Okay, so I'm back for revisions and I'll be releasing a few tonight as well as a few new chapters. I changed Knives' stupidity and his treatment of Safe.

The Power Within

Knives hacked angrily at the surrounding brush. "Goddamn, this forest goes on forever," He blew the hair out of his eyes as he wheeled around to face his teammates, "when are we going to reach this temple!?"

"Calm down Knives," Luxus said, "We'll get there when the forest allows us."

"When the forest allows us, what's that supposed to mean?" He replied.

The three of them looked at him awkwardly, "Um Knives, do you know about your Aura?" Caradin asked. "I've seen you use it before."

"Ew no that's disgusting!" He replied.

"No that's not; what we're saying is…" Luxus tried to explain.

Deverou walked up and took off his eye-patch and looked at Knives. Knives felt an overwhelming sense of calm wash over him. "The Eye of Still Waters is a technique that allows me to see one's aura and to use my own to calm their minds. It makes interrogation or torture completely irrelevant. It also allows me to see everything around me in a new light."

"Everything here has an aura Knives," Luxus said, "Well everything except monsters. But in its own way this forest is very alive. We must feel all around us and match ourselves to its heartbeat. As a gambler and a Rayfor I can sense people's auras and tell their intentions. It's one of the reasons I knew you guys were right for me. It didn't matter about strength or class, just who was compatible."

He dreamily replied, "Yeah, I get it."

Deverou put his eye-patch back on cautiously and Knives snapped out of the trance. "Your aura was already awakened by someone, but there is some hidden power you carry within."

"I don't want to get in to that, if I hold back it's only to keep myself from going wild." Knives said looking at Johann who waved with a big smile on his face.

"But wouldn't going wild be what we want, since we were told to destroy everything in our path?" Caradin asked.

"Not like this, if I let loose too much I don't think the forest would be left standing." He said grimly.

Caradin chuckled, "Dude this forest has been here for years, it ain't going anywhere just because you get cranky."

They all smiled and laughed except Knives, for he knew that if they truly saw Johann their understanding of what he said would become very much true. He heard something far off like a screech and he tackled his team, "Get down!"

The sound tore apart the trees where they had been standing as a Beowolf shot through the trees and ran off yelping.

"Yeah get the hell out of here!" A boy yelled as he stepped through the gap with a girl. In his hand was a strange rifle with a vibrating blue crystal close to the handle. He flipped it and it morphed into a sword and he sheathed it on his back. At his side was a strange half-shifted gun-sword with a revolver's handle and a blade coming out of it. He was dressed in all blue so Knives could guess what his favorite color was and surprisingly his hair and eyes were dark blue as well, what did this guy have no life?

The girl looked more like a biker thug in her halter-top and leather jacket with her devil horn bandana. She had two sabers strapped to her back and seemed generally uninterested in anything. "Yay Edan you did it, can we make-out now?" She said as she shifted from bored to incredibly hyper.

"Mary what is wrong with you we're in the middle of a battle?" Edan cried stamping the tree stump angrily.

"I know! It's that perfect romantic setting of the two warriors who fight alongside one another then realize that they've become more than that and have a steamy love affair before one of them dies and the other fights to avenge them before they also die and have a bitter-sweet reunion in the afterlife!" She held her blushing face, "It's like a fairy tale."

He looked at her with his mouth agape, "Okay one, stop reading all those romance novels they distort your sense of reality. Two, ew that's gross. And three, what the fuck kind of fairy tale is that!?"

She giggled, "I got you angry!" She taunted in a sing song voice.

"You are ridiculous, can't you take anything seriously!?" Edan roared.

"I take your secret love for me seriously." She teased.

"You are unbelievable why can't you just…" He started before Knives yelled.

"SHUT UP!" Knives yelled.

"Thanks guy, yeah why can't you just…" Edan replied before getting cut off again.

"No, I mean the both of you. You two are jabbering away so much I'd rather the Beowolves kill me before the migraine does." He replied rubbing his temples as Johann approached him.

"Take two Johann and call me in the morning." He said with a glare from Knives, "Sorry!"

"Hey what's your problem asshole?" Edan yelled as Knives refocused on him.

"Did I not just make it clear baby-blue? You are my problem, so shut the fuck up!" He yelled as he stormed towards Edan. The Beowolf tried to leap at Knives and he impaled it on his sword, "Not now, the grownups are talking."

Just then two more people joined the party with a screech; it was a girl's screech, "Hey girlfriend!" The newcomer replied.

Mary squealed, "Tee-na hey!"

"Shoot me now." Edan said in unison with Knives.

"This doesn't make us friends." Knives said.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Edan replied.

The new girl was dressed relatively normally in a jacket, jeans and a shirt. And the weird spear she carried was pretty cool. The other guy just had a box on his hip and a patch-work black and red rabbit puppet in his hand that looked rather demented. He looked like a little kid, probably four or five feet tall, and he wore a button down and a vest with slacks and shoes. He had his eyes closed and seemed half-asleep and his pink hair was a little weird.

"God you all are irritating, you stupid whores!" The puppet spoke.

"Bunny, be polite we have to be polite just like mama said." The boy replied.

"Oh cram it you useless waste, I just wanna run wild!" The rabbit giggled rubbing his puppet paws together.

Knives swore he had seen him somewhere before.

Are you ok?

Fuck off.

Mama says we need to be polite, good people get rewards and bad people get punished.

Well then Cain has a lot coming to him.

His mouth hung open, "I know you, you're little Sammy, you were in the facility with me."

"Oh no, we don't talk about that place, mama said they hurt us but that we had to keep it a secret, that they were making us strong to fight monsters and save the world like the heroes in the story books." He replied.

Knives shook his head and started walking. "Where are you going?" Edan asked.

"Away from y'all, I need to catch some air." Knives said.

"We'll sort things out Knives," Luxus said, "You be careful, I know those memories are painful, but I don't need you getting killed."

He walked through the forest on his own away from the group and was about to hack away a large trunk when a voice came from the tree above him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

He looked up and it was a boy in a suit and green tie with hair like Deverou's only light brown. "And why the hell not?"

"Because that tree is actually a Grimm." He said pointing to the head of the King Taijitu.

He turned and looked at it and he backed away. "Stop. Your about to fall down a hole." The kid said suddenly.

He stopped and looked behind him to see the hole. "Why is there a hole?"

"I dug it to trap myself a partner, hasn't quite worked yet." He said rubbing his chin.

"You're weird you know that?" Knives said with a smile.

"Am I, my brother said this is how you talk to people." He said trying to figure it all out.

"Yeah well he's a dick, now get down from there." Knives said taking a liking to the kid.

He jumped down, "So does this mean we're partners?"

Knives gazed at him coldly, "No, I just wanted you down here to kick your ass myself."

He moved to punch the kid and the kid flinched, "Two for flinching." He said he said with a smile as he knocked the kid to the ground with the second punch, extending his hand to the kid, "What's your name?"

"Safe."

He looked at the kid and shook his head, before sniffing the air. "Thirty paces to the west there is a girl sitting under a tree eating some fruit. She's not aware of the fact that Beowolves are watching her, go there and help her out. She's looking for a partner as well."

"Gee thanks, what's your name?" He replied happily looking in that direction.

"Knives, now get going." He said smiling, "See you later Safe."

Knives walked off and heard the sounds of fighting in the next couple of minutes so he assumed Safe had found it. He sniffed the air and smelled other strange scents in the air. Gunpowder and poison. The sound of a loud bang answered his question as the high-powered sniper rifle shot came from Safe's position. But Knives didn't care too much.

He arrived back where they were and Edan's group was still there but they had quieted down. "So we made an alliance with your group to watch each other's backs at Beacon and to remain friends, I'm Edan Azure of the Azure clan. This is Mary Knight, Samuel Matherson, and Teena Caliburn."

"Cool, sorry about earlier man." Knives said extending his hand.

Edan looked at it, "I thought we agreed not to be friends, I'm not stopping till I beat you." Edan said with a grin.

"Good luck with that bluebell." Knives chuckled.

"Well thanks a lot asshole!" Edan said.

This time Knives didn't have to say anything, his group just stood and walked off with him. "Well they were interesting." Deverou said.

"Who did you meet in the forest?" Caradin asked.

"Just a kid looking for a partner." Knives replied.

"Well it doesn't matter," Luxus said, "Because we're getting closer to the north end of the forest, we'll be at the temple soon."

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