A little extra for Christmas: a double update!

I wish all of you a Merry Christmas!

Chapter 26: Hassle

"Alright. The first thing you need to do in order for Grimm to be able to accept and like you, is to not wear that weapon when you're near them," Serena said, pointing at the blade and gun that Adam held in his hand, resting at his side. They were currently still within the confines of the cave and the younger female had immediately stopped him upon seeing his weapon.

Today was the first day that she would be using to teach him how to handle and 'control', as he liked to call it, Grimm. It was a nice spring day, sun out and a light wind rustling the leaves of the numerous trees spread around them. Serena was wearing her usual black shorts, black over-knees and combat boots, combined with a red t-shirt. Adam was wearing the new black pants she had bought him along with the red shirt and his black shoes.

"I never leave my weapon behind," the Faunus countered, not really wanting to let go of the weapon which had served him well for many years. In the White Fang, everyone always carried their weapon with them no matter where they went. So it was clear that now, when he was told to leave it, he was reluctant to do so.

"I'm afraid you'll have to this time," Serena replied, a slight frown marring her gentle expression, voice a little more serious than before. "They won't acknowledge you otherwise. You have to seem like a friend, not like someone who is ready to kill them. If you bring the weapon with you, they'll attack you without a doubt. And you're not ready yet for fighting a whole pack."

"But if I get attacked and have nothing to defend me with, then I'll just get killed," he argued, thinking that that would change her mind. It did, however, not have the desired effect.

"That won't happen. Not as long as I'm there. Now leave your weapon here. I won't start training unless you do so."

She said this with a finality to her tone, making it obvious that she would no longer argue about this. He either followed her directions or had to find something else to do for the rest of the day.

Sighing and giving up, Adam went back to the bed he used and placed Wilt & Blush on it, walking back over to the human again. She nodded once in satisfaction and then turned around, starting to walk into the forest. He looked at his weapon once before following her. They passed several trees and went deeper into the forest, her not saying anything and him doing the same. Only when they arrived at a big clearing did she stop in the middle of it, making him pause a few feet away from her.

"Good. I'm going to call my friend, Ajax, now. He'll be your partner in learning how to gain the trust of Grimm," she told him before putting her right thumb and forefinger into her mouth and whistling once.

They waited and looked to the side when they heard several leaves and branches rustling before the Grimm appeared, slowing down. Going over to the girl, it nuzzled her cheek and licked her face once in greeting, her patting its head and tickling its ears. Adam watched the exchange carefully, amazed at how harmless the creature seemed to be when it was with her. Only when the two stopped playing did it seem to notice him and growled lowly, the sound sounding like a warning.

"It's okay Ajax. He's a friend of mine, he's nice," she soothed the animal, caressing its snout in slow movements. She looked over to him and gestured for him to come closer. "He won't do anything now, but I suggest not moving too fast. He's not yet used to you and if you do anything rash then he will attack. Just walk slowly and put one hand out so that he can smell you when you're close enough," she instructed, still soothing the Grimm at her side.

Adam gulped once and did as told, feeling his heart beat rapidly in his chest and sweat trickling down his temple. He was, for once in his life, quite nervous. Sure, he'd done a lot more dangerous things before, but at those times he had always had some form of backup or at least his weapon with him. Right now, he had neither of both and the only one who could help him was the girl. And if she did not manage to hold the Grimm back, then he was as good as dead. He could try to run, but he knew he wouldn't get very far.

His heart beat sped up with every new step he took and he always had his eyes focused on the monster that was now only about ten feet away and was still looking at him as if it would rip him apart any second now. It was when he was close enough that the monster could sniff his hand when it happened.

Suddenly, Ajax let out a short howl and lifted his right paw, preparing to strike, pushing the girl aside with his left arm. Adam reacted in a split second, barely dodging the claws that were aiming for his upper body, feeling the air rush by him. He thanked his years of training and fighting for having bestowed him with the reflexes that had now saved his life. Jumping to the side, he rolled on his side once before getting up, yet again dodging claws that were too close for comfort. He briefly glanced over to the human girl, wondering why she hadn't interfered yet.

Serena was pushing herself up from the ground, the power with which Ajax had pushed her aside having sent her to the floor. She had hit her head lightly and could feel it pounding from the impact, though she had more important things to worry about than a small headache. Looking up, she saw Adam jump out of the way of yet another attack, eyes widening when she realized that Ajax was attacking him. It had happened so fast and sudden that she hadn't fully registered what was going on.

Immediately jumping to her feet, she ran over and positioned herself in front of the male, arms stretched out to shield him from whatever attack her furry friend would throw at him. She saw Ajax's eyes widen slowly, but he had already lunged for another attack, the speed too fast for him to stop it now and for her to get out of the way. But he managed to redirect his slash, avoiding injuring her badly. Serena felt the sharp claws tear through the skin of her left arm, hissing in pain and biting her lip to prevent herself from shouting out. She could see the immediate guilt that appeared in her friend's eyes and knew that he had calmed down now.

"It's okay, Ajax," she said kindly, right hand covering the slash that stretched from just beneath her shoulder to over her elbow, trying to stop the bleeding.

Although she was in pain she did not blame Ajax, for he had reacted on instinct, nor Adam who was sitting behind her on the floor, breathing in fast breaths. She could not blame anyone for it was her own fault. She should have seen that he was not ready, that there was something missing for him to be able to get so close to Grimm. If she had someone to blame, then it was herself.

The Grimm began whining, lowering its head, but she went over and patted him with her injured arm, the action sending waves of pain up and down her limb and through her body. The animal lifted its head and sniffed at her wound before tentatively licking it in an attempt to apologize.

"It's okay, it's not your fault. I'm okay, see?" she said, lifting her arm and hiding the pain behind a forced smile. "It doesn't even hurt that much. I'm not mad at you, so you can go home again without worrying. I don't think he's up for it yet," she said, referring to Adam for the last part.

No, he's definitely not ready yet.

The Grimm gave her a final lick before disappearing in the forest again, rejoining the rest of its pack. Sighing, the girl walked over to the man who was still sitting on the floor, looking a little shaken, though it was only natural. She let go of her wound and stretched out her right arm, waiting for him to take it. He stared right in front of him a little longer before looking up at her, eyes wide and breathing still a little fast paced. When he didn't react, she bent down and grabbed his hand, pulling him up, or at least trying to, but he got the motion and stood up.

Serena looked at him, analyzing him to try and find out what had made Ajax attack him. She knew that Grimm reacted to all sorts of negativity, so there had to be something that had set Ajax off. He had attack her too at first, but then stopped afterwards. This time, he was trying to kill the male in front of her and didn't let up. It was when she looked into his eyes a little more that she noticed what might have set her friend off.

It was subtle and barely visible, but deep in his eyes, she could see a lot of anger, pain and hatred. A person who did not look for it would not have seen those emotions, but since she had been analyzing him, she had noticed. They were not obvious, more like a controlled anger that burned in those burgundy eyes and rarely showed. She had not once seen him really angry, including the time when he had first waken up after she'd found him and he had pushed her to the wall. There had been anger in them, but not as much as she could see now. Even his voice, although gruff and harsh sometimes, held a calm drawl when he spoke to her.

This is going to be more of a hassle than I would have thought. With this much of negative emotions it's going to take some time until he has worked it all out. Until then, he can't go near a Grimm, not when I'm not with him.

Running a hand through her short raven hair, she looked at the ground, debating on just how she was going to do this. With herself it had been something else entirely. She had known why she was sad and had accepted her fate, suppressing the sadness and loneliness that she sometimes still felt. She had had Ajax, Loki and the others to cheer her up and, most of the time, she had actually forgotten all those negative emotions.

But he was a different story.

She knew almost nothing about him, only his name, age and that he was part of the White Fang. She did not know a single thing about his past, why he had so much negativity in him or why he even joined the White Fang in the first place. And she figured that there was more behind it than him wanting Faunus to have more rights.

Adam looked at the girl while she seemed to have an internal conflict, still tense and a little high on adrenaline from the previous attack. He had noticed her staring at him for some moments, a sudden look of realization and then worry flash through her eyes. It was when she started walking past him that he finally snapped out of it, looking behind him to see her walking back in the direction of the cave.

"I think we'll have to postpone this part of training for now. We need to get back for today. I have something different in mind for you," she said vaguely, clutching her arm which he only now noted had a large slash on it. He faintly remembered her running in front of him and felt a slight pang of guilt, but also anger rise inside him. If she had let him take his weapon with him, then this wouldn't have happened. She had no right to blame him for getting injured.

He didn't voice it out loud as he followed her back, though.

A/N: I do not own RWBY or its characters. I do, however, own my OC Serena and any other OCs that appear in this story.

Thanks for the reviews so far; really appreciate them!

So, you see, the training will take a little time, although I will not go too deep into detail about it, maybe about 2-3 chapters, don't know yet. Just tell me what you think and thank you to those who are still reading this. It means a lot to me!