A/N: ((I give greetings to you, my fellow dweebs! I am Nerd Orange- known more popularly as The8thSphynx- and I am here today to give to you my first Fan Fiction on this forsaken site!

((I'm giving you the heads-up now; this fiction follows mainly my personal headcanons as well as many canon things mentioned in RWBY. Remember, though: It's just a fan fiction. I do not consider any of this canon!

((There we are! Now that that is cleared up, I have two less thing to read in the comments/reviews! That being said, I hope you enjoy my first story and please drop me some pointers/reviews when you're done each chapter! Thank you so much!

Today commemorates the anniversary of the Battle of Beacon," the newscaster proudly said through the television. "Five years ago, Cinder Fall's forces were overthrown after having taken control of the City of Vale. Our heroes, having barely become Huntsmen and Huntresses yet, banded together and took back their Academy in the name of their fallen Headmaster. Other allies joined these students in their fight and soon enough a bloody battle broke out that resulted in the not only the liberation of Vale, but the disbanding of Fall's forces and the fall of Fall herself. Today, these brave heroes will be coming to Vale in-"

The newscaster's rambling, thankfully, was cut short by the Shopkeeper turning off the television to tend to her customers. She was a small, blonde woman with a constant look of uneasiness on her face, even as she spoke in a friendly tone.

"Welcome to From Dust Til' Dawn!" the shopkeeper chimed "How may I help you today?"

I took off my hat, respectfully, and set my cane on the table, "Good afternoon, my dear, my partner and I are simply looking to add a few Pyrotechnic rounds to our firearms."

The shopkeeper nodded and smiled, "Oh, it's you two! Yes, I'll get that in just a second! But, first, I have to look at your IDs… just policy."

The large cloud that had been blocking out the sun for the past half hour finally moved away, spilling through the shop window in a mess of light. Behind me, I could hear my partner murmur and adjust his sunglasses to the brightness; daytime had never really been his favourite time.

We both slipped the plastic cards out of our pockets and slid them across the counter to the woman, who picked them up and looked them over nonchalantly, as though she had been through this routine too many times to count. Her hair fell over her face, and she brushed it back with a shaking hand. Ah, yes… the shaking…

I raised my brow and spoke softly to her, "How have things been, Delcine?"

"Uhm…" she said, flexing her hand "I've been trying, but… you know… It's just always so quiet here…"

The man behind me spoke, "Have you visited?"

Delcine shook her head, "No… no, I don't think I can handle that yet."

He breathed through his nose and lowered his head, "Yeah, I get it… it's really something…"

Personally, I could not comprehend what they were feeling. The two of them were not friends; if anything, they were strangers with a common loss. It was someone dear; a friend, a family member, a Hunter that chose them over life itself. I did not know this person and I had not met them. However, the guilt of their death had shown on my partner for almost two years straight, even with his wife and me to help him through his grief. Delcine, however, did not have another person to console her loss. Therefore, she shook. Therefore she sometimes cried without notice. Therefore she could not make eye contact with the man I was with.

"Oh, come now," I interjected, arms up, "It's a day of victory and peace today. I say we treat it as such. Who's up for drinks this afternoon?"

This made Delcine snap out of it with a gentle laugh, "Thank you, Roman, but I'm stuck in here all night while Dad is out running deliveries. Any other day, and I'd be out with everyone in a heartbeat."

I nodded in understanding, and Delcine turned away to get the decorative ammo for us. When she was out of sight, my partner thumped me on the back.

I turned on my heels, "What? It was getting far too dark for my tastes…"

He furrowed his brow, "Roman. Listen; just try to be a little empathetic. And that doesn't mean asking people in mourning out for drinks."

Delcine came back with the small box of red and green-lined rounds. She wished us luck in the ceremony and I paid her for the ammo. She still shivered a bit, though, as she passed the box to me. I did not put my focus on it; after all, the lady deserved some dignity. With all of that said-and-done, my partner and I left the shop, out into the newly sun-drenched streets.

I tossed my hat back on my head, "You know, Adam, I meant what I said. People are expecting us, if anyone, to be fun and vivacious today. Besides, you should be happy that you and Kitty Cat will finally have the whole day together without work interfering."

"Work is interfering today," he muttered as he ran a hand through his hair and over his horns.

"Don't be so grumpy, Bulladonna," I shrugged. "It's first thing in the morning, you have plenty of time to brood. Actually why don't you head to the Academy and meet with your wifey? The ceremony won't start until later today."

Adam tried to hide it; honestly he did, but not having his mask anymore made him susceptible to showing the childishly excited look in his eyes. He nodded once, bidding me good day and calmly walked away from me. I knew, though, that as soon as he turned the corner he would break into a dead sprint towards Beacon Academy.