Greyson briskly led Raven out of Professor Port's classroom, into the cold air outside. The two walked to where the paths split just before the fountain, and Greyson turned right, beckoning for Raven to follow. She glanced to the side anxiously, toward Beacon's main tower. She saw Greyson continued on, and followed.
"Um, w-wait, where are you taking me? I-I thought the infirmary was the other way..." Raven asked apprehensively after several minutes. "I-I could be wrong..."
"We're going to the dorms instead," Greyson simply stated.
"I-I need th-the nurse, m-my arm hurts, a-and there's a lot of blood..."
"Azure is better than Beacon's nurse, trust me," Greyson replied. "Last time I was in the infirmary, she was the one who helped most. She told me it was a tough decision between being a doctor or a huntress."
"Okay..." Raven conceded. She followed Greyson into the building, but nearly shrieked when his scroll suddenly rang. Greyson calmly took it out of his pocket and answered.
"Hello?"
"No, we're in the dorms."
"Well, the nurse didn't help much last time, so I figured you could help Raven instead."
"Yeah. I'm sorry I couldn't let you in on this plan sooner."
"Bandages? Can Ember snag some from the infirmary?"
"She won't be if she isn't caught."
"Just, trust me, okay?"
"Alright, see you later." Greyson hung up and put the scroll back in his pocket. He turned to Raven and smiled a bit. "Looks like your own personal nurse will be here in a few minutes."
Greyson and Raven continued walking until they were right outside Team GRAE's dormitory, room 452. He unlocked the door and walked inside, Raven following behind. The feather-haired girl stood near the door, holding her arm in a wad of tissues Greyson grabbed for her and making sure blood did not dribble onto anything. The two stood for some time in awkward silence.
Eventually, the door swung open as Azure rushed in, followed by Ember, who was carrying bandages. Rusty was close behind. Azure immediately directed Raven to her desk, and began intently looking at the wound on her arm.
She looked up. "I think I'll need to remove her shirt. Could everyone step out into the hall for a bit?" Greyson and Rusty immediately complied. Ember handed a roll of bandages to Azure, then followed the other two.
Ten or fifteen minutes passed. Rusty took a trip to a vending machine, from where he returned with two packs of candy. Ember sat just outside the door with her scroll propped onto her thighs as she read a passage of her textbook.
All three heads turned as the door's handle made a clunking noise. Azure appeared, flashing the three a smile. "You can come back in!" she said.
Rusty took a seat next to Raven, at the foot of Azure's bed. Raven's eyes went wide and she shrunk away slightly, fidgeting with a spare segment of bandage.
"Hey, want some?" Rusty offered, holding out a brightly colored candy package.
"Oh, umm- i-if you don't mind. Thank you," Raven replied, holding out a hand.
With a grin, Rusty dropped the entire package in her hand.
"I-I only need one, or two..." Raven responded.
Rusty pulled a second package from his pocket, his grin continuing. "Nope, I got those for you!" he said. He opened the package and popped a fruit candy into his mouth. "Anyway, did you hear about the horse that got injured on campus yesterday?" he asked, using every bit of his willpower to suppress his laughter. Only a smile escaped.
"Huh? N-No, i-is it okay?" Raven worriedly asked.
"Yeah, it's fine. Last I heard it was in stable condition!" Rusty assured. Raven seemed entertained, but not nearly as much as Rusty. Ember looked as if she wanted to staple his mouth shut.
"Ah, here's another," Rusty began. "Why did the politician call a doctor during voting season?"
"Wh-Why?" Raven asked, smiling very slightly in anticipation.
"Because he had an election lasting longer than four hours!"
Raven let out a sudden, surprised laugh, which she covered quickly with her hand.
"Hey, was that an Alliance of Champions wristband I saw?" Rusty asked excitedly.
"O-Oh... this?" Raven asked, fidgeting with a black wristband, with the words "Alliance of Champions" written in gold next to several unique, armored characters. "Yeah, I play... a bit."
"I've been playing since beta!" Rusty exclaimed. "Do you play much else?"
"I want to..." Raven answered. "I w-was really into Magi-Mon as a kid, b-but ever since they came out on the new console, I-I haven't been able to play them. I... I don't have much money."
"Please be my friend!" Rusty happily implored.
Raven froze. "U-Uh... f-friend?" She asked, as if she had just learned the word, but never known the meaning.
"Sorry, that was weird," Rusty replied. "I would totally understand if you didn't want to be my friend now."
"No! I-I mean, yes? I'm sorry, I-I'm not good with words..." Raven stumbled. She sighed. "I-I will be your friend, if you don't mind."
"I'm the one who asked you and probably creeped you out!" Rusty reminded with a nervous laugh. He popped another candy into his mouth. "Oh. By the way. I like those feathers you've got in your hair.
Once again, Raven froze. She let out a deep breath. "Y-You do?" She stammered.
"Of course, they look so real," Rusty responded.
"Well... they are. I'm a... I'm a faunus," Raven admitted, looking ashamed.
"Oh, nice," Rusty replied nonchalantly. "My parents are actually human-faunus equality advocates in the Mistral region. It shouldn't matter who's human and who's faunus. I mean, they're basically the same thing, right?" Rusty replied.
Greyson nodded and Ember shrugged, not arguing with Rusty's point. Azure remained uncharacteristically quiet.
Raven smiled shyly. "I-I... I think the same thing." She shifted, casting a downcast gaze to the floor. "Th-There are so many people, wh-who don't think so, though..."
"Don't worry about them!" Rusty supported. "Just hang with us!"
"Oh, Azure. What happened with Ozpin?" Greyson asked.
"Well, you and Raven got off scot-free. Ember, Rusty and I got a warning. Probably because we didn't start the fight. The rest of Raven's team got five days' detention with Glynda," Azure reported.
"Yikes, wouldn't want detention with her," Greyson replied. "Can't say I pity them though."
Raven stayed with Team GRAE for much of what remained of the day. Despite her newly healing injury, she seemed to be in rather high spirits when she left. Despite the fight that broke out, and unusual afternoon that followed, the night and following morning were unremarkable. Greyson and Rusty had a class at ten. On the way to it, Rusty did not speak a single word that was not about the new friend he had made.
Ember and Azure were left alone in the dorm. Minutes ticked by, the two quietly working on homework, only seldom breaking the silence to ask questions. Seeing Greyson and Rusty would be returning soon, Azure took a deep breath, gathering the courage to tell Ember what had been weighing on her mind.
"Hmm, hey, Ember? Do you have a minute to talk?" Azure initiated delicately.
"If it's about Greyson again, no."
"No, it's not that this time," Azure said. She cleared her throat. "It's a little more serious."
"Well, I guess I have some time, sure," Ember reasoned. "What is it?"
"It's about Raven. Rusty got along with her so well, you and Greyson seemed fine with her, but..." Azure trailed off.
"...But you don't trust her because she's a faunus," Ember bluntly concluded.
"Well, yeah. That's it. I feel terrible about it. She seems like such a nice girl otherwise!" Azure exclaimed.
"If you feel bad about it, that already says something," Ember stated. "I think your distrust of faunus is understandable."
"You do?" Azure asked.
Ember nodded. "Can't say I agree with you though. The White Fang has killed members of your family. In a way, every faunus could be a threat to your own safety. At the same time, the White Fang's hatred for you is understandable. Your family has worked faunus to death, and still continues to without so much as a breath of apology."
"But I don't agree with that treatment. I don't want people to be hurt working for my family!" Azure asserted.
"So, on the other side, do you think there could be some faunus who don't want to hurt your family?" Ember continued. "Maybe they disagree with what the Schnee Dust Company does, just like you disagree with the White Fang. But they wouldn't actually do anything to hurt you."
"Yeah... Raven even said... Oh. Now I feel worse! Raven just wants to been seen as equal and I was so rude to her!" Azure exclaimed.
"I wouldn't say you were rude. I mean, you healed her shoulder just fine, and kept to yourself," Ember reminded. "If you think it's serious, you should just talk to her about it."
"I will. It might be kinda hard, but it should be done," Azure said. "Thank you, Ember. You know, you're a lot less judgemental than I thought."
"You sure you know who you're talking to?" Ember lazily asked. "I'm probably one of the most judgemental people at Beacon. I just judge people on their personality, not who they are, what they look like, what they believe in, or any of that."
"Well, that's good at least," Azure said with a nervous laugh. "Even then, I think you've got to be one of the best at giving advice!"
Ember eloquently replied with a lazy shrug. Just then, Greyson and Rusty returned from their class. Azure and Ember both knew their conversation was over.