Chapter 26:

I can't sleep.

Maybe it was the fact that Samantha was currently lying on a very uncomfortable surface, the floor wasn't exactly known for it's outstanding comfort, or maybe it was something else. Damion and Bethany were both asleep, somehow, along with literally everyone else. She knew it would be for the better if she did sleep, but that wasn't looking likely at this point.

Slowly standing up, trying not to wake anyone up, she slowly began to make her way through the mass of sleeping bodies, of which there were many.

Maybe Damion was right when he said I shouldn't wear high heels…

She eventually made it though, without waking anyone up. It was so dark that if it weren't for the few lights set up outside the house, you wouldn't be able to see anything.

"Couldn't sleep?" She nearly jumped at the sound of Amy's voice, who was standing just in front of her.

"How did you know I was there?"

"It's because of those damn high heels, that's why." Amy turned around and looked at her. "I am telling you, it's not a good idea."

"It's what I've always worn." Samantha crossed her arms.

"Well, sneak attacks for you are out of the question then."

"Fine by me."

"So anyway, what's up?"

"Nothing really. I just couldn't sleep."

"Just wanted someone to talk to?"

"I guess, yeah."

"Fair enough." Amy walked over and stood next to her.

"Amy, I don't mean to pry into your personal life or anything, but why are you afraid of heights?"

The question just slipped out.

She braced herself for the snappy response. But it didn't come. Instead, she got a heavy sigh.

"It happened when I was twelve years old. To put it simply, I fell off a cliff. A very high cliff. I was hospitalised for a few months. I'm not going to say anything else about it, so don't bother asking. I really don't like to talk about it. It still embarrasses me to this day that I'm scared of them."

"Why would you be embarrassed though?"

"Because it's such a stupid thing to be scared of. Especially in the job I'm in, heights are rather common. Skydiving out of bullheads, scaling mountains, that's all rather easy stuff for everyone else, but I get terrified of it. It's a weakness."

"Yeah, maybe, but just because your a huntress doesn't mean you aren't allowed to be afraid of something."

"But what if it prevents me from doing my job? What if I can't save someone because of it? What if-" She stopped suddenly and looked down at Samantha, who had placed her hand on Amy's shoulder.

"Everyone is scared of something, even if they don't know it. And besides, you may be scared of heights, but you still scaled that mountain. You didn't complain or whine or make excuses, you just got on with it. And that's a sign of true bravery."

"And I'm supposed to be your teacher."

Samantha chuckled. "Well, you know the old saying, you learn something new every day."

"Heh. As a adult, I can safely say that it is true. You do learn something new every day." Samantha took her hand away.

"But there is something that I would like to talk about." Samantha said suddenly.

"Well, go on then."

"Alan." Amy sighed loudly.

"Sam, what is there really to say about him? He is very clearly a Faunus who has been spat on since birth."

"But there's something that has been bugging me. Why would he come to Beacon then, a place populated by humans?"

"Now that, I can't answer." Amy sighed. "Some people are just weird."

"What I'm more concerned about is how Bethany is handling it. He was her partner after all."

"Yeah, that's true." Amy massaged her brow. "Just make sure to care of her, okay? You're the people closest to her, it's your job to look after her."

"Of course, of course." Samantha stared off into the distance and then looked back at Amy.

"So, uh, what do we do about these disappearances then? Do we just keep looking for clues?"

"That's all we really can do. What I am worried about though, is that people in there are going to be feeling all kinds of negative emotions. Worry for their family, frightened that there going to be taken next. And negative emotions will attract the Grimm."

"That's really bad. I hope we figure this out soon enough before more people get taken."

"You and me both. We can't guarantee that the people who have been taken are going to be okay though. We may very well be left with families torn apart."

"I really hope that isn't the case."

"It will be." Amy's voice was low, and full of sadness. "There will be people left on their own without their families, there will be people dead. That's just how it is. I've been in this job long enough now to tell you that. You can't save everyone unfortunately. And that's the honest truth."

"We can still hope though, right? We can still pray that some people are okay."

"We can, but that doesn't mean it's going to happen. We could find this place, walk in, and just find rows upon rows of dead bodies."

"Amy, that can't be the case. There's no way-"

"It could be though." Amy shrugged. "Look, I'm not saying that there's nothing wrong with being optimistic. I would consider myself quite the optimist actually. But, whenever you've been on the amount of missions that I've been on, and you have had to watch poor, innocent people die before your eyes as you know there's nothing you can do to save them, and you've had to go and tell kids that there parents are dead, you tend to brace yourself for the worst. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. That's all you can do."

Samantha fell silent, knowing that Amy was talking from experience, and knowing that she could very well be right.

"But anyway, moving on from that depressing topic, have anything else you want to talk to me about?"

"What was your time at Beacon like?" Another question which could prove to have quite the interesting response.

"Well… There was quite a lot of good, and some bad. But I think the positives outweigh the negatives in that regard."

"Is there anything you would have changed?"

"Yes. Yes, there is quite a bit I would have changed."

"Are the same teachers still here?"

"Yep. Glynda is still there, Port is still there, Oobleck is still there, Ozpin is still there."

"Has anything changed?"

"Sam, it's only been about seven years. I'm not that old. But nothing big or major has changed, at least from what I can tell. Although, one thing that has changed is that there certainly aren't as many food fights as there used to be."

Samantha stared at her. "What?"

"I think there has been one since I came back here, but back when I attended, they were a common occurrence. Best bit is, Ozpin didn't seem to mind, but Glynda, oh Glynda, she would come down on your head hard."

"Did you take part in these?"

"Of course I did! Most fun I ever had at Beacon!"

"Right…" Samantha looked off to the side, and thought she saw a dark shape lurking in the shadows, not too far away. She was just about to bring out Onris, before Amy stepped in front of her.

"Wait. I see it too." She whispered under her breath. "Act natural. If he or she thinks we've seen them, they'll run off again."

It was crouching down behind a bush, still and unmoving. Amy turned her attention away from it, acting like she hadn't seen it, but was still looking at it out of the corner of her eye. Samantha waited for her to make the first move.

The following seconds felt like a eternity. Then, the figure moved, darting behind the house. Amy slowly walked towards the edge of the house, and looked round the corner. She held out her hand and beckoned Samantha to come forward. And very slowly, like a cat, Amy began to creep forward. Not a single word was uttered by either of them as they tried there best to be as quiet as possible.

All of a sudden, Amy jumped round the corner and switched Storm Chaser into it's rifle form, holding it up.

"And what do you think you are doing?"

Samantha pulled out Onris and quickly moved over next to Amy. It was still extremely dark, but she could just make out the figure who was currently looking in the back window. It turned around and faced them.

Amy swore loudly. Samantha nearly jumped out of her skin. This was not a human. This was not your normal everyday serial killer. This was something else entirely.

It looked like a human, but it's skin was white, with red markings on it's hands and face. It almost looked like a Grimm.

And then, it lunged. It came down on Amy, who had already swapped to sword mode, and slashed at the things face, knocking it back, but it came once again, and Samantha spun her whip sword around, striking it in the legs, and it growled, a sound somewhere between a human and a Grimm. Amy attempted to strike it, but it brought its hands up, and locked eyes with her. And then, with a frightening strength, it pushed, forcing Amy back. Samantha came around the back of it and whipped her sword around its back, and with it restrained, Amy brought her blade up, and stabbed downwards, but the arm did not come off as you would have expected a Grimm's too. But it did yell out in pain.

"Hurt's…" Samantha stopped suddenly.

Did it just… talk?

Amy planted her boot into it's jaw, and it was sent tumbling backwards.

"No, no, why are they fighting back? They have never fought back. No, this isn't right." It curled up into a ball, and began shaking it's head rapidly. "No, no, no…"

"Stand up." Amy had her blade at it's throat. It obeyed, still shaking it's head and murmuring "No" over and over again.

"Are you the one who has been taking these people?"

"Why are there huntsmen here? Our mother told us it would be easy to grab these people and turn them."

"Hey, are you listening to me?"

"I must warn the cult, I must warn the cult, I must warn-"

"Hey, is everything okay-" Damion and Bethany had both suddenly appeared around the corner. They glanced at Samantha, and looked at Amy.

"Woah, what is that thing?" Damion said.

"I must warn the-"

"You aren't warning anyone." Amy was glaring down at it. "Instead, you are going to tell us exactly what's going on here."

"No, I won't tell. I won't betray our mother."

"Who is your mother?"

"I won't tell, I won't betray-"

Amy suddenly pressed her blade down harder. "Want to tell me now?"

It looked up at her, and Samantha had now only noticed that it's eyes were completely black.

"Won't tell, won't betray-"

Amy suddenly grabbed it by the throat and threw it to the side. She glanced at the three of them.

"This thing-" She motioned to the man Grimm thing. "May potentially be our only lead on whatever is taking these people."

"So, what are we going to do?" Damion said.

Amy bent over the creature. "We're going to make it talk."

Criminals and Mentors

"You have failed."

The words hit Alan like a slap to the face. Adam Taurus was pacing backwards and forwards just in front of him.

"I found out some stuff! Like-"

"Be quiet!" Alan fell silent. "I gave you specific orders. You were to find out more about the students at Beacon, the professors, any potential foes which may have posed a threat to the White Fang when we attack Beacon. You were supposed to find out more about the school itself, it's infrastructure, how it worked, any potential areas we may have to focus on. But most importantly of all-" Adam turned and looked at him. "You were supposed to find out more about Blake, her team, who she is growing close to. Yet, you have succeeded in none of that."

"It was all my team's fault! They kept questioning me, wanting to know what I was doing!"

"You should have remained undercover! But here I was receiving reports that you lead Blake and some monkey Faunus down to the docks, and fought Daniel Silva and Lucy Locke, who let me remind you, we are working with! You are lucky they didn't recognise you!"

"But-"

"And that's not all. Then you got involved in some high speed chase with Torchwick, then you challenged a teacher to a fight, and then you left! I warned you after that docks incident when you came here, that if you got yourself into any more bother, if you walked out of Beacon again, that there would be serious consequences."

"This isn't right! I was trying to prove a point! That Faunus are the superior species! Isn't that what you want?! And besides, I fought Daniel and Lucy because we don't need to work with them, we don't need to work with Cinder-"

"We don't have a choice! Besides, Cinder may be a human, but she has promised us great rewards for our services. Including my revenge on Blake."

"What is it with you and Blake?" Alan stood up and began walking closer to Adam. "Why are you so obsessed with her? What does she mean to you? She is just a pawn in a massive game of chess! She is not the most important thing right now! Why must you wreak revenge on her of all people when there are much more important objectives to be completed?"

"I would choose your next words very carefully Alan O'Malloy."

"She is not the most important thing right now, so why are you acting like she is?!" He basically shouted. Adam took a step back and looked Alan up and down.

"You do not know her like I do. There was once a time where could have been something. We would have watched humanity burn together. But she left me, all alone. She has hurt me in a way no one else has, a pain that is worse than any branding machine, or any torture the humans can inflict. She will pay for leaving me. So do not act like you know what that's like. You may have gone through your own pain and suffering Alan, but it is nothing compared to what I have went through."

"She has a partner. A girl called Yang Xiao Long."

"Is that so? And what is her semblance? Her fighting style? What will we need to prepare for if she comes for us?"

Alan was quiet.

"Exactly. Another example of your failure. Can you tell me any of her other teammates? No? What a surprise. Can you at least tell me anything about the teacher you fought? Nothing? Whenever you volunteered to go on this task, I would have thought you would have taken it a bit more seriously. It appears I was wrong."

"What do I do now then?"

"You will remain here, with me. I will personally make sure that you don't get another assignment like this ever again. You will participate in the attack on the Beacon. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. You may leave."

Alan stood up and slowly walked away, looking back at Adam for a second.

His obsession with Blake is going to be his downfall.

Criminals and Mentors

"So then what?" Daniel asked Roman. "You sit in a cell, get broken out by Neo, take over the Atlas robots , and then?"

"Then me and Neo will join you and Lucy, then we walk straight up to Miss Fire Queen, we slaughter her, and then we're grand. But it probably won't be as smooth as that. Something will go wrong."

"Neo, has Cinder spilled anything on her plans? Where she's going to be, or anything like that?" Daniel asked. Neo shook her head.

"Well, isn't that great?" Lucy was sitting in the corner. Luna was standing next to her. "This plan to kill Cinder sure isn't shaping up too well Dan."

"We can't afford to wait too much longer Neo. You need to do whatever you can to find out information about Cinder's plan. Steal her scroll if you have to."

Neo nodded her head again.

"Good stuff. So, about-"

"Hey boss!" Someone called from outside. "I think I've got something you might want to see!"

"Is it good or bad Perry, because let me tell you, I have had a day." Torchwick shouted back.

"Uh" There was a moment's hesitation from Perry. "It's a little girl?"

Roman stuck his head outside and then proceeded to sigh loudly. "That would be bad."

"Who is it?" Daniel looked out and immediately noticed her as one of the girls who had turned up when Roman brought in the Paladin. "Oh, wonderful. That is indeed bad."

"Mhmm." Roman took the cigar he was smoking out of his mouth and threw it down.

"You need to get the train ready to move." Daniel dropped his voice to a whisper. "Girls like to travel in packs. If she's here, the other's aren't far behind."

"What about Little Red then?"

"I'll deal with her." Daniel stepped out. Lucy and Luna followed behind him, leaving Roman and Neo to inform the White Fang that they were getting ready to move.

Daniel walked right over to Ruby and Perry let go of her, leaving Daniel to bring his foot back and kick her down to the ground.

"So then, want to explain to me how you managed to find your way down here?"

There was no answer as she picked herself up and ran at him only for him to sidestep and then Lucy stepped forward and punched her in the face as hard as she could, sending Ruby sailing back to the floor.

Daniel kneeled down and put the grips of the two pistols together, and soon a small shotgun was formed. He placed it just in front of Ruby's face.

"Woah, since when could your guns do that-"

"I'm not as stupid as you think I am. You show up here, out of nowhere, no weapon, no backup. This is a trap isn't it? I can guarantee your friends are just waiting to spring out when we least expect it. Well, I'm not falling for it. Try as you might, you can't escape."

Suddenly, she was gone, disappearing in a cloud of rose petals.

"Huh? Where'd she go?"

Daniel looked around, only to then see Luna, who must have noticed where she went, with the chain of her weapon wrapped around Ruby's legs. She was staring down at her, and Ruby's eyes widened upon looking at Luna's face. That only seemed to infuriate Luna, who kicked her over onto her back and placed her foot on her chest.

"Okay…" Daniel walked over to them. "So that didn't work out well for you."

"What are we going to do with you?" Lucy said.

"Bring her onto the train. We can't risk her getting away and alerting the others. We need to move this thing out, now." A loud explosion caught their attention. There were a couple of White Fang members running and taking shots.

"What is that?" Lucy stated unhelpfully. A couple of seconds later, Daniel recognised a couple of figures running towards them. A man with a pair of very thick rimmed glasses…

Dr Oobleck?

"Oh, and she's gone again." Ruby had disappeared once again. They turned to see her once again running towards the group.

"Should we-"

"We don't have time for that! Come on you two!" Daniel ran towards the train and jumped onto it. "Roman!"

Roman turned around and looked at him. Neo was next to him.

"What? I heard a explosion-"

"There here! We need to get this train up and running, now!"

Roman leant over and spoke into a intercom. "Everyone, get to your places, we are leaving now!"

The White Fang members who were shooting at the intruders came dashing onto the train as it slowly began to start up and move.

"Do you reckon they'll be able to jump on in time?" Luna said. "I mean, they were advancing on us quite quickly."

"Don't worry about it Luna." Lucy said. "We've got what's essentially a trained huntsmen" She pointed to Daniel. "Two trained assassins" She motioned to Luna and Neo. "We also have me, and I'm just great. And we also have, uh, a guy with a bowler hat! And, uh, a white coat! Oh, his cane can also turn into a gun!"

Roman did not seem amused by her statement.

Criminals and Mentors

I wonder what's even going on up in Eika…

Lily was walking through the city of Vale, bored out of her mind. Ozpin and Glynda were both caught up with something, so she essentially had no one to talk to. She was just waiting around for this big event which Daniel had told her was about to happen.

Is it a serial killer? A Grimm? Something else entirely?

Lily wished that she could have gone on the mission as well. But it was a strict rule that only one hunter or huntress could go on a mission. At least that's what Glynda had told her when she asked.

Amy's there though. I'm sure Bethany, Damion, and Samantha will be fine.

She couldn't help but wish that she could be there to help too. It was basically the first time in nearly seven years that Amy wasn't around her, and she was worried about her best friend, especially if she decided to do something completely immature or stupid. She could only hope though that with her students around, Amy wouldn't try anything like that.

It's just so hard to believe that we're still friends after everything that happened in our first year at Beacon…

When Lily had learned that Amy had cheated her way into Beacon with the help of her own brother, she had been disgusted. Ashamed that she had even thought for a second that Amy stood any chance of making it in Beacon. She had thrown her to the wayside, insulted her, and was more than happy to hear that there was a chance she was going to be expelled from Beacon when her work ethic wasn't high enough and her grades had fallen.

But then Daniel gave her another chance…

He had managed to convince Glynda and Ozpin to give Amy another chance. And she had gotten better.

Then on our first mission…

Amy had gone out of her way to try and prove herself to her own partner and had nearly died. Even now, Lily remembered the guilt that had settled onto her when she realised she was the reason for that. Despite the constant reassurance from Amy that all was forgiven, she still felt terrible about it all these years later. Still felt like she shouldn't have been forgiven so easily. Still felt like she hadn't done enough to repay back all the love and comfort that Amy had given her when Nicole died and Daniel left Beacon.

Nicole…

She truly had been something else. Smart, beautiful, talented, and not at all even arrogant about those traits. She had treated her team with nothing but care, empathy, and was always there for you to talk to. She was special. Her death had hit all of them so hard.

Especially Daniel. He must still think about her sometimes.

And the worst part was, shortly after leaving, he wouldn't have had anyone to soothe him, or anyone to talk to. He would have been out there, in the criminal underworld, all on his own, until he met Lucy. It was clear that he cared about her very deeply, and while she wasn't aware how that relationship had started, or how deep it was, hopefully she would find out someday.

Suddenly, a building which was painted a very familiar pink and green colour caught her eye.

Oh my gosh. No way…

It was still here. Lily hadn't noticed it because she hadn't came this deep into the city every since returning to Vale, but it was here. Sugar Rush. The sweet shop her team had came to. Nearly every single week, they had came down here, loading all sorts of cups with the most succulent, mouth watering, and tasty sweets you could imagine. She could even recall sneaking lien off Daniel several times when she didn't have enough of her own to buy them. She walked over to it and stood in front of it for a moment before pushing open the door.

She got the biggest nostalgia trip when she stepped in. She felt like she was eighteen years old again, a time of her life where she was obsessed with this shop. The shelves were littered with them. She took a walk around, admiring them all, until…

"Dear me, if it isn't Lily Silva!"

She turned around, to see someone standing at the counter. This certain person she knew. This was Jarah Kaede, the owner of this shop. He was older now, and his hair was starting to grey slightly.

"Hi Jarah."

"I haven't seen you in here every since your Beacon days! How have you been?"

"Fine, mostly."

"What about Amy?"

"She's just been Amy, you know what she's like."

He laughed for a moment, and then he stopped suddenly. "I'm sorry about your brother. Seeing him become what he did… That must have been hard. And I heard about what happened to Nicole too."

"I'm just glad I had Amy when I did. She really helped me through a lot of that."

"Well, that's good to hear. Speaking of her, where is she anyway? She used to love this place."

"She probably still would. And she's out on a mission with a few of our students."

"Ah yes, your both teachers at Beacon now, aren't you?"

"Yep. It's been… interesting."

"In a good or bad way?"

"Bit of both."

"Right, right. Anyways, I know you just love to chat, but I'm sure you didn't walk in here to hear me waffle on. You're here to get some of this." He motioned to the shelves of sweets. "Well, help yourself. I've got plenty of stock."

"Is the arcade still here? The one just around the corner?" That was their evening plan most of the time. Buy sweets, and then go there.

"It most certainly is. Why? Thinking of going there after? Just like the old days, eh?"

Lily smiled at him. "Exactly."

Criminals and Mentors

Thanks for reading and have a good day!