A/N: Sorry this took a while relative to other updates, I was focusing on making a rather difficult-for-me chapter to write for Weiss vs. Atlas. It may not be as popular, but I don't want to play favorites. The only reason that this story gets updated more often in that it's a simpler and easier story to tackle.

Also, to those wondering, how powerful is Jaune? Without Zwei in the equation at least. Jaune, in terms of the main cast, is combatively the worst: 8 out of 8, the medal of shame in Mario Kart. As compared to Beacon, he's average. When your main tutor is one of the biggest and most skilled combatants her age, you learn how to be exceptional, or at least learn exceptionally fast. While some fics that ship Jaune with someone other than Pyrrha, they tend to make Pyrrha's training sessions good, but not fully complete, relying on the one shipped to fulfill some combative need… I don't feel that's necessary. Pyrrha's training is enough to make Jaune a good fighter, at least for his second year.

I tried to make that clear when he beat Dove, who is stated to be CRDL's best fighter…. He's around that level now. Once his semblance is added to the mix, naturally he'll get even more powerful, but I won't make him the ULTIMATE WARRIOR. Just a good asset to the RWBY JNPR dynamic…. Like, when the semblance is revealed he COULD beat some members of the main cast, but only in the way that "they don't know what his semblance is," weakness. Unfortunately for him, it's fairly obvious to the opponent once he activates it, so he can't keep it a constant secret like Pyrrha. That's all I'll say.

Also, in how good he is as a battle tactician. He's good. He's definitely one of the most tactically and strategically minded of the Beacon students, but he won't be this tactical wonder-child. He'll just have good ideas and good strategies, and he can use it to win team fights because most team fights ignore that aspect of a battle. In some fics he's just the best leader ever, and while I can believe that Ruby and Coco would defer to his ideas after finding them sound, a TEACHER letting Jaune take control of a situation? No.

I don't own RWBY. That goes to Rooster Teeth, with its conception to the late Monty Oum.

Blood Steel: a rare metallurgical phenomenon that had confounded scientists and modern day weapons manufacturers and crafters. Its sharpness was without equal and almost fantastical, in that it could cut through the very thing that the greatest warriors relied upon for survival: aura. It required finesse for its potential to be realized, but a well-aimed and precisely timed strike could slice off the arm of a wielder of a most resplendent aura. These were not myths; they were true.

However, the art of forging Blood Steal was lost; rumors being that only one powerful forger had the capabilities of creating it. By that logic it would've made sense to attribute it to some bullshit semblance. However, it didn't stop the existence of what was forged, and that what was forged was very, very durable.

It was a Schnee he took it from. Adam used to use a simple gun and a simple sword to perpetrate his deeds. Then some hapless rich prick younger brother of the head Schnee wielded the dangerous katana with the most insulting ineptitude Adam had ever witnessed.

Adam considered not killing him… he was a different man back then, but the man was so brazen and annoying: he scarred Adam's face haphazardly slashing that thing around! When Adam wrested the weapon from the Schnee's hands and pointed it at him with proper skill. Adam showed proper use of such an amazing sword by ending the rich bastard's life.

The gun-scabbard of his was modified to accommodate his new toy, and Wilt and Blush was born. With it he led a new White Fang; a more effective White Fang. Even if… she… didn't think it was good… he knew it was the right answer. He knew….

And when he made that clear, he would reunite with her… or let her die. It would be forgiveness to welcome her into his arms once more; he didn't need to force it. It was her choice: him or her death.

"Baby come back! You can blame it all on me!" Adam's ringing scroll interrupted the terrorist from his because Adam's ringtone seemed to contradict how much over Blake he was, didn't mean that's what he felt. He just loved the song!

"What is it?" He answered. He didn't even need to check phone ID to know it was Cinder… everyone else would never dare call him during his designated brooding time.

"I thought you would be happy to hear from me, aren't I not wonderful company? Besides, dark hair, yellow eyes, aren't I what you most desire?"

"What I desire is that you get on with it." Besides, you don't have cat ears.

"Very well, there are two annoying Beacon students that have eluded one of my best assassins somehow. I need someone who is more direct, with the backing of a small army to ascertain the kill. You seem to fit that need nicely."

"My men are too busy fetching you dust to truly…"

"Why do you think we started a year earlier than necessary? So when these odd jobs need doing, we can properly react to them. We're fine on dust, Adam. All I need for you to do is be a dear and silence two Beacon students before they cause too much trouble."

"I'm a bull faunus, not a deer faunus."

"Whatever you think you are, Adam dearest. Anyway, they are members of the team that contains Pyrrha Nikos: the champion. The male leader, and the other female. Be a dear…."

"Bull…"

"…and make sure they stop breathing soon. Also, make sure they don't have an animal with them. And I'm not being racist I mean a literal animal. Not Grimm, not faunus, not the puppet who plays drums. Animal."

"Understood. Anything else Cinder?"

"Just that by assisting us, you are helping…" Adam hung up. Cinder could kill his men no problem, but killing himself… that he was still skeptical of. And it was enough skepticism to avoid listening to her monologues.

Besides, he was too busy listening to his own inner soliloquies. Where was he? Oh yes. She will taste his Blood Steel or his other sword, if you knew what he meant…. He did have two swords, the one that wasn't made of Blood Steel. If she was willing to return he would only have to punish her with his other sword. Kinky.

Ren enjoyed sleep more than anyone on his team. Even compared to Jaune after he started wearing himself down with Pyrrha's extra training, Ren cherished having his eyes closed; the soft embrace of mattress and covers that cradled him in an unconditional comfort. He stayed awake to take notes, and he remained so during study hours in the library, but whenever he got a reasonable chance to shut his eyes, he would nap. And he would enjoy it. And he would go slightly short of murder for anyone who dared interrupt this chance of rest.

It's why the occasional cog and wiring of a time keeping device could occasionally be found strung across the room. Having the proper aura-based finesse to release a soul-charged strike that can shatter a Grimm was dangerous when you had a murderous intent towards alarm clocks. He felt guilty, but what did they not understand of "five more minutes?"

Regardless of his desire to continue sleeping, Ren's eyes lazily fluttered open. In a half-asleep daze he looked around the room. Nora was absent. Fair enough. Jaune was sitting at a desk scribbling things down as quiet as he could. Also fair enough. Pyrrha was snoring. The usual.

Yet there was something off, and Ren had a feeling Nora was to blame.

Ren had seven senses outside of his semblance. The traditional five senses, a sixth sense that relied on his good judgement, and his Nora sense. It was a sense that seemed to trigger whenever he had a gut feeling that Nora was up to something. It wasn't psychic or instinctual as people assumed it was, it was a sense that grew after growing up with Nora for so many years, and Nora was a trouble maker. It was a survival instinct to learn whenever Nora was up to something that may or may not be that good.

He scanned the room with his sleepy eyes to find the odd thing out. Jaune was not sitting at his desk scribbling things into his own notebook. He was sitting at Nora's desk writing something in her notebook. What?

"Uh…. Jaune?" Ren kept his voice soft enough to avoid waking Pyrrha, "…. Any reason you're writing in Nora's notebooks?"

Jaune turned around, and while a look of shock was on his face, he remained silent. His face quickly reverted to its usual awkward countenance. "I'm helping Nora with a… new project of hers…."

"Oh no…" Ren did not know fear outside of life-and-death situations, but he did know apprehension and anxiety. Nora always meant well. Always. Yet whenever he heard "new project" and "Nora" within the same sentence, especially when within that sentence the nouns were segregated from each other by an awkward pause, that something harmless yet absolutely terrifying would emerge. The results were not so much catastrophic as much as they were... uncomfortable.

Case in point, when Nora had a new project to become a hairstylist, Ren woke up to see a pink strand in his hair that he could never wash off or even cover with hair dye. How Nora did that he still had no idea. He eventually grew fond of it… eventually. He didn't care if it matched his eyes, it was his hair and he liked it solid black! Even if his name and symbol and weapon and outfit seemed to point towards otherwise, Ren was not a flowery person.

"What do you mean, 'oh no?'" Jaune asked.

"What is the nature of this… new project of hers, if you don't mind me asking?"

Jaune scratched the back of his head, "well, remember when you told me Nora was like a truth seeking hound?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, while you two were away, Nora figured out that I was aware…. of…" Jaune discreetly motioned to his snoring partner.

Ren was not one to let emotions get the better of him. While he knew that emotional responses were things he couldn't control, he knew how he reacted to them and how he coped with them were within his power. However, he had been through a lot these last couple of days. The frustration of a difficult search, the sad disappointment of an apathetic destination, and now…

He wouldn't call it fear. He wouldn't call it apprehension.

It was worry, a worry that Jaune and Pyrrha were going to be pulled down a path that would result in the most awkward of situations.

"And…" Jaune basically gestured at her notebooks, "Nora wants me to write down all the things I like and admire about Pyrrha, and she's going to use that to… coach her… on how to make her heart… more certain in her love, or something? I didn't get the full wording."

"Jaune, you understand this could end in disaster."

"She saved my life, humoring her seems like the least I can do to pay her back."

Ren was about to retort until he realized just how right Jaune was. Sometimes the best way to pay Nora back was just to humor her on her bizarre little obsessions.

Still, he couldn't help but worry that Jaune escaped certain death only to be thrust into social chaos.

Maybe I should trust Nora more about these things…She seems to understand people more than me. A flurry of flashbacks from their time at the orphanage returned to him. The times where Nora helped him connect with their fellow orphans. When she would sit with him at school and make Ren look more popular than he was….

When at the school dance she pushed him into a group of girls so he could "learn how to fly with the ladies…"

"Ren… what's troubling you?"

"What… nothing is…"

"You looked off into the distance like you're having a flashback and you're gripping Magnhild like you want to hit something."

Ren realized that he was indeed holding Nora's weapon. The metal mechanical monolith of a mallet dragged him out of bed into the floor, with a resounding thud that woke up the snoring champion.

"I don't snore!" Pyrrha instinctively awoke to deny what she was unable to hear. She looked around, and seemed perplexed at Ren sprawled on the floor, grasping his partner's weapon.

"So… uh… it's too late for breakfast, who's ready for lunch?" Ren's fearless leader declared, slamming Nora's notebook shut and standing up.

"Yeah…" Ren groaned, "perfect idea." Why did he have to wake up again?

Ozpin sat bemused as Glynda paced around his office. Very rarely was his associate's composure non-professional, but there was a gleam in her eye that professed frustration, confusion, and more humorously, admittance.

"Well, I'm glad you no longer doubt the power of the beast, though I would've thought that it would've been less than a Class M Grimm to convince you."

"It would've taken less," Glynda admitted, "but that's the thing. A Slaggeater? In a village that close to the main municipality of Vale? Either there is a mass Grimm migration I am unaware of, or… from what I remember from the story… my students are already being targeted."

"If we went through the original plan with infusing one of our student's with Maiden powers, we would've put a target on that person's back anyway! At least this way we don't place what our enemies desire within their clutches while also not sacrificing the personality of another."

"I agree with you on that, don't get me wrong!" Glynda clarified. "It's just… I'm now worried. Ozpin, whatever our enemy is, it isn't some criminal in search of power, it's something linked to the very thing we've been fighting for centuries! I took this job swearing not only to prepare our students but to protect them…"

"And you will," Ozpin reassured, "it's just some threats are too powerful for us to foolishly assume they will not target those we hold dear." He took a sip of coffee, "all we can do is prepare them, and hope for the best."

"But how well can we prepare them? Jaune and Nora are just second years, and are not the strongest to be certain."

"They took down a Slaggeater, didn't they?"

"Slaggeaters are widely regarded as the weakest of the Class M Grimm. Who's to say if whatever is targeting them decides to release the Grimm Dragon buried within Mountain Glenn?"

"Then the necessary precautions will be made. We already have evacuation protocols just in case the Dragon emerges."

"Still…. I am skeptical that Jaune and Nora are ready…."

"That is a safe assumption," Ozpin took another sip of coffee, "however, it is not I who chose the champions, it is the author- I mean the unpredictable and uncontrollable forces within nature that did. All we can do is allow them to become strong enough to face these threats, rather than doubt their abilities. We cannot demand them to be ready now; we can only help them become so."

"What if they are never ready? And what if they could never truly be ready?" Glynda challenged, staring deep into the Headmaster's eyes.

"Then we aren't ready either." Ozpin simply replied.

Glynda gravely nodded, instinctively reaching for her weapon, only to realize it wasn't there…

Pyrrha sat at the library, speedily writing in her elegant handwriting. She thankfully did not need to do any research on the founding of Mistral for the paper, since that wonderful story was always recounted in the Mistral Regionals' opening ceremony. All she had to do was regurgitate what she had heard over and over, naturally paraphrasing it so it wouldn't be deemed plagiarism, and turn it in for an outstanding grade.

It irked her a little bit that Jaune did the assignment without her help. Agreed, she should be proud of the fact that Jaune took initiative and completed his schoolwork without relying on her academic intelligence. Still…. It would've made the assignment more bearable for her as well: to be answering Jaune's questions, laughing at his jokes, and just bonding in general. She didn't get that growing up. She liked having it now.

Now without Jaune it was just some asinine assignment that cost her time. It's not like she needed to train that much, she was pretty much undefeated in combat class, but she could be using this time to be hanging out with her team! Nora was… well, Pyrrha never asked where Nora was, she occasionally feared what the answer would be. Ren was off meditating, apparently to "clear his head." He didn't tell her what caused him to runaway… but from the way Ren stole looks at his partner, she could imagine Ren opened up to Nora. Which was good!

Jaune, apparently done with his homework, was doing cardio in the gym, but "nothing too harsh, I'm still kind of washed out from that… uh…. Eater-thing attack." Pyrrha could've asked him to accompany her while she worked, but… well, she kind of did. She asked if he needed help on his homework and if they should work together on it… It's not like she could just ask him to keep her company, right? That's WAY to forward!

It's also not like he could fake needing Jaune's help on the assignment either. Asking him for Mistral history help would be like asking Weiss for how-to-not-be-some-uptight-bitch-that-distracts-my-man! Wait… what? Where did that come from?

Jaune had stopped pursuing Weiss a while ago. Why did it still bother her?

It was almost as if Pyrrha could sense new competition for her leader's heart… and if it was indeed a competition, Pyrrha Nikos does not lose.

But that was silly! Would there be anyone other than herself that could truly see the worth that the blonde boy had-

"HEY PYRRHA!" Nora exclaimed as she slid violently into the chair opposite her, almost knocking it down. Nora grasped the table with both hands and pulled herself and the chair up, as the front leggings of said chair loudly collided with the floor, and Nora half-flopped onto the table with a mighty thud.

"Nora!" Pyrrha whispered harshly, "this is a library!"

"It's cool, I bribed the librarian!" Nora then pointed off behind Pyrrha, who turned around to look at an old woman giving her a thumbs-up.

Pyrrha didn't bother following that up with further questions, because she would either get no answer or an answer she didn't like. So instead she sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose, and responded with, "Nora, please tell me you aren't here for some premature girl talk again…."

"You bet I am! But trust me, this one will be productive!" Nora pulled out one of her notebooks and looked into it, scanning through unseen words. She then closed the notebook with a loud clasp, and then bore her turquoise eyes into Pyrrha's green.

"So, here's the thing. There's a dance in honor of the Vytal Festival right? A dance! Where people dress nice and romance saturates the air like sweat in an armpit!"

"Ew…" Pyrrha couldn't help but remark on Nora's analogy. Naturally, Nora ignored her.

"We gotta get you ready for the dance, and not in the 'proper makeup and dress' sense, because your money will get you those. No. We need to get you ready!" Nora wiggled her eyebrows and leaned into the desk, with an almost devilish grin on her face.

"What?... I mean… I…"

"What's going to happen is Jaune will start crushing on someone else, and will pursue her! I mean, considering his success with girls, do you truly think he'll think it safe to turn to his reliable and incredibly helpful partner?"

"I…." Pyrrha couldn't argue with that logic. Huh? Nora impressed her with logic of all things. "… well, it's still the good part of a year away…"

"And it's best to seize the time we have! Look, Pyrrha, did you only train days before the Mistral regionals? I mean… I guess it wouldn't surprise me, but I'm assuming no?" Pyrrha nodded. "As I thought!" Nora snapped her fingers loudly. "We not only have to solidify your approach, but also… uh… clarify your feelings towards him."

What is that supposed to mean? Clarify my feelings towards him? What is there to clarify? Is she talking about me clarifying it to Jaune? That would make more sense.

"So…" Nora continued leaning on the table, propping her head with her hands, pushing her cheeks up into an adorable chipmunk face, "what do you like about Jaune?"

"What?"

"What do you like about Jaune?"

"I mean… uh… haven't we gone over this… and NOT in a public place?"

"Don't worry, I bribed the librarian to give us privacy!"

Pyrrha looked around to see that the people who were there previously were gone. What?... You know what, I'm still not going to ask.

"So!" Nora continued, "tell me, what caused the heart of the great Pyrrha Nikos to be swooned by Beacon's greatest leader?" Nora's mock-interviewer tone gave flashbacks to the couple of times she was roped into a gossip-mag interviewer. Thankfully she never had anything interesting to say for them to publish.

"Uh… well…." Pyrrha looked down, her face reddening, "he treats me for me, ignores my fame for the most part, he's nice, he's… kinda handsome in that goofy way…"

"Yeah… he is…" Nora responded, before she immediately and speedily responded, "I say that observationally, not longingly! Continue!"

"He just… makes me feel normal. He… he tore down the pedestal that I'm thrust upon and brings me to eye level, not only to him, but to you, to Ren, to Team RWBY… it's because of him that… well…"

"Yeah, I know that part," Nora interrupted. "But that's what he does for you. What about him, specifically him? I mean, the way you describe Jaune makes me think close friend with small amounts of sexual tension, but you've told me you love the boy!"

"I do love Jaune!"

"Well, then prove it to me!" Nora slammed the table for dramatic effect. "What sets your heart afire? What makes you go crazy day and night just knowing he sleeps in the same room? What made you sneak that book away from Blake's stash?"

Pyrrha felt horrified. "How do you know?..."

Before Pyrrha could finish the question, Nora leaned in and whispered. "I know more than you can possibly imagine."

Pyrrha paused, returning to Nora's question rather than her own. "I'm… not… sure… it's just a feeling I get, I guess?"

Nora's challenging gaze softened, "fair enough." Her crazy team-mate sat back in her chair. "So, let's figure this out. How are you going to get your sempai to notice you?"

"Huh?"

"First things first!" Nora began, ignoring Pyrrha's confusion, "what do we know about our lovable and huggable blonde?"

"Huggable?"

"Answer my questions first lady! We're here to help you get your man! Not clarify my weird word choices!" Pyrrha jumped in her seat at Nora's newfound intensity as she slammed something on the desk. Pyrrha was disturbed to see that instead of Magnhild, Nora was wielding something that looked like….

Is that Glynda's crop? Nope, not going to ask, it's not like she'll answer anyway.

"Well, he's a good leader. He's funny, though only when he doesn't try to be. He's nice. He's…"

*SWAT*

"You've said all of that before! Tell me something new! Tell me something that only you have learned about him that no one else has."

"I…." Pyrrha thought back to all the bonding they had during their first year. Their sparring practices, their study sessions, the conversations they had about Lice…. She meant Weiss.

"He… likes comic books?"

"Good! Anything else? Like, what's his family life like?"

"Oh… uh… he's an Arc. With a family legacy?"

Nora stared at her blankly, "….is that all you know?"

Pyrrha shrugged, "he doesn't really talk much about his family."

"Have you ever asked him?"

Pyrrha opened her mouth, only to find that she regretted the answer she was about to give. "….no?"

"And there's your problem!" Nora pointed Glynda's weapon at Pyrrha's face. "How much does Jaune know about you?"

"Well, I mean, I guess I talk to him about my family, and my hatred of fame, and… all that, but he's such a good listener, and…"

"And did you give that information just out of the blue or when Jaune asked questions?"

"….when Jaune asked questions."

"And did it feel good to have Jaune ask you a question, giving yourself a chance to reveal information about yourself to a person you care about?"

"…yeah…"

"And did that not make you like him more?"

"…you want me to ask questions?"

"DING DING DING! We have a winner! First prize is realizing the obvious!" Nora smiled genuinely in spite of the surprising amount of sarcasm she just exhibited. "You want to get closer to somebody, you can't just watch them while they're not looking and help them with homework while they are looking; you got to interrogate them!" Nora once more slammed the table, "you need to engage them in conversation! You gotta get in their heads and see what makes him or her tick! That way," Nora finished, "you can evolve your silly little crush into true romance… or maybe you'll realize that Weiss dodged a bullet and so should you." Nora shrugged.

"…why are you suddenly helping me like this?" Pyrrha asked, after a couple long seconds.

"Because!" Nora pointed straight at Pyrrha, "I'm rooting for ya! And I don't want someone else to notice him and possibly ruin my friendsh- I mean… say 'yes' before you have the chance?" Pyrrha sat in silence as Nora seemed to recompose herself, "look, I've bonded with Jaune a lot this long week-end, and… well… it made me root for your relationship more." Nora gave a broad smile, "and I feel though, that it's time to stop pining and start trying… things, like thinking of a better rhyme."

Pyrrha raised her eyebrow.

"Now, I had this full musical number planned, but my backup dancers fell through, so I'll guess will just skip that part of the plan. Now, let's discuss how to avoid insane family members once you two start dating!"

"Uh… isn't that jumping the gun a little too early? Also what makes you think?..."

Nora grabbed Pyrrha by the shoulders with an uncharacteristic look of terror on her face. "Trust me, you should get prepared."

Jaune had no idea why he decided to work out. Despite not having any homework and exercise seemingly being the best use of his time, he collapsed after running a half-mile on the treadmill. The encounter with the…. "Slaggeater?" was a draining one. He felt exhausted, but he didn't have the desire to sleep. Why?

His eyes diverted to a floral hurricane that broke an elliptical. Four other ellipticals were broken before it… with five broken treadmills further down the line. It wasn't that rare an occurrence, the breakage of equipment, but Jaune could only imagine the frustration of the Beacon mechanics.

After the used elliptical fully broke down, Ruby jumped off of it with a knowingly guilty yet feigning innocence smile that typified those that pushed exercise equipment to their limits. The youngest person in Beacon noticed Jaune collapsed on a bench, and naturally made her way towards it to greet a friend. "Hey Jaune!"

"Hey Ruby, ugh…. How do you do this?" Jaune groaned as he attempted to sit up as Ruby sat down.

"Do what?"

"Endure? Retain energy? Not get sore?"

Ruby giggled, "because we got started sooner than you Jaune…" Ruby gave a teasing nudge to her fellow leader as Jaune breathlessly laughed. "Besides… did anything ridiculous happen during that mission of yours?"

"What?" Jaune mildly panicked until he realized he was talking to Ruby, not Yang. "Well… some Grimm appeared, but nothing too drastic."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure! I was there, right?"

"And so were the professors." Ruby pointed out. Jaune felt his heart start beating against his ribcage. "I looked at the bullhead flight records… well, Weiss did, I simply followed her… the professors left for the same village that you returned from… yet you somehow got there without a bullhead."

"Uh…. Semblance?" Jaune closed his eyes, expecting further interrogation.

There was a long pause.

The pause continued.

The silence was truly present.

"Oum. My. Monty! You know your semblance!" Ruby then immediately vibrated up and down in excitement, "oooohhh, does it allow you to teleport? Close long distances? Ooooh, can you move super-fast like me? Is it…"

Jaune was perplexed by the barrage of questions. As Ruby listed off every theory that would result in fast travel, including the one Jaune made up for Port's semblance, Jaune slowly tried to think of a lie that wouldn't be immediately disproved.

"Uh… I'll reveal it later? Yes. I want to make it a surprise!"

"Jaaaa-uuuuu-nnnnee!" Ruby complained, "C'mon, you got to tell me!"

"Wouldn't it be more fun to see it in action rather than me telling you?"

"Maybe, but I want to know NOWWWW"

"Later," Jaune 'promised,' as he hoped his semblance would appear soon and justify his speedy arrival into Mulan without ratting out Zwei's powers, as unbelievable as they are. Even if no one in their right mind would believe that a dog was what carried them in a comet-like ball of energy to Mulan, he still couldn't risk exposing Zwei's powers on behalf of Goodwitch's command.

Jaune and Ruby considered their casual conversation until Ruby grew restless and started breaking more cardio machines. Something about wanting to hone her semblance well enough to re-enact some 'kitchen scene in a movie.' She also called herself 'Quick-Silver-Eyes,' whatever that was about.

He left the gym and washed up in the locker rooms. As he rubbed himself with warm water, he saw a message on a mirror.

Nora is alive. Remember that.

Zwei was lounging in Team RWBY's room. All of the occupants were gone. Zwei curled into a ball on the cat ninja's bed and breathed relaxed sighs of contentment. He closed his eyes and dreamed. He dreamed of squirrels. He dreamed of giant worms not made of darkness, but made from bacon. He loved bacon.

However, that rest seemed... interrupted by something. An image. Some words. Things that existed without his own mind. He didn't understand all of it, but something was communicating to him.

…..Beast…..Power…..trainers are helpless…..former master…. Return…..destroy you…. Summer.

Zwei started barking hurriedly, as if attempting to ward something away from him. He only stopped after 15 minutes when the pale girl with the scar came in, chastised him, yet then knelt down and cuddled with him, making him feel safe.

Still, the dog worried about the voice that just invaded his head.

"Woof."

A/N: Short chapter, I know, but still, this is the start of Act II, which either I could pad out the setup of the plots, or make a short chapter. Hopefully this gave decent length while not stretching an oncoming idea too thin. If I failed in that regard, let me know!

Also, this IS a Nora's Arc fic. This will NOT end with Arkos. Just clarifying on behalf of some concerned reviewers and probably some concerned lurkers. Nothing against Arkos, I personally thought it was cute and tragic that it was ended before it was given time to develop past the "flirting phase," but hey, what's done is done.

Fave! Follow! Review! Try to Re-Enact your Favorite Movie Scene…. Safely. Please, Don't Do Anything Dangerous…