This chapter includes a character that's quickly becoming one of my favorites. Don't worry, I won't overuse her. It's just fun to write for her, that's all. But anyway, enjoy the chapter.

Crystal walked through the academy library, trying to clear her head. For some reason, the library always helped when she was like this, though not the way it did for others. She came here to get lost between the mahogany bookcases, and then have to focus so much on getting out again that she would forget her problems. She didn't know if it would work this time though.

She'd killed someone. While he probably deserved it, she'd sent a soul to the afterlife; she needed some time to process this. To her knowledge, no one she knew had killed anyone—except her father, and maybe Azura, but probably not—so she couldn't talk to her friends about it. All she could do was try to forget.

As she rounded the corner, she came across the oddest sight she'd seen in a while. Sakura was doing a one-handed handstand on a study table while both reading one book, and balancing four stacks of books on her feet and her thighs—which was made easier by her bending her legs like she was sitting in a chair of some sort. Crystal almost laughed at the sight, but was more concerned. "Are you okay?" Crystal asked.

"Yeah," Sakura said as if she wasn't strained by that at all. She looked concerned at Crystal. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I guess," Crystal replied, trying not to sound depressed. "Why are you doing that?"

"I always read like this."

She cocked her head. "With stacks of books on your legs?"

"No that was a dare," Sakura said laughingly. "Some guy named Cardin saw me reading upside down, and dared me to balance these books like this."

Crystal looked around, and she didn't see Cardin anywhere. "For how long?" she asked.

"About five minutes," Sakura said. "I'm just doing it now cause it's good training."

"Training?"

"Yeah. If a Hayashi wants to do something, we put everything fiber of our being into it for however long it takes—or close enough." She turned a page of her book, and said, "That means if we want to balance radishes on our head for a living—you can do that; I know because my aunt used to do it for six years—we balance radishes on our heads constantly. So, since I want to become a Huntress, I make sure my body's in peak condition. That and I read better when I'm upside-down."

"That's… strange."

Sakura shook her head. "That's nothing. One of my sisters reads her books upside-down."

Crystal was confused. "Isn't that what you're doing?"

"No, silly." That was rude. "I mean she turns her books upside-down and reads them. She's a weird one, alright."

Crystal looked at her and the stacks of books on her legs again. "It must run in the family," she commented.

"Thank you," Sakura said, genuinely smiling.

Crystal pulled up a chair from the study table and sat down. "Sakura, do you know what an insult is?"

"Yeah."

Crystal paused. "Is there any way to insult you?"

Sakura grinned. "Not one way. You can call me whatever you like—I always look at the upside to whatever they think is an insult. It's never the thought that counts with me."
Crystal looked curiously at her. "Is there any way to get you down?"

"Well, probably, but I don't know it." Sakura placed her book, pages down, on the table and scanned Crystal's face. "Something got you down though. Spill it."

Crystal didn't want to talk about this with Sakura. She was… It seemed like she never took anything seriously except her training. She was weird, and she didn't seem like the most sensitive person either. Then again, maybe a cold splash of insensitivity might help. "During the battle," she began, "I killed someone—a member of the White Fang."

"Okay," Sakura said.

Crystal had a hard time putting this into words. "I've killed a human being. A Faunus, yes, and a White Fang thug, but a human all the same. So… how do I deal with the fact I sent a soul into the afterlife, if it even exists?"

"Cramp." Crystal cocked an eyebrow. "My legs are cramping up. Could you…?"

Crystal nodded urgently. "Yeah." She quickly removed the stacks of books from Sakura's legs—though she had to stand on a chair to get the ones off of her feet—and set them down on the table. "Is that better?"

Sakura stretched her legs out straight, sighing with relief. She proceeded to do a full split, and then straightened back out again. It honestly didn't surprise Crystal that Sakura was that flexible. "Much better," Sakura said. "Now what were you saying about killing someone?"

Crystal sighed heavily. "I killed someone and I feel guilty," she said, frustrated. "Do you have any advice?"

Sakura thought for a moment. "Well, I see two options for you: either you can feel sorry for yourself for the rest of your life, or you can buck up and get over it. The world doesn't need any more wishy-washy Huntsmen and Huntresses than it does already—maybe even less."

Crystal frowned. She was angry at Sakura for trivializing her guilt, but at least she wasn't feeling guilty. She had one thing to say to her though. "Remind me never to go to you for advice," Crystal said, glaring at her.

"Will do," Sakura said, picking her book back up again.

As Crystal got up and turned around to leave she saw Rowan walking up with a book under his arm. "So, it's the noble again," Rowan said, sitting down at the study table. "What do you want—taxes?"

Crystal sighed. "So that's why you don't like me; because I'm a noble?"

"Because I know your weapons aren't Dust," Rowan corrected. "I know what they really are, Taryn, and you should be ashamed to flaunt magic like that."

Sakura's eyes grew wide. "Crystal's a magical girl?" she said excitedly.

Crystal looked questioningly at Sakura. "What's a magical girl?"

Rowan sighed. "You read too many comics, Sakura."

Sakura then said in a sing-song voice, "Crys-tal's a magical girl."

"She's not a magical girl you… cherry tree."

Sakura, grinning ear to ear said, "You're just saying that."

Rowan sighed, and then did something really immature. He swiped her arm out from under her, making her fall slightly, but Sakura saved it. She dropped her book, and started holding herself up by her other hand. Before her book hit the ground, she somehow managed to catch it with the hand that Rowan had pushed away, and then slapped him with it. "You know Cardin tried doing that," Sakura said, actually not bubbling with excitement. "I didn't slap him though. And you know this is good practice I think."

Rowan nodded. "Very situational, but good training. Like how you threw Dust crystals at me from random angles last week."

Crystal cocked an eyebrow. "Why did you throw Dust crystals at him?"

"Oh, well…" Sakura said hesitantly.

"It has something to do with my semblance, and we'll leave it at that," Rowan said. "We usually don't talk about our semblances on team JSPR. Jasper was just showing off when he told you his."

Crystal crossed her arms. "So you all know each other's semblance, but won't tell anyone them."

"That's the general idea," Rowan said.

From what she knew of their semblances, she couldn't figure out what they were. Sakura's had nothing to do with her agility, and Rowan's had something to do with Dust. Of course, she had no idea what Peri's was, which reminded her of something.

"How is Peri doing?" Crystal asked.

Sakura frowned—an expression that seemed unnatural on her. "She left this morning."

Rowan pointed a thumb at Sakura. "She cried." Sakura stuck her tongue out at Rowan while closing her eyes. "Anyway, she's only on a medical sabbatical. Once she's over it, she'll come back. Of course, she never said when she was coming back, so…"

"This nonsense about medical stuff is ridiculous," Sakura said. "She's not sick, and she hasn't gotten hit that bad in sparring lately, so why is she going?"

Obviously they didn't know about Peri's mechanical arm, so she wouldn't be the one to tell them. It was Peri's secret to keep or tell at her own discloser; Crystal wouldn't be one to tell them if Peri didn't want her to. Of course, she'd have to reassure them somehow. "I'm sure, whatever it is, Peri will be better before long," Crystal said. "In the meantime, why be so sad? I'm sure she wouldn't want you to be this gloomy on her account."

"You don't know Peri," Rowan said. "She lives to feel the pain of others."

Crystal was about to ask what he meant by that when Sakura said to Rowan, "Do you remember that one prank she pulled on us during the second month—the Grimm invasion one?"

"Yeah," Rowan said regretfully. When Rowan saw Crystal's curiosity, he explained, "You see, one day, she bursts into our room and shuts the door behind her. Her right arm's missing and the stump's covered in blood. She then proceeds to ask what we're doing sitting around when there's a Grimm invasion out there. So then we run out there—Jasper actually jumps out a window—ready to fight an onslaught of Grimm, when we find no Grimm and no one there to fight them."

Sakura cracked up. "That was a pretty good one, you have to admit," she said. "I don't even know how she pulled off that one armed thing." Crystal knew, but she didn't need to tell them.

"Well, after Beacon, she promised never to do that again," Rowan said. "But that didn't stop her from setting water buckets up on top of doors during the night and watching as everyone doused themselves."

Crystal was shocked. "That was her?" she asked.

"Yep," Sakura said, a little strained.

Crystal considered that information for a moment, and said, "I'm going to have a talk with her when she gets back."

"Yeah, well," Sakura said, getting down from her handstand. "I think she got what she deserved a while ago."

Crystal looked questioningly at Sakura, and Rowan said, "She accidentally stepped through a door she'd up like that, and got herself soaked."

Crystal smiled. "Then perhaps I won't bring it up when she gets back."

"Well, if you like, you can find a clever way to get back at her?" Sakura suggested.

Crystal sighed. "No, I don't think so. Pranks are for those who can't wait for the spontaneity of life to deliver them a joke."

As Sakura settled into a chair, shaking her head to clear it, she said, "Suit yourself, but we're still planning a way to get back at her for that."

Crystal nodded in acknowledgement. "Well good luck with that and farewell."

"See ya," Sakura said.

"Goodbye," Rowan added.

Crystal left with a clear and un-guilt-ridden head. Life had so much to offer everyone, not matter who they were, and she would make sure as many people as she could would get to experience that. If it was demanded of her to kill someone, she might, but until that day, she would save as many people as she could. That, perhaps, was what a Huntress—what a Taryn even—did.

You might notice there's no second chapter today. Well, that's because this is the last chapter I finished. I'm still working on more, it's just that it's finally caught up with me. The only reason I didn't write more during the time I wasn't posting was because I was working on a side project that I may or may not be posting. Don't worry, I'm writing more of Haven, and I'm going to try to get back to the original schedule soon enough, but for now I don't think you really need two chapters today.

Also, there's someone on here that really inspired me, particularly that I could write Haven. I won't tell you what who it is, or which one of his works inspired me to do it, but if you can guess, that's fantastic. One thing that inspired me greatly about that fanfiction was that I didn't need to have students be from Beacon. Anyway, have a great week.