"So you seriously took down that many Beowolves all by yourself? That's insanity! I guess I shouldn't be surprised considering you got into Beacon this early. How did you get in anyway?" I was lying upside down on a boulder with my hands behind my head; Ruby was sitting cross-legged on the boulder below me. The sun was starting to set and the sky was a brilliant red and pink color. She looked up at me.

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain. Basically there were these guys robbing a dust shop I was in and I took all of them out. Well…almost all of them. This one guy named Roman got away before I could stop him." She shrugged.

"Roman, as in Roman Torchwick. The guy that's been jacking dust stores? That's awesome! Man, I wish I had done something like that. Apparently defeating a giant Nevermore by yourself is enough to get in anywhere. Still, it's bugging me about that Roman thing. Who needs that much dust?"

"You're dad asked me the same thing! That one Huntress looked totally done with him too. What was her name again?"

"Glynda Goodwitch, she's my dad's assistant. She's scary but always gives good advice."

"Anyway, we should probably start heading back. You wanna race again?" she joked. I let my strings drop over the cliff and made them grab on to a Beowolf. When it got to the top I hopped on its back and pressed my gun into the back of the large furry head.

"Whenever you're ready" I smirked. She got in a track runner pose and I could almost feel the energy flowing from her. I laughed and she smiled. "This is gonna be awesome!"

"In 3…2…1…Go!" She took off ahead of me, leaving a trail of rose petals behind her. I kicked the Grimm in the side and took off after her, the wind almost blowing my hat off. I had to wrap my legs around the midsection of the Beowolf in order to hang on because apparently I'd chosen a fast mother fucker! After about ten minutes I started to catch up to Ruby, her hood waving like flames in the wind. I stood up on its back and pulled the trigger, blowing a hole in the Grimm's skull. Instantly my puppeteer strings came back to me and I was launched forward as its face skidded on the ground.

"Well well, somebody knows how to run when he needs to! I'm not even trying though!" Ruby shouted over the wind, then proceeded to speed up another 20 miles an hour. "Try and keep up with this!"

"That is SO not fair!"

30 minutes later

I jogged into the ballroom feeling like my lungs were about to burst, even Ruby was panting heavily next to me. There was a safe right next to the entrance that read 'please put all weapons here. Present the ticket to the scanner below in the morning and you will be given it back.' So I threw Writing Raven in there next to a few other weapons, apparently the safe had a lot of different compartments.

The ballroom was about as big as a football field. The ceiling was 3 stories high and all the walls were made of a dark oak, a marble pillar placed between each window on the left wall. A stairway led up to a second floor balcony. Other students walked around all over the place in order to claim a spot on the floor, sleeping bags tucked under their arms. Someone handed me a sleeping bag and told me to go grab my bag from Professor Oobleck. He was standing behind a counter, a mountain of luggage behind him, handing kids their bags at his usually hyper speed. I shuffled over, my legs still tired from the race.

"Hey Professor Oobleck, you know which bag is mine right?" I handed him a piece of paper with by bag number on it and he nodded, and then zipped away for a second. His hair was still wind-blown and insane looking, a bush green color. He wore a white button up shirt, cuffs unbuttoned and one side of it not tucked in like the other; over this was a yellow tie and he also wore a pair of black slacks. His glasses constantly reflected the light of the room around him so you couldn't really see his eyes.

"My, is that you Silver? It's been so long since I've seen you! When was it? It's been a few years at the least. Oh, when was the last time we met?" He put a hand on his chin and his foot started to tap like a machine gun was going off. "Oh, that's right! It was at your mother's-oh, right. I'm sorry my boy, almost let it slip." His face had taken on a look of depression.

"It's fine. I've come to terms with it. I was even able to forgive dad, mostly. It was nice seeing you again." I slung the duffle bag over my shoulder and walked to the second floor stairwell. They spiraled up quickly and when I got to the top I spread my sleeping bag out directly next to one of the windows. I looked over at a clock and noticed that it was already 8. I stripped off the duster and vest, and then untucked my shirt. I set my hat next to me on the floor and lay down on the sleeping bag, staring at the ceiling.

I totally blanked out, unaware of the people around me. The world was fluid around me; I could feel the hum of everyone's aura flow around me. It was unnerving, but reassuring. If anything tries to attack this place it is ROYALLY fucked. I chuckled a little. Suddenly, something jabbed in the side.

"I didn't think you'd be hiding up here too." Weiss said, leaning over me. "You know everyone is downstairs right?" her hair cascaded over her shoulder and waved next to my face.

"I know. I just figured Ruby wouldn't want someone she just met sleeping next to her all night. It's not like you don't know anyone here. I like chilling out by myself anyway." She shook her head at this.

"Well that's just not gonna happen, scoot over." I sat up and made room for her. "What's got you so tired? You look like you're about to pass out or something."

"Just running with Ruby, damn that girl is fast. Hey, you want some tea?"

"What?"

"Tea. I brought an electric kettle in my bag and a box of tea bags. Do you want some?" I reached into a side pocket and pulled out the tea then got the kettle and plugged it into the wall next to me. Then it dawned on me, I didn't actually have any water to heat up to start with. "And the memory is on a roll!" I pumped my fist. "I'm gonna head downstairs and grab some water bottles."

"You don't need to do that. Watch this." She opened the kettle top and held her hand over it; a small glyph hovered beneath her palm, a deep blue color. Slowly at first, a stream of water dropped from the glyph until it had filled up the whole thing. "I told you glyphs are cool." She flicked the switch and the water started to roll from the heat.

"No joke. Now let me find the cups." I dug around until my hand found a small wooden box. I opened it and put the two cups in front of me. They looked pretty boring actually, plain white porcelain and totally circular with a simple handle. "You're gonna love these, watch this." I picked one up and the porcelain started to shift until it took on a taller, rectangle-ish shape; painted in intricate designs were grey top hats and silver puppet string controllers on a black background. The handle got longer, meant for a full hand to hold it. "What do you think?"

"Impressive. Let me try though." Weiss picked up the other one and it became a traditional teacup, snowflakes and glyphs painted in vibrant red on the glossy white surface. She smiled a little. "It looks like a cup I had when I was a little kid." The kettle started to whistle next to me and I put one of the teabags in each of our cups, and then poured the hot water in.

"What are you really doing up here Weiss? There's no way you saw me sneak up here because none of you guys were even in sight when I started up the stairs." I sipped the tea and breathed out a little steam. Guess I'm still cold from earlier. She let her hair loose and put her head against the wall.

"You know how you start to feel anxious about something but end up just wanting to think about it alone? Yeah well, not a lot of 'aloneness' down there. I came up here for the view originally, thought it would help clear my mind a bit." She looked over her shoulder out the window and sighed. "But that was just wishful thinking." She took a sip from her cup and her eyes got wide. "What kind of tea is this?"

"My own mix; the mint is from Vacuo, that bit of sweetness is orange tree leaves from southern Vale, and that taste of sugar in the back of your throat is chamomile from Atlas. I'm kind of a geek when it comes to tea leaves." I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "Because, you know, my dad was a coffee nut and I wanted to try something different."

"Well, it's much appreciated. This is amazing." We sat there in silence until she finished drinking and left to change then get to bed. I stared into the bottom of my cup and could see my reflection staring right back at me, it was kind of hypnotic. Once I shook myself out of the trance I got up and went to the bathroom to change. Basically my pajamas are a pair of black skater shorts and a white tank top. The air in the ballroom was getting stuffy so when I got back upstairs I cracked the window open next to my face and spaced out looking at the moon. It was almost full and a feeling of dread filled me. I picked up my scroll and called my dad.

"You have a room ready for right? The full moon will be here soon and I don't want to get someone hurt. If something happens it's all on me."

"Come by my office tomorrow morning before initiation. There's a little present I need to give you that will help with the very problem you're speaking of. Now get to bed, it's almost 10 and you have a lot to do tomorrow." He grumbled.

"Glynda bought decaf by accident again didn't she? You've been out of it since this morning."

"Yes, now go to sleep." The other side of the line went dead. I slipped into my sleeping bag and put my hat over my face, hands behind my head. One by one I heard others follow the call of sleep, the ballroom growing progressively quieter. The cool breeze from the window put my mind at ease and I started to slowly slip into my own fantasies.

Inside the dream

I'm standing in my old apartment. The furniture has been thrown all over and the floor was a mess with our little decorations my sister and I had made as kids. A man in a dragon mask stands in front of me; a gun in one hand and my mom in the other.

"You get two choices here kid. Show me where daddy hid it or your mommy gets it!" his voice was deep and loud. She shook her head. "What's it gonna be kid?" Her light green dress was in tatters, and her earthy brown hair tangled up in his fist. Her face was contorted in pain, making the smile lines usually obvious on her face disappear. Her eyes, one green one brown, were fixed with a desperate resolve.

"Please don't hurt her! I don't know where he put it, really! Just let my mom go!" I pleaded, fear gripping me too. "PLEASE! JUST LET HER GO!"

"Silver, you're gonna be okay. Any minute now dad and Orianna will be home and they'll save you. It's all gonna be okay. Just promise me something."

"Mom?"

"Promise me Silver. You have to do the right thing. I can't do the right thing if you don't promise me you'll be a good boy." Tears flowed out of my eyes in rivers. I shook my head over and over.

"You can't do this! Don't leave me alone again!"

"Silver, promise me."

"What the hell are you going on about bitch?!" The man shouted, grabbing her hair.

"I promise. I'll do my best at everything forever!" I shouted. A smile of relief played on her lips. In an instant, she pulled the man to his knees and snapped his neck, but right before her arms could totally get around him, a shot echoed of the walls, and a bullet entered my mom's chest. She fell to the ground next to him, blood drenching her dress. I crawled over and put her head in my lap, crying for what seemed like forever, my wails of agony resounding off the walls.

The door lock started to rattle quickly as someone unlocked the door. It burst open and smacked against the wall, my dad and Orianna standing in the frame.

"Silver! What's wrong? Why are you-Oh my god. JULIA!" my dad ran forward. He picked her up in his arms. Orianna stood with her hands over her mouth. "We have to get her to a hospital. Orianna, bring the car around. HURRY!" he yelled. She ran off as fast as she could. His eyes were full of panic. "Silver, what happened? Who is this man?" His words passed through me like a ghost. Everything was now black, my chest felt totally empty. I'm all alone again. Just like before. Why? Why is it always me? Soft warmth started to cover my body and I could smell the sweet and delicate scent of roses. The hole started to fill until reality called to me more than my own exhaustion.

Back in the Real World

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" I shouted. I sat bolt upright, my body covered in sweat. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as the memory faded into the back of my mind again. I was heaving for air. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Silver, are you okay?" It was Ruby; she was lying down next to my sleeping bag. The moon was still high in the sky and it shone right on her face. Her silver eyes reflected the moonlight brilliantly. She had on a black tank top with a heart shaped Beowolf head on it. Her pajama pants were white with small roses all over them. She propped herself up on her elbow and stared at me.

"Yeah, yeah I'll be fine. Just…a nightmare, that's all. What are you doing here?" I ran a hand through my hair and turned to look at her better.

"Everyone down there snores really loud and Weiss told me you were up here so I thought I'd come up too." She yawned. "But I couldn't grab my sleeping bag because Yang stole it from me."

"Go ahead and take mine. There's no way I'm getting back to sleep tonight." I wiggled out and sat down against the wall.

"I have a better idea." She unzipped the bag all the way around and sat next to me on the wall, spreading the now totally open sleeping bag over the both of us like a blanket. "We're partners now. We can't afford to not tell the other person about something. Tell you what, let's start with that nightmare. What was it about?" I looked at her and smirked. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just that you're the first person in a while to ask me that. You're right, we can't be strangers." I pulled the bag a little bit higher and took a deep breath. "I guess it's not so much of a nightmare as it was a bad memory." I explained what happened to her, the hole in my chest getting wider with each sentence. My eyes started to tear up. "I miss her so much. She saved me from that orphanage, believed in me, told me I was worth something. She put hope back into my life."

"I'm so sorry Silver. I know what you were going through."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Last year my mom was killed in front of my eyes, trying to save my life. I tagged along with her on a mission even though she told me it would be dangerous. We were cornered by some bandits up in the mountains. She fought like a snow storm, tearing everything up in huge attacks. But one of them snuck past her and got behind me, putting a knife to my back. And I…she…" Ruby's voice was cracking down, tears running down her face.

"It's okay; you don't have to tell me. It's only been a year; you don't have to talk about it." I put my arm around her shoulders and she cried into my shirt for a few minutes. "It's okay Ruby. She loved you, that's all you need to know. She loved you so much she put you above her own life. You don't have to keep going."

"No, I need to tell you. You told me about your mom and now it's my turn." She sniffled and pulled away. "They threatened to kill me if she didn't give up. When she put her weapon down they started slicing up her arms with knives. In the end they still stabbed me; the scar aches if I think about. She used the last bit of her aura to heal her cuts and then killed the rest of them. But she pushed herself too far. Her body gave up; she fell down totally dead in front of me. An hour later some hikers found me, paralyzed, and called for help."

"Oh my god, that's awful. I'm sorry." She put her head on my shoulder again. "Are you okay?"

"I will be in the morning. Can I ask you something real quick?"

"Anything."

"When you use the Puppeteer on someone you feel a lot of pain because you're invading their soul right?"

"That's about the gist of it." I nodded. "You aura reacts to me intruding and attacks. No one, and I mean no one, likes to have their soul controlled."

"Let's try it again then, but this time you'll have full access to my aura. I'm not gonna block you out at all. I just want to see what'll happen." She held out her hand. Instantly, it was radiating a vibrant red color. I started to reach out but pulled my hand back.

"I can't risk you being the one who gets hurt this time Ruby. We only met today and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I did something permanent." I whispered, fear clear in my voice.

"You have to trust me Silver. If you we can't believe in each other than the next four years are gonna be a waste of our time. Let yourself go." She smiled gently. I nodded and put my hand over hers, slowly letting a string flow from my finger to the palm of her hand.

At first the cold tried to set in but was whisked away by something. My aura felt like I was lying down in a field, the sun on my face. The world melted away around me, it was just me and Ruby. Her whole body was radiating now instead of just her hand. But something else was different. The once vibrant red looked more solid, and a bit darker. I looked down at myself and the same had happened except that my aura was a bit more silver colored than the one around her.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked. I could hear her thoughts. She looked at herself with wonder glazed over her eyes. "This is so cool!"

"I know right?" I answered. She turned to me and looked shocked.

"Can…you hear me right now?"

"Loud as a whistle. Do you know what's going on?"

"I was just about to ask you that!" She laughed. "My aura feels stronger than before, a bit crazier too." She flexed her fingers and demonstrated that it was moving all over in sporadic motions.

"I think our aura's mixed together into one big pool. The crazy part would probably be because of me. Do you feel really relaxed too?" I was really excited. I mean, this had never happened to me before!

"Yeah, not tired or even the slightest bit sleepy but just, calm. Like I'm on a boat with smooth water below me. Hey, let's push it to two strings and see what happens!" She smiled excitedly and almost bounced in place. She looked like a little kid who just watched a magic trick. I dropped another string down right above her hand and watched as the mixed aura rose up to meet it, a thread I had no control over.

I felt a sense of detachment and realized that I was floating now, above my body. Ruby and I were passed out leaning on each other, our mouths hanging open slightly. But then again, she was right next to me. At least, her aura was. Her body was glowing red with a silver dot in the middle of her chest; the only part of her that I could actually make any details out on was her head. Our hands were joined by one silver string and one red one.

"Silver, what's going on?" She sounded scared this time as she patted at her floating self next to me. "How do we get back? Are we stuck like this?!"

"Calm down. We just need to let go of the strings, right? On three, we both let go." She nodded and I felt my aura begin to shake as her fear ran over to me. "One…two…three." I grabbed one of the strings and pulled it as hard as I could, Ruby doing the same with the other one. It felt like my mind had become a sling shot. I was shot back into my own body and I felt a small ache. My eyes opened for half a second but they were so dry I had to quickly shut them again. Apparently my body was in such a large amount of discomfort it decided to shut down for the night. The next dream I had I was just lying in that field, tall green grass all around with a strong breeze blowing past me as the sun warmed my muscles.

The next morning

"Wake up you two, time to stop flirting and get ready." Someone shook me and my eyes slowly opened. Everything around me looked out of focus for a moment. Yang was standing above me with her hands on her hips and a grin plastered on her face. "You mind getting Ruby up? She's a bit too much of a morning person for me to handle when I can avoid it. Good luck in the forest today hot shot." She waved then walked away.

I felt something move around on my shoulder and looked over to see Ruby totally passed out next to me, her head still on my shoulder from last night. She looked so peaceful, a slight smile playing on her lips. I poked the top of her head and her eyes opened up a bit.

"Morning!" she grinned. Then she noticed she was leaning on me and a blush spread across her face. "Sorry! I didn't mean to fall asleep on you like that!" Quickly standing up, she dusted off the front of her pants. "I'm gonna go change. I'll meet you for initiation later, okay?" I nodded and she darted down the stairs. I went to the bathroom and changed as well. Today I decided to leave the duster in my bag though; it was nice and hot outside so I figured that it might get stuffy under that thing. I rolled up my sleeves and put my hat on while I was walking out of the ballroom. I had to give my bag back to Oobleck when I left but they gave me Writing Raven in exchange.

I strolled toward the main tower. People would pass by me as they talked with their friends and teammates. I looked up and saw my dad standing on the balcony outside of his office. The main tower may very well have been a hundred stories tall, mainly composed of dorms and clubrooms. I opened the doors and felt the white marble clunk beneath my feet. Lockers lined the walls with benches in the middle of them. At the far end of the hall was an elevator that went straight to the Headmaster's room. It was small and round on the inside, like being inside a giant soup can. The floor was carpeted with a dark green felt. I hit the up button and had to bend my knees when it shot upward like a bullet.

When it finally dinged and opened up it revealed my dad's office. It was huge, about the size of two living rooms. The floor was made of a thick glass so you could see the gears of the clock tower that we actually stood in turning below you. Above, the pendulums stood totally still, glowing emerald green. The walls were painted dark gray, and on the far side of the room was a giant arched window that reached the ceiling; a doorknob could be seen on the side of it. His desk sat right in front of that, a thin table totally computerized and circled around his high back chair. He was still out on the balcony, but he was looking down at something in his hands.

I opened the glass door and walked over next to him. Leaning on the rail, I was able to look down upon the other students and the entire campus, it was really breathtaking. I looked over at him, but he was totally spaced out.

"Dad" I said. He jolted out of the daydream and shook his head, then looked over at me.

"I'm sorry; I didn't know you were there."

"I noticed. What was it you wanted to give me?" My eyebrow rose. He held out his hand, in it was a pendant shaped like a key, the head of it shaped like a leaf and the stem carved with runes. It looked fairly old. "Where did you find this?"

"It was Julia's. I've been waiting for the right time to give it to you and I thought this might be it. You're starting a new chapter of your life but you need to remember the past in order to make sure it doesn't reoccur in the future. I'm sure you of all people know about mistakes."He stared off into the distance again.

"Why is it so important? I mean I know it was moms but you said it would help with the aura release."

"Your mother was a Controller just like you and me, but she controlled nature and through this key she devised a way to automatically channel any extra aura she created into either the plants around her or to her teammates. It saved their lives more than once."

"So, I won't explode with aura on the full moon anymore? Everything will go on totally normal."

"As long as that is around your neck everything will be totally normal, there is a repercussion though. When you take it off there will still be a small pool of aura naturally built up as a second power source inside of you. You. Must. Not. Use. This. Aura." He stressed each word. "It is all your negative energy. In your case it would mainly consist of insanity."

"Hey!"

"Am I wrong? You are full of mental disturbances, especially towards murder and robbery." He looked at his watch and sighed. "You should get going. The initiation starts soon and although you have a partner there is still the matter of picking your team." I nodded and walked back to the elevator. When he turned back to me right before the door closed and gave a two fingered salute.

"Thanks old man."

Thanks for coming back for chapter 2 you guys! If you have any advice or suggestions for where I should take this send me a PM. Don't be a stranger. Read, review, and repeat!