Edited as of (6/1/18)

PB: Da-Awesom-One

FRIENDS?

-Joel Ambrose-

"Alright, you two, hands where I can see 'em! Nice and slow!" a young girl with a green pixie cut, face covered in piercings, demanded smugly. Her companion, a burly toe-headed man with a pudgy face, stepped out from one of the alley's shadowy edges, cracking his knuckles before drawing a long knife covered in tiny nicks.

"Give us your valuables, and you can go. Make trouble, and things might go a bit badly for you!" he said, eyes resting on Penny a bit longer than I was comfortable with.

"So... what did you want us to do, again? Raise our arms, or give you our money?" I asked sarcastically, rubbing the back of my head with an annoyed sigh. "You have to give clear instructions in this kind of situation, or you'll just confuse people."

'I warned her that cutting through the back alleys was a silly idea...'

Amazingly enough, the orange-haired girl beside me seemed more confused than afraid, green eyes wide as she examined the two thieves in front of us. "Joel... are we being robbed?" she asked innocently, turning her head to face me with a questioning expression.

I glanced back with a raised eyebrow. 'Okay, I understand a little naivety. But seriously!?'

"You know what, Penny? I think so," I commented, chuckling to myself as the two idiots looked to each other nervously, more than a little bit put off by the apparent lack of fear their quarry was showing. "Probably just some minor thugs looking to score off of tourists for the festival setup. No big deal."

Penny clapped her hands excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Oh, that's so exciting! I've never been a part of a robbery before!"

The big one looked at her with a dumbstruck expression, before staring at me, gesturing to the squealing girl. I just shrugged, just as confused as he was.

"What the hell's up!? You some kinda nutcase, or something!?" he growled, brandishing his weapon threateningly, taking a long stride towards her. "Now hands up, or I'll...!"

I took a casual step, now standing between him and my companion, cold blue eyes boring into his ruddy, hazel-colored irises.

"Penny, I've got this. Don't worry," I said calmly. "As for you, put that away before you hurt yourself," I advised, nodding to the knife in his hand. "Trust me when I say that you've picked the wrong target. Just back off, and let us pass. Then we can put this whole thing behind us." Rather than back down, the man's face reddened angrily, taking another step forward, before tensing as I raised my left hand. "Alright, one more step, and I take that knife from you! Last warning."

He let out a cry as he lunged forward. In one swift motion, I spun inside his guard, catching a hold of his weapon hand's wrist in a vice grip, before finally twisting it painfully, while delivering a quick palm to his fat face. I winced slightly as I felt his nose cave in beneath my hand. Hadn't meant to get him that hard. The thug reared back, unable to escape my grip as I twisted his wrist again, bringing him to his knees as I stood over him.

With an exaggerated slow pace, I reached out with my free hand, and plucked the weapon from his locked hand, before letting him fall back to the ground, clutching at his face.

"Told you you'd hurt yourself," I said matter-of-factly.

"Joel!" I tensed as Penny's voice rang through the small space, catching sight of a green flash of hair, as the boy's partner sprinted forward. A thin box was in her hand, with two sparking prongs. It was a desperate charge, with no thought or coordination behind it. On reflex, I raised the hand holding the knife, ready to eliminate the... threat?

My eyes widened as I started bringing the blade down. Images of the Bear Faunus girl's face laughing at me sprang to the forefront of my mind. At the last moment, I caught myself, managing to stop myself just as the weapon was about to enter the side of her neck. Unfortunately for me, that meant that the girl's attack succeeded, driving me into the wall as she drove the taser hard into my side before I could raise my Aura in defense. My body jerked involuntarily as energy coursed from the device, nerves and muscles flaring painfully.

"Too slow, asshole!" she smiled, chalking up my hesitation for poor reflexes as she activated the stunner again, sending another burst of electricity coursing through me. "Should lay you up for a few...!" Her smile faded, however, as my body began to glow a bright blue, one hand dropping the knife as it grasped the tool, the other going to her shoulder.

"That hurts, damn it!" I muttered, flooring the girl with a quick shock, her eyes rolling back into her skull as she fell unconscious next to her groaning friend. I stretched languidly, before letting out a short wince as I withdrew the prongs from my side, the twin pinpricks already starting to heal, though I still had some new holes in my shirt, as well as a small bloodstain.

"Blast... You alright?" I looked back towards Penny, who was now staring at me curiously. "Uh... Sorry about that. Did I scare you?"

"I'm so sorry... You said that you had it handled, but I spoke out anyway," Penny mumbled mournfully. "I distracted you..."

"No, no, that was all me," I consoled her awkwardly, kicking at the big guy. "I wasn't paying attention. Without your warning, it might've been worse."

'I would've probably killed her...'

I knelt down, slapping the big lug's face, eliciting a frightened, pig-like squeal. "We're gonna continue on our way now. Your girlfriend, or whatever she is to your dumb ass, is just knocked out. Get yourselves to a hospital, get patched up, and then think on what happened today."

"My arm... Rrrgh, shit, man! I think you broke it!" he cried pitifully.

I just shook my head, getting back to my feet. "Your wrist, moron. And it should just be bruised, not broken," I told him, kicking him onto his knees, and watching him scramble away. "Don't be such a baby."

I gestured for Penny to follow as we made our way out of the alley. "So, Penny, that's a perfect example of why alleyways are generally a bad place to go down into. The people that hang around in them never have any manners at all."

"I understand," she nodded, eyes darting to the hole in my shirt. "Are you okay, Joel? You seem to be functioning normally."

"Yeah, yeah..." I looked down at my side, before showing her the thin white scars along my arms. "I'm used to it. My Semblance lets me take way more volts than most people can, and direct it back at my enemies. Plus, I have implants that deal with what my Semblance can't handle, so my muscles don't lock up. I did hate the sharp prongs, 'cause, between you and me, I kinda hate needles, but the electricity itself just stings a bit as it passes through."

I stopped her as a golden-haired boy ran past us. Judging from the similarly colored tail on his rear, he was some sort of Faunus. Monkey, maybe.

"I see! That is very interesti...!" Suddenly, a white form crashed into her, sending both tumbling to the ground.

My hand went to my waist, subconsciously seeking one of my knives. 'Seriously have to work on that!' my mind chided itself as I took a closer look at our "assailant."

"Wait... Weiss?" I asked in surprise, noticing the familiar pure white hair and "combat skirt." The heiress herself was shaking her head out. "Weiss, you alright?"

"Joel?" she stared at me, seemingly just as confused as I was as the rest of RWBY ran up behind her, panting slightly. "What are you doing here!? Wait... The Faunus!" She looked around wildly.

"Hey... Weiss?" I gestured towards Penny, who was just lying there like a board, staring up at their faces happily. The Huntress let out a short yelp, leaping to her feet.

"Sal-u-tations!" the fallen girl said happily, still lying on the ground. Weiss looked aghast, while I just chuckled under my breath.

"Uh... Hello," Ruby said awkwardly. "Hi, Joel." I waved back amiably at the young Huntress-in-training.

"Sooo... are you... okay?" Yang asked, glancing over her sister's shoulder.

"I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking!"

I knelt down next to my new friend, "Uh, Penny?... You wanna get up?"

The girl looked conflicted for a few seconds, before nodding to herself. "Yes."

She was up on her feet in an instant. As she dusted herself off, I noticed that the girls had all taken a step back cautiously, almost simultaneously. I then looked back at the other girl, and saw that she was looking to each of us in turn.

"My name's Penny. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Hi Penny. I'm Ruby." Ruby reached out a hand for the girl to shake.

"I'm Weiss," the heiress replied nervously.

"Blake."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" the blonde asked rudely. I shot her a quick glare, while Blake elbowed her in the side. "Ow!... I'm Yang."

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" the orange haired girl said again cheerily.

"You already said that," Weiss noted, eyebrow raised.

'Social skills at work, Ice Queen.'

Penny paused, a puzzled look on her face, before nodding absently. "So I did!" she exclaimed cheerfully.

It was strange, the way she acted. It was as if she were unfamiliar with actual conversation. 'I've met people who might be considered awkward, but this feels... different, somehow.'

"So, you are all friends of Joel's?"

"These are actually the friends I told you about earlier." I gestured to RWBY with a flourish. Penny nodded, a look of amazement on her face as she glanced between us.

"Oh, so when you told me about the Ice Queen...?"

"Hey!" Weiss cut in angrily, shooting me an icy glare. "Why does everyone...!?"

"Yep. She's who I meant."

Weiss was fuming, face red as she crossed her arms, glaring angrily at my way. "How dare you spread rumors about me! You'll give people the wrong idea!... What are you doing here, anyway?" she asked suddenly, looking between me and Penny suspiciously. "Don't tell me she's someone related to your...?"

"No, she's not," I cut her off tersely. "We actually met earlier today."

"That's right!" Penny jumped in energetically. "I'm new to this city, and Joel was kind enough to offer me assistance in navigating it. It's been so exciting! We even got robbed!"

"...E-excuse me!?" Weiss looked taken aback by the statement and looked to me. The others had similar looks of confusion.

I shrugged, giving them all a reassured grin. "Well, they didn't rob us exactly, since we didn't actually lose anything. Some thugs just thought they'd get lucky. No big deal."

"Joel handled the situation impressively, immobilizing the threat with a ninety-two percent efficiency rate!" Penny added, managing to earn more stares with that one.

'Ninety-two percent, huh?... Must be counting the surprise attack.' Weird way to phrase it, but it got the point across, I supposed.

She turned, curtsying as she bowed her head to me. "Thank you, Joel. I should be fine from here onward."

"Right, if you say so. Take care of yourself, alright?" I nodded, extending my arm to shake her hand one last time, a gesture she returned, before walking over to RWBY, bumping fists with Yang.

"So, um... what's her deal?" she asked under her breath, cocking her head towards Penny.

I just shrugged again, not really certain on the answer to that question myself. Something about the girl felt... off. It wasn't her personality, though it was strange. Nor was it... well, anything particularly dangerous, if there was anything particularly dangerous about her to begin with. Something was just... off...

"Well, anyway, it's been a pleasure to meet you. Sorry for running into you!" Weiss said, turning on her heels and walking past us, followed closely by Ruby, who waved back.

"Take care, friend!" she called back at the girl, who suddenly had a strange expression on her face.

Yang motioned for me to follow, leaning in closely. "Okay, Joel, you've gotta explain that one. She was... weird," she whispered under her breath.

"You actively try to blow up buildings when someone gives your hair a split end, and you're calling her 'weird?'" I retorted, giving her a sharp look.

She winced slightly, looking back apologetically. "Okay... Sorry. But you see it, though, right?"

Eh, I couldn't deny she had a point, though her tact could certainly be better.

Weiss looked around, peering off to the right. "Now. Where'd that Faunus riffraff run off too?"

I noticed Blake flinch slightly at the comment. Was she talking about that Monkey Faunus that ran past us? It had to be. I gave the ebony-haired Faunus-in-disguise a light nudge, shaking my head as she glanced back at me askance. 'Leave it...'

"What did you call me?" We all jumped as Penny was suddenly in front of us.

'What the...!?' I looked back at the space she had been standing previously, finding it vacant. From the corner of my eye, I saw Weiss trying to do the same, though it seemed she was still trying to register the fact that she had moved so quickly, looking back at the orange-haired girl and where she had stood over and over.

Yang's face was a mask of embarrassment, blushing furiously. "Oh, I'm sorry! I definitely didn't think you heard me!" she stammered out.

Meanwhile, I just face-palmed. Karma at work, everybody. 'Smooth, Xiao Long... Real smooth.'

"No, not you..." She walked right past us, looming over Ruby, the smaller girl seeming to shrink slightly. "You..." she said, eyes fixed on Ruby...

Oh, wait. That's right.

"Me? I-I don't... I... What I... Um, uh..." She looked around at us for support.

"You called me 'friend...' Am I really your friend?" Penny asked, a rather hopeful tone in her voice.

Friendship. It was a good thing. At least she won't get her arm almost ripped from its socket.

-Benjamin Carson-

I slammed the door to AMBR's room behind us. Pretty sure I left a few cracks in the door from the force. "I said lay off! I'm serious!" I growled at the Faunus girl that had followed me inside, and was, at this moment, the single most annoying part of my day.

"And I said we're not leaving it at that! I mean, you just told me you shot your damn mother, for cryin' out loud!" Argus spat back angrily, plopping her ass down on her bed, glaring daggers at me. "That's not something you just throw out there!"

"Oh. By 'throw,' do ya mean 'forced outta me while you had me pinned to your twisted little mural!?' Yeah, that's fuckin' fair!" I shot back venomously, metal fingers clenched on the... Shit!

I took my hand away from the doorknob, the metal handle twisted and warped beyond recognition. 'Psycho's gonna kill me...' Ah, I'll deal with that problem later.

I turned around, taking a deep breath. "Look, just drop it, alright? It's none of your business."

"Oh, but you're usually sooo talkative..." She gazed down at her nails. "Hell of a time for you to clam up now." She looked up, dog ears twitching slightly. "I already told you my family situation. If you're afraid I'll squeal like Cardin did to Ambrose...?"

"Really? You tellin' me you paint for your aunt equates to why I hate my mom? Man, why do you suddenly give such a shit!?" That certainly shut her up. It was a good question, though. Maxine's not usually this driven. She was annoying, but this was grating even for her. "Well!?..."

"...you one..." she mumbled unintelligibly, nails digging into her sheets.

"Huh!?" I leaned forward, cupping my ear in annoyance. "Not sure if ya noticed, but my ears ain't as good as yours! I ain't a dog, remember!?"

I winced when she clutched at her ears protectively, a fearful expression on her face. 'Great, and now I feel like a huge dick. Fuckin' shit...'

"Urgh... Look, I'm sorry for that comment, alright? It was way too far," I said, rubbing my neck awkwardly. "But wouldja mind speakin' up? I couldn't hear what you said."

"...I feel like I owe you one..." she said audibly this time, though I still did a double take.

"'Scuse me?" I said gaping at her, anger almost forgotten. "Huh?"

"What, are you fuckin' deaf!?" she practically shouted, jumping to her feet angrily. "I said I owe you one, damn it!"

I rubbed my ears gingerly, confused. "You owe me? What for?"

Her face fell slightly, her hand curling into a fist. "You rescued me from those... those things back in the cave."

I remembered what she meant. When Psycho and I had come upon her in the caves, she had attacked us, the Grimm using her as a shield and a blunt instrument at the same time. Her power overwhelmed Joel when he got too close. She would've killed me if she hadn't hesitated for those few crucial seconds it took to turn it around on them.

"You saved us all from those things..."

"...Is that why you've been so nice to Psycho lately?" I asked, realization popping into place.

Over the last few days, I'd noticed the Dog Faunus being strangely compliant with our leader's orders. Well... for her, anyway. She attended classes, practices, and didn't talk back as much as she usually did. She'd gone on a crusade through the school with her little acts of terror, but had spared the three of us, RWBY, CFVY, and JNPR.

"You feel responsible for his injury... Why? He already said he forgave you." The Boss could be strict, but he didn't seem the type to hold grudges or hide his feelings. At least for situations like that, where she was pretty much under something else's control. "And you don't owe me anything either. Honestly, I'd like to say you'd do the same for me. 'Sides, we needed you to find Reika for us."

"It was still me hurting you two..." she said sadly, looking crestfallen, ears drooping. "So I thought I'd make it easier on him. At least for a while, until he gets his thoughts all sorted out... But it's not just that. The way you killed those things, not making me watch... I-I wanted to thank you..."

"So you literally houndin' me for a very personal piece of information, on a thing I DON'T wanna talk about. THAT'S you helpin' me!?" I pointed at my chest, a grin forming despite myself. "Shit, Bitch! I'd hate to see ya when you're not carin'... Oh wait, that's right! Ya rip 'em apart! I forgot, silly me."

"Can you not be a dick for maybe just right now?" she groaned, rubbing her temples. "This thing obviously upsets you. My Auntie told me that talking with your friends can make you feel better when the world seems grey..."

I gawked at her, before bursting into a fit of laughter, clutching at my side with my metal arm, and slapping my left knee with my flesh hand in an effort to avoid collapsing. "Aaaaahahahahahahahahaaa!... Awww, that's adorable, Max! Really, I'm touched! Really... Ohoho, gods, I'm cryin'!" I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye.

Her eyes flared, taking a step towards me, fist raised. "Not as touched as you're gonna be, you little...!" She paused, stepping back, eyes closing tightly as she breathed in, then out.

Holy shit. She actually wants to help me. Any other time, and my head would've been halfway through the wall by now.

"Look, can we please just talk!?" she said carefully, a vein twitching above her eye. I noticed a pencil float up from the bag she'd thrown at the foot of her bed. It suddenly snapped in half, before seemingly grinding itself into wood shavings in mid-air.

"Fine, fine!" I shook my head, swearing under my breath as a smile grew across her face. "...You really wanna do this here?"

"Yes." She sat down cross legged on her bed, a smug look on her face, though I noticed her eyebrow twitch slightly in dismay when she noticed the pencil.

I pulled up a chair, grabbing a pack of cigarettes from underneath my bed, and a lighter from the waist pocket of the school blazer slung across my desk. "Alright, congratu-fuckin'-lations," I applauded her, pulling one from the pack, while using my foot to kick open the window. "Not even Reika knows the full story 'bout this, or if she does, she hasn't bothered to fill me in that she knows. Lucky you."

-Maxine Argus-

"Do you have to do that?" I asked, wrinkling my nose in disgust as the foul stench wafted across the room. There wasn't a lot of it because of the window, but the stench was still present.

"You want me to talk, you're damn well right I do," he grinned, blowing a smoke ring from his mouth, firing a smaller wisp through it.

'Cocky asshole...' I thought bitterly, doing my best to avoid breathing through my nose.

"Alrighty..." the rogue started off, leaning his feet on the desk, dipping the chair back on its hind legs. "...Now how much do ya know about my dad's gang?"

"Not much," I answered truthfully. Aside from the fact that his father had been captured, and the gang was in the wind somewhere deep outside the Kingdom's borders, I had no idea. "You used to brag about raiding trains, I know that."

"Right. William 'Bill' Carson was pretty famous in the Badlands for just how much he was able to piss off the Kingdom governments while stayin' outta their reach at the same time," he explained, blowing another ring, eyes gazing wistfully out the window. "They couldn't touch him 'cause he stuck to the wilds like glue, only leavin' for raids and such."

"What stopped them from just sending troops in and nabbing him?" I asked, slightly confused by their lack of action. "If he was such a big criminal, why didn't they follow him?"

The bastard laughed again, more of a chuckle than the outburst he had before. Seems he was more wary now. "Movin' through the regions outside the Kingdoms ain't as easy a trip as ya might be inclined to think. Just ask Ambrose, or anyone else who's lived out there. It's practically impossible in large groups outside of settlements. Small ones, too, maybe, unless you know how."

"Why's it impossible?"

Ben just sighed, holding up his flesh and blood hand, counting off fingers. "Well, imagine weather that's chaotic and unpredictable at best, and treacherous terrain rangin' from steep cliffs, dry wastelands, to dense jungles. Then, of course, ya can't forget the plethora of dangerous elder Grimm and wildlife that make their nests out there, willin' to snatch up anythin' larger than a field mouse, and you have somewhat of an idea of how terrible it can be." He waved his hand at me. "My Pop was a nuisance, but he always made sure not to go too far as to become a real threat. That way, he wasn't worth the resources it'd take to nab him. That meant they had to rely on the forces of the local towns and cities to deal with him, which, in a way, made it more dangerous."

"How so?"

This was actually somewhat interesting. I'd heard stories of the Frontier and Badlands growing up; everyone in the Kingdoms had. There were urban myths and stories of how small settlements could crop up overnight, only to be gone by morning without a trace. Permanent cities such as Bastion, the place Ambrose grew up in, were few and very far between. To actually make a living outside their walls...

"Well, Frontier cities means Frontier Justice," he said, as if that was the most natural thing in the world. "Unlike the cushy prisons you guys have down here, out there a lotta towns just kill criminals when they catch 'em. Reason my dad's called 'Hangman' is 'cause they actually succeeded in stringin' him up. Story changes every time he tells it, but the point is that they wanted him dead, and he barely got out of it with his neck still attached to his body... Well, most of it, anyway. Left a nasty little scar as a keepsake." He traced his neck, shivering.

"And this has to do with your mom how, exactly?" I urged him on.

A look of annoyance crossed his features, before settling back into his cocky mask. "Well, for your information, my mom was one of the cops in charge of catchin' him. Abigail Reddington was her maiden name. Went by the nicknames 'Red Abigail,' and 'Abby the Red,' on account of just how vicious she was to criminals that deserved it. S'posedly, nobody knew how to dish out Frontier Justice better than her, and she always got her man," he said as shrugged. "That is, 'til she met Hangman Carson... I'll spare ya the sappy story of romance and rivalry, but the two eventually ended up together. Mom and Dad ran the gang together for a time, and then out plopped my fine ass."

"Wait. Your mom was a cop? So she gave up her job to go be with your dad?"

"Yep."

"And she ended up with you, huh? Ouch..."

He laughed bitterly, but kept his cool, actually giving me a few pity claps. "Bitch, you wound me... And to answer your question, yes, she did. Had me, and then four and a half years later, she had my little sister: Annabelle, or Annie, as we all took to callin' her..." As the name escaped his lips, something changed in his eyes. They seemed brighter, and a genuine smile stretched on his face, the biggest I'd ever seen him make. "Little thing... Calm, too. Never cried, even durin' storms, or when the Grimm tried to attack... Brave as all hell..."

"...What happened?"

A part of me didn't want to know. It must've been bad. It always ended bad.

His eyes darkened, smile vanishing as if it had never been there to begin with. "Mommy had a change of heart, and abandoned the gang. Left in the middle of the night without tellin' anyone... All I remember is wakin' up to find Bill 'Hangman' Carson drinkin' on the edge of a cliff the next day, lookin' out at the sunrise."

"She left you?"

"Oh, I wish that was all that bitch had done!" he growled, a timbre I'd not thought possible in his voice. More a snarl than anything else. "We were travelin' on one of our best routes for the winter - a windin' passage through the cliffs that had been clear of Grimm for ages - when we got ambushed by Law Keepers on both sides, hemmin' us in." He took the cigarette in his robotic hand and grounded it slowly in his palm, even as it burned, watching the embers smolder harmlessly on the thick metal. "It was a secret path that only the top-rankers in the crew knew... People like my mother... She sold us out!Everywhere around us, people were firin' again and again, sendin' bullets flyin' everywhere!..."

Carson paused, taking in a strained breath, before continuing. "We... We fought our way out of it... But in the crossfire, one of the rounds hit my dad's carriage, where my sister and Ma, my caretaker, were hidin' out. Ma got hit... but she made it... Annie, she... she..." He breathed in deeply, eyes watering for maybe a second, before he rubbed them furiously, erasing all trace. "...So now you know why I shot that fucker that looked like my mom... And when I find that double-crossin' bitch, I'm gonna use this arm..." He held up the hand, ashes falling through cold metallic fingers, "and tear out her lyin', child-killin' heart out myself."

"...Ben... I... I-I'm so sorry..." I said, gazing at the boy carefully. He sighed, letting the chair fall forward as he stood up, and tossing the ashes out of the open window. He then stretched out his limbs. "...B-but the professors told us that the creatures likely showed us something we loved. People we cared about?"

"Who says I don't love her? She's my momma, after all," he said simply. "Doesn't mean I won't do what needs to be done by Annie. Like I said, Mom was a pro at dishin' out Frontier Justice... Stands to reason that I've got some of that skill in me, too." He walked over to me, patting my head with a smile on his face. "You know what, Bit... Max? This actually really helped. Let me vent this stuff out... Thanks."

From there, he just walked from the room, leaving me in stunned silence as I rubbed my head awkwardly. '...Crap.'

-Reika Murasaki-

I was alone on the edge of the rooftops, just staring at the waning sun, barely moving.

'I'm taking all of this rather well, I suppose...' I thought to myself wearily, shrugging my small shoulders, and shivering slightly against the cold. 'At least I told someone...'

I was Reika Murasaki, age sixteen, if my math was right. The last known survivor of a small Frontier village in Sanus - of which its name I couldn't even remember - that had been wiped off any maps that had been bothered to keep track of it over a decade ago by the Creatures of Grimm.

'I remember now... An old woman, who may or may not have been my grandmother, telling me to run and hide as she was slaughtered by those monsters. Fire and death everywhere I turned...'

I'd run, of course, just like I was told to. Just like every child had practiced. We were told to go into the woods while the Grimm stalked us, capturing friends and relatives both. I knew, though, unlike the others who scattered. I knew where the Grimm would be. I could feel them there as if I could see them with my own eyes. It was how I avoided them, how I found Carson's gang, and met Ben. My power... My Semblance.

I reached behind my head, sifting through locks of hair, until I found the strap holding my mask in place. 'That was the point, wasn't it? Hide behind their face. Hide what they did to me... What I lost...'

I remembered speaking before the attack. Laughing, singing, and other things a voice was used for. Then after the attack, it just wouldn't come out, no matter how much I tried. The mask clattered next to me as I took a deep breath of clear unfiltered air. Three long scars met air, remnants of the reptilian-like creature that had killed the old woman, and that strange bird. One ran across the right side of my lips, the other two carved horizontally down my right cheek.

"...Reika?" I stiffened as Ben's voice called out from behind me.

'There's an old service entrance to get up here. Did he really...!?'

The boy himself stepped into view beside me, wearing what must've been his gym clothes, prosthetic in full view as he drank from a flask, which probably had something Professor Goodwitch would likely penalize him in a heartbeat for possessing on campus.

I wanted to grab up my mask. I could have it on my face again within a second... But for some reason, my hands just wouldn't do it.

"Thought ya'd be up here. Ya always did like heights and sunsets..." His eyes widened when he noticed my mask on the ground, gaze traveling up to my face.

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. I just stared back at him wide-eyed, mouth slightly agape. Rather than laugh or shrink away, he just grinned, shrugging his shoulders as he took a swig from the flask.

"Y'know, sometimes I forget you don't have tentacles or somethin' under that thing." He paused for a second before sitting down next to me, offering the flask. "Rough day?"

I glanced at the silver bottle for a few seconds, before nodding slowly, taking the drink from him and downing it, shivering at the bitter taste.

"Thank you..." I signed, face twisted as I handed the alcohol back.

"No problem, partner."

-END

A/N: Two updates in 24 hours thanks to Drake93, I finally finished this chapter. Bit of a set up chapter with the action still to come. Enjoy everyone.

(Update): Hey everyone, was wondering if you could help me with a problem I've been mulling over. I know I put this down as an OC/Yang but that was more to try and distinguish this one from my other Fic. Honestly you all deserve some say in this and I'd like to know your opinion. For me it's between Blake, Yang, and Velvet. I can do maybe a bit more with Blake and Yang though but that doesn't by any means exclude her