A/N: Hey guy! I know I know, it's been a while. In my defense, there was the week I spent in Honduras without technology or internet, so not much I could do then. I also took a CLEP test to hopefully get out of some gen ed classes, so that took more time.

Then there was a totally new story I dreamed up and wrote a chapter for, Raised by an Unkindness (shameless plug). Seriously, please check it out! I do plan on continuing it, but as a kind of secondary thing to this fic. So don't worry.

Also, don't be fooled. The A/N at the end of this chapter adds about a thousand words on. Sorry for that fake news, but I will be answering some comments and questions! So check it out if you commented or just want to know more about how my mind works.

Finally, if you want to know what I look like (for the purposes of this fic) I've uploaded a new profile pic. If you don't want to be turned to stone by my Medusa-like qualities, don't look.

Anyway, enough excuses! Let's get into it.

You know, taking a little bit of a battering isn't the worst thing that ever happened to a person. Particularly when after said bruising you have an adorable rabbit faunus to nurse you back to health out of the kindness of her heart.

Very romantic.

All jokes aside, I felt pretty awful after my spar with Yang. Nothing in particular hurt very badly, but it was just incessant soreness over my entire body. Raising my arms up above my head to grab a box of Pumpkin Pete's from its perch in the cafeteria was a painful struggle. My back ached from being slammed, my legs reminded me of all the kicks I'd checked - but the pain in my sides bore testament to all the ones I hadn't.

I sat down across from Coco and Fox and began picking at a bowl of fruit, rubbing some of the sleep out of my eyes.

"You look like crap," said Coco around a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

"Lovely to see you too," I muttered.

"You have bed head, there are dark circles under your eyes so deep you could lose a nevermore in them, and you need to shave," critiqued the fashionista as her eye roved over my disheveled form. "Nevermind that it looks like you slept in those clothes."

"I did." A piece of pineapple stung at a cut inside my mouth that I hadn't realized was there. I probed gingerly at it with my tongue, staring wearily back at the gunner.

Coco sighed and rubbed at her eyes. "Oum, as much work as you need with your fighting, you need with personal maintenance."

"I can do better, I just didn't feel like it right now," I defended myself. "I'll clean up before I go meet Yang's sister."

"You better. Don't want to scare her off."

"Surely I'm not so bad," I said as I popped a grape into my mouth.

"When's the last time you shaved?"

"Not, uhhh… not since I injured my leg."

"That's the better part of a month. You have a full beard, Glen. Well, except for the bit where it doesn't connect."

"Yeah, I know." There was a gap between the goatee and the mutton chops where the hair was still a clear peach fuzz, dividing the two areas like I had shaved it deliberately. I was confident it would grow in. I just wanted a full beard, man. Not even necessarily to keep - just to see how it looked.

Is there an ancient Greek god of facial hair? Because I might need to make a few sacrifices.

"You didn't even trim the neckbeard." Coco shuddered at the word, as if not being perfectly groomed was some kind of horrifying sin. To be fair, it probably was to her. She'd probably been up for at least an hour before she walked out in public.

I wonder if she sets an alarm just so her team doesn't see her before she's ready, I chuckled privately.

"It needs to go, Foray."

"I like it. It makes me look older."

" q the qqqq You look like you're thirty, Glen," Coco said bluntly.

I winced a little. "Well, I don't want that older."

"And not even a super attractive thirty. Like a thirty year old who lives in their mother's basement," she added callously.

"Geez, rub salt in the wound why don't you." I grumbled. "I don't care what you think. I look good."

"Are you that narcissistic?" Coco crossed her arms and quirked an eyebrow, waiting for me to deny it.

"Well, I've always said that the worst part about kissing a perfect ten is how cold the mirror felt on my lips."

There was a slight pause, and then Coco snorted with laughter, putting a desperate hand over her mouth to keep in a chunk of food. Fox had his shoulders shaking in a silent chuckle, his dull white eyes seeming to gleam with mirth.

The dark and silent warrior leaned over and reached out his hand for a fistbump. He then stood and took his tray towards the kitchens, sending a wink and a blown kiss back my direction.

I don't know that there's any understanding that man.

"You've never said that before in your life, have you," asked Coco as she regained control of herself.

I just shrugged, having finished my fruit. "Well, I didn't say it. But I thought it a funny enough thing to interject."

By this time my marshmallow cereal had already turned into a sugary sludge that I sipped at. Holy cow. This stuff is putting me on the fast track to becoming pre-diabetic. Another sip. But it's so gooood.

"So are you going to shave and get cleaned up?" enquired the gunner.

"Well, now that you've made me feel so self-conscious I haven't been left much of a choice." Finishing off my cereal by upending the bowl and drinking, I wiped the resulting milk mustache off with an absent minded gesture.

Ow. Still sore.

"I thought you didn't care what my opinion was," grinned the fashionista, who was working on her third plate of eggs and bacon.

"I don't. I'm just not opposed to admitting when someone else might have a point."

"But what was that you said, something about being 'self-conscious'?" trailed off Coco.

I narrowed my eyes at her in mock irritation, only to have a self-satisfied smirk tossed back at me. Content with her verbal one-uppmanship, Coco pushed the plate aside and started on a bowl of oatmeal. "Okay, uhh… how are you putting away that much food? Not even I, who eats like a starved circus bear, can stomach that much."

She shrugged in response, toying with her spoon. "What can I say? I'm a growing girl."

"Yeah, growing sideways," I quipped under my breath, intentionally loud enough for Coco to hear.

Splat.

A chunk of oatmeal had soared in an arc across the table and hit me square in the forehead, the thick breakfast food sticking and slowly beginning to slide down my face. "Okay, was that entirely necessary?"

"What was that champ?" Coco asked, licking her spoon clean.

"Sore subject I see… I, uhhh…can you not?" Coco paused, tongue on metal.

"What? I'm just getting everything off the spoon."

I sighed, propping my head up with one hand. "It's been clean for a little while now, Adel."

"What?" she asked, doing it again. "It this too… sexual for you?"

"Vaguely, yes. It's a little uncomfortable."

"Not for me."

"Clearly." I rolled my eyes as Coco finally stopped.

"Well, I'll have to file that away for future use," she smirked, staring me down over the top of her aviators. "Uncomfortable with sexual displays-"

"Please no," I groaned, putting my head in both hands. "That's entirely unnecessary."

"I disagree," she chuckled, putting the spoon down. "All joking aside though, you are going to shave and get cleaned up. Right?"

"Yeah," I nodded, wiping most of the oatmeal off my face with a napkin. "Particularly as I don't want to wear your breakfast for that meeting."

"Speaking of wear, you are going to wear something nice, right? Something I'd approve of?"

"I don't know. Probably? Geez Coco, I'm just going to help out Yang's sister. It's not a job interview or a date," I said dismissively.

"There is always occasion to look your best." Coco retorted, leaning back and gesturing at what she was wearing.

"That's a school uniform."

"And I'm rocking it," she said, clasping both hands behind her head.

Yeah, I noticed. Christ she's gorgeous.

Not that I'd ever admit that to her. Well, in all honesty, I wouldn't mind complimenting her - I just didn't want to right now. Was it purely spiteful because I wasn't winning the war of words? Possibly. But that's not important.

"Fine. I'll do something." I conceded, not willing to drag it out any farther,

"Good. That's all I wanted to hear," she smiled, scooping up her plates of food. "I'll see you around, champ. I expect to hear good things."

"I won't disappoint," I smiled back as Coco stood and walked back towards the kitchen.

"Don't worry if you do. I'm used to it by now," she shot back.

I clasped a hand over my heart as if having received a mortal wound. "You hurt me so," I commented dryly. "Oh, hey Fox." The dark warrior nodded his greeting and held out a slice of toast with butter and jam. "Thanks man."

Mmmmm, strawberry. That's some good stuff - what the -

"Coco, look out!" I yelled. Fox, immediately after handing me the slice of bread, lofted another like a frisbee directly towards the retreating form of the fashionista. Coco half turned and glanced over her shoulder only for the toast to strike her chest like a meteor. There was a look of horror on Coco's face as she propped her aviators on her head to take a better look at her shirt. Her white shirt. Her white shirt that now had a red smear on the front.

"Dude, you're an idiot," I said to Fox, trying to hold back laughter. "She's gonna kill you - where did he go." The blind man was nowhere to be found, seemingly having disappeared into thin air. "Well this ain't good."

"Foray!" roared a voice from my nightmares.

Well played my friend, I begrudgingly admitted. Frame me with the second piece of toast. Well played indeed.

In the meantime however, Coco was stalking back towards me. I was innocent, and running would only make me look more guilty, but there was a gleam in Coco's eye that didn't seem particularly willing to let me explain. Her clenched fists weren't exactly inviting either.

Run now and explain later was looking pretty good.

I dashed away at a dead sprint, hitting full speed in just a couple of strides. Plenty of faces stared at me as I hurtled past, most likely wondering what was going on. "Excuse me! Coming through!"

In just a few seconds more I'd be busting out the double doors and into the morning sunlight where I'd find freedom.

Wouldn't that be nice?

Unfortunately reality struck me like a brick. It wasn't a literal brick; that would be absurd. It was a breakfast sausage. The force of the impact alone on the side of my head wasn't enough to knock me over, but it did send me stumbling a few steps sideways.

My intention had been to shoot the gap between a large burly teen in plate armor and a smaller guy with a mohawk, but it didn't end up working that way. Instead the sausage shoved me over before I had the time to form the words 'look out'. I barreled into the mohawked teen and sent him skittering across the floor like a loose bowling pin.

"Hey!" shouted the large student with a bird on his chestplate.

"Ahh crap! I'm sorry dude!" I said as I called over my shoulder, punching out into the sunlight.

How does anyone even throw a sausage that hard? And how overcooked was it?

I shook my head if such thoughts and continued onwards at full sprint. 'What's the harm?' you might ask. 'You made it out.'

Ahh, but you see, that would be too simple.

"Come back here you jackass!"

Yep. My problems were now compounded by the large teen who was now giving chase after me. Correction: Make that three. Two of his posse had joined him in running after me, one with sandy hair and matching armor pieces and the second with long grey hair and armor to compliment. Come on guys, it wasn't intentional. You're not helping your buddy by chasing me down.

Nevertheless, running away was something I was good at. Not that I had a ton of practice running from people, but I'd had plenty of practice with freerunning. Their armor has to be slowing them down and wearing them out. Then again, apparently I'm not good at using my aura yet and they presumably are. It'd probably be unwise to hedge my bets on the armor keeping them behind me.

My feet pounded along the ground, the words of one of my football coaches ringing in my ears as I wrung every ounce of speed from my body.

'Come on Foray! I want to see you dorsiflex! Are we going to have to go back to the A and B skip?'

It felt good to run flat out though, I can't deny it. Adrenalin trickled around my body, the wind whistled by, and I was heading straight towards a twelve foot wall.

Easy money.

Stutter-stepping briefly to check my speed I ran into the wall and kicked upwards, flipping my momentum into the vertical. I vaulted over the top and landed on the other side, rolling over my shoulder and continuing on.

Beat that, you punks, I grinned to myself. As I threw open another door that led into the dormitories I turned and looked back. All I saw was the upper half of the biggest guy over top of the wall struggling to muscle up over it, his face bright red.

"You fuck!" he roared, pulling himself over top. "Come back here and fight you bitch!"

"Sorry dude! It was an accident, I swear. I was running from someone else and got knocked off balance." I tried to plead my case, but it didn't appear that he had any patience to listen to me.

"Bullshit," he grunted as he dropped down to the ground. "Come on, man up and fight somebody instead of a hit and run."

As the heads of his two compatriots appeared over the wall, I decided it would be best to skedaddle. "Sorry dude. Love to take you up on that offer. Maybe some other time!" Turning my back to his curses, I sped back into the school and up several flights of stairs.

Okay. Time to get cleaned up and meet Yang and her sis. And avoid Coco. And that other gang. I sighed as I scanned my scroll to unlock my room. Can't I just have a normal day?

The answer was apparently not. A hand clapped down on my shoulder, grip tight as a vice. Now, you have to understand I thought it was the guy who had somehow managed to guess his way to the right floor and found me.

I feel like you've already guessed where this is going.

I grabbed the hand and forearm and began the process of a shoulder throw when my hands registered bracelets and cloth instead of a plate of armor like I expected. The wrist was also noticeably slimmer than the massive arms of the teen who was chasing me.

"Foray," came an all to familiar voice.

Ahh crap.

Halfway through the motion, my brain finally connected this thought into an action. I stopped the throw and reached around to catch Coco, or at least soften her fall.

Instead Coco turned her forward motion into a shoulder roll and then spun around to face me.

"Nice move." I breathed a sigh of relief that I hadn't slammed the fashionista into the ground. Unfortunately that sigh of relief was short lived. "Hurk," I choked as Coco lifted me up by the shirt and pushed me against the corridor wall.

Oh how the turns table.

"You see that?" she asked in a deceptively calm voice. I nodded my head as best as I could, looking down at the ruby red stain on her white shirt. "Do you know how hard it's going to be to get that out properly? And now I'm going to have to go back and get an entirely different outfit."

"I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience," I squeaked. "But I feel compelled to say I didn't throw the piece of toast."

Coco cocked her head in curiosity, brown eyes inches from mine. "Oh? Do tell."

"It was Fox. He gave me the second piece of toast and threw the first at you. I was framed." Coco opened her mouth, but I beat her to the punch. "Think about it though. How else would I have had the toast unless someone brought it to me? I didn't have toast for breakfast."

There was a long pause in which I wished I was on the ground. It wasn't particularly comfortable being supported by just the wall and my shirt.

"Okay," she finally said. "I can see it. Fox does love to mess with people, me in particular."

That's it? I thought a little incredulously. Still, I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Great," I wheezed, much relieved.

"Why did you run though?" Coco enquired thoughtfully.

"This," I replied, still dangling in the air. "This is what motivated my flight."

"Hmph," the fashionista grunted.

"Speaking of which, can I come down now?"

"Maybe," shrugged Coco, clearly relishing the moment. "If you ask very nicely."

"In your supreme generosity, oh queen, would you please grant this poor peon one simple request?" I begged, lacing false sencerity into every syllable.

"Mhmm," smiled Coco. "I like the sound of that. Do go on."

"I simply wish to be set upon mine own feet so as I might carry out the wishes of the queen, as she outlined earlier," I managed with some difficulty. Trust me, it's not the easiest task to come up with some Shakespearean monologue on the spot while dangling in the air.

Coco apeared to consider it for a second before responding. "Only if you say, 'My sincerest apologies Coco. You are the best.'" Another pause. "And you need to cook me something."

"I knew you liked the skewers," I said triumphantly.

"I'm waiting."

"Oh don't get your knickers in a twist. My sincerest apologies Coco. You're pretty great. I'll cook you something," I said sarcastically, though I at least intended on following through with the cooking. I mean, I'm not going to pass up an opportunity to show off my skills.

"Pretty great?" grimaced Coco, affronted. "I thought I asked for best."

"Will you accept top fifteen?" I bargained.

"Top fifteen? I said best," she shot back immediately.

"Hey, do you want me to lie to your face?" I asked playfully, bopping her on the nose. She glared back at me, eyebrows scrunched and eyes narrowed. "I'll have you know I've had some pretty awesome people in my life."

The gunner snorted in response. "How can I only be top fifteen? You don't even know fifteen people," she said derisively.

"I'll have you, I have… umm, I…" Trailing off, I sunk back into my thoughts.

Yeah. How many people do I know? Ten tops, probably a few less.

"Yeah," I finished weakly. "Well, I used to know a lot more people. I'll give you top five I guess."

"Shit, I'm sorry," she winced as she set me down gently.

"It's fine; I just miss them. You didn't mean to bring up anything." I waved off Coco, but she didn't look entirely convinced. We stood face to face for a few seconds in awkward silence, neither of us entirely sure what to say.

"Well, I'll leave you to get ready." She nodded slightly to herself as if in reassurance that those words were all that were needed, and then turned and stalked off.

"See ya." I walked back inside my room, shutting the door behind me. Mechanically I walked around the beds still loosely sprawled on the floor and moved into the bathroom.

My hands gripped the edge of the counter as the shower warmed up, the laminated surface cool and unyielding. Staring back at me from inside the mirror was a reflection of myself, but not like I was used to seeing.

As much as I hated to concede Coco's point I did look like I had aged ten years in a months time. The weight loss through surgery and the resulting recovery had helped my face and certainly my body. Both had defenition like I had never seen before, but I wasn't as excited as I might have been otherwise. If I was honest the beard was shaggy, and it was nice to be able to cover it with a layer of foam and begin to remove it.

It was my eyes that showed the most change though. They were creased, weary and had dark slashes underneath. They stared duly as I finished removing the remnants of my facial hair.

Though the sharp stabbing pain of loss had slowly depleted over the last month or so, there was an ever present ache in my heart.

There were moments when something shoved me close to the edge of cracking but those moments were growing fewer and farther between. Even Coco's accidental reminder hadn't done much more than bring on a wave of sadness and longing.

The dream of a few nights ago that had really hurt me was a rarity, but for some reason I wished that they occurred more often.

It just doesn't seem right, I reflected as I stood under the hot water of the shower, soaking it in. How can I be moving on so soon? With how much I cared for them?

I have a hope that I'll see them again. Almost a fanciful hope, really. Based on a dream. A long sigh escaped me, morphing into a distorted chuckle by the end. Based on a dream when I was still fresh into the grieving process and trying to process a new reality. Because we all know how realistic and prophetic dreams are. Hell, I've been having off-the-rails REM sleep pretty much since that time that I arrived in this world. Dreams are just the mind's way of processing events after all.

But despite all that told me logically my mother couldn't have communicated with me across worlds, through a dream no less, I clung desperately to the message like it was a lifeline. The belief had certainly helped me overcome a lot in a short time.

And I resented it for that.

Is it ironic? I wondered as I towelled off, humidity still hanging in the air and making it feel like I couldn't ever get completely dry. Maybe it's just funny. Here I am trying to get over this and I just want to grieve more.

A quick check of my scroll jolted me out of my slow-motion reflection and into action. Yang said to meet her and her sister before they had to head off to morning classes. Gotta blast.

In deference to the brown haired brown eyed fashion icon, who was equal parts friend, giver of unsolicited fashion advice, and Glorious and Wonderful Leader, I took a second to consider what I was going to wear. I settled on a plain white tee, slim blue jeans, and the same sneakers I wore for everything.

Hey, it was an effort. Besides, I didn't have a ton of options; I was already needing to do laundry and I hadn't been at Beacon long.

That means shopping. Better not get Coco involved or I'll probably stay there for hours and try on a hundred different outfits. And pay for it with all that money I don't have. I groaned to myself as I shuffled out into the hall. Just another roadblock to overcome. Without parents and a job, I felt the need to gain some level of financial independence, even if it was for small purchases.

Again, shelve that for later.

I wound my ways through the halls of the dormitories and up several more flights of stairs until I arrived in front of what I believed to be the correct door. Raising my hand I knocked on the door, waiting for a moment until it was pulled open from the inside.

I had been expecting Yang Xiao-Long, and was sorely disappointed. In front of me stood a shorter, more petite girl with eyes like ice blue chips. She was pale, with white hair pulled back in an off- center ponytail. A fancy white skirt swirled angrily around her slender body as if she had arrived in a huff.

Ha, my mind joked. She's whiter than I am.

"Yes?" she said, arms crossed. There was an arrogant look and feel to her that put me on the back foot immediately. It was as if I wasn't the better part of a foot taller but she was instead looking down on me from a pulpit.

"I think I have the wrong room number. I'm terribly sorry to have disturbed you," I said eloquently, hoping to defuse some of the girl's ire.

"Thank you."

With that the door shut quickly behind her and I was left alone in the hall once again. "Okay," I muttered. "That was a pretty frigid reception."

I examined my scroll and went up and down the hall, even taking the time to find one of the fire plan signs (a floor plan, essentially). Unfortunately, all that did was try and point me to the inescapable conclusion I had been in the right place.

Huh.

Maybe I should ask around a bit before I barge back and go straight back to the same room? I asked myself. Yeah, let's do that. Information gathering and all.

Damn social phobias.

I went back to where I had stood before, though this time I knocked on the door opposite. Rocking back and forth on the balls of my feet, I waited and hoped someone would open the door.

My silent prayers were answered when the door swung open to reveal a tall, athletic woman with fiery red hair and emerald eyes. The best way I can describe her attire is as if someone took the armor off of a Greek god and fitted it for a fashion show.

Functional, but visually very appealing.

"Hey," I smiled sheepishly. "I'm looking for a, uhh, Yang Xiao-Long. Do you know where her room is?"

"Of course! Her team room is the one right across from ours," the amazonian woman replied helpfully.

"I thought so, but I got thrown off by a rather standoff-ish white girl," I said much relieved. "She barely let me get a word in before the door was shut in my face."

"That's Weiss Schnee," giggled the redhead. "But everyone calls her the Ice Queen. Not to her face however," she added hurriedly.

"Of course not," I chuckled along with her. "I can only pity the poor fool who thinks that's a good idea."

That armor does not cover half of what it should, I thought as my eyes bounced back up to hers. But is that a bad thing?

Stop it.

"Indeed," she laughed. "Is that all you needed help with?"

"Yeah. Thanks a lot for your help." I stuck out my hand to shake. "My name's Glen Foray. And yours is…?"

The readhead paused as she clasped my hand with a firm grip. She looked at me strangely, almost disbelievingly. "You don't know my name?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be asking," I joked. "No, I don't."

"It's Pyrrha," she said, a slow but genuine smile creeping onto her face. "Pyrrha Nikos."

"Lovely to meet you Pyrrha," I said. "And thanks again for the help. I hope I wasn't too much of a disturbance."

"Oh no! Not at all. I enjoyed meeting you too Glen."

"Alright then. Time for round two," I joked, making a show of cracking my neck and knuckles as I stared at Yang's dormitory door. Pyrrha giggled softly, hiding her smile behind a hand.

"Good luck," she smiled.

"I think I'll need it. See you around Pyrrha," I waved.

"My pleasure," the redhead replied. "I hope to see you soon."

Once again I found myself alone in the hallway, though under very different circumstances than scant minutes before.

Dear lord… if you hadn't told me this was a combat school, I would have guessed something to do with fashion or modelling. Between Coco on my case about clothing and every single girl being incredibly attractive… I don't even know.

Standing in the middle of the hallway wasn't solving anything, however. Armed with this new information, I marched back to the first room and knocked firmly.

What's behind door number one?

"You again?"

Aaand it's a brand new pair of thumbscrews! Oh boy, it's this again.

"Hey, I am sorry to bother you,-" I started, but the pale girl threw up a hand in my face.

"Are you? This is now the second time you've interrupted us! We do have class to prepare for you know."

"And I apologize for my interruption," I continued on smoothly, taking the aggression in stride. "In an effort to not waste any more of your time, please allow me to skip to my point."

"Please do," she snarked, crossing her arms in front of her.

Forging onwards, I had to choke back the desire to laugh. Is she real? I feel like I'm in a sitcom right now.

"I'm just looking for Yang Xiao-Long. I was supposed to meet her here this morning before class. Her and her sister, I believe."

"Hye Glen!" called out a cheery voice, Yang's head appearing over top of Weiss. "How're you doing short stack?"

"Yang!" growled Weiss. "You're supposed to be studying for Oobleck's exam!"

"I have, Weiss! I was prepared days ago for that test. Contrary to what you seem to think, I am not an airhead," said Yang in frustration, crossing her arms beneath her breasts as she stared down the shorter girl.

"I never insinuated such a thing," the girl replied haughtily. "But as the leader of team Sabre it is my duty to ensure that you are meeting the highest standards in your education."

"And what about Blake?" asked Yang. "Why does she get to run off while we're stuck here studying?"

"Blake is studying on her own in the library," Weiss said assuredly.

"Studying?"

"Yes, studying," snapped the ice queen.

"Did you see the book that she was carrying? Because it wasn't a textbook," said Yang, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "You want to know the title?"

"Enlighten me."

"Ninjas of Love," pronounced the blonde with satisfaction.

Weiss's face had been growing steadily redder throughout the conversation until it seemed she would either color match the inside of her jacket or explode. "I'm going to check on Belladonna," growled the girl. "You two better not be getting off track while I'm gone."

"Of course not," said Yang innocently, batting her eyelids. "Who do you think I am?"

Weiss narrowed her eyes as she stalked off down the hall, not dignifying her with a response.

"It was nice to meet you," I waved as she turned the corner in a huff. Yang just shook her head and chuckled, leaning against the door frame.

"Sorry about that. Want to come in?"

"Trouble in paradise?" I asked, taking her offer and entering the dorm room. It was situated much like mine when I had first come in, with beds, shelves, and other furniture laid out with military precision.

Yang sighed, brushing aside some of her long golden hair. "That assumes there was ever paradise. You're luck to be hanging with team Coffee. They're a pretty tight bunch."

"I'm guessing you guys haven't clicked yet?" I asked.

"Right," snorted Yang. "Not yet. Our great leader, Weiss, never lets us just hang out and chill. She's worse than a slave driver. Ruby works as hard as she can-" Here Yang gestured to a figure that was bent over a desk, facing away from us. "-but it's never enough for Weiss. She gets frustrated and discouraged because of that, which is the hardest thing for me to see. Blake just goes off and does her own thing and avoids everyone, so I can't look to her to help."

Yang sighed again deeply, before her more traditional smile popped back onto her face. "We'll pull through and it'll get sorted out. Sorry for dropping that on you."

I felt a little guilty for laughing internally at Weiss earlier. Not for fear of hurting the ice queen's feelings, but because it was obviously wearing on Yang to deal with it day in and out. "Hey, no problem. If there's anything I can do to help out just let me know."

"You're already going to help plenty by getting Ruby out of this funk," smiled Yang, waving aside my offer.

"So Ruby's your sister?" I asked, looking back at the figure who was still hard at work studying a book closely.

"Yeah," Yang nodded.

Ruby had short-cropped black hair with the tips dyed red and a red cape, though I could see little else from where she sat back turned. She had on a pair of large red earphones that I presumed were keeping us from disturbing her.

"So her funk is… what? Just trying to figure out what I need to do beforehand since we have an chance here."

"Well," started Yang, playing with her hair. "She was a lot more subdued when she learned that you had been seriously injured. She's kind of bounced back from that since then, but it's kind of manifested itself in that she doubts her decision making."

"Doubts it?" I asked quizzically.

"She just second guesses if she's making the right decision. I suppose that's a better way of putting it," shrugged Yang.

"And that's because I got shot?" I squinted a little, running my mind as I tried to make the connection. "Why's that? She wasn't - I don't see why that would be a hit to her confidence."

"It's like - I think - how do I explain it," frowned Yang, looking back at her sister who was oblivious to the two behind her. "You've ever heard of survivor's guilt?"

"I think I'm familiar with it, yeah," I nodded. "But that's still not-"

"It's not exactly that," Yang interrupted with a wave of her hand. "Just similar. She thinks she could have… you know… made different decisions. Gotten there sooner, done something, and you wouldn't have had to get hurt. She's pretty idealistic."

"Yeah," I murmured, running a hand through my hair. "But that's not her fault regardless. Haven't you explained that?"

"Of course," said Yang. "I've told her only a hundred times, and I know she hears me and understands what I'm saying. She just hasn't…"

"Internalized it?" I finished.

"Yeah. It hasn't sunk in yet."

"And little old me is supposed to change that?" I joked, but I began to feel a little more weight to the task that was set before me.

"Well, I'm hoping so. I mean, maybe if she hears it from you and sees you're not upset it'll help. I don't know. Can you blame me for trying?" Yang said, eyes piercing into my heart. "It's hard to see my little sister set back like that, especially since she was socially awkward to begin with."

Yeah. I'd do anything to help my sister, I thought heavily, a weight settling in my gut that seemed to connect me with the blond despite how short a time we had known each other. Both older siblings that care for the younger.

"Yeah. No, I get it. I'll do my best, I promise that. I just hope I can help."

Yang sent me a genuine smile that lifted my spirits. "Alright short stack. I'll get her up."

"Hey Ruby." Yang frowned as she got no reaction. "Ruby!" she called a little louder, but still the girl didn't respond. Marching over Yang shook her shoulder, only to be met with a slight twitch and a light snore.

"Oh," I chuckled, mentally facepalming. "I see now."

"What's so funny?"

"I thought she was studying the book real closely," I laughed. "But that makes a lot more sense."

"Ruby! C'mon, it's time to get up." Yang shook the shoulders of her sister until she woke with a start.

"I'm awake!" she cried out, pulling the earphones off in a hurry. "I was studying and I must have just dozed off and-"

"Shhh," shushed Yang, clamping a hand over her mouth. "It's fine. I'm not Weiss. I do have someone for you to meet though." Ruby made eye contact with me and then glanced back at Yang confusedly. Then, a light of realization seemed to click on and she jumped to her feet and flew over to me in the blink of an eye.

Woah. She's fast.

"Nice to finally meet you," I smiled, shaking her hand. "I'm Glen."

Holy cow she's adorable, I thought as silver eyes looked up into mine from a far lower vantage point. And she's so small. My hand practically swallows hers.

"Hi! My name's Ruby Rose. It's nice to meet you too," she pronounced in a high pitched voice.

"I hear you helped chase down Roman Torchwick with Fox and Yatsuhashi," I smiled. "That's pretty impressive."

"Yeah I did!" she said excitedly. "They were really awesome! Torchwick tried to escape up a building but I cut him off before he could get there! Then he shot at me with his cane and I had to use Crescent Rose to get out of the way but I lost track of him. Then Fox and Yatsa - Yatsu-"

"Yatsuhashi?"

"Yeah! Sorry, I can never remember his name," she laughed awkwardly. "Then they showed up and chased Torchwick and then a bunch of these thugs came down and we fought through them but a Bullhead appeared and Torchwick got on it and he got away, but it was amazing! That was the first time I really got to fight against bad guys and not just the Grimm."

I couldn't help but grin in response to her infectious attitude, as she bounced around in the retelling of her story.

"And then I got to meet a whole hunter team which was awesome, and I was admitted to Beacon, but then I found out - I mean, I knew you were hurt, but I didn't know how badly, and I…" Ruby's enthusiasm seemed to deflate like a leaky balloon as she approached the end of her sentence.

"Well, I got hurt," I nodded. "But I'm just fine now. Better than ever, in fact."

"But it doesn't change that it happened. And if I hadn't spent so much time getting there, or if I knew where to go better so the power outage didn't throw me off, or if I left earlier like I had wanted too-"

"What would have changed?" I asked gently, cutting her off.

"I- I might have been able to help you!You might not have had to get hurt." The next words were murmured more softly. "The heros never let innocent people get hurt."

I took a second to carefully craft what I wanted to say, rubbing my chin. "Hey Ruby, I'm going to make two arguments if I can. Is that okay?"

Ruby shrugged a little listlessly. "Sure."

"First off, did you know that this would happen?"

"No. But-"

"Any information that might have led you to suspect it?" I jutted in.

"Well, No but-"

"No. You didn't know it would happen," I repeated. "So there is absolutely no fault on you. Would you blame the police for not stopping a robbery they didn't know was being committed?"

"No, but-"

"Or would you blame a doctor," I continued, "For not catching a kid that fell out of a tree when he wasn't around to see it?"

"No," responded Ruby, quirking her head.

"But would you fault the police if they didn't investigate that robbery, or if the doctor didn't splint the boy's arm?"

"Yeah, well, probably. That's their job," Ruby replied, much to my delight.

"Of course. Just like those situations, you didn't know it was happening so you can't be faulted for not arriving at the right time. But you did what you could as soon as you knew about it, and chased after the ones responsible. Kind of how the doctor might splint up an arm after the fact, or the police might track down the robber. You see what I'm saying?"

"Yeah. I suppose so," Ruby nodded unconvincingly. "But I still think that I could have done better. Done something different."

I nodded. I hadn't expected an immediate shift in her thinking, but I had wished it would happen. "Don't worry. Just… think about it would you?" I asked, getting an affirmative head movement. "You know, a lot of times it's easy to see things from the outside but hard to deal with it when it involves you. So just think on it."

"Okay."

"The other thing is that the situation that I was in probably wouldn't have been helped by having another hunter around. I mean, you know Coco and the rest were all there already. If four second year students couldn't change the outcome, what chance did you have?" I hesitated, hoping that I wasn't going to be taken the wrong way. "Not to minimize your abilities or skills. You see what I'm driving at?"

"No it's okay. I see what your saying." Ruby didn't look quite as uncertain as she had the last time, so I hoped some of what I had said was sinking in or making sense. I still felt some lingering doubt, but I wasn't quite sure what to say without repeating myself.

What could I say? What could-

"It might have been a blessing," I said softly. "Maybe Torchwick would have felt more pressured and shot me sooner. I might have died." I shook my head. "Not to be morbid. But all's well that ends well. I'm here, I'm healthy, and there's no reason to keep beating yourself up over it."

"Okay." Ruby spoke quietly, as if she didn't dare believe it but was moving in that direction.

Settle down Glen. You're not a miracle worker. You can't expect a full breakthrough in the course of a five minute conversation. I did think it would be a mistake to keep hitting her out of the head over the issue though, so I moved on to lighter topics. But what? What to ask about? The silenced stretched out just long enough to be awkward when I saw Yang trying to silently get my attention.

Weapon, Yang mouthed in the background. Ask about her weapon.

"Umm… what kind of weapon do you use?" I asked hesitantly, not sure if I had been reading Yang's lips correctly. At any rate it seemed a reasonable question for a student at a combat school.

"Oh! I have only the best weapon in the whole world!" Whatever I had just done, it seemed to have lit a fire in Ruby that immediately dispelled - as Yang so eloquently put it - her funk. "Her name is Crescent Rose! You want to see her?"

"Do I?" I said, deliberately drawing it out as Ruby vibrated with anticipation.. "Of course," I chuckled when I thought I had drawn it out just long enough. "C'mon then. Show it to me!"

Within a fraction of a second a red and black mass had been whipped out from under a pillow and expanded into a huge weapon that seemed far too large for the girl wielding it. It was a massive red futuristic scythe with a wicked red and black pattern to compliment.

"Jesus Christ." I jumped a little as the weapon was unfurled to Yang's amusement. "You can use that in combat?"

"Yep!" agreed the girl, popping the 'p' at the end.

"That's a… scythe, right?"

"Yep!" said Ruby once more. "Aaannd…" She pulled back a charging handle, causing a large bullet to be thrown out of the ejection port. "It's also a gun!"

"Holy hell," I muttered in awe as I was tossed the heavy round. "What is this, a fifty BMG or something like that? It's massive! How do you manage the recoil?"

"I've incorporated it into my fighting style," Ruby said as if it was no big deal. "The recoil helps propel me."

"Wow." I couldn't help look at the girl in front of me in a different light. Slight, small, and young she might have been, but if she could use this weapon to any sort of effect… I could only imagine the devastation that would be wreaked by the massive bullets and long razor cutting edge. "That's really something. That's really something."

"Thanks!" she said, glowing under the praise of her weapon. "I forged it myself."

"You made this?" I asked, hand on forehead.

"Yup! All students at Signal learn to make their own weapons."

"I… holy cow, Ruby. That's genuinely incredible to me. And you're how old?"

"Fifteen," she admitted. "But it won't be too long until I'm sixteen!"

"Only six months, Rubes," cut in Yang from behind her.

"Yaaaang," whined Ruby only to get laughter from us both.

"That's incredible Ruby. It's really something to be proud of. I wish I had that talent."

"Well, what kind of weapon do you have?" Ruby asked inquisitively.

"Just these guns," I grunted, pulling off a variety of bodybuilder poses while Yang groaned loudly and Ruby put her face in her hands. "Nah, not really. Nothing to compare with that monster.

"Ooh! Do you think that I could help you build your own? Oh, that would be awesome! You'll have to tell me all about your fighting style and what you want and then we'll work on it together and it'll be great!" Ruby bubbled without waiting for me to affirm her wish. "Then you can help with the missions of team S-Y-B-R!"

"S-Y-B-R?" I asked, confused.

"Sabre. We're team Sabre," Yang explained. "It's an acronym that uses the first letter of our names. S for Schnee, Y for me, B for Blake or Belladonna, take your pick, and R for Ruby."

"That's pretty cool," I nodded. "So that goes for all the teams in Beacon?"

"Yup," nodded Ruby.

"Well then," I frowned as my mind played letter sudoku at a frantic pace. "How the hell do you spell team Coffee?"

A/N: Hey guys! Finally back with a little more. And now we can see the butterfly effect finally starting to rear its head in a little way… hopefully it's now apparent to those that were asking that it's not going to be a shot for shot remake with some Glen insanity to throw in.

I have so many fantastic plans for Glen's weapon. Ohhhhh boy, so many good ideas. No spoilers though!

Though, bribery and begging never hurt. I am excitable and semi-impatient after all.

Anyway, I absolutely loved some of the comments and critiques that came out last chapter. I don't know what it was that inspired - oh yeah, the fight scene. I thought them worthy to answer in the A?N because they were pretty good, so here goes.

somas35: I appreciate you taking the time and thinking it through! I do my best to have a fairly solid reason for everything I do, and if you read on a little I'll explain my reasoning. And Yang did show self-control. I feel that 'raging tantrum' is really only a product of her getting really angered and/or injured. Here she wasn't really either, and she also knew Glen was certainly not hunter standard and toned it down accordingly. I really appreciate it man!

edgolub2: Well… we all have to make sacrifices. And Glen is combat capable for a civilian, but not a hunter. I mean, have you watched the series XD? They're demigods. Glen will gain a lot of skill, don't worry, and he will be able to kick some ass in the near future (even if it's only White Fang). I did include that little grappling scene partially to hold people over with a small victory. I mean, I do sometimes slightly compromise realism for the sake of storytelling. It's a balancing act that's heavier on the realistic side but I do my best.

That does bring me to your second complaint. Seeing Glen beat Yang a little bit wasn't real. Where's my emphasis on realism, right? Well, as I said before, part of it was a tide-over for readers where Glen isn't just getting beaten to a pulp. I did think about it though. First off, even though hunters do train against themselves to combat other hunters and probably aid the police in some capacity, their primary objective is not people. It's the grimm. Most of the fighting styles and weapons are tailored as such. In fact, unless my memory deceives me (and feel free to correct me if I'm not), Yang is the only one on the hunter side who uses martial arts as her primary weapon. The others in general are not truly hunters- Mercury (trained as an assassin - to take down people), Cinder (again, working to take out people), and Neo (Assassin/Mercenary). As such, unlike those three, Yang is learning mostly to take on the Grimm, not people.

Now, I believe all martial arts on this planet are to take out a human opponent exclusively. As such, Glen has been trained against human opponents exclusively, even though his training has been much less. A difference. And two of those martial arts are judo and jiu jitsu, the two he used in combo to take down Yang.

In my mind at least, these two martial arts would be fairly foreign to a hunter. After all, they don't serve a purpose to fighting grimm. You're not going to shoulder-throw an ursa, nor would you get into a wrestling match with one and try to put it in an arm bar. And I'm certainly not saying Yang has no knowledge of grappling, but the grappling I learned when I did Karate and boxing (the closest I get to Yang's boxing/kickboxing combo) the grappling I learned was practically nonexistent.

An example, if I may. I learned all of my judo/jiu jitu from a friend who is a black belt in both over two years or so, as I've (or Glen) has said. For perspective, I am 185 pounds, about six feet tall, solidly built, play contact sports, and do powerlifting. He is 135, five foot nine, and runs track and cross country.

Physically thats a big difference. I'm three inches taller, fifty pounds heavier, and a lot stronger than he is.

But I can't beat him. Now that I'm pretty good I can stalemate him for a while, but even then I rely on brute force muscling my way out of some bad situations. But as soon as I make enough of a mistake and I get into a situation I don't know how to escape I'm done.

Now again, I'm by no means a master of the art. But I do think that Yang does not have enough skill or experience to fight off such an assault by skill alone. Just like me versus my friend, once you're in a bad situation, you can't really escape.

Finally, however, the takedown and choke out sequence would never have taken place without Yang allowing Glen in close. This is one step below even a spar for her - it's a way for her to assess his abilities. She is not going all out by any means, but just seeing what he is capable of.

As such, if she were going all out, she would never let Glen in, as is evidenced by the rest of the spar where Glen gets served. In a real fight, as it stands currently, Glen would hold on to be a first round KO. Donski.

As much as I've argued against you though, I do appreciate the points you've raised. Keep me honest, keep me on your toes. And your line - trying to make fantasy into realisim - I do have to admit. You're probably right. I don't deny it is a fantastic challenge. And though I may have to warp things one way or another, it is a fantastic test of how far I can stretch myself. So I'm going to keep at it.

As for realistic action and human behavior … I thought I was doing so good :(

Then again I'm a very fallible 18 year old. I'm doing my darndest though, I tell you what. At the very least my/Glen's interactions with others are as real as I can. Ahh well.

If you're reading this, well, I appreciate you hanging around XD Stay critical my friend.

Kestes: You've been around since the beginning, haven't you? I always appreciate those little short notes of affirmation my friend. Thank you :)

Mouse the Annon: Okay, you got me. Genuinely a good point. In this case my desire to be specific kind of (pun intended) shot me in the foot. Leaving it a bit more up to the imagination would probably have been better. Though they might well have a .338 caliber dust round, it probably would have been better to leave it at a bolt action or some such. The pistol I believe I only likened to an 1911, not that it was of the actual family. Hopefully that makes it a bit easier to swallow :)

Good call though, and thanks for the read and review :)

Rimmer Dall: I see ht you're saying, but those are semi-automatic rifles. (At least Pyrrah's is for sure. What even is Ruby's? I've seen it fire bolt and semi, I'm pretty sure.) I'm firing a pure bolt, and I'm not getting fed from a clip where I can just slam the next round home. I'm opening the bolt, picking up the next round, feeding it in, and closing the breech. I did the motions with my hands as fast as I could on an air rifle without worrying about accuracy, and it's still far longer than just slamming the trigger back on a semi. Hope that helps :)

RadioPoisoning: Ohhhhhh, I want to tell you! I want to tell you so bad. I have plans for his weapon. *manaic laughter. But I won't teeeellllllll…. At least not yet :)

EWR115: Yeah baby. Houston is my city.

Sparkysbro: Thanks for seeing the opportunities grappling opens up, as I've outlined above! It's certainly something I plan to make use of :)

Thanks for the read and review.

Tim: Oh, Tim. For whatever reason reading that made me laugh. I appreciate it brother :)

If I didn't answer your question, don't be offended. I read them all and appreciate each one. I just want to answer the main themes of a lot of them and then throw in a couple short ones because I am strapped for time right now. I wanted to get this chaper out a lot earlier…

Anyway, I appreciate all the reads and reviews! Love you guys, and see you on the flip side!