Okay, so this chapter is going up a little later than I wanted, but it's still technically Saturday where I am, so it still counts. Now, normally I try to leave my notes until after the chapter, but this one's kind of important. It's getting toward the end of this semester at college, and I've got a lot of things I need to work on. Unfortunately, that means I'm going to have to stop writing for a bit, or at least stop posting. It shouldn't be too long of a hiatus though, just a few weeks while I get through finals. I should have the next chapter up by the end of the month, either the 23rd or the 30th. It actually works out kind of nice, though. Since it's currently sitting at over 7200 words (which is almost twice as long as every other chapter), I get to pretend I made it long on purpose, as a way of apologizing for the break! But seriously, thanks in advance for bearing with me, and if you don't, well, thanks anyways.


"Oi, Rain! Ya still in dere?" Rian turned from the window back to his partner. She had raised her voice to get his attention, though from her, that was the equivalent of a normal speaking voice. The blonde looked at him intently, somehow looking neither patient nor impatient.

Rian felt a little bad for zoning out. She'd offered to help him get up to speed on what could be considered basic information, after all. "Sorry, just got distracted for a moment." He closed his eyes, holding his hands in front of him. "Alright, so Dust is the main source of energy. There are four basic types, but they can be combined to form more." He glanced down at the book in front of him to confirm the information.

He needn't have bothered though, as Citri hummed in approval. "It's also commonly used in weapons and sometimes woven into clothes. Dere are even some people who will infuse their bodies with Dust, but it's very dangerous and requires a tremendous amount of control. Not many do it, and fewer survive."

Rian looked at her with a half-smile. He wasn't bothered by the crazy stuff anymore; it was all part of the learning curve now. What impressed him was how well his partner knew all this stuff. Sure, he had a book to reference, but she'd been operating off the top of her head. "How do you just know this stuff?"

Citri shrugged, still looking impassive. "Dere wasn't much for me to do when I were a kid, so I spent most of my free time in da library or readin' at home. When I wasn't trainin', dat is." The boy nodded and returned his attention to the book in front of him. His partner however, had something else to discuss. "Ya know, it's interestin' da things ya do and don't remember," she said, leaning back slightly.

Rian felt his heart skip a beat at her comment. Does she know something? He glanced up at her. "What do you mean?"

"Ya say ya don't know how ta fight with your axe, but ya do well enough without it. Ya don't know about somethin' as simple as Dust, but you're familiar with Aura and Semblances. It's just curious, is all."

"Damn. She's good."

The black-haired teen sat up fully, silently agreeing with Rain's assessment. "Well, it's not like I chose what to forget," he said. The two looked at each other for a moment before Citri finally broke her unreadable façade, shrugging lightly with a smile. Rian took that as a sign that she bought it. Or at least couldn't argue against it.

The lightening tension broke completely as Stella barged up to their table, swinging a chair around to take a seat at the end. "Man, can you believe this crap?" Rian and Citri just looked at her dumbly. "The rain!" she explained, gesturing toward the window the boy had been looking out earlier. "First weekend at Beacon and it's pouring out!"

Rian chuckled lightly. "It's not that bad. Give me five minutes out there and I'll be happy." He was only half-joking.

Stella shook her head with a laugh. "Thank God Yang's not here. She'd have some stupid pun about Rain and rain right now."

The boy took the opportunity. "What, like I'd be right as Rain?" The girl's eye twitched. "Or maybe something about not Raining on my parade?" Her fist clenched. Rian turned to Citri, who simply stared back at him. "You know what? I think we're going to have to take a Rain check on this."

Stella finally went over the edge. "Dammit!" she yelled, slamming her fist on the table as she stood. Despite her show of anger, and partly because of it, Rian was openly laughing. "How the hell did I get the misfortune of knowing both you and Yang?" She paced back and forth for a few moments, shaking her head. "I don't even remember why I came in here anymore!"

Citri, who apparently hadn't found any of the antics humorous in the least, chastised her teammate. "Well, apparently ya forgot dat we're in a library too, so maybe ya can keep it down, eh?"

Rubbing her eyes, Stella put her hand on her hip. "Syl said she wanted us to do some training together," she said, her voice back down to a reasonable level. "She wants us to meet her out in the training rooms."

As Rian was learning, Citri was a quick thinker. "So, she thought it would be better to send you than ta send us a message on our scrolls?"

Stella shrugged. "Apparently." She started to turn before looking back at Rian. "Maybe she wanted me to suffer your puns. I wouldn't put it past her."

The two partners stood from the table. Rian picked up the book and gestured with it. "I'm gonna take care of this real quick. I'll meet you guys there." His teammates nodded at him, heading off to meet up with their leader. Once they had left the room and he knew for sure Citri couldn't hear him, he spoke quietly. "You think she knows?"

"I don't see how she could. You haven't been stupid enough to slip up too badly yet, not around her."

"You always say the nicest things," Rian murmured sarcastically, looking down at the book. "Well, let's go see what kind of hell Syl has for us."

(- -)

Catching his breath, Rian wiped the sweat from his brow. If Syl was still trying to kill him, she was doing a good job of it. She'd initially had them sparring against each other, but when it became apparent that he couldn't hold his own against Citri, she'd begun running him through drills. And by drills, she meant defending himself from her. Repeatedly. Even with Rain using his Aura to protect him from the worst of it, he was feeling the effects.

"Again!" Syl barked. She swung her pole sword down toward his head, and he barely managed to catch it on his rifle. His tired body betrayed him though, and his limbs buckled under the blow. As a result, he was unable to stop the kick that struck the side of his rib cage, knocking back to the ground. The leader backed down, but only to give him a chance to get back up and begin again.

The sniper struggled to push himself to his feet, leaning on his rifle for support. He grunted with pain as he stood shakily, barely able to lift his weapon off the ground. Syl didn't give him a warning this time as she swung low and caught him behind the knees. Rian dropped to the ground, defenseless. The brunette continued her attack though, stopping her blade inches from his throat.

As Rian looked up at her, he felt his chest grow cold. Her face held an expression of barely contained rage, and her words from the day they met suddenly became very real to him. She wanted to kill him. She wanted him dead by her hands, and she was in a position to do so with ease.

Instead, she collapsed her weapon, swinging it onto her back. "We're done," she said evenly, the words cold against the fire in her eyes as she turned and left. Rian sat up, draping his arms across his legs. The feeling in his body reminded him of the sickness he'd felt when he'd first woken up in the forest, but a hell of a lot more physical.

"You alright?" Stella asked, kneeling down next to him.

"Yeah, I just need to catch my breath." The black-haired girl always seemed to be the one to see how he was doing. Not that anyone else on the team really qualifies as 'expressive.'

She rose, moving to talk with Citri for a moment. Rian couldn't hear what his partner said, but Stella reluctantly nodded and followed after Syl while the blonde sat across from him, several feet away. The two sat in silence while he recovered, and Rian was grateful. As much as he didn't like talking, it was always nice to have the option.

In some respects, she reminded him of himself. She didn't talk often, but she was extremely intelligent and, as he'd learned, observant. Unlike him, however, it didn't seem like she actively avoided conversations. Rather, it was more appropriate to say that she simply didn't initiate them.

Neither of them spoke for several minutes. Finally, Rian broke the silence. "That could have gone better."

"It could've gone a lot worse, too," Citri pointed out.

He knew what she meant. "How the hell are we… I mean, I know I said we need to trust Ozpin, but…" He dropped his head, unable to find his words.

"I don't know." Rian looked back up at her. Her face was mostly unreadable, but there was a small spark in her eye. "Maybe start with not fighting her again."

The boy gave a light smile. "If only I could be so lucky." He closed his eyes and let out a breath. "Stella going to talk to her?" Citri hummed in confirmation. "Well, hopefully that goes well."

(-)

Syl slammed her fist against her locker, silently cursing at the pain that shot up her arm. I was there! She raged inwardly. Inches! It would have been so easy to make it look like an accident. She reached inside the locker to grab a few supplies before sitting on a bench to clean Umber. The action allowed a moment for her mind to become clearer. No. Stella and Citri were there to see it, and Ozpin wouldn't buy it. I need a better opportunity. Something moved in front of her and she glanced up at the newcomer.

Stella stood several feet away, hands in her jacket pockets. Syl glared at her, waiting for her to say something. "What was that, exactly?" she asked hesitantly.

"What was what?" Syl was not feeling extremely patient at the moment.

The girl glanced down, breaking eye contact for a moment before looking back at her. "You almost killed him."

The brunette turned her attention back to her rifle. "I thought I made it pretty clear that that's what I promised to do."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Stella shift uncomfortably. "Well, you can't," she said timidly.

Syl brought her gaze up to bear against the short-haired girl. "And why not?" she growled, setting Umber to the side carefully.

Stella was staring at the floor to the brunette's left; anywhere but at her. "Because you're the team leader," she said quietly, her voice shaking.

Said leader stood, moving toward her partner. The girl retreated until her back was against a divider. She kept her head down the entire time. "Listen," Syl growled, "I didn't ask for this. I didn't want to be on the same team as him, much less lead it." She was interrupted as a girl in red and black walked in. "Get out." Syl barked. The younger girl let out a squeak and fled the room, and the brunette turned back to her partner, who was shaking. "So, don't get on me about what I can and can't do. You don't get to judge me."

She moved back to the bench to finish cleaning her weapon, and heard Stella slide down the wall to the ground. She glanced toward her shaking form and felt a shred of sympathy for the girl, which she immediately buried. "Get up," she said, somewhat reluctantly. The black-haired girl did as she was told and rose, but didn't move. She stood there for several seconds until Syl took notice. "Are you waiting for permission to leave? Go!" The girl fled the room, and the brunette turned her focus back to Umber.

(-)

The fire blazed around them. His target ducked through a doorway. They moved to follow. Groaning, the ceiling collapsed—

Rian snapped awake at the pounding coming from the door. He quickly checked his scroll; he'd managed to sleep for an hour after the training session. Rising from the bed, he rubbed the weariness from his face as the pounding increased in intensity. He pulled the door open to reveal an extremely angry Yang. She brushed past him and entered the room. "Where is she?"

Rian was still waking up. "Who, Stella?" he asked blearily.

Yang looked back at him, irises the same crimson they had been when she'd decked him the other day. "No, Syl."

Any fatigue in Rian's body instantly left as she named her target. "I don't know, I haven't seen her in about an hour. Why? Did she do something?"

Yang scowled. "First off, she yelled at Rubes, which is bad enough. But what she did to Stella? That's worth two beatdowns on its own."

Rian blanched. "What exactly did she do?"

Yang's anger subsided for a moment, replaced by uncertainty. "I don't know what she's told you, but Stella's got some… emotional issues." The fire quite literally returned to the blonde. "Apparently, your great leader went off on her pretty hard, and I'm not going to let that slide."

"Christ," he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Dammit, Syl… We need to fix this."

No kidding. "Alright, well, the rest of my team is probably getting dinner right now," Rian said, double-checking his scroll. Yang started to leave the room, but he grabbed her arm. "Hey, I get that she's your friend and all, but I'd rather you let me handle this." Confusion creeped through her look of anger. "This is my fault. She's mad at me, if you can call it 'mad.' I shouldn't have let it get this far. I won't let it happen again, I promise." Rian was dead serious. He hadn't known her long, but Stella was the first friendly face he'd seen at Beacon. He wasn't going to let Syl tear her down because of him.

The blonde locked eyes with him for several moments before finally relenting. "Alright, fine, but if it does happen again, I'll knock her head off."

"Noted."

(- -)

The cafeteria was lightly populated when Rian got there. It was relatively early for dinner, which would explain why Yang hadn't checked there. Syl had a weird thing about making them eat earlier than others. Rian wasn't sure if it was something she'd carried over from before Beacon, or if it was simply another way for her to vent her seemingly endless bitterness onto them. In either case, it made finding the group relatively easy.

Even at a distance, Rian could tell something was off. The three girls were sitting quietly, which, for Syl and Citri, wasn't that unusual. Stella's lack of energy, however, only confirmed what Yang had told him. As he approached the table, nobody acknowledged his presence with more than a glance. "We need to talk," he said, looking at Syl.

The brunette looked up at him with a scowl. "Yeah, no," she scoffed.

Rian steeled his voice. "Now." Syl stared him down, but finally rose to her feet and allowed him to lead her out. Rian was surprised that the fluttering in his stomach was mostly absent. Under other conditions, he would have had to force himself to keep moving. They stopped when they left the building. The rain had died down somewhat, enough to be able to talk over, but it was still heavy enough to discourage people from travelling outside. No one would interrupt them. "Yang told me what you did to Stella."

Syl raised her eyebrow. "Yang? The blonde with the…" she trailed off, pointing at her chest.

Rian rolled his eyes. "Yes, her. You want to explain to me what that was about?"

She crossed her arms defiantly. "Are you going to make me?"

The question was rhetorical; they both knew he couldn't do it. Rian just had to bank on the threat of Stella's blonde friend to do the job. "No, but I told Yang that it wouldn't happen again. I think we both want to keep that promise." It was only somewhat of a bluff. Based on the evaluations from initiation, Yang had placed higher than Syl, but at their level the differences were miniscule at best.

It paid off. Syl leaned against the wall next to one of the large windows. "She was getting on me about my training methods. I told her to back off."

Rian sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. "You realize what you did to her, right?" he asked, looking up at her.

The brunette shrugged. "If she can't stand a little heat, then she needs to learn not to stoke the flames."

The metaphor sent a fire shooting through Rian. He knew what she meant, and she was right, but that didn't make the way she said it any less cruel. "It ends now," he said, fists clenched. "I don't know what I did to piss you off, and maybe I deserve anything you throw at me. I can take it. But them?" He gestured toward the building. "You will leave them out of it. You will leave everyone out of this. Got it?"

Syl looked at him defiantly. "Gladly, but this is not my fault. Stella involved herself in this. That was her choice." She pressed her finger into his chest to make her point. "Maybe you should be the one to leave them out of this."

Rian matched her look for several seconds. He couldn't deny that she was right. "Alright," he said, covering his reluctance. Syl made to go back inside, but he stopped her. "So we're agreed then?"

She gave him a hard look, door halfway open. "Agreed. Just you and me." Her voice was cold, and she left him to stand alone.

"I realize I said we needed to fix this, but this is going to make life a hell of a lot harder for you."

Rian walked further from the building, stopping at the boundary of rain created by the roof. Leaning against a pillar, he extended his arm out into the falling water. Somehow, it didn't relax him as much as he'd hoped it would. "I know," he said with a sigh. "I can take it." Shaking the water off of his hand, he went back into the warmth of the dining hall.

The tables in the large room had begun to fill up, and while Syl was nowhere to be seen, Citri and Stella were still at the table. Yang was seated next to her friend and looked up at Rian as he approached. He gave her a small thumbs up and sat on the other side of Stella. "You alright?" he asked gently.

The girl in the jacket turned her head slightly and gave him a small smile. "Yeah, I'm good."

Rian nodded before continuing. "I appreciate what you tried to do, I really do, but don't do it again." Stella looked at him with surprise, and Citri had her head slightly cocked. Yang had a small, knowing smile on her face. "This is between me and her. I'd rather no one else get caught in the crossfire. Not again."

"Are you kidding?" Stella protested. "She wants to kill—"

The boy silenced her with a shake of his head. "If she really wanted to kill me, she would have done it by now. Something's holding her back. I don't think I'm in any real danger. Not at Beacon at least."

"And if you're not at Beacon?"

Rian considered Citri's point for a moment. "Well, odds are you'll be there too, right? She's smarter than to try something in front of others. That... honestly might be the only reason she didn't kill me earlier." Nobody tried to argue with his logic further. He pushed himself up from the table. "Well, I'm going to get something to eat. Don't feel the need to stay on my account."


So, I guess the whole reason I wrote this chapter was because I didn't feel like Syl was threatening enough. Up to this point, all she's really done is beat Rian/Rain up a little, and since she gave a little in the last chapter, I felt like it was appropriate for her to push back twice as hard. Now, I might be completely wrong about her not being threatening since I know the character, but hey, whatever. It's also letting me expand on Citri and Syl a little bit, though Citri clearly wasn't as much of a focus beyond her not really having a sense of humor. That's all I've got to say on this chapter, so I guess I'll stop writing. If you're like me and have finals, best of luck to you. Otherwise, enjoy your May, and I'll see you again in a few weeks!