry and dressed in new clothes.

Mostly dressed in new clothes.

"Cinder, put on some pants," I sighed. She was just wearing a basic white T-shirt and black panties.

"You're not wearing a shirt, and I don't need pants to eat," Cinder complained.

"We're all going down to the cafeteria to eat - we're not gonna be eating dinner in our room," Sienna pointed out. Cinder's mouth made an 'o' shape before she headed back to the bathroom to grab her bag.

"How did she get her hair so dry so quickly?" Amber whispered. I'd been expecting her to ask about Cinder's choice of dress, but I wasn't about to complain.

"Her semblance lets her superheat things. Probably heated up her hands or her hair and evaporated the water," I said as I looked around for a new shirt.

Amber unwrapped the towel around her head, revealing her hair to still be a little matted. "Do you think she could do that for me?" she asked. Sienna only shrugged.

Cinder came back out, wearing a pair of gray dolphin shorts. "So, are we ready to go?" she asked.

"Amber wants you to dry her hair for her," I said. "Then we can go."

Amber spluttered. "O-only if it's alright with you. I don't wanna make you do something you don't wanna do, and-" she began, only for Cinder to walk over and hold up her hands. I could see that she was using her semblance, given how the air around them wobbled ever so slightly.

All Cinder had to do was rest her heated hands on the top of Amber's head and slide them down the sides of her head, her now dry hair looking smooth. "There. Is that good?" she asked.

Amber seemed to relax, sighing contentedly. "Yeah," she said softly, touching her hair. "Wow, that felt really good."

"Thanks," Cinder said, smiling a little shyly before turning to me. "Can we go now?"

"Well, it's in a few minutes," I said, reaching into my bag and pulling out a clean shirt. I turned to Sienna, who didn't look like she was ready to take a shower.

As if reading my mind, she shook her head. "I'll shower after I eat," she said. "I feel more hungry than dirty anyway."

"Alright," I said as I pulled on a white shirt before kneeling over to put my socks and shoes back on. As I tied the laces, I felt a very warm hand rest on my hair and dry out what little moisture was left from the shower. "Thanks," I said, looking up at Cinder.

Cinder only grinned back before the four of us headed out to have dinner. The entire walk to the cafeteria was spent in open conversation, talking about each other and getting further acquainted as teammates - and in the future, close friends. As we continued to talk openly, I could only think about the circumstances that brought us to this point.

I was on a team with a could have been evil Fall Maiden, the would have been assassinated leader of a violent White Fang, and the potential Fall Maiden before the evil Fall Maiden.

And they were all lumped in with me.

What a fucking predicament.

- the next morning -

Waking up in the morning was easy enough. Our alarms went off at 5:00 AM on the dot, and Cinder and I were quick to shake the sleepiness off and start preparing ourselves for the day, washing our faces and brushing our teeth. Even though we all went to bed fairly early last night, we still felt very drowsy.

Amber and Sienna managed to pull themselves out of bed a few minutes later while Cinder and I were getting ourselves into our uniforms. The male uniform was relatively simple - a pair of black pants and a white button-up shirt. Over the shirt was a red tie, and over the tie and shirt was a form fitting blue vest. To finish off the uniform was a typical black suit jacket, with the jacket and the pants lined with a golden trim.

I vaguely remembered some changes with the uniforms on some students, like Ruby wearing her cape, so I figured that there was some freedom when it came to wearing the uniform. So I opted to ignore the tie and vest, wearing just my white button-up under the unbuttoned jacket. The vest felt tacky to me, and I had no idea how to actually fold a tie.

The only actual accessory I added to my uniform were my fingerless gloves from my normal outfit. "Well, what do you think?" I asked, turning to look at Cinder, smoothing out my uniform jacket and holding out my arms."Is this good?"

Cinder was only about halfway done with her uniform, only wearing the red plaid skirt and her button-up shirt - though only the very top button of the shirt was secured, revealing her bra and toned stomach. She was fiddling with the red ribbon around her collar when she turned to look me over. "It looks nice," she said, eyeing me up and down a few times before looking back at the red ribbon in her hands. "Can you help me with the ribbon? I don't know what to do with it."

"I think you just tie it up," Sienna said, coming over with her own uniform worn. The jacket for the girls' uniform was lined with brown, with the vest being a lighter brown - and one that only buttoned up to under the breasts. Sienna had tied the red ribbon into a bow design, snug under the folded collars of the button-up shirt, and she forewent stockings in favor of knee high socks, which revealed the same tiger stripes on her arms also on her outer thighs and legs. "Here, let me help," she offered.

As Sienna helped Cinder get her uniform on properly, Amber walked up while fully dressed - also having foregone the vest like I had, though she wore stockings and the ribbon. "I can't believe I'm wearing an actual Beacon uniform," she said in excitement as she turned around to take a look at her whole uniform. "It's so comfy too."

"Yeah," I said, kicking a leg up before stretching my arms up and to my sides. The clothing itself did feel nice, and was a lot less restrictive than I thought it would be. "At least moving in it will be easy. Think we can fight in these?"

"Well, they're probably not ideal for combat. We'd end up tearing them up if we tried," Amber giggled.

"Arden, how's this?" Cinder asked, and I turned to see Cinder in her full uniform - with the vest on under the jacket, and the ribbon tied similarly to how Sienna did it. She gave an experimental twirl, her skirt flying up an inch from the movement and revealing some more of her thighs, lacking stockings like Sienna's. "I think it looks very nice."

"It does," Amber said, coming over as she looked at us all over with more than a hint of pride. "Look at us, official students at Beacon."

"You all look great," I said, clapping my hands once. "Now come on, let's go get some food. We have a very long day ahead of us."

Breakfast ran smoothly. Even if Amber and Cinder yawned occasionally, we weren't feeling that sleepy. Like during dinner last night, we talked together - though mostly about what we would need to be prepared for when it came to classes. The cafeteria was bustling, with the new students of Beacon Academy now energetic and excited as they ate.

We had a table to ourselves, especially since almost half of the teens who had come into Beacon hadn't made the cut. Cinder and I sat next to each other, while Amber and Sienna sat across from us.

"So we know there's six classes total. We have history studies, combat studies, Grimm studies, aura studies, weapons and engineering, and plant sciences. Whatever that is," Amber said, counting off each class with a hand while she held a cup of orange juice in her other hand. "Three classes before lunch, three classes after lunch, and an hour long study period."

"Study period? We don't get time to do more fighting?" Cinder asked in confusion, her fork tapping a piece of bacon.

"Second years get self-directed sparring in place of a study period," Amber explained. "And if I recall, upper years in general will get exciting missions."

"What kind of missions are we supposed to get as first year students?" I asked as I finished off my plate of shredded hash browns and eggs.

"Oh, we would get lower risk missions, generally. First years are typically shadowed by fully accomplished huntsmen and huntresses," Amber said. "We can also earn money from these missions, though only if sanctioned by Beacon."

"How do you know all of this stuff?" Cinder asked as she set down her mug of coffee.

"I...I may have done some of my own research on Beacon's curriculum last week," Amber said, scratching the back of her neck in a rather sheepish manner. "It never hurts to be prepared, right?"

"No, it does not," I said, quick to reassure her before she got more worried. "I'm more concerned about the actual paperwork and stuff. I don't feel like I'd be good with essays and stuff like that."

"Me neither," Cinder muttered.

"Well, we're a team. It's not like we can't help each other out, right?" Amber said.

I nodded my thanks at Amber before turning to look at Sienna. "Well, how about you? Was Beacon what you were expecting?" I asked.

Sienna sighed as she stretched her arms. "Well, I don't really have anything to say, not until we stay here for a while," she muttered. Yawning, she leaned back in her seat. "In fact, I plan on going to bed after dinner and a shower when class is over."

"Yeah, I'm going to get into the habit of sleeping early too. It'd probably be best since we'll need to wake up super early for the next few years," Amber mumbled as she picked at her food. "Though, I can't help but be a bit worried."

"How so?" I asked. "What's on your mind?"

"Classes, mostly," Amber said. "School was something I was never really the best at, and I'm worried I'll fall behind...or something."

"Understandable," Sienna said. "I didn't have any school when I was a kid. Faunus like me didn't exactly get a 'proper' education growing up."

"I spent most of my life as an orphan and later a slave in Atlas," Cinder muttered. "But Summer and the others taught me how to read. They taught both of us how to fight as well."

The three girls fell quiet before turning and looking at me, and it took me a few seconds to realize that they were waiting for me to speak up next. "Oh," I said, rubbing the back of my neck rather awkwardly. "Umm, I had some school. Not a lot, but I can write and do some basic math. I...don't know too much about history, though, and school wasn't as big a priority back then."

"Math. Thanks for reminding me," Amber groaned as she scarfed down another spoonful of food. "I have always struggled with anything that has to do with numbers, and I always will."

"If we're talking about a huntsman academy, then the most we'll likely be focused is fighting Grimm and maybe politics," Sienna said.

"Politics?" Cinder asked.

"Probably stuff with the law," I said. "You know, rules that huntsmen need to follow. They are stronger than the average person, so there's probably regulations about that."

"I can give rundowns later if you want," Sienna said. "I grew up with aura, but I wasn't registered or licensed officially as someone with an unlocked aura. Headmaster Ozpin waived that with some of the legal work - thankfully, but we had to learn the laws and regulations about having an unlocked aura to avoid getting locked up."

"That sounds rough," Amber said. "I know some of the laws as well. I don't remember all of them, since it's easy to avoid getting into any sort of trouble around it if you just don't use aura."

"It's a little more complex than that," Sienna said. "In any case, we should think of other ways we can prepare ourselves. A lot of other teams here are too relieved or excited to focus on actually being ready for Beacon, so we might get ourselves a head start."

That was a good point. The other teams were happily eating, chatting away at a wide variety of topics ranging from the families of teammates, plans for after graduation, their favorite Grimm to kill, the plans for their weapons, etcetera etcetera.

The rest of the morning for us was spent both eating and working on planning for the semester - with plans to allocate our own free time accordingly once we learned the lesson plans and homework for the year.

When breakfast ended, we headed towards our first classes when it hit me for real: I was actually in Beacon Academy - with Cinder, Sienna, and Amber.

It was still almost too much to accept as reality at first - but it was real, and I was here. Taking classes normally like I was in a normal school instead of a huntsman academy.

I could only shake my head and sigh at the thought of going to classes for half of the day, six days a week, for the next four years.

What a future.