The cool, mountain winds of autumn blew through Alison Zu's hair as she walked through the mountain path, a small, but genuine smile playing across her face and her bright green eyes sparkling in the sunlight. Autumn was coming close to an end, and it showed, the path being lit up in stunning shades of orange and red, intermingled with browns and yellows as the leaves began to fall from the trees, painting the entire forest in the colour of a warm fire. The artist wanted little more than to simply lie beneath one of the trees and let herself drift off to sleep. She knew, however, that if she did, her teammates, and more importantly, her traveling companion would not appreciate it. With him in mind, Alison turned to face him and smiled wider. "It's just a little further up the path, I promise."

Thatch replied with a smile of his own and a shrug. "I don't mind the walk, you know." The renegade said, looking over the fall scenery. "In fact, I'd say I rather enjoy it." He added, stepping up to his teammate and putting an arm gingerly around her shoulders. "It's nice out here, and I have nice company to share it with."

Alison's face could match the trees for colour at Thatch's words. She nestled herself into the crook of his neck and sighed in pleasure. The two took a moment to look out over the changing colours of the forest. For that moment, they weren't two warrior monster slayers in training, fighting an endless war against creatures who wanted their species dead, but simply a pair of teens on a nice, romantic walk through the forest, and at the moment, the two of them just wanted that walk to be a little longer than it inevitably would be. Alison was the first to break away from the embrace, taking Thatch by the shoulders and locking eyes with him, her jade meeting his brown. "Come on," She whispered. "Just a little further, I promise."

With that, Alison broke into a brisk pace, a spring in her step as she led Thatch further into the forest. The renegade was happy to follow and easily kept pace with her as she led the way. Being honest with himself, Thatch was surprised to be out here at all. The Vytal Festival began tomorrow, and his team had been training for days leading up to it, non-stop, and so he had been certain that today would just be another day of training, but Maria had told them that it might be a good idea to take a break for the day. It would do them no good to be tired out the day of their fight, and they had been training for days. Seizing upon the opportunity, Alison immediately asked him if he wanted to spend the day with her, and he had almost immediately agreed.

Alison had packed them a lunch and immediately pulled Thatch out of the school with her, excitedly telling him about where they would be going for their lunch that day. The small mountain range they arrived at was only a small trip outside the city, and though the Grimm would always be a threat, they were a rare sight in these woods, which was why Alison chose them. That, and she had said they held a special value to her. More than willing to spend the day with Alison, Thatch gladly went along with her and did, in fact, appreciate the area. The forest was serene and fresh, a welcome contrast from the city of Vale, and the autumn season was colouring the woods a pleasant shade of red and orange.

Alison led Thatch out of the forest, onto a clifftop overlooking the whole region, the forest spread out below them and the city of Vale in the distance, the entire landscape painted a vibrant red by the coming of autumn, and the bright afternoon sun brightening the entire area. However, none of that was what got Thatch's attention when he and Alison exited the woods. No, what captured his eye was the statue that stood just next to the cliff's edge. The statue depicted two people, a man and a woman standing side by side. The man wore a suit of lamellar armour and held a dao sword at his hip as he looked towards the forest, an expression of proud serenity on his face as though he had lived a life without regret. The woman sat behind him, wearing a traditional kimono and holding a quill pen in hand, holding it over the forest as though she were the one who had drawn it into the world. Her hair cascaded down her back and she had a cheerful expression on her face.

Thatch looked over the statues as Alison rested her head on his shoulder. "What do you think?" She asked. "Do you like it?"

The renegade looked away from the carving and to the girl at his side. "These people, they're-"

"My parents." Alison said with a twinge of sadness in her voice. "They died a few years ago in an airship crash, but before then, they were the greatest parents a girl could ask for. They were both hunters in life, my father a master swordsman and my mother a dust user who taught me all I know about art and combat." She said, pointing out the two figures. Looking at their features, Thatch could easily see the resemblance between the two and his companion. "After... what happened to them... I made this statue in their honour. Whenever something major happens in my life, I come out here to see the statue, let them know what's been happening."

Thatch put an arm around Alison's shoulders and held her close as she leaned against his chest. "I'm glad you brought me out here." He said.

Alison sighed. "I thought since you introduced me to your mom, I should at least tell you about my family." She said softly. "They would have liked you. Well, at least my mom would have."

Thatch smirked slightly. "By the looks of your dad, he would not have liked any guy next to his little girl."

Alison giggled slightly. "He was pretty protective, but he would have learned to like you eventually." Alison looked up into Thatch's eyes and turned to face him. "After all, if both my mother and I liked something or someone, he'd come around to our side eventually."

"Well, I hope wherever they are now, your mum can bring him around." Thatch said, looking Alison in the eye. Jade green and deep brown met as their eyes locked on one another.

As the day went by and the two settled down for their picnic, the hours passed far too quickly for both. And though they wished their date could have gone on for longer, they enjoyed the time they were able to spend on the clifftop, watched over by Alison's father Lao, and in the scenery painted by her mother Mei.

RWBY: Glowing Embers

Chapter 1

oxoxoxo

Maria ducked behind her shield as her opponent's shield slammed into it, forcing her back as the two began to struggle for control. The Vytal Festival had begun, and Team EMAD had already been called on for their first bout. The stadium had been divided into two segments, their side being a range of rocky mountains, while their opponents had a metropolitan cityscape. Almost immediately, EMAD had picked their targets and launched into battle, with Maria's clash being with the other team's leader, a man dressed in full bronze plate and helm with a massive round aspis shield and a shortsword. Their clash had quickly taken them to one of the taller mountains in the mountainous side of the arena.

"It looks like Beacon's fierce first year competitor Maria Gaia is locked in a deadlock with Haven's very own Leo Khrusos." Professor Port declared from the announcer's booth.

"It's a contest of strength at this point, ladies and gentlemen!" Professor Oobleck countered. "And it looks like Leo might be winning! He's starting to push Maria back!"

(Music begins here. Song: "Far Far Away" by Battle Beast)

Not if I have anything to say about it. Maria thought. With a push of a button on her scutum, the shield's minigun opened and roared to life, pushing Leo back with a storm of bullets. It was only a small space, but it gave Maria room to go on the attack, charging forward and ramming her shield into her opponent's, throwing him down the side of the mountain they fought on. Seizing her chance, Maria leapt down the mountain after him, opening fire as she did.

Leo, however, wasn't going to go down that easily, and slammed his aspis into the side of the mountain, taking cover behind the shield as bullets slammed into it. When Maria reached him, Leo tore his shield out of the ground and swung it at her, face first. Maria held up her own shield as a defence, but the force of Leo's hit sent her further down the mountain, the centurion landing with a metallic crash as she slammed into the ground. The hoplite was quick to follow, leaping down at her with sword poised for the finishing blow. Maria rolled out of the way as Leo's blade collided with the earth where she lay mere moments before. Rising to her feet, Maria slammed Imperator into Leo's side, forcing him to abandon his sword in the ground and throwing him back.

Seizing her chance again, Maria opened fire once more, the rapid fire rounds from her minigun tearing through the air as they flew towards Leo who took cover behind his shield once again. With shield raised, Leo made his charge, surging through Maria's bullets as he deflected each one. Maria backpedalled as he grew closer, but as soon as the hoplite was within range, he slammed into her with his shield, throwing Maria off balance. His opponent forced back, Leo took his chance, revving up the engine in his shield, the outer rim of the aspis spinning like a buzz saw. He swung the shield at Maria who fell back after the first hit, landing flat on her back. The Spartan struck again, bringing his shield down on the downed centurion, but Maria raised her shield, sparks flying as the spinning edge of the aspis met the nigh indestructible scutum.

As sparks flew in Maria's duel, Alison leapt over the sweep of her opponent's massive claymore blade. She had chosen to go after the girl with long, brown hair in brown leather over chainmail and a kilt. As Alison landed, she looked about the mountainous area she and her opponent had landed in, the rocky gorge leaving both of them plenty of room to swing their larger weapons, Alison's zhua Pianji, and her opponent's dust slinging claymore sword. Her opponent smiled as Alison raised her weapon again, the claw end sparking with lightning. "Not bad." She commented, a heavy Scottish accent showing. "But you can't dodge forever, lass!"

With that, the highland girl clicked a switch on the hilt of her sword and made a massive swing, a wave of flames flying from the blade at Alison. Thinking quickly, the artist spun her zhua in hand and slammed the claw end into the ground, a wall of earth forming between her and the flames, the fire breaking on contact like an ocean wave, waves of heat still slamming into Alison as they passed her by. Before she could even move, however, a swing of her opponent's blade sliced through the rock, just barely missing her. The highlander leapt over what was left of the rock and kicked Alison in the face, sending her stumbling back. She wound up and gave a massive swing of her blade, but Alison, using her reflexes and semblance, jumped back just enough and shot out her zhua, using the claw end to catch her opponent's blade between two of its fingers. Activating the dust in her weapon, Alison shocked her opponent with a burst of lightning, the force sending her, blade and all, flying back into a wall.

The girl wouldn't stay down long though, as she leapt off the wall and flew at Alison, sword ablaze with a mighty swing. Alison blocked the blow and shoved her opponent back, the crowd roaring as she fired a blast of ice dust. The other girl dodged the brunt of the attack, but the edge of it just struck her blade's trigger, firing off a blast of fire, the recoil knocking her off balance and giving Alison an opening.

Switching Pianji to fire dust, Alison shot a near point blank stream of flames that her opponent just managed to dodge. The highlander landed on all fours on the ground, but only a second later, she scrambled aside as Alison struck down with her claw flaming. The highlander leapt to her feet and lashed out, throwing a large handful of sand into Alison's eyes. The artist cried out as she was blinded, giving the other girl the perfect opening to blast Alison with flames and send her rocketing into a wall.

The highland girl began to advance on Alison, but as the artist opened her eyes, she found her vision blurred by the sand. Her accuracy now near useless and her opponent too close to allow her to get the sand out of her eyes, Alison decided now was the time for one last ditch attack. She swung her zhua, an orb of fire flying from the claw and sailing right past her opponent. The other girl didn't have time to gloat as Alison kept on firing, bolts of fire, and lightning flying all over the gorge they fought in, the crowd roaring at the spectacular show, but not a single hit was landing on Alison's opponent as she nimbly and easily dodged every attack launched at her, the attacks forcing her back, but never hitting her. Eventually, however, the girl noticed something: every single one of Alison's shots were going wide. "Uh... I stopped dodging... Are you even trying to hit me anymore?"

"NO!" Alison shouted back, never letting up her attack.

"What do you mean no?" The highlander asked, confused. She looked about at where Alison's shots were flying, only to realize with a look of horror that all the bolts of lightning and fire that had been launched were now suspended in the air around her. Realizing just what was happening, the highlander ran for Alison, but the artist fired one last blast before spinning her zhua above her head and slamming it into the ground. The second she did, every bolt in the sky simultaneously flew down at once, the massive ensuing explosion slammed the highlander into the ground, instantly draining her aura to almost nothing.

"And Willow Wallace is down by aura loss!" Port announced. As the crowd of Beacon students erupted into cheers, Alison blushed and took a bow.

On the other side of the map, Thatch pursued his opponent through the crowded halls of one of the buildings in the metropolitan area, one sword sheathed to give him space to operate in the tight quarters of the building. His opponent was one of the two girls on the other team, a black haired girl in a red shirt, blue pants and black riding boots. She carried a saber and sheath which he found out the hard way contained a shotgun. His pursuit of her had taken them to the second floor of one of the nearby buildings before he lost her within. Oh, he could still hear her footsteps, and was using a minute amount of his semblance to ensure she stayed far enough back her shotgun wouldn't reach him, but he still had no visual.

Finally, the renegade reached a closed door at the end of a hallway. He took cover on the wall next to the door and held onto Anne, while making sure Elizabeth and his new axe were still sheathed at his hip. He was about to step in to break down the door when a blast of buckshot blew the handle off. Thatch grinned. "Gotcha now!" He said. He reared back and kicked the door off its hinges, spraying full auto fire into the room, forcing his opponent to roll to the side. Thatch pressed his advantage, charging into the room, sword raised. He brought it down in a downward chop, but the girl blocked it with her saber before raising her sheath, its barrel staring him in the face. He quickly dodged right as she fired and kicked her aside, quickly closing the distance with another swing of his sword, one that she was once again able to block. The two fighters began exchanging swings, neither one managing to hit the other with blade or bullet alike, until the girl ducked under one of Thatch's swings and used a leg sweep to send him to the floor.

The girl raised her sheath to fire again, but Thatch rolled aside as the buckshot tore through the floor where his head was a second before. Thatch leapt to his feet, only to be met with the girl's gun in his face again. Thinking quickly, he grabbed it and shoved it aside, headbutting her as he did and firing a burst of bullets from Anne that threw her back into a stack of boxes. Thatch ejected the spent clip from his sword and added a fresh one before approaching. However, as he got closer, the barrel of the girl's shotgun shot out from the pile of boxes and fired, throwing the renegade back.

Thatch scrambled to his feet as the girl advanced on him, sheath shotgun raised for finishing him. Thatch raised Anne as he walked back, until his back met the all too familiar glass surface of a window.

"It looks like Beacon's Thatch Edwards is in trouble now. Josephine Rosso has him up against the wall." Port announced.

The girl, now identified as Josephine, smirked as she raised her weapon. Thatch cursed under his breath as he looked for a way out, the sound of roaring engines growing ever closer in the distance. Thatch grinned. He knew just what that sound was. As the sound grew ever closer, Thatch raised Anne and pointed her at the window behind him. "Cheers love." He quipped. He pulled the trigger, a burst of bullets shattering the window behind him. Josephine looked on, confused until Thatch leapt out the window.

Josephine looked out in confusion until she saw Thatch's last teammate, Francois drive past on his Atlesian Stallion motorcycle, the renegade landing on the back of his bike as the nobleman raced past. "Sorry to drop in, mate!" Thatch yelled, struggling to be heard over the sound of the engine.

"Pas du probleme, mon ami!" Francois replied. The noble had one hand on the handlebars of his bike, the other was holding his sword. "Perhaps you would be of service when my opponent returns."

Thatch was about to ask what he meant, when the sound of another engine filled the air. The renegade turned to see another bike gaining on them, this one a hog driven by a boy in a cowboy hat and glasses wearing a blue shirt, brown pants and cowboy boots. Similar to Francois, he had one hand on the handlebars, and in the other was a long rifle with a bowie knife bayonet on it. Best of all, sitting on the back of his bike was Thatch's old opponent herself, Josephine, the girl having her saber in one hand, the sheathe strapped to her waist. "I see your problem!" Thatch shouted over the engine. "Let's see if I can't fix it!"

The renegade raised Anne and opened fire, the bullets flying through the air as the boy on the hog swerved all over the road to avoid the fire. "He's a nimble one!" Thatch yelled.

"He would be!" Francois replied. "He's Teddy Brown, he fights more on that bike than he does on foot! Hold on, I've got a plan!"

"I'm all ears, Noble Boy." Thatch responded.

The chase raced on, the boys leading their pursuers out of the city and into the mountains. With more open space, Teddy pulled up next to Thatch and Francois and raised his rifle to fire, but Francois deflected it with his blade, knocking the gun aside and making its discharged shot miss. Josephine took her chance to swing her own blade, but it was blocked by Thatch before it could touch Francois. "Sorry girly, no one messes with him but me!"

Thatch swung his blade at Josephine, but the girl dodged by climbing back on the bike, standing atop the back of the bike's seat. Thatch stood up in response, drawing his second blade and launching into a flurry of attacks, forcing Josephine to draw her sheath and go onto the defensive, both of them exchanging swings and blocks as Teddy and Francois duelled for control of the road, clashing sword on rifle.

Francois swerved around a corner, Teddy following him close behind, the drivers nearly throwing their passengers off. The second the bikes were righted, Josephine pressed her advantage, swinging her saber for Thatch and forcing him to block, knocking her blade aside and slashing with his own, a shot that was deflected by Josephine's scabbard.

The bikes raced on, the two vehicles running along the edge of the arena and the crowd roaring at the spectacle of the two teams fighting atop their rides. Teddy made another thrust with his rifle, only to have Francois parry his shot with his blade and pull his bike back slightly. "NOW!" He cried.

Teddy was confused for a moment, but Thatch heard the command loud and clear. With a pulse of fear from his semblance, he made both riders from the other team uneasy, making them perfect targets. The renegade leapt from Francois bike, swords outstretched and slammed into both of their opponents. The bike went off course, slamming into a large rock and flinging all three into the air, Teddy Thatch and Josephine all landing hard on the ground and taking a huge hit to the aura.

"And with a stunning display of recklessness, Josephine Rosso has been eliminated!" Oobleck announced.

Thatch hauled himself to his feet and dusted himself off. That was when he realized something: the announcement had only said one of the other team's members had been eliminated. The cocking of a rifle pulled the swordsman out of his thoughts as he ducked just in time for a bullet to fly past his head.

"You think that's all it takes to bring down the bull moose!?" Teddy roared.

Thatch turned to see him. His cowboy hat was knocked off and his glasses were cracked, but the boy himself seemed unharmed as he fired round after round that Thatch was forced to dodge. After dodging one such shot, Thatch began to return fire, only for Teddy to charge through his bullets and slam the butt of his gun into Thatch's gut. The renegade stumbled back in pain, but before rose to his feet and clocked his opponent across the jaw with his sword's hilt. Teddy growled in rage as he advanced, pushing Thatch back towards the edge of the arena. Thatch looked behind him for a quick second, only to see the edge of the arena less than two feet behind him. "From the edge of a building to the stadium..." He muttered to himself.

"Praying won't help." Teddy said, lining up a shot.

Thatch clenched his teeth and growled as he raised his swords. Their eyes locked as each one waited for the other to move first. Suddenly, Thatch grinned and gave a bow before dropping to the ground. Teddy looked at him, confused as the sound of roaring engines grew louder behind him... wait, what?

Teddy turned around just in time to see Francois ramp off one of the mountains and send his stallion flying towards the rough rider. Time seemed to slow as Francois turned the bike in mid air, the vehicle flying side first into Teddy, flinging him out of the arena as Francois leapt off to safety.

As the nobleman and the renegade rose to their feet, another comment by the announcer was made. "Ooh, that's gotta hurt! Teddy Brown is down!" Port announced, Thatch and Francois exchanging a high five at his words. "Leo Khrusos is his team's last hope for victory!"

At the words of the announcer, Leo Khrusos winced internally. His team had little chance to win, but he was going to make the other team pay for every inch.

Maria, meanwhile, felt a surge of pride as her teammates took their opponents down. "Are you going to make this easy, or do we do this the hard way?" She asked.

Leo said nothing, merely revving up his shield again.

"The hard way it is." Maria muttered. Before Leo could move, she slammed into him, shield first, knocking him off balance and kicked him in the center of his shield, knocking him to the ground. Leo wasn't going to stay down though, and he kipped up, using his momentum to spin around and slam his shield's rim into Maria's shield, the impact throwing the centurion into a mountain. Leo followed it up by throwing his shield after her, the shield flying through the air like a discus right for her. Maria smirked as she saw this. It didn't work for her rival, and it wasn't going to work for this guy. Maria rolled forward as the shield flew over her head and bounced off the mountain, flying back towards Leo.

The second the shield bounced, Maria struck, opening fire with her shield's minigun. Leo's eyes widened as the rounds flew at him from the spinning barrels, the stream of lead slamming into his armoured chestplate and rapidly draining his aura until it finally dropped into the red, the buzzer going off to signal the end of the round.

"And Leo Khrusos goes down!" Oobleck declared, the crowd erupting in cheers.

"And that's the match!" Port concluded "Team EMAD is victorious!

Maria looked out at the screaming crowd as they cheered on her victory, no, her team's victory. She could feel her teammates approaching behind her as the crowd roared. She turned to face them. Alison was seemingly just now realizing how many people were watching her and was blushing furiously at the attention. Thatch and Francois exchanged a fist bump at their victory over their opponents. While their strategy was reckless beyond belief, she could scarcely deny it was effective, and they had earned that first bump. She gave all three of them a smile before turning back to the crowd and thrusting her gladius in the air in triumph, causing the crowd to roar even louder. In that moment, Maria had no doubt that if she and her team worked hard enough, this tournament was hers.

oxoxoxo

From the Axman's cave, Rick, Ben and Micca all held bags of popcorn as they watched as Team EMAD swept their opening match on the lair's massive computer. The Vytal Festival had begun, and though they had spent nearly all their time over the past week preparing for when Masque would contact them to help him evacuate, they had all agreed that EMAD's match was something they could take a break for.

Once the match was called, Rick threw his popcorn in the air and cheered. "Booyah! I knew they could do it!"

A disgruntled Ben glared into the back of Rick's head as he removed the discarded popcorn bag from his head. "Settle down, Rick." Ben grunted. "The match is over, we need to get back to training."

Micca got up and stretched her back. "He's got a point, Rick. Masque could call any day now, and when he does, we need to be ready."

"You're right, Taipan, you do have to be ready."

The three turned to see that the lair's computer had activated, and on the screen was a figure they could only assume was Masque. He wore a dark green hooded robe, and what could be seen from beneath the hood was covered by a gold mask with no mouth and glowing green eyes. The voice they were hearing was modulated, as one likely didn't become a highly valued informant without hiding their identity as much as possible. Aside from that, it was hard to see much of Masque, as the video did not show much more than his face, or at least, his masked face.

"Masque, I presume." Ben said. "I assume you're calling to talk about your relocation?"

"You presume correctly, Ben Aparte." Masque replied "With the entire city focused on the Vytal Festival, and all the people there, no one will notice the small operation being carried out at the docks. You'll receive an address once this call ends, and you will head directly there. I presume, based on your records from the army that you have formulated a strategy for this operation?"

"You assume correctly." Ben replied. "The three of us have formulated a plan to extract you from your current base of operations, after which we will bring you to the Axman's lair where you can set up your equipment."

"That's not necessary. There is little that needs to be brought with me that cannot fit in one bag. As long as that gets to your lair, my network of information can be restarted from your computer. That said, when you arrive, I must request that you help me to destroy my current setup, as it cannot fall into the White Fang's hands. Is this understood."

Ben nodded. "Understood. Team, are you ready for this?"

Rick was practically bouncing with energy. "Ready when you are, big man."

Micca seemed nervous, but did not want to make their potential informant sceptical of them. "I'm ready to go."

Ben took note of her posture and voice before he responded to Masque once again. "Send us the address and we'll be along in an hour. Prepare everything you need."

"Understood. I look forward to meeting you in person, Ben Aparte."

With those words, the call ended, the computer's screen once again shifting to the Vytal Festival, where Team RWBY had begun their battle. A chime from Ben's scroll told him that Masque had sent them the message of his location. "I'm going to inform Maria of our mission, you two get ready." Ben said, pulling out his scroll. "And Rick, I expect you to at least TRY and follow orders. Got it?"

"Dude, I might be crazy, but I'm not that crazy." The Axman answered. "I know the plan, I'll get the job done, no worries."

"That's what I'm worried about..." Ben muttered to himself, pulling out his scroll.

As the giant soldier walked off to make his call, Micca turned to Rick with a nervous expression on her face. "What about me?" She asked. "If the White Fang see me in my old Taipan robes, they'll know I'm still alive. What do we do?"

Rick stopped walking and hesitated for a second before smacking himself in the face. "Dammit, I completely forgot." He grumbled.

"You forgot that little detail, didn't you?" Micca asked, annoyed.

"I did forget something, but it wasn't that. Come with me." Rick started walking and Micca followed close behind. He led her to his locker and opened it up, producing a small parcel which he handed to her. "Aedan had this made a little after you joined us, try it on and see what you think."

Micca took the parcel and retreated to the room she and Rick now shared. She shut the door and opened up the parcel, thinking about the past weeks she had spent with Team EMAD's Legion, as Rick called them. Though the experience was pleasant, and Rick and Ben had quickly accepted her after Maria recruited her, it would never quite be the same as working with Caroline and Wun. But with the White Fang taking part in so much destruction and working with people like Blanch, she could not, in good conscience stay with them. As much as she would have wanted to make her sister and Caroline see things the way she did, that just wasn't an option, and while she hated to go against them, if she was going to protect the people, the faunus, then she would have to work against them.

Rick watched as the door to their room opened and Micca stepped out in the new costume Aedan had made for her. The new costume was similar to what she had worn as Taipan, with a long, hooded robe, but it replaced the coattail with a cape with three black diamonds running down it's back. The costume was now tan in colour and had black boots and gloves. "You were once Taipan, assassin of the White Fang. Now, you're Diamondback, Vale's newest vigilante."

oxoxoxo

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to RWBY: Glowing Embers. I know I'm a bit late to the "writing about Volume 3" party, but I hope you guys will still read and see what I do with this volume since a lot of important things happen in Volume 3 that need to happen in this world too, along with some new events of my design.

No matter the case, I implore you that if you are reading this, leave a review and let me know what you thought. I'm always happy to hear from you guys, even if what you say is negative. After all, reviews, whether good or bad, are how one improves.

So, here's to a new story and a new adventure.