Shattered Moons

The smaller of the beasts fell to the ground then disappeared without a notice, its skin and body vanishing into shreds of black and red then nothingness. The cavern shook under the impact, and Diamond noticed a shred of light from the falling debris. Just for a moment, she thought she noticed an escape.

Then it was gone, and reality popped back in place.

The other, much larger, Grimm roared and trilled through the moment of silence, and Diamond was back in action. Raising her rifle, Splinter, Diamond flipped past a shadowy piece of debris and stopped in mid-air, narrowly dodging one of the monster's massive tendrils. Valerian dropped next to her to aid an injured Rioghail. Another person, who Diamond guessed was Midori, ran over to meet them in a small clearing.

Diamond aimed her rifle at the Grimm's bulbous, glowing eyes and fire multiple shots.

Slam! A tentacle the size of a small vehicle smashed into her and knocked her off the sigil below her feet. The tentacle reared back for another hit. Diamond faced the darkness below and summoned a sigil to brace her descent, but it did little to stop the crash-landing from stealing all the air from her lungs. She had just a moment to attempt a breath before she faced the tentacle. Splinter transformed into a gauntlet shield. The tentacle collided with her meager defense. She could feel her aura crack from the impact as she cratered into the pavement below. Still, she aimed rifle-Splinter and shot the tentacle. Her bullets bounced off as if she were just tossing air.

The tentacle reared once again.

Time seemed to slow around her. She dropped Splinter and outstretched her hand against the tentacle. It slammed down again, but ground to a halt just mere breathes from Diamond's fragile body. Diamond rotated her hand, and the sigil above her seemingly flared into existence, burning like a fierce star and illuminating the battleground around her.

Taking a quick glance around, she could make out Amaranth and Rhyence dealing with another tentacle, and Light and some others from his group dodging the main body as it flailed, trying to free its caught tentacle.

However, Diamond was not just a Huntress. She forced the sigil forward, just enough to give her room to shakily stand. The tentacle struggled against her gravity bending power, but she knew she was stronger. She was not just a Huntress. She thrusted her other arm out, and dozens of sigils appeared down the tentacle. She twisted her hands and the gravity sigils pulsated black down the length of the limb. The tendril constricted against the sudden pressure, but Diamond didn't relent. Another twist of her arm, and the sigils flashed white, then black again. She pulsated her Semblance, and the limb pulsated with it.

She stood tall against the beast as it shrilled in pain and anger. She jerked her hands back, relieving the beast of its limb.

The appendage fell into weightlessness and vanished, leaving a gaping hole on the beast's body.

Diamond roared at the monster, battle energy rushing through her body. But, it left in an instant and she fell limp into someone's arms.

Her vision cleaned momentarily and she looked up to see Bleu smiling down at her. "Boy, you are heavy! I mean, good job, Diamond! That was some impressive skill you showed out there. We're almost there, just stay with me okay. Ouch. That was a rock, it's fine, you have armor. Heavy, heavy armor." Another voice sounded outside Diamond's field of vision, and she had no energy left to move her head. "Hey Valerian! Could, you, yeah, she's doing good. How's your patient doing?" Someone aided Bleu, and shifted her from being dragged to only being half dragged.

Valerian's deeper voice whispered, "She's doing better. Midori has a lot of tricks up her sleeve. How's your other mission going?"

"It's going slowly. Hard to focus on more than one me. Not used to that, that's for sure!"

Diamond breathed deeply, filling her lungs. She wasn't broken, just her aura. It was hard to remember that sometimes. "I can walk now." She whispered.

Valerian breathed a sigh of relief. "It's reassuring to hear your voice, Diamond." He let her feet brush the floor gently, still holding her arm. She could make out Bleu's half worried smile and a narrow, short corridor behind him. "I'm fine, thank you both."

Bleu clapped his hands together. "That's wonderful! And my cue. You should consider getting lighter armor, y'know." He winked and vanished.

"What..?"

"He's using his Semblance. It's a long story, which we'll explain inside." He gestured in front of him. She nodded, fearing she couldn't manage much more than that.

He lead her through the cavern, and light flooded through the bend. Diamond blinked a few times until her vision cleared to an oval room. People were milling around the room, still worked up from the battle they partook in not too long ago.

Midori was the first to notice the two, as she glanced up from her work. She brushed off her hands and grasped Diamond's arm. "I'm glad you're safe. Do you need to sit?"

Diamond managed to smile politely to her. "No, thank you. I believe in working to regain your energy, rather than resting."

"A Huntress' outlook." Midori said.

"Diamond!" Rioghail struggled up to a sitting position. "I wasn't there, but I heard you managed a mighty blow to that second Grimm."

"And you managed a mighty blow to the first one, Rio. Well done."

"We make a good team."

"It's unfortunate, then, that she's my partner." Valerian chuckled. "While we're here, Diamond, do you want to choose a relic with me?"

"What?" Diamond was visibly confused.

"We're all hiding in the relic room. Midori guided us to it." Rioghail muttered nonchalantly.

Midori shrugged. "It was the first thing that came to me when we needed cover from the fight."

Valerian gestured in front of him. Diamond followed him to the center of the room, where daises held round stones that let off a large amount of light in different colors. Quite a few were already taken.

Valerian neared a bright, pale pink one. As Diamond walked closer, he spoke in a low tone. "We don't just need a relic, it seems. We also need a plan, and an escape route." In a normal tone, he said, "what about this one?"

"Do we know if there's a meaning to these? Do we know where everyone is?"

"Bleu and Night are guiding the rest very carefully here. We needed a break from the fight. While you managed to actually harm the larger Grimm, I don't believe any of the rest of us could say the same."

Diamond thought for a moment, eyeing a pale green orb. Picking it up, she turned to Valerian. "I might have a plan, and an escape route."

"Good choice."

Rhyence dodged a tentacle, glancing towards Amaranth as she ducked below it. He caughed her gaze before the tentacle slammed down between them, forcing them to roll away from each other.

"This isn't working!" he called, looking for her and finding her pushing to her feet slowly. "We need to retreat and regroup!"

Amaranth gave him a thoughtful look before glancing at the flailing tentacle between them. "Damn it," she said, raising her voice to be heard over the flailing Grimm. "You're right. Fall back."

"RETREAT!"

Rhyence blinked, glancing about. Was that Valerian? Probably. He sighed, flicked his wrist to return Will'O'Wisp to sword form. "I was getting sick of playing dodge-the-tentacle anyway," he muttered and rolled away from the previously flailing tentacle as it swung towards him. As he rolled back up to one knee, he finally saw why the Grimm was flailing so much. There was a huge gaping hole where a tentacle was supposed to be. He climbed to his feet and started to back away. "Well, that explains things."

Amaranth met him at the entrance to the hall that led back towards the Relic Room. Rhys turned to watch the stunned and flailing Octopus Grimm with a frown. It was clearly not happy about loosing a limb. He returned his sword to its sheath and crossed his arms.

"Well, that was interesting."

"Hmm?" he hummed, glancing towards Amaranth where she stood, hands braced on her knees. "What? You didn't enjoy playing dodge-the-tentacle, Amaranth?"

Bleu suddenly appeared next to them. "Hey guys! Whatca doing?"

Rhys glanced towards him, then nodded to the Grimm. "Grimm-watching. You?"

"Savin' people."

"Huh." Rhyence turned to scan the area, squinting to see in the near-darkness. He thought he could see a couple of people on the far side of the Grimm. He pointed them out to Bleu. "Is that the guys from before? The ones with hammers? I think I remember seeing them in the locker room."

Bleu was silent for a moment and Rhys turned to face him. He had a strange look on his face. "You know," he said slowly, eyeing Rhyence like he'd grown another head. "I think this is the most I've heard you say..."

"Seriously? You mention this now? When there's a giant Octopus Grimm right over there?" Rhys shook his head and muttered, "Never knew you liked playing dodge-the-tentacle so much."

"Dodge-the-tentacle?" Bleu asked, sounding amused. "You make that up yourself?"

Rhyence just glowered at him, evenly and without blinking. Honestly, what did a guy have to do to shut Bleu up? He sighed and shook his head, looking away again--towards Amaranth. She was studying the Grimm with determination.

Bleu giggled--actually giggled. "I like it!" he announced and promptly disappeared with a fading, "Bye!"

Sighing, Rhyence ran a hand over his face and turned to head into the tunnel. Amaranth's footsteps followed a moment later. He muttered to himself about stupidly hyper people who were way too cheery. He didn't care if Amaranth heard him or not. Rhyence rubbed at his face again, surprised to find a smear of blood on his hand when he pulled it away. When had that happened? He double-checked his aura and frowned. It was intact, although weakened. If he recieved a couple more hard hits, it would probably crack. He must've lost focus at some point and caught a stray rock or something.

"Rhyence! Amaranth!" someone called and he looked up to find Midori waving at them. Rioghail was seated beside her and off towards the diases, he could see Diamond and Valerian speaking in low voices. "I'm glad you could join us. Are either of you hurt?"

Rhys gestured to his face. "A scratch," he said, shrugging. "It's nothing and will heal. You?"

Midori shrugged it off with a small smile. "Nothing a Huntress can't handle. From what I gathered, Diamond and Rio have suffered the most."

"I saw Rioghail's little stunt with the porcupine." He nodded to the girl in question. "Impressive. And a good idea." He eyed her up and down, and frowned. "Too bad the results were....not exactly good."

"We're not done." Diamond walked to them, a relic now strapped haphazardly to her belt. "We need the rest, but the larger Grimm is still out there, and it's not going to sit around while we recover." She seemed to favor her right side, Rhyence noted.

"You sound like you have a plan," Midori said.

"A plan sounds nice! Does it involve any more dangerous stunts? If so, I'm your person." Rioghail managed up.

Rhyence groaned. "Does everyone but me enjoy playing dodge-the-tentacle or something?"

"The tentacles aren't the problem here. The problem is the crumbling city and the pitch blackness we're fighting in. It's conditions that aren't in our favor here."

"So you've found a way out of the city, then?" Rhyence asked, tilting his head to study Diamond thoughtfully. "I'm so glad you have 'cause even Faunus eyes are having trouble with this darkness."

"Is that sarcasm I hear? Coming from Rhyence of all people?" Amaranth flashed him a look. "Surprising."

He snorted. "I'll leave it up to you to decide," he said, rather flippantly. "In the meantime, let's hear Diamond's plan."



"This is a stupid plan," Rhyence muttered, glancing towards Amaranth. They were crouched behind a large rock, watching the big Grimm thrash about as Bleu popped in and out of existance, helping the other partners -- those with the hammer bros -- back towards the Relic Room. "A really stupid plan--"

"Rhyence, you are so not helping," Amaranth hissed and he scowled at her. "Diamond's plan will work. She said she saw daylight through the falling rock nearby. We just have to find that spot and--" Amaranth shook her head, adding lowly, "It will work. It has to work..."

He snorted, ignoring her muttering and focused on the way the Octopus Grimm was flailing around, trying to hit anything it could. It was almost--almost--amusing, if someone were looking at this as an outsider, someone watching an event. He noticed the Grimm's void where one of its arms should be. It had cratered to a black mass, barely different than the absence of light the Grimm was plastered against. While Rhyence himself could see well enough, everything had a lack of depth to it. It all felt like a wallpaper, flowing with picturesque waves.

A tap on Rhyence's shoulder knocked him out of his thoughts, and he jumped. Night chuckled from behind him, and he grimaced at the Huntsman-in-training. "You look like you've seen a ghost, Rhyence." Night said with a cruel smile etched on his face.

He snorted. "You look like a ghost, Night." And it was true.

Beads of sweat were dripping from the boy and his face was ghostly white. He was panting slightly and his normally gaunt frame was tense, as if he was in pain. His smile vanished, revealing a disgusted look. "Thanks for that. Don't mind that I'm vital to this mission succeeding."

Rhyence shrugged. "I can see better than most down here."

"Oh, Night," Amaranth turned around. "I didn't see you there. How's the mission?"

"My part's done, at least. Don't know about the rest, but I don't really need to know either. I'm where I'm supposed to be."

"Then rest," Rhyence offered.

"I'm fine, Rhyence," Night bit out.

Rhyence scoffed and lowered his voice. "Like hell you are, Night. I don't know you, but I know when someone's about to drop. There's nothing wrong with rest." Rhyence turned back to the monster. Night growled, and started to speak, but he cut through, "It wouldn't kill you to stop being stubborn, y'know."

Before Night could respond with something snarky or annoying, Amaranth pointed. "There's our cue." Rhyence traced where she was looking to make out Valerian. He climbed out between two capsized buildings. Behind him followed Rioghail, looking somewhat worse for wear but a determined look on her face, and Midori, an arrow notched in her bow.

Amaranth glanced back at the two of them. "Let's go."

Fighting alongside Diamond, Rio, and Night to kill the King Taijitu had been everything Valerian could have asked from his first official Grimm encounter while at Beacon. But then having to face a giant porcupine and extra giant squid Grimm too? He couldn't even name them! The day just kept getting better and better!

Rio had done a marvelous job felling the mustelid, and Diamond's performance in ripping off the giant squid's one tentacle was equally jaw-dropping. Though he himself hadn't done much damage to either Grimm, the battle was far from over, and he still had plenty of stamina left. He couldn't say the same for all of the other initiates, but that was fine. They weren't expected to have the endurance to battle two colossal monsters anyway.

"Amaranth, Rhyence, and Night are here," Midori whispered behind him.

Valerian frowned. Night was supposed to have stayed with Bleu. He turned around, careful not to lose his footing in the darkness, and looked in the direction of the sound of boots and shoes scraping against stone.

"Hey, guys!" Rio called, quickly earning a hasty shush from Midori.

Pressing the button on his sword, Valerian summoned fire across his blade and lifted it so he could see the newcomers. Night was indeed with the other two. Valerian approached, both to address them and to prevent the Grimm from seeing the fire. "Why aren't you with Bleu?" he asked, staring at Night with a sterner expression than that which he usually wore.

"I can be of more use here," Night answered brusquely. Rhyence made a noise in response.

"One more hit from that sucker," Valerian said, jerking his head backwards as a way of pointing, "and your aura will break. Then you won't be of use to anyone for the rest of the battle. You're supposed to be resting, like Diamond."

"She's here!" Night protested, pointing at Rio.

"Except I'm not here to fight," she responded.

"Exactly." Valerian moved his blade so he could take a better look at Rhyence. "And you're in a worse condition than I thought."

"Are we just going to stand around or follow the plan?"

Valerian looked back to Night, who was impatiently shifting from foot to foot. He looked like a breeze could knock him over. "We're adapting the plan."

"What do you have in mind?" Amaranth asked wearily. She sounded wary, but also seemed to have re-evaluated their circumstances.

"At this rate, we're four down. We need to conserve our energy, so instead of drawing the squid's attention by fighting it all the way to the cavern wall, we'll do a relay race instead. Night, you take Rio to the point halfway between us and Diamond and wait there. Rhyence and Amaranth, you two wait at the quarter mark. Midori and I will lure the Grimm to you and give you these," Valerian pointed at the two relics beside Rio, "after which you start running."

"And then what?" Rhyence asked. "We duck for cover while that thing flails past us?"

"That's exactly what we'll do," Amaranth confirmed, catching on quickly "once we've passed the 'baton' on to Night and Rio."

"I won't be able to run all the way," Rio mentioned hesitantly.

Valerian shook his head. "You won't have to. By then, Midori and I will have moved to the three-quarter mark. Night will get you two to safety, and we'll finish the race, as it were."

The girls nodded, but the boys looked reluctant. Amaranth waved her hand in front of her partner and smiled. "Did you change your mind about enjoying 'dodge-the-tentacle'?"

Rhyence rolled his eyes and climbed back down, making Valerian's face break into a smile again. He looked at Night and Rio and made a sweeping motion after the retreating pair, as if to say, "After you."

"Yeah, yeah, we're going." Night pulled Rio up and led her away.

"Do we both carry one of those?" Midori asked, still in a crouching position. She nodded at the two glowing relics.

Valerian shrugged. "That depends. How badly do you want a giant mollusck swatting at you? I have no problem carrying both."

Midori didn't look convinced. "You sure?"

He stooped down, scooped up both spheres, and stashed them in his cloak's pockets. He winked. "Positive!"

Moving back to the ledge, Valerian scanned the ground beneath him before jumping down, breaking his speed with an upwards gust before landing. He dashed towards the still-flailing squid and skidded to a stop, lifting his non-sword hand in a thumbs-up. Midori loosed a couple arrows at the monster, after which Valerian called, "Hey, glorified calamari! Over here!"

The beast momentarily became calm, shifting its weight to face the proportionately tiny human. Valerian grinned and charged. As expected, the squid raised two tentacles and brought them down. Valerian jumped towards the one and used a gust to push himself out of the way and onto the second tentacle. He ran down its length, ducking beneath and jumping over more tentacles on the way, and leaped onto the Grimm's mask.

"Sense these?" he asked, taking part of his cloak in hand and jiggling the relics inside. "I bet they're about as annoying as I am. You should probably try to squash us." He smashed his sword against the mask using both hands. It wouldn't do any damage, but that wasn't the idea. Valerian jumped off the Grimm and turned his dial to the white marker, summoning a massive gust of wind to propel him away from the roaring creature.

Landing safely, he looked back. He couldn't see much, but he could make out a writhing black mass pulling itself closer. He swapped back to Burn Dust and pressed the button, taking off in a steady jog. He thought he might have to slow down to allow it to keep pace with him, but it was surprisingly fast. He heard an arrow whir above him, followed by a screech as it found its mark.

"Midori, will you have trouble keeping up?" he called into the darkness, unsure of her position. He heard nothing from her for about a minute.

"Maybe a little!" she replied somewhere to his right. "I think- Look out!"

Valerian looked over his shoulder again. He felt more than saw the tentacle flick towards him and gusted upwards instinctively. He accelerated to a run. "We might be in trouble! Continue to the spot and wait for me there."

"What will you do in the meantime?" she called, falling slightly behind.

"I'll be keeping an eye on this thing!" Valerian called, no longer bothering to check the squid's distance. "I don't know if everyone can stay ahead." Sure enough, he thought he spotted Amaranth and Rhyence waiting in the distance. He pulled the relics from his pocket, but carrying two spheres in one hand was tricky, and one slipped out of his grasp. He gusted back, snatching it after only one bounce and gusted away from the squid again. He sprinted to the waiting pair and practically thrust the relics into their hands. "That is one really cheesed off piece of evil seafood," he said, panting slightly. "Don't slow down. Go!"

They nodded and took off. Valerian swapped back to Gale Dust and jumped onto a building to the road's left before lighting his sword again. He understood Midori's struggle in keeping up once he got going too, since the Grimm posed a threat not only to those running ahead, but also to every building lining the path. Valerian was worried his flaming sword would distract the monster, but it showed no interest in him.

Rhyence and Amaranth slowed down a few times, but never intentionally - a tentacle had once smacked down between them, after Valerian had shouted a warning, and they understood that it had no trouble chasing them. However, Valerian soon regretted including Night and Rio in the plan. Rhyence had shown the presence of mind to occupy the squid with a few illusory copies of himself (it seemed like so many people had the ability to summon doppelgangers; it was awesome!) so that the other pair could get a headstart. He and Amaranth soon scattered, though, leaving the Grimm a very clear target.

"Hey, Val!"

The momentary lapse in concentration made Valerian overstep and tumble forwards off a rooftop's edge. He propelled himself onto the next one, rolling as he made impact. He uttered a nervous laugh and glanced towards the road. "I'd prefer if you didn't call me that!"

"Sorry!" Rio called back. "But I'm having doubts about the plan!"

Resuming the veritable obstacle course, Valerian answered with a grin, "Yes, that's good! Doubt is a negative emotion! It'll lure the Grimm more efficiently!"

"My fear of imminent death trumps my doubt!"

He chuckled and leaped down. Drawing beside the hobbling pair was unfortunately easy. "Relics, please." He held his cloak towards Night, who made to deposit them into his pocket, but Valerian jumped to a stop before he could. "Never mind! I'll be there in a second!" Facing the squid, he dashed to the sides in a zigzagging motion to avoid the tentacles before jumping back onto the squid's mask. It continued at its frenzied pace, even though one eye turned to watch him. "Hello, again. You're a bit faster than anticipated, for which you totally deserve credit, by the way, but I kind of need you to slow down." Resorting to a somewhat more drastic irritation, he sent a fiery gust straight into the beast's staring eye.

It immediately halted with a deafening screech-roar. One of the flailing limbs caught Valerian while his momentum carried him forward. He experienced an impressive amount of air time, and, though he tried to correct his position, couldn't avoid crashing into and remodelling the stone road. Making a sound halfway between groaning and laughing breathlessly, he rolled onto his back and shakily rose. He was certain he'd be knocked off his feet again, but a random explosion near the squid's head gave him enough time to dispel his disorientation.

Taking off once more, he called, "Who do I have to thank for saving my hide?"

"Well, technically, I shouldn't even be here..."

"It's okay, Midori!" he called, shaking his head while laughing. "It's absolutely shameful that you left your post, but I suppose I can forgive you!" He caught up with Night and Rio, calling them to a stop.

"You're not going to make me almost drop these again, are you?" Night snapped.

"We don't have time for sass, you knuckle-head!" Rio snatched the relics from Night's hands and dumped them into Valerian's pocket. "Let's go!"

Midori dropped down from the right side of the road. "Do you need help?"

Valerian cast a backwards glance at the Grimm. The gap they had created was very rapidly diminishing. "Yes! Forget helping me - help Night get Rio far enough from the road so that the Grimm can pass without flattening you. Rhyence and Amaranth ought to be behind it, somewhere."

"I know I asked you already," Midori said, "but will you be-"

"Yes, yes, he'll be fine; he insists that we save ourselves and let him be the noble hero," Rio interjected. "Let's go!"

Valerian smiled and raised his hands in a non-commital shrug before clicking his tongue and jerking his thumb to the side. Midori nodded, stepping into Night's waiting arm before disappearing to the side. Nimbly gusting the other way to avoid a tentacle, Valerian beckoned to to the squid, shouting, "This way!" before taking on the final stretch of the dash to the cavern wall. After a while, he called after him, "You know, it's a pity we need to kill you! If you had been a bit more well-mannered, we could have made excellent jogging partners!"

The Grimm screeched.

Though he enjoyed the jesting and running, Valerian admitted to himself that he was happy to see the end looming ahead. He leaped into the air and promptly switched to Burn Dust. Pushing the button and swiping the air, he evaluated the structures lining the road, noting the best combination to provide him with altitude. After breaking his fall with a well-placed roll, he jumped onto a building to his left, leaped all the way across the road to the building on the other side, and took one final leap towards the road. He swapped to Gale Dust again and summonsed consecutive gusts to keep him moving upward. Glyphs appeared between him and Diamond's building, with Diamond herself appearing shortly thereafter.

"I could use one of those myself, if you don't mind!"

She obliged, making one just beneath him, expanding it, and jumping to join him. "Do you have the relics?"

Panting properly, Valerian pulled the shiny spheres from his pocket and happily handed them over. "You?"

Placing them in a pouch strapped to her belt, she nodded. "All six, now. Can you make it to the rooftop?"

"The others aren't in the relic room?"

"I moved them. We weren't sure if it would suffer collatoral damange."

Valerian gave one final backwards glance at the nearing squid. "I guess I'll have to ferry them all down. Is Bleu there?" Another nod. "Great! Watch out for any debris falling from the roof." He raised his sword to judge the distance to the rooftop. Looking back at Diamond, he added, "Also, try not to be blown off by what I'm about to do." Another massive gust, and he was in a neat arc ending onto the roof. He nailed the landing and skidded to a stop in a semi-circle. A pair of shoes and leg were illuminated before him.

"Hi! That was pretty impressive. Did you teach yourself to jump like that?"

Looking up at Bleu's grinning face, Valerian grinned back. "Mmm-hmm! Jumping and falling is pretty much my thing."

"Cool! Say, aren't you going to, you know, stand up?"

"Nope!"

"Why not?"

The cavern shook with the sound of an ancient city being exposed to daylight. Bleu, as well as the four brutes of the other team (who Valerian could finally see), all tottered, trying and failing not to topple like many of the buildings in their vicinity. Snickering, Valerian answered, "That would be why." He sheathed his sword and straightened in a fluid motion. Extending his hand to Bleu, he said, "If we stay up here, we'll miss out on all the fun! How many copies can you make?"

"Two, although I usually only make one. And they don't last long."

"Then wait thirty seconds, grab one of them," Valerian gestured towards the others, "jump off the building on the road's side, and repeat."

"And you'll just catch us?"

Blinking at the light once he turned towards it, Valerian grabbed a hulk around the waist, gusted off the rooftop, and yelled, above the roar coming from outside, "That's the idea!"

"So what do we do now?" said Night as he stood at the side of the road with Rioghail and Midori. "Just stand here?"

"We can't just leave," Rio remarked. "Not without our relics."

Night gave her a sideways glance. He had expected some snarky remark, despite her earlier scolding about sass.

"And not without the others," Midori added. "Darn it," she muttered after inspecting her quiver. "I'm out of arrows. Good ones, anyway."

Night sighed. Now that they had actually stopped and had a respite from fighting, the pain and exhaustion seemed to be pressing against him from all sides, more so than before. He admitted to himself that he wanted to sit down, but not in front of these two, or anyone else here.

"Well," he began, his voice steadier than he felt, "we'll have to wait for the others to come, and help them get out, then. We need to find our escape." He walked forward, glancing up to see if there was any large opening in the ceiling they could climb out of back to the surface. Not that he believed that most of their group was up for a long, hard climb, not after all that combat.

As he kept moving about to compare the size of two holes, one of his legs gave out beneath him and he collapsed on his hands and knees, breathing heavily. Oh, great. This isn't happening. He pounded the ground with his fist in frustration. Of all times, why was he the weakest now?

"Hey!" exclaimed Rioghail. She hurried over to him and grabbed his arm in an attempt to help him up. "You okay?"

Night yanked his arm away from her and stumbled to his feet. "Fine," he snapped, not looking at her. He took a step back and pointed up at an opening. "I think that one's good. All we need to do is for someone to get to the surface and secure a rope for everyone else to climb up on."

As he drew Eclipse, Rioghail stepped in front of him. "Night, you don't have to keep pushing yourself so hard. We're all in this--"

"Together?" finished Night. He scoffed. "Sure, people say that, but I won't be beholden to anyone. Like I said, I work alone. Even if it kills me."

Rioghail gasped, then opened her mouth to say something. Night held out a hand, stopping her. "Don't bother. The only way you could help right now is if you had a rope." He stalked away.

"No, Night, stop!" Rioghail struggled after him. "Would you just stop and listen, you stubborn Grimm!"

Night halted and Rioghail almost ran into him. Turning abruptly, he stared daggers at her. "So you have a rope, then?"

Rioghail gasped in a breath. "I am going to bother, Night. Because, well, whether either of us like the situation we're in, we can't change it. You're my partner; I'm yours. And soon, when we make it out of this terrible cavern, you're gonna be a part of a team. You might even lead one. If, if you work alone, why bother going to this school?"

"To become stronger. Why else?" No way was he going to spill his past to her here. Stupid sob story.

Rioghail crossed her arms. "I 100% don't believe that."

"I 100% don't care." Night started walking again.

"I am not done with this conversation, Night!" Rioghail shouted in his direction.

"Let's finish it later, then!" he called over his shoulder. "We have to stay alive, don't we? Our priority is getting a rope."

"Um . . . will this work?" Midori, who Night had all but forgotten amid the argument, was holding a long rope.

Night held in another sigh. "Yes. Let's get to work, team."



"It's ready," called Night, giving the rope one last tug. It felt nice to be in the light again, but his muscles said the opposite. But he had to do the task himself, since Eclipse enabled him to climb more easily than Rioghail or Midori. It would pay off once they were all out alive.

"I'm coming up!" called Midori.

The rope grew taut as she began her ascent. Night stood back and looked around. The clearing seemed peaceful enough, but it was oddly quiet. Would the others have made it out by now?

Midori's head appeared from the hole and she pulled herself out. She put her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.

Suddently, Bleu ran up to Midori and hugged her. "You're not dead! That's a good thing!"

Midori bristled momentarily at being touched, but didn't otherwise object.

Rhyence walked up next to the group as Rioghail shouted she was ascending. "You somehow have the best things to say when greeting someone." Then, to Midori, "Took you three long enough to get here."

Night no longer cared about the conversation and slid down the other side of the cavern wall. So tired . . . The thought came unbidden and his eyelids almost felt too heavy to keep open. What was that Valerian had said earlier about risking his aura breaking?

Sure enough, an audible crack split through the air, and Night looked to down see the fragments of his aura fading away. He sighed and leaned against the rock-wall.

"Night? Night?"

"I see him." Midori and Diamond scaled down the cliffside.

Night mumbled out an "I'm fine" but nothing escaped his lips.

He could hear the two discussing something, but it no longer seemed important. They were out of the cavern, so initiation ended, right? Any professor in their right mind would send medical attention immediately. All he would have to do . . . is . . . rest.

Something cut into his skin, shocking him into consciousness. "What the--?" He gasped out, gripping his arm. Glancing at it, the cut was nothing but a shallow scratch, but it felt like it went to the bone. It radiated heat that was meandering its way through his body.

"My apologies," Diamond offered, "but this was needed. Your aura broke. The only thing to fix that is natural rest, but Dust is a temporary stimulant, if used properly."

"Can I see your arm?" Midori asked. Night started to object, but the pain was too much. If Midori had a way to lessen it, he was all ears. He gingerly offered it out, and she immediately slathered something gray to the wound. It did little to help, but it puffed outward and hardened around his skin.

Diamond forced him to his feet. "I know you object to help, Night, but we will need all the support we can get, if we want to finish initiation."

Night scoffed. "Isn't it already over? We made it out, we have the relics. What else is there?"

Diamond pointed to the horizion, where the sun was starting to set.

Like miniscule gnats annoying an animal, most of the others were attacking the octopus Grimm. "I thought it was still in the cave?"

"Nope, and it's standing in the way between us and Beacon."

"Oh. That's wonderful." I'm not going to die in the process, am I? What a terrible way to go out.

Midori made one last inspection of her arrow supply, in hopes that she'd find something of actual use. But just as before, she was stuck with the same five extra-ordinary wooden shafts. They'd do very little against the behemoth awaiting them down below.

Unless...

"Guys?" Midori asked, her tone shifting from a nervous whisper to something more determined. "I need some Dust. Anything that'll go boom, preferably." Diamond didn't immediately volunteer, but Midori caught Valerian's eye. "Got anymore of that burning stuff?"

"Yeah, sure. A little." The taller student handed her a few vials of glittery powder. "This one's Freeze Dust, and this one's got the last of my Burn Dust. You're going to dip those arrows in it, aren't you?"

"That's the plan," Midori affirmed. She used some tree sap as a tacky adhesive for the Dust to stick to the arrowheads, and when there was a good coating on each of them, she handed the vials back. There wasn't time to fabricate new shafts, but now she had three Freeze Dust-dipped arrows and two Burners in her inventory.

"So Midori's weaponized. Now what?" Rio quipped.

"A little help over here?" One of the hammer brothers shouted to the group as he rolled to dodge a tentacle.

"I guess we help fight?" Midori asked.

The octopus Grimm screeched, its sound echoing across the field and shaking the ground below them. Knocking trees away like they were twigs, the beast trampled through the forest between them and Beacon.

"It's heading to the Academy!" Amaranth called out. "We have to stop it before it gets there."

"Or, what? The professors will kill it? That sounds like a good thing to me." Night said.

"I'm afraid they might do nothing." This silenced the group.

The Grimm slowed and reared its head back. It seemed to sniff the air like a dog, giving time for the others to regroup with the rest.

"So, what are we doing?" someone asked, one of the new people Midori never caught the name of. He was scrawny and out of breath, but otherwise unharmed.

"I'm not going to do anything. Let the school handle that Grimm. It was under their land a lot longer than we've been here." Night muttered, hand still shielding his arm.

"What if this is a test?" Midori started. "What if, I don't know, what if this is a trial. This is our mess. We should clean it up."

Night glared at her and stalked off. Midori and Rioghail exchanged glances. Finally, Rioghail sighed. "Whatever you all do, I think it's better I stay out of it for a bit. I'm no use to you all with a tentacle spike through me!" Flashing finger guns, she followed Night.

"Well we need to do something," Midori said, "we can't just let that Grimm reach the school."

"You're right." Valerian clasped her shoulder. "I'll stand with you Midori," he said in a low voice. Then to everyone, "Midori's right. No matter if Beacon can stop that glorified seafood, we need to fight."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Rhyence scoffed. "Let's do it."

"Wait, before we do. Who hear has Dust left. Specifically, Burn Dust or Freeze Dust." Valerian said.

A few of them raised their hand, including Midori, although she felt a bit ashamed to do so. It wasn't even her Dust. But, she had it and she plannned on using it well. Diamond raised her hand as well. "I've got Gravity Dust, but I believe I can be of assistance to your plan, Valerian."

"I never expected anything less, Diamond. In fact, I'm only adapting what damage you already did to it. Cut off its limbs; it's useless without them. Those with Dust will be the heavy hitters. Focus on the base of its limbs because it'll do the most damage there. The rest of us will be distracting it. It may have multiple limbs but it only has one mind. Keep it off of the Dust dealers."

With that, they broke off, sprinting to catch the Grimm. Midori struggled to catch up to Valerian --which wasn't the first time that happened, she realized. She vowed to work on her stamina in the future. "Hey, Valerian. Valerian."

He slowed to match her pace. "Yeah, Midori?"

She fumbled a bit on her words, but swallowed and tried again. "I-I ... I don't ... want to hold you all back. I'm all but out of arrows, and in this kind of combat situation, I'm as useless as, well, an octopus with no arms."

Turning to Midori, he lowered his voice again. "I know you don't have many arrows left, but I also know you'll make them count. Dust is still useful outside of weapons. I know you'll find something up those sleeves of yours," he added with an encouraging smile. With that, he sped forward again, leaving Midori behind. The others reached the edge of the forest, only slightly behind the Grimm.

Midori caught up to them --she seriously needed to get faster-- and scanned the forest edge. Her eyes veered up to the forest crown. Of course. She'd want to get to the high ground. After all, the best sniper positions are only as good as their vantage point.

And Midori was a sniper. No matter what people thought about her "simple" weapon, she was still a fighter. She fished through her pockets and found what she needed. A simple string and the last of her Dust concoctions.

Coating the string in her Dust mixture, Midori aimed at the tree that would make a suitable sniper's nest and threw it. The wind caught the string, and like it always did with it before, the air mixed with the Dust, strengthening and expanding it. What used to be an unfortunate side effect of the mixture that always caused her problems was now being used to her advantage, weighing the string down to the point that it caught a branch and wrapped around it. The mixture now acted as a coagulant against the bark. Hopefully it added enough stability to carry weight, maybe enough weight for Midori to climb it.

Midori was lucky enough that the experiment was able to support her weight, and soon enough she was up in the trees. Sprinkling a bit of Burn Dust on the string wrapped around the branch sizzled and separated the concoction of hers, allowing her to pull the string back up. Soon enough, she found the commotion. The others were already deep into the battle with the large Grimm.

"Darn it," she breathed out, "I should just have asked Diamond for a jump up." She settled into her position. She could have asked Diamond for help, of couse. But something, something small, inside her begged to differ. No more time to rely on people anymore, be it Cloud or her new schoolmates.

Diamond and Valerian were tusling with a tentacle together, both using Gravity Dust to keep it down. Rhyence and, surprisingly, Night and Rioghail, were attacking another. Bleu and Amaranth were busy with two other limbs, and Midori was impressed at the speed of Amaranth. She seemed to flourish outside here, and Bleu's skill with his Semblance was impressive.

Diamond forced a limb to the ground and sigils appeared on either side of it. The Grimm seemed to had learned from the time before, though, and knocked Valerian out of the way with another. It reared the tentacle back for another strike, this time at its intended victim.

Midori notched an arrow despite her shaking hands. Don't let the pressure get to you, she checked herself. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, Midori double checked the arrow, just in case. Yep, it was Freeze Dust. She aimed.

One.

The arrow lodged into the base of the Grimm's tentacle and the Dust exploded on impact, freezing the tentacle. Valerian pounced, with the aide of Gale Dust probably, and sunk his sword deep into the frozen limb. Diamond pulsated the other, and like clockwork, they were both removed from the Grimm.

Rhyence curled his whip around a tentacle and tugged. Night rushed forward and sliced off the spikes at the end, his daggers running through them as if they were gelatin. The tentacle spasmed and jerked from Rhyence's grasp, tossing him around like a ragdoll. He hit the ground and bronze shards burst from his body. His aura shattered from the impact.

Two.

The arrow hit the base of the tentacle again, this time fire bursting from its tip. The Grimm's skin boiled around it, bursting and popping.

Three.

This one sunk into the hole where the spike used to be. Ice scissored out of the wound and the tentacle turned stiff. Rioghail charged and sliced clear through the base. She turned to Midori's direction and finger gunned, a wide grin on her face. Despite herself, Midori felt herself smiling as well.

Amaranth blasted another tentacle and it stuck the ground and Bleu, with the help of a duplicate, launched himself onto the appendage and struck it with his scythe. A gash formed on it. Midori aimed, her patience setting in. Give it time. Sure enough, Bleu slid off the tentacle as it flailed against the damage done to it.

Four.

The arrow sunk in near the wound and ice shards filled the wound, expanding it.

"Watch out!" someone shouted, but it was too late. The Grimm shrilled and stumbled through the forest... straight for Midori.

She narrowly dodged a flailing tentacle and jumped down a branch. She slipped, only barely managing to grab the branch before she fell to the ground.

Diamond summoned a platform below her and she jumped down. The Grimm screeched and tumbled through her tree. With no time for the others to react, Midori jumped from her safety to the ground below. She could feel her own aura struggle against the impact. It was a strange feeling, one she wasn't used. Something in the back of her mind suggested that she was more used to it than she realized.

The world shifted and heaved around her, but she realized it was the Grimm moving. She forced herself out of the way and struggled up. The Grimm slashed around it with its remaining limbs, but in its current state, it was relatively weak and clumsy. But it was also bigger and heavier than Midori, so she rolled desperately out of the way. However, her action caused all eyes on her, including the Grimm. In its fit of desparation and rage, it slammed two tentacles down on where she was just moments before.

The impact knocked her off her feet again. The others not checking on Rhyence rushed to distract the monster, but it was no use. It was tunnel visioned on Midori now. She scrabbled away from the tentacles, fear kicking in.

A tentacle swiped her and she struck against a tree.

Her vision swam: the world around her seemed to spiral and duplicate itself at once, and there was a distinct ringing in her ears. Is this what dying felt like?

Something awoke inside her. She couldn't quite explain it any better. Everything burned white in her vision, but clarity flowed through her. Through it all, she could see the darkness of the Grimm clearly, like a paint splotch on a perfect canvas. It was a mistake, practically begging to be erased.

Notching an arrow, she aimed at its eye.

"Five." She breathed out.

The arrow slid in easily, and the Dust filled the eye cavity, burning bright against the white around her. The creature spasmed and fell.

Everything vanished, and in the absense, only darkness.

Five Years Ago - Atlas

6:58 PM

Reese looked up from his scroll and scanned the other patrons of the Copper Hearth. Most were there to drive away the time in their idleness, enjoying the warmth and comfort provided by the fire and drink. He sometimes did that too, but on that day, his mind was set on business, not pleasure.

He’d expected the mysterious lady to refuse his arrangement and demand a time of her own choosing, but to his and Savannah’s surprise, she had merely accepted it. Whoever the woman was, she clearly lacked the knowledge on how properly to conduct underhanded business.

Even if she didn’t have anything else to do with her time, which Reese strongly suspected to be the case, she should have known to set her own terms, so as to ensure the contractor didn’t take advantage of her. He sneered. The poor soul had no idea what awaited her, had she?

He checked his scroll again. 6:59 PM

She probably wanted him to find some missing lover or to take out a romantic rival. Not that he could fathom why anyone would be interested in her, if the rumours were true. Perhaps she was delusional and firmly believed the object of her interest shared her feelings, but was trapped in an unwanted relationship. The last time he’d taken a similar job was… a score and five years previously, yes. Some lovesick lass with bright pink, knee-length hair had been his employer. At least until the intended target – Jennifer, her name was – had learned of the plan and paid him double to dispose of the obsessed girl.

Hmm, but that Jennifer woman had been particularly shrewd, and the girl particularly naïve. The young woman he was expecting would likely be some combination of the two. Either way, it would probably be easy money. He would appreciate an easy job after the fiasco he’d had to endure.

7:00 PM

She was late. Safir Mavisi had shouted the same thing, but was pleased when Reese offered him considerable interest. The previous few hours of smoothing the old man’s ruffled feathers had been time well-spent. Hopefully, the young woman would placate him in a similar fashion.

To his amusement, she entered the tavern literally as he looked up. Not late after all, but punctual. Interesting.

Her gaze snapped to him almost immediately. She considered him only for a second before approaching his booth and taking a seat opposite him. From up close, he could see the rumours hadn’t been mistaken – her stare could send spiders scuttling away in fear.

“My terms are simple and fair,” he said softly but clearly, indicating who between them possessed control of the situation. “You will explain the job you have in mind, and I will listen. If I’m interested, I may ask for more details, after which we will discuss payment. If I’m not, we go our separate ways. Supposing I accept your job, you will present half of the agreed-upon amount as an advance, with the rest to be presented after completion. There will be no written contract, and if I feel you have violated the set terms in any way, our agreement will be voided.

“Understand that the services I provide aren’t exclusive to you; should I accept this job and complete it, any future jobs you might have in mind will be subject to the same conditions as I have just stipulated. Our dealings will remain confidential. Any breach of this confidentiality, as well as any arrangements you make that would run counter to ours, will be considered a violation of the set terms. In such an instance, I will not be obligated to return the advance and may cease any further dealings with you. These are my terms – simple and fair, as stated previously. If you are unsatisfied with them, you may leave.”

Her composure hadn’t waivered for the entirety of his barrage. So, she wasn’t a trembling maiden. She nodded once and said, “I accept your terms.” Her voice was as cold as everything else about her, but the tone with which she addressed him was matter-of-fact.

“Then go ahead.”

She pulled out a file from her jacket and slid it across the table. Across the top of the file, in clear black font was "Atlas Academy & Military". Reese let only a slightly raised eyebrow reflect the interest those words raised within him. As he inspected the outside of the folder, the woman spoke. "You kept it straightforward with me, as I will keep it with you. There are rumours of a machine Atlas is working on that can transfer auras from one host to another, with no consequence to the life of either. I want you to investigate this. You are a professional, so I will trust that you have intuition enough to explore things to sufficient ends. Do not get caught. Do not come into contact with the machine, if it does exist."

Reese explored the contents of the file. Inside were specifications of Atlas' buildings and machinations, blueprints of experimental weapons and military, and newspaper clippings from years ago. They detailed rumours that Atlas was investigating auras and what made them work. One newspaper clipping was cut in half as the story veered away from Atlas and to a fire. Reese stowed away all of the information, inside both his cloak and mind. "So, you want a reconnaissance mission in the largest military base in the world. That's not going to be cheap."

The woman's face twitched, and he noticed something far more sinister underneath the pitch black eyes, though only for a moment, before her calm demeanor returned. She slid over six Dust cartridges. Reese picked each one up gingerly, flipping them over and eyeing the scratched off logo.

He leaned back and sighed. "Unfortunately for you, I can't tell who manufactured the Dust. The logo's scratched off. That reduces their quality in my eyes, which means I won't use them, and it reduces the price at which I can sell them." He leaned back in. "However, the cartridges themselves are weapons grade. Very rare in these parts, unless you have a direct connection to the Schnee Dust Company. So..."

"So?" The woman said.

"Do you?"

"I have what I have. I will give no more information than that."

"Fair enough." Reese picked up the cartridges. "But this won't be enough to pay me. Not even up front."

The woman took off her cloak and revealed a staff strapped to her back. Unfastening the rope on her side, she laid the staff down in front of them. She twisted the middle of the staff and one end snapped into a spear. With another twist, the two pieces separated and turned into pistols.

"A Huntsman's weapon." Reese took the now-staff from the woman's hands. On one end he noticed Grindelin Tech written in small words. The logo itself was scratched off. "Where did you get this?"

"Does it matter?" The woman asked.

"It does if said Huntsman wants this back."

"They won't. Nor will they be in a position to do so."

Reese shrugged. So something happened between this woman and a Huntsman, and now the latter was out of the picture. No trembling maiden indeed.

He held out his hand. Looking into her eyes, they shook, sealing the deal. Reese would have to be careful looking into this – and her.

Five Years Ago - Location Classified (Not Atlas)

After a week of Azure's absence and her own confinement to the cottage, Claret was starting to feel irritated. It was driving her up the wall, all of the inactivity. When was Azure coming back? Was she even coming back? Claret didn't know. For all she knew, she'd been left there to rot. And she couldn't leave. She didn't know where she was, had no weapon, and most importantly, her aura was still recovering. Not to mention, she had no plan whatsoever and she was running out of food.

Claret sighed and shifted her position on the bed slightly, rubbing at her still sore right leg. It was really protesting being in a bent position, but Claret was used to pain--in a sense--and therefore ignored it as best she could. She pulled the cracked scroll out of her pocket and looked at the message again. It was from her parents. All it said was that Mauve was back in Atlas Academy, at the Academy's Military Hospital, and that he was badly injured. It didn't say when or how, and that frustrated her.

She tossed the scroll onto the bed and got up to scretch out her sore leg. It protested the movement, but it held her weight when she tested it. That was good. She could walk now. Claret went to the window and peeked out. Off in the distance, through the gathering darkness, she could see lights. A town, perhaps? She glanced about at the snow-drenched, dark forest. She had no weapon and her aura was still low.. Was it really a good idea for her to trek through the woods at night when anything could be out there? Please, no more Grimm--

Claret pushed away from the window, snatching up the poker. She'd caught a glimpse of a shadow heading for the cottage, moving slowly. It didn't seem like a Grimm but she couldn't be sure it was human, either. Or faunus. Claret shifted on her leg and winced. I can do this, she told herself and went back to the bed. She perched on the edge for a moment, laying the poker over her knees.

The door jiggled, something clicked in the lock and then it opened. A young man she'd never seen before stepped through into the room, blowing on his recently ungloved hands. He froze when he noticed Claret perched on the edge of bed, still clearly bandaged up and with a fading scratch on her cheek, with a poker laying across her knees.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded, frowning at her. Then he glanced about and his frown deepened. "Where's Azure?"

"Not here," Claret said slowly, eyeing the stranger warily. "Who the hell are you?"

"Not Azure, clearly."

Great, a smart ass. Claret snorted. "Obviously."

He stared at her a moment longer, then walked over to the dwindling fire. That was another thing Claret was running low on: wood to keep the fire going. She didn't even think about that. She had supposed she would've been gone before that became a thing, and it just slipped her mind. The guy stole a glance at her after looking at the fireplace. He sighed and walked back out the door.

Claret clasped her hand on the poker harder, her knuckles turning white. She did not trust this man, not in the slightest. If she were fully recovered, he would be tied to a chair and wrung dry of information before he could have said two sentences. But she was vulnerable now, and while Claret didn't know what kind of people Azure kept company with, she didn't think they were just nobodies.

The guy reentered, and shot Claret another glance, almost as if he were surprised she would still be there. She returned with a death stare and kept it on him while he walked back to the fireplace with wood in hand. He dumped the pile next to it and gingerly pushed a small one into the fire.

"So, why are you here and not Azure?"

Claret scowled. "Can't you tell?"

He gave her a quick once over, snorted and went back out the door.

"Hey!" she called, pushing up onto her feet and taking a couple of unsteady steps towards the door. He reappeared in the doorway with an armful of wood. "Hey--"

"What?"

"You didn't answer me." Claret tightened her grip on the poker, then relaxed slightly. "But if you need me to point it out, I'm injured."

"I noticed," he drawled and disappeared back outside. Claret frowned at the doorway, shifting to pull a blanket up over her shoulders. Damn, it's cold outside. He reappeared a few moments later with a large box of what appeared to be food. Claret perked up slightly, but tried to hide it. "So," he asked as he set the box down on the table. "Where's Azure?"

"Atlas."

He frowned. "What's she doing in Atlas?"

"It's where I'm supposed to be."

"Right." He walked back out again, leaving the door open again. Claret growled. He would so be out of the picture if she were able. She heard a grunt and her spirits sky-rocketed for a moment. Maybe a Grimm put him out of his misery and she could steal all of this stuff and make her way to--

Nope, he shifted something large through the door. She swayed to see a large barrel. Probably water. He scooted it to the corner and rested his hands on the small of his back for support as he caught his breath. He looked back at Claret, and once again he had that surprised look on his face. "What? Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

He shrugged and sat down at the table. Plucking out an apple from the crate, he sighed and leaned back. Mouth half full, he stared at Claret. "Look 'ere. I don't care who you are." He swallowed. "I'm just here to do my job. Well, actually I do care who you are. Azure never has guests here, let alone business partners. When she comes back, you ask her if she needs rations for two people here. It'll be hard to accomodate that, but I suppose I'll have to." He bit into the apple again. " 'Ou are a bismess partner of hers, right?"

"A what?" Claret crossed her arms, keeping the poker light in her hands, ready for an attack.

"You are a business partner of hers, right?"

She hesitated. Kill him now. Take whatever carriage he used to transport eve- "Of sorts," she managed.

He nodded, perhaps understanding more than she wanted. "We've all been there with Azure at one point or another." He pointed to her leg. "Can you walk?"

"Can you stop asking questions," she muttered, but responded by getting to her feet and walking to the table. She picked out a Dustfruit and plopped down in the seat, munching on it.

The guy shrugged. "Ah, well. I was gonna say that if you could walk well enough, perhaps I could give you a ride to... wherever in Atlas Azure is."

Claret considered it for a moment. But only for one. She rose up out of her seat. "We leave immediately."

The guy laughed. "I can see why Azure kept you along for the ride."

The next two hours had been a blur. The teachers from Beacon had come in after they had defeated the Grimm approaching the school, and the students were whisked off to receive the medical attention most of them needed. Most were randomly separated, but Amaranth ended up in the same medical wing as Valerian. She couldn't actually see him, but she decided when the attendants had left to speak up and see if anyone was in there with her. Valerian had replied.

"That was pretty intense, yeah?" Amaranth asked, trying to strike up a conversation. It was difficult having a friendly interaction through a wall of white curtain, let alone the pain Amaranth was feeling in her leg. She hadn't noticed it during the battle, but when the adrenaline had run its course, she learnt that a shard of rock had lodged itself in her knee. It was removed promptly on arrival, but she could still feel the wound it had left.

Valerian laughed. "I still can't believe we actually took down that last Grimm." He paused, probably reminiscing on the battle they had just faced. "I wonder if anyone got badly hurt."

"I doubt it. Rio's leg looked pretty bad, but nothing they can't fix, I'm sure. We worked together well enough that no one was ever taking the brunt of the damage from it. Our covering each other was what got us through that battle alive."

"Yeah." Valerian sighed in relief. "I was thinking... What would have happened if we hadn't won the fight? Would the professors have let the Grimm kill us? Would we just have been left behind?" He paused, as though waiting for Amaranth to reply, but she became caught up in thought.

It was night. Always night. That's when the worst things happened to Amaranth, and she was powerless to stop them. She hated the night. But she hated that night more than any others.

The three men that took her were tall. They wore black suits, and had suitcases full of money. Their voices were deep and gravelly, and there was little to differentiate the two. She was young, so her memory was skewed, but she would hang on to her images of them for as long as she lived.

"You said her semblance is sun-based?"

"That is correct."

"Good. She'll do well in the fields. These suitcases have 25 grand in them. I presume that will suffice?"

"Only 25? You said 30."

"Fine. I'll pay the other 5 I planned to keep from the suitcase. 30 grand for the kid."

"Deal."

And then Amaranth was gone, taken from the only people she had known her whole life. Left behind, as her mother raised her brother like her only child, while Amaranth worked in the fields alone, never to see them again.

"Amaranth?" Valerian asked, bringing her back to reality.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Yeah, I don't know. Sure."

Valerian hesitated. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just think I need some sleep, that's all. Sorry." She rolled over as best she could with her injured leg, trying to muffle the sobs in her pillow. Hopefully he wouldn't hear.



One would think that, after such a large battle like initiation, they would all basically pass out the moment they hit their bedrolls, but Amaranth was just the opposite. As soon as she struggled to fall asleep, she was riddled with vague and incomprehensible nightmares that she failed to remember after she gasped awake from them. It was a cruel cycle that she repeated countless times before dawn flooded the Great Hall with light.

The room Amaranth and Valerian were resting in had one window, but was conveniently across from Amaranth's bed. The light pouring in rejuvenated her, and the wound in her leg was minor enough that she barely felt it at this point. Tentatively, she tested it to ensure that she could walk, before standing up and approaching Valerian's bed. It was empty.

That was when Amaranth remembered the team assignment ceremony was today. The teachers had assumed everyone would be better enough by then to attend, which was probably not an incorrect guess. Amaranth hoped that the ceremony hadn't started by then, and she took off sprinting down the hall.

The ampitheater where the ceremony was being hosted was full of students, and Amaranth struggled to located anyone she knew. She definitely was not going to sit with a bunch of strangers, not after what she had been through. She could do grimms, not social interactions.

Finally, she spotted Bleu. Thank the Lord, someone I know. She hurried over to him, placing herself in the seat next to his. "Hey Bleu."

"Hey," he said, looking her up and down. "You look worse for wea-" Someone jabbed him in the back, and he turned around to see everyone behind him looking forward. Amaranth and Bleu followed their gazes to see Ozpin on stage, waiting for the room to quiet down.

"Thank you," he said, his voice being projected around the massive theater with a set of speakers. "Students of Beacon. I have gathered you all today for the team assignment ceremony. As huntsmen and huntresses, it is always safer to hunt in numbers. Thus, we group students with the potential for chemistry, and have them make their way through their school years here together."

Amaranth leaned over to Bleu. "Chemistry, huh? I wonder what group they're gonna put Night in."

"The first group we will be assigning to a team will be Valerian Timberwolf, Rìoghail Ysbrydtân, Diamond Schnee, and Night Tian. They will form Team VRDN, and Valerian Timberwolf will be their leader." The room applauded as the group stepped up to the stage, lining up in order as they were announced.

"Dodged that bullet," whispered Bleu when Night was called. Amaranth flashed him a half-hearted look.

The four people called stood on stage, and Amaranth couldn't really make out what kind of emotions were flashing through their faces as congratulations were given out. Valerian looked... well, shocked; Diamond looked polite? Amaranth couldn't really give a better suited term to her; Rioghail was happy, and Night seemed disinterested.

A couple of other groups were announced, and with each one Amaranth felt her nerves rise. She was never really one to predict things like this, but now she was berating herself for not paying more attention to the pairings.

"And our last group will be formed by Amaranth Inflorescence, Midori Fawkes, Bleu Boysen, and Rhyence Saffron. They will form Team AMBR, and will be led by Amaranth Inflorescence."

A wave of surprise flowed through Amaranth. Her? Leader? The original giddy surprise was quickly overridden by the realization of the responsibilities associated with her new position. She thought about who she was leading, and realized that they were probably the best possible team to have. They could cooperate well, and she could be sure they wouldn't question her authority.

Authority? What was she saying? This leader position wasn't that important. Right? She hoped so, because Amaranth could not possibly be an adept leader if relied on. Surely there was a mistake, actually? She hadn't done anything during the trial that would suggest she should be the group leader.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Bleu tugged her on-stage and then hugged her briefly. He was moving his mouth in ways that could have been talking, but Amaranth didn't hear anything. She stared at him, not understanding the gesture. He continued rambling, a bit louder this time. "--Oh my God, Congrats, I can't believe this is happening, I mean I knew I would be in a team with Midori because I was paired with her, but boy was I scared that I'd be paired with Night because he looks intimidating, even worse than a Grimm--"

She looked down the line at the other two, and they both were smiling at Amaranth. Amaranth smiled back, suddenly feeling like the job ahead of her wouldn't be that bad. Not with a team like this.

Diamond could not begin to describe what happened after the monstrous Grimm was defeated, for it was so fragmented in her mind. One moment, they were struggling to contain the beast, and the next everything was excruciatingly silent for a split second before people poured out of everywhere, screaming and hollering a symphany of cheers, applause, and dissonance. It split Diamond's mind apart, shattering her already fragile mental state as she focused so much energy on the battlefield. It was her ultimate flaw: she could not protect her mind when she protected her body. She supposed the opposite was also true, although she had never experienced it.

The sheer noise alone was deafening, but there was also physical contact. She was shoved, pushed, grabbed, even almost carried at some points. And that was all she remembered before medical staff hurried the initiates towards the hospital wing. At one point, someone shoved something in her hands, whispering something she couldn't comprehend, and left. Then she was stuffed into a wing with Rioghail.

Multiple times professors or other official looking people filed in and out of the room, pecking at Rioghail's gash like cultures on a carcass while incessantly interrogating Diamond. She repeated that she was fine, just tired or exhausted or worn out so often that her robotic repetitions fizzled out into silence as her response, all the while preferring instead to gaze out of the window. It wasn't that she was intending to be rude, she had just gone through too much, too fast. She didn't want to completely shut down in the middle of all these people, so she distanced herself. Eventually she heard Rioghail take over her responses to the medical staff, echoing what Diamond herself had spouted out countless times before.

Diamond had refused a bed, so she sat in an armchair next to the large, open window that overlooked the room. Rioghail's leg was heavily bandaged and splinted, and someone had come through and suspended it in a sling. Another inconsequential person fluttered in and attempted to interview the duo, but Rioghail shooed them off, only for them to continue the constant questions down the hall.

Something was stirring inside Beacon Academy; their performance was... different somehow, and much of the school, staff and students alike, buzzed around the medical wing, their excitement bleeding into the walls of the building and the patients inside. Rioghail was constantly fidgeting under her covers. It just made Diamond nervous while she struggled in her own mind. So, for a day, the routine between Rioghail, Diamond, and the outsiders continued in an unnervingly slow fashion as the Academy surged around them to prepare for the ceremony. Diamond couldn't help but feel like an outsider. She could have left Rioghail as she showed no signs of physical damage while Rio's leg healed away. But, she just stayed in the armchair. Rioghail never asked why, and Diamond never explained why.

She struggled to settle things in a way that her mind could understand them again. It felt like, well, it felt like she had reverted back to a child's way of thinking, and it infuriated her, which deepened the cycle even more. She was exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally, and was just tired. She could see students excitedly walking the grounds beneath her, and as the breeze picked up, she caught snippets of their passing conversations. She couldn't decipher the words they were saying. She knew the sounds, but suddenly attaching meaning to the sounds became too daunting of a task for her. She shuddered and shifted her vision down.

It was then she realized that she had been holding onto the object that was thrusted into her hands after initiation the entire time. It was not just any object, either, but the orb from initiation, still softly glowing against her palms Staring at the globe, Diamond had the sudden urge to let it go and crash to the floor. Her hands shook over the prospect of just keeping a hold of the thing.

"Diamond? Diamond? Are you all right?"

Diamond jerked up to see Riogahil's worried eyes gazing at her. She shook her head. "Yes. Yes, sorry. I'm just... toiling over thoughts." She set the orb onto the cold floor with a soft clink. "How are you doing, though, Rioghail?"

Riogahil laughed at the question. "Ah, well, I can't really feel if my leg's healing or not. If I'm being honest, I can't really feel much of anything right now; they have me on some good stuff." She laughed again, but that devolved into a coughing fit. "You know, I feel more sick from this fight than injured."

Diamond frowned. "I know what you mean, Rio. I feel... sick as well, or, well, at least foggy." She sighed. "Well, at least initiation is over. We'll be sorted into our teams soon. And we would be cemented as the next generation of Beacon's Huntresses-in-training." One more step away from Atlas and my family.

Rioghail's face lit up at the prospect. "Isn't that so exciting? Oh, this is gonna be so much fun." She pointed to the furthest wall from them. Hand me those crutches, please. I have absolutely no idea what time it is, but the ceremony must be starting soon. It is getting dark." Diamond obliged and ghosted over to the walking stints. She handed one to Rioghail and offered her hand to help her up from the bed.

The moment their hands touched, something sparked between their fingertips. White energy clashed with maroon in a split second, and all of the hairs on Diamond's arm stood erect. She could feel sensation again, and let out a breath she didn't intend to keep in. The crisp night air took on a sharper note. Rioghail breathed out a soft gasp and inspected her fingertips.

"I'm just gonna go out and say this: What just happened?"

Diamond scrunched her eyebrows. "I can't believe it..."

"What?"

"Something like this is..."

"Yeah? What?"

"Here, touch my finger again."

Rioghail squinted at Diamond for a moment. Then, shrugging, she reached out to Diamond's outstretched hands and clasped it. The spark sprung to life for another instant, but faded away. However, the energy was there. Diamond could feel it, and she could tell Rioghail felt it as well, as a shudder ran through her, and Diamond reciprocated it.

"That's it. Of course." Diamond shut her eyes and focused inward. Sure enough, she felt the barriers falling back in place in her mind and spirit. All it needed was...

"A spark." Diamond breathed out.

"A spark?"

"Yes, you and I, somehow our auras are closely aligned enough that we can give each other's a shock to restart it. Are you feeling any better?" She asked, lurching Rioghail out of the bed. The two swayed together for a moment before Rio tested her weight on the injured leg. A chuckled burst from her lips.

"Yeah, I am. Was that the spark?"

"Yes! Think about it! Both of our auras shattered in the fight. Normally it takes a bit for it to get, well, get enough juice to rebuild itself again. But, we jumpstarted each others. This is so interesting."

"It really is! Buuuut, we should be getting to the ceremony hall."

Diamond stopped her thoughts. "Oh, of course."

They both glanced down, where their hands were still clasped together. Diamond let go and they both stumbled to the door. Before they left the wing, she hurried back in and grabbed the orb before leaving for the ceremony.

Bleu was so hyped from the battle that he ended up missing a lot of the information and conversations that buzzed about around the fairgrounds while he and the others were being corralled into the medical wing. Bleu was fine, of course. Well, he wasn't fine, to say, because the whole experience had quite honestly rattled his mind and he would not want to do that again, but physically he was fine enough compared to a lot of his battle buddies.

Battle buddies.

What a weird way to describe what just happened. Bleu couldn't quite comprehend what those people who fought alongside him were, exactly, to him. Some, of course, would end up becoming members of his team! Which, is such an exciting thought. But most of them would not be, and that thought was overwhelming. Would they be friends, like he considered Rioghail and Valerian and many others to be? Or would they be enemies, like Night? Well, did he consider Night an enemy? Sure, he was always pretty grumpy, but would did that actually count as an enemy?

Needless to say, his thoughts kept on swarming him like that as he was checked for injuries. His aura was fine, as he thought -- well, fine is a bit of an overstatement, as he was just through a huge battle!-- and he had nothing more than minor scratches that broke through his natural healing. The nurse was concerned by that, but he just shook his head and left, presumably to check on other patients. Bleu knew that Rioghail had suffered a nasty cut to her leg after her heroism, and a few others had completely demolished their auras. Sometimes he felt like he had such an easy time compared to the rest of the battle buddies on the field.

Battle buddies, what a name.

No, no, focus Bleu. What were you talking about again? Oh, right!

His thoughts wandered back to the people who injured themselves during the fight. Bleu couldn't help it. But, one thing suddenly popped into his head. Midori had won the battle, like, with crazy superpowers from legends, but then everything else had happened. She was his battle buddy beyond all the other Huntsmen. He stood up (he didn't realize he had sat, or where he was in the infirmary wing) from a dusty armchair and glance out into the hallway. Now that he had started to focus on the outside world, he realized there was quite a bit of commotion going on around him. The other wings were all supposedly full. But, that was a lot more rooms than the battle buddies. Something must have happened.

Bleu crept around the first couple of rooms, glued to the wall until a door cut it off. He then peeked inside, and when he didn't see Midori, he would move past. He didn't see Midori, but he did notice Rioghail and Diamond in one room. Rio's leg was pretty heavily bandaged, and he almost stopped to say hi, but he was a man on a mission. He saw a man with a badly cut face but moved on because his frown was more intimidating than anything else on him.

Despite Bleu's best detective skills, he didn't find Midori and he eventually wandered to the ceremony hall. Their cots from the night before were still there, but on one end of the room, the ceremony was being prepped for tomorrow. Bleu rushed to the sleeping roll he could have sworn was Midori's, but she wasn't there. Well, he'd have to continue to look for her in the medical wing again tomorrow. After all, he had only gone searching in one direction from his own room. And so he laid down to sleep, ready to rise early enough to find Midori and share all of his new information with his teammate, his battle buddy.



"--Bleu, Bleu! Wake up, or you're gonna get crushed."

Bleu jumped up from his sleeping roll, stumbling as one of his legs entangled with the fabric. He grabbed the shoulder of someone, only to almost fall as they moved away. Bleu gasped but managed to regain his balance. He swirled around and almost collided with--

"Midori!" He shouted and embraced her tightly. He released her after a moment and tugged his bedroll out from under her boots. "I must have overslept. I was going to look for you in the medical wing." He wrapped up the blankets haphazardly and stuffed them under an arm.

"Oversleeping is a bit of an understatement; it's almost ceremony time." She wrapped her arms around herself, as if she was cold. "I'm glad you looked for me, Bleu, but I wasn't in the medical wing."

"Oh, that's probably why I didn't find you, then! I was thinking it was because I didn't check all of the rooms, which is reasonable, but I should have set an alarm on my Scroll to wake me up. It must have been the fight yesterday; I guess I was more exhausted than I thought--"

"Bleu, the ceremony is starting soon. We should get to the stage," Midori said, grabbing his arm and leading him through the flocks of people. They quickly found some steps that led backstage.

"Midori!" Bleu shouted above the growing noise. "I completely forgot to say, but why were you not in the medical wing? Were you not injured? Where were you if you weren't--"

"Not now, Bleu," she whispered, "the show is about to start."

So, he followed her to the rest of the groups. Rioghail was holding onto a crutch, but the rest of the people he knew were no worse for wear. Then they were called on stage. He would have to ask her what happened after initiation.

After the initiation ceremony had concluded, Valerian and his new teammates, along with the rest of the formally accepted first-years, collected their belongings from the sides of the hall. The audience had quickly dispersed, so finding his bags wasn’t as difficult as finding his friends had been before the ceremony.

Rio chattered merrily behind him while they all followed a prefect to their assigned dormitory. He’d been in a daze since being declared the leader of Team VRDN — Team Viridian! — so he was glad he didn’t need to find it on his own. Imagine that: his first act as leader would have been to lead his team astray. He silently thanked Headmaster Ozpin for his foresight.

Their dormitories were all located on the same floor, which was always the one vacated by the graduated fourth years. In their case, it was the third of four floors. Teams VRDN and AMBR were assigned rooms opposite each other at the end of the hallway, while Team LBRT (consisting of the brutes who had assisted them during initiation) was given the room between them, at the very end of the hallway. After the prefect departed, Valerian nodded to the other teams and opened the door for Rio and Diamond to enter, slipping in after them.

Rio dumped her luggage onto the floor and stared at the four adjacent beds, of which the middle two were separated by the window. The ones on the sides had some space between each other and the walls. “This isn’t going to work for me,” Rio objected, hands on hips.

“Really?” Valerian asked. “You and Diamond could take one side and then Night and I would take the other. Besides,” he looked at the wall behind them, “we have four desks over here. We could move the two in the corners to the sides of the room, but that wall,” he pointed at the one to their left, “clearly has a door in it.”

Rio approached it and peered inside the next room. “Ooh, it’s our en suite! And there are two showers! Only one toilet and sink, but that’s fine, I guess.”

“I have an idea,” Diamond announced. “Rioghail, Valerian, please step outside.”

“Sure,” Valerian agreed, complying.

After Rio followed, Diamond moved to the right of the room, out of their line of sight. A black appeared beneath the bed and dresser to the far left, after which they moved across the floor. The desk and chair to the left of the door also moved, and they could hear more movement on Diamond’s side of the room. The furniture continued moving for a few more seconds before they were called back.

“Okay, that works,” Rio said, approving.

The leftmost bed and desk had exchanged positions, with the desk having been reoriented to stand against the bathroom’s wall. The same had happened on the other side of the room with the rightmost bed and desk, except the latter was at the middle of the wall, between the two beds. The other two desks and beds, along with their accompanying dressers and chairs, remained unchanged.

Shifting her bags onto the moved bed on the right, Rio declared, “Mine, now!”

“Acknowledged,” Valerian chuckled, claiming the unmoved window bed opposite her.

Diamond placed her many suitcases in her corner of the room, next to the bed on the other side of the window. She zipped one open and produced a towel, nightgown, and pouch of toiletries. “I need to take a shower, if nobody minds.”

“Nope!”

Valerian shook his head, to which Diamond responded with a single nod before disappearing into the en suite. “You fine with sleeping next to two desks?” he asked Rio.

She looked left and right between the two. “Technically, Night’s bed has the least amount of space around it, since it’s closest to both doors, so yeah, I’m fine!” Looking back to Valerian, she continued, “Where do you think he is, anyway?”

He shrugged and held up his palms. “Night’s a loner.” He glanced out the window at the gold and pink evening sky. “He probably went for a walk or something, and given his name, I doubt the darkness bothers him much.”

“Do you think he’ll have difficulty finding our room?” she asked, overturning one of her bags and unceremoniously emptying its content onto her bed. She started pulling out random pieces of clothing and stuffing them into the small dresser beside her.

Copying her, albeit stashing his clothing away more neatly, he said, “I don’t.” Frowning, he added, “But I do think he’ll need to realise, hopefully sooner than later, that he can’t keep going off on his own. Since we’re a team now, we’ll need to depend on each other for support during the next four years — both in battle and in our everyday lives.”

Rio grinned at him. “You’re interesting.”

“Beg your pardon?” He’d usually have made a joke, but he was surprised by the unexpected observation.

She closed her last drawer and unfastened a cylindrical holder from one of her bags. “I said you’re interesting. Usually, you’re cheerful and happy-go-lucky, but sometimes, you become serious and thoughtful. I can see why Professor Ozpin chose you to be a leader.”

Valerian blinked. “Thanks!”

“You’re welcome!” She walked around her bed to appraise the wall. “You know, the floral patterns and half-wall panelling are quaint and all, but cream and grey aren’t really my style.” She popped open the cylinder and pulled a poster from it. “It needs a bit more colour!” She stuck it onto the wall and backed up against her bed, nodding in satisfaction.

Rising and moving to stand on the scarlet, circular rug at the centre of the room, Valerian inspected the poster. It showed the band Guns and Dragons in front of a background of fire. They were apparently in the middle of a performance, the lead vocalist’s golden locks surrounded by flames and her crimson eyes ablaze with a fierce light. The other band members, despite their equally cool leather getups and passionate expressions, seemed tame by comparison.

He grinned. “Nice!” Heading back to his dresser and resuming the unpacking, he added, “A fitting taste in music.”

She unclipped Draigoch from her belt, resting it against the wall before walking around her bed again. “What about you? What kind of music do you like?” She unstrapped her elbow and shoulder pads and tossed them onto the dresser.

Finally done, Valerian sat down on his bed. “Err, anything, really. I don’t have a preference for any specific genre; I enjoy a good rap as much as a violin concert.”

“See what I mean?” She grinned devilishly. “Interesting.”

Valerian rolled his eyes in good nature. “Yeah, whatever. How’re your leg and stomach?”

“Didn’t you ask me that before the ceremony?”

He laughed. “You were too busy explaining how you and Diamond had experienced a spark between your auras to answer.”

“Oh, riiight, I remember now! Yeah, it’s fine. The injuries will scar, but they’re healing well. I don’t suppose you have anything to show for the battle?”

“Not even minor cuts or bruises! My aura remained intact throughout the entire initiation. Dad would be proud.” His smile faltered a little. “I’m one of the lucky few. Besides those like you who were obviously wounded, others had suffered less noticeable injuries. Amaranth and I had shared a room, and though we exchanged a few sentences, she soon drifted off. I asked if she was okay, but she gave me some weak reassurances before softly sobbing in pain. I had thought she looked fine. It killed me that I couldn’t do anything to relieve her suffering.”

Rio made to respond, but Night chose that moment to walk in, a single backpack slung across a shoulder and earphones plugged into his ears.

“Where have you been?” Valerian asked, trying to sound neutral, but speaking in a slightly annoyed and worried tone instead. Gosh, he sounded like his mother!

Night made no response and tossed his backpack against the wall next to the remaining bed after performing a quick scan of the room. He placed his scroll on the dresser, removed the ear buds, and slipped off his cloak, dropping it onto the lower end of his bed. He then pulled off his shirt, dropping it onto the same spot, popped the earphones back in, and reclined on his bed, arms crossed behind his head.

“…How did he remove his shirt without taking off his armguards?” Rio asked, astonished.

Valerian facepalmed. He was too elated and dumbstruck during the ceremony to complain about Night, but seeing as the initial shock had worn off, he was quickly realising it would be up to him to get his team to work together as a cohesive unit. Diamond and Rio were already getting along, and though Rio was technically Night’s partner, Valerian suspected she wouldn’t have much luck in eroding his solitary habits.

He straightened and regarded the prone figure on the other side of the room with determination. Still, he looked forward to the responsibilities of leading a team; imagine the satisfaction of successfully dispelling Night’s negativity and being able to call him “friend” (even if Night seemed incapable of ever saying that himself). He hadn’t backed down from any of the challenges he’d faced before, and he certainly wasn’t going to let a moody teenager change that.

“I can’t tell if you’re staring pointedly or simply glaring at him,” Rio said amusedly, her head cocked ever-so-slightly at Valerian.

He snickered. “It’s more of a ‘I don’t care if you prefer your own company; you’re one of us now, and you’re gonna like it!’ look than anything else.”

Rio giggled, “I don’t know, he seems pretty content with his music.” Her eyes widened. “Oh! What do you think he’s listening to?!”

“Somehow, I doubt he’d feel like answering that.”

“Hmm, good point.” She rose and walked over to him, bending down and tilting her head to position her ear close to his. She gasped, shooting an excited look at Valerian. “It’s Ignite! He’s listening to Ignite!” She moved her head a bit closer, perhaps to hear exactly where in the song he was, but Night flicked her ear without even opening his eyes. Rio recoiled. “Hey, that hurt!”

“Mind your own business,” he replied nonchalantly.

She humphed and stalked back to her bed, sitting down with an expression akin to that of a grumpy child, pursed lips and all. “Rude.”

Valerian smiled sympathetically and reflected on her exclamation. “I guess that means Diamond is potentially the only member of the team who doesn’t know the song or band.”

Rio’s gaze was glued to Valerian’s in an instant. “You listen to them, too?!”

A fiendish grin appeared on Valerian’s face. “And aaaaany remarkable heart has gone through the hardship and shaaaaame—”

Bouncing in excitement, she interjected, “That’s booooorn of standing apart from the easily processed, the uniform army of saaaaa—”

“—aaaaa—”

“—aaaaame!”

“And that’s just!”

“So!”

“Lame.”

Both heads snapped to look at Night, stunned at how he’d concluded the verse before bursting into laughter at how characteristically he’d done so. Perhaps despite himself, Night couldn’t help but grin along, eyes still closed.

Everything hurt.

With a faint whimper, Midori struggled to open her eyes even a crack, but the ambient light from wherever she lay was too much to process. What happened?

"Good, you're up," said a faint voice that sounded like it was masked by rushing water. It became slightly louder as the speaker approached. "Well, sorta."

Midori tried again at opening her eyes, and was surprised to see the blurred outlines of a familiar form peering down at her. She could barely discern messy dark hair and a grey suit of some kind. Was it...

"...Cloud?" Midori's voice came out as a croak, like that time she'd come down yet again with that awful plague and the only thing that helped was this hearty broth the older boy had managed to concoct from the Clan's limited food and herb supplies.

"Here, take this." A flask of something pungent-smelling was held close to her lips. "Should take the edge off the pain."

Midori's nose wrinkled. "Er, no thank you."

"Good answer." Cloud let out a low chuckle. "You did good out there today, kid. I think your friends back home ought to be proud."

Home. What constituted home to her these days? "But ... what ... what are you doing here?" she asked. "How did you find me?"

"You left a pretty big crater, I'll say that much," Cloud replied. "Tell me, though, how long have you been able to do that?"

Crater? Midori thought in shock. She sat up a little too quickly, throwing aside a raggedy blanket of some kind in the process.

"Oh no...."

Slowly but surely, it was all coming back: the explosion of ... senses, perception, precision. Taking out that Grimm like she'd been doing this for years, not a new initiate. She shook her head in disbelief; this had never happened before.

"Hey, hey, relax, sister." She was gently eased back against some kind of lumpy backrest, which she slowly realized was the trunk of a once-gigantic tree. "Whatever trick you pulled back there completely shattered your aura. Like the moon." Another smug chuckle. "I'll let you rest up. Otherwise, it'll feel like a really long way back to Beacon...."

Reluctantly, Midori obeyed, but not before reaching out, taking Cloud's hand, and gripping it tightly. He seemed momentarily taken aback, but didn't pull away. And that's how she stayed until she drifted back off into a dreamless slumber.



When she awoke, it seemed like several hours had passed. The sun was shining high in the sky, indicating midday.

Midori tried standing, and aside from slightly achy limbs and a still-extremely achy head, she seemed all right. The first few steps were wobbly and uncertain, but she was making good progress.

The "blanket" she'd used for however long she'd been resting turned out to be a cape of some kind. It was ragged and torn in places, but the material was thick and warm, almost elegant. The Cloud she remembered from childhood would've hated that sort of thing, saying it'd get in the way or catch onto things when you're trying to run, but evidently he'd left it for her.

Where was he now? Midori looked around and found no sign of him; only a few coarse black feathers at her feet, which was strange, because she didn't hear or see any birds either.

She found the rest of her things arranged neatly on the tree stump: her knapsack, quiver of arrows, and ... what remained of Dreamcatcher. Choking back a sob, she held up the splintery halves of her trusty bow. There was no way this could be fixed. Not that she could think of, anyway....

She wrapped the pieces in the borrowed cape and slid the bundle inside her knapsack, where it would stay until she got back to Beacon. She looked up and saw the academy's prominent tower in the distance -- if she moved quickly, she'd probably be back before noon, in time for the initiation ceremony.



"Wow." Bleu Boysen's eyes were as wide as saucers as Midori recounted her perilous night, and her encounter with Cloud. It seemed like she'd finally got the boy at a momentary loss for words.

They sat cross-legged on their beds, Bleu on his and Midori on hers, on one side of their room, as the window let in shafts of light from the afternoon sun. They shared some breakfast items Bleu had managed to talk the someone at kitchens into scrounging up at this late hour. Bleu ate ravenously, while Midori only pecked, birdlike, at her food. She didn't feel terribly hungry, despite the apparent stresses to her system.

"I mean, to me, it looked like you'd gone all fwooosh," Bleu remarked, spraying crumbs everywhere, "like how I'd imagine the sun going when it's about to fizzle out and burn the planet again like...."

"But what happened after that?" Midori demanded. "I mean, after I went, uh, 'all fwooosh?"

"The people came and took us all away," Bleu finished lamely. "I figured someone had taken you to the med wing, like Rio and Valerian. But you know that part. Maybe this Cloud guy nabbed you during all the commotion. How'd you say you know him again?"

"I didn't say," Midori muttered. "Well, it's complicated."

"I like complicated," Bleu said helpfully. "Like, if I was going to invent a new ice cream flavor, I'd call it 'complicated' because there'd be fruits, nuts, chocolate, salty noodles...." He caught himself. "But please, go on, battle buddy."

"Okay," Midori said hesitantly, taking a deep breath. "Well, it starts with-- Wait a minute."

"Huh?"

"What did you just call me?"

Bleu looked momentarily confused, like he couldn't recall the last thing he'd just said. "I, uh, called you 'battle buddy,' battle buddy."

Midori's brows quirked in an expression of utter confusion. "How about ... team-mates?"

"Nah," Bleu replied. "Just doesn't have the same ring to it. See, everyone's got a teammate, but you're special. You're like, seriously O.P. So you're something more, someone you want to have on your side in a battle because they're totally going to win. So you're a battle buddy -- THE battle buddy."

Midori facepalmed.

"Now, uh, what were you saying, battle bud--?"

Midori held up a hand to shush him. "Never mind," she said. "Can't remember.... Tell me, since we're apparently buddies: Bleu, do you ever stop to take a breath? Or only when you can inhale an entire curry bun in the process?"

"Poke!" Rìoghail said as if to vocalise her actual poking of Diamond's shoulder.

Seeing no reaction from the other girl, she made to repeat the action for the third time, but then Diamond finally turned to her,"You should be paying attention to class".

First initiation, then the ceremony, followed by being sorted into room. All that was over now and with breakfast finished, the students were now easing in from this exciting beginning to the more mundane life of school: classes had officially started.

"But it's boooring! I thought we were gonna do real Hunter training!"

The sudden rush of air reaching her ears informed her that their jumpy teacher had moved near her. Turning to look at him, she realised he was much closer than she expected. The green haired man took a sip out of his thermos, before he spoke.

"Are we bothering you maybe?"

A snicker was heard from the other side of the classroom. Rìoghail looked the professor -doctor as of recent- in the eyes and replied with no hesitation, "Not really. We're fine".

Another snigger was heard and Rio, stealing a glance at its direction, found a blonde boy putting on a rather self-satisfied grin as the source. Turning back to Professor Oobleck, she noticed him giving her a quizzical smile before he continued.

"We have here a rather common case of a young Huntress-in-Training looking down on history classes because she doesn't find them practical enough. Many of you perhaps think the same. But you would be wrong to underestimate history's importance in the work of Huntsmen and Huntresses as well as everything else", though the man had started talking at a normal place, he was gradually speeding up,

"I'm sure you're all familiar with the tale of the Huntsman and the Wolf. Of course that is merely a fairytale, not history -rescuing little girls from the bellies of beasts is something that unfortunately we are not capable of-, but it is most certainly a story that was based on a real man who must have fought a real Grimm. More likely in fact, it's based on multiple historical events that live on today as legends and fairytales. But tales such as these, reaching all of Remnant, that shape our world. The legend of Huntsmen and Huntresses rose from these stories inspring people all over Remnant to not give up hope, but instead fight the Grimm themselves; in turn becoming Hunters themselves and creating new legends. It is their legacy we continue in this academy, along with the other Hunter academies, and forgetting this past which influences us so how are we supposed to understand what we are in the present? SimilarlywecanseehowthepastaffectsthepresentinalldomainsoflifeandthatincludesallactivititiesofHuntsmenandHuntressesaswell.
Thosewhoforgethistoryarecondemnedtorepeatitastheysay.Ifwedonotlearnfromthepastthenthemistakesofourancestors,theirsuccessestheywillallbefornaught.
Rememberthatwedonotneedtoreinventthewheeleverytime,butinsteadwecanusetheknowledgeandwisdomofourpredecessors.
Althoughtodayyou'rejuststudentstomorrowyou'llbetheprotectosofRemnantandassuchyou'llneedtoknowthelandyouprotectandthatofcoursesenvolopesitshistoryaswell.
Nowdoyougetwhyhistory'ssoimportant?Good,wellwecancontinuenow!"

Oobleck's speech had a definite effect on Rio. She might have lost him halfway through, but he'd definitely earned her respect for managing to speak for so long without taking a breath. Now she understood that he, too, had the skill of a proper Huntsman.

"Well, where we? Ah yes. The origins of the four Kingdoms".

The history lesson continued and inspired by their teacher's speech the students listened with refreshed interest: three minutes later, Rìoghail had to resort to poking Valerian.



"Hmm. So next up we have... uh, Fundamentals of Team Strategy", Valerian said looking at his timetable as they walked out of the classroom.

"Team Strategy? So does that mean our team fights other teams? Cool!"

"Don't get too excited just yet. It might turn out to be more theoretical than you think", Diamond warned.

"I prefer to stay optimistic. Let's give 'em hell! Right, Night?"

In response to that, Night proceeded to put on earbuds and started walking away.

"Don't ignore me, you jarring idle-headed nut-hook!" Rio yelled at him and prepared to tackle him to get her point across.

However, before she could do that somebody else started talking to them.

"Oho? So, this is the legendary Team Viridian? How inelegant to fight amongst yourselves! Legendary was sarcastic, by the way! Ahaha!"

Looking his way, it turned out to be the same blonde guy from before, accompanied by three more people -another team probably. Examining them, Rio found a frowning girl staring at them with contempt; a giant of a boy with a broody expression; and a second girl who was excitably fixing her eyes on one of them, then another, then another and so on. Most notably, gray folded wings extended from her shoulders.

"And you are?" Valerian asked with a neutral, slightly curious expression.

"Oh us? We're only the dazzling stars of Beacon that are about to take this academy by storm", the other student started saying with some exaggerated motions of his arms. "Lily Lorelei, the beautifully singing prodigy diva, the sweet death delivering Banshee; Titus Singard, the silent but deadly guardian -what could be going through his mind? No one knows, but be wary of making an enemy of him... or falling for his model handsome looks; Robin Cheith, the charming heiress to the Cheith hotel chain as well as devastating fighter. And then there's me, Goldin Daz, the fabulous leader that shines through the night of Remnant and brings an end to darkness. Together: G. L. T. R. We. Are... TEAM GLITTER!"
While the boy exclaimed their team name, the four of them moved in a coordinated manner and... struck poses! "It's fine if you take pictures", Goldin added.

"I have no idea who you guys are?" Rìoghail replied.

"Didn't you even see them in the ceremony yesterday? Professor Ozpin even said their names", Diamond noted.

"Uh, not really. I didn't pay much attention after our team was announced".

Goldin, who'd worn a rather smug smile while he posed now looked somewhat annoyed, but recovered quickly as he turned to them once again.

"You know Teams Viridian, Amber and Liberty must be pretty impressive. Everyone's been talking about them and their performance during initiation", he spoke smiling widely, but with a rather intense look on his eyes. "Tell me, is it true you even managed to get half the cave to collapse? And did you get your team members injured? Is that really so impressive? Should everyone be talking about you? Don't you know that Team Glitter performed so amazingly it didn't just finish the task first with no injuries, but they did so with all the elegance befitting of the dazzling stars of Beacon? Aha! Ahaha! Ahahaha!"

"What are you talking about?" Valerian answered in a joking tone. It sounded forced.

"Oh, doesn't Valerian Timberwolf seem to be taking this pretty well, considering..."

"Considering what?"

"That you failed your team as their leader. Didn't you let one of them to get badly injured? What kind of leader doesn't protect his teammates? Really, what is it like?" He turned to Rio. "To be wounded like that. Can you even fight anymore?"

"I can let my fist convince you that I can", Rio showed Goldin her fist to demonstrate.

Goldin laughed and looked like he was about to respond, but the haughty-looking girl, presumably Lily, cut him off: "Next class is starting soon. We shouldn't be late on account of these people".

"Oh, of course!" Valerian interjected unexpectedly. He was smiling brightly again. "We wouldn't want to a team like yours to miss class. I'll make this quick". Looking at Goldin, he said, "You're absolutely right. I lead by example, and when I was younger, I fell off a roof and caused this", he pointed at his brown eye. "Rioghail here thinks scars are pretty cool, and even if I wasn't team leader during the initiation yet, she must have followed my example. Yours, though, is a much better example to follow. Would you mind if our team took a picture with yours?"

The presumably Lily girl made to cut Goldin off again, but he was too quick that time. "I did say it was fine if you took pictures. Get ready".

Rio shared a skeptical glance with Diamond, but Valerian beamed at them and made a waving gesture with his scroll. "Come on, girls!"

"Yes, it's not everyday you get to pose with the dazzling stars of Beacon. Your leader has more sense than I gave him credit for".

Diamond sighed almost imperceptibly and stood on Valerian's right. Rio shrugged and joined him on the left.

"Let's give them our best smiles!" He extended his arm with his scroll's screen pointing towards them. "Ready, team?"

Without waiting for a response, Goldin dramatically announced, "Prepare to share in the fabulous wonder of... TEAM GLITTER!"

The other team struck the same coordinated pose as before, and Valerian snapped the photo. Rio had no idea what the boy was getting at, but she flashed a perfect grin at the camera. Did Diamond, too?

"Thanks, you guys! This will look great on my social media".

"We really must go now", haughty girl said.

"See you around, Viridian!" Goldin said, laughing with his teammates before strutting away.

"What was that about?" Diamond asked, frowning slightly.

"You'll see", Valerian replied mischievously.

Rio bent closer to peer at his screen. "You have Bluebird and Instascroll?"

He grinned. "You don't?" He typed away for a few seconds before declaring, "There, it's been uploaded! Have a look".

Diamond had smiled at the camera after all. The picture's caption read, The admiring Team GLTR poses for a photo with Team VRDN! (Night's too cool for fans.)

Rio chuckled, "That's funny, but I still think we should face these guys head on".

"Rìoghail! Should you really be talking like this when you're still recovering from the wounds of your previous fight?" Diamond admonished.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It only means we're concerned about your safety," Valerian explained. "During initiation, you jumped into the fight a little rashly".

"I thought I did pretty well against the Grimm".

"Yes, you did wonderfully! But you also got hurt pretty badly. You were only left with scars this time, but what about your next close call? If the injury on your stomach had been a little deeper, your muscles might have been permanently damaged. A wound like that could even prevent you from becoming a Huntress".

"These are just necessary risks", Rìoghail replied with a shadowed expression. "If you cower from a fight, that just shows your weakness to others".

"But is picking a fight really better? Especially when your leg's still hurt". He smiled reassuringly. "Besides, we're not cowering. If we do end up fighting them, we'll kick their pompous butts together!"

Rio opened her mouth to speak, closed it and then opened it again. But before she could say anything more, a bell rang, signifying that class was beginning.

"Ah, shoot! We forgot about class! We should hurry. Let's talk about this later, okay?"

Valerian said before he grabbed both girls' arms and started running through the already-empty-of-students (besides them) hallways.

Fundamentals of Team Strategy took place in the Great Hall, so it wasn’t exactly a difficult class to find. About a minute after the bell had gone, Valerian, Rio, and Diamond finally arrived.

Rio almost burst through the doors, but Valerian grabbed her arm and Diamond extended an arm in front of her. “We can’t just run in!” he whispered nervously.

“Take a deep breath,” Diamond added. “We’re already late, so try not to attract more attention that necessary.”

Valerian nodded. “Exactly.” He opened the door and took a step back. “After you.” He followed the girls into the class and found… nobody. The hall was empty, save for one particularly displeased-looking Professor Goodwitch, who stood with arms crossed in front of her chest. Valerian grinned sheepishly and awkwardly scanned the empty hall. “Err, good day, professor. Where… are the other students?”

The professor uncrossed her arms, said, “Follow me,” and strode past them. Diamond and Rio gave Valerian puzzling looks, but he silently shrugged and did as instructed. Goodwitch led them to one of the regular classrooms, where their fellow students were already seated. Most of the students turned in their seats to look at the latecomers, while Goodwitch moved to the desk at the front of the class. Valerian grimaced in embarrassment.

The desks were split into three islands, with two aisles at the sides and two more separating the central island from the peripheral two. Each consisted of four rows of long, continuous desks, the peripheral ones having space for four students, while the central ones could seat twelve. The desks were made of a handsome, dark brown wood, and even though the class looked identical to all the others in the school, Valerian didn’t mind. It looked as grand as Beacon itself did.

Team AMBR sat in the second row on the right, with Bleu waving enthusiastically next to a mortified Rhyence. Night sat in the row in front of them, but unlike the other students, he only looked ahead. He sat all the way to the side, so Valerian walked down the closer central aisle and scooted all the way next to him, with Diamond and then Rio following. Night made no acknowledgement and seemed strained.

“Now that Mister Timberwolf and the rest of Team Viridian have joined us,” Goodwitch said, “we may begin the class. As you must have deduced by now, there has been a change to the usual schedule — today’s class, as well as all our classes for the next two weeks, will be purely theoretical.”

Collective groans could be heard from many of the students, Rio and Midori chief among these.

“This is because of the outstanding performance all of you showed during the initiation,” she continued calmly. “Professor Ozpin and I agreed you would not suffer if we delayed the practical aspect of this class in favour of covering some of the theory as quickly as possible. There is much you can learn in battle, but there is also much to learn outside it. To that end, you will receive an assignment to be completed in pairs.”

More groans filled the class, and Valerian heard a thump behind him as one of his friends in AMBR dropped their head onto their desk. “It can’t be that bad,” he said and smiled encouragingly at his team.

Goodwitch collected a stack of papers from her desk and approached Team VRDN first and moved to the back of the class, handing out two assignments per team. “You would ordinarily receive this assignment later in the semester, after we’ve covered most of the relevant work, but the change in schedule means you will be busier than first years usually are at that point. You will use this class to start working on it already, and I’ll go through some of the questions with you.”

Diamond inspected one of the two sheets on the desk. “What does the assignment entail, professor? The questions appear to ask for responses to vague contexts.”

Goodwitch walked back down the aisle, handing out assignments to the students seated in the middle of the class. “You and your partner will be presented with different scenarios to which I expect thorough responses. The scenarios are purposely vague to test your ability to analyse all possible factors and outcomes of a given situation.” She walked around the front and up the other aisle. “I will keep your limited class time in mind when allocating marks.”

“How are pairs decided?” Amaranth asked from the left of her row behind Valerian.

“You may pair with whomever you like, provided they are a teammate. If you cannot choose, work with your default partner.” She walked back down the aisle.

Night sighed heavily. “I’m out,” he muttered and slung his bag over his shoulder.

Valerian blinked. “What?”

The other boy made no response and simply started up the side aisle.

“Night!” Valerian whispered. When he still got no response, he rose and quickly followed Night, grabbing onto his arm. “Hey, wait!”

“Too good for this class, are we, Mister Timberwolf?” Goodwitch asked. Valerian turned around and saw she had already returned to her desk. For the second time that period, the whole class was looking at him. “Is school too mundane for your taste? Do you two have something better to do?”

“Not at all, professor!” he answered quickly. “We, err, were… going to the bathroom!” He looked back to Night, who was glaring at his hand. Valerian released Night’s arm and uttered a single, nervous laugh. He looked back to the professor. She didn’t seem convinced at all.

“And the bag? Were you two intending on working on the assignment from the lavatory?”

“Err…” He really didn’t know how to answer that. “Actually, Diamond and I are partners, so I guess—”

“You and Mister Tian will work on the assignment either here or in the headmaster’s office. Which will it be?”

“We’ll do it here,” he answered very seriously.

“Good. Return to your seats.”

Valerian nodded and obeyed. Night sulkily plopped down next to him.

“The work we’ll cover during the next two weeks will revolve around the importance of communication both within and between teams. As such, your focus when answering these questions should be on crafting a coordinated response between you and your partner. Although I still expect you to try your best in considering the influencing factors in these scenarios, doing this while working as separate individuals will not suffice.”

Valerian glanced at Night, who refused to make eye contact. Remembering how they’d called him “Loner” before, he was bound not to receive the assignment very well, but he’d also shown willingness to cooperate when it was clearly the most beneficial thing to do. Or did that only apply when his life was on the line?

“I want everyone to look at question one. Adjacent students can share an assignment for now and choose partners later.” Goodwitch paused for a moment to allow everyone to find the question. “It states, ‘You and your partner are enjoying a leisurely walk in the park when a man utters various insults and slurs at both of you.’ The question is only worth ten marks because it is rather straightforward. Does anyone care to explain my reasoning?”

“Well, it’s rather obvious, isn’t it?” a familiarly pompous voice in the leftmost front row replied. “The man must begrudge you and your partner for your reputations. It’s a matter of jealousy and insecurity.”

“That is certainly one possibility, Mister Daz. If one possibility is all you provide, however, you should expect only one mark, and if you provided no elaboration, perhaps not even that.”

“Can we take a moment to appreciate that sick burn?” Rioghail said, leaning forward and eyeing her friends and teammates, a wicked grin on her face.

Valerian had to admit it was satisfying peering at the other side of the class and seeing Goldin scowl, yet remain silent.

“Does anyone else want to try offering an alternative explanation?” Goodwitch asked, looking at the rest of the class.

“You need to think beyond just what applies to you and consider all possibilities.”

Professor Goodwitch looked up to the back left of the class, and all the students craned to see who had spoken. “A good start, Mister Argyris. Please, continue. With more volume, if you can.”

“Yes, professor.” Light cleared his throat and spoke more loudly. “The question is only worth ten marks because the scenario itself is simple. If a man provokes you, you and your partner can walk away. He might want to pick a fight, but he wants you to start it so that he can claim you attacked him first and he only defended himself. That means a physical confrontation is beyond the scope, so you and your partner only need to focus on what he’d say and how you’d react to it. Oh, and why he would provoke you in the first place. Maybe you’re old enemies, one or both of you is a faunus, you’re clearly in a same-sex relationship, something like that.”

Valerian gaped at the hulk of a boy. Light wasn’t unreasonable per se, but he hadn’t been very friendly either. And he certainly hadn’t seemed open-minded or even anything resembling wise or thoughtful. Wow. He looked in front of him again. Just another reminder that you never knew what experiences a person was hiding. He stole a glance at the equally distracted Night before looking back to the professor.

“That is indeed correct. Very well said. Class, let this be an example to you: use any information you can glean from the question, but assume nothing and explain your motivation. The question mentions slurs in addition to insults, so you need to imagine any situation in which this would be applicable. Mister Argyris also pointed out that a fight can be avoided. Identify the setting of the question, if possible.

One of the girls in Team GLTR raised her hand. “But professor, what if the park is in an unsavoury area and you carried your weapons with you specifically in case of such an attack?”

“A good question, Miss Cheith, and you and your partner are welcome to discuss this when you answer the question. If the park happens to be in an unsafe area, mention what you could do to deescalate the situation to prevent a fight. Remember, your first duty as a Huntress would be to ensure the safety of the general public, which includes not only everyone else in the park, but also the man insulting you. Also ask why you would visit a park in an unsafe area in the first place. Logic will guide you in deciding which situations are likely and which can reasonably be dismissed.”

“Thank you, professor.”

Professor Goodwitch nodded and faced the class in general again. “I hope you took notes on what your fellow students observed. You can learn from each other just as much as you can learn from us, your teachers.”

Valerian grimaced and quickly retrieved a book and stationary from his bag. He had intended on taking notes, but with everything that had happened since the class had started, he’d forgotten. He glanced to his left. Diamond had not.

“You should now all have an idea of how to approach the first ten questions, since they are all worth ten marks. Find question eleven.” She waited a few seconds for the students to do so. “You will see it’s worth twenty marks. That’s because the second half of the assignment is of a higher calibre than the first. It reads, ‘You find yourselves in a bar where a fight between two individuals breaks out.’ What do you notice is different from the previous question?”

“There is direct conflict this time,” Bleu called, making Rio audibly start.

“Clearly, Mister Boysen. What else?”

“There are more people involved than just you, your partner, and the person or people causing the conflict?”

Goodwitch seemed slightly more satisfied with his answer, though her default expression made it difficult to tell much of what she thought. “And why is that?”

“Well, you’re in a bar, so there’re other people around. If it was empty, the question would’ve said so. You and your partner need to decide if you need to get these people to safety. But it could be a bar full of mean people, as Robin suggested, so a fight could mean you and your partner are in danger instead. The two people fighting could also be bad guys, but they could just be two drunken dudes having a fistfight.”

Valerian looked up from his notebook and grinned and nodded at Bleu, impressed. Bleu noticed the movement and grinned back at him. Hidden experiences indeed! …But how did he know a member of GLTR by name?

“A good, concise answer, Mister Boysen. I hope you’re all paying attention, because these are valuable responses. Note the increased number of variables the question has. You all ought to have a decent grasp of what’s required from you, so you may now choose your partners and begin. If you have any questions, feel free to approach my desk or ask from your seat.” She pulled her chair forward and sat down, immediately scribbling some stuff on a paper (probably administrative things).

Valerian turned to Night. “I bet you’re regretting trying to leave now, aren’t you?” he said with a grin.

“I’m regretting a lot of things,” he said dryly.

“I’m not!” Rio cheerfully piped up. “Mister Cheerful is stuck with Mister Grumpy, which seems to me like a perfect combination. Right now, life is great!”

Night simply groaned.

“Hey, I just remembered something.” Valerian faced Night again. “Do you mind—?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t even finish my question.”

“Unless you plan on offering to shut up, the answer is yes.”

“I was actually going to ask if you mind if I asked you a question, but this answers that. So… I’m gonna ask anyway!” His scroll buzzed, but it was set to vibrate, so he could ignore it. “I sensed a lot of negativity when I touched your arm earlier.”

“Yes. I was annoyed. Still am.”

“Why?”

“I don’t like people, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“It’s kind of hard not to. But why don’t you like people?”

He sighed. “Because people talk a lot and ask tedious questions and don’t mind their own business.”

Valerian’s scroll buzzed again. “Okay, those are fair points, but the way this school is run means my business includes knowing your business.”

“And you wonder why I’m annoyed?”

Valerian scratched his head and frowned a little. When his scroll buzzed yet again, he pulled it out. The picture of VRDN posing with GLTR had been retweeted several times on Bluebird, and when he opened Instascroll to check the comments it had received there, the scroll buzzed yet again. Apparently, Rio had commented on the image, after which Goldin replied, which had then sparked a series of subtly snarky comments. The Instascroll Story already had fifty-two views and numerous likes and loves.

He minimised the app, opened his camera, and quickly snapped a selfie with Night. Grinning at the other boy, he whispered, “You got your signature scowl spot-on!” and uploaded/tweeted it with the caption “The aforementioned Night.”

“I hate you.”

“I notice half the class has their scrolls out,” Goodwitch observed, causing a collective start. “You won’t find the answers there, so put the electronics away.”

Valerian nodded, but had just tapped the picture’s list of likes and decided he could risk checking it before putting the scroll away. The members of AMBR, as well as numerous other students, many of them not even from the same year, had liked the post, but most shocking of all by far was “Glynda Goodwitch”. His jaw dropped and he looked up at the professor’s desk… and made direct eye contact with the professor herself. Her expression was completely unreadable, but Valerian immediately closed his mouth and chucked the scroll into his bag. Goodwitch maintained eye contact for a couple seconds longer before looking back down at her work.

Still stunned, he turned to Night, who eyed him with undisguised disapproval. “Did you see that?”

“I want nothing more than to leave.”

Valerian cleared away the mental clutter. “Right, well, we need to work on the assignment.” He looked at the paper and wrote his name at one of the two indicated lines. When he finished, he shifted it towards Night and beamed. Night rolled his eyes, his entire body oozing reluctance and disdain, but he obliged and pushed the paper back. “Do you want to start with any particular question? Eh, let’s just start at the beginning.” He looked at the first question and realised there was no space for an answer.

“Err, professor?”

Goodwitch gave him a stony stare. “Yes, Mister Timberwolf?”

“How and when do we hand in the assignment?”

She adjusted her glasses and straightened. “Yes, of course.” Raising her voice, she said, “The assignment is due exactly two weeks from now. This might seem like a lot of time, but it takes a fair few days to work through all the questions properly, so do not wait until the preceding weekend before tackling the bulk of the work. Use whatever resource is available to you, and you may hand in the assignment either written or in print. Attach the paper I handed out as a cover page and staple the rest behind it. Class will start tomorrow, so you will need to work on the assignment in your own time, though you’re always welcome to ask me for guidance.”

“Thank you, professor!” He tapped his notebook with the back of his clutch pencil and looked at Night. “So, what kind of insults or slurs do you think a stranger would level at you? Hmm, or maybe it might be somebody you know who doesn’t like you.”

Night looked bored. “The feeling would probably be mutual.”

“So you probably wouldn’t be bothered much? That’s too easy. What could he say that would really get under your skin?”

“That I’d need to spend the next four years listening to you.”

Valerian narrowed his eyes at the other boy. “That’s not funny.” (Okay, maybe a little.)

“One of the few things we agree on.”

He sighed. “All right.”

Night’s brow furrowed a little. “What?”

“You find me annoying.”

“And you only notice that now?”

“No, but I am willing to compromise. What can I do to be less annoying to you?” Night made to answer, but Valerian cut in with, “And telling me to go away or stop talking to you aren’t valid options.”

Night seemed like he’d love to make a snide remark, but he surprisingly refrained and considered the question seriously. “Turn the peppiness down a little.”

“I can’t make any promises, but I’ll at least try. But then I have a proposition for you.”

He rolled his eyes and said in a weary tone, “Let’s hear it.”

“We’ll work on the assignment individually for now, and I’ll keep conversation with and around you to a minimum for the rest of the day.”

Night was rightfully suspicious. “What’s the catch?”

“I get to ask you to work on the assignment with me at any point during our free time, and you must agree. And cooperate. There’s no point if you’re just going to mope and contribute nothing.”

Although it took him about half a minute, Night finally said, “Fine. But then I get to tell you to be quiet whenever I like.”

Valerian considered it. “Only for an hour once a day, and only for the next two weeks.”

“Deal.”

He said nothing more and pulled a book of his own from his bag. Valerian turned to check on his two other teammates. They were similarly engaged in their work. Diamond met his gaze, prompting him to beam and whisper, “Progress!” A smile appeared on her lips before she looked down and returned to her work.

Diamond casually observed Valerian and Night's interaction while not really paying attention to the actual assignment at hand.

"So," Rioghail began, pulling her papers closer to Diamond, "looks like we're partnered up, since Valerian and Night, uh, find themselves volun-told to be partners." She opened up her scroll. She start talking about the first scenario, but Diamond found herself drifting off.

Every so often she would glance at Valerian and Night, more specifically the later. The classes had barely started, yet there were problems stemming from their group already. She had never expected a team to be fully functional from the beginning, but something felt off. Much of it stemmed from that day.

After she excused herself from their room to the accompanying shower, she shut the door and collapsed against the door. She stayed there for a moment, attempting to regain her composure. After a moment, she realized that she should do something. So, she crawled over to shower and turned on the faucet, letting the water run. She gasped out a breath and began unclasping her armor.

It was foolish of her to keep it on for so long. But, from the moment initiation ended Diamond had been tossed into a flurry of emotions that consumed her. She had no time to think about simple things, like taking off her armor at a reasonable time.

She struggled back to the door to lean on as she fiddled with the fasteners on her gauntlet. That's when she heard Valerian talking about his lack of injuries. He then talked about Amaranth, the other leader.

"I asked if she was okay, but she gave me some weak reassurances before softly sobbing in pain. I had thought she looked fine. It killed me that I couldn’t do anything to relieve her suffering." His muffled voice said in the other room.

Diamond shuddered. While their conversation continued normally, that sentence repeated in her head, over and over. He just talked about the other team leader while she was in a vulnerable position, sharing information that maybe she didn't want shared.

When she finally was able to stand, she continued removing her armor. But, through all of that, she couldn't get that sentence out of her head.

"...Diamond?"

She started, and glanced over at Rioghail, who raised her brow. "Are you okay?"

Diamond offered a small smile to her in return. "Yes, it's just that these past couple of days have been rough on me."

She turned back to Valerian, who caught her glance and smiled, whispering, "Progress!" To what, Diamond had no clue, but she assumed it was regarding Night or the classwork. She returned his smile half-heartedly, and glanced down at her papers. She looked at the words, but nothing in them made sense. Not with her mind so preoccupied. She scanned the same sentence over and over, but her mind registered nothing, not with Valerian being so close.

She had no reason to, but she felt betrayed.

Suddenly, she turned to face Rioghail, who was repeating the question aloud in muttered whispers. It was clear she wasn't getting anywhere with the classwork either. Diamond shifted in her seat. "Rioghail."

"-- park when a man utters various insults--"

"Rioghail," Diamond said, touching her on the shoulder. Just then, her aura arced from her fingertip, shocking Rio's shoulder.

"Ah! Yikes, I'm awake!" She twisted to see Diamond and smiled. "That is still so weird that our auras do that."

"Yes, it is..." Diamond said. Then she let out a soft shudder. "Anyway, I'm getting nothing done here. Do we want to leave?"

"Oh, yeah, sure! Yeah, I'm not getting anything done, either." She sighed. "It's like, these are words that should make sense, but I'm just... not." She stopped. "That's it."

They both walked up to Professor Goodwitch, who glanced up from a book she was reading. "Yes, Miss Schnee and Ysbrydtân?"

"Could we be excused to the library? We both felt like scenery similar to the hypothetical situations would open our minds."

Goodwitch squinted, pondering this for a moment. Finally, she shut the book. "I suppose it wouldn't be harmful." She frowned a bit. "Don't think that this is an opportunity for you two to not care about the assignment. Just because I gave you two weeks to work on it does not mean you should push it off. I expect only the best from potential Huntresses such as yourselves."

Diamond nodded. "Of course, Professor."



"Wow, I still can't believe you were able to talk so calmly with Professor Goodwitch like that!" Rioghail said as they entered the library. "Like, I would have been too nervous to do so. She looks so intimidating." She slowed to a stop as they walked in. "Whoa. This is a big library."

"And exactly what we need to compare to our first scenario," Diamond said, taking the lead. She set her books and papers down on an unoccupied table and turned to Rioghail. "This is embarrassing, but I was wondering if you had any... pads?"

"Oh? OH! Yeah, of course!" She muttered as she rummaged through her book bag. "I always carry around a few because, you know, always be prepared! Ha ha. I get that from my Huntress instincts, I guess." She pulled out a slim plastic package and handed it to her, still talking. "Oh, I didn't mean that you aren't a Huntress if you aren't prepared, of course. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, but... well, I should stop talking... and let you do your thing." She winked at Diamond and flashed finger guns while backing away slowly.

Diamond couldn't help but chuckle and left to find one of the libraries many restrooms. She found one that was a single stall and locked the door as she entered. She let out a breath of pain and slumped to the door. She unbuttoned her overshirt, letting it fall to the floor, and lifted her two undershirts, revealing padding underneath her breasts, soaked in blood and puss. She peeled the adhesive off the edges and it flopped to the floor, revealing a large gash on her midsection. She gasped at the air touching the wound again. After drawing a long, shuddering breath, she unwrapped the pad and placed it onto the wound. It sapped the liquids that were pooling and stuck immediately to her skin. She let out a soft groan as she gingerly lowered her shirts back over the wound.

It was toxins from the gash that she had received from the Grimm at initiation. No one had suspected she had gotten hit like that, least of all her. But, it hard turned out her armor covered the puncture mark and kept it open while she was resting. Her aura was working overtime trying to overcome the toxins and heal the wound, and it was draining her. The sparks from her and Rioghail's touches reignited the recovery process temporarily, but Diamond didn't know what would happen. The sensible part of her told her to just go to the infirmary, but she couldn't. They would ask too many questions that she didn't know the answers to. She didn't even know how the rest of her team would react to it, especially Valerian. Tomorrow, she told herself. She would go to the infirmary tomorrow.

She rebuttoned her overshirt and exited the restroom. Putting on a smile before she reached their table, she saw Rioghail, who gave her a smile. "Where were we?"