Shattered Moons

His bubbling energy was getting the best of him as Bleu kept asking questions about every little thing. The aircraft ride felt like nothing as soon as he started talking to Professor Ozpin. Once he started asking questions, his mind raced in front of his mouth, and he thought of a question as soon as he asked one, and another one, another one...

And that was where Bleu found himself right now, with questions bubbling up. Once he thought of them, he just had to ask them! "So I heard a rumor last night, y'know, and it was spreading like a wildfire, and it said that it was recommended that you had some Dust, so I got myself some Dust from Diamond over there," he stopped to wave at Diamond, who looked as if she was busy concentrating, better not distract her, "but I was wondering, why did we need Dust? Was someone just messing with us? Because I can totally see that happening, someone heard that you couldn't use Dust and there was like some kind of Grimm that could destroy Dust--"

"Ms. Goodwitch," Ozpin waved his hand, and Professor Goodwitch tapped a screen on her scroll, and Bleu suddenly fell through the world. His first thought was this is how I'm going to die. Falling straight into the city. Probably impaled by a skyscraper. And, for whatever reason, I'm fine with it. Of course, this was followed by his logical side pushing aside that thought and causing Bleu to suddenly shriek. Okay, panic, panic. I'm going to die, I'm going to die. I just want to go to school normally! Then he frowned. What if this is normal school? Boy-o-boy, I have completely thought about school the wrong way.

He then continued to fall, his mind playing a tug-of-war with how he should react for the rest of the way down. Out of his panicky fear of heights, a rational part came forth and suggested he try teleporting to the ground, to absorb the pain felt. I guess I could try that. Hopefully, it doesn't mess up like the last few times I've tried to do it in training, Bleu thought as he closed his eyes.

He began to imagine the ground, the high skyscrapers, and the streets. The target where his body was going to make an impact and how fast he was going. With a strong impulse through his body, his copy of himself made it safely onto the ground.

His copy stood up, dusting off his arms. He then heard a faint scream from above him and in that direction, looked up. Oh dear, not again, his copy thought as he lifted his arms up to the sky, in an attempt to try to catch Bleu.

It worked, for the most part. His copy did stop his fall but Bleu did gain some injuries from it. He was lying face down on the ground, groaning. My everything hurts. I don't know what bones I have left or if my face is broken.

Bleu then flipped onto his stomach and looked at the sky. Instead, he was caught off guard by a looming stalagmite, a few inches away from his face. And the complete darkness that surrounded his whole body. There were shadows and husky voices that were surrounding him. Oh dear god. I wish I was in the sky than in here.

He peeled himself away from the ground and to a nearby wall (or what he thought was a wall) and tried to think positive about the situation he was in. After a few seconds, Bleu realized there were no positive things about this situation and all things that looked positive, were probably pointed towards certain death.

Bleu then began to talk to himself as an attempt to calm his nerves. "You probably only broke your wrist. It's nothing bad. Wait, what was that? Oh dear, what if there are soul leeching monsters in here? What if this is just a bad dream? Maybe I could try pinching myself to see if it is true. Perhaps then I'll be in my bed and my mom will be at my door, bringing me freshly baked cookies." As he was mumbling to (and pinching) himself when he found himself to be the attention of Midori and a really loud and apparently angry Grimm. Maybe it was all of the noise he made upon his landing. He thought about it. Nah, Grimm was just angry, to begin with.

The Grimm appeared out of basically nowhere and screeched at the two. Bleu scrabbled to his feet per Midori's urges to "Run!" and he did as she said, not bothering to look to see if she was behind him or if the Grimm was, either. They'd both probably be, so why should he waste time and energy doing so?

Then again... A nagging voice in the back of his mind prodded him. Midori could be all by herself fighting the Grimm, and you had to run away.

But she told me to run away! He argued with himself.

A true Huntsman never leaves their ally behind. And he knew that to be true. After all, it was him who thought it!

He turned to see Midori backing away slowly with an arrow flying through the air and another one already notched. The first arrow exploded in a fiery ball of Dust and smoke upon impact, lighting up the creature. It was large with a long neck and sharp teeth that dropped drop far below its head. The second arrow embedded itself in a part of the Grimms neck and suddenly some kind of white ooze poured out of it, creating a large puff cloud that clung to the Grimm's neck, weighing it down.

Bleu stopped in his tracks, staring at the magnificence that was unfolding before him. "You are so awesome!" he shouted as the Grimm collapsed into the side of the cavern under the weight of whatever-that-was-that-came-out-of-Midori's-arrow. "How did you do that?" he asked, pointing to the monster's neck.

She ran up to him, panting. "I don't know. Luck, I guess. But never mind that -- let's get out of here." She took his arm and veered him to the exit. She was going so fast that he had no choice but to look at his feet to make sure he didn't trip over the large debris. He began to think, I wonder if I could be able to do stuff like that. Would I meet more people like her? Will they accept me for me?

As they were running, Bleu noticed a bright light coming from the end. He gasped lightly and asked, "is that sunlight or are we free yet?"

"That'd be too easy," Midori quipped. "For all we know, it's some kind of subterranean Grimm that makes light to trap its victims..." That didn't stop her from forging ahead, though. "Come on."

Bleu nodded and followed after, hoping that it was an exit and not another Grimm surprise attack.

Most people that have lived in Mistral long enough are familiar with flying. But Rìoghail specifically was also familiar with falling. She remembered all the times she'd gotten a ride on Mistral's public transport airships as a child and then chased off when discovered she had not paid for it. The ships had not always been grounded when that happened.

As a result, when the platform she'd been standing on opened from below instead of launching her in the air as she had expected, the familiar vertigo had caused her reflexes to come into action. Now, she was hanging from the trapdoor's opening, her hands holding her in position. One look about revealed that she was the only one that hadn't fallen inside. She was alone... with Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch. That was awkward. They didn't speak, but Ozpin was looking at her curiously through his spectacles. She felt her cheeks getting hotter, knowing he expected her to do something soon.

Indeed Rìoghail couldn't stay there forever, so she started thinking. She could get out of the hole in which she was half-submerged, but she suspected this would make it all the harder to get into the designated area of initiation. She sighed. What's the first rule of survival in an adventure? Bring rope... She had not brought rope. So, she'd have to fall, too. She examined the above-world for any clues it might give about the one below. The cliff's ledge was pretty close meaning the wall of the cave under her must be pretty close. She tried to reach it with her legs, but couldn't. Still she probably could make it there if she let go. Was it the best idea, though?

Her arms' muscles were already beginning to strain, so there wasn't time for more thinking. It was now or never. She'd leap to the wall and then climb down. She changed her arms' position, so she could lower herself as much as possible and then with the help of her legs started swaying. Once she figured she had enough momentum -and it got too hard to hold on- she let go and leaped forward. Rìoghail found herself on the wall as calculated. What was not calculated, though, was its smoothness. There was nothing for her to hold on to! For all her efforts, she was falling. If she didn't think of a new plan, she'd be in trouble. She tried to stay by the wall to use its friction to slow her down. She drew her sword, Draigoch as well -its hilt shaped to vaguely remind a human figure, a little flame appeared on the sphere-shaped tip- and poked the wall with force. It did not pierce through, but sparks were formed as Draigoch grinded on the stone. Despite the friction, she continued to accelerate albeit slower.

Rìoghail pushed aside her waving cloack and looked back. In the absolute darkness of the enormous cave, there was nothing to see. Nothing but a couple of lights, probably handled by other students, indicating where the ground was. Although it was hard to estimate the distance, she reckoned there was still some way to go. What else was there to do? Aura! Professor Hikage in Sanctum always told her off for forgetting to use her aura. She was now falling a little too fast for comfort, but she hoped her aura would protect her. She looked at the lights again. Only one of them was visible now and it looked like she was much closer to its level now. It was time to act. She thought for an instant, then bent her knees and jumped upwards and away from the wall. For a moment she was in the air, preparing herself to roll on the ground. The next, to her utter surprise, she smashed against another wall.

In the brief time she came in contact with it before she bounced back, the wall felt different to the first one. It wasn't natural, but man-made. In addition, it must have been very fragile because Rio's force alone was enough to make a significant part of it give way. All of that she thought in a timespan of one or two seconds for after that her back met the ground. At the same time the rubble landed noisily, too.

Rìoghail groaned in pain. Her aura had protected her, but that did not negate the fact that she had just hit on two hard surfaces with a considerable momentum. She would much rather lie there and recover in her own pace, but unfortunately that could not be the case. Even if she didn't have an initiation to go through, there was always the danger that supposedly could kill them. She had to stay alert. And she had to go on.

Her bones complaining, the girl got up and picked up her sword from where it had fallen. She felt its blade to inspect the damage all the grinding might have caused. Thankfully, it seemed alright. Having done that there was another problem: visibility. Draigoch featured a small flame, but it was pretty weak, as it was mostly decorative. There was a piece of Burn Dust inside the hilt. She wondered if she could use her aura to strengthen it a bit. She focused on it and imagined a little of her aura passing through to the Dust. To her surprise the flame actually blazed more brightly, allowing her to sort of make out her immediate surroundings. Next to her was a building that must have stood there intact for ages -until Rio broke its wall. Walking beyond it, she found more buildings, what seemed to be a city of them in fact. So, somewhere in that city the relics were hidden then. But what did they actually look like? She did not know. Meanwhile, in the process of doing that they would also have to find a partner. That task made her more nervous. What if she ended up with someone she didn't like? She should avoid that.

Holding her sword's hilt high to see better, Rìoghail explored the area. She tried the door of a bigger building. It was not locked. Upon entering it, though, she found nothing of particular interest. But of course she didn't. The relics were probably farther inside the cave. She got out, wondering where she should head to, when she noticed a dim yellow light approaching her. No. It was two identical yellow lights. Suspiciously close to each other. Rio slowly turned her sword around, assuming a battle stance. That was no Dust or flame. They were eyes. And malignant ones at that. For an instant, silence. And then with a loud growl, a beast was jumping upon her. In the limited light, she discerned a wolf-like creature -though much bigger and deadlier than a wolf. A Beowolf presumably. Beowolves had always freaked Rìoghail out. It was not so much the skull-like face or the white spikes growing out of their body -characteristics shared by many creatures of Grimm-, as it was the legs disproportionate to their body causing them to hunch and walk more like apes than wolves.

The Beowolf tried to snap its sharp fangs around her, but Rìoghail blocked its widely opened mouth with her sword. The head was kept away, but its legs -or should they be called arms?- were long enough to reach her anyway. Rio ducked as the Grimm predictably swiped its claws at her, while at the same time pulling one side of her sword with her left hand. Draigoch split in the middle and, once the hilts fixed themselves, she had two swords instead of one. One sword still keeping the mouth at bay, the other quickly spiked the Beowulf's paw, not yet withdrawn after the attack, down. The beast's head looked upwards as it growled angrily, leaving its neck exposed. Her remaining sword immediately found itself through the enemy's neck. However, the girl had attacked recklessly and didn't notice the monster's second paw striking at the same time. As the Grimm collapsed to the ground and died, Rio fell as well as her badly scratched leg couldn't support her. This did not bode well.

While still on the ground, she collected her swords and then pondered upon her next steps. She sighed. Second rule of survival in an adventure? Bring bandages. She had not brought bandages. She was about to test her leg again -perhaps it was not that bad-, when she heard footsteps approaching. They sounded human, but that did not fully reassure Rio. What if it was a student she didn't know? She closed her eyes and yelled, "Who goes there?".

The footsteps stopped. "Agh. Just a girl. Go away. I'm looking for Light", between the name he mentioned and the bass voice she was reminded of the brothers they'd encountered in the locker room last day. She was definitely going to keep her eyes closed. And it sounded like the other person would agree with her choice. The footsteps started again, still approaching.

"Then, you go away. I'm not in a position to move right now".

"Don't boss me around!" his voice was heard from nearby. "Look at you, scrawny weakling. You even got hurt. Serves you right for yesterday".

As the boy walked by, he did not neglect to bump into Rìoghail. Rio had half a mind to repay him, but she remembered there was the danger of eye contact in the midst. So, she just let him pass. Relieved she'd dodged that bullet, she opened her eyes. To the girl's surprise, she found that someone else was standing some distance away. In the light of his torch, it was apparent it was 'Loner'. She was stunned. He was looking behind her with an expression of contempt. Their eyes met. . .

Rhyence crouched on his pad, running his fingers over the seam as he listened to Professor Ozpin while he gave his little speech--and was frequently interrupted by Bleu, among others. He sighed at the stupid questions and listened intently as Ozpin gave them their instructions. Soften your landing. Rhyence tilted his head, listening to the other students' breathing, to the slight creaking noise every time he shifted his weight. The first person you make eye contact with will be your partner-- He frowned, not liking that idea very much, but if that was what got him through Beacon... Well, he definitely wasn't going to protest.

"Ms. Goodwitch?" Ozpin. Rhyence look up in time to see Blondie push her glasses up with one hand while she held a tablet-style scroll in the other. He gripped the hilt of his sword, Will-O-Wisp, and tensed slightly. "The initiation may begin."

The floor dropped out from below him and sent him plummeting down into darkness. Rhyence drew his sword and relaxed. He'd practiced this with his winged friends back in Menagerie. He needed to think, and he needed to do that while free-falling--without panicking. Rhys hadn't been sure what Beacon's Initiation would be, but a lot of the rumours mentioned falling, so. He span through the Dust cartridges in his sheath, using the sheath-turned-pistol to fire directly below him in an explosion of firey Dust. He could see well in the darkness, but this was more than just darkness. Even a Faunus would not see very well down here in whatever hole Ozpin had dropped them into.

Rhyence caught a glimpse of old, decaying buildings and frowned. Where the hell were they? The structures looked old. Very old, but at least he had plenty of places to land or to help him land. He waited until he was, hopefully closer but not too close before firing again. There. An exposed metal beam. He flicked his wrist, flinging Will-O-Wisp, now in whip form, towards the beam. It caught and jerked on his arm, swinging him in towards the crumbling wall at full velocity.

He collided with a wince, but was otherwise mostly unharmed. Rhyence stashed his sheath quickly and grabbed onto his whip with both hands, glancing around. There were other pinpricks of light now and it gave his Faunus eyes enough light to properly see with. He hung there for a moment, assessing his surroundings--he wasn't that far off the ground--and gave a tug-and-twist on the whip. Will-O-Wisp released the beam and he was falling again. Thankfully, Rhyence landed on his feet in a crouch, and stayed there for a moment, listening.

There were voices off to his left somewhere, quite a distance away. It sounded like Midori and Bleu. He snorted and left them to it as he straightened up. Rhyence dusted himself off, taking his tme about it, and then glanced about again. He was definitely not going left. Not to Midori ad Bleu. Besides, they appeared to be paired up anyway.

He turned right and was met with the glowing red eyes of a large Grimm. Rhyence sighed. It looked like this initiation was not going to be as easy as he'd thought. Slowly, so very slowly, he reached around for his sheath-pistol and gave the whip a flick. It gave off a sharp crack as it moved, and the Grimm's red eyes blinked at him. Rhyence narrowed his in turn.

They stared at each other for a moment, and then there was an eye-spliting howl. It caught him off guard and Rhyence cringed, instinctively dodging to the side as the Grimm launched itself at him. He rolled away from it and came up with his ears ringing. "Okay," he muttered, glaring at the dark shape of the Grimm. "That was so not cool."

"What's not cool?"

Rhyence flinched and flicked his gaze away from the Grimm for a second. He caught a glimpse of green and purple. He frowned, flicking his gaze back to the Grimm. It hadn't moved an inch, as it was now studying him and the newcomer.

"Amaranth?" he asked, incrediously. How the hell had she snuck up on him? Where did she even come from? He frowned deeply. Did she even realise--

"Rhyence?"

No, apparently not. He sighed and focused on the Grimm. He decided to go with casual, tightening his grip on his weapon.

"Uh, Amaranth," he said lowly, confused. "You do realise there's a Grimm right in front of us, don't you?"

"Oh no, it's not like I'm a faunus and have night vision or anything." Rhyence lowered his weight closer to the ground, centering himself.

"You seriously don't see the glowing red eyes right there, Amaranth?"

"Oh, I was joking. Lightening the situation." Rhyence could almost feel her shrugging. "I'm not Bleu, so..."

The Grimm roared, possibly in annoyance to all the talking when there obviously should be a fight, and charged at Rhyence. He sidestepped the charge, slashing its side with the whip that curled its flesh. It roared again, this one a shrill shriek of pain, and its eyes narrowed at Rhyence. It charged again. He curled his whip around its neck and pulled himself over it, but as he launched himself above the Grimm, he noticed two more pairs of eyes rapidly approaching. Rhyence flicked his wrist and two clones of him appeared below him. They offered their hands as a landing device, and he launched himself again and pulled with all of his strength as he hit the ground, farther from the other two Grimm's reach. The whip sliced the first Grimm's head clean off.

Rhyence turned to face the other two. They were far closer than he initially predicted, and inwardly he cursed just how terribly dark it was in... wherever they were. Preparing another round of Will-o'-Wisp, Rhyence suddenly staggered from the overuse of his aura in such a short amount of time. He only had a moment to brace himself against the attack.

Screech! The sound reverberated across the empty chasm they were in, the sound of metal blocking bone. So, one of these Grimm had tusks. Good to know. Rhyence squinted and could make out Amaranth with a shield on her arm. At that moment, she looked back, and met his glance with a grin.

Well, damn. I guess that settles it. Rhyence thought, and charged in to fight alongside his new Partner.

Five Years Ago - Location Classified (Not Atlas)

Claret's eyes flew open and she sprung to an upright position before the multiple injuries dealt to her body could protest. She seethed from the pain, but remained sitting and scanned the room. So, she was no longer in a forest. Did that mean Atlas found her and brought her back to the Academy? Her hand instinctively felt her left ribcage, tenderly prodding the bandaging above her wound. There was some fresh blood dotting the clean, white wraps. Maybe she shouldn't have moved so quickly. It groaned under her touch, and slow turning told her that the wound had started to heal, but only recently. So, she had been unconscious for a few days, at least.

A more intensive scan indicated that the room itself was a cottage, so nothing owned by Atlas Academy. A small fire warmed the room across from her, and a side table was littered with medical supplies, and two stout wooden chairs were strewn around it. It almost looked cozy. Claret hated cozy.

Her eyes found their target. A fireplace poker rested in its holder across the room. Holding her side waringly, she slung her feet off the bed and tested her weight on them. Her right one wobbled under the pressure of her own body. Okay, so more injuries than she thought. What the hell did you do to yourself, Claret? Her memory of the battle was hazy at best. Favoring her left leg and stiffening up her chest, she carefully took her first step. Take a step. Get a weapon. Fight your way free. Take a step. Get a weapon. Fight your way free. She took another steap. Take another one. Don't leave yourself vulnerable, Claret. A generous stranger could easily become a knife in your back. She was halfway across the room now. Just a few more steps and she could reach the poker. The door lock clicked with the sound of a key being inserted. She steeled herself and lunged for the poker as the door opened and spun around on her attacker.

"Sloppy," the voice said from the door. "Your training taught you that you could fight your way out of here with a poker?"

Claret froze, staring at the woman standing in the doorway. She was stunned into silence for a moment before she shook herself and leveled a cold, angry stare on her. "What?" she demanded, then gestured at the room with the poker. "Where am I? What happened?"

"Sit down before you become another log in my fireplace."

She sat abruptly in the nearest chair, legs practically collapsing, and preceded to study the dark-haired woman now closing the cottage door. "Who are you?" she whispered, and the woman shot her a look. Claret was slightly taken aback by her black eyes, but not scared. Shouldn't she be scared? The woman was showing her kindness, and kindness was dangerous. But it didn't feel right. No... not kindness. The woman was in a place of power, and she knew it. Why be scared if you knew you couldn't do anything to change your position? Just go with it.

"I was the one who saved your life." She sat down across from Claret and stared at her calmly.

Claret stared back. "Saved...my life?" She frowned, and then remembered the horrible chittering sound of a bird-like Grimm, along with the whistle of whip-like feathers. "Oh, the bird--"

"Trochilidae."

"What?" She blinked. "Oh, well... That, whatever it is." Claret frowned again and started patting down her pockets with one hand while still holding the poker level with the other woman. She knew her weapon definitely wasn't there. She'd heard it shatter. There was no way it would be there-- She cut that thought off and focused on the woman again. "I thought I was going to die..."

"You most likely were." The woman gestured to her pocket. "You won't find your scroll."

Claret's gaze narrowed and the poker's tip dipped down slightly. She jerked it back up. "Why not?"

"It fell during the attack." She shrugged. "Or I took it. Does it matter?"

"None of your business," she muttered and dropped her gaze to the table. Something else was bugging her now, so she decided to focus on that and not on the fact that she needed to message her brother. With what scroll? She scowled. "Why did you save me?"

The woman hesitated. "I didn't have to."

"I didn't ask that. Why did you save me?"

"When you stopped that bird basically in its tracks, you spent all of the aura you had left and pushed it out of you with such force that it was stunning to look at. You have potential, and I intend to feed that fire until you burn down any enemy that stands in your way."

Claret blinked again, slowly. "Are you saying that I have an interesting Semblance?"

"To put it like a child, then yes."

"Right." She pushed out a short breath and set the poker down on the table. "Okay." Claret clutched at her side again with a wince. She really shouldn't be moving around yet. "You're a strange one. What's your name?"

"Lay back down on the bed. You should be resting."

Claret's expression tightened. "No. Tell me who you are first."

The woman's piercing black eyes narrowed. With a sigh, she looked to the side, raising her hand. The poker flared red-hot and Claret released it with a gasp. "I really should be asking your name first, but since formalities are now out of the way and you prefer bluntness, my name is Azure, and you, Claret, are now in my service until I deem you have paid off your life-debt." Her eyes rested back on Claret's. "Lay back down on your bed, and quit being stubborn, or I'll kill you."

That sent ice through her veins, and Claret found herself wanting to obey. She decided not to fight the feeling and stood stiffly, limping back to the bed. Instead of laying down, she just say on the edge for a moment. "How do you know my name?" she asked as she shifted to lay on the bed, propped up on one elbow. "I never said it--"

Azure silenced her with a movement of her hand. "You're losing blood. Can you take off your shirt?" She didn't wait for a response, but stood and picked out some clean bandages. "Now that you're conscious again, I can actually heal you." She stopped at the sight of Claret still wearing her shirt. Her eyes narrowed.

"You... can heal me?" she asked, and at the look on Azure's face, promptly began to take off her shirt. Azure was definitely strange. Stranger than anyone she'd met yet. But those eyes... Those eyes drew her in and---

Azure closed her eyes and her aura roared to life, a mixture of red and violet. She winced, and the aura pulsed, growing deeper red and the purple disappeared. She let out a breath, and her aura shimmered back to her body. "I can do many things," she said softly as she unwrapped the now soiled bandage around Claret's ribs and chest. "I can heal as much as I can kill." Her hands glowed with her aura and heat radiated near Claret's wound. Azure poked each open, bleeding area of the wound, and the scent of burning flesh filled the room. Azure talked as she worked, clearly ignoring Claret’s pained whimpers. She would not scream. She would not scream. "To be clear, Claret, I do not care about your past. I do not care why you did what you did, or even what you did before I saved your life. I care about you as you are now: mine. So. If you continue questioning my decisions and contradicting my orders, I will kill you. I only need your Semblance, not you. Don't make that decision for me." She wrapped the wound over again. "Stay off your feet and it won't bleed again." She straightened and walked out of the room without another word.

Claret watched her go through blurry eyes. She waited a few minutes, listening carefully before rolling onto her good side. Azure was certainly cruel, yet also very beautiful. Even with the black eyes. Claret squeezed her eyes shut. She was a stupid little girl and she definitely should not have taken the damned job. When she saw Mauve again, she was so giving him an earful.

They soon found themselves in a small cavern, which appeared to be formed through natural means and mostly untouched by human- or Faunus-kind, save for a semi-circular dias in the center. Placed upon it were several iridiscent gems.

"Oooh, pretty," Bleu exclaimed, gravitating towards a glowing blue rock. "It's my color."

Midori frowned, examining an identically-carved black stone. "This one's more mysterious, though. How does something so dark emit such bright light?" Puzzled, she dragged herself away from the mysterious object and joined Bleu in examining his own artifact.

"These things are pretty spooky," Bleu muttered, his eyes transifxed on the large jewel.

"You got that right. Spooky, mysterious, alluring. Sounds like a relic to me.

"How do any of these things do it?" Bleu wondered.

"The important thing is, we have something to light our way," Midori declared. "Shall we retrace our steps and try to find a way out of here?"

Bleu shrugged. "Fine by me." He tried to pick up the blue jewel, but it wouldn't budge. "Midori...?"

"What?"

"Our, uh, light source ... ugh ... isn't moving!"

"Well, uh, maybe I can pry it off with this!" Midori reached into pocket and found a small knife. "This ... isn't ... working... Oh, no!" She barely missed the blade as it came loose and snapped straight off the handle.

"Oh, drat!"

Cloud had given her that blade for her twelfth birthday, after she'd proven she could come within five feet of one without cutting off anybody's fingers. It'd been good at peeling potatoes ... but not anymore.

Bleu slumped down against the pillar that held the blue gemstone and almost looked as if he was pouting. "I don't get it."

Midori shrugged and rubbed her temples. The intense light and the exertion she had done in the past hour or some was paying her back in the form of a pounding headache. Aura can do so much, but apparently they couldn't get rid of a headache. Who would've thought?

She slid down to the floor opposite Bleu and her head collapsed in her hands. "It's obvious we need to be here. What are we doing wrong?"

"Maybe the system's rigged," Bleu theorized. "Maybe Ozpin doesn't like that I kept asking questions, and this is his way of getting rid of me ... and now you too, by association."

"That's... ridiculous, Bleu," Midori muttered. By association...? She had half a thought, but it was quickly snuffed out by Mr. Mile-a-Minute's marveling.

"Nah, think about it! Like, there are probably hundreds of Grimm in this cavern or cave or wherever we are. We only faced on before we got here, and we didn't even kill it! It's just kinda... weighed down in a corner right now. Awesome job, by the way!"

"Thanks," Midori said.

"Yeah, I was watching that battle and I was like 'whoa, how can she fire arrows like that?' but you have probably been training with a bow all your life, but I was so caught up in the moment, and then when you used that cool arrow to drag the Grimm down, that was so cool. How did you do that?" He caught his breath.

"It's just Dust," Midori said modestly. "And maybe a few modifications. My, er, brother taught me some stuff before he ... before I left, uh, for school. Yeah, for school."

"Cool." Bleu gasped. "Oh! I almost forgot what I was talking about. Yeah, but we didn't even kill a Grimm, and maybe there's a requirement that we need to kill a certain number of Grimm before we can get out of here OH OR we just haven't met enough people. Like, I know you and I have met, but we haven't really seen any-"

"Wait a second," Midori interrupted. "You said something about Ozpin being out to get you and also me, by association." She held up a hand to shush Bleu before he went off on that tangent. "Here's the thing. We've been working together this whole time, but until now, we haven't really.... Bleu, look at me!"

"What? Why?!"

"Yoohoo!" Midori pointed at her face. "Look me in the eye, Bleu. Just do it!"

Tentatively, Bleu turned in her direction and for the first time, their eyes actually met.

The pillar Bleu was leaning against suddenly fell behind him and he collapsed. The jewel it held fell and landed directly on the middle of his stomach with a plop and an oomph from Bleu. He rose to a sitting position, resting on his elbows. "Hey, the jewel moved!"

"You could say that, yeah," Midori joked. "So what are we waiting for? Let's get out of here!"



Elsewhere, in a small cabin with walls lined from top to bottom with surveillance screens, Professor Ozpin sat in front of an array of buttons and levers.

As his eyes rested on the screen depicting the subterranean cavern of relics, where young Midori Fawkes and Bleu Boysen had finally completed their last objective, he instinctively raised his mug of coffee to his lips to conceal the smirk that resided there.

He was beginning to regret hitting the one that would trigger the relic's release as quickly as he had, but he blamed that on the suspense that had been building for the past fifteen minutes.

"It sure took them long enough!" Glynda muttered sardonically from the swivel chair behind him.

Ozpin chuckled. "Sometimes, Ms. Goodwitch, the answers to the most plaguing mysteries are hidden in plain sight."

"This will not be easy," Professor Ozpin said. "You can die here." Night rolled his eyes at the gasps from the other students. "Not that I want you to, I don't want any of my students to die, but this is a test for how life would be as a Huntsman."

"How reassuring, Headmaster!" exclaimed Night, sarcasm dripping from his words. He smiled insincerely at the man as silence fell over the group.

Night decided not to tell the boy who began asking Professor Ozpin the most obvious questions to shut up. It was best not to overdo things.

But he started to frown when the headmaster told them that the first person they met eyes with during the trial would be their partner for the rest of their time at Beacon. Oh, joy. Of all the--

Then he was flying, amid the screams of other students.

"Oh, of course this is happening," he muttered as he plummeted downward, into the dark. He pulled out Eclipse and threw a few of his knives, feeling himself stop several feet from the ground as the blades held in a wall and the cords grew taut with his weight. He then felt for hand- and footholds. Once he did, he clicked a button on Eclipse to retract the knives and began the descent to the floor.

"I didn't die, old man!" he said when his feet touched the ground, though his words were under his breath. He guessed that somehow, Ozpin and Goodwitch were monitoring them, so he didn't want to wonder how the teachers would feel being insulted.

He ran a hand through his hair and let out a breath. Okay. Party time's over. I need some light. He knelt and felt around him, and to his satisfaction, found some dry wood.

Nothing like a good, ol' fashioned torch, eh? He took two pieces of the wood and began rubbing them together furiously. Within a few seconds, a bright flame came to life. Worked every time. He'd had to rely on this method more instances than he could count in the past to stay warm and survive winter nights.

He stood with his torch and began walking down the tunnel. He figured he might as well find a partner now and get that relic . . . as long as the person wasn't one of those thug brothers or the three who had been too friendly yesterday.

Almost as soon as that thought came into his head, he heard an all-too-familiar voice.

"Don't boss me around! Look at you, scrawny weakling. You even got hurt. Serves you right for yesterday."

Night made a point to watch the gangster-like guy leave, glaring at his back as he headed farther into the dark. But when his enemy disappeared, Night remembered that someone else was still there. As he turned to look, he mulled over the other guy's words. Serves you right for yesterday. That meant that this person was . . .

"Oh, come on!" he burst out as he met eyes with that red-haired girl from the day before, the one who'd accused him of being rude. He crossed his arms as he stared at Rioghail in disbelief, ignoring her muttering of "No! No, no, no, no!" He shook his head in disbelief. "Seriously? Of all the new students in Beacon Academy--"

Going silent for a moment, she assumed a more determined expression and interrupted him, "Look, I would care more about your complaints normally, but I'm injured and we're in a new place that's quite probably filled with tons of Grimm and I'd really rather not die today so could you help me walk?" She struggled to her feet, heavily favoring her right leg.

Night narrowed his eyes at her. "No," he bit out, turned on his heels, and left Rioghail standing where she was.

He muttered aloud as he walked, "I don't need a partner, don't want a partner. Out of all the people I could have been partnered with, why did it have to be her?" Whatever. He'd win this without a partner, and he'd show Ozpin and Beacon that forced pairing like this was stupid and unneeded.

He kept walking until his makeshift torch burned low. He had to find another good piece of wood to create another light source. He didn't see any other lights near him, so either he was far away from any of the other students (like that annoying redhead), or he was venturing deeper and deeper into the caverns ... or both. Night welcomed the solitude, but not the prospect of getting lost and left for dead. Judging by the injury rates down here, he now realized that was a definite possibility.

Night let out a growl of frustration when his torch finally went out on him. He threw the stub of wood as far as he could, and heard it clatter to the ground some distance away. He sighed and began to feel around in the dark for more wood to restart a fire.

As his hand eventually met a piece of wood that seemed suitable for his purposes, he suddenly heard a low rumble behind him. He stilled. These sounds, he would recognize anywhere, for the creatures who created them had ripped his life apart.

Grimm.

He stood and turned, tossing aside the wood, anger beginning to rush through his blood at the sight of the glowing red eyes. He flicked his wrists and the twin daggers Wishblade came into his hands. His eyes squinted to even be able to see the red coming from the Grimm's eyes, and he realized he would not be fighting this battle in the light. Great. He lowered into a fighting stance. His eyes started watering and he shut them. It was useless to strain them, so he paused to listen for the Grimm's movements.

It rumbled a low growl, and he couldn't tell how far away it was from him, only that it didn't sound too close. He wasn't in immediate danger. Then again, of course he was, because he had no light to fight effectively. The Grimm in front of him wasn't the only problem. The rubble on the road and the terrible, broken-down buildings created problems that wouldn't show until it was already too late.

Night let Light Distortion wrap around him, darkening what little light made him visible to the Grimm. He stiffened and let his breathing even. He wasn't sure how Grimm tracked people besides fear, but Night wasn't fearful. He was annoyed, maybe even irritated at the situation he was in, but fearful? Nah.

He inched to the side, and he heard the Grimm let out a grunt and a sniff. It shuffled, and Night jumped, missing the Grimm, but now it was much closer to him. Flipping one half of Wishblade back into his armguard, he fished out several throwing knives from his belt. He stopped for a mere moment, listening to the Grimm's movements. It noticed Night and roared a challenge, a deep, guttural groan that rattled the ground below him.

Night threw the throwing daggers in the Grimm's direction, hoping that they would find purchase, but didn't bother to wait and check. He rushed forward with both halves of Wishblade back in his hands and felt the incoming brush of wind before an attack. He ducked out of the way of a horn or an arm, he couldn't tell which, but he charged forward and stabbed blindly at the monster. He met his target with one of the blades but it fell short of dealing any true damage.

Then, he was thrown back and he hit the ground with a huge thud, knocking the breath out of his lungs. Wishblade was thrown out of his hands and skittered off to the side, though he couldn't see where. He lay on the cold floor, momentarily stunned. At that moment, he wondered if it really was the end, if he would truly meet the same fate as his family: slaughtered by a Grimm, completely defenseless.

But he wasn't ready to go. Not yet. Not like this. As the Grimm growled again and seemed to advance on him, Night struggled to his feet and grabbed a knife from its sheath strapped to his leg. He prepared to charge towards the monster but at that moment, he heard a feminine shout and saw a flash of light.

It was Rioghail; she had thrown her sword into the beast and was now slashing at it, though she still seemed to be having trouble with her leg. Her sword was surrounded by flames. By now, the Grimm's attention was completely on her.

There wasn't any time to waste. Using this opening, Night locked the knives into Eclipse and threw them in the direction of the Grimm. Once they were buried within the creature, he clicked the button to retract the cords and let himself go flying towards it, landing on its back. With one hand, he kept a grip on Eclipse to stay on to the Grimm, while with the other he slashed at its neck viciously with one of the Wishblade daggers.

Although the Grimm began to buck about violently, trying to throw him off, Night refused to let go. In the meantime, Rioghail managed to slice through one of its eyes and plunged her blade into it again. Then, with a few strong swipes with Night's blade, the head of the creature came flying off and the body collapsed to the ground, still at last.

Night retrieved Eclipse and all of his knives including Wishblade after jumping off its back. He approached Rioghail, who sagged down towards the floor, leaning heavily on her glowing sword, with her other hand clutching at her leg.

They stayed there silently for a moment. Then Night said, breathing heavily, "You alive . . . Fire Girl?"

The redhead took a few more deep breaths before replying, "Yeah." She didn't seem to care so much about his name-calling at the moment, having just fought for her life again a Grimm.

Well . . . Night supposed he would have to concede this time.

He came closer to her and grabbed her left arm, slinging it around his shoulders. "Good. Let's go, Fire Girl." He wrapped his right arm around her waist, pulling her next to him.

"What are you doing?" demanded Rioghail, glancing down and smacking at Night's hand with her free one, the one that held her sword.

"Making sure you don't fall down and hurt yourself even more," Night retorted, ignoring the pain. "Now if you're finally over our physical proximity to each other, partner, we still have to find that relic." He started forward, knowing the rest of their journey would be a long and tedious one.

Then, as he helped her stagger along further into the cave, he muttered to himself, "Why do you have to be about the same height as me?"

Amaranth was falling. This came as a surprise, primarily because she hadn't been paying attention during Ozpin's drawn-out monologue. She caught the partner part, but after the point where Bleu metaphorically pissed himself for some reason, she got sidetracked by other things. And then the trapdoor swung open, and she was falling.

The situation was interesting. Amaranth's semblance wasn't going to be very helpful in landing her safely, and her aura was too unstable to break her fall. Looks like instead she would have to get creative. The wall beside her would be good for digging a blade into, but she didn't have blade, which posed a issue. Instead, she pushed off the wall and into open air, watching the ground rapidly approach. She opened the shield on her left arm and bent it over her shoulder, to cover her back. The underside of the leafy shield caught the rapid updraft, and the friction suddenly and painfully jerked her upward, slowing her descent considerably. With little effort, she was able to jump to the ground safely...

...Right into a hoard of subterranean Grimm. In an unfairly short period of time, three were on her, leaping forward with claws extended. She muttered a curse, realizing her semblance would be of no use in this dark, unlit cavern. Looks like she would have to do this the hard way. Her shield slid open again, and she rolled her jacket sleeve up to reveal her green gauntlet.

She lifted the shield to suddenly cover her face, feeling her feet dig into the ground upon the impact of the Grimms' collective attacking force. One alone would be fine, but together, they were definitely stronger than her, especially without a semblance. Kicking one back, she elbowed another with her spiked gauntlet, smiling as she felt the thorns dig into its leg. The paralysis would be enough to leave it lamed for her to escape. She sprinted off deeper into the cavern, the other two Grimm chasing after her. The light progressively grew dimmer, until finally she and her assailants were running blind. Amaranth prayed she didn't run into anything, because slamming into a stone wall at this speed would be the end of her. Especially with two Grimm in pursuit.

Her arm clipped a wall as she felt the passage narrow. Luckily, the shield on that arm dampened much of the damage, and now the Grimm couldn't follow her. Best of all, there was light up ahead. Picking up pace, she ran into a slightly brighter area, where she could make out a figure fighting a group of Grimm alone and muttering to himself. Something about something being so not cool? Amaranth wasn't really listening. He had noticed her sudden presence in the clearing as she commented on it. Then he seemed to realise who it was.

"Amaranth?"

"Rhyence?" This was good. He was a capable student who would be a great help in battle, albeit the opposite in a social situation. Rhyence was saying something she wasn't listening to, so she replied with her automatic sarcasm. He spun around, and their eyes met. A grin journeyed across Amaranth's face, knowing now she had someone to watch her back, and could fight unguarded.

The screech of an airborne Grimm called from above, so Amaranth nodded at Rhyence to cover her. He silently complied, holding back the approaching Grimm as she looked up. Firing three leaf projectiles should be enough to bait the beast, Amaranth predicted. She was correct. It swooped down low, preparing an attack at Amaranth. She turned the tide, leaping up to land atop its back and behead with the sharp, serrated edge of her shield. She and her ride fell to the ground, and a wing of the beast landed on her arm. Desperately, she tugged at it, but it was thoroughly lodged atop her.

By then, another Grimm had noticed her misfortune, and appeared to want to take advantage of it. Crap... She tugged harder, still to no avail. At least she could block its attacks with her shield, but that would only work for so long. It lunged at her, but was halted by a metal whip crossing its path and wrapping around the wing holding Amaranth hostage. A pull, and the wing ripped off, freeing her arm. She looked up to see Rhyence turning away, whip in hand, and she smiled. Guess I really did get lucky.

She slid towards the Grimm as it lurched forward again, placing the barrel of her gauntlet to its forehead and firing. It fell limp in front of her. Spinning around, she leapt over Rhyence's head and pumelled the top of his enemy Grimm's back with her fist, firing several leaves into it as a final nail in the coffin. Rhyence pulled his sword out of its neck, and it too fell over dead. The cavern was now filling with Grimm who were attracted to the sudden commotion. There were dozens, possibly hundreds, and Amaranth felt herself weakened from the fighting. Rhyence fell to one knee beside her, and she realized he had been fighting non-stop longer than she had.

"Wanna end this quickly?" She asked him quietly, watching the approaching Grimm carefully.

"For sure. But how?"

Amaranth hesitated, watching the dust from the ceiling rocks flutter down. "The ceiling to this cavern is unstable, presumably only held up by those two pillars over there." She pointed to the two central towers, within sprinting distance of the pair. "If we pulled them down and ran to the tunnel behind us, we could kill the whole cavern filled with Grimm and survive."

Rhyence stared at her. "You're a reckless bastard."

"You know you wanna do it."

"I do and I hate you for it."

Amaranth burst forward, laughing, and Rhyence took after her. They both vaulted over a Grimm in their way before splitting up. Behind her, Rhyence wrapped his whip around his pillar, and taking advantage of the instable structure, collapsed it inward. Meanwhile, Amaranth shield-bashed hers twice, and felt it start to lean away from her. Spinning, she saw a Grimm charging at her. Rolling out of the way, the tusked Grimm slammed into the pillar, knocking it down. The ceiling above them rumbled, and dust and pebbles began to fall.

Amaranth ran to the tunnel, approaching swiftly as larger rocks began to land around her. Rhyence was already standing in the entrance, beckoning her, but he looked desperately above her. She followed his gaze to see a massive boulder dislodge and slide. It fell, opening a hole for sunlight above. In the brief moment of sunlight, Amaranth's semblance kicked in, and she saw in half a second what Rhyence would do. Lifting her arms, she felt his whip wrap around her, and she was rapidly pulled to safety. Behind her, the cavern completely crumbled, burying the entire hoard of Grimm.

Rhyence and Amaranth sighed heavily, slumping against the wall of the tunnel. They sat in silent contemplation for awhile, before finally Rhyence broke the silence. "That should not have worked."

"But it did." Amaranth looked at him and grinned toothily. "Hey, I've got a question for you."

"What?"

"Can I call you Rhys now?"

"Absolutely not."

"Oh, come on! We collapsed a cavern together! We're partners! I'll let you call me what my friends call me," Amaranth offered.

"And that would be..?"

"Amaranth..." She muttered.

Rhyence grinned triumphantly. "I've got a question for you. Did you feel like you were being watched during the fight?"

Falling.

It was an experience familiar to Valerian. Ever since the fall from his roof that one time, he’d developed a peculiar fascination with the sensation.

A couple of weeks after he’d recovered from the incident, he went jogging. While enjoying the feeling of the wind flying past him, his amusement turned to shock when he suddenly flew past the wind. Picking the gravel out of his scratched, bloody palms and knees, he considered what had just happened and sought to recreate the action. About an hour and numerous injuries later, he dashed home to display his newfound ability.

His parents were displeased with his reckless conduct, but their worry and anger soon gave way to his infectious excitement. Though they maintained their reluctance to see their child hurt himself – as any good father and mother would - they ceded that he could practise mastering his semblance under the condition he only do so under strict supervision. He happily obeyed... at first.

Approximately half a year after the accident, Valerian began to experience harsh mockery for his manifesting heterochromia from the other children in the neighbourhood. When he jumped from their roof the first time, his parents were horrified. They attempted to console him, but the timing was merely coincidental; he’d recently started wondering whether he could use his semblance while airborne. As it turned out, he could.

Artemis Timberwolf quickly realised his son would continue to place himself in harm’s way for the sake of sating his curiosity. However, he also understood severe punishment would prove inefficient in discouraging Valerian’s startling behaviour, so he deemed aura strengthening exercises to be the best solution.

All in all, it was a good call, as Valerian soon took to jumping off taller and taller structures for the sheer exhilaration of it. Despite his parents’ fears, he had no intention of ending his life and closely monitored his limitations. There was no point in enjoying the dive if the landing would kill him.

And so, when the hatch opened beneath him, he whooped - what inspired gripping fear in others gave rise to childlike joy in him. He repositioned his body so that his head pointed downward. Undaunted by the darkness that enveloped him and obscured the ground below, he knew a few seconds of delight before unsheathing Panacea.

His dial’s default position was with Burn Dust selected, so Valerian simply pushed the button in its centre and swung his sword in an arc before him. He channelled his aura through the blade, willing the fire it sent forth to reach far and illuminate the area beneath him. He caught a glimpse of a building with a flat roof, noted its present distance, and corrected his course.

Valerian turned rightside-up again and sheathed his weapon once he estimated he was above the building. He slowed his descent with several upward gusts, as he had done many times before, and braced for impact. Yet he failed to take into account that his current target, unlike the roofs on which he’d landed in the past, had been weakened by time and neglect. What should have been a solid landing made by a skilled free-faller was instead a rash boy’s crash through an ancient structure.

Half-crouching, half-kneeling in the rubble, Valerian drew Panacea and summoned flames across its blade again. At least he’d had the presence of mind to sheathe it before smashing through the roof; it would have been humiliating to scratch through the mess he had made to find his beloved weapon. Lifting the sword high, he surveyed the debris. Unfortunately, he couldn’t classify the rest of his actions as “made in good judgement”.

He rose and dusted off his clothes. He’d simply have to cast his thoughtless adventuring aside and leave it in the past. Now was the time to act like a Huntsman. His first order of business was finding a partner... right after he’d exited the ruin.

The doorway had collapsed long ago, meaning the only way out was through or up. Although breaking through the walls would be easy, his conscience already nagged at him for his wanton destruction – he didn’t need to add to that. Besides, he’d have plenty of opportunities for wrecking stuff (hopefully Grimm) later. Up, then.

Summoning a gust of wind to add to his momentum, Valerian leapt neatly through the hole and landed in the avenue outside. A more controlled, skilful action than his dive, he noted with pleasure.

Scanning both ends of the avenue revealed nothing of consequence, so he straightened. Before the hatches had closed behind him and the other students, he’d noted two colossal pillars in the centre of the cavern and what appeared to be a tunnel some distance away from them. He picked the direction that seemed most likely to lead towards the pillars and set off.

Sounds of battle echoed in the distance, but the subterranean cavern distorted the sound, making pinpointing its source impossible. A pity, but then, the other students would likely be affronted if he assisted in slaying any Grimm they faced. “Loner” immediately came to mind.

It would obviously not be the case, but it’d have been nice had the boy’s name actually been Loner. V wasn’t a very common letter, so Valerian had long ago considered possible team names. SLVR was the first one that came to mind, and “Loner” would have fitted perfectly, but he’d yet to meet anyone named something that started with S. As for the R, well, there were both Rioghail and Rhyence. Both would make for intriguing teammates, even if they possessed vastly different temperaments. He shrugged; anyone could make for a loyal friend if you put enough effort into earning their trust.

Valerian swept his sword over the shadows beside the cobblestone road, but no Grimm lunged at him from the shadows. Even so, violence still rang in the air all around him. Was he too cheerful for their taste? Positivity had never seemed as great a double-edged sword as then.

Sighing, he pressed on. LVDR was another possibility, and it would include Diamond among his teammates too, but the only person he’d met whose name started with an L was Light, the brute with the club. He too might be worth befriending, but rudeness often hid more tender qualities, while boorishness hid, well, a dim intellect. Hmm.

What were his options so far? V, D, R, another R, M, A, and B. Team BVRR? He chuckled at the thought of Bleu leading a team; “Beaver” would be a suitably comical name. And if Rhyence and Bleu happened to be partners, well, that would be highly amusing. Valerian suspected he and Rio would work well together. Then again, she and Bleu would also make for an amusing pair, and though Rhyence would be unhappy no matter with whom he was paired, at least Valerian understood that never-ending enthusiasm irritated many. If Rhyence and Rio were paired instead, he’d probably be equally displeased as with the alternatives.

His contentment at having found a potential team name was interrupted by the sound of a building taking fire and collapsing in on itself. He spun around, and sure enough, a silhouette appeared to be fighting off three Beowolves. She - for Valerian glimpsed a ponytail spinning through the air - struck him as more than capable of defending herself. Tilting his head at her thoughtfully, he jumped onto a nearby building and extinguished Panacea’s flame.

Her skirmish barely lasted for more than ten seconds before relative silence resumed its hold on their immediate vicinity. Nothing happened for a while, yet Valerian continued to study the road for her presence. Sure enough, the girl soon summoned light from her palm and approached cautiously, sweeping her rifle across the road yet unaware that he observed from above. So she had been following him. Interesting.

He waited motionlessly for the dim glow to come close enough for her features and attire to become distinguishable: sable hair, gilded armour, burgundy skirt. What a stroke of fortune!

“Hello there, Miss Schnee!”

Diamond started and took aim at him, but quickly lowered her weapon when the familiar words registered. “Valerian?”

Grinning, he jumped down into her circle of light. “At your service!” he exclaimed, winking once their eyes met. “You fight well, by the way.”

She gazed at him wearily, clearly evaluating the prospect of partnering with him for the rest of their time at Beacon. “Thank you.”

Choosing to ignore her reservation, he complained, “It seems like everyone except me has encountered Grimm down here. Is it too much to ask for a Boarbatusk to come rolling down the road and attempt to steamroll me?”

A rumble that shook the floor and sent them both staggering took hold of the cavern. “If you seek action, I suggest confronting whatever caused that,” she responded, stumbling against him when a second tremor followed.

He grabbed her arm to keep her from falling over. “Sorry,” he said, letting go just as quickly. He looked up to the cavern’s ceiling, where sunlight filtered down. Uncommon fear gripped his stomach when he noticed neither of the massive columns were standing anymore. “I suddenly feel like Grimm are the least of our concerns...”

Boulders slid into the gap and plunged the cavern into darkness once more. The pair looked at each other and nodded gravely before sprinting towards the previously sighted tunnel. “How had the cavern not collapsed before the ancient civilisation that resided here had built those pillars?” Diamond asked, awed.

“I think we’re in the larger of two caverns,” Valerian replied, leaping over a boulder that crashed in front of them. He looked back and noted with disappointment how it had crushed a Death Stalker they’d have been forced to battle otherwise. “I saw a tunnel earlier that likely leads to another, smaller one, which I bet is also the exit and where we’ll find the relics Professor Ozpin mentioned.” The top part of one of the columns blocked the way forward, so they dashed down a series of side-alleys and detoured around it. “If this cavern was excavated and enlarged, that would explain the need to support its ceiling.”

A nearby shout for help and a more continuous rain of rocks and boulders urged them to quicken their pace. Diamond shook her head, determination lining her features. “We’re not the only ones in danger down here, and it seems the Grimm are relishing the panic.” Softly, she added, “Some of us might not make it out alive.”

Valerian regarded her with a sideways glance. “We’ll do what we can to save anyone we meet along the way.” He looked up, jumped once against both sides of the wall, and launched himself into the air with a gust. He selected Gravity Dust with Panacea’s dial, pressed the button, and swiped at the boulder that aimed to obstruct their path, smashing it before landing beside his stationary partner. Debris fell harmlessly upon the buildings flanking the alley. Taking off again, he gestured with a shake of his head at the road visible just outside their bubble of radiance. “We can start with whoever’s around that corner.”

They skidded to a stop onto the broader space offered by the road. Writhing coils of white and black barred their way. Beyond them, two figures struggled to keep the twin heads of the King Taijitu at bay.

“You wanted a battle with a Grimm,” Diamond commented, punching through her rifle and gripping a shotgun in its place, “well, here you are.”

Diamond spun around, gripping Splinter and summoning several glyphs through the air and launching herself from one to another while she lobbed icicles at the King Taijitu's black body. "Loner" stuck a blade into its eye and used its thrashing body to swing himself around the creature, flinging miniature blades at the other head while both Rioghail and Valerian busied the beast's dual gazes on the ground. She landed upside down, her feet cemented upon her signature Gravity glyph.

Rioghail jumped in front of Valerian as he blocked a quick lunge from one head and she struck with both of her short swords. Diamond, still upside down, flicked through the Dust cartridges to land on yellow. She aimed at the white head and fired. The enormous snake reared its heads from the shock of her bullets and lunged for Diamond.

She dropped from the glyph barely in time to avoid the beast and rolled to the side. She looked to Valerian. "We need to change our tactics here. This is barely affecting the Grimm."

He nodded and shouted to Rioghail to cover his back as he stepped back. Rioghail and Loner pushed the beast away, Night drove his second blade into the Grimm's back, swinging himself to the other side of it and forcing its attention away from Diamond and Valerian.

Valerian furrowed his eyebrows at the Grimm. "This is like fighting two beasts at once."

Diamond huffed out a breath. "Agreed. What we're doing right now is not affecting this Grimm."

He thought for a moment. "I may have an idea. Do you have Freeze Dust?"

"Well, yes, I carry all Dust types manufactured by the Schnee company."

He grinned. "Good. Let's make sure the others have it as well."

Diamond tossed him a curious glance. "What exactly are you planning?"

"You'll see!" He was already charging the Grimm again.



Loner backed himself into a corner between buildings, multiple blades in hands with Burn Dust speckled on the ends on them. He glanced up in the higher towers of the two buildings, where Rioghail, Valerian, and Diamond waited. The snake Grimm lowered its two heads, the black one with smoke as dark as night spilling out of the socket where one eye used to be. The snake slithered closer to him, and he nodded.

Diamond summoned three glyphs underneath them.

Valerian shouted, "Everyone know the plan?"

Diamond nodded. Rioghail shrugged. "Wanna run it by me again?"

"Rio--"

"Kidding, kidding. Hit it!"

Diamond burst all three glyphs and they launched down to the Grimm on its half-blinded dark side. Diamond stopped short on a glyph, shooting the white head as Valerian and Rioghail drove their swords into the right one. Loner threw both of his long daggers, one at a time, into the white's eyes. The Dust on all of their weapons ignited with the Grimm's flesh and ice sprouted along its skin, eating and devouring everything in its path.

The Grimm's heads drooped from the added weight and Valerian shouted, "Loner, now!"

Loner nodded grimly in acknowledgement and thrusted multiple daggers into both of the heads. Burn Dust sparked against the flesh and Freeze Dust, and Diamond summoned glyphs alongside the building to his left. He jumped and ran up the side of the building, the glyphs granting him momentum, speed, and height, until he dropped and recalled the cords attached to the miniature daggers. In a split second, both heads were sliced off.

The already unstable cavern shook as the Grimm fell, its large body slamming onto the dimly lit ground before disappearing completely. Rioghail clasped her sword and shield-turned-sword together and greeted Valerian and Diamond with a warm wave, illuminated by the small fire on her weapon.

Valerian and Rioghail greeted each other with a warm grasp of their hands, a signal common in places besides Atlas. Diamond curtsied to the woman fondly, letting the low bow linger for a moment. Valerian gestured to the "Loner" person, who was inspecting the Grimm's remains with a newly-created torch a moderate distance away. "Is he your--"

"Partner? Yeah, unfortunately." Rioghail stretched, popping her back. "Boy, these fights are fun and everything, but they take a toll on my back." She pointed to Diamond and Valerian. "So, you two are partners, then?"

"Yes, fortune must have stolen from you to strike us so well," Valerian smiled. "I can't think of another person more well-suited as a partner than a Schnee. Their fighting is remarkable, and Diamond here even puts that reputation to shame!"

Diamond nodded to that tightly, not sure what else to do on such a compliment.

Rioghail shrugged. "Fortune has a way of doing things and screwing over some people. Then again, I don't think 'Loner' will be that much of a problem. He's a competent fighter at least."

"Is he really that much of a loner?" Valerian lowered his voice.

"I mean, he did try to leave me after I was injured," Rioghail muttered, gesturing to her leg. Up until that point, Diamond didn't realize she was keeping weight off of one leg and slightly limping.

" 'Loner' did what--"

"Oh, for Grimm's sake, my name is Night. Will you three stop talking about me behind my back like I'm some sort of rabid animal?" He sauntered over. "I don't like this anymore than you do, obviously. But, the fact is, we're partners and we have a mission to do. So if you want to quit gossiping, let's just get this done and over with so we can go our separate ways as soon as possible."

He stalked away, his silhouette diminishing into flickering darkness under his torch. Rioghail glanced at the duo. "Well, I don't agree with the way he says things, but he's right. We need to find those relics, and," she sighed, "while this has been fun, my leg is messing with me so I'd rather not fight if I can help it too much."

So the three followed Night along, not keeping too close to him. That wasn't really a possibility anyway, as he kept a brisk walk to keep them just behind him. If he ever got too far, he would stop to inspect something or lower his torch to scan the horizon. Some part of Diamond thought he didn't want to leave them behind as much as they didn't. Rioghail kept her pace with both Diamond and Valerian, only slightly limping. Diamond inwardly wondered what exactly happened to her to cause that injury through her aura. Perhaps it wasn't quite strong or perhaps it was battered to the point of not being able to block such an injury.

Or perhaps she couldn't quite fully protect herself from the fall. Diamond looked up into the complete blackness above them. She wasn't clear how long that fall was, but it was clearly dangerous to those without the natural advantages someone like Diamond had. Her Semblance offered her quite a distinct landing strategy, but if someone didn't have a Semblance that so freely aided them... Diamond shuddered at the thought.

Perhaps someone really could die down here.

Rioghail nudged Diamond. "Night stopped."

"He has stopped before, has he not?" Diamond asked.

"Yeah, but he dropped the torch." She pointed in front of them, and Diamond transformed Splinter into its rifle position and peered down its scope as Valerian quickened his pace. The torch was flickering out, but it outlined Night fairly well. He stooped low to the ground, and he seemed to have his blades out.

Valerian slowed as he reached him, and pulled out his own sword. Diamond breathed out a small breath. "They're in trouble."

"Then let's get in there!" Rioghail started to pull out her sword, but Diamond held her back.

"We wait. I think that is the best option here. Whatever is attacking Night has already been surprised by one ally, so it will be on edge. If we wait, we can assess the situation more and possibly provide some kind of tactical advantage. Do you understand, Rioghail?"

She nodded. "Yeah, let's find some cover. Oh, and Diamond?"

"Yes?"

"Just call me Rio."

Five Years Ago - Location Classified (Not Atlas)

The sound of the door slamming startled Claret awake and she rolled towards the noise, reaching for a weapon that wasn’t there as she pushed up onto one elbow. She wasn’t surprised to find Azure leaning over something on the table. “Azure?”

"Who did you expect?" Azure asked in that cold, calm voice she always had.

Claret shrugged, finding that she didn’t care if the other woman could see her or not. “Irrelevant,” she muttered and eased herself back down onto the bed. Thoughtfully, she fingered the bandages wrapped around her ribs. She wanted her weapon back, even if it was broken. “You don’t happen to know where my weapon is or what happened to it, do you?”

"It was left behind in the attack. I didn't care enough to grab that useless stick. Besides, we're too far away from Atlas to bother with it." Azure shrugged, continuing on a wood carving that now occupied the table instead of the usual medical equipment for Claret's wounds. "You'll make yourself a new one."

“I could have reused the materials.” She rubbed a hand over her face and sighed shakily. “Did you at least grab the Dust?”

"I grabbed what I needed." Azure set the wood sculpture down. "How's the wound?"

Claret glanced at where her hand rested, fingers digging into the bandages. “Hot,” she muttered, swiping a hand over her face. “Itchy...” She pulled her hand away and frowned at the growing, oddly-coloured stain. Claret stared at it for a moment. ”Something‘s wrong—“

"For once, that's something we can agree on. Your aura should have replenished itself a few days ago. It's dimmed."

Claret brushed against the stain, and it shot pain through her side. "No, not my aura, I think the wound's infected."

"It's possible the Grimm that inflicted that wound could also have infected it."

Claret glared at the woman. "Couldn't you just heal it again and remove the infection?"

Azure met that stare with a bored look. "My healing isn't perfect. I have yet to master that power completely."

Claret looked dumbfounded. "I was kind of expecting just a flat out 'no' from you there."

"No, then."

“So helpful,” she muttered with a roll of her eyes. “Still injured over here, by the way. Can’t you do anything about the infection?”

"Unfortunately, no. Time will be your cure here, not me." She hesitated. "Actually, I lie. I could help you, but with the risk of killing you. I am not a gambling person." She resumed carving the wood piece, which started having a numb resembling a leg of sorts.

“Oh, now you see me as a person.”

"What makes you a person?"

Claret stared at the back of Azure’s head. What the hell was that supposed to mean? And just what kind of question was that anyway? She tore her gaze off the other woman and fixed it on a point across the room. “You should know the answer by now. I’ve been here long enough.“

"You misunderstand me." Azure held up the rough wood sculpture. The movement drew her gaze back to the other woman. "If I crafted this into a person and forged an aura around it. would it be a person?" She held out a hand before Claret could speak again. "Let me phrase that differently. What if I forged a robot that could move and walk and talk like a human, and forged an aura around it? Would that be a human? Or, what if I tamed an Ursa and forced an aura onto it. Would it, then, have humanity?"

She looked away again. “I don’t know how to answer that.”

Azure settled back down to carving the wood sculpture.

"I think you do, you just refuse to."

Claret proceeded to ignore her, staring intently at a tiny stain on the far wall. Azure was right, of course. She knew the answer, but she didn’t want to say it. Claret scowled and rolled to put her back to the other woman. In the process, she managed to dig something hard into her injury and sucked in a sharp breath. Claret dug around for whatever the thing was and pulled out her scroll. She twisted to spare Azure a confused look and then returned her gaze to the small device in her hand. The screen was cracked, but still lit up when she tapped it. A message appeared to be frozen there, splintered into several fractured pieces of text. It took her a few minutes to put it into something understandable.

She sat up abruptly, wincing. “I have to go—“

"Sit. Down." Azure's voice had gone deadly silent.

Claret froze, fingers tightening on the scroll in her hand. She pressed her lips together tightly, forcing down all the harsh words she wanted to say. When she felt calmer, Claret took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You’re not even going to ask me why first?”

"You need to heal. Which takes time and rest, which you will get neither if you leave to Atlas. Whatever is on that scroll can wait, and if it cannot, then you are already too late."

“My brother was badly injured,” she began and then sighed, closing her eyes. “But you’re right.“ Blindly, she tossed the scroll in Azure’s general direction. “I’m in no shape to be going anywhere.“

"You're right. Well, I'm right, but yes, you're right." Azure stood up. "Which is why I'll be going."

Internally, she panicked, eyes flying open. “No!” she said quickly—too quickly. “I mean... I’m sure he’ll be fine. You don’t have to check on him, Azure...”

"My mind is made, Claret. Besides, I have a certain staff to collect for parts." Azure reached for the door but stopped short. "It's obvious I should not contact Mauve. So, I will not interfere with his destiny. I expect you to be healed and ready for our first mission when I come back." And she left.

Amaranth lead the way through what was left of the cavern they resided in, her gauntlet open and revealing a light from Burn Dust, the edges slowly spinning to continue dispensing the Dust. She raised the shield above her head as they walked.

"So," Amaranth offered as she jumped over a large piece of concrete.

"So?" Rhyence asked.

"Is that it?"

"Is that it for you? You're the one who started this thing." Rhyence stubbed his toe on a jutted piece of road. Try as he might, his night vision only did so well in a place with no light.

"I was kind of hoping you'd add a bit to that..."

Rhyence scoffed. "I don't do small talk."

"Yeah, I caught that." Amaranth lowered her shield, nearly extinguishing the flame. "My arm's getting tired." She closed the shield and the light went out, dousing them in darkness again. "We don't even know where we're going at this point."

"We didn't know where we were going at any point."

"You know what I mean." She scrambled on top of a rock. "Our best bet is to get somewhere high. These buildings won't do, since even stepping in them is dangerous."

Rhyence's eyes caught something in the distance. His ears flinched, and he swore he could hear something... similar.

Amaranth shot light from her gun and it lingered on a rock a few feet from her. "Maybe we could climb one of the natural juttings around here. We need a vantage point."

"Maybe." Rhyence glanced up at Amarath where she stood on the rock.

Amaranth hopped to another, higher stone. "I don't see another choice here, if we wanna get out of here before we graduate."

Rhyence stopped paying attention to her. Like it or not, they were going to be on the same team together. But, that didn't stop him from ignoring her whenever he had the chance. He moved forward gradually, not letting the faint flicker of light leave the corner of his vision.

The tunnel was starting to get narrow, and Rhyence could see a faint light up ahead. He glanced towards Amaranth. "Do you see that?"

"See what?"

Rhyence sighed and shook his head. "The light up ahead?"

She squinted. "Nope." Shrugging, she added, "maybe you're hallucinating. Who knows what is in the air down here."

Rhyence glared at him. "Really?"

She shrugged again. "I don't know, man."

"Look, I know that humans have worse eyesight than Faunus, but surely you have to see that. It looks like it's coming closer." Rhyence gestured to the dull light at the other end of the tunnel they'd been traversing for several minutes how. How could she not see it? "Come on. It's right there."

"I was totally messing with you, of course I see it." Amaranth patted Rhyence on the back, in which he returned with a growl. "Ah, come on Rhys, you don't have problems with taking jokes, right? Right, Let's go see what it is!" She fired several shots into the air like flares and let them light her way as she jogged on. Rhyence glared at her, a mixture of annoyance and shock on his face. Finally, he jerked back into reality.

"At least I have a partner with a sense of humor," Rhyence muttered under his breath, and rushed to catch up with Amaranth. The light grew larger, and Rhyence could start to make out movement, like it was bobbing. Or maybe he was bobbing, but whatever it was, it didn't seem to be the actual outside.

The intense white of it gave way to light blue, then darker blue, then...

"Bleu?" Amaranth slowed to a stop. "How did you get such a light? Where have you been, and did you get a partner?" She shouted across the still sizeable gap between them and the mysterious light source.

"Oh, hey Amaranth! Yeah, Midori's right behind me! Hey Midori, we found Amaranth."

Rhyence heard something that sounded fairly feminine. Bleu responded with... something still indistinguishable. Then his silhouette turned back to face them. "Do you have a partner, Amaranth? Also, do you know the way out? We've been walking forever and haven't found anything."

Rhyence jumped on top of a large boulder, revealing himself. He could see Bleu's arm waving. "Hey, Rhys!"

...Someone's gonna get hit before the day ends. Rhyence thought stubbornly as he marched closer to the light. "Is that the relic?" he asked as he got close enough to not have to shout at the other two.

Midori appeared behind Bleu. The light certainly was strong. "We believe so. It certainly seems to be the only thing we've found that isn't rubble or Grimm."

As he moved closer, the light source hardened into what appeared to be a gem of some sort.

Midori coughed. "Well, it's nice to see you two again. Has your time been as uneventful as ours?"

Amaranth, finally caught up with them, clasped Rhyence on the back. "You could say that. You said you were looking for the way out." She pointed behind her. "You're not gonna find it that way. The path is closed."

"Closed?" Bleu asked.

"Buried." Rhyence offered. "And even if you could get past the cave in, there were tons of Grimm back there. I doubt we killed them all."

Midori shrugged. "So that way's a no-go, then. I don't have enough arrows to fight off another handful of Grimm, let alone an entire cavern's worth." She smiled at the other two. "We were the first to find the relics, so we've been using it as a sort of base of operations. We go out in different directions and I leave trail markers. A broken stick, a scratch on a rock, things like that, and if we reach a dead end --like here-- we retrace our steps back and start in a new direction."

"So no luck, I guess," Rhyence said, frowning at the other two.

"This was the second most likely option, to be honest. The first was a rail system but we ended up reaching a cave in. If this isn't the way out, then I think our best bet is to see what's beyond the cave-in."

"Well, we'll help you look, then!" Amaranth nodded. "We're both going to the same place, so after we get our relic, we'll see what's further into that railroad."

"Probably more cave." Rhyence muttered. "But whatever, let's get the hell out of here."

They climbed a crumbled wall section of an old house. It seemed like they were eventually reaching smaller, more residential buildings. Rioghail --Rio now-- lit her sword with a small flame that faintly illuminated them both. Diamond climbed in between to broken rocks and settled herself into a fairly comfortable sniper position. She kept her gun on Night and Valerian, letting her finger relax as she inspected them from her scope.

Rio clambered around a crumpled window, wincing as the aged glass rubbed against her clothing. "Who lived in these buildings?"

Diamond said nothing as she strained to see what was just outside of the small light Night and Valerian had.

"There's nothing here but the skeletons of these buildings. No furniture, no belongings, it's like a ghost city." She gingerly picked up a piece of faded and dirty glass. "Just.. nothing."

Diamond hesitated before she lowered her rifle. "You raise a good point, Rio. Another one is why these buildings are so close to the Academy." She raised her rifle again, and zoomed in on the two again. "Oh."

"What? Oh? Is that a good 'Oh' or a bad 'Oh'?" Rio peered up. "I can't see a thing."

"Perhaps you should have a scoped gun with your assortment of swords." Diamond muttered absentmindedly.

Rio glanced at her in shock. "Diamond Schnee.. was that sarcasm from you?" She let out a fake gasp. "I have to say, I'm shocked and surprised and, well, a little impressed."

Diamond let a small smile twitch her lips up. "Do you remember the duo we fought in the armory?"

"Oh yeah, the thug hammer bros. Well, one had a club, but that's besides the point. Why?"

"One of them is down there with Night and Valerian, along with another large, 'thug'-like man."

"Is it is the brother with the club or the brother with the hammer?" Rio peaked over Diamond's shoulder, trying to look down her scope. Diamond looked up at her and she coughed. "Sorry. Just curious."

"It seems to be the one with a hammer. Both of them have hammers, actually."

"Hammers. I can deal with hammers. Hammers are cool." Rio tested her leg. "Feels better now. Now do we go?"

"Not yet. Listen, can you hear anything?"

Rio started to speak, then stopped. Diamond rested her rifle on the rocks in front of her and closed her eyes, straining to catch any bit of conversation. Please, Valerian. Let us know what's going on.

Sure enough, it was Valerian she could hear first.

"--No, we aren't your brother. We are just trying to get to the relics."

Something indiscernible replied to him.

"What?"

Diamond couldn't hear the reply. She glanced down through her scope. It was the brother who was speaking.

Valerian replied. "You're gonna have to speak up," he tapped Night on his back at that, something the other two couldn't see; Diamond understood what he was trying to do, "I have trouble hearing a lot, especially in this lack of light."

Night's mouth moved, but Diamond still couldn't hear him. The other man spoke, "...Do you know where the relics are?"

The brother punched him. "We're looking for my brother, not the relics, Barrel. Just because you and I are partners doesn't mean jack shit."

The other man muttered something.

"Hey, aren't you the dude that ran into me at the armory yesterday?"

"Hey, aren't you the dude that got his ass kicked at the armory yesterday?" Night shouted.

"Oh no," Rio muttered and Diamond could see her muscles tense. "Situation getting worse. Time to intervene now?"

"No, not yet. Valerian has caught on to what we're doing. When he thinks the situation has gotten out of their control, he will give us a sign."

"Are you sure?"

Diamond debated that. "Most likely."

"Hey, screw you dude!" the hammer brother lifted up his weapon threateningly. "You had help that time. Now the odds are even."

"I could have taken you by myself. The help wasn't needed or wanted."

"You could have taken a hammer to your face! Don't think I didn't see how little miss Dust Company helped you out."

"Look, we're just on our way out of here. There are Grimm all around this place. Save your fight for later." Valerian shouted as he held a hand in front of Night. "We fight now and the Grimm will kill us all."

"I can take you, your puny, emo friend, and all Grimm that have the displeasure of crossing my path."

Night bared his teeth and pushed Valerian's hand aside. "You must be a delusional gangster."

"How about now?" Rio whispered.

"No, not yet. We wa--"

The rocks underneath them shook and crumbled around them. Rio gasped and she and her light fell. Diamond summoned a sigil beneath herself. The respite was short-lived, however. She tripped underneath the sudden change and failed to grasp anything. She collided with the floor below, pushing all of the air from her lungs.

She rose to one knee, gasping in air. She could see nothing, hear nothing. Finally, she remembered where she was before. "Rio?" She shouted, but it came out as barely a whisper. "Rio? Rioghail!" She managed to say louder.

A groan met her. "How about now?" Rio muttered from not too far away from her. Light filled the building again as Rio found her weapon.

"We need to find the others." Diamond scrabbled to her feet and picked her rifle back up, which luckily didn't fall far from her. They found their answer from shouting outside. Diamond followed Rio as they found an exit through the rocks.

"Diamond!" Valerian greeted her as he ran up to the two. "We thought something happened to you two when the building collapsed." Night had his torch back in his hands.

"We're fine. Where'd the hammer bros. go?" Rio said.

"The brother left the moment something actually happened, that coward. His partner had nothing to do but follow him." Night gestured to their former hiding spot. "What happened there?"

"I'm not sure--"

The floor under them quaked and the building sighed and heaved, further falling apart. A roar split the air, its shrill thundering in Diamond's ears.

"That's our cue to leave!" Rio shouted.

Something large rose from the remains of the building. It kept growing and growing. Diamond paled. "I'd say you're right," Valerian muttered.

Diamond summoned glyphs underneath them all. "Get prepared to break your fall."

"Oh, not again." Rio sighed but could say nothing more as the white sigils turned black and launched them into the blackness. Diamond jumped upon glyph after glyph, firing Dust-filled shots at the behemoth. It roared and trilled, and could see massive red eyes three stories high. She punched through her rifle and launched herself after her friends.

Five Years Ago - Atlas

A large figure strode down the streets of lower Atlas, the narrow avenues dirty with litter and a thin layer of snow. Despite the black cloak concealing his clothing and features, his towering frame made it impossible to travel inconspicuously.

Ignoring the curious looks he received as he passed – to the onlookers, he must have seemed like a dark leviathan making its way through a shallow sea – he simply kept his head down and persisted in his chosen direction. He turned down a particularly cramped alley and cursed as he tripped over a stray crate. He shoved past someone stacking cardboard boxes, ignoring the man’s muffled protest and pushing open the steel door to his right.

He paused and blinked, allowing his eyes to adjust to the dimness of the club’s interior; it was late morning, so no rowdy vagrants occupied the dance floor. He grimaced in distaste and shut the door to the establishment’s side entrance. Those seeking to purchase powder would ascend the stairs and make for the private booths overlooking most of the floor, but the figure had no such vulgar desires. He instead headed for the back.

When two guards barred the way to the corridor behind the DJ’s stage, he simply threw off his cloak, revealing his white and scarlet armour and the white mace hanging from his belt. If the display of might hadn’t been enough to cow them, his hardened crimson gaze was more than enough to make them flatten themselves against the walls. He carried his cloak over his arm and moved past them with a grunt.

Upon reaching the door at the end of the corridor, he unceremoniously flung it open and stepped through, allowing it to bounce against the wall and slam shut behind him.

The woman seated at the desk hugging the far wall of the office started and quickly rose to her feet. “Reese!” she exclaimed. “Where have you been?” She asked the question with a quaver of uncertainty in her voice, distinctly aware of the man’s stormy mood.

Reese approached the desk and heavily sat down in the chair opposite the woman’s. Leaning against its back, he looked up at her and muttered loudly, “You gave me a bad job, Savannah.”

She darted over to the cabinet in the corner to her right and pulled two glasses and a flask from it. “Why do you say that?” she asked, her voice strained to be calm. She poured each of them a glass of whisky before reclaiming her seat. “Did something happen?”

Glaring at her, Reese took a swig from his glass and replied, “That idiot Jasper couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He had to go on about he had ‘hired the best Huntsman in the market’. I’ve never claimed to be that and don’t intend on doing so anytime soon.”

Savannah nodded, markedly less worried than a moment before. In the tone of an experienced businesswoman, she countered, “Elias will indeed be unhappy to hear that, but I can’t be held responsible for the things a client says.”

Glowering, Reese continued, “That’s not the end of it; my mark caught wind of Jasper’s boasting and fled to Mantle. He had a surprising number of contacts there, so it took me the better part of a month to track him down.”

Taking a leisurely sip of her drink, Savannah responded, “The job certainly took much longer than anticipated, but I still don’t see the cause of your complaint with me.”

“The arrangement was that I receive both halves of the payment in cash.”

“Oh.” She frowned. “Then how did he pay you?”

“When I showed up at his doorstep, he was greatly pleased to hear of his rival’s demise, but tried to sell me some half-baked story about our business being concluded. I thought I’d have to coerce him into cooperating, maybe regale him with the details of the death he’d ordered, but a tiny shove that sent him flying across his vestibule was enough to get him to start spewing forth some panicked dribble about not having the money to pay me. And that, Savannah, is something for which I do hold you responsible.”

“But his carpet trade is flourishing!” she protested. “He should be sleeping in lien!”

Reese slammed his fist on the desk, causing the glasses to bounce. “He’d scraped together the last of his pennies to make my advance! The man’s as broke as a powder addict!”

Uncertainty returned to Savannah’s countenance. Supplying reliable clients was as important to her financial wellbeing as it was to that of those who came to her for jobs. In their world, even one unsatisfied contractor could invite ruin – and Reese had a larger reputation than most Huntsmen, which both of them knew very well.

“Did he offer any form of compensation at all?” she asked cautiously, clearly dreading the answer.

Reese scowled and unfastened a pouch hanging from his belt, which he then dropped onto the desk. It jingled as it landed. “Only the trinkets and baubles he hadn’t sold off already. They won’t amount to much.”

Savannah untied the string keeping the pouch closed and peered inside. She pushed the contents around with her index finger, searching for anything noteworthy. Spotting something, she pulled an engraved silver ring from it and inspected it under the light of the ceiling lamp hanging above her desk. The set ruby sparkled. “This one should be worth at least a bit,” she commented, holding it up and turning it around with her fingers.

“I had to pry that off his grubby little hand, the bastard,” Reese remarked.

Placing the ring next to her glass, Savannah asked, “Anything else?”

In response, Reese reached into one of his cloak’s inner pockets and produced a small item wrapped in brown cloth. He placed it beside the pouch and said, “The snivelling coward only wanted to see it as proof and wanted nothing to do with it afterwards.”

Savannah gingerly folded the cloth open and grimaced at the uncovered medallion. “You didn’t even wipe the blood off.”

Reese shrugged. “It was for emphasis.”

“And what am I supposed to do with it?” she asked, disgusted.

“Clean it and fence it, I’d imagine. It’s some manner of heirloom. Maybe you can find a collector who’d be interested.”

Savannah wrinkled her nose and folded the cloth back over the medallion. “I highly doubt it. It’s probably not even real gold.”

Sighing impatiently, Reese said, “Look, I don’t care what you do with any of this. I’m three weeks late on settling my debt with Safir Mavisi because of my escapade to Mantle, and now I don’t even have the money to pay him. He’s bound to be livid, so unless you want his minions to come looking for me here, I suggest you buy this junk from me right now. I’ll take whatever you have to offer and we’ll call it quits.”

Silence reigned. They regarded each other warily, testing the other’s resolve, before she nodded and collected a strongbox from one of her desk drawers. She unlocked it and turned it so that Reese could view the contents. “It’s my petty cash. It should have enough to cover the remainder of your debt.”

Reese reached over and scooped out all of the bundles. After counting the money and performing a quick mental calculation, he placed a few bundles back inside. “This will do.”

Savannah let the displeasure of her loss show on her face, but made no comment and locked it. “If you’re desperate,” she said, stowing the strongbox back inside her drawer, “I have a job that only reached my ears this morning.”

“What does it entail?” Reese asked, rising and donning his cloak.

“I haven’t the faintest idea. For the past couple of days, a young woman’s been asking around for anyone willing to do something for her, but she’s tight-lipped about the specifics.”

“A couple of days?” He paused in stuffing the money into his pockets to look up at Savannah. “I thought you said you only heard about her this morning.”

She tucked a tress of golden blonde hair behind her shoulder. “I did. One of my informants reported to me at dawn and mentioned her when I asked after any rumours. Apparently, she has cold, black eyes that set your skin crawling. Nobody wants anything to do with her, and he wouldn’t have mentioned her at all had I not pressed the matter.”

Reese considered it. “No other jobs available?”

“It’s quiet at the moment,” she replied, playing with her glass. “And as it stands, this is already an unvetted job. I’ll only have something more substantial a few days from now, if you’re lucky.”

He exhaled slowly and downed his whisky. “Then arrange a meeting at four at the usual place.” Intending to leave, Reese paused mid-turn and looked at the clock on the wall behind Savannah’s desk. “Actually, make it seven. I suspect I’ll be preoccupied for quite a while.”

The way back to the relics was uneventful and pretty boring and uneventful. Midori and Rhyence scaled ahead -mainly because Rhyence seemed impatient and Midori knew he would get lost without her through his stubbornness to not stay with the group. Honestly, Bleu couldn't think of a single reason for Rhyence not wanting to stay with the team. He spoke this aloud to Amaranth.

"Well," Amaranth reasoned with a smile, "I'm sure he has his reasons. Someone people just aren't used to interacting with people for extended periods of time."

Bleu processed this. "That's true. I would love to get to know him, though. He seems very mysterious." He juggled the relic lightly as the silence persisted once again. Its light casted a dull hue to everything around them, which meant there was some kind of light source inside of it but it felt incredibly light for its size. He tapped the orb and it echoed it with a thick thud.

"I wonder what's in the relics," Bleu mused aloud.

Amaranth peered at the object in his hands. "Dust, probably."

"But, Dust is highly problematic in its raw form."

"Problematic?"

"Like, 'boom!' problematic." Bleu lowered his eye to it. "I wonder if they'll let us keep them."

"You don't strike me as a collector, Bleu."

Bleu glanced back up, almost tripping from his lack of attention on the uneven ground. "Well, this is a memory. Memories are fun to collect if you have troubles remembering them on your own. If I see this one day like fifty years down the road, I'll remember this day, the day I passed initiation and became an official Huntsman-in-training."

"That will be a memory to treasure, most definitely." Amaranth slowed her pace. "Looks like we're close."

Sure enough, Bleu could see Midori and Rhyence in the distance again, and he noticed some details he missed the time they left that way. The short cavern became scarred and notched with faint veins of light coursing through the rocks. Midori waved them over, and she pointed to the left. "The relics are in their, just further up ahead. Bleu and I will scout for another path we can take that looks like an exit while you do. We won't be far."

Amaranth nodded and followed Rhyence into the narrow slit of an opening that led to the relic room. Bleu was incredibly curious about which relic they were going to choose. In hindsight, it now seemed really important about which one they chose. Bleu glanced over to Midori as they walked around the cave. The way they got their relic was by complete happenstance. He wondered if Midori regretted Bleu's decision. He sighed, and opened his mouth to speak when Midori crouched down suddenly. Motioning him to do the same, they sidled up to the wall.

"If we wait here, we'll run into my brother and whoever he partnered with. Whoever they are, they'll have to get used to listening to me." A tall, solidly built man swung a club over his shoulder. He tossed his relic, a deep opal, to his partner, a scrawny man who almost buckled under the force of the big guy's throw.

He spoke up, "What is they already picked up their relic and found a way out of this place? We'd be waiting forever for people who won't show up." The skinny one clasped the glowing orb haphazardly onto his belt.

"No!" The large man barked. He visibly restrained himself. "No. I know what my brother would choose. They're still out there somewhere," he sighed, "so we wait, Teal."

The scrawny one, apparently Teal, plopped down on a rock. "I wonder how long they expected up to be down here. My stomach is starting to protest the amount of work we've done with no food."

"You need more meat on your bones." He opened his mouth to say more, but a large growl erupted all around them.

"What was that?" Bleu whispered. Midori shrugged.

"Didn't know you were that starving," the larger man said, pulling out his weapon."

"Funny, Light, truly," Teal said, withdrawing his own weapon, a thin rod of some sorts.

Another growl shuddered the cavern, this one shrill and chattering.

"Time to find the others," Midori muttered, and they rushed back to the relic room, to find Amaranth and Rhyence sprinting to them. Amaranth had a muffled glow under her jacket. "We need to find an open area. If we stay here, we're doomed."

Midori nodded, her lips pulled tight. They rushed to the rock Midori and Bleu were eavesdropping from just moments before and showed themselves to Light and Teal. They both swerved their attention to the new group, and Bleu noticed Light's jaw tighten as his eyes scanned them. "So we're not going crazy, then."

Amaranth nodded grimly. "We're under attack."

"By what?" Rhyenced growled out.

They were interrupted by screaming and thrashing bodies crashing in from the darkness above.

"Valerian?" Bleu asked incredulously, helping him up.

The other kids groaned as they struggled to their feet, aided by the others.

Valerian checked to make sure everything was all right with his body before answering. "Diamond isn't far behind. Something's following us." He pointed to Bleu's relic. "What's that?"

"We believe it's the relics."

"Why is it getting brighter?"

Bleu glanced down. Sure enough, the relic next to his feet was pulsating, each wave getting brighter and brighter. "That's... not good."

A rumbling growl pierced their conversation and the cavern wall to their side collapsed as a large Grimm charged through it. Spiky needles covered its body, but Bleu could see two piercing red eyes glaring at them.

A shriek of "Watch Out!" convinced them to get out of the way as Diamond crash-landed into the clearing. Another, much larger, Grimm was following her, huge tendrils destroying anything in its way.

Light clasped hands with someone remarkably similar looking to him, and Valerian helped a gasping Diamond up. They readied their weapons for the two beasts.

"Welcome to initiation..." someone said.

Chaaarge! Rìoghail yelled internally. For in her situation right now yelling in actuality would not bring any good. Whether it was by miscalculation or not, Diamond's sigil had sent her rather to the left of the others and she'd lost sight of them. Just in time, though; after she (crash-)landed, a creature that looked like a gigantic black porcupine had come rushing her way. Its red eyes had betrayed it to be a Grimm, but when it came near Rio, it ignored her. Instead, it had run towards where the others must have been. Under these circumstances, Rio had done the only logical thing: she'd jumped onto it and ridden the porcupine.

It was hard to maintain her position and not fall off, without getting stabbed by any of the porcupine's quills with her one hand still holding her sword, but somehow she managed it. Of course, it would be much harder if she gave away her position by yelling. Up 'til now, the Grimm seemed to be blinded to her existence due to what must have been a very distracting brilliant beacon of negative feelings, where the other students-to-be were. But this could easily change at any time, so Rio tried to be careful.

A new obstacle came quickly, though, as the porcupine seemed to have lost all reason -not that Grimm had much to begin with. There was a very obvious wall up ahead and yet the creature was heading right for it!

What...
the...
CRASH!!!

Rìoghail's entire body was shaken and she found herself jerking over the porcupine due to inertia. Next moment, she found herself on the ground and the porcupine's foot pressing her to the ground. It had finally noticed her.

"Watch out!" Rio heard Diamond's voice crying out, but that seemed kind of late. Then, the sounds of something big -possibly what they'd encountered earlier- coming this way made her realise that perhaps Diamond wasn't even talking to her.

That didn't matter, though. If anything, it meant that the others would be too distracted to realise she needed help. She needed to get through this on her own. And she needed to do it fast. The increasing pressure on her was making it hard to breathe and the Grimm's evil eyes gleamed at her, as it prepared to finish the kill. Rio would have none of it.

She'd fallen many times today and with practice she'd learnt one thing: how to crash while still keeping a hold of her weapon. She drove Dragoche deep into the porcupine's foot and quickly pulled it free, rolling away and gasping for breath when the Grimm recoiled.

As she stood up, the dull thuds of someone shooting came over the background noise the other Grimm was causing. A search revealed Amaranth to be close by, sending circular-like projectiles at the porcupine. The angry beast retaliated by sending several of its quills flying at them. Amaranth used her shield to deflect them and Rio herself stopped two quills headed for her chest with Draigoch. However, a third one pierced her leg. The wound stung and the pain was like nothing she'd felt before.

"Argh! This leg was just healing, you bastard!" Rio shouted, as her eyes became teary.

Between her distracting injury and her tear-blurred vision, Rìoghail was not prepared to defend herself against another attack, but in the midst of battle this is exactly what one should be expecting. She heard the quills whooshing through the air, but couldn't locate them in time. They would hit her... if not for a sudden silver gleam. The quills were diverted at the last moment by some thrown knives. Blinking a few times, she recovered her vision somewhat, only to find Night frowning at her scornfully.

"Pathetic! You got yourself injured again", he said as he pressed a button and the knives were retrieved by their attached cords. "Do you expect me to save you every time you do that?"

"No one asked for your help, as some people would say", Rio replied irritated, despite the fact he'd saved her.

Night looked about to say something back, but then Amaranth called, "You two! No time for chit-chat!"

Night responded by immediately turning his back to Rio and starting to throw knives at the porcupine. He and Amaranth also were aiming for the Grimm's head, which wasn't protected by the same quills as the rest of the body, but the porcupine wouldn't let their attacks find their mark. More quills came their way, but Amaranth shielded herself and Night dodged. The next moment, Night vanished.

Where did he go? Is that his semblance? If so, did he turn invisible or did he teleport? Rio wanted to look for Night to see if he'd appeared elsewhere, but then something else distracted her.

"Hey, you ugly badger! Over here!" an unarmed Bleu was flailing his arms around and doing his best to draw the Grimm's attention towards him. Rio didn't know what he was planning, but if he was unarmed, what the heck was he doing?

The porcupine noticed him indeed and Bleu did not look so happy about it. Two quills flew his way and... he didn't defend himself. They pierced right through him.

"I lived a good life! Remember meee!" he said and then dissipated into nothing.

"Ble... u?"

Bleu was dead? She couldn't believe it. Even in the sight of mortal danger, she didn't quite believe Ozpin had been serious when he said they could die. Bleu... Her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a shot and someone's exclaiming, "Bull's eye! Or rather badger's!"

The creature growled in pain as the bullet had indeed injured its eye, but Rio was looking at the person who'd made the shot. It was Bleu... Bleu? Bleu! Just what had taken place moments ago, then? Was that another semblance? She didn't quite understand them, but everyone seemed to have such amazing semblances. As if to confirm that, two knives appeared near the porcupine's face and embedded themselves near its nose. Following his knives, Night himself seemed to materialise out of nowhere where the knives had originated from.

"If you guys keep it still, I can get another shot in!" Bleu proposed, pointing to his rifle.

It sounded like a reasonable plan, but they didn't get to realise it, as the Grimm suddenly made an astonishingly long leap and landed on the other side of the half-collapsed cavern. Following it with her eyes, she finally got to see what was happening to the rest of the initiates and the bigger Grimm, which she now saw had the form of an enormous deadly octopus. A big part of the class turned out to be there, as a good eight students were fighting it: Valerian, Diamond, Midori, Rhyence, the bully brothers, the hammer brother's partner, who she thought was named Baryl or something, and yet another guy, whom she must have seen before, but who had barely done anything noticeable enough to stand out, yet. Well, getting crushed by a huge jumping porcupine was a start.

The octopus swung its tentacles tipped with spikes around with unexpected speed. Its many targets couldn't spare any time from defending themselves. It was up the rest to stop the porcupine from hurting them all. Night, Amaranth and Bleu rushed to help. Rìoghail looked at her leg. Blackened veins spread around the point where the quill was sticking out of her shin. Was it poisoned? Dammit! She carefully removed it so as not to break the trip and then threw it away. Blood flowed down her leg. Double dammit! She had to help, though! She made the first step with her right leg. Then, the left, causing pain to surge through it.
Another step with the right. Then, more pain with the left.
Step.
Ouch!
Step.
Ouch!
Step.
Ouch!
Step.
Ouch!

Rio steeled herself and ignored the pain as best she could. But it did not work that well. Perhaps, if she focused her aura on her leg, she could heal faster. She concentrated and imagined channeling some kind of "energy" to her leg. She was surprised to find that the pain actually did lessen a little. Who would have thought? Mustering her courage, she continued.

Amaranth, Night and Bleu -using twin pistols now- were trying to drive the porcupine away from where its projectiles could randomly hit anyone. However, the Grimm wouldn't budge. The previously crushed guy had resurfaced and didn't seem to have lost his will to fight. He attacked the porcupine with his mace, which could grow Burn Dust explosive spikes. Yet, the Grimm's quills protected it.

Rìoghail approached one of the brothers who dodged a tentacle's slam and then brought his hammer down on it. Some of the spikes broke, but the tentacle itself didn't seem to be much affected and it prepared to attack again. An arrow embedded itself in it and the tip of of the tentacle froze. A shot came from Diamond's direction and the frozen tip broke to pieces.

"Rio, are you..." a tentacle attack interrupted her; she shielded herself with her gauntlet and then continued "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine", Rio replied; she looked at the porcupine again, then at the octopus and an idea came to her mind. "Diamond, can you send me up there?" she pointed to the octopus's head.

"One moment!" Diamond replied. Her gauntlet changed shape and a shortsword grew out of it. Then, using her Glyphs she jumped into the air and performed a three-combo hit on the tentacle that was bothering her. She finished it by changing the gauntlet into a shotgun and shooting the tentacle a couple times as well. Then, she looked back at Rio. "You want to go up there? Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Rìoghail was determined. "I've got an idea".

Diamond's expression showed that she did not quite agree to this plan, but she complied. "Get ready then".

A series of Glyphs appeared starting on Rio's feet and leading to the Grimm's head. The Glyphs turned back and then Rio was in the air. From one Glyph to another, once she began to lose momentum, the next one would propel her anew. She was being lifted incredibly high. She hadn't given it much though up till now, but the octopus was really ginormous. She had almost reached her destination when a tentacle came her way. She curled her legs and the attacking limb barely missed her. Next thing she knew, she landed on the soft surface that was the octopus's head. Step One successful. Now, she just had to go through Step Two. For one more time today, she had to fall. However...

Tentacle!

This time it came too fast and it slammed on her back while she was getting up. She was knocked back down, but thankfully her armour had protected her from the spikes. Another attack swiftly followed and Rio was no better prepared to defend herself from it. Then, Valerian seemed to pop out of nowhere and swung his broadsword to cut through the reaching tendril.

"Valerian? How did you get here?" Rio was dumbfounded.

"Nevermind that. Just do what you came here to do", Valerian rotated a dial on his sword with his thumb and then fiery wind blew from him onto the injured tentacle that was trying to wrap around him.

That's right! I must go, she thought. She got up again and looked at Valerian as she limped her way towards the edge. Now, he was fighting two tendrils all on his own and yet he seemed to be doing fine. Every time it looked like he was going to get hit, a gust of wind blew him away from danger. Then, he swiftly returned to battle and retaliated with his sword. He certainly was skillful. She was forced to look away when she got to the edge. Down on the grounds things were chaotic, as the porcupine had gone into a frenzy and was frantically launching quills all around it indiscriminately. It even hit the octopus's limbs. Well, this was the part where she came in. Putting aside any hesitation, she jumped.

There she was again, falling one more time. Rio dared say she'd gotten quite good at it by now, but then again there wasn't much to it. You just had to fall, hadn't you? She put her sword forward and aimed for the porcupine. It seemed to sense her approach, because it looked up and prepared to jump out of the way. However, an arrow froze its leg in place before it could go. Someone must have seen her and realised what she was trying to do. She was close now and had built up quite the momentum. The porcupine's quills stood upwards in a defensive formations. Rio mustered all the aura she could and hoped... The moment of collision came. Everything happened so fast she didn't quite register everything. She was sure that Draigoch penetrated deep into the Grimm's flesh and that the collision hurt. Then, she'd bounced off of the creature's back and onto the ground. The porcupine roared in anger and pain. There was a shot and the bullet went into the mouth and through the head. That certainly must have done it. Rio could relax a litte now; her body wanted the rest and it also curiously was going numb. In a dazed state of mind, the girl lifted her head slightly to look at herself. Her combined aura and armour had protected from most of the quills, but one had managed to scratch her from the abdomen to the lower chest.

Triple dammit!