The air in the town hall smelled amazing, a mixture of all the different food the town's people had cooked for the party. "See Yang," Blake motioned to all the food and people in the building, "I told you it would be amazing." She dragged me over to where the line started and handed me a plate. I shuffled down the line with the rest of the people, grabbing the food I wanted and being dragged to a table by Blake. The people were very talkative, everyone chatting with somebody else about daily jobs like the incident this afternoon never even happened. I picked at my food while Blake went on and on about… I'm not sure I wasn't really paying attention. "Hey," I looked up from my food, Blake frowning. "what's wrong? And don't try lying, I can feel that something's wrong." I stared at her and then back at my food, "I don't want to talk about it right now. It's personal." She opened her mouth, ready to say more but didn't get the chance. "On behalf of this town and its people," a loud voice broke out over the chatter. A man at the far end of the hall, a weapon strapped to his back, spoke loudly to get everyone's attention. "I'd like to thank you, Miss Yang, for stepping up and helping this town while I was away!" The hall erupted with clapping, all for me. I didn't know what to do, I'd never been the center of attention before and all I could do was smile sheepishly and look down at my food.

The clapping died down and slowly people returned to their own conversations. The Huntsman walked over to the table where Blake and I were eating. "I want to thank you personally for helping out these fine people." He stuck out his hand I firmly shook it. "I don't know what I'd have done if they got hurt when I was gone." His tone was serious, one of a true Huntsman. "I was just doing what I could, if I can help people why wouldn't I?" He nodded in agreement. "Spoken like a true Huntress. You'll grow in to a fine professional one day." He nodded in respect and went to a table where Blake's father was talking to two important looking people. "So, is your dad like… mayor or something?" Blake shook her head. "No but he is part of the council. Our town is run by a council of three who make decisions based on a vote. Klyde, the Huntsman, has some pull in decisions as well but ultimately the decision is always left up to the council." I glanced back over at the table, the group of four eating and chatting. The other two members, a man and woman, stood out slightly more than the rest of the people in the hall, their clothing a little more… sophisticated. On the other hand, Blake's father wore simple clothes like the rest of the residents.

"Do you have a place you're staying tonight?" The question caught me off guard, I didn't think about how long I'd been here. I glanced out the window, the sky slowly getting a yellow/orange tint to it. "How far is the nearest town?" She thought for a second, "An hour or two, but it'd probably be dark by the time you get there." I could risk the travel but if I get caught by a group of Grimm or bandits it would only take longer. "I guess I'll just stay at the inn for the night then." Blake shook her head quickly. "No, I'll talk to Dad, you'll stay with us for tonight." She got up and went over to the table her dad was at. I could see them talking back and forth but couldn't hear what they were saying due to the noise of everyone else. They stopped and Blake came back over, "You'll stay at our place, I'll go talk to my mom and see if she can get stuff ready for you." I nodded and went back to eating my food. It had been a while since I had something this good, I can't even remember the last time Dad had made dinner that was as great as this. I finished off my plate and went back up for more. I didn't get as much this time and quickly finished it off. I set my plate on the growing stack and picked it up, looking for a place to take them. Blake's dad walked over and grabbed half the stack, "We can wash them over here." and led me through a door into a large utility kitchen. I set my stack down near the sink and started running water. "We have town lunches every now and then so we built this kitchen for that purpose." I started washing the plates, one after the other. "I don't think I ever got your name?" He laughed and set his stack of plates down. "Sorry about that. Well then let me formally introduce myself. Cyrus is the name, Cyrus Auron." My sink filled with water so I turned the flow off and started washing plates.

"Blake seems to have found a new friend in you." I looked over at him, he was smiling and washing his own stack of dishes. "I'm sure you noticed by now, there aren't too many kids in this town. A lot of them are off at school or one of the academies. Blake's a nice girl, sweet, cares about everyone. She tried to go to school herself but her semblance… makes it hard to be around people her own age. A few people she can manage, but a class full, all those conflicting emotions… they drive her crazy. The stress on her psyche it creates takes one hell of a toll on her. I'm just glad she found a friend in you." I stopped scrubbing the plates, the story too much for me to hear, my eyes starting to sting. "What's wrong Yang?" I looked at him, wiping my eyes dry. "I can't stay." I pulled my hands out of the water, leaving the dish in the sink. "Well of course you can't stay forever, but you can visit as much as you want." I shook my head. "No, I can't. I don't live on Anima. I live on Patch, a small island off the coast of Vale. I'm here because I'm looking for my sister, she left months ago to head for Haven Academy." I looked into his eyes, fighting back more tears. "Even after I find her, we'll still need to find the rest of our team." I stared into the sink, my reflection looking back. "Your daughter, Blake, she is amazing. She's everything you said, but… there's a good chance that when I leave tomorrow… you'll… neither of you will ever see me again." Cyrus also stopped washing, and looked over in my direction. "I'm not so emotionally stable right now either, I'm sure Blake has picked up on that." I held out my right arm, I'm sure Cyrus had noticed already but I wanted to make sure he understood. "When I lost my arm… it messed me up pretty bad. Still does…but not as much, the only time it really does is at night… my nightmares. I have a partner too… Blake… that's my partners name. And I've been having some problems with that too, emotions I don't understand. Right now, the way I am, I don't think I should be around your daughter too much, not with a Semblance like hers."

"Heh," his laugh surprised me, "Blake was right." I looked at Cyrus, confused. "When she asked me about you staying with us for the night she mentioned that she had the feeling we wouldn't see you again after that. That's why she was so insistent." He pulled a cigar and a lighter from his shirt pocket and lit it. "To Blake it doesn't matter, she made a friend," Cyrus looked over at me and smiled, "a good friend who is a good person." He turned back to the sink, cigar still in his mouth. "Let's finish these plates up, Blake will want to spend some time with you." I nodded, a fresh smile on my face, and plunged my hands into the warm, soapy, water.

I followed Cyrus to his house but it wasn't too hard to figure out which one was his once I noticed Bumblebee sitting next to the porch. Nothing fancy, but his house was nice, big enough for his family and then a little more. He opened the door for me and followed me inside. I took my boots off once inside and set them next to the door. "You can set your jacket in the living room." I followed Cyrus to the living room where Blake was sitting on the couch, staring at the TV. A woman who I could only guess was Cyrus' wife was sitting in a large chair in the corner, reading a book. I hung my jacket from the coatrack, tucking my sunglasses and gloves into one of the pockets. "So, you must be the young lady Blake has been telling me about. My name is Laura." The woman set her book down and came over. She looked like a grown-up version of her daughter, except her eyes were light blue, unlike her daughter's green. "Yeah," I smiled at her friendly greeting, "my name's Yang." She lightly took me by the shoulder, "Let me show you around." I followed her through the house. "Kitchen's right through there, you can help yourself but I'm sure you got a filling meal already. Dining room is right across from the kitchen and the first-floor restroom is on the left right before the stairs." I followed Laura upstairs, admiring some of the pictures they had hung on the walls. "Restroom is right here at the top of the stairs on your right. Down on the right is Blake's room, I have a pillow and blankets in there for you, and on the left is Blake's game room. My and my husband's room is down in the basement along with my husband's office and our exercise equipment." She turned to me and smiled, a calm washing over me. "Welcome to our home." I returned the smile and followed Laura back downstairs, where I got the impression that Blake was waiting impatiently for me, as she got off the couch the moment we got into the living room.

"Let's go upstairs," I could tell she was happy that I was here, the conversation with Cyrus still fresh in my mind. "There's something I want to show you." She grabbed my hand but stopped and looked down. She turned my hand over, staring at the smooth black and yellow metal. I gripped her hand and smiled, "Don't worry about it, come on, I thought you wanted to show me something." She nodded, smiling, and led me upstairs. She took me to the end of the hallway and threw the door open what Laura said was Blake's game room. Comfy looking bean bag chairs were on the floor positioned in front of a big tv screen. Below that was a shelf that had a few different systems and a bunch of games and movies stacked up on it. The walls were covered in posters for different games, movies, and bands. "This isn't even the best part." she flipped the light switch closest to the door off and flipped the other one on. The room illuminated in shifting neon colors as lights running across the ceiling and edge of the room came on. "Okay, that's pretty cool." I admitted, looking around at all the different lights. It was a rainbow that flowed down the string of lights constantly changing the colors of different parts of the room. "Mom and Dad let me do whatever with this room since they are in the basement, so I had Dad help string up all these lights and hook them up to the light switch." She flopped down into one of the bean bag chairs, sinking into it. "Come on, sit down, we can watch movies or play games."

I flopped on the bean bag next to her, sinking into the bag and sprawling out. She grabbed the remote and turned the TV on, a cartoon showing up on the screen. She got up and walked over to the shelf, examining all the games and movies. "So, do you wanna watch a movie? Or play a game?" I awkwardly shrugged in the chair, "I'm fine with either, whatever you want to do is fine." She grabbed a case and took the disc out, putting it in one of the game systems. She came back over but walked past the chair. I tipped my head to get an upside-down view of what she was doing. She opened the closet, a minifridge sitting snugly inside. "What's your preferred drink?" She opened the fridge and it was lined with different bottles and cans. I pointed to the top shelf on the door, "Monster, I love energy drinks." She grabbed one of the cans from the shelf and grabbed a drink for herself. She tossed me the can and grabbed two controllers. She handed one to me and sat back down. "Okay, so in this game we can play together or on our own. We start off with nothing but a map and we're dropped into an open world somewhere random. We have to use the environment and resources around us to make shelter and survive. Like I was saying we can either work together or each go off and do our own thing." I nodded and took a drink from my can, fighting games were usually my forte but this sounded fun. "Okay then, let's play."

I yawned, incredibly tired, and reached for my Monster… it was empty. "You getting tired too?" I asked. I looked over and caught Blake mid yawn. "Yeah I'd say I'm tired." She looked over at me, yawning again. "I have some comfier clothes if you want to sleep in those tonight." I glanced down at my clothes, "Yeah sure, I'm tired of sleeping in this." We went across the hall to her room, she handed me a long sleeve shirt and some sweat pants. "You change in the bathroom and then if you want I can start the washer for you." I nodded, "Yeah I probably shouldn't pass on that." She laughed and I went to go change. The shirt she gave me had the name of a band on it, one I didn't recognize. The sweatpants were nice and fluffy, definitely better than my shorts I'd been sleeping in.

I handed her my shirt and shorts when I got out of the bathroom. "I'll run these downstairs." I nodded and went back to Blake's room, laying down on the blankets that had been left for me. I stared up at the ceiling, small plastic stars were stuck in various places. Just like in her game room, Blake had stuck up posters all over the walls. I sat up and glanced around, she had a bookshelf tucked away in the corner full of different books and magazines. A large mirror sat on her dresser, the top of the dresser cluttered with things like brushes, make-up, and a few books. I stood and examined myself in the mirror. I looked weird in these clothes, the large shirt and sweatpants hanging from my body, weird looking but also nice. My hair was duller than usual, dirty from my recent travels and I hadn't had the proper time to take care of it. I slipped Ember Celica off my wrists, setting them on the dresser. I twisted my arm off next, and slid it from the shirt sleeve, the sleeve now hanging limply at my side. I sat my arm next to Ember Celica and sat back on the floor. I heard footsteps getting closer, and a few seconds later Blake entered the room. "I started the washer and left a note for Mom asking her to put your stuff in the dryer when she gets up in the morning." I sat and watched as she flopped face first onto her bed, sighing. "I'm so tired, today's 'excitement'," she flashed air quotes, "was a little more action than we are use to getting around here." I stretched out and rested my head on the pillow, yawning again. I heard the bed squeaking as Blake shifted around, the lights going out a few seconds later. I looked back up at the ceiling and the little plastic stars I saw earlier were now glowing, giving off a faint green light.

"Hey Yang?" I glanced over towards Blake's voice, her silhouette visible from the stars. "Yeah?" The room was silent for a second. "Why do you have a metal arm?" More silence. "I'm sure you heard about the attack at Vale right?" "Mhm." I took a breath before starting my story. "Well, Beacon is where I went to school. When the school was in a panic I went to go help people and find my friends. I found my teammate, Blake, being attacked by…" I choked up for a second, I hadn't intentionally thought about him in so long. "Yang?" Her voice was hushed and worried. "Adam Taurus, she was attacked by Adam Taurus. I saw him stab her and I just got so angry. I charged at him without thinking and the next thing I remember is waking up, in bed at home with bandages wrapped around where my right arm use to be." There was an awkward silence between us. "Oh…" I stared back up at the ceiling wanting to fall asleep. "Is… is that why you were acting so weird around me earlier, because my name is also Blake?" I opened my mouth but didn't say anything. I didn't want to lie to her. "Yeah… that's why. When I woke up a friend told me that Blake had just…ran off. It made me angry, angry at her, at myself, at everything. But I'm not angry at her anymore, I… I'm not sure what I feel." Talking about it felt weird, like all my thoughts are spread out like a book. I closed my eyes and sighed, "I think you love her." Air caught in my throat. I sat up and coughed roughly, trying to regain my composure. "What?" I asked. "I've been thinking about it, that emotion I picked up from you that I couldn't quite place. Then I realized it felt similar to how I feel about my mom and dad. And when you were talking just now, about Blake, you felt it again. I just put it together." I laid there, letting the truth of her words wash over me.

"Maybe… maybe you're right." I don't know why but I started laughing, my eyes tearing up. I kept laughing a few tears rolling down my cheeks. "Oh my god, what's wrong with me?" I managed to get that out in my fit of laughter. "I don't think anything is wrong with you. People like who they like." I stood up, my laughter dying down. "I need some fresh air." I opened the door and stood in the doorway. "Wanna come with me?" I heard the shuffling of blankets and felt hands wrap around my arm. "Sure, let's go for a walk." We went down the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible. I opened the door, the fresh night air flowing into the house. I stepped out onto the deck, Blake close behind me. We stepped off the porch and stayed close to the middle of the road as we strolled through town. "It's weird you know. I mean I always thought Blake was cool and a great friend, I mean my whole life I've always been attracted to other guys, and now?" I started laughing again. "Sorry Blake, you're probably bored listening to me talk about… Blake." I looked over at her, the moonlight illuminating both of us. "No, it's fine, really." We walked past the barn that burnt earlier, half scorched but still standing.

"I'm sure you have stuff you want to talk about." I tried to get something from her, I only know what her dad had told me. "Well… I wish I could go to school and be around other people like you. I told you that my semblance tunes me into the emotions of others. Well I can't really control it. I'm always tuned in, that's why I couldn't go to combat school, even though I really tried." She sighed, looking down. "There would just be too many people, I'd get burnt out. I've tried practicing methods that are recommended for controlling your semblance but none of them have worked. That's why I mainly just stay in town, the people are friendly and they know that I can only handle being around a few people at a time… other than my parents, they can control themselves well." I thought back to when I was first learning about my semblance. "Maybe you just haven't figured out the right way yet." She turned to look at me, "What do you me-" A low growl caused me to stop in my tracks, shooting my arm out and stopping Blake. "Quiet."

I slowly turned looking for the source of the noise. Another growl rolled through the air, closer this time. I scanned the buildings and saw fierce red eyes glowing out past one of the houses. I reached back and grabbed Blake's arm. "Stay calm, and slowly back up." We took a few steps back, my eyes never breaking contact with the red ones. Another growl came from the right. I quickly glanced over to the right, catching a flash of four more, glowing red eyes. "Okay, listen closely, I need to you to run back home, my arm and weapon are sitting on your dresser. You need to get those for me." My eyes darted back and forth keeping constant contact with all three sets of eyes. "But what will happen to you?" I kept backing up, keeping Blake close behind me. "I'll be fine, I'll keep them distracted to let you get away. If I make enough noise they should follow me and hopefully get Klyde's attention. I'm going to count to three, when I say three I'll run and shout to get their attention, when they go after me you need to run as fast as possible okay?" Her grip on my arm loosened, "Okay." I took a deep breath, exhaling long and slow. "One." I planted my feet into the ground. "Two." Blake let go of my arm, preparing to run. "Three!"