The Chronicles of ZFRR

by Xjentryn

Follow team ZFRR (Zaffre) along with their fellow students at Storm Academy as they train in the hopes of becoming the best huntsmen and huntresses of their generation.

10. Where the Wild Things Aren't

Hello everyone, and welcome to chapter 8 of my fanfic. For those of you who have read The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR, you'll recognize a few things in this chapter. Here our friends from Storm shall visit Forjador City, at the same time BLAD, RWBY, and JNPR did. You may notice my writing style changing a few times in here. This is because the creator of The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR was kind enough to help me write the scenes involving his characters. One other thing I want to give you guys a heads-up in, in many fan incarnations of RWBY, there are mages and others with magic abilities. I too have such included magic in this universe. That being said, dust is still stronger. It wouldn't make much sense to have a society based around dust if magic were its superior. Traces of magic will show up here, though they will not be obvious. It'll make more sense in later chapters. I will also give you a heads up that these scenes are not marked as far as when they take place. This trip is over the course of a few days, and I did not write when each takes place as I wanted to be sure I didn't screw up the pre-existing timeline set by The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR. However I can guarantee these scenes happen chronologically. And if you've read The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR, you'll recognize when some of this stuff takes place. I hope you all enjoy my longest chapter yet, Where the Wild Things Aren't.

Warning: May contain swearing.

"Talking"

"Thinking"

Memory/Flashback

Sound effect

"~Singing~"

– ZFRR – THSL –

Up in the clear blue skies, the humming of engines could be heard. These sounds emanated from a bullhead, currently carrying a group of students from Storm Academy in Mistral to Forjador City in Vale. Among these students were teams ZFRR and THSL, currently enthralled in the tale of the recent double date, though the second was not technically a couple.

"Haha. Noodling?" Scarlet laughed gleefully.

"It was actually a lot of fun." Hazel stated. "You'd be surprised."

"I don't doubt it!"

Thistle rolled her eyes. "Sounds childish to me." Bird-girl was far too proud of her maturity to ever take part in something she deemed so juvenile.

Scarlet leaned up in her leader's face; much to the latter's annoyance. "You're just jealous that you missed it!"

"Jealous? Me? As if!"

"Calm down Thistle." Loy insisted. "Let Rusty finish the story."

The blue-haired swordsman of Team ZFRR nodded. "Yeah man, I wanna hear more about you and Deedee after you guys left us."

Rusty jumped to his feet. "Prepare for a magic journey through time!" The others gave each other confused looks as Rusty moved his hands around in an attempt to look mystic. "Bulaloo, bulaloo, bulaloo…."

Rusty stepped through the brush, moving away from his friends by the lake. A beautiful dark-skinned girl followed him closely. "Wh-where are you taking me?" She asked. Her stutter not out of fear of Rusty, but just her natural timidness.

The monkey boy grinned, "Well since Serenity Valley is occupied, I figured I'd get us our own little slice of heaven."

He continued to lead her, moving passed bushes, trees, and rocks. She knew not where he took he, and for that matter neither did he. Sure Rusty had spent plenty of time getting lost in these forests, once even having to be rescued after a weekend of eating nothing but berries. Yet despite his explorative nature, his constant tendency to get lost showed that his memory of the environment was not too keen.

Deedee struggled to follow him through the thick bushes and trees, many of which snagged on her dress. "Ru-rusty? How f-far are we going?"

The monkey boy turned back to her, hanging by his tail from a tree branch for really no reason at all. "Not much. Are you doing alright?"

The young huntress-to-be smiled sweetly, doing her best to make good of a bad situation. "The f-forest is n-not my usual h-home."

"Hey I getcha, but give it a couple hours and night will be here. And baby, you haven't seen the sunset til you've seen it from the top of a tree!"

She pushed a twig aside, only to have it return fire and smack her across the forehead. "Ow. I d-don't doubt that. But it's actually a f-few more than a c-couple hours til sunset. And I-I'm having a hard time here."

The blondie stroked his chin, for his thoughts were too epic to be thought stilly. "You may have a point there."

"C-can't we j-just return to Serenity V-valley?"

"We could…ooooorrrrrrr we could do this!" Without warning Rusty scooped her up and began running up his tree. Might have been an amazing feat if he didn't have a gravity semblance. Within moments they were near the top, towering above many of the nearby trees. "See? I told you I'd find it. Get a load of that view!"

Deedee looked out over the trees. Now that she was not surrounded by constant foliage, she took a deep breath and was happy at where they were. "This is much better, thank you."

Rusty jolted his view to the left, his hand shielding high eyes from…well nothing since the sun was the other way. Still, he felt he looked more majestic this way. "Excellent view this way too!" He spun to his left, now staring straight at Deedee. "My word the beautiful view just will not end!"

She blushed as he said that, and twirled her hair shyly. "Th-thank you Rusty."

He grinned. "Thank God, because he made the beautiful creature here before me."

"Oh Rusty you're so manly and mighty and I just want to-"

(RECORD SCRATCH)

"Now hold on, no way did she say that!"

Rusty let out an exasperated sigh. "Loy, would you just let me finish?"

Zaffre chuckled. "Come on man, tell it like it is. I wasn't even there and I know you're making that up. You probably didn't even run up the tree!"

"Um, ahem" To prove his point, Rusty walked onto the wall of the aircraft, earning him a firm glare from Professor Morningstar.

"Yeah but did you trip?"

"Of course not! …maybe…"

The blue haired swordsman laughed again. "Uh-huh."

"Hey, I'm the one remembering here! Now, bulaloo, bulaloo, bulaloo…." He once more waved his hands in the mystic dance.

Deedee smiled at Rusty as she sat in his lap, held fast by his firm grip. "Everything's so peaceful up here."

Monkey boy's hand gently caressed her cheek, brushing some hair aside. "Just like when I look into your eyes."

This earned him a giggle and another blush. "Y-you're a sweet man Rusty".

"I have my moments."

He leaned in, prepared to make his next move. And perhaps he would've, if her eyes didn't go wide in panic. Though the real mood killer was probably the shriek. "EEEEk! Spider!"

Deedee slide out of his lap and farther along the tree branch as she noticed the little eight-legged wonder on his shoulder. Rusty, always one to seize an opportunity, jumped to his feet. "Not to worry! I'll save you m'lady!" He then gracefully and majestically slowly turned to flick it off, before flailing around and screaming like a little girl. "AAAAH! Get it off get it off get it off!"

He did finally manage to evict the tiny pest from its place aboard his shoulder, but fate decided their paths were further intertwined. For as Rusty profully punted the pipsqueak, he lost his footing and he too began to fall. Most men would've panicked. Rusty was not most men…but he still panicked anyway. Quickly downward he tumbled, passed branches and leaves galore. This fall might have meant another trip to the hospital for him, were it not for a beautiful vine that managed to catch his grasp. He quickly converted this fall into a swing, grinning wildly as he called out, "I am Tarzan! The Ape Man!" This of course was followed by the traditional Tarzan call. His swing carried him upward now, where he leapt off to land gracefully back on the branch from which the lovely Deedee awaited. As she clapped at his success, he bowed and produced a beautiful bouquet of flowers from under his tail. A brilliant mix of-

"Ruustyyyyyy…"

"Ugh, fiiiine."

…"I am Tarzan! The Ape Man!" This of course was followed by the traditional Tarzan call. But this call was cut short, as his swing quickly slammed him into the trunk of the tree. "Ooowwww…"

"Ok," Scarlet laughed, "Now THAT sounds more like you!"

Rusty rolled his eyes, though admittedly giggling gleefully.

"So then what happened?" Hazel asked curiously.

"I climbed back up, we talked some more, and then watched the sunset."

"Niiiiiiiice!" The little red-haired pup excitedly offered a high five, with Rusty graciously accepted.

"Students, we will be landing in Forjador in just a few minutes." Their Headmaster announced.

"Alright! Let's get this show on the road!"

Zaffre chuckled, ruffling his best friend's hair. "Calm down Rusty, we're almost there." The rest of the group exchanged many excited looks and smiles, save one shut-in boy in a black bandana.

– THSL –

"Huh…? This place is pretty awesome, I gotta admit…" Thistle mused as she walked around the festive streets of Forjador City. All around her there were people with various positive expressions, both human and Faunus alike, and many were even helping one another out in one way or another. Shortly after landing, Headmaster Caesar had gotten the students checked-in at the hotel, and then given them the day to wander. The avian warrior had chosen to wander alone.

"Heh, I could get used to a place like this. Lots of cute looking boys too," The winged huntress-in-training said with a smirk, looking at the various good-looking guys walking around her.

*Bam*

"Ow! Hey! Watch were you're go…ing… Uh…"

"Woops! Sorry! Got a little distracted by all the tourist visiting. This place hasn't been this festive since the last big festival fifteen years ago…"

Thistle nodded slightly at the young man, who looked only about a couple years older than her at most, in front of her, not entirely sure what to say to him. He was a rather attractive teen, with his black hair with blue highlights in it, black shirt with matching shorts and a nice smile complementing his friendly blue eyes. The young girl normally wouldn't be so tongue tied as she was now with a good looking man around her age if it wasn't for that fact that this guy had something that the others she met rarely had: The inability to walk.

"Gehehe, I've seen that look before. Shocked to see someone as young as I am in a wheelchair and crippled as hell, eh?" The dark haired teen joked, snapping Thistle out of her stupor.

"What? Oh! Uh… yeah! Sorry about that," Thistle shook her head quickly, snapping her attention back.

"Meh, it's fine. After using this thing for ten years, you'd either get used to it, hate life, or just plain don't care. I like to think of myself falling into the first and last categories myself," The wheelchaired teen joked, surprising Thistle with the information of him being unable to walk for so long, before he held his hand out to her. "The name's Raiga. Raiga Arashi."

"Thistle Sora, storm boy," Thistle greeted back with her hand out as well, prompting the two to shake while Raiga let off a short laugh.

"Well, surprised to see someone who knew the meaning of my name. Then again, you have a name of similar origin yourself, don't you, Maiden of the Sky…?" Raiga smirked.

"Ooh. Nice. Gotta give you props for that," Thistle smirked back, crossing her arms as she did so. "And I gotta give you credit for being such an optimist while in your condition. If I had to deal with something similar to that, like lose my wings, I'd be pretty pissed."

"And I'd do it again if I had the chance," Raiga said seriously, causing Thistle to look at him strangely.

"Why would you choose it?"

"You see, I lost the ability to use my legs after trying to save a good friend of mine from being killed by a pack of Beowulves, who in turn protected me with all his seven year old might." Thistle smirked when he said 'seven year old', but her expression fell when she realized he was being serious. "That's right, seven. He obviously couldn't do much, but his grandfather arrived quickly and rescued us. I gave the little guy my family's sword as a reward for his bravery."

"You gave him a reward because you stepped in to save him and it cost you your legs?" Thistle asked incredulously.

"He earned it. I'm not all that close to him compared to some of his other friends, but I didn't hesitate to save him and I still wouldn't if the situation were to happen again. And I know for a fact that he'll do the same. He's a very brave and loyal friend."

"Wow…you're quite the hero aren't you?" Thistle smirked, feeling more comfortable with the disabled teen. "And this friend of yours sounds like a cool guy. Think you can hook us up?"

"Even if I could, I doubt you'd get anywhere with him if I'm guessing right."

"I don't know, I have a certain 'charm' over boys." Thistle heaved her large chest out for a moment as she said that, clearly emphasizing what she meant.

Raiga laughed. "I can see that. But my bud's been interested in the same girl since he was twelve, and as luck would have it, that girl also has had feelings for him for just as long. Trust me, if you're thinking of getting some with him, you got a better chance getting his brother in a cheerleading outfit and performing a cheer routine over at Rosary Park. The guy is that dedicated to her…"

"Shame." The winged girl shrugged before giving Raiga a suggestive stare. "So how about you? Think you can give me a tour of this place Mr. Hero?"

"I'd love to, but I gotta check to see if my Mom needs any help with our family's shop. She's working alone at the moment since Dad's helping with the town's chief of police and I think I saw a big guy with a bunch of other guys our age entering our store with my buddy Aiuto just now. I think they might be the tourist from Beacon Academy that we were expecting today," Raiga explained, causing Thistle to nod in understanding.

"Ok, I can understand that. Just don't keep me waiting for too long." Thistle winked as she leaned on a nearby wall, causing Raiga to laugh at her actions and tone.

"Don't worry, I've been raised better than that. See you in a bit, Maiden of the Sky."

"Yeah. You too, Boy Wonder."

Thistle walked past him to continue her exploration, and dropped a little piece of paper near Raiga's feet. He picked it up and started to call her back to let her know it had fallen, but stopped as he noticed what was on it. He smiled to himself as he read it. "Ok then."

– ZFRR –

"This is the place you were telling us about, Franky?" Rusty asked as he and his teammates wandered around the store they were currently in: Esmeralda Arts and Jewels.

"That's right. I came here often during my visits here and I am always impressed by the amount of work and detail the jeweler puts in her works. It's quite fascinating, really, especially since most of them are made by hand," Franky explained with a small smile while holding an emerald colored necklace.

"No kidding? Wow… I can't even begin to imagine how long it must've took to make these things," Zaffre said while looking at a display case full of different bracelets and charms.

Ryku said nothing as he stared at the different paintings on display on the walls of the store. While he himself had no eye for art, even he had to admit that the paintings were quite well done and realistic. They almost look like photos if the masked teen didn't know any better.

"I see you kids are enjoying yourselves," A woman giggled behind the counter, and the team turned to see a woman with shoulder length black hair, a sleeveless emerald blouse and black pants that reached the middle of her calves. The woman was also wearing a violet bracelet on her right arm, which had a symbol of a crescent with three swirls beside it engraved into the accessory.

"Ah, Mrs. Esmeralda. It's nice to see you again," Franky greeted politely with a short bow, prompting Zaffre to do the same. Rusty decided to skip the bow and just wave with a grin while Ryku simply nodded stiffly.

"And it's nice to see you as well Franky. And remember, you don't need to be so formal around me, just call me Eva," Eva said with a kind smile.

"Mrs. Eva? Do we have more customers?" A timid voice questioned, and a short while later a teen around the boys' age shortly appeared behind the woman, with short, strawberry blond hair, teal eyes, and a black robe with yellow cufflinks that reached the newcomer's calves. The moment Rusty saw the blonde, he immediately rushed over to the counter with a suave look on his face.

"Well hello there, hot stuff! Did you know that the jewels here pale in comparison to an awesome looking gem like you?" Rusty grinned, causing the blonde to look at him with a startled expression and a large blush as well.

"Hahaha! Well, looks like that's another guy that's flirted with you today, Chrona. You just can't keep them away from you, huh?" Eva joked while patting the teen on the back.

"M-Mrs. Eva! It's not funny!" Chrona cried out, embarrassed by the revelation made by the jeweler.

"When it comes to Rusty and girls, twelve canisters of mace couldn't keep him away." Zaffre joked, with Rusty nodding in agreement. The two heard a light chuckle from behind the blue haired huntsman-in-training.

The two buds turned as Franky walked towards the counter, looking specifically at Chrona while chuckling. "I see you're still having issues with guys, Chrona. Still too nervous to tell people about yourself?"

"They keep talking so much that I can't really get a word in, and I don't know how to deal with that…" Chrona muttered, ashamed of his own nervousness.

"You just need more confidence in yourself outside of battle, Chrona. It's all it takes to make people aware that you're a guy…"

"WHAT!?"

Franky let off another light chuckle after seeing the expressions on his friend's faces. Rusty was gaping at Chrona while pointing a shaky finger at the now identified boy while Zaffre fell over laughing. Ryku shook his head slightly at his teammates folly. Eva herself was laughing as well, whereas Chrona was blushing deeply from the stares of disbelief he was getting.

"I can't believe this!" Zaffre managed to shout out in betwixt his laughs.

"Hey guys, it's nothing to be ashamed about. I made the same mistake too when I first met him a few years ago…" Franky stated while patting the dumbstruck monkey boy on the back, but he failed to even budge.

"Oh boy, here we go again. I'll never make any sales at this rate…" Eva grumbled mildly before turning to the blonde beside her. "Chrona? Why don't you head over to the factory now? You were planning to get Ragnarok checked on by Cody when he finished helping his grandfather and brother buy some materials and I got a message from his father saying that he finished not that long ago."

"Oh, he's done? That's good. I was hoping he would see about any way to enhance my sword if he could…" Chrona said in a relieved tone while reaching his back and brought out a durable looking black sword, one that caught Zaffre's attention quick.

"Whoa! That's a nice looking blade you got there, man!" The blade enthusiast exclaimed, happy to see a unique looking double edged blade like the one in the blonde's hands.

"Oh, you mean Ragnarok? It's nothing special, just a high vibrating sword my mother made…" Chrona explained, his voice growing softer after mentioning his mother.

"Still having issues with Medusa, eh?" Eva questioned softly, getting a nod in response. "I think a trip to AA Inc.'s factory would do you some good. Also, try and find my godson if you're hoping to get Ragnarok enhanced. You know that's his field of expertise."

"Ok, Mrs. Eva. I'll see you later," Chrona nodded as he left the store, prompting the other boys to do the same.

"If you don't mind, ma'am, we'll be heading out as well. We need to find a way to snap Rusty out of his funk, anyways." Zaffre said while grabbing his best friend by the tail, who was still mortally petrified.

"It's not a problem, you boys head out. I'm actually expecting some very special guests coming and I can't wait to see them," Eva smiled while waving goodbye to the Storm Academy students.

"Alright ma'am. Goodbye," Franky said while waving back to the woman before heading out himself to catch up to his teammates, all of whom have left just as Eva said goodbye. As the green haired forest boy walked, he caught the sight of someone he didn't expect to see over at the city's police station.

"Is that…Diantha?" Franky pondered in shock before laughing softly to himself. "Wow…this really is a small world… Hopefully I can catch up with her soon."

– THSL –

Loy wandered about the streets of Forjador, glancing at the various shops and displays. "Quite remarkable, the amount of time and dedication put into the work they have." He looked at nothing specifically, and had no destination in mind. The destination may be important, but how one gets there is the worthier part. He gazed through everything he could see, taking in the beauty. "I only wish my own city could be this beautiful." The thought made him a bit sad, but he quickly pushed it out of his mind. He did not come here to mope, he came to enjoy.

As he turned a corner he saw one particular shop that caught his interest. Not for what they had, but what they seemed to lack. A large wooden sign hung above the door, and read "Floorist". But the windows appeared to have some kind of cloth among other materials hanging. "And they misspelled 'Florist', odd." His curiosity peaked, he decided to step inside. A little bell rang as he opened the door, and a shorter man wearing a store apron smiled gleefully at having a customer. It did seem that in the hustle and bustle outside, most folks did not take notice of this little shop.

The aproned man set a broom aside and walked quickly up to Loy. He spoke with a noticeable accent. "Welcome! Welcome to store!"

Loy nodded politely. "Thank you." Looking around, he didn't see any sign of flowers or plants anywhere, except for some design work on a couple rugs.

"How may assist you?"

"I was mostly just strolling through, your shop caught my interest. You're a florist correct?"

"Yeas."

"I'm just wondering because it seems you're missing a few common florist stock items."

"We have more in back."

"Ah, so for example, do you have roses?"

"No."

Loy furled his brow a bit in confusion. "A florist that doesn't carry roses? Very odd." He brushed it aside though, they were probably just out of stock. "How about sunflowers?"

The man shook his head. "No."

"Alright, how about daisies?"

The man seemed befuddled by these questions, as if this was not a common thing for a florist to have. "No."

Loy now was confused both by the man's answers, and the man's own seeming confusion. "So what do you have?"

"Floor."

"…You have…floor…"

"Yeas."

Loy scratched his head in confusion. "But no flowers?"

"No."

"Just floor?"

"Yeas."

"So you're a florist…who sells floor?"

The man nodded, happy they were on the same page. "Yeas."

"Well that explains the sign." This was certainly the first time Loy had heard of a non-plant florist. Still intrigued, he decided to learn more. "What kinds of floor do you have?"

"We got carpet. Customer favorite."

"I'm mostly just looking. What else do you have?"

The man gestured around him. "We got rug. Tile. Mat."

The last one confused Loy, as the man had gestured at an employee holding a bag. "That's a mat?"

"No. Dis Mat, he work here."

"Oh." So as not to be rude, Loy nodded to him. "Hello Mat."

Mat barely seemed awake at his post. He nodded back to Loy, before groggily lumbering over to the back. "Alright then."

"So you were saying rug and tile?"

"Yeas. And we have variety floor."

"Such as?"

"Fur, fake vomit, real vomit." The man gestured to each item as if it was nothing to apparently have real vomit in your store.

This certainly explained the smell of the place. Loy tried to maintain his composure. This was about the time he figured he should leave, but he was still curious enough to stay just a little longer. "Vomit?"

"Two ninety-nine."

Now Loy was certainly lost. "You want to charge me two ninety-nine for someone else's vomit?"

"No. The carpet. It was tree ninety-nine, he trew up on it, now it two ninety-nine."

Loy just stood there and blinked, it was all he could do at this point. "o…kay…" The man smiled eagerly, hoping to make a sale in an otherwise dead day. "Well, thank you for showing me everything. I will have to think about it." Before anything else could be said, the currently armorless samurai turned and exited the shop. "That was odd."

– ZFRR –

Team ZFRR wandered about the streets of Forjador, enjoying all that the city had to offer. Franky was particularly enthusiastic. Not just for the beautiful displays of art, which he always loved seeing, but because he knew his sister would be here as well, and it was only a matter of time before he bumped into her.

Zaffre currently examined a stand set up with woodcarvings. Most of them depicted animals, but a few showed people or even Grimm. Franky stood by him, taking note of a well-done bear carving. Ryku stood back, simply trying not to draw attention. As for the fourth member of their team, he had disappeared after a group of giggling girls. The others only hoped Rusty wouldn't end up lost, which was almost certain.

"These are cool." Zaffre mused, examining a small beaver carving.

Franky smiled, as per usual. "Lot of care went into these. Love and passion in every cut."

Zaffre chuckled lightly. "You sure get into this stuff don't you?"

"Carving is something I've dabbled in a few times, though I'm by no means a professional."

"Heh heh. No I mean all of this." Zaffre waved his arms, gesturing to the surrounding city. "Art. Passion. Right up your ally."

"I won't disagree there. Oan is very big into art in all its forms, so naturally I've picked up a few things. Art is a beautiful thing."

"Amen man."

The pair and their silent companion continued their jaunt, walking down to see other art displays. And there were no shortage of them. From blankets, to stones, to food, to even weapons, displays and shops were set up everywhere. A particular one caught the boys' attention up ahead. A medium sized store with huge glass windows in the front. The inner of the store housed an abundance of beautiful paintings. All three boys found themselves breath taken at the sight. "I am so taking a look in here." Zaffre commented, before leading the way inside.

As the huntsmen stepped inside, a young woman walked forward to greet them. "Welcome to the Shoshone Art Exhibit! Please take a look around, and let me know if anything strikes your fancy."

"Will do, thanks."

Wandering through, the trio awed at a priceless plethora of pretty paintings. Many styles of many images filled the majestic canvases. It was truly a beautiful sight to behold.

Franky paused in front of one particular painting of a dolphin. The water and sky swirled around a magnificent bottle-nose dolphin, the light shimmering around it brilliantly.

"Whoa…" Zaffre stopped dead in his tracks as he saw it. "That's incredible."

Franky's smile grew. For all the painters he'd ever met, there was only one who could produce beauty such as this.

"Like it?" A soft voice came from behind the boys. Zaffre spun about and almost doubled over from what he saw. A girl who looked to be only a couple years younger than he stood in a simple green dress. She had smooth, blue eyes that shined with the lights above them. A crown of teal flowers rested on her head. Her hair was a familiar green, tied up in two ponytails via light blue ribbons. The general outline of her hairstyle almost looked liked an angel in its robes. A paler teal/green diamond was tattooed on her forehead, and a pair of lovely pink earrings hung from either earlobe. This girl had to be one of the most beautiful people Zaffre had ever seen. She smiled at them warmly.

"Did you paint this?" Zaffre barely got the words out as he awed not only the paintings, but now the beautiful girl before him.

The girl nodded her head. "I did. It's called 'An Ocean Dream'."

"It's really beautiful! You did an awesome job!"

She smiled brighter at the compliment. In fact Zaffre would swear she was even glowing. He was about to comment on it, when Franky stepped forward. "Hey Sham, good to see you."

The girl turned her attention to Franky and hugged him tightly. "You too Franky! Oh, it's been too long."

"I take it this is your sister?" Zaffre asked.

Franky let go of the hug, his handsome smile shining particularly large at the welcoming of Sham. "It is. Sham, I would like you to meet Zaffre, leader of my team. Zaffre, this is my sister Sham."

"It's great to meet you Zaffre!" She offered a hug, which the blue-haired swordsman gladly accepted.

"You as well. Franky told us a lot about you. He's been really looking forward to seeing you."

She released the hug and smiled at her brother. "I bet. Him leaving to become a huntsman is the longest we've been apart since I was born." Taking note of the silent boy in the white hoodie she added, "And this must be Ryku?"

Ryku himself nodded, but said nothing.

"Yeah that's him. He's not the most social person, but he's a good guy." Franky explained.

"So you've told me. It's nice to meet you Ryku." As per advice from her brother, she only offered a handshake to Ryku instead of a hug. But sadly the mysterious teen didn't even accept that, leaving his hands stuffed in the front pocket of his hoodie. Thankfully Sham wasn't put down by it, as Franky had warned her about Ryku's lack of social skills. "How are you guys enjoying the festival so far?"

"It's quite something. I've never seen so much art in one place." Zaffre answered.

"Indeed. Sham and I come here for each festival, but this year is particularly grand. They only go this all-out every 15 years. I don't even remember the last one I was so young."

"Awesome, then this should really be a treat."

"Indeed."

"How much have you seen?" Sham asked curiously, her bright smile still happily inhabiting her skin.

"Not a whole lot yet, we only arrived this morning." Zaffre answered.

"Have you been to Bob's Tavern?"

Franky snapped his fingers. "I knew I'd forgotten something! We need to swing by there, you'll love it."

Zaffre's brow furled in slight confusion. "A tavern? Aren't we a bit young for that?"

His friend's question caused Franky to chuckle. "It's called a tavern, but it's not age restricted. They're aimed to accept all variety of customers, and they have some of the best root beer you will ever taste."

"Oh now I'm definitely in!"

Franky chuckled again. "Heh heh. I thought you might be. Are you able to join us Sham?"

She nodded. "I just need to let Shawna know I'm heading out." Sham turned and walked to the lady whom had previously greeted the boys when they entered. A slight bounce in her step now that her brother was here.

"She seems cool."

"Oh she is. And no matter how far you travel, you will never find a kinder soul."

"Alright I'm all good here!" Sham rejoined her brother and his friends, exceptionally eager to spend some time with the group.

Franky smiled at his little sister. "After you." He politely held the door for the whole motley crew, and they made their way down the street.

Sham and Franky oohed and awed at the stands and stores they passed. Zaffre was still interested, but he also found himself festinated by the siblings. There was no sign of any past animosity between them at all. They laughed together, awed together, and couldn't stop swapping stories of what they'd been up to recently. This had to be the most energetic Zaffre'd ever seen his green-haired friend. Soon enough they came across Bob's Tavern, just as Sham had said. It didn't seem anything fancy. A set of stone stairs led down into an almost completely underground tavern. A simple wooden sigh hung overhead.

"Here we are." Franky jogged down the steps, followed closely by his companions. As Zaffre stepped inside, he felt as if he'd just entered a storybook. Everything in here felt very simple and plain. Basic wooden frame, lights fashioned to look like candles, and a large wooden chandelier. The floor had 3 different levels. The upper 2 held the bar and tables, while the lowest was a dance floor. A couple microphones stood ready for karaoke. Overall it was a nice looking place.

"Sweet." Zaffre commented, taking it in.

"Nice isn't it?" Sham smiled. Zaffre nodded in response. "I love the classic feel of it. You wouldn't think there's a city outside when you're in here."

"I bet."

The group made their way to the bar, where the bartender smiled welcomingly at them. "Franky and Sham, good to see you kids again!" He shook both of their hands with a smile.

Franky chuckled at the welcome. "Good to see you too Bob."

"You kids in town for the festival I take it?"

"That's right." Sham piped up.

Bob chuckled. "No surprise there. Any time an art festival takes place, I can always count on a visit from you two. And I see you brought friends."

Franky nodded. "This is Zaffre, and Ryku."

Bob shook Zaffre's hand at the introduction. Would've done the same for Ryku, but once again the hidden teen denied social interaction. "Welcome! Any friend of a Ginseng is a friend of mine!"

"Thanks. Nice looking tavern I must say." Zaffre responded warmly.

"Ah yeah it's not much, but I do enjoy seeing the enjoyment people get out of such a simple place."

"Yeah Franky told me this was a great place. He said you've got some of the best root beer of all time."

Bob chuckled heartily, pulling up a couple glasses. "Try some for yourself."

Zaffre accepted and drank. His eyes went wide as the sweet concoction thrilled his lips. "Damn that's good stuff!" Glancing at his silent companion he added, "Come on Ryku try some!"

But the boy in the white hoodie merely shook his head.

Zaffre shrugged. "Hey, your loss."

He sat down at the bar, enjoying his drink. The green-haired siblings followed suit. "Two more please."

"You know I can see why you guys like this place. Good drinks, good atmosphere," He glanced at the stage, where two guests were just wrapping up their performance. "Good singing."

"Oh Franky can we go next?" Sham's eyes sparkled with excitement, causing her older brother to chuckle.

"Of course. And I know just what to sing."

The song was selected, though too quietly for Zaffre to catch, and the green-haired siblings took the stage, grabbing their microphones excitedly. Zaffre leaned back against the counter, eager to hear this. Zaffre prided himself on his own singing, but if what Franky said was to be believed, Sham would put any voice to shame.

A guitar tune began, and soon after came the most heavenly and sweet tune Zaffre had ever heard. The true voice of the angels, as Franky had described it.

Sham: "~ Hey brother! There's an endless road to rediscover ~"
Franky: "~ Hey sister! Know the water's sweet but blood is thicker ~"
Together: "~ Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you ~"
Together: "~ There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do ~"

Sham: "~ Hey brother! Do you still believe in one another? ~"
Franky: "~ Hey sister! Do you still believe in love? I wonder ~"
Together: "~ Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you ~"
Together: "~ There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do ~"

Franky: "~ What if I'm far from home? ~"
Sham: "~ Oh brother, I will hear you call! ~"
Sham: "~ What if I lose it all? ~"
Franky: "~ Oh sister, I will help you hang on! ~"
Together: "~ Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you ~"
Together: "~ There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do ~"

Sham: "~ Hey brother! There's an endless road to rediscover ~"
Franky: "~ Hey sister! Do you still believe in love? I wonder ~"
Together: "~ Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you ~"
Together: "~ There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do ~"

Franky: "~ What if I'm far from home? ~"
Sham: "~ Oh brother, I will hear you call! ~"
Sham: "~ What if I lose it all? ~"
Franky: "~ Oh sister, I will help you hang on! ~"
Together: "~ Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you ~"
Together: "~ There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do ~"

The crowd clapped excitedly as the siblings bowed and stepped down. Zaffre was right there too, clapping and cheering with every bit of energy that sweet root beer had given him. "That was awesome!"

He gave Franky an immediate high-five, while Sham accepted her compliment with another hug. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Man, you guys really know how to have a great day!"

– ZFRR –

"Why am I so terrible at having a great day?" Rusty meandered through the packed streets of Forjador, searching for any sign of fun. The girls he'd disappeared after had soon disappeared on him, and now he was utterly clueless as to what to do for fun. "Hmmmm, what to do, what to do…" He looked around the street as he walked, only registering about half of what he saw. A pottery store, a supermarket, a lamppost, a thing that looked like Spongebob. Nothing really peaked his interest. Down below, his stomach rumbled to remind him of his usual back-up plan. Unfortunately there was nowhere he could see to eat. His spirits sank a little, until his nostrils caught a whiff of something divine. Could it be? He began to jog, following the smooth aroma. "Just a little closer!" Turning a corner his eyes were met with the sweet fate he craved: a hotdog stand.

Rusty dramatically fell to his knees and threw his arms in the air. "Praise the lawd! I will live!" The people passing by him gave weird looks, altering their paths to avoid walking by this odd monkey.

He took a deep breath, ready to have his feast. Until out of the corner of his eye, he saw a glimpse of a cute girl. His head snapped over to view her. And a beautiful girl she was. Deep red hair, nearly plume in appearance hung down, not quite concealing her pointed ears. Blood red eyes took in the passersby of the festival. And to really wet Rusty's appetite, she wore a maroon police uniform over a very appealing figure. "First the hog dogs, then…you" The flirtatious monkey hopped to his feet and checked his pockets. "21, 22, 23…what?!" His lien count was interrupted by a shriek. The very girl he was ogling just seconds ago was now backing away from a group of men. They looked to be about a couple years or so older than Rusty. Nothing really set them apart from the others wandering through the city, except that these particular individuals seemed hungry for Faunus. And the girl was terrified. Terrified yet ready. She quickly had two revolvers pulled and pointed. And just as quickly they were knocked from her hands.

Rusty looked back and forth between the hot dog stand and the adorable bat girl with fear in her eyes. "Teenagers should not have to make decisions like this!"

The girl's eyes screamed for mercy, but the group of men did not seem inclined to give it to her. She backed up, trembling in fear. She felt her body jolt in surprise as she hit a wall. The men were still advancing, a hungry and murderous look in their eyes.

"Look what we have here boys! A little Faunus girl, all alone."

She looked desperately around at the people passing by. Surely they could see this, why did no one help? But the sad truth was that while Forjador was full of Faunus-accepters most days, not all the festival guests felt the same way. And even with the locals, many did not want to get involved in the fight. Sure there were people dialing nine one one, but the girl knew that it would be too late by then.

She turned her head quickly, looking for anything that might save her. To her left was an alley, her only escape at this point. She knew getting caught in there would be even worse, but she couldn't just sit here and do nothing. She bolted for it, giving her legs all the energy she possibly could. Thankfully she knew this town well, and this alleyway would lead her safely to-

"NO!" The girl cried out in frustration and despair as she hit a chain-link fence. She had forgotten about the construction going on. Small-scale stuff, but it meant she was stuck. In a desperate act, she grabbed the fence and tried to climb, only to feel 3 sets of hands grabbing her and pulling her to the ground.

"She's a quick one, gotten give her that." The men laughed, circling around her.

"Go away!" She shouted angrily, her fear creeping into her words a bit.

"No, I don't think we will. Say boys, anyone fancy themselves a furry?"

"Oi, she aint a furry dude." Another one of them grabbed one of the girl's ears. "She's a rodent!"

"Disgusting. Still, once we cut those off she'll be worth a few thrusts." The group all laughed, and 2 of them grabbed her arms to lift her up. A third man grabbed her ears and sharply yanked them out. The girl cried out in pain as her ears stretched out, completely exposed.

"Don't worry little girl, this will all be over soon." The apparent leader of the group pulled a sword from a concealed sheath, and tapped the top of her right ear, lining up his swing.

The girl's eyes closed in fear, a tear dripping down her cheek as she felt the cold tap of steel. Sure she was brave, but she also knew far too well how messy this would end. She had seen it more than she'd ever wanted to. One tap, two taps, the blade lifted into the air…

"Hey!"

The men turned and looked towards the sound of the shout. Also hearing it, the girl's eyes shot open with hope. Had her savior arrived? The hope in her eyes quickly turned to dismay as she saw the comment had come from a group of three more men, carrying in another victim. This one was a white-haired girl who looked to be around 14. As the men tossed her into the circle, the webbing between her fingers became apparent. This new girl looked even more terrified than the first one. Her bright blue eyes raced around in fear, jumping from one side of her pale face to the other in search of salvation. Her twin ponytails bounced from the green and blue ribbons holding them as her head shook in fear. She clutched her light blue jacket to her, her white sweater and dark blue sweatpants both now dirtied with the grime of the alleyway.

"Seems we're having a double feast tonight boys!" The leader cheered on, sparking a mad cackle from the group.

The white haired girl looked to the first captive, shaking in terror. The other girl's own fear had now been replaced with sorrow, to see such an innocent dragged into this.

The group began cheering as the leader once again raised his blade. The light gleamed off it as the sharp tip dared the clouds to come near. But that dare was the last threat.

BOOM!

A small explosive hit the man's hand, making his drop the sword behind him.

"AGH!"

The blade clattered to the ground, accompanied by the orange mist left over from the explosion. And a voice could be heard from above, emanating from a boy on the roof, casting his shadow down below. "I am the night, I am the darkness, I am the hero this town deserves!"

A moment of silence passed as the group all gazed upward. "It's fricking daylight man!" One of the men shouted up.

"Not when I cast my shadow upon you OOF!" The hero this town deserves tripped on the side of the roof and face-planted…on the wall, looking like some kind of up-side-down snow angel. A brown monkey tail flopped over his back.

"What the heck?"

"Who cares? Get him!" At once every man not holding one of the girls pulled out a pistol.

"Yee-uh oh" The monkey crusader stared down the barrels pointed at him, and quickly rolled to his feet. He began to run down the wall, pulling his staff from his back to spin in defense.

The captive bat girl groaned internally, certain this idiot would do nothing but get himself killed.

"Come at me bro!" Metal clanged on metal as rapid bullets deflected off the spinning staff. The insane vigilante jumped off the wall, landing perfectly on one of the men's shoulders. "Fore!" He took a golf style swing, smacking another one of the men against the wall. Meanwhile a flurry of led continued to pursue the uninvited guest.

He leapt off the man's shoulders, back flipping to the ground. Three men wasted no time in rushing him. The monkey boy merely grinned as they neared. "~You can't touch this!~" He back flipped between a high and a low fist swing from his assailants, causing them to stumble. Quickly the monkey landed, dropped, and spun with his foot out, knocking all three of them flat on their back.

"GET HIM!"

With a quick eyebrow bounce over his insane grin, Rusty placed one end of his staff on the ground. As the next wave of assailants neared, he fired and launched himself into the air. A group of 4 men now stood beneath him, set to catch him. And well if they wanted to, who was Rusty to disappoint them? He now fired another shot out his staff, this time out the other end. Like a majestic meteor of death he slammed into his unprepared victims below. "And that my dear children is why you don't wish upon a star. The star will go through your face. True story."

The resulting knockback cleared a nice circle around the monkey huntsman. He took an ego-fueled bow over the men. "RRRAAAA!" Quickly one of the men jumped to his feet and ran at Rusty, aiming a punch at his back. In retaliation Rusty spun his staff around behind him, clubbing the guy in the face. Two more men were now on their feet, and also rushed in. Ready for this, Rusty back flipped and fired a round at their feet, throwing them back again.

"I can do this all day!"

"I don't think so!" The leader of the group stood up and pointed a pistol directly at Rusty's forehead. "Make one more move and they'll be cleaning your blood off the sidewalk. Now get against the wall!"

"Well which is it?" Rusty smirked, "Don't move or get against the wall?"

The click of the gun cocking made the two still frightened girls quiver in worry. The young bat girl looked toward the one who had taken her weapons. "If only I could get those back!"

"Alright, alright." Rusty slowly walked toward the wall, playing along with the little threat game, as if the man actually posed a threat. "But just one question. You said not to move, but can I at least scratch my butt?"

The man glared. "No, you cannot."

"Oh well."

The flash of the gun went off with a loud bang, followed by a scream of pain. Rusty looked over with a smirk to see one of the other thugs had just been shot in the leg. "What the hell?!" The gunman reacquired his aim, only to find the gun once again jerk to the side right before firing.

"Performance issues are not uncommon in older men. Maybe you should see a specialist?" Rusty chuckled to himself and quickly swung his staff outwards, smacking the man to the ground. "And now for my next trick!" The group of men, both upright and not, all found themselves sliding together into a big clump, as if gravity itself was altering to fight them. The leader of the little rat crew was caught off guard by this, and found his gun sliding out of his hand and into Rusty's. "Checkmate bitches."

A chorus of bystanders cheered in Rusty's mind, but the victory was short lived as flashes of red and blue filled the ally, accompanied by the sirens of justice.

– ZFRR –

"I'm telling you I'm fine Mom!" Kira protested. Since returning to the station her mother had insisted on constant checking up on her, attempting to remove any trauma. At this point Kira had had about enough of it. Sure she'd been trapped in an alleyway with a knife to her ears, but thanks to her oddball rescuer she was otherwise unscathed. Only problem was the cops who arrived on the scene were quick to make assumptions, and refused to listen to a word she said until she was given proper trauma treatment. So now a heroic citizen sat in a cell across from the very men he helped take down while Kira was forced to endure annoying and somewhat humiliating babying.

"You're not fine! Those men were going to do lord knows what to you and that little girl! You're lucky we arrived when we did!"

Kira wanted to roll her eyes, but honestly she couldn't. She should have been ready and able to handle those guys, but they got the jump on her. Now she had to face up to the fact that an innocent girl almost died or worse because of it.

She took a deep breath. "I understand Mom, I messed up. And it almost was a lot worse. But I'm ok. She's ok. And if you would just listen to me for a moment I'd explain that you're holding the wrong man in custody."

"Kira we have evidence on those men's affairs both here and in several other cases."

"I know and I'm glad we caught them. But that boy was not with them."

Kira's mother raised an eyebrow in surprise. "The blonde monkey Faunus who was seen holding the gun?"

"Yes Mom. I don't know who he is but he saved us. If he hadn't stepped in the police wouldn't have arrived in time. He's sitting in a jail cell now for being a good samaritan."

Kira's mother cracked a smile; relieved to know her precious daughter had not been without help. "Then let us rectify our hasty judgment. Come."

Kira returned the smile and walked with her mother toward the cells. Now she could thank the boy properly for what he had done.

As they entered the holding area the monkey boy lay on the cool stone of his cell. Sprawled out like road kill, he sung a quiet tune to himself. "~Nobooooody knoooooows, the troubllllllle I've seeeeeen. Noboooooody knoooooows but Jesuuuuuuuuus~"

He poked his head toward the sound of his jail cell door unlocking. Kira slide it aside and stepped in, followed closely by her mother. The two of them looked up at the ceiling in mild confusion. "Um…young man? What are you doing up there?"

The monkey boy lay his head back against the solid surface. "I'm doing hard time little lady. Been around the block a few times and ended up in the wrong places. Met some folk lookin to do me wrong. Found my iron peace in this here cell."

Kira smiled warmly. "No it was a misunderstanding. I've cleared it up for you though, you're free to go."

The odd monkey took a deep breath through gritted teeth. "I don't know if I can live on the outside anymore. Prison changes a man."

"Doesn't he want to get out?" Kira pondered. "Please come down so I can at least thank you for saving me."

Those words struck a note with him, and he now looked to Kira with a big grin. Thanking him meant something very different in his mind than it did in hers. He braced his hands over his shoulders and pushed off to jump to his feet. The fact that he did so without falling to the floor confused Kira's mother a fair bit. The young man eagerly strolled across the ceiling and down the wall, finally reaching the same stable floor that held everyone else.

Kira smiled and gave a slight bow. "Thank you for saving me today."

"Oh well it was nothin." His smiled swelled almost as much as his ego. "Just happy to be doing good work."

"It was not nothing, you saved my daughter. For that you have my thanks." Kira's mother offered a hand to him. "What's your name young man?"

The boy took it and shook. "Rusty, but my friends call me Rusty."

"Wait wha-"

Rust didn't let her finish before turning to the young and lovely Kira. "I'm glad to see you're ok."

"Thanks to you."

"Well, how about you let me take you to dinner then? I'd consider that thank you enough."

"Oh…" Kira blushed at his remark, a little flustered at suddenly being hit on. "Um, sorry but I'm gonna have to decline."

"My banana does not appeal to you?" Kira's mom had to stop herself from smacking him for that comment.

"No no, it's just I kinda have someone else…" She pushed her fingers together awkwardly.

Ladies man though he was Rusty respected the bro code. "Well he's a lucky guy. Or girl, I mean hey I don't judge."

Kira's eyes widened. "G-guy, definitely!"

"Anyway" Kira's mother stepped in to help her out. "Thank you for saving my little girl. You are free to go Mr. Rusty."

"Thanks!" He strode out and towards the door with a wave. "Good luck with the cop stuff!"

Kira and her mother waved back, before turning to face each other. "So you finally admit that there's someone else ay Kira?"

Kira blushed and looked down. "N-no. I just didn't want him hitting on me…"

Her mother gave her a knowing smile, the kind that only a mother can give. "I see."

Meanwhile nearby one of the officers sat up after searching through a file drawer. He sighed at his workload and took a glance at the bare corner of her desk, then pausing in confusion. "Hey, didn't I leave my handcuffs there?"

– THSL –

"Hahahaha! Oh man, this place is awesome! I am so gonna move here some day!" Scarlet exclaimed while running around the sidewalk, taking in the festive atmosphere like a sponge and integrating it with her own outgoing personality with ease.

"I wouldn't blame you. This place does seem like a nice area to live, especially since it's such a big city," Hazel admitted.

"Yeah, right? It's like nothing bad ever happens here!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, YOU LITTLE BRAT?!"

"YOU HEARD ME, STUPID-HEAD!"

"…I think you spoke too soon, Scarlet," Hazel said somewhat worriedly before the two sprinted towards the direction of the outburst. The sound originated from a park just ahead, and their eyes went wide when they saw what was happening.

"Why did you have to go and say stuff like that, little Cereza? You know that what I said was the truth…" The buff looking man, easily in his mid-twenties, scoffed, running a hand through his pitch black hair. The man looked like he came out of a mechanic's shop, with dirty blue overalls, a deep blue shirt, worn black boots covered in oil stains, and, oddly enough, a pair of sunglasses so dark that they hid his eyes.

"Nu-uh! You're lying, Ray! Big Brother's much better than you! He can make your stuff even better without any trouble!" The little girl, who looked no older than ten, exclaimed, her fist curled together beside both sides of her small blue sundress and a straw hat next to her feet. The little girl was glaring at the teen with fierce brown eyes and Scarlet could've sworn that they flashed bright blue for a moment before the color vanished in an instant.

"What's going on here…?" Hazel muttered, looking at the argument before her with worried eyes.

"I dunno…but I don't like it." Scarlet growled, glaring at the young man herself.

"Your brother may be talented with modifications and upgrades, but he sucks as a forger, Cereza! Even he admits that!" Ray shouted, his anger growing as the argument went on.

"No he isn't! He's just slow! That doesn't make him a bad forger!" The girl now identified as Cereza countered

"Cody can make stuff just as good as he can at half the time, and he's three years younger than him!"

"Bro is a genius in the forge, but Big Brother is a genius of hard work! That's why his weapons and stuff are always better than anyone's! He's much better than you will ever be!"

That was the last straw for Ray, for he growled fiercely and was about to lunge at the little girl before him. Scarlet and Hazel prepared to spring into action as well, before something happened that neither the girls nor Ray was expecting.

*Flash!*

"You two fighting again? And here I thought you were above having arguments and fights with an eight year old, Cousin Ray…"

"Eh?" "What the…?"

The girls were struck speechless when a guy their age showed up in a flash of blue light between the child and the mechanic, a hand grabbing the man's fist. The teen had short black hair, a dark blue trench coat over a black polo shirt, a pair of black pants and matching shoes. The teen also had a pair of bracers on both arms, a katana sheathed to his left side, a pair of dark blue framed glasses above his chocolate brown eyes, and a horizontal scar under his right eye. What caught the girls' attention was the necklace around his neck.

"Scarlet, you recognize that symbol on the guy's neck?" Hazel asked softly.

"Of course! Everyone does!" Scarlet replied in her usual perky tone. After all, there are very few people out there that didn't recognize the Schnee Family's ever-present snowflake symbol.

"Well tell your sister to stop antagonizing me, Baltazar! No wonder she and Cody fight so much, she's so annoying!" Ray exclaimed.

"Noted, but that doesn't excuse you from trying to deck my little sister. You know what I'll do to you if you did the deed…" Baltazar said calmly while tightening his hold on his older cousin's hand, small sparks flying off it and his eyes shifted colors from brown to blue. His pupils even narrowed to vertical slits, much to the spectating girls' surprise.

"Ha! Serves you right you-"

*Bop*

"OW! Brother!"

"Then again, she does need a little knock on the head here and there to keep her in check. She does take after our fathers' family after all…" The relaxed teen said evenly, his sheathed sword over his shoulder after using it to give his sister a slight smack to the head, before turning to the little girl. "Cereza, I know you want to help, but picking fights with our cousins just because they say I'm a lousy forger is not the way to go…"

"But you're not a lousy forger! You're an awesome forger! You're even better than Ray, and he's a stupid-head!"

"Like hell he is."

"Not even close, princess…"

"What…?" Cereza muttered in confusion, and even Scarlet and Hazel were surprised to hear such a debunk so quickly from the guys.

"Princess, I am the worst forger in the family. My works take too long to make and most of them don't match up to the quality that Cody and the others achieve. Ray's skill is actually what an average member of our family should be, and that's something that I won't be attaining for a long time, if ever… But I stopped caring about that a long time ago. I got other things in my life that are much more important, especially you…" Baltazar explained, his now brown eyes letting off a sense of kindness and warmth towards the little girl that she couldn't help but hug her big brother tightly. His kind words also touched Hazel and Scarlet, both impressed by the swordsman's maturity.

"Feh, and here comes the feels. Always knew you were a sap, Baltazar," Ray scoffed, getting glares from the child and the still undiscovered students, "Well I better head out. I got a meeting with Old Man James and Wolke about the new robots we're developing and I gotta look presentable for that."

"…Are you ever gonna call General Ironwood and Mr. Schnee by their proper titles?" The teen muttered.

"Not a chance. Smell ya later, you poor excuse of a forger," Ray laughed with a wave before leaving the park, greatly annoying nearly all who were still present.

"Geh, he never lets it go…" Baltazar sighed before turning to his sister. "Cereza, I know you were trying to help, but please, don't go picking fights with others just because they said something you don't like. You haven't even fully unlocked your aura yet, and I won't always be there to protect you, so please, try and keep out of trouble, ok?"

"Ok…"

"Good, now how about we go and get some ice cream? Ray's treat," The swordsman grinned while holding a large wad of cash, surprising not only Cereza, but Hazel and Scarlet as well.

"You stole Cousin Ray's money again?"

"Again?" Hazel and Scarlet thought together, staring at each other curiously.

"Yup. I may not be the best forger, but I do have some tricks that the others can never pull off without getting in trouble," Baltazar grinned before pocketing his loot. "And if I'm right, the things that I used to replace Ray's money will go off in three…two…one…"

*Boom!*

"GYA! WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Remind me to thank Ruby for giving me her design plan for the paint bombs we used for the Senior Prank…" Baltazar smirked before grabbing his sister and set her on his shoulders, much to her amusement. "Now come on. Let's go get that ice cream."

With that, the pair disappeared in a flash of blue light, causing the girls to immediately think that the guy had the same semblance that Franky had, before turning to each other in amusement.

"I like him. He seems pretty nice, and the way he treats his sister is so sweet…" Hazel said with a smile.

"I know. And I like that he blew up that guy and took his money too!" Scarlet laughed. "Hey, do you think he's single?"

"Sorry, but I'm already interested in someone else."

"EEK!"

"YIPE!"

"Hehehe. Enjoyed the show, ladies?" Baltazar smirked, standing in front of the girls with his sister still on his shoulders, giggling at their startled faces.

"Whoa… You knew we were here the whole time?" Hazel questioned.

"Yup. One of the perks of being a sensor. Didn't want to say anything because I didn't want you girls to get involved, but the show's over now, so now its ok to talk," Baltazar said before extending a hand to the pair. "The name's Baltazar, former resident of Forjador City and one of the many people here that have to help set up for the All Founders' Festival."

"Nice to meet you, Baltazar. My name is Hazel and this is my partner Scarlet. We're students from Storm Academy and we're here for a field trip with our classmates." Hazel explained while shaking the teen's hand.

"Storm Academy, eh? That's the newer school over in Mistral, isn't it?" Baltazar mused out loud. "Huh. Haven't heard much about it. I'm familiar with places like Haven, Torch, and Beacon, but Storm's unknown to me."

"Torch Academy? Sounds like a hot place!" Scarlet giggled.

Baltazar chuckled at the comment. "So, you girls want some ice cream? I got a bunch of money from my cousin and I plan to use it all before he finds out I took it again."

"You do this kind of thing often?" Hazel question, a slight tone of disapproval in her voice despite how the man treated both the guy and little girl in front of her.

"Only when people deserve it. Plus, it's a good way to sharpen my ninja skills. We do need to be sneaky whenever the situation calls for it." Baltazar laughed before gesturing to the clearing behind him. "So how about that ice cream? Mrs. Mint has some of the best to offer in this city and she loves it when newcomers show up and try her products."

"Free ice cream? I'm in!" Scarlet exclaimed. She took off running after the sugary prize.

"Uhh, the shop's this way." Baltazar said scratching his head in confusion.

"Yeah, she does that. Don't worry, she'll follow us when we start walking."

Baltazar shrugged and he and his tagalong led Hazel out of the park.

"Arf!" Scarlet called out as she boomeranged after them.

– THSL –

"So you're from here, but moved to Vale a few years back, but now you're here to help set up for a festival that only happens once every fifteen years? That's pretty weird if you ask me," Scarlet stated while happily eating the banana split before her.

"Meh, I will admit that I'd rather be doing other things instead of helping with the festival, but at least I get to see some of my old friends again after so long. Not to mention visit my grandfather's grave again. I go there every chance I get, especially if my relatives get a little too much for me to handle…" Baltazar muttered from behind his strawberry sundae, causing his sister to look away from her own fudge sundae to stare at the ninja with a sad expression.

"Family issues, huh? Must be tough," Hazel murmured, absentmindedly spinning the spoon of her fruit parfait.

"Nothing that I haven't dealt with before, but I will be happy when this is all over," The ninja shrugged.

"Hey, hey! Mind if I ask you something?" Scarlet asked excitedly, causing Baltazar to quirk an eyebrow.

"Sure, as long as it's ok for me to say that you look a lot like my friend Pyrrha. Pretty close resemblance too if you don't count the coyote ears and the fact that she's taller than I am…" The ninja stated, causing both Scarlet and Hazel to go wide eye in shock.

"You're friends with Pyrrha Nikos?! She's my idol! Are you really friends with her?!" Scarlet questioned, rushing up to Baltazar and staring right at his face from an uncomfortable two inches.

"Yup. Classmates too on occasion. The two of us share a few classes together over at Beacon and I get along with her well enough. It was actually my best friend who introduced me to her during the day of our initiation and we were actually talking about being in a team together, but in the end the three of us wound up in separate teams. It's isn't so bad though, since our rooms are right next to each other and we hang out every chance we get." Baltazar explained with another shrug.

"Oh! You're attending Beacon? Well I guess that answers the question that I wanted to ask." Scarlet giggled.

"Yup. You're looking at one of the many students that were either skilled or lucky enough to survive Beacon Academy's deadly initiation exam and somehow ended up leading a team consisting of my overly kind medic of a cousin, a flirty powerhouse who likes to go out with every girl he sees, and a forest girl who's a tomboy through and through…despite her wearing a gown of sorts as her combat gear…" Baltazar listed off.

"Sounds like some of our friends." Hazel responded.

"And then there's me." Baltazar got out of his seat, drew his sword, and pulled out a shuriken and kunai from the weapon pouch attached to his bottom. "A katana wielding ninja who wants nothing more than to mess around with his weapons and sleeps wherever and whenever he wants."

"Hahaha! Are you serious?" Hazel laughed, amused by the ninja's description of himself.

"Hey, when you're a cat person, you tend to not care where you sleep as long as it's comfortable." The ninja shrugged uncaringly.

Hazel glanced at her partner. "Or a coyote." While Scarlet had more energy than an atomic bomb in a supernova on crack, she had still been known to take sporadic naps in bizarre places.

The young pup missed her partner's comment though while looking at Baltazar strangely. "Cat person… Are you a Faunus?" The coyote girl questioned.

"Yup. Tiger Faunus to be exact," The now revealed tiger boy said while taking off his coat, revealing that his shirt was sleeveless and the three stripes that were on both his shoulders. "The stripes are what identifies me, but people often think that they're tattoos, which really bothers me. My eyes are a giveaway too, since they narrow to slits, but that only happens if I'm in a fight or if I get angry, since they haven't fully matured yet."

"Oh, you have advanced night vision, huh?" Scarlet guessed, getting a nod of approval from the Feline Faunus that was putting his coat back on, before turning to her partner. "Some Faunus have special eyes. They have to go through a process called optical maturity, where they look like normal human eyes until they reach a certain age, where the Faunus can fully control the dilation of their pupils. Grandma introduced me to a few of her friends who were liked that and told me about it."

"That's pretty cool." Hazel feigned surprise.

"Oh, so you're in the know, eh? Awesome," Baltazar said with a smile before noticing the bracers on her arms. "Nice gauntlets, by the way. I take it those are your weapons?"

"Yup! These puppies are my weapons, Storm Cutter!" The excitable canine held up her fists as three long blades sprang forth from the steel on each arm. "Check it out!" Scarlet exclaimed as her right claw blades shifted into a circle. The next second the claw was two tables over, gripping said table's salt. The leash on the metal teeth retracted just as quickly as it had fired, rewarding Scarlet with her white powder prize.

"Scarlet loves her grappling hooks." Hazel smiled, turning her attention to her partner. "Although you probably shouldn't be using your weapons in a restaurant."

"It's okay, Miss Hazel. Brother already showed off his weapon and Mrs. Mint doesn't mind." Little Cereza said while pointing to the woman with light green hair behind the counter, who was nodding in agreement.

Eager to continue, Scarlet returned the blades to basic claw form. "And they can also fire electricity blasts!"

She readied a shot, but was stopped by her partner's hand on her arm. "Calm down there Scarlet." She laughed. "We don't need to damage the building."

"Aww." Scarlet said disappointedly, retracting the blades. Her mood quickly rebounded though as she once more faced the tiger ninja. "So what do you think of these babies, cat boy?" Scarlet grinned.

"…"

"…Cat boy?"

"You shoot lightning needles…" Baltazar muttered before flashing over to Scarlet and began inspecting her gauntlets.

"Whoa, being a little forward there, aren't ya? Well, you are cute, so I'm not complaining," Scarlet teased, hoping to get a rise out of the tiger ninja, but frowned when she didn't get a response. "Hello? Kitty? Can you hear me?"

"…If I change the ammunition to that of bo shuriken, and redesign the sais to fire in their standard form, then I could… If I do that, I have to remove the launcher and mini-scroll, but if it works…"

"Uh…is you brother ok?" Hazel questioned, not sure of what to say about the strange sight before her.

"He's fine. Brother gets like that whenever he gets inspiration for one of his weapons. Everyone in Papa's family gets like that sometimes," Cereza explained, causing the older girl to redirect her strange gaze at the youngster.

"What kind of family gets like that whenever they see a weapon like that?"

"One that's been dealing with legalized arms dealing and crafting since this city was first created, dearie," Mint explained, moving closer to the Storm Academy student. "You see, both Cereza and Baltazar are of the Azul family, one of the founding families of Forjador City and the owner of one of the most well-known weapons company throughout Vale: Azure Armory Incorporated. In fact, the two of them are technically heirs to the company, since their grandfather is the current owner. However, there has been talks about their brother Cody being the one who will eventually inherit the company, seeing that he is considered the genius of the forge."

"Really?! He's an heir to AA Inc.?" Scarlet cried out in shock before turning to Cereza, "You're an heiress to AA Inc.?"

"Yup. Papa and his brothers and sisters weren't all that qualified to lead Grandpapi's work, so he decided that the position would go to one of us instead. My older cousin Argentino was supposed to be the one to get the job, but he died while working on one of his explosives, so that can't happen anymore. Bro is the only other person who is qualified to run the company because of his skills, he just needs to learn about all the boring stuff that Grandpapi has to do before he gets the job." Cereza explained with a shrug.

"Wow… your brother sounds pretty talented. He must have years of experience under his belt," Hazel muttered in awe.

"Actually, the boy's only fourteen, so it's mostly just talent running through his veins." Mint laughed, further shocking Hazel with the information given to her, before turning back to the distracted forger and his captive.

"A young and talented forger who leads a team with a misfit ladies man and a kind medic. Highly skilled and capable of great things. Now why does that sound familiar?" Hazel smiled to herself, as she knew exactly why. She though of one of her own friends that way.

"…And if I can manage to further increase the rate of fire and be able to generate enough lightning to increase the needle's sharpness… Not only that, it might even allow me to further stabilize my lightning technique even further… Yeah, yeah that might work!"

Scarlet looked over at Mint "Hey, if I scratch him behind the ears will he pu-Whoa!"

"THANK YOU!" Baltazar cried out while hugging the startled coyote Faunus. "You have just given me the inspiration for a weapon upgrade that I've been looking for! I can't believe I haven't thought of it sooner! Let me pay you back somehow! Just name it and I'll do my best to get it for you!"

Scarlet seemingly missed his comment, enjoying the blessed free hug that had been bestowed upon her. "I think she's liking what you're giving her already Baltazar." Hazel laughed.

The happy pup finally mentally registered his question and smiled with her response. "How bout you treat me to dinner and a movie, and we can call it even."

"Ahh… uh… Sorry, but I don't think I can do that," The ninja said while letting go of the coyote, looking sheepish as he did so. "I got to go to AA Inc.'s Main Weapons Factory later today to work on a few things and I need to go to bed early so I can help out with the tours that we're gonna have tomorrow. Not only that… I kinda…uh…you see…"

"Brother's in love with Sissy and won't go out with anyone other than her. Sorry Ms. Scarlet." Cereza explained in an apologetic tone, surprising both Scarlet and Hazel and causing Baltazar to blush lightly in embarrassment.

"Sissy…? You're in love…with your sister?" Hazel muttered, unsure of what to think of the development while Scarlet gave the man a befuddled look.

"Technically, she's my godsister, if that's an actual term. My parents are her godparents and she spent a lot of time here with me and my family because she was kidnapped as a kid and her parents thought it would be best to have her stay with us from time to time. I guess, over time, I ended up falling for her. She's my best friend and I can't imagine my life without her. The two of us were separated for nearly four years with little time to talk to one another and it's only recently that we managed to reunite with each other," Baltazar explained, his blush growing slightly as he spoke. "I…It's not because you're not pretty, Scarlet. Far from it. But…"

"But you feel like you might betray her if you do go out with me, huh?" Scarlet guessed, causing Baltazar to nod his head.

"That…and the fact that you look so much like Pyrrha it's scary. I feel like I might betray Jaune too if we go out," The tiger ninja explained further.

"Who's Jaune? A friend of yours?" Hazel questioned, touched by the amount of loyalty the guy in front of her had towards his friends.

"Yeah. He's also Pyrrha's boyfriend, so there is no way I am going to go out with someone who's just a foot and a half away from being her twin. No offense."

"None taken. I think it's actually pretty sweet that you're that dedicated to her. But are you sure she feels the same?" Scarlet couldn't help but ask, but was surprised to see him actually smiling at the question.

"Honestly, no, but I'm willing to take the chance. Besides, if she didn't like me, she wouldn't have gone through the trouble of making me a necklace with her family symbol on it, even if I did have to help her a little on it." Baltazar said while pointing at his necklace, shocking the girls once more.

"…You're in love with a member of the Schnee family? But the only member that I know of that's around our age is the company heir…ess…oh gosh." Hazel trailed off, shock overtaking her fully as she realized whom it was that the man in front of her was in love with.

"Wow…you sure aim high, don't you. Falling in love with Weiss Schnee of all people, and with you being a Faunus and all, must be tough," Scarlet spoke up, still surprised by the revelation.

"Eh, not really. You'd be surprised by how much of her family doesn't know that my family is a pack of Tiger Faunus, so there's not much of an issue there. Besides, our dads are good friends while my dad was her mom's old partner when they were huntsmen. Not only that, Weiss is actually pretty accepting towards the Faunus and one of her dreams is to change the Schnee Dust Company so that the Faunus workers will be treated fairly instead of their current treatment, and I plan to help her out in any way I can." Baltazar stated, his gaze firm and unwavering, proving that he was planning to be with her. His statement brought obvious joy to Scarlet's face, as well as a surprising amount to Hazel's.

"Uh…not to be rude or anything, but why doesn't the Schnee Dust Company know that Azure Armory Inc. is run by a family of Faunus?" Hazel questioned.

"Besides the fact that we don't flaunt our stripes and the corporate heads being oblivious as hell when it comes to such matters, the members of my family that deal with foreign affairs and company deals, heck practically every older member of my family, typically wear sunglasses and shades so dark that their eyes can't be seen through them, preventing anyone from seeing their cat eyes. And the reason they wear them is because the older us Faunus with advance vision gets, the more sensitive to light they become. I already damaged my eyes in an incident a while ago, so I don't have to worry about that for a while." Baltazar explained with a shrug.

"But what about Papa? He doesn't wear sunglasses," Cereza questioned.

"Doesn't need to. He only has one real eye, remember? The synthetic one won't become overly sensitive to light over time, so he doesn't really need to wear them," The older brother pointed out, causing Cereza to nod in understanding, before hoisting her into his shoulders. "Well, its best that we should get going. I gotta return the princess to our mom and then head over to the factory. Seriously though, I owe you a lot, Scarlet. How about I fix or upgrade your weapon for you if it ever breaks? It's what I specialize and even my more strict relatives know that I'm very skilled in that field of work. Just call Azure Armory Inc.'s main weapons factory and they'll shoot me a message."

"AAI doesn't have a headquarters like SDC does?" Scarlet questioned.

"The factory doubles as our headquarters. There has been talk about having an actual headquarters stationed at Vale, but there's no plans for that as of yet." Baltazar said before reaching into his weapons pouch once more and took out a card. "Here's the number for the main factory. If you ever need an order done, or just wanna talk, my Aunt Silvia is in charge of the calls and orders and she'll gladly help you with whatever you need and will send me a message."

"Ok then. I'll accept. Thanks a lot!" Scarlet grinned while grabbing the card.

"No worries. Heck, I'll even show up sometime later this week with one of our company's weapons so you'll see what we have to offer," Baltazar smiled before heading out the door with his sister still on his shoulders. "Well, we better head out now. It was nice meeting you girls. If you're coming back to Vale for the Vytal Festival, try and look for me. I'll introduce you to my friends once we meet up, and that'll include Pyrrha."

"AWESOME!" Scarlet cheered, leaping in the air and almost hitting her head on the ceiling. Hazel couldn't help but laugh at her partner's exuberance.

"Hahaha. We'll hold you to it. Hopefully we'll see you again before we leave, Baltazar. It was nice talking to you," Hazel said while holding her hand out, prompting Baltazar to shake it.

"Likewise. Now if you excuse me, I got a princess to drop off and a few projects to work on. Adios, mis amigas," Baltazar said with a kind smile before he left the ice cream shop, his sister grinning and waving back to the girls, causing them to smile and wave back.

"Well he seemed nice." Scarlet smiled.

"And you even got his number." Hazel pointed at the card in her hand.

"Haha, good point. And I get a free upgrade for Storm Cutter whenever I want! How awesome is that?" The coyote grinned.

"Very. Now how about we head out and find our friends? I'm sure they must be out there looking for us right now." Hazel suggested, pointing at the door.

"Oh I'm sure one of them would be more than happy to see us back, especially you," Scarlet grinned while running out the door, laughing as she did so.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Hazel asked before she too bolted out of the restaurant. "Scarlet! Wait! What were you talking about?!"

– ZFRR – THSL –

"~Yohohoho Yohoho-ho! Yohohoho Yohoho-ho…~"

Loy quietly sang a merry tune as he was walking out of the hotel pool, wearing nothing more than a pair of silver swimming trunks and a grey towel over his shoulders. He had to admit that he had a fun time at the City of Craftsmen so far and was greatly looking forward towards their upcoming trip to Azure Armory Inc.'s Main Weapons Factory, mainly because it's where his sword came from.

"Pirates may be despicable, but they do come up with some good songs." Loy thought to himself.

"I take it you enjoyed your swim time, man?" Rusty joked, standing next to the content samurai in his own golden trunks with a yellow towel on his shoulders.

"Probably not as much as you did." Loy countered, his good mood not faltering one bit. He referred to the girls in bikinis the young monkey had been ogling for most of the time.

"Hehehe, can't argue with that," Rusty grinned.

"I take it you boys enjoyed the pool?" The receptionist questioned as they walked by the counter.

Loy nodded. "Some more than others." he said while gesturing at his monkey comrade.

"That tub was hot in more ways than one if you know what I-"

"STOP RUNNING AND FACE MY WRATH, YOU BRAT!"

"NO WAY IN HELL, YOU ICE WITCH!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

Startled by the shouts, both Rusty and Loy turned around to see a white haired girl their age chasing a frightened looking teen a couple years younger than them with furious eyes and an swinging an intricate looking rapier like a mad woman. The sight startled Loy while Rusty simply stared at the girl with interest.

"Wow, now that's what I call feisty," Rusty laughed.

"You would say that…" Loy sighed before turning to the receptionist. "Ma'am, can you please-"

"Hold that thought," The woman said before taking out a twenty lien bill and waived it over her head with a wide grin. "Ten minutes! Twenty lien!"

"Thirty on five!" A girl in multiple shades of violet cried out with a grin as well, ignoring the stares she was getting from the rabbit girl, magenta-eyed boy and the girl in a red hood that were sitting next to her.

"I got twenty on seven!" Rusty called out, sucked in by the fun.

"You don't have any money on you." Loy pointed out.

"Oh…Quick! Take out your wallet!"

"…We were just in the pool."

"Oh man, did you leave it in the hot tub?"

Loy rubbed his forehead in an attempt to understand Rusty's stupidity.

A ways away from them a small group of kids there age commented on the scene "…I'm moving here when I'm a retired huntress,"

"Same…"

"I agree with the lovely ladies and dude, I am definitely moving here when I quit," Rusty grinned while pointing at the girl with wild blonde hair, the bubbly looking orange haired girl and the guy with messy red hair similar to his best friend's style sitting in the center of the lounge.

"I wouldn't. I'd rather not live in a place that allows such disturbances to happen so frequently…" Loy muttered while crossing his arms.

"It's actually been four years since we've seen something like this." The receptionist spoke up. "You see, those two, despite not being related, have a tight sibling bond that, some would say, is even stronger than the bonds they share with their own respective siblings. The two were constantly arguing during their earlier years, but after an incident that nearly made them fall off a cliff, the two have been closer than ever. What you two are seeing is simply nothing more than a little sibling argument. Nothing more."

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

"NOT A CHANCE! AND I'M NOT LITTLE ANYMORE! I'M TALLER THAN YOU NOW, DAMMIT!"

"Oh, she went and called him short. That must've struck a nerve. Cody has always been sensitive about his height…" The receptionist muttered while resting her head on her hand.

"Well, I think it is still wrong for those two to treat each other the way they do. It is not healthy to have such strong animosity towards each other, even if it does have some amount of affection in it." Loy stated.

"Oh don't be so uptight, you stuffy metal head! Just relax and enjoy the show," Rusty grinned while leaning on a nearby wall, happily munching on a small bucket of popcorn.

"…Where did you get that?" Loy muttered while pointing at the buttered treat.

"Got it from the lifeguard over there. The towel lady has some Heavy Sandviches too if you want some," Rusty said while lifting his tail to show said food item.

"Uh… don't you mean sandwiches?"

"Nope. I meant what I said."

With that, Rusty threw the food at Loy, who caught it with no problem, and began reading the wrapper with no small amount of disbelief.

"…'Heavy's Sandvich Edible Device. The perfect sandvich for giant men. Comes in Unique, Vintage, Collectors, Festive, and, for a limited time, Genuine Robo flavors.'… The things that people make at this day and age…"

"COLD! MUY FRIO!"

"That's what you get you little troublemaker!"

Hearing the shouts, both teens turned to see that the young boy was trapped to the wall near the entrance by a large amount of ice while the white haired girl in front of him had a look of satisfaction on her face. Rusty began laughing to the point where he was on the floor and holding his stomach.

"Time?" The housekeeper that gave Rusty the sandwich asked, catching the boys' attention.

"Four minutes, forty four seconds," A passing lifeguard stated while holding his stopwatch and handing a nearby guest a bag of popcorn.

"Looks like Levy wins this time, folks. Her time was the closest," The receptionist stated while putting the lien on the counter for whoever Levy was to get.

"Yay!" The teenage girl in purple cheered.

"You better share that money with me, Levy!" The white haired girl called out before sending a frigid glare to the teens at the center of the lobby. "And none of you will mention a word of this to anyone back at Beacon, got it?!"

"Got it!" The scared teens cried out.

"Hahaha! Oh man, this is great! I can't wait to tell Zaffy about this!" Rusty laughed as the frozen teen cried out for help, prompting the hot blonde and the girl in the red hood to come to his aid.

"That was unnecessarily harsh, though…" Loy grumbled, annoyed that such a powerful skill like that was used for something as trivial as a sibling rivalry.

"Oh come on, Loy, don't be like that. You just need to…'chill out' for a moment. No reason to be so 'cold'! Hahaha!" Rusty punned without remorse or shame, well aware of how bad they were, in an attempt to get a rise out of his honor bound friend.

Splat

And get a sandwich to the face in the process.

Rusty smacked his lips. "Mmm, vintage."

– ZFRR –

Ryku stood atop the roof of the hotel he and his fellow students were staying at and stared at the city nightlife before him, eyeing the multitude of lights and sounds that reminded him of his own home city somewhat, despite the much warmer climate. He had heard much about the city from his father, who'd even stated he had an acquaintance that used to be the liaison between Forjador and the White Fang until a year after the change in leadership, where said liaison managed to completely sever the ties between the city and the group while also leaving the group. His father also said something about the city that always had Ryku's interest, and caused his gaze to focus on one building in particular: Casper Memorial Hospital.

"Dad said that the medics of Casper Memorial are some of the best Vale has to offer, and even they couldn't do anything to help her… Did they really try their best, or write off her condition as a lost cause at first glance and never bothered to help her…"

"Hmm? Kinda late to be out and about right now, isn't it, kid? Pretty cold too."

"Says the man who's been up here long before I arrived," Ryku muttered, his gaze not wavering from the hospital.

"Ah, so you knew I was here, but didn't say anything. How kind."

Ryku said nothing as he continued to stare at the hospital, not even moving an inch when the man who spoke to him began walking towards him until he stood right behind the masked teen.

"I see you're focused on the hospital at the moment. Do you have a loved one there?" The man asked curiously.

Ryku's eyes closed in sadness, but he said nothing.

"Hey, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I had a few close ones go to that hospital many times while I was living here and let me say, it is very painful to sit and wait while someone close to you is on the brink of death and you can't do anything about it."

Taking note of the tone of empathy, Ryku turned his head slightly to stare at the man beside him. He didn't look special in the sniper's eyes, as the man only had a long sleeved blue shirt under a leather jacket, dark blue jeans, a deep blue scarf over his face, black hair, a pair of glasses over his golden brown eyes. Noticing the gaze, the man turned to the teen and Ryku actually quirked an eyebrow slightly when he saw that the man did have something peculiar about his appearance: His right eye was closed and the pupil in his left eye was slit.

"See anything interesting, kid?"

"You're a Faunus" Ryku stated bluntly, causing the older man to laugh.

"Well, aren't you blunt, kid? That attitude kinda reminds me of my old teammate, and my goddaughter when she was young. Man she was a handful," The man said while shaking his head before focusing back to the sniper. "But yes, I'm a Faunus. A Tiger Faunus to be exact."

"Hmm…" Ryku stated before turning his attention back to the hospital.

"You know, if you want to go visit your loved one, I can pull some strings and get you in to see him or her. I'm friends with the director of the hospital, and he wouldn't mind having people visiting his patience so long as they're not in serious condition." The tiger suggested.

"…No need. No one's there…"

"Then he or she got discharged but still in bad condition and you're wondering if the docs did their best or simply wrote the patient off because they didn't do anything…" The man's guess surprised Ryku with its level of accuracy, but the teen didn't show it.

"…"

"Surprised that I figured it out? Kid, I've seen the look in your eyes many times in my lifetime. Hell, I'm pretty sure I caused those looks here or there when I was active, but let me tell you something," The man said before turning a stern gaze to Ryku. "The staff of Casper Memorial Hospital never write off someone that others think are a lost cause. Anyone who does is fired on the spot. Director Ivory makes sure that those who are employed in his ancestor's hospital will always do their best to heal those who are in his care, and will do whatever it takes to save them. Trust me, kid. If you had someone precious to you admitted here, then be sure that she was treated with utmost care and with the best this city has to offer before the discharge."

"If you're sure, sir…" Ryku sighed, somewhat annoyed by the man's persistence. He felt reassured that she was given the best treatment that was available during her stay here, but it just made him feel worse knowing that not even this city's best doctors were able to heal her.

"Good, now I have to get going. I've been out too long and I'm sure my oldest son is probably passed out in the factory again. The boy can never sit still when he's struck with inspiration…" The man laughed before heading to the door leading to the stairs. As soon as his hand touched the handle, he turned to Ryku once more. "Hey kid."

"…?"

"Tell her that I wish her a safe recovery, and tell your parents that La Bestia del Rayo sends his regards," The man asked, his right eye opened to reveal a glowing, deep sapphire blue eye with a slit pupil as he spoke and getting a noticeable reaction from the teen. "Good luck out there, Gatito de la Día y Luz."

Ryku simply stared at the departing man with wide eyes, still shocked that the man knew about his parents and the woman's condition. It was then that he further recalled the man's words and become even more shocked as he realized who the man was.

"That…that was the former liaison of Forjador City. That was the Beast of Lightning, one of the White Fang members that helped us." Ryku thought as he tried to make sense as to what happened. "…To think that I'd meet one of them here of all places. I was told that he'd supposedly moved away from Forjador after he cut the ties with the city and the White Fang and went into hiding. Odds for that happening are astronomical at best…" The silent teen then shook his head before heading to the stairs as well. "At least this man knows how to keep a secret from what I've heard. If he's kept this knowledge for so long, then I have no choice but to trust him. I should relay his message to Mom and Dad, too. I'm sure they'll be happy to receive such a message from an old friend…"

– ZFRR – THSL –

"Well, children, I take it you all enjoyed the tour?" Headmaster Caesar asked his students as they entered the factory's main lobby.

"Eh, it was ok. I kinda expected more though, to be honest…" Rusty admitted.

"Like what? Fighting an army of robots or something?" Zaffre laughed.

"Exactly! Didn't you hear what happened to this place a few days ago?! Man, I wish we were here when that happened, that would've been awesome…" Rusty sighed.

"That would've been inadvisable, Rusty." Loy spoke up. "If you recall, the ones that took on the robots in the factory were students no older than us from Beacon Academy and they barely made it out alive. They even had to deal with an advanced robot that nearly fried them. Do you really think we would've came out in better shape than they did?"

Zaffre smiled and pointed at the swords strapped across his back, to which Loy shrugged, seeing Zaffre's point but adamant none-the-less.

"Oh heck yeah! You know how awesome we are!" Rusty grinned.

"I agree with monkey boy on this. There's no way we'd lose to a bunch of walking scrap metal," Thistle smirked.

"Excuse me!" A child's voice cried out, and the two teams and professor turned to see a little girl in a lab coat with expressive brown eyes walking up to them, one that Scarlet and Hazel recognized instantly.

"Hey, it's Cereza! How've you been, you adorable kitten?" Scarlet grinned while bending down to pet the child, causing her to actually purr, much to the coyote's joy.

"You know this girl?" Thistle questioned.

"We both do," Hazel spoke up with a kind smile, "This is Cereza Azul, one of Ramon Azul's grandkids and an heiress to Azure Armory Inc. We met her and her older brother a few days ago and were treated to ice cream. Her brother's pretty nice, if a little weird when weapons are involved."

"It's true. Both my brothers are weird." Cereza spoke up with a giggle, enjoying the petting she was getting from the coyote girl.

"Uh…Anyone else questioning the fact that a little girl who doesn't even look like she's ten is working at a weapons factory?" Thistle asked curiously.

"She doesn't work here, she's just visiting. My sister's more of a mascot than anything for this place." A young voice stated, and the group turned to see a black haired boy in a lab coat walking up to them, a boy that Rusty and Loy recognized immediately.

"Hey! You're the kid that got frozen to the hotel entrance we were staying at!" Rusty cried out, causing the kid to sigh in exasperation.

"You saw that? Figures. I always have the worst luck when it involves Big Sis…" The coated teen muttered before looking back once more. "Enough of that, though. The name's Cody Azul, Cereza's older brother, and we were asked to bring a couple of you with us to our factory's Product Testing room for something."

"Really? Well that sounds fun. Who are they, if I may ask?" Headmaster Caesar asked politely.

"I believe their names are Scarlet and Hazel? All I got for descriptions are their names and that one of them looked like Pyrrha Nikos from Mistral…" Cody explained unsurely.

"Oh, that's us!" Scarlet exclaimed, stopping her petting and rushed over to Cody with Hazel in tow. "We're Scarlet and Hazel! And are you that genius weapons forger that Hazel told me about? That's pretty cool! Can you make super robots that can use a flamethrower and dance the conga?"

"Uh…I guess? I haven't made any robots in a while, but I think I could if I had enough time…" Cody admitted.

"Excuse me, Cody. Do you mind if I ask why the two of us are supposed to come with you and Cereza to the Product Testing room?" Hazel questioned.

"One of you was offered a weapon enhancement a few days ago, right? Well, my sister and I are here to bring you both to the guy who gave you the offer so you can see what we have to offer and most likely try out a product he made to see how you like it." The young forger explained.

"What?! Who's the one who's getting the weapon upgrade?!" Rusty cried out in jealousy.

"That would be me!" Scarlet grinned while waving her hand up like a school girl.

"Eh? How the heck did you get an offer like that?" Thistle questioned this time.

"They met my brother, and the offer's a thanks for giving him the inspiration for his latest weapon idea." Cody said with a smile.

"Wow…you girls are lucky, huh?" Franky smiled.

"Got that right! Now come on! I wanna see that Baltazar again and see what kind of upgrades I can get for my pups!" Scarlet exclaimed before dashing off towards a nearby hall.

"Uh…that's not the way to Product Testing. That's where the Vault is located…" Cody said in a deadpanned tone.

"It's fine. She'll follow us soon enough. Now do you mind leading the way?" Hazel asked politely, causing Cody and Cereza to nod and head to the opposite direction, with Scarlet zooming after them not long after that.

"Aw man…why are those two so lucky?!" Rusty whined.

"Oh relax, man. You might have your chance soon enough." Zaffre said while patting his friend's back.

"Hahaha. Well this is an interesting development. Now, are you kids going to head out now or wait for your friends?" Their headmaster asked.

"Eh, we'll wait. Not like we have anything better to do," Thistle shrugged.

"Don't you have a date later today?" Loy asked.

"That's not until this evening. We got plenty of time before then." She said dismissively.

"Alright kids. I'll leave you here then. Be safe, and please, try not to get arrested again, Rusty." The headmaster said, his tone becoming exasperated when he focused on his more outgoing student.

"Hey, if it means seeing that cute bat girl again, then I'd be happy to get arrested!" Rusty grinned, causing everyone else to groan.

"Rusty…you are an idiot…" Ryku thought in annoyance.

Meanwhile, the hunter and the puppy were being treated to a nice spectacle. "Oh Wow! This place is awesome!" Scarlet exclaimed while looking around the large room which was filled with different people and weapons as far as her eyes could see.

"Yes it is, now please try and stay within the path. I don't want you two to get hurt during our testing," Cody sighed.

"Oh she'll be fine…hopefully," Hazel said sheepishly.

"Hey! It's Brother!" Cereza cried before running off, causing Cody to shake his head at his sister's antics, and slap himself when he saw Scarlet going after her with glee.

"She looks like my brother's friend, but she's as hyper as my sister… how do you do it?" The young forger asked.

"Heh heh, practice." Hazed giggled before turning her head to where the child and the young Azul were heading, where she saw the same guy who treated her and her partner to ice cream at a desk wearing a lab coat, staring intently at a pair of hunting knives in front of him. Beside the teen was a pair of sais, a couple of arm bracers, and a pair of fingerless gloves with metal plates on them.

"Alright then, at this point, I can change the properties of the electricity to either cause paralysis for tactical fighting, or boost the power output for more direct assault. Paralysis is always useful for subduing foes, but the range is too short. On the other hand, boosting the power increases the range, but destroys the knife in the process. Damn…this is a hard decision to-"

"What's up, Spark-Plug?!"

"Hi, Brother!"

"Gah!"

Cody shook his head in amusement while Hazel giggled at the sight. Scarlet and Cereza had managed to get behind Baltazar and jumped on his back, startling him. As soon as Hazel stopped her giggling, she took notice of the state of the tiger and turned to Cody in curiosity.

"Hey, is he ok? He looks a little beat up."

"Oh, we're still recovering from fighting all those AK-130 droids that my family obtained and modified a while back. Heck, even I'm still a little banged up myself," Cody admitted, rolling up his sleeve to reveal his bandaged arms.

"I thought he was a senor…"

"He is, but he can also be overly focused when it comes to his project. So do I sometimes. It's a curse, I'm afraid…" Cody chuckled before heading over to his brother, who was struggling to get the cub and pup off of him.

"OW! Get off! I'm still hurt!"

"Woops! Sorry, Spark-Plug!"

"Sorry, Brother…"

"Eh, it's fine…" Baltazar said dismissively before turning to the redhead in confusion. "And by the way… 'Spark-Plug'?"

"Eh, thought it would fit…" Scarlet said with a shrug, causing the ninja to mutter something under his breath, before she spoke up again. "So why ya hurt? Fought against an army of robots or something?"

"Pretty much. Atlesian Knights can be a pain to take out. Especially ones that were modified by my cousin Ray. I can't even begin to imagine what he and General Ironwood were thinking with the giant variant…" The ninja muttered, causing Scarlet's eyes to go wide.

"Oh wow! You were part of the group that fought the robot army! That's so cool!"

"Yeah, if you don't count on me nearly getting myself killed trying to protect the woman I love and using a skill that drained my reserves to the point of passing out. At least things worked out in the end…" Baltazar said with a soft smile and a slight blush.

"Yup. All it takes is risking your life and an accidental confession and you ended up getting Big Sis as your girlfriend. And it's about time too. We've been waiting years for that to happen…" Cody grinned as he and Hazel approached the still injured teen.

"Oh! You're going out with Weiss now? Congratulations!" Hazel said with a smile.

"Hahaha! Way to go, man! Knew you'd get lucky, you stud," Scarlet grinned teasingly and proceeded to slap her fellow Faunus hard on the back, causing him to cringe in pain.

"GKR! Oh… I'm gonna feel that tomorrow."

"Woops, sorry, Spark Plug." Scarlet grinned sheepishly while scratching the back of her neck. "So…your brother says you got something to show us?"

"That I do, actually. Come here," The forger said as he got up. He pocketed the sais and hunting knives while putting on the bracers and plated gloves. Then just like that, he disappeared in a flash.

"Brother, what the hell? You're supposed to take it easy, remember? You got slashed in the chest and fried your hand for crying out loud! Do you want Big Sis to freeze you solid again?!" Cody shouted out towards the direction of the target booths, where the ninja appeared at once more in a flash of light.

"He's pretty speedy. Is his semblance Speed, by any chance?" Hazel asked as she, Cody, Scarlet and Sarah walked over to the ninja's location.

"Actually, his semblance is called Cloak, allowing him to be invisible. He just trained himself to be very fast, and the flash is what he uses to hide his movement. He's quick, but my friend Rubes can go faster than he can, especially if she puts her semblance into overdrive," The young Faunus explained, turning to his brother shortly after they reached their intended location.

"Alright girls, check out the target over there," The ninja said while pointing to the ring target in front of him. He then put on the plated gloves and grabbed one of the hunting knives, and the girls noticed that they were curved slightly. He tucked his arm back and quickly tossed the blade directly at the target, landing right in the middle. A perfect bull's eye.

"Ooooh, nice throw," Scarlet said in an impressed tone.

"Wait for it…" Baltazar said softly, and only a few moments later, the knife let off a small burst of electricity, destroying the target and causing the knife to drop to the ground.

"Impressive," Hazel said with a nod.

"Hold up. Still need to get it," Baltazar said with a smirk before holding his hand forward. His hand then sparked with electricity for a brief moment before the plates in his hands began to glow. As soon as that happened, the handle on the knife also began to glow and started floating towards the ninja, who easily caught it without getting cut.

"And that, my new friends and siblings, is a demonstration of a variation of the Polarity Lock knives that I created, Magnet Daggers. A simple modification with the original design that allows anyone to wield them and retrieve them, even if they don't have the Polarity Semblance, by using these metal plated gloves that are attuned to the user's aura and the specific magnetic frequency of the knife, making it difficult for Polarity manipulators to control. The resistance isn't as strong as the original Polarity Lock knives, since those require someone with Polarity to use properly, but they're still useful for the general Huntsman." Baltazar said with a smirk, staring at the quartet with blue eyes and began spinning the knife with expert handling, his hand emitting small sparks on occasion.

"Oh wow…That's super awesome!" Scarlet exclaimed while jumping up and down.

"It gets better. The knife my brother used has electrical properties, and it's possible to restore that power if your aura has an affinity to lighting. And if I'm sensing your aura right…you have that kind of affinity," Cody said while looking at Scarlet, who nodded in agreement.

"Alright then. Here you go. Two Lightning Style: Magnet Daggers and the gloves that go with them, which I call Call-Back gloves. The material on the gloves and metal are very durable, so you don't have to worry about them ripping or breaking. Hope you like them," Baltazar said while handing the knives and gloves to Scarlet, who actually shook her head at the gift.

"Nah. I won't need them. Knives aren't really my thing. But I think Hazel might like them more. She's an actual hunter, so those hunting daggers will work perfectly for her." Scarlet said, surprising her partner.

"Eh? Are you sure? The daggers use electricity to be used to their full potential Scarlet, which is what you use…" Hazel said.

"I could always just juice them up for you if you need to, Hazel. Just relax and take them!" Scarlet grinned while pushing Hazel forward to accept the gifts.

"Oh, aura isn't the only way to charge them up. You can use lightning Dust and it'll produce the same result, just be careful not to overload the knives. Doing so will boost the range of the lightning, but destroys the knives in the process. You're gonna need some sheaths to keep them in, so here you go…" Baltazar said while handing the stunned girl the sheaths.

"Uh…thanks, Baltazar. I don't know what to-Oh, your eyes…" The hunter said in a mildly surprised tone as soon as she saw the ninja's eyes, which were different from when she saw them last time.

"Hey, you're eyes are fully matured now eh? Congrats, Spark Plug, now you're a man!" Scarlet said with a grin while punching Baltazar in the shoulder, causing him to wince slightly.

"Agh, Careful. Still a little sore there…"

"Woops. Sorry again."

"Eh, its fine. Besides, I also got another thing for you too if you want it…" Baltazar said while reaching behind his back once more.

"Really what is it-OH MY GOSH ARE THOSE WHAT I THINK THEY ARE?" Scarlet exclaimed while looking at what the ninja brought out.

"A picture of my friend Pyrrha dealing with my younger cousins during my family's reunion party that my teammate Ash took and a replica of her shield that my old partner Yang had for some reason, both with her signature." Baltazar said while holding said objects in his hands before handing them to the stunned Coyote Faunus. "You said that you view her as an idol, so I asked if she can sign these things so I can give them to you. I figured you'd like them as souvenirs for your time in Forjador so- OOF!"

"OhthankyouhankyouthankyousomuchthesearethebestgiftseverI'llnevergetridofthemfortherestofmylifeohmanthankyousomuch!" Scarlet exclaimed happily as she pounced on the startled ninja and began to rub her face next to him in joy, causing the ninja to blush a little.

"…Bro? What did she say?" Cereza asked in a confused tone.

"Oh she's just thanking Baltazar for the gifts he gave her, Cereza. Nothing big, but Weiss will throw a fit if she sees this…" Cody chuckled in amusement before turning to Hazel, who was still holding onto the gifts she was given with a stunned expression. "I hope you guys enjoy these gifts. Our company won't be putting these things on the market for a while, so you're the first to have these weapons at the moment."

"Really? Wow… thanks a lot, but, is it ok for us to have all this stuff for free? Not to mention Scarlet's still has that weapon upgrade offer from your brother," Hazel questioned.

"Eh. We like to think of it as advertisement for our products. Mistral doesn't have a lot of our wears in comparison to some of the other kingdoms if you don't count the Yasur family special ordering from us, so having others from that region using our weapons will definitely boost our sales. It's actually a common tactic amongst those in the business world. You'd be surprise how often Old Man Wolke does it for his factory," Cody said with a smirk.

"…And you say you have no idea how to run a business, little brother. Sounds like you're meant to run this place," Baltazar said as he tried to pry the energetic coyote off of him, with little success.

"Scarlet, get off of him. He's still recovering, remember?" Hazel said, snapping Scarlet out of her fan-induced glee and causing her to quickly get off the downed tiger ninja.

"Woops. That's four times now, isn't it?" Scarlet apologized with a sheepish grin.

"Eh, it's fine. I've had to deal with worse than this. Besides, being pounced on by a pretty girl is nice every now and again," Baltazar admitted with a casual shrug, causing Scarlet to grin while Hazel quirked an eyebrow. Cody, on the other hand, simply stared blankly at his older brother.

"…You're imagining Big Sis jumping on you and rubbing your face right now, aren't you. You know she doesn't do those kinds of things. She's too refined for that."

"I take it you forgot about the time she treated you like a plushy after you dressed up like a shark, little brother. There are some things that can't change, no matter how much time has passed," Baltazar drawled, causing Cody to blush wildly and the girls to giggle at his expense.

"Dammit, Brother, why'd you have to bring that up? Besides, we were kids at the time, of course she'd do that to me."

"She did it yesterday as an extra part of the punishment for telling the others about the campout we had a few years ago. Did you honestly think dressing as a female cheerleader and performing an anime dance routine with Kira, Aiuto and Levy would've been enough? You know how vindictive she is…"

"Brother!" Cody cried out as the girls burst onto laughter.

"Heh, well, I gotta get back to work. I'm currently trying to redesign my electric kunai for multiple use and then work on the design plan for combining my pistol sais Rayos y Truenos with my battle gauntlets Gentle Storms. I'll see you girls later at Vale for the festival, and don't forget about my offer, Scarlet." Baltazar said with a smile.

"Don't worry, I won't" Scarlet grinned with a thumbs up. With a nod, the ninja disappeared in a flash of blue light once more, aggravating his brother once more.

"Oh for crying out loud, he's really pushing it this time." Cody groaned before turning to the girls. "Sorry, but you girls have to leave on your own. I have to find my brother and make sure he doesn't overexert himself with his work again."

"Oh it's no problem. Go on ahead. We'll find the way out." Hazel said confidently, making the young forger nod before he left with his sister in tow.

"Well that was fun! We got a whole bunch of awesome stuff now! I can't wait to show everyone what we got!" Scarlet beamed while hugging her gifts tightly.

"Indeed. I wonder what Zaffre will think about these knives. He is a blade enthusiast after all." Hazel mused while looking at her new weapons.

"He likes magnets a lot too. Rusty told me that a while ago." Scarlet stated before grinning towards the exit. "I'm gonna go show our new things to the others. C'mon! Let's go!"

"Alright, alright, lets go," Hazel said in mock exasperation before being dragged off towards the exit, getting amused stares from the other workers as they passed.

– THSL –

Thistle adjusted her bust as she glided over Forjador City. "Gotta keep the girls perked up." She thought to herself. The key to any good first impression was big boobs. A large, voluptuous pair of mounds to attract the men in. A fitting set of well-defined curves to draw in innocent eyes. A milkshake to bring all the boys to the yard. "Damn right, it's better than yours" She mentally taunted at the women below her.

Thistle chuckled and tilted her head back, feeling the warm wing bristle through her hair. This was what she loved above all else. Better than winning a fight, better than a hot date with a guy, better than any other way she loved to spend her evenings was a relaxing bed in the sky. The sky was where she belonged. It was and always had been her home. A content sigh escaped her lips. "Sooooo goooooood."

Cracking an eye open she was greeted with another good feeling. Lesser than flying sure, but still pretty high up there. Ahead of her on the ground, Raiga waved with a warm smile. He then quickly held onto his wheelchair to brace himself as a fresh wind buffeted his face. Thistle smirked, seeing as said wind came from her wings fluttering her to a halt. "Hey there."

Raiga relaxed now that his air was no longer attacking him. "Good to see you Thistle."

"Didn't think I'd show?"

He chuckled lightly. "I got the feeling you'd be here."

"Confidence, I like that. So what's on tonight's agenda?"

"Anything you'd like."

Thistle cocked an eyebrow, not entirely satisfied with that answer. It was not her job to plan the date. Realizing this, Raiga quickly recovered. "How does a tour through Forjador sound? A chance to see some of the simpler things they don't advertise to tourists."

"Sounds like fun. Lead the way Mr. Hero."

Raiga chuckled once more, and began to wheel himself down the sidewalk. Thistle gracefully strolled beside him, adding a little extra elegance for desirability. "If you'll look down there, just between the art shop and the framing shop, you'll notice a door."

Thistle peered where he pointed, and indeed a door did rest there. One so small it seemed nobody else noticed it. "Heh, almost missed that."

"Most do. It used to be the best place in Forjador for Deli subs and sandwiches. But about eight years ago the owners packed up to move to Atlas. It's been vacant since."

"Shame." "Subs? That's the best you got?"

Raiga now turned his head the other way as they continued their journey. "There's not much else here that you won't see in a pamphlet, but that particular ice cream shop was the source of some fun times when I was a younger."

"How so?" Thistle found herself both bored and interested. Which she'd settle on would depend on his definition of fun.

"I used to see how fast I could climb the wall in the alley behind it in case I had to stop a robber."

"You get robbers a lot?" Thistle swayed towards curious.

Raiga laughed heartily to that question. "Never that I was aware of. I just wanted to be fit to stop them. My mom nearly had a heart attack with the number of times I hurt myself practicing."

That settled it, Thistle was interested. "Ha ha ha I can only imagine!" She laughed along with him merrily.

"Ohhh, the things I did as a kid." He looked up at her curiously. Attempting to avoid staring at her rack but he found himself slip a few times.

Thistle of course took notice of this and puffed her girls out a bit more. "Yes?"

He snapped his attention to her now. "…I was just wondering where you grew up."

"Oh a boring village in Mistral. Nothing interesting ever happened there." She waved it off dismissively.

"Did any of your friends join you in becoming a huntress? Or was it a solo choice?"

Thistle shrugged, showing a lack of interest in her own past. "Just me. They went off to become librarians, cooks, construction workers. Like I said, not really interesting."

"Hmmmm." Raiga wanted to ask more, but the winged beauty did not seem up to sharing. "How are you enjoying being a huntress?"

"It's pretty kick-ass! Kill some Grimm, kick some butt, fight some crime! And soon as the Vytal Tournament rolls around I'll be bringing home a gold trophy!"

"I look forward to seeing it."

"Oh I bet you do." A quick wink followed her words, earning a slight blush from Raiga. This pleased Thistle immensely, as making a guy blush made her feel in charge.

The rest of the date continued on about the same. Raiga led Thistle through the smaller streets of Forjador, showing her the wonders that behold unto those who look. She would regularly distract him from his speeches with a quick wink or hair flip. Sometimes she'd lean her chest down a bit and once even licked her lip. Though that last one happened to coincide with their lunch, so Raiga could not have been certain what its purpose was.

After much walking, a good deal of talking, and a little watching some children chalking, Raiga lead Thistle back to their meeting place. "I had a nice time Thistle. Thank you for accompanying me."

"My pleasure. That you for the tour and food."

"I take it you won't be back in Forjador for awhile?"

"Doubtful. I don't usually fly cross-continent."

"Well may I just say it has been a pleasure having you here. Hit me up if you should find yourself this way again."

Thistle cracked a smile and fluffed her hair a bit. "I'll check my schedule."

With one last wink the lovely avian girl spread her powerful wings and took to the sky. Raiga watched with a content smile as she departed. "Good way to end a day."

– ? –

The cool night air flowed down the empty streets of Forjador City. After much celebrating and many tourist traps, all had finally settled down. Today had been the last day of festivities, and now finally there was peace to be found. Calmness in the streamers that littered the ground, serenity in the window shades pulled shut, relaxation in the quiet that accompanied the evening air. All was still save for a lone man walking down the street. Dressed in an old English black suit, complete with top hat. His bright red shirt distinguishing him from any who might dress similar, though for now none were present. He strode down the empty streets, kicking his cane a bit with each step. "Smell that fresh air. The party has ended…"

He turned around to the sound of laughter and running footsteps. Around the corner sprinted a young girl with dark hair. She laughed gleefully as a pursuer was revealed in the form of a young man in a trench coat. Hardly troubled to recognize them, the suited gentleman cracked a slight smile. "Figures. Who else beyond the Azuls would be out this late on the eve of closing fun?"

"Hi! Ha ha ha ha!" The little girl ran passed the gentleman, too caught up in her game of chase to say anything else. He turned his head slightly to witness her brother. Though that proved a mistake, as the young man produced a bright flash of light and used the distraction to slip beyond notice.

…Almost beyond notice.

"Clever trick ninja. But child's play to a man like me." Barely a few years older than the trenchcoated ninja he was, but the experience of the longest lifetime weigh on him.

"Hey! Ha ha! No fair!" The little girl yelped as her brother now stood in front of her with his arms out. She attempted to move away from him and failed to notice as her foot reached the curb.

"Who-AAHH!" Her feet followed her body in a nice backward tumble, broken just in time by the gentleman's quick grasp.

"Careful little one." He warned while setting her back on her feet.

Her brother's momentary worried expression changed to one of relief. "Thanks for that. You alright princess?"

"Yeah, I'm ok." She turned and smiled to her rescuer. "Thank you sir."

"My pleasure."

Her brother stepped forward and rustled her hair playfully. "Come on Cereza, let's get back and finish cleaning up."

"Ok." She yawned tiredly and slumped into her brother's grasp some as they walked away. "Thanks again mister!" She offered sleepily.

The man tipped his top hat and turned away to continue his own trek. A quick glance down at the palm of his black glove showed the lingering glow fading away. "My pleasure indeed." He let out a sly grin. "The party has ended. Now the real fun begins."

And thus ends chapter 8. I do hope you all enjoyed it. Your feedback is greatly helpful; I added in the description of Rusty and Deedee's date because a reader told me they wanted to know more about what had happened. So please tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, what you'd like to know more about. You can look forward to three more chapters and at least one half chapter more in this book, and then I move on to book two. Also for those of you who don't know, I have hired an artist to draw my characters. You can find the completed images on Deviantart, under the username Xjentryn. Both my artist and I have busy lives, so I can't promise how often it will be updated. None-the-less, I hope you like them, and have a great day!