Icy steam collided with fire hot wisps, circling one another like ribbons on a present. Black darkness framed the contributing exhales, combining together into a massive haze overcasting the room. Shielding and protecting it's children from the dangers of reality, coddling them like the tiny, fragile babies that they were. Nothing could harm there here, could it be true?

He stared up at the tendrils of smoke floating above the ceiling, concealing the dimmed lights. Everything felt numb, heavy and weak, weighing like lead as his eyes following a few clouds of steam, taking in their icy grip when he inhaled it when it strayed too far from the group. A small cough left his lips, and he stared at the red smoke leaving his lips, slowly floating up to join the massive space above his head.

The top rim of the wooden chair pressed against his back deeply, digging into his shoulder blades without mercy. Slowly, he tried to adjust himself, but failed to do so, catching himself when he lost his balance and nearly fell on the floor off the side of the open chair. Something sounded in his skull, above the dull ringing pounding in his ears, and he felt almost weightless, staggering forward as he thrust his arms limply on the table, scattering the powdered Dust around them. As if he were floating far above them.

"Hey, watch yourself! I paid good money to get this stuff, yo!" a booming voice penetrated his hazy bubble, and he blinked a bit dumbly at the opposing man, who began to nudge the little particles of the purple Dust towards him with his credit card, making it into a neat little line. As the cheering began to commence, he ripped out a bill and rolled it up into a tight little straw, then snorted the line down hard. Snort, choke. Snort, choke. Snort, snort.

He stared blindly at the man, who made a few soft noises as he tried to hold down the sharp stones, and then stood up and threw his arms in the air, grinning a bit too widely at the others, who began to pat his back and yell at him. As if he had just won an award. A small scoff left his lips, leaning back as he held his own straw in two trembling digits, rubbing at his irritated eyes.

"No, you probably stole it." He snickered softly, reaching over for a few packets of the purple dust, licking his dry lips. Everything felt so much better, coaxed by the other men and by the attractive aroma of burning Dust. All of the participants smelled like a burning fireplace, a snow covered front lawn, all of the elements beautifully blended together in the air he breathed in. The violet and cyan dust tasted wonderful down his throat, and he felt as if he were floating after consuming them.

"Shut up, Lie!" The strange smelling man rudely ruined his passionate dream, and he scowled a bit, slowly laying out his own line to inhale. The pink eyed young man didn't take his eyes off of him, using his student ID card to line up the dust in the perfect arrangement, before preparing his straw, narrowing his bloodshot eyes at him ever so slightly.

Briefly, he tore his eyes away to glance down at the sparkling Dust staring up at him. Waiting, watching. Without a second thought, he blocked out the noise, jamming the straw at the head of the line, stuffing it into his nostril at the same time. Plugging his other nostril up, he shut his eyes, inhaling deeply as he moved along the dust, coughing and snorting softly at the first gust of the drug went down his system. It was always a shock to him, but the rest went down like velvet, the burning sensation in his body making him tremble with delight. From the high powered energy reacting with his flesh inside of his body, he gasped out softly, the purple smoke wafting from his mouth. It smelled beautifully to him, reeking of sweet lavender and iron, and tasting like candied blood on his tongue.

The man next to him sharply clapped his back, causing him to gasp loudly and begin to cough, bending over as he spat out a few the crystals. Snarls left his throat, yet slowly dissipated to deep breathing as the rest of it went down into his lungs, staring at the blurry figure sitting beside him. Slowly, the stinging pain between his shoulder blades disappeared as he began to rub in slow, soothing circles, as if apologizing for his treatment.

"You should get out of here, bro." he mumbled softly, coughing slightly when some of the purple smoke from Ren's own lungs entered his, wiping his drooling mouth carefully with his sleeve. Ren coughed a few times, staring at the man with bleary magenta irises, the purple smoke leaving his lips and floating up towards the ceiling with the other colors, forming a menacing gray above them. It was time to go. "That test is coming, ya know? Tomorrow. Don't ya have a combat test tomorrow?"

Something seemed to click within the head of the student drunk on drugs and on a high, and feebly he gave a nod, looking briefly like a lost child. Ren was soaring, high above the rest of them, above the building, above that damn cloud of smoke circling above them for more prey. When his brother nudged him again, a small scowl left his lips.

Despite only just smoking the sweet, sweet dust, the high was gone. The previous bliss and serenity disappeared, and he suddenly felt like he was suffocating, drowning. That damn drug was supposed to make this go away, yet why did he feel so claustrophobic again. He began to breathe in a bit more quickly, and a few of the packets were tossed towards him.

"Take those with you."

"I can't!" gasping a few times in surprise, he scrambled and fumbled, feebly trying to toss them back to the hooded man sitting beside him. They slid past his fingers, yet were thrust back towards him, and with a small snort, he grasped them again, the sight of them initiating a frown on his lips. "Shin…"

"Oh be quiet. Those teachers are too stupid." When the smoke from the lit dust shard reached their nostrils, both simultaneously rolled their eyes back into their heads and moaned in pleasure, leaning closer to it to take in the sweet smell of the burning ice dust. Slowly, his frazzled nerves were calm again, and Ren shut his eyes slowly, breathing in the scent. Despite it not being the pure, real stuff shoved down his throat, the aroma of it had a soothing, temporary effect.

Yet, the effect wore off, and he shook his head, staring up at the taller Hunter with a scowl. "Yes, maybe, but I'm not stupid enough either to smoke this shit on the property. There's students everywhere. And those teachers are probably prowling around somewhere. A kid got caught last month smoking, Shin. I can't handle that."

"I don't know where the hell you got your head problems, but cut that shit out and grow a pair. Stop whining and crying when you feel sad or nervous over stupid shit." Shin scoffed, holding the small, slightly crumpled paper holding the shard closer to his nose, inhaling them deeply and nearly sucking up a few small splinters. A few specks of frost appeared on his nose hairs, which made him snicker a bit in pleasure, the hairs under his nose tickling a bit. "Just go on and do it or something. If you can sneak past curfew to smoke a few with your old brother here, then you're fine." He turned, looking towards him with his own bloodshot eyes. "Skedaddle on home, back with your cute little girlfriend."

"Shut up, Shin. Just leave Nora out of this." He scoffed again, scowling a bit, but didn't say anything about the mental stresses he suffered from, instead snorting at him. Standing up proved to be somewhat of a challenge, almost falling over at first from the headrush he felt. His hands went to his head, and he waited for a few seconds, breathing in deeply as he recalibrated his senses, before opening them again to stare at Shin. "You're all fucked up in the head too. And leave Nora out of this."

Shin snickered softly, smacking Ren's rear end when the other turned to leave the club, and the other glared at him sharply, snarling a bit. A hand went flying out, smashing towards his cheek in a sharp slug, sending him flying back towards his seat. He smashed against the floor, the chair coming down with him, and Ren scoffed a bit at his brother, lying sprawled across the floor.

"I told you to shut up, asshole." Ren grumbled softly, turning on his heel, and nudging past the other residents at the club, heading up the stairs at the end of the darkly lit room and trudging up with heavy steps. The sounds of the other participants in their activities gave loud whoots and scoffs, yet he gave no heed to them. When he opened the door, the smoke escaped along with him, ready to cause more mayhem to it's victims. Yet, he was tugged backwards again, and he stared over his shoulder at the offending hand resting. "What the hell?"

Shin smirked a bit, wiping the cut on his cheekbone with his thumb carefully as he stared at his brother's eyes, his body glowing red for a brief moment before fading again. A powerful aura thundered from his soul, easily healing the nasty bruise and bloodied face he possessed, causing him to emit a snicker of pleasure, Ren's punch meaningless on his near flawless frame. The darkness of the night concealed features on his procelin skin and scraggy cheeks, his own magenta irises glittering with mischief back at the stoic face of a younger ward, moonlight streaming through the windows illuminating his eyes.

"Don't leave when I'm talking to you." Shin mumbled, easily tugging the shorter man down the first few steps back down into the thick smoke. The small transfer from the clean air to the dusty one shocked him, causing him to blink a few times again. His eyes were burning again, and he began to rub at them, yet they were yanked down when Shin scoffed, adjusting his black hoodie with one hand. "Listen; get ready for tomorrow night, alright? I'm all ready to get to that company."

"Alright, Alright." Ren waved him off, snorting a bit. "I'll see what time I finish that Combat Test." He began, but winced slightly at Shin's expression. "…I will be there, I mean."

"That's what I thought, asshole." The expression Shin wore was enough to make even Ren's skin crawl. "We're running low, I need to refuel." Reaching deep into his pockets, he stuffed more of the little bags into his younger brother's hands. "And you do too. Those combat tests are the shit, man. You need to be ready. I ain't gonna be a brother to a drop out."

"You almost were a dropout, asshole." Ren smirked a bit, giving him a slight shove, then slowly turned back towards the light of day, past the hell hole in the hideout. "Just let me get out of here. I'm good for the night. I'll be back tomorrow. I promise."

Shin stared at him, a frown tugging at his lips, though he eventually let go of the younger man, scowling slightly. "You better. Or we're gonna have a problem here." He snorted, disappearing within the steam of the dust and the darkness of the drugs. Ren took this opportunity to leave the basement, exiting the abandoned building.

Weiss smirked a bit, adjusting her skirt carefully as she stepped onto the combat stage, her heels clicking daintily as she climbed the stairs. She took her stance, flipping her hair a bit as she watched Ren climb onto the opposing steps, passing the pedestal where Glynda stood, their eyes trained onto the young man, who wavered a bit where he stood. Her eyes narrowed a bit, catching something on his appearance, a dull nagging feeling in the back of her mind, staring at his ruffled overcoat, and slightly crooked ponytail.

The young heiress tilted her head a bit, eyes narrowing as she watched her opponent summon StormFlower from his baggy sleeves, slowly staggering into his battle stance, wavering, weak. She clicked her tongue, tilting her chin forward, staring at the wrinkles under his eyes with a critical gaze, the ghastly look on his face screaming at her desperately. Yet strangely, she felt nothing, scoffing slightly as she got into her own posture.

Briefly she saw Ren stare at her across the stage, his eyes unfocused and hazy, and he rubbed at them with a defensive hand, but had grown startled when Glynda spoke to him. Weiss' ears perked, unable to hear their soft mumbles, seeing him nod and her roll her eyes, and she sighed, shaking her head as she looked over Myrtenaster. Carefully, she scrolled through the dial, aiming her rapier towards him.

The announcement of the combat test had been a startling revelation. After the rise in crime in the cities and the increase in difficulty of the opposing Grimm, it had been said by the Headmaster that the strength of the students of Beacon would be honed and put to the test, a necessity among the times they were in. To protect themselves, the citizens of Vale from the new threats arising, and to aid their teammates, it was vital for them to strengthen themselves.

Teams were pit against each other in these simple combat tests, against other students with their fighting styles far different from their own. Weiss and Ren were the last on each of each other's teams, prepared to be put to the test against one another. At the announcement of the matches, Ren had teasingly said that he hoped Weiss wouldn't go easy on him, to which she shot back at him quickly.

But yet now, Ren appeared almost weak and sickly, frail and pitiful before Weiss, a shell of a man, a skeleton of a fighter. He slowly heaved himself forward, his hands curling around the grips of his weapons, wary of the curved blades, as if aware of his own curious condition. Bloodshot eyes wavered towards Weiss, and narrowed carefully, raising his arms up defensively as Glynda stepped back and started the timed battle.

Weiss didn't hesitate to surge forward, when Ren still wasn't obviously ready, the young man staring off at the screen with a distracted stare. With a light jump on her feet, the young hieress easily slashed him right under his ribs. When he stumbled back, she sidestepped, turning the dial on her rapier as she shot magic towards him, the ice scattering around them, effectively creating a cloud of steam as well. A hiss left her lips, not expecting the recoil, and gave a sharp gasp when Ren slid to the side, past the pillars of ice, shooting a few rounds towards her. She ducked past the bullets, hiding behind the ice created, her teeth gnashing together.

Ren suddenly rounded around where she hid past the shoot of ice, using a small hill of ice to use as a platform and propelled himself up with his blades bared, preparing to slash at her. Weiss narrowed her eyes, darting out of his line of attack and jabbing at him with the rapier. He attempted to turn his body in midair and kick the weapon out of her grip, but he awkwardly lost his line of balance and landed on the ground, huffing a bit with annoyance. Quickly he gathered himself, rolling out of the way of her attempting to stab him with the blade, effectively locking her to the ground. She gave a minor whine, trying to yank it out of the stage as Ren jumped to his feet, heading towards her.

Weiss glanced up at him, and then hit the floor as the first shots rang out. From the force of her fall and yank at the same time, the weapon dislodged from the hard surface of the ground, and she feebly tried to protect herself from the blast of his blades colliding with hers. They clashed and locked together with the sound of shrieking metal, their sight focusing on one another. She snarled, narrowing her eyes, pinned under from his weight, locking eyes with Ren. Yet, she paused slowly, her expression softening for only a brief moment when she realized it..

Ren reeked of that crap. That damn crap in her weapon, the source of the ice. That damn crap in his own weapons, firing his rounds. That damn crap in all of their weapons, the source of energy in Vytal. That damn crap her own father inhaled as he would beat her like an old rug.

A sudden anger exploded within her, and she gave a loud yell, a battle cry, as she threw Ren off of her with a frightening strength. Appearing visibly shocked, he landed on his back, and didn't have a chance for a counter before she was on top of him, an angry Ursa ripping apart her prey. He cried out when she lifted her rapier, absolutely terrified when he found StormFlowers had been knocked out of his hands quite easily, sliding all the way on the other side of the stage and disappearing within the unforgiving darkness. The expression on his face was of fear and disappointment, the sight of Weiss towering over him, and he, defenseless, was torture, and of stupidity over not understanding her behavior and reactions.

Quickly, he tried to squirm away from her, rolling over onto his belly and trying to get out of her grip, frantically clawing towards the handles of his double pistols. Yet before he could get even remotely out from under her, his collar was grasped, and suddenly he found himself smooshed against the floor quite a bit roughly. And then lifted up, and smashed against the ground, quite a few times more than he would have liked.

Weiss felt herself be taken over by this violent anger, crashing him repeatedly without a single thought, consumed by the sadness and depression of her past and her nightmares. The fact that he smelled of dust smoke, had exhibited all of the symptoms that he had, and now had tried to fight her, high as a cloud, made her so angry. What a complete dumbass he was…it infuriated her.

Weiss grabbed Myrtenaster with a powerful grip, raising it up and threatening to smash it against his head, but was suddenly yanked back by two offending hands. She gave a loud cry, thrashing a bit as she was thrown down, the teacher Glynda glaring down sharply at her as Ren slowly crawled away from them, a hand covering his bloodied face and slightly crooked nose. Sharply she turned her head away as he summoned his aura to heal him, the faint pink glow surrounding him as he leaned on his hands and knees, panting a bit with labored breathing.

"That's enough. Both of you." Glynda adjusted her glasses carefully, staring at Weiss with an unreadable expression as she glanced over at the other students watching the fight. She lifted her head, staring over at the audience. "Here is a lesson to you all. Do not let emotions and rage take over in place of proper skill. It's uses can only be so useful in a battle." She shook her head a bit, glancing down at Ren, who had managed to find his weapons, collapsing them within his sleeves as he wavered, his arms sprawling out a bit awkwardly.

Weiss huffed a bit, easily rising to her feet and attempting to dust herself off, a slight scowl on her as she did not glance over at the others. They were watching her, her team, and she couldn't even bear the sight of their shock and disappointment over the destruction of her wall. Swallowing heavily, she straightened out her skirt again, holding her rapier carefully as she headed towards the stairs, trotting down them and disappearing within the group of people. Away from her team.

Ren didn't even bother to stare up at the screens, knowing that the results had been grim and very embarrassing towards him. His history of fights had been a bit underwhelming, from fighting the Death Stalker, and now against Weiss. If only someone had witnessed his attack and defense on King Taijitu, but then again, right after it's defeat…

"Ren! Nice job! You almost had that one!" Nora called from her spot besides Pyrrha, bouncing a bit and grinning, a little rocket ready to launch right up to him. Instead, he merely scoffed and tore his eyes away from his partner, feeling multiple eyes on him now. Pyrrha's attempts at neutering Nora's cries were failed, and he turned away, slowly wobbling towards the stairs once he had been dismissed from the battle arena. He hadn't noticed the concerning gaze on Glynda's face as she stared at him as he was taken in by his team, who covered him from any of the negative emotions that could permeate his shell.

"If you say anything, Shin, I swear to God."

"Nah, nah! It's fucking hilarious!" Shin gave a shrieking laughter, fumbling for the keys that had been swiped from the clueless old owner from his bag as they stood at the back door of the Dust shop. The dim light from the shattered moon illuminated their dark figures in the alley, a few rats skittering away from them as Ren stepped over murky puddles and towards the engulfing shadows where Shin rested against the building. Moving meticulously, they hid within the void, preparing themselves as they removed themselves from the spotlight, concealing their features with whatever they had brought for the job.

The tall buildings towered over them, encircling them. Ren briefly glanced up at them, but tucked his head back down when he began to grow dizzy. He felt claustrophobic for a few moments, looking around the tight alleyway, accidentally bumping into a few trashcans. A slight hiss left his lips as the lid slid off and crashed to the floor, causing a cat to screech loudly and sprint away from them.

Shin snickered softly, tugging his hat off as he lifted off a plain, white mask from the nearby party store, slipping it onto his face and securing it safely. He glanced towards his brother, eyes glowing through the plastic holes of the crummy mask. "You got your butt kicked by a girl in a skirt. A rich little princess. Nice going, Ren. Bringing pride to the Lie dynasty."

"What the hell? There is no dynasty. Shut up, this is why people make racist comments to us all the time. We're just two stupid orphans." Ren scoffed slightly, a hand resting protectively on his forehead, rubbing at his eyes with the ball of his hand tiredly. He stared at his brother through his unconcealed eye, sighing as he tucked his long ponytail down the collar and back of his shirt, squirming when the long hairs pressed against his shoulder blades. The school uniform felt a little baggy on his slender form, and he scowled a bit, briefly realizing his loss of weight, but it dissipated as he flicked his collar up with a quick motion, twirling a scarf around his head enough times to conceal him, only revealing his pink eyes that stared over at Shin. The older man snickered at his expression.

"Look at you. Just go steal a mask or something from the party store across the street. You look stupid as fuck." Shin rolled his eyes, tossing his hood over his head as he stood up, unlocking the door carefully. It slipped open with a loud screeching sound, Ren narrowing his eyes a bit at the sound. "Whatever. We're almost in, buddy. You ready?"

"I've done this enough times, Shin." He shook his head. "Why are we even disguising ourselves anyway? This is stupid." Ren slowly stood up, straightening out his back as he sighed, going in behind Shin, the two slowly creeping in. Their boots clicked on the tiles, the night sky filtering in through the front windows of the shop. "The owner left like hours ago. It's an easy catch."

"Do you want to nearly get caught by police again? I have enough on my record. I ain't taking another fall for you buddy. Better to be safe than sorry." Shin scoffed a bit, smirking underneath the plastic mask as he stepped towards the front displays, grinning at the crystals of dust staring up at him, glittering when they caught the faint light. "Go on! Grab the dust!"

Ren snorted a bit, beginning to unravel the scarf that was awkwardly around his head, instead looping it around his neck lightly as he stepped forward, looking around. The tubes of the powdered dust lined the walls, the large crystals resting gently on velvet cushions in the glass cases. He felt slightly on edge; after the recent thefts of dust, something didn't feel right within Ren's stomach. Something bubbled within in, and he groaned a bit, feeling his skull pounding from the inside, the young huntsman struggling to stagger forward slowly.

He reached into his messenger bag, pulling out a few large thermoses, which easily clicked into place and was filled to the brim with the dust. Ren stared at them blankly, watching the meter fill up, and he sighed, tossing them back in his bag when it was finished, going down the line. "How long will it take you to make this into a drug, Shin? I don't want to snort pure dust again when I'm having an attack."

"Probably a few hours." Shin shrugged a bit, wrapping each of the crystals carefully in a soft fabric, watching as their glow began to dull from the cover. He placed each one of them in his own bag, careful to not make them cling against each other and potentially cause a dangerous chain reaction. Slowly, he stacked the case that was once full of crystals in his bag, clicking his tongue in pleasure. "I'm done with my part Ren. What about you?" he glanced over his shoulder at his brother, smirking a bit when he saw him tossing a thermos in the satchel. "Good, good. Once you're done—"

Ren stood up straight, staring out through the large windows, not listening to what his brother had to say. Slowly, his body tilted towards where Shin was, taking a step towards where they had come from. A hiss left his lips, staring over at his brother with wide, startled eyes. "Shin!"

Shin tilted his head forward, scratching the side of his scruffy face on the open part of the mask, turning his head towards where Ren was now looking back out the window. His own eyes widened, their features illuminated by the alternating red and blue lights. The pair of cop cars approached them, skittering to a stop right by the main entrance, startling awake the sleepy town square.

"Ren! You jackass! What did you do?!"

"Shin what the hell?!"

They turned back towards the front windows, watching with horror as the car doors opened to reveal the portly, and slightly clueless officials. Ren's breathing began to quicken, looking around frantically for something, something! Why were the cops here?! What—

His eyes caught onto the latch of the case that Shin had opened without a care, and snarled at the realization. The opening of the latch had activated the alarm, which was now blinking a dim red, providing no warning at all to the thieves. His breath caught in his throat, and he frantically swiveled around, time seeming to slow as he tried to look for an escape route, something. He seized up again, staring right at the security camera by the main entrance, focusing right on his startled face.

"Shin! Shin!" Ren cried out feebly, trying to locate his brother. A tightening in his chest occurred when he heard a smashing sound of the magazine rack in the back falling over, Shin disappearing down the hallway towards the back again. Coldness overtook his body, racking him with fear and agony over the situation. Shortly he turned again, the cops locking eyes with him. Everything seemed to stop for a few moments, the group separated by a mere wall of glass, silently watching, waiting, and wondering.

The mere tiny moment was shattered almost as instantly as it began, and Ren found himself running, sprint out of the building and down the dark alley. The coldness of the air made him numb, splashing water on his ankles and calves seeping into his socks and down into his feet, rain pouring down on him. It trapped him, freezing him to the core and suffocating him, grasping onto his heart and riding up his spinal cord.

A small cry left his lips, absolutely terrified as he pumped his legs, skittering past a few trash cans and ducking through alleyways. His brother was gone, he was alone again. He couldn't handle it, he didn't want to handle it. How had he always ended up this way? Trapped, barren and icy within the claws of reality. He didn't want this anymore.

The yells and cries of the impatient officers took away whatever sanity he had left, Ren frantically climbing up a fire escape of a nearby apartment building. Limbs scrambling, hands clawing for a grip, he grasped onto each one of the rungs, nearly falling to his death a few times, the predators lurking beneath him. Once on the roof, he flopped onto his belly only briefly, before getting to his feet and sprinting forward again, closing the distance between one end and the other end with a few long strides, before dipping down the other fire escape and sliding down.

The landing was rough, and he winced a bit as he crunched his tailbone from landing on his butt not so gracefully in the tainted water swirling down the drain beneath him. Slowly, he staggered to his feet, smashing against the brick wall a few times as he let out another soft sob, struggling to move forward and continue to run. No breathes were able to get into his lungs, a full panic attack brewing, which managed to be makeshift fuel for his engine as he slowly managed to run again, powering up into a full sprint back to Beacon.

At some point, he had managed to lose the police. What point, he wasn't sure. But he did it. Stepping back onto beacon academy, he panted a bit, his face a bright pink, his hair ruffled, drenched as a drowned rat. Frozen to the core, he didn't even have the strength to tremble away the ice, taking one heavy step after another towards the dorms where he resided. Not so easily he jumped the fence, smashing on his face a bit ungracefully, crawling to his feet to continue his trek.

Once he made it back, he forced the door open, and was met with a startling surprise. He blinked a few times, then tilted his head forward, locking eyes with seven other pairs of eyes. Slowly, he turned his head towards the large television, his startled face plastered on the screen as it brought up his image from the robbery he had just come back from.

The satchel dropped from his side, the containers of dust slowly rolling out as Ren fell to his knees before the startled eyes of his teammates, friend, and Nora.