For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of glory and virtue to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death.-Monty Oum

Marie stood in front of the grave in silence. She stood there, feeling the stabbing at her heart, as she did every year. The events of that day were burned clearly into her mind, and her nightmares. She didn't bother reflecting on them. She was tormented with the images enough during her dreams. She simply stared at the stone that marked the place that the bodies rested. After a long silence, she spoke.

"I've done it." She said. "I got in." The gravestone, naturally, didn't reply. "I meant what I told you guys five years ago." She maroon haired girl continued. "I'm going to change things. I don't want your deaths to be in vain. As a Huntress I'll be able to fix this." The girl looked around the graveyard, at the stones where people were laid to rest. "No one else should have to suffer like this."

The human laid down the bouquet of roses she carried and then kissed the ends of her fingers on her right hand. She laid her hand on the stone and read the words engraved on it.

Daemond and Emeralda Bordeaux. Honored parents and protectors.

Marie turned away and her hand slid from the stone. She didn't cry, she'd stopped that years ago. There wasn't any point in shedding tears now.

She wandered back into the city, her thoughts haunted by the events of the last five years behind a facade of stony calm. Things were going to be changing soon. She knew that for certain.

The sound of shouts echoed down the streets. Marie turned her head towards the sound and adjusted her direction accordingly. After a few moments, she came to a scene she really didn't want to see.

A large crowd had gathered around a storefront. Several members of the mob were brandishing signs and the crowd was chanting: "Equal rights! Equal rights!"

Marie let out a sigh. Some unknown force clearly had it out for her tonight. Her immediate reaction was to feel hate. How could these people speak of equality and rights after what they had done? Another part of her mind countered, pointing out that they had every right to protest unfair treatment.

But the first part of her mind was stubborn. That fact still didn't condone murder. To which the second part had the ready answer. It wasn't fair to judge all Faunus based on the actions of a few.

The maroonette let out another breath. It really wasn't fair to be so harsh. It wasn't like the Faunus didn't have a good reason to be so upset. Marie felt tired of the whole affair. How it tore her apart every time she was presented with it. How others tried to force her to take sides. She was sick of it all.

It was then that she noticed something off. The crowd of Faunus had continued to protest, but a few scattered throughout the crowd had begun adjusting their appearance, putting on masks and pulling out cylindrical objects. Movement out of the corner of her eye made Marie look up and see several more people of rooftops, hefting weapons.

Realization dawned on the girl and anger surged through her small body. Before she even knew what she was doing, she was running towards the crowd. Her legs began to glow grey as her aura manifested and she used her Semblance. She leapt and flew high into the air, briefly eclipsing the moon before landing heavily in front of the shop in a crouched position. She stood quickly and short blades slid out of the maroon bracers on her arms.

Marie slashed her right arm laterally in front of her, smashing the burning bottle before it reached the shop front. The active Dust contained within the bottle spread around her and ignited, leaving a trail of fire around the fighter.

At the same time, Marie lifted her left arm and blade into a defensive position and deflected a bullet heading for her.

The gathered, protesting Faunus realized what was happening and began to scatter. A handful charged her instead, these Faunus wore the masks of White Fang members and had weapons drawn.

Marie parried a sword strike with her bracer and pressed against her attacker, moving her arm away from her body. This forced away her attacker's weapon and brought her own blade swinging towards her attacker's body. The Faunus barely managed to evade the attack, but didn't notice her booted leg coming towards his stomach. Her foot met with his gut and sent him off of his feet, his breath leaving his lungs with a loud popping sound.

Marie rotated and brought her blades up in an X in front of her to meet another attacker's sword.

"Idiot child." The Faunus growled. "Now you'll just be another example of why we fight."

Marie's body began to glow grey with the light of her aura and she snarled, "I know what you'll bring if you keep this up." Her arms shifted and her blades cut clean through the White Fang member's weapon and sliced an X across his chest. The goon must've had training in how to use his aura because he didn't begin to bleed. The goon staggered back with the force of the slash and Marie retracted her blades back into their bracers and right hooked the goon square in the jaw. She tapped just slightly into her Semblance as she struck and there was a loud crack from his jaw and he dropped like a sack of bricks.

The fighter heard something whooshing behind her and rotated with blinding speed, grabbing the swinging blade with her bare hand. Her hand glowed briefly grey and she twitched her wrist, snapping the blade cleanly.

Her attacker's face became surprised as she brought her head forward and slammed their foreheads together in a headbutt. The Faunus crumpled.

Marie looked around for more attackers and she felt a sudden dangerous sensation. She went into a forward roll and barely evaded an attack from the Faunus that had been on the nearby roof.

His weapon was more advanced, being a hybrid of a rifle and pole arm. He swung the pole arm and Marie swatted at the thing with the back of her grey glowing hand. The weapon was sent flying out of the Faunus' hand as if it had been hit by a car.

Fear came into the White Fang member's eyes and he began to back away.

"Wait!" He said. "I surrender! Please, don't hurt me!" Marie stared at him for a long moment before she relaxed. She turned away from him and his hand quickly pulled something from his side.

Marie's arm blurred as the blade slid out of her bracer and sliced clean through the pistol the Faunus had drawn. Her storm grey eyes flashed with rage and the Faunus blanched. The blade retracted back into the bracer and she grabbed the goon by the front of his shirt. He began to beg again and she slammed him into a nearby wall.

"I'm not going to kill you." She growled with barely held back anger. "Because that would just bring me down to your pathetic level. I gave you mercy once already and you tried to shoot me in the back. Try it again and I won't be so kind." She let him go and he dropped heavily to the ground. She brought her hand down on the top of his head and he fell to his side, stunned.

There was the sound of footsteps from behind her and she turned to find the shopkeep approaching her.

"Oh thank you so much." He was saying in a wheezy voice. "I don't know what would've happened to me if you hadn't shown up."

Marie let out a breath and said, "I'm just doing my job."

"Oh, but please." The man said. "Is there anything I can do to repay you?" Marie met the man's eyes.

"You can repay me by letting Faunus into your shop." The shopkeeper blanched.

"Y-you can't be serious." He said in surprise. "After what those animals tried to do to my shop? To me? After all that, you want me to service those animals?" Marie's eyes narrowed in response.

"Yes." She said in a low, even voice. "They're people just like you and me. So what if they're different? They're still people." The man opened his mouth to retort but Marie cut him off. "You might want to think really hard about what you're going to say. I might have to remind you about what would've happened if I hadn't been here. Remember that the next time you decide to treat someone second class." Then she spun on her heel and left. She hoped things would be easier tonight. Maybe she wouldn't be tormented by the nightmares tonight. Maybe.