After visiting the RWBY dorm Amelia walks out with a new pair of combat boots and a couple pairs of socks, stuffing the excess of the latter into her bag before leaving with the group in tow.

While they're traversing the halls on their way to the cafeteria Amelia looks down a side path and halts, staring at the person who's bullying a Faunus at the other end.
"Well I'll be damned, just the person I was looking forward to finding."

Everyone hears her chuckle as she turns and begins to walk down the hall, putting a magazine in her pistol as she walks.

Velvet moves to stop her, but she's stopped by Coco when Amelia starts emitting tons of fog, which spreads down the hall and concentrates around the large man.

"Hey dirtbag!" She yells, catching the attention of the bully.

"What do you want? I've never seen you before."

Amelia crosses her arms across her chest and stops some eight feet away from him.

"Bullshit. Where's my fucking money?"

He lets go of the other Faunus, who quickly runs away.

"I don't owe you any money. I don't borrow money from animals."

"Think again motherfucker. Eight months ago, you stole thirty Lien from a homeless person! You remember now!?"

He stares at her for a second and laughs, a grin spreading across his face.

"I suppose I do. You honestly think I'm going to give money to you?"

She steps closer to him, the fog around her boiling.

"Yes, you are. Or I'm going to pull it off your unconscious body."

He roars with laughter and steps forward, grabbing her by the throat before lifting her up off the ground.

"You sure talk plenty for some mangy mutt."

"And you sure are stupid for a human."

With that she pulls her right leg up and kicks him straight in the chest, putting a significant amount of aura into the blow.
He flies back and slams into the wall, slightly caving it in before he slumps to the ground, unconscious.

She walks up to him and pulls his wallet out of his pocket. Opening it up she gawks at the sheer amount of money inside, hundreds if not thousands of Lien. She pulls it all out and takes thirty for herself before throwing the empty wallet onto him.
She tucks the thirty Lien in her pouch and walks over to the crowd that had gathered, throwing the rest of the money above them, causing it to scatter about.

Satisfied, she withdraws the fog and walks back to where the group is.

"That was a bit extreme." Blake scowls at her disapprovingly.

"No, the bastard got what he deserved. My life depended on that money that he stole. I was going to buy myself a new pair of pants that I needed. He stole it and probably bought something he didn't need. Now let's go eat, using my semblance this much is making me even hungrier than I already am."
Velvet nods and starts walking towards the cafeteria, Amelia not far behind her.

When they reach the cafeteria Amelia heaps her tray high with food and gets a cup of coffee before following Velvet to a table, where the rest of the two teams are eating.
Setting down her tray and mug Amelia sits down and quickly digs into her food, only pausing to take the occasional swig of coffee.

Across from her sits a mountain of a man with a green armor plate on his left shoulder and a smaller man with white eyes and darker skin.

She ignores everyone as she eats, but her gray ears alertly turning different directions as she remains alert, even while eating.

Once she's done eating she introduces herself to the two men with a smile.
"Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. My name's Amelia."

They shake hands and the tall man introduces them.
"I am Yatsuhashi Daichi, and this is Fox Alistair."

"It's a pleasure to meet you two."

Suddenly she straightens up and sniffs the air before wrinkling her nose and looking around. "I smell a Schnee."

A girl with white hair down the table leans forward and looks down her way.
"Did I hear someone say my name?"

Amelia deadpans before laying down her ears, grabbing her mug and tray, and leaving in a hurry.

"Hey! Wait!" Yang calls after her, but it's too late, she's already dropped her dishes off and left.

"What's up with her?" The heiress asks, a noticeable amount of sass in her voice.

"I don't know, but someone should go talk to her." Velvet starts to get up, but Blake is already up and moving.

"I'll do it."


When Blake catches up to Amelia she's in the gardens sitting on a bench, holding her rifle upright by the barrel, with the stock resting on the ground.

"Hey, what was that about?" Blake asks, sitting down on the bench next to her.

"I refuse to eat with her." Amelia hisses through clenched teeth.

"And why is that? She's part of my team. It's only right that she sits with us."

"That's fine, but I am not eating a meal with a Schnee."

Blake grabs her by the shoulder and turns her so they're looking each other in the eyes.

"Would you please tell me why? Please don't tell me it's just a hatred for the family."

Amelia turns her head and turns her eyes to the floor.
"It'd...be easier to show you..."

"Alright, let's see it."

Amelia's fog pours out and surrounds them, and the view of the garden changes for both of them to a dimly lit tunnel, multiple picks sing out against rocks as dozens of dirt-encrusted Faunus hammer away at dust crystals embedded in the stone.
Amelia points to a thin girl clad in shorts and a tank top, her silver hair swaying behind her with every swing, next to her is an older woman with similar hair and ears.

"You know where we are?" Amelia asks Blake, who fearfully nods as she looks down the tunnel.

The younger Amelia stops swinging for a minute, coughing hoarsely as she tries to breathe in the choking dust.
Suddenly a man with a baton stalks up to her and hits her across the back, causing her to fall to her hands and knees as she struggles to breathe.

"Back to work!" He yells, standing above her menacingly brandishing the baton.

"She's trying to breathe! She can't work if she's choking on this dust!" Her mom yells at him, throwing her pick down and rushing to Amelia's side.
Two more men with batons run over and haul the two to their feet, dragging them up the tunnel towards a freight elevator.

The scene shifts to the office of none other than the SDC president, where the two are standing in front of papa Schnee himself, flanked by multiple guards.
"Please sir, she could hardly breathe from the air. And your...guard, came and hit her with a baton! You honestly can't expect us to work in those conditions!"

The white-haired man glares at her until she shuts up. "You can and you will. The air quality is perfectly fine."

Amelia's mother tries to reason with him, but he doesn't move a muscle until she blurts out a sentence as they're being dragged out.
"I won't leave her side until she's healthy!"

He stops the guards and stands up, walking over to her.
From where they're standing Blake watches him take a guard's pistol and hide it behind his back.

He nods to the guards and they force the two to their knees.
"Fine then, you're of no use to me."

With that he swiftly pulls the pistol out from behind his back and shoots her in the throat, the report of the weapon echoing down the hall as Amelia stares in horror.
The woman's corpse falls over, and the dark red blood that is gushing out of the wound pools below her as Amelia thrashes against the guards restraining her.

"MOM!" She screams hoarsely as the restraints holding her are cut free.

She rushes to her mother's side and clasps her hands over the wound, trying to slow the bleeding.

After a few seconds the woman stills, her final breath leaving in a gurgle as her eyes stare at the ceiling unmovingly.
"No...No!" Amelia cries against her as the dust company president hands the pistol back to the guard, his face an emotionless slate.

Slowly Amelia reaches up and closes her mother's eyes, the blood on her hands smearing as she pushes them closed.
Then she reaches up to her mother's left ear, where a small yellow tag sits highlighted against the gray hair. She pulls the tag off and holds it close as the guards haul her to her feet and guide her out.

The scene fades out, and she's suddenly back in the garden with Amelia, who is bent over her rifle, tears falling off her face.
She looks up at Blake as she pulls a necklace out of her shirt, on it sits the same yellow tag.

"Now do you understand?" She sobs, her voice shaky.

Blake nods and gently hugs her as she sobs, the same cheerful woman she had known was replaced by a broken and devastated girl.

After five minutes Blake hears the clicking of heels and looks over to see Weiss walking over, a determined look on her face.

Amelia hears it too and falls silent, the tears on her face being the only evidence that she was crying.

Blake shakes her head at Weiss, warning her to stay away for the time being, but the dense heiress ignores her and stops in front of Amelia, who stares at the white heels with a glimmer of hatred in her eyes.

"What's your deal? The second you find out that I'm sitting at that table you jump up and run away! How rude!"

Amelia grabs her rifle in her left hand and stands up, getting in the heiresses face as she glares with a look of pure fermented hatred.
"You want to know what my deal is Schnee!?"

She grabs her necklace and pulls it off her neck, hanging the yellow tag in Weiss's face.
"THIS! IS MY PROBLEM!" She yells, making Weiss step back.

"An ear tag?"

Amelia starts angrily pouring out fog, which only adds to her intimidation factor.

"It's not just an ear tag. This is the ear tag belonging to my mother who your father shot in cold blood right in front of my eyes. That, Is what my deal is. So you better think before you open your fucking mouth to me again Schnee."

With that she wheels around and stalks off, leaving Weiss stunned.

Once she reattaches her necklace to her neck she clips her rifle back on its sling and texts Ozpin, asking if there was a gun range on campus.


This early in the morning the range is completely empty, and Amelia grabs the lane furthest from the door before loading her rifle and activating the targets.
When the first target pops up she shoots it twice in the chest and once in the head, the two holes in the chest overlap each other.

She repeats the same with the other two dozen targets, leaning aggressively into the moderate recoil of the rifle as she tries to burn off the hatred boiling inside her.
When the drill ends she doesn't even check the time, and instead slams her fist on the button to restart.

She does the drill five times over and is halfway through the sixth redo when someone else enters the range. She ignores them and finishes the drill, swiftly pulling her pistol out of its holster and dispatching the last target when her rifle runs out of ammo. She takes a deep breath and lays her rifle on the bench, clearing the action of her pistol before putting it back in its holster.

She starts picking up the fourteen empty magazines off the floor when she feels a gaze in her back.
"Can I help you?"

She keeps picking up the magazines and putting them on the bench while she waits for an answer.
"Well, I've never seen you here before, and I figured I'd introduce myself."

Amelia finishes picking up the metal magazines and turns around, her eyes settling on a girl in a hoodie with a bronze shield on her back.
"My name is Pyrrha Nikos."

Amelia extends her hand.
"Amelia Ellis. I started coming to Beacon a few days ago, but I've been in the infirmary, hence why you haven't seen me."

"Oh, you're the new girl that Ruby was talking about. If I might ask, what were you in the infirmary for?"

Amelia chuckles and leans back against the bench.
"What wasn't I in there for? Take your pick, malnutrition, vitamin deficiency, Rabies, Tetanus. A whole assortment of shit."

Pyrrha raises her eyebrows in question.
"Spent a couple years on the streets, been through some stuff."

Pyrrha nods in understanding and walks over to the next lane, where her rifle is sitting on the bench.

"You beat my record by the way." She says as she points to a leaderboard at the back of the range.

"I'll be damned, it's been about a year since I last shot this thing too."

Satisfied and cooled off, Amelia repacks her magazines with ammunition and puts them back in her vest before clipping her rifle on its sling.

"Well, it was fun talking to you Pyrrha. Take care."
Pyrrha chirps goodbye as Amelia walks out of the range.


Using the schematics on her scroll Amelia manages to navigate the halls with relative success, and finally enters the dorms after about a half hour.
"Two-seventy-six...two-seventy-seven...here we are."

She holds her scroll up to the lock and it clicks as it unlocks, a green light flashes above the doorknob. Cautiously pushing the door open she finds the room void of people, a large bed sits in one corner, while the other is occupied by a weapon bench with an armorers vice.
She gently closes the white door behind her and crosses the open space before sitting down of the edge of the bed with a sigh and a groan. She takes her hat off and throws it on the bed next to her, giving her head a shake.

There's a knock at the door, and she sets her rifle on the bed before walking over and opening it.

Yang's standing there with Ruby at her side, both have an irritated look.

"Yes?" Amelia crosses her arms across her chest and looks at the two with a raised eyebrow.

"We need to talk." Yang's voice is venomous, her lilac eyes having turned red.

"...fine."

Amelia steps out of the doorway and walks across the room, grabbing Snakebite before sitting down at the weapon bench

Yang and Ruby walk in, closing the door behind them before they sit down on Amelia's bed.
"So what's your problem with Weiss? She's been really irritable since she went to talk to you."

Amelia clears her rifle before placing it in the armorers vice and pulling the receiver apart, but she doesn't respond, she keeps field-stripping her rifle, methodically placing the parts in neat rows on the table.

"So you're just going to ignore me!?" Yang snarls as she jumps up.

Amelia hangs her head and shakes it, the tips of her ears drooping slightly.
"I'm not ignoring you, sit back down and I'll tell you. It's not pleasant for me to talk about."

Yang sits down, and Amelia turns in her chair so she's facing the two girls.
"Weiss's father killed my mom right in front of me. So yeah, I've got a bone to pick with the Schnee family. We spent four months in the dust mines in Atlas, after my mom was killed I ran away, jumped ship to Vale. And you know the rest of my story. If you don't believe me I'll show you."

Yang's eyes turn back to their usual lilac color and take on a sympathetic look before she turns them to the floor.
"Oh...I'm sorry...I thought...I don't know what I thought..."

Amelia turns back to her rifle and wipes down the inside of the receiver with a red handkerchief before setting the cloth aside.
"Don't take this the wrong way. But you don't know what you thought because you didn't think. I've done the same thing multiple times before. I don't want your sympathy, I just want a family. Which is something I haven't had since Signal academy."

Ruby stands up and walks over to her, quickly wrapping her up in a hug from behind.

Amelia flinches at the contact at first, but after a few seconds she leans into it slightly, her shoulders shaking slightly as she lets out a few shaky breaths.
"T-thanks Ruby..." she sobs, tears rolling down her face and dripping off her chin.

"Don't mention it, it's the least I can do. It's not the person I am to let someone go without something like that."
Yang stands up and walks over, joining in the hug.

"What about your dad? Any siblings?"

Amelia shakes her head, taking a deep breath. "I don't know. They were fine when we got dragged off to the mines. But I haven't been able to go back to Vacuo to check."

They hug in silence for several minutes before there's a knock at the door, Yang and Ruby step back to allow Amelia to stand up and open it.

She gets up, walks over to the door, and looks through the peephole before grabbing her pistol out of its holster.
Yang goes to say something, but Amelia does something she didn't expect; she ejects the magazine and works the action before chucking it to the bed. Then she pulls her bayonet out of its scabbard on her vest and throws it to one side, where it embeds itself deep in the center of the bathroom door.

Amelia takes a deep breath and opens the door, where a very nervous looking Weiss stands, her hands clasped together in front of her.
She steps out of the doorway to allow Weiss to enter, but the heiress just stands there, gawking in surprise.

"Well? You waiting for a written invitation? Entrez vous."

Weiss reluctantly walks inside and Amelia closes the door behind her before walking over and sitting back down at the weapon bench.
"I...I came t-to say I'm sorry. If there's anything you need please let me know. I am willing to compensate you on my family's behalf."

Amelia stares at her for a moment before nodding slowly.
"Apology accepted, from you. I will never forgive your father, but I'm willing to come to good terms with you...and maybe your sister. Having said that...there are two things I need."

"Name it."

"One, I need a round-trip ticket to Vacuo. Two, I want all of my mothers and my belongings that were taken from us returned. Without your father finding out."

Weiss nods to the first request, but looks uncertain about the second request.
"Consider the first done...but the second...that's going to take a while."

Amelia reaches into her bag and pulls out a mustard-colored brick, holding it up to show Weiss.
"If I don't have them back by the end of next week, you're telling me where it's at, and I'm taking it by force. Understand?"

Weiss pales, her eyes going wide as she stares at the five pound brick of Dust-infused plastic explosives being held by Amelia.
"Understood."

Amelia puts the explosives back in her bag and closes it.
"Good. Oh, another thing, I need some Lien. I'm about as poor as it gets right now."

Weiss nods and pulls her wallet out of her skirt, grabbing a thick wad of money before handing it to Amelia.
"Thank you Weiss. I am also sorry for my behavior."

She stands up and offers her hand.
"Amelia Ellis, marksman, wolf Faunus, and Ghost Soldier."

Weiss shakes her hand, and Amelia walks towards the door.
"Well, now that introductions are through. I'm going to have to ask you all to leave. I've got weapons to clean."

Weiss nods and walks out, her heels clicking even on the carpet.

Yang claps her on the shoulder as she walks past, a smirk tugging at her lips.

Ruby slumps her shoulders and starts to walk out with a dejected look, but Amelia stops her.
"I suppose you can stay and help if you want. If it's okay with Yang."

Ruby perks up immediately and looks to Yang hopefully, who laughs and nods before continuing down the hall.
Amelia smiles and closes the door before walking over to the bathroom door and roughly wrenching the knife out of it.

"So what do you want me to clean?" Ruby asks, looking hopefully at her

"You can clean Snakebite if you want, just don't touch the scope, it took me forever to get it dialed in."

Ruby's eyes light up and she nods rapidly before sitting down in the wooden chair.

Ruby looks over the bottles of oil, grease, and cleaning solution that have been lined up on a shelf above the bench, scowling as she grabs a bottle of grease.
"You use a graphite based grease?"

Amelia grins and picks up her pistol magazine off the floor, putting it in her pocket before answering.
"Yeah, all of the other greases I've tried have caused feeding problems. I've been meaning to buy a better gas block so I can change over to a synthetic. But I just never got enough money."

Ruby nods and opens her mouth to say something, but Amelia cuts in.
"But! Now that I've got some money that's going to be the first thing I do."

Ruby smiles, screws the brush into the cleaning rod, and pushes it down the barrel. "I've never seen one of these set up like a sniper rifle before."

Amelia scowls at her. "It's not a sniper rifle. It's a designated marksman's rifle. There's a huge difference."

"Really? What's the difference?"

Amelia grabs Centurion off her bed and sits down next to Ruby.

"Well, a sniper rifle is built primarily for accuracy and range. A designated marksman rifle is a balance of accuracy, range, and engagement speed."

"...Oh, okay! It's still a really cool gun!"

Amelia chuckles while she disassembles Centurion, placing the parts on a white handkerchief to distinguish them between the parts from Snakebite.
"Thanks Ruby, it's still not the way I want it though."

Ruby snorts as she puts the freshly cleaned and lubricated rifle back together.
"I've said the same thing about Crescent Rose dozens of times before. There's always something that could be better."

"So true. What is Crescent Rose by the way? I've never seen your weapon."

Ruby beams, happy to be able to brag about her sweetheart.
"Crescent Rose is my fifty caliber sniper scythe, it's a mechashift weapon of course."

Amelia grins and looks at the wall thoughtfully for a minute before resuming cleaning components.
"Now that's an idea..." she chuckles, furiously scrubbing the barrel out of Centurion with a cleaning rod.

"You want to make a friendly bet?"

Amelia looks at Ruby, who has a suspicious smile.

"Name your terms, then I'll decide."

"Shooting competition? If you out-shoot me I'll give you the plans for Crescent Rose. If I out-shoot you then you give me the plans for Snakebite."
Amelia's grin disappears, and she looks back at the part she's wiping down.

"I don't have the plans for Snakebite anymore... They were taken from me when I got sent to the mines...but I suppose I can make them from memory. You're on, I hope you're ready to give me those plans."

They shake hands, finalizing the deal before Ruby snorts.
"Bold words from someone who's going to lose."

Amelia grins the entire time she finishes working on Centurion.
Once she's finished she racks the slide a few times before slapping a magazine in and putting the pistol in its holster on her thigh.
Then she grabs her bayonet and sticks it in the table in front of Ruby, who yelps in surprise.

"Get that as sharp as you can."

Ruby nods and grabs the sharpener on the shelf before taking it and the knife into the bathroom, where there's the sound of running water for a few seconds, followed by the gritty sound of metal grinding on stone for several minutes.

Finally Ruby comes back out, flipping the knife around to hand it to Amelia by the blade.

Amelia takes it and runs it along her arm, much to her surprise it cleanly shaves the hair off.
"Good job! I didn't expect it to be that sharp, guess I should have expected it considering you use a scythe."

Ruby curtsies, practically beaming with excitement.
"So, you ready to go have that competition?"

Amelia shakes her head and unclips her plate carrier before swinging it off and placing it on the back of the chair.
"Nah, not right now. Tomorrow. I've got some stuff to get from town, including more ammunition."

Ruby slumps her shoulders momentarily to show her disappointment, but she's quickly back to her bubbly self.
"Okay! You want to go alone or you want us to come with you?"

Amelia pushes her feet back into the black combat boots and laces them up, being sure to pull them tight.
"Y'all can come along if you want, I'm not going to force you."

With that she takes the scabbard for her bayonet off her vest and attaches it to her belt.

Out of curiosity she looks in the closet, and finds the duster. "...So that's where that went."

She pulls it off the coat hanger and throws it on, buttoning it up as she walks towards the door.

"Hey, you going to take this?"
Amelia turns around to find Ruby holding her baseball cap out.

"Oh yeah, thanks."
She takes the hat and puts it on, pulling her hair through the back of it like she always does. "Alright, let's go."

Ruby opens the door and leads the way out while Amelia closes and locks it behind them.

After forming a small posse to head into town with, they hop onto a shuttle, and after a short flight they land in Vale.
When she steps off the airship into the snow she instinctively scans her surroundings, and her eyes settle on a familiar face at the tollbooth.

"Hold up one sec guys! I've got to thank someone!"

She jogs over to the booth and taps him on the shoulder, grabbing his attention from the book he's reading.
"Hey! You're looking better! What did you do, stow away somewhere?" The guard from a few days earlier asks, a teasing smile on his face.

"Nope! I talked to the headmaster, he's my uncle."

The guards jaw drops and he stares at her, trying to figure out if she's messing with him.
"You're kidding me right?"

Amelia snorts. "Nope! But anyway, I wanted to thank you. You're the one who made this whole thing possible. Now I've got a roof over my head, three hots and a cot, and I can continue my training to become a huntress. Thank you so much."

She eases forward and quickly hugs him before stepping back and snapping a loose salute.

"You're very much welcome. You take care of yourself and come visit every so often, y'hear?"

Amelia nods and wheels around, jogging over to where the rest of the group is.

"Alright, first stop is the clothing store!" Coco cheers, slapping Amelia on the back.

"Who was that?" Velvet asks.

Amelia smiles as they walk down the sidewalk, her ears pointed forward.
"That was the guard who helped me get my life back on track to become a huntress."


At Amelia's insistence they manage to convince Coco to help her shop for functionality and comfort more than fashion. When they walk out from the store Amelia scored multiple pairs of tan and black camouflage military fatigues, which blends in perfectly with her equipment.

They follow Ruby to her favorite weapon shop, where Amelia buys a larger backpack and loads it with ammunition for Snakebite and Centurion, as well as she buys a new gas block for Snakebite and new gun oil.

They're heading to Tukson's when Amelia spots something in an alley, causing her to backpedal.

She stares at the snow-covered, shivering figure for a second. Suddenly her eyes widen and she sprints over, baseball-sliding to a stop next to it.
"Hey, you alright?!"

She shakes him, and the Lynx Faunus' eyes flutter open, his breath coming in ragged and short pants.
"C-c-c-cold..." he stutters out, slightly raising his head to look at her.

Amelia turns and frantically waves her friends over before brushing the snow off of him. Yang reaches the two first, and Amelia hauls him to his feet before pivoting so she's under his right arm.
"Yang, take his left arm. He's going to die if we don't get him help."

The blonde nods and gets under his left arm, and they slightly lift him up before carrying him out of the alley.

"Come on people! Double time!" Amelia snarls at everyone else, who stood and stared while her and Yang helped him up.
His toes drag in the snow as they carry him down the sidewalk, getting several scowls and sour looks from people as they hurry past.

It's only a block to Tukson's from where they found the Faunus, but it feels like a mile as Amelia watches the hypothermic Faunus fade in and out of consciousness on her shoulder.

Finally they reach the front of the book store, and Amelia barges in with the Faunus and Yang close behind her

"Sorry Tukson but this guy is worse than I was and I'm not about to let him die!" She talks quickly as she carries him behind the counter, past Tukson, and up the stairs in the back room.

When they get upstairs she sets him down on the couch and grabs her wool blanket from the corner. Before she wraps the blanket around him she takes off his stiff jacket and his soaked T-shirt, exposing the guy's thin pale form.

She throws the blanket over him and wraps it around him, slapping him in the face lightly a few times to make sure he's still awake.
Tukson taps her on the shoulder, and she straightens up.
"I'll take care of him. You watch the store."

She nods and reluctantly heads down the stairs, coming out of the back room to stand behind the counter.
Everyone from Beacon looks at her hopefully, and she just shrugs.
"Too soon to tell yet. He was in bad shape, but he might make it. Tukson is amazing when it comes to bringing people back from hypothermia."

Everyone relaxes slightly, most of them sit down against the wall, putting the bags next to them.
"How…can you…move so fast…While carrying that much ammunition?" Ruby asks, as she leans against the wall, out of breath from running so much.

"Adrenaline is a lovely thing." Amelia sighs, leaning on the counter after she puts her backpack full of ammo on the floor.

Everyone nods in agreement, some more out of breath than others.

"Someone throw me that winter coat I bought."

Yang tosses it to her and she catches it, swiftly taking the duster off before putting the puffy white coat on.

She folds the duster up and puts it on the chair in the corner behind the counter before sitting down in the chair next to it.

Two hours pass before Tukson comes downstairs. Everyone looks at him hopefully, and he nods.
"He'll live."

Everyone sighs in relief, and Amelia walks over to him.
"Thank you for helping me, and thank you for helping him."

He smiles and plants a kiss on her head before grabbing the duster.
"Don't mention it. Just doing what's right. I'm glad you're doing better too. You were looking pretty damn ragged when you left a couple days ago."

Amelia nods and leans back against the counter.
"Yeah, the doctors did some blood tests on me, turns out going to see him in person was a good idea, because I had traces of Rabies and Tetanus in my blood."

Tukson raises both eyebrows in surprise.
"Yeah, I had the same reaction. I'm all fixed up now, just need to keep eating plenty."

He smiles and gently punches her in the shoulder.
"Well, good for you. I want you to be the best marksman huntress in all of Remnant by the time you graduate, you hear?"

"Yes sir!" She chirps, giving him a lazy salute.

He chuckles, looking at everyone sitting around the store.
"Alright, well, I'll let you know when he's healthy. You all had better get back to Beacon."

Amelia nods and grabs her backpack before scribbling something on a notepad and handing it to Tukson.
"That's my number. Let me know when he's alright. I'll stop by in a few days."

Tukson leans in the doorway to the back room, putting the piece of paper in his pocket.
Everyone starts standing up, grabbing the bags they were carrying and shuffling towards the door.

"You take care Tuk."
Amelia yells over her shoulder as she walks out, flipping up the fur-lined hood of her new jacket.


When they get back to Beacon they drop Amelia's new purchases off at her dorm and head to the cafeteria for lunch, staying relatively quiet as they all worry about the Faunus Amelia had helped.

The cafeteria is packed when they get there, the snow discourages most people from taking a shuttle to Vale for fear of getting stuck in town should the shuttles shut down.
Loading two large patties of meat onto some bread Amelia once again stacks her tray with food before finding a spot in the far corner of the cafeteria

When she sits down she finds that nobody had followed her, and instead they had all chosen to sit with people they knew.
She internally debates moving while she eats the burger, not really paying any attention to the taste whilst deep in thought. Her train of thought gets derailed when someone sits down next to her, and her head jerks up in surprise. It's only Velvet, who bears a warm smile as she sits down on the gray bench.

"Oh, hey Velvet.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Just...anxiety is getting the best of me. I'm not really a fan of large groups...it's something I gained while in the mines...the guards would always use force to break up groups of people bigger than four or five with batons and..."
Amelia internally curses her nervous babbling and shuts up before she can reveal anymore of her past, causing Velvet to give her a sympathetic nod before squeezing her shoulders.

"And what?"

Amelia stares at her tray with a pained expression, as if remembering each and every hit from the guards.
"And...knives..."

she slowly turns and pulls up the back of her shirt, revealing dozens of scars crisscrossing her back.

Velvet quietly gasps and covers her mouth, her eyes wide in shock.
Before anyone else can see the scars Amelia pulls her shirt back down and turns back to look towards Velvet.

"Promise you won't tell anyone until I do. You're the only other person who knows in Vale other than my doctor and Tukson."

"I...I promise."

Amelia hugs her quickly before disengaging and picking at her food with her fork while in thought.
"I...I'll tell you about my past if you promise you'll keep it a secret until I'm ready to come out with it. It's something that I've carried on my shoulders, and now that I have someone I can trust I need to get it off."

Velvet blinks a few times while looking at Amelia, and after several quiet seconds she gives a warm smile.
"I promise, not a peep until you give the okay."

Amelia smiles, her hazel eyes soften as she looks at the rabbit Faunus.
"Thank you...I know we've only known each other for a couple days, but you're about as close to family as I know I have right now."

"But...what about Ozpin? You said you're related."

Amelia shakes her head.
"It's...complicated. I'll explain more when I get my belongings back from the SDC."

Velvet looks over towards the heiress at the group and then back to Amelia.
"By the way...what was that about at breakfast? Something in regards to your past?"

Amelia nods and pulls the small tag out of her shirt, cupping it in her hand so only Velvet can see it.

"Weiss' father...killed my mom right in front of me...everything that I'd suppressed came rushing back to me, and I just couldn't handle it. So I separated myself until I was better. I didn't trust myself not to hurt her."

Velvet blinks while staring at the small yellow tag in Amelia's hand, the black numbers on it still easy to read.
Amelia tucks the necklace back into her shirt and tilts her head down, pointing at a small spot on her left ear where no hair grows.

"Scar tissue?"

Amelia nods and takes a bite of her burger.
"Tunnel worker seven-four-two-six."
Amelia quietly rattles off the numbers and stares at her tray, a very light wispy fog seems to stick near her skin as the memories of being in the dust mines replay in her head.
A gentle shake on her shoulder snaps her out of her memories.

"Huh?"

"You alright? You're crying."

Sure enough, heavy, warm tears are rolling down Amelia's face and dripping onto the table.
"I...yeah...I'm alright, Just...hard memories."

Amelia brings up her hand and wipes her eyes before being offered a napkin by Velvet.
"Thanks."

She wipes her eyes with the napkin, and then her face before placing it on the table.

"If you want...we can go talk about this somewhere else. I mean, there's a ton of people in here."

Amelia nods and quickly wolfs down her food before standing up.
The two Faunus drop their trays off with the dish-washing crew and head towards the dorms, but they hit a 'snag' on the way there.


With Velvet in the lead Amelia scans the halls alertly as they walk, but she doesn't notice when a door opens behind her.
"Hey mutt!"

Amelia slows to a stop and turns around to find the entirety of team CRDL standing yards away, all of them in full combat equipment.

"The hell do you want? Did I not kick your ass hard enough the first time?" Her voice is full of sass as she crosses her arms across her chest.

"I'm going to teach you to obey like a good dog." He chuckles, hefting his mace onto one shoulder.

Amelia snorts, and thick fog starts rolling off her, spreading across the floor before rising and covering the entire hall in a light haze.
"Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough."

Velvet takes the hint and beats feet down the hall, hiding behind the corner as she watches the fight.

Cardin lunges forward, swinging his mace in an overhead strike, but Amelia casually sidesteps the blow. Cardin grins and relaxes, staring down at the empty crater in the carpet.
"Heh, that'll teach you."

Amelia cackles as he hefts his mace up onto his shoulder.

When he turns around he stumbles back in shock, staring at his team with fear in his eyes.
"So, that's what you're afraid of. Good to know!" Amelia chuckles as he drops his mace and runs away in fear.

The rest of CRDL stare at her like she's crazy, and Amelia picks up the mace before leaning on it like a cane.
"Oh, that's right, you chumps don't know what my semblance is. Well allow me to introduce myself. My name is Amelia Ellis, and my semblance allows me to completely take control of your senses and manipulate them to create lifelike hallucinations. So unless you want to find out what your deepest, darkest fears are, I suggest you leave me the hell alone."

The three men drop their weapons and put their hands up in surrender, causing Amelia to grin before withdrawing her fog.
She turns around once the fog is all gone, dropping the mace before casually strolling down the hall to Velvet.

"You won't believe what Cardin is afraid of." She chuckles, putting her hands in her pockets as she walks.

"What?"

"Clowns."


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