The Nobody of Remnant

by RoxaShadow

Just as Riku prepares to capture Roxas and return him to Sora, the Nobody escapes to a world he has never seen before, the world of Remnant. There he will encounter the challenges of Remnant's Grimm and the underlying evil threatening to destroy the long established peace brought on by the four kingdoms. Will he finally be able to make a difference? Or will he forever be a Nobody?

39. Chapter 38: Tension

AN: What's that? A giant 32 page chapter plus a 10 page bonus story at the end of the author's notes as an apology for being away for so long? Hmmm, seems like a risky move Shiloh, think it will work?

Shiloh: *shrugs*

Let's begin!

---

Demyx sat atop his bed with his back against the wall, a new guitar recently purchased by Cinder herself in his hands as his fingers plucked as the strings with a refined expertise. The guitar had an earphone jack which linked directly to the large black ear muffs mounted on his head. Cinder had presented it to him as a gift.

Demyx knew it was really because she'd been tired of listening to his Sitar echo throughout the entire warehouse.

He didn't mind. He enjoyed the gift all the same.

"Hmm, hmm, hmmmm…" he hummed to himself as he continued to play, his eyes closed as he dedicated his senses to the music. Dirty shirts and pants littered the floor all around the laundry basket which had no clothes in it. There were snack bags scattered all across the room from where he'd either finished the snack or forgot about it before moving on.

"Heeey Demyx! We bought dooonuts!" Emerald's voice called out before the door opened revealing the girl's happy expression and Mercury's best attempt at appearing happy.

Both holding a bag of mini donuts, the two stepped inside before pausing, noticing the Nobody atop his bed seemingly unaware of their presence.

Mercury let out a slow sigh as he saw the man. Demyx was wearing a dirty t-shirt stained with some variety of orange liquid, torn up jeans that appeared chewed up towards the ankles, and one sock with a hole where his big toe popped out.

"This sucks..." the young man muttered as he stood there.

Emerald slapped his arm as she hissed, "Don't say that! He's right there!"

"He can't hear us!" Cupping his hands around his mouth, he called out. "Hey dork! If you can hear us get up and jump on one leg three times!"

Emerald's eyes grew wide and turned to watch Demyx.

The Nobody continued to strum away at his instrument, a peaceful smile resting on his lips with his eyes still closed.

"See? What'd I tell you."

Emerald scowled as the smug smile was developing from the boy's lips. She opened her mouth to challenge him before sighing and letting her shoulders slump.

"Yeah alright, this sucks." The happy tone she used before was all but gone. In its place was an irritated monotone delivery of sentences.

"I honestly don't know how long I can keep doing this." she admitted.

"Me neither, hanging out with the dude is like taking care of a child."

"Except a child listens."

"And can bathe themselves."
"And knows how to hang up their clothes."

"Don't forget about washing their clothes."
"Can have a simple interaction without tripping and breaking something."

"You think a four year old is better potty trained?"

"Huh, yeah I could see him wetting the bed frequently."

The two snickered at their little rant.

"..."

"You think we should get his attention now? I'm a little tired of just standing here. Not that I'm eager to talk to him but…" Emerald shrugged frowning. "I'd rather get this over and done with rather than drag it out."

Cinder had commanded that they yet again take the Nobody out and make him feel 'welcome'. Despite the torture that came with babysitting the young man so frequently, neither of the two dared to complain. They knew better than to try and worm their way out of a direct order from Cinder.

Sighing, Mercury nodded. In an exaggerated effort, he slowly pulled his lips into a thin smile, making creaking sound effects with his mouth.

Rolling her eyes, she asked, "You done?"

"Yeah I think so."

Emerald strode over to the bed before gently poking the Nobody's knee with a finger. Demyx jumped as a response, nearly knocking the donuts out of Emerald's hands had she not pulled them out of the way just in time.

"Oh! Sorry about that!" he began with a sheepish smile as he pushed the earphones off his head. "What's going on guys?"

She grinned. "Green Floyd is in Vale tonight and we thought you might wanna check it out." She flashed the tickets in her free hand. "What do you say?"

Demyx's face lit up as he saw the tickets. "A concert?"

Emerald nodded slowly. "A concert."

"I'm definitely on board! Let's go!"

Demyx rose to his feet as the other two started to head towards the door. Emerald began to offer him a donut when he paused. "Ah, wait a sec. I gotta get changed, haha." He looked down at his stained shirt. "Don't want to wear this out."

"Alright, we'll be waiting by the front doors for you. It's an hour until it starts anyway."

"Sounds good!" Demyx smiled brightly.

The Nobody watched as the two left his room, Mercury setting his bag of donuts on the small table next to the door before closing the door behind him.

Demyx's smile faded as he saw the door shut.

Slowly, the man raised one foot until he was balancing on the other and hopped three times.

---

-The Morning After-

There weren't many tells to indicate when Cinder was upset. But those who'd been within her ranks for a long time, working alongside the woman for years, knew what to look out for when the woman was pissed off. She knew that they knew her tells. She knew how to respond to specific scenarios and knew how to use these tools to get what she wanted out of the people she controlled. Sometimes, she would simply pretend to be angry just to manipulate her target into cooperation. Really, it was rare that the woman was actually, genuinely angry.

It just so happened that anger was, at times, the most efficient method towards a goal.

This was another one of those situations.
Cinder's eyes were slightly lidded, her lips in a tight and discrete frown as she trudged up the metal staircase. Each step resulted in a louder than necessary clang as her foot made impact. She was in the top room leading out onto the roof of the building walking up the steps. She was alone, but she also knew that it might be possible to hear her coming, and thus appear intimidating by announcing her presence beforehand.

She was wearing her typical workout attire: an easy to dry tank top and some water resistant spandex shorts. She and Demyx had set up a strict schedule to follow for the last several weeks, training every other day, whether it be in magic, tactical strategy between the two, or just overall combat training.

Yesterday had been a rest day for them.

And today Demyx was late.

In all honesty, she wasn't particularly upset at the man for being late. She had more than a month to get to know the guy, and punctuality was not a quality she found to be one of his strong suits. He'd usually show up around the correct time, often a few minutes late and rarely early.

But this time he was already thirty minutes late.

The woman briefly stole a glance at her watch.

Hm, thirty-five minutes now.

Admittedly, he'd never not shown up to a training session before much to her surprise. In fact, she'd expected to have to do this much earlier than now. She knew that she had to be cold and stern on the first offense in order to ensure it never happened again.

Her life as a leader meant that she was more than just herself. She was the head of a cause which in her mind made her the brains of what was a socially constructed machine. She liked to view things like that, that she was the head and her forces were the turning cogs that helped keep the show running.

She was not the type to accept any type of inefficiency within her machine. When one of her cogs began to malfunction or do anything that wasn't adhesive to her plans, it would then fall to her to decide whether she should go through and fix the cog, or simply throw away the cog and replace it with an entirely new one.

She was very experienced with both options.

Which meant that when she went to fix one of her broken cogs, she made sure that she only had to fix it once.

Stern and sharp Cinder.

She reminded herself as she grabbed hold of the handle to the door that led to the roof and twisted it. The cool breeze immediately hit her, causing the woman to pause for a moment before immediately continuing forward. She wouldn't dare let someone under her control see her shiver.

Her eyes scanned slowly across the roof top until they fell on a lone figure sitting with his back on her, his gaze stretching towards the rising sun only barely cressing over the horizon. He was sitting on the ledge, his legs dangling off the side.

She began to slowly approach him, but with a pace that suggested a level of urgency. She wanted him to know that she was still very much in control of her emotions, and as such that much more dangerous.

"Hey Cindy." She heard his deflated voice say. "Come to check up on me huh?"

The woman felt her brow twitch in annoyance. "My name is Cinder and I expect you to address me as such." She laced her words with a drip of venom, a technique she'd learned to master over the years.

"Whatever you say Cinderella." The man retorted with a sigh, his back still turned on her.

The woman's eyes narrowed to slits.

She stopped a few feet behind the man, speaking with her arms crossed beneath her chest. "You realize that our scheduled training was supposed to have started thirty-five minutes ago."

She watched as he shrugged. "Yeah, I know. I just didn't wanna go today is all. Sorry I didn't tell ya beforehand. I just figured you'd like, figure it out after a few minutes or something."

The woman's fingers slowly curled into a fist as her frown deepened. She found the urge to kick him off the top of the building rising as she stared at the back of his head. She'd certainly done more for far less.

She closed her eyes slowly, letting out a slow and frustrated sigh. "You realize that you don't get to simply decide when you do and don't want to attend training. You are held to the same standards as every person here." She let her tone drop, her voice becoming cold and dangerous as she continued. "I advise that you follow strictly to the commands I give you , as I'm not the type of person who appreciates repeating herself." She let the implication hang out in the air, the silence carrying its tension with it.

"You do what you gotta do Cin', I won't hold it against ya."

The woman felt a deep and quiet growl threaten to emanate from her throat.

She slowly moved so that she was standing beside the man, her sharp gaze casting daggers into the either oblivious or rather uncaring form.

Her brow furrowed when she saw the expression on his face.

His eyes reflected the shred of sunlight peeking out over the horizon, their lids half closed as he peered out. They had a far off look to them, as if he wasn't truly focusing on the view but rather was lost in his thoughts. His lips bore a slight frown, the rest of his features in a neutral or resting position.

The man appeared as if he was a deflated version of himself from his shoulders sagging and his general demeanor calling out 'defeat'.

Cinder raised an eyebrow at this fact. What had happened there? A part of her wanted to ask, but another part of her knew that it would discredit the annoyed persona she was trying to achieve.

"Y'know, you're pretty good at that." he said without facing her, or even looking at her.

She blinked. "Good at what?"

"Pretending that you're angry, pretending you're feeling one way to get people to do what you want done. You're pretty good at it. Betcha you've been practicing for years huh."

She was stunned. She had not been expecting to get called out like that, and from Demyx of all people. How could he tell? She'd managed to perfectly create this persona, perfectly craft the person she presented to the outside world as the dangerous, powerful Cinder Fall.

How long had he known?

She found her voice caught in her throat. Should she denounce his decipher of her personality? Push back and lie that she didn't put on an act? That she was the person she let everyone believe her to be? Could she even fool him if he'd seen through her facade once before already?

Or should she come clean, and simply ask that he not tell any of the others?

She frowned as she felt the tension in her face ease, relaxing into a defeated sigh.

Slowly, the woman sat down atop the ledge beside him, allowing her legs to fall off the edge and her prideful shoulders to relax if only ever so slightly.

She was still the leader after all; she couldn't let him know that he was entirely correct.

"How'd you figure me out?"

A short, single laugh expelled from the man. "You've been masking yourself with fake emotions for only a matter of years, Cin. Try doing that with a bunch of other people who've had decades to fake their emotions and get back to me." He shook his head slowly, the jovial expression draining from his face. "When that has been your existence for so long, you figure out how to peek in at the masks of people who aren't quite as good at it as you are."

He took a moment to look over at her, the slightest of smiles pulling at the corner of his lips. "No offense. Like I said, you're really good at it. Almost had me going there in the beginning. Took me awhile to see through it, honest."

Cinder blinked.

She realized she could see it too now. She could even determine roughly when he'd figured her out. When he started to tease her lightly, or give her nicknames or basically whenever he would completely dismiss her threats in favor of his own interests.

Her eyes went wide with surprise.

He'd figured her out months ago.

"Just figured I'd tell ya." Demyx continued, pulling his gaze to stare out towards the horizon once more. "Let ya drop the act with someone if you wanted to. Bet it can get pretty tiring pretending to be so serious for so long."

"I…" Once again, Cinder found she didn't know what to say. She'd felt confident that she wouldn't be found out with how good she'd gotten at masking her expressions. She had it down to a science, a science she'd been certain no one else would have ever bothered to learn.

Well, turns out someone else had been studying.

"I…" What could she say to that!? "I suppose you're more perceptive than I gave you credit for."

He shrugged again. "Not many do."

A silence fell between them. Cinder became slowly aware of the fact that she'd initially come up here to question why he'd been absent from their training today. Instincts began to tighten her face back into a more serious demeanor, but then it fell away with the knowledge that he would know she wasn't being serious.

She sighed.

"Why didn't you want to come to training today?" She spoke in a bland and empty tone. More defeated and knowing that she wouldn't be able to get anywhere with intimidation this time.

"Emerald and Mercury don't like me."

Cinder's mouth fell open, her brows furrowing at the answer.

Damn it, Mercury! What the hell did you two do this time?!

Immediately her mind began to work on what she would need to order as punishment for the two of them messing up this task. They were far too integral to her plans now to simply dispose of them, so she needed to make sure that they were corrected in a way that would ensure their success in future endeavors.
"I'm sorry to hear that..." she responded hesitant to the statement.

"You don't need to tell them to be extra nice to me now either. I know that you told them to be friends with me so that I wouldn't want to leave."

Her eyes were wide. How much had this man figured her out?

He stole a glance her direction and immediately let out an easy laugh. "Relax, I'm not planning on leaving anyway." His face drained. "All I'm saying is that you don't need to send them after me."

"...I understand." She was beginning to feel annoyed at how much of her he'd seen through. How much had he discovered while she'd been oblivious to his focus?

Her mind returned to what he'd said, about her question, and what it might mean.

Her eyebrows knit together as she began to think.

"Are you then suggesting that you are feeling...down because you are aware of the fact that those two dont like you?" It felt weird to the woman to be phrasing her sentence like that, hell, to be talking about a subject matter like this at all was foriegn to her.

The Nobody leaned back slightly, his head shifting so that it was looking up to the darkened sky.

"I guess you could say it's something like that. Of course I knew from the get go that they'd been faking it all this time, so it's not like it's coming as a huge surprise or something."

Cinder found her head falling forward, her thumb and index fingers pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration.

He knew…the entire...time…

She didn't know if she should blame Emerald, Mercury, or her own observations for vastly underestimating the man's perceptive ability.

She let out a sigh. "If that's really the case, then why does it matter now of all times?"

And in turn getting in the way of my training to one day get rid of you!

She wanted to add with a scowl.

"That's...the question I'm trying to answer, honestly..." he said with a curious look on his features, almost confused in a way.

"What do you mean?"
"I mean that I don't know."
"What? What does that mean?" Cinder demanded in an aggravated tone.

"What I mean is...!" he began with a slight hitch to his voice, almost as if he was getting equally aggravated with her as she was with him. Cinder raised an eyebrow at this, acknowledging the fact that barely anyone took that tone with her anymore.
"What I mean is that I don't really get it either. I don't know why I'm up here, lacking motivation, lacking energy. I don't know why I chose to be up here rather than be in my room. I don't know why I chose to blow you off back there." He let his head fall into a hand, a tired expression written clear as day on his face. "I don't know Cin, I just don't know."

Cinder frowned at the response. She had no idea what she was supposed to say here. It was as if all the experience and knowledge she'd acquired to handle difficult situations like these had been tossed out the window when Demyx told her that he could see straight through her.

What did that leave her with? How could she speak to him when she couldn't just throw on an act and pretend away his worries?

Well, he sounds sad.

She blinked. Should she just say that? Tell him that he sounded down?

Couldn't hurt I guess.

She resigned as her lips parted. "You sound like you're feeling down now that you are taking in that they don't like you."

She watched the man roll his eyes in response. "Yeah right. I'm not pretending right now. It has to be something else. I told you that we Nobodies don't actually feel anything." He scratched the side of his face absentmindedly. "Which means there's gotta be another reason why I'm acting this way…"

Or…

Weeks ago, after Demyx had confided his true nature to her, she arrived at a question that had been scratching at the back of her mind for some time now. It didn't add up, but it wasn't a question that would benefit her tasks by being answered, so she'd left it alone, tossing the question to the side for the sake of maintaining her focus towards their goals.

"Demyx...I have something that's been...bugging me about what you told me before." 'Bugging', it was a word that she personally liked, but knew that it had a somewhat silly sound to it, and had decided to exempt the word from her vocabulary. But now, in the presence of someone who could see through her…she figured why not use it.

"Yeah? And what's that?"

"You told me that you don't have a heart, that you are stuck having to be the same person day in, day out, cursed to never improve or degrade as an individual." She held his gaze in that moment, her eyes narrowing. "Am I on the right track?"

"Hammer on the nail really."

She raised an eyebrow, a devious grin beginning to form on her face. "Is that true?"

"Yep." His gaze fell, pulling away to look out towards the sunrise once more.

"Well then. If that's the case, then I think you're wrong."

She watched with discrete satisfaction as he looked back to her, his eyebrows knit together in confusion.

She could tell that he was expecting her to explain.

But she wanted to hear him say it. She turned to look towards the sunrise, humming an idle tune as she continued to sport a smug smile.

"I must say the sun is breathtaking this morning."

"Explain what you mean by 'wrong' Cindy." he said with an annoyance to him that Cinder found she appreciated being the one responsible for. He was playing her game now, back on her rules.

"Well," she began in a tone that suggested she was fully enjoying leading him on. She liked being the one in control, and she definitely felt like she'd regained control of the conversation. "You said that you couldn't change, that you are stuck being the same person you were before this all happened."

"Yeah," He frowned. "Which is true. You can't progress as a person without a heart, which I do not have." He exaggerated the last part. "Simple as that."

Cinder raised an eyebrow at his answer. "You're telling me that it's impossible for a person to develop at all without first having a 'heart'?"

He nodded.

Cinder turned away for a moment, puzzled. "Then that would mean…" she spoke slowly, still uncertain of her conclusion. "Then that must mean you have a heart already…" Her words rambled off, too uncertain to make the claim confidently.

Her eyes slowly drifted back to Demyx.

He was fully facing her now. His eyes wide and staring back at her.

"...Are you going to say something or just keep staring at me like an idiot?" she asked bluntly.

"What did you just say?"

"I said...that you must have a heart then." she asked more than answered.

She watched as his mouth parted to respond, but then he hesitated, looking away with a questioning look in his eyes. He seemed to murmur something that Cinder couldn't quite hear all of. Something about 'Wonder boy' maybe.

He turned back to her, his eyes searching hers with an urgency that Cinder had never seen before.

"Why?"

"Why?" She repeated dumbly, feeling uncomfortable by the intensity of the man's gaze.

"Why do you believe that?"

"..." She grew quiet as she considered the question.

The two fell silent as Demyx waited expectantly for an answer. After a long silence had passed, his head turned away with the urgency his eyes had previously contained beginning to fade.

"...It's okay if you just told me that to make me hopeful. I understand if-"

"Because you've been changing ever since you got here. Because you've been learning and connecting and forming bonds along the way."

"Wha…?" he responded confused. "What? When? I don't believe you-"

"You wouldn't turn me into a Nobody like yourself and told me that had I asked when I first met you, you wouldn't have told me no. That means you've learned to appreciate me, at least to the point that you don't want to see me go through what you have. That takes empathy Demyx, something that doesn't just come to someone without the ability to feel naturally."

She sighed, shaking her head at what she was planning to say. "Remember when you first met me? How you responded to me? How you behaved?"

He nodded. "I was absolutely terrified of you."

"Yes, and then you slowly began to get more and more comfortable around me until you got the wrong impression that you could start giving me nicknames." She stated the last word with an angry glare his direction.

"Well that's only because when I figured you out, I realized that you're just a big nerd Cin-namin."

Cinder's face went white, a scarlet red rising in her cheeks as she reared her head back away from the man. "W-What!?" she stammered in shock.

"You're a nerd, a geek, a dweeb." He laughed. "Honestly, I'm surprised more people haven't figured it out sooner."

She stared at him, flabbergasted over the fact that he'd just called her a nerd. What could he possibly mean by that? Was he calling her intelligent? Well of course she was intelligent. She wouldn't have gotten this far had she not had a competent plan along the way. That didn't make her a nerd of knowing what she needed to know to succeed in her environment. She was clever, confident, and powerful accompanied by a powerful mind, that's all.

That did NOT make her a nerd.

Another laugh rumbled out from the back of Demyx's throat. "See? I bet right now you're going off in your head trying to calculate the correct response, how to prove definitely that you are not in fact a nerd. That's just like you, you know exactly what to say, or rather, you're figuring out exactly what needs to be said or done in order to get what you want out of things."

She felt the heat in her cheeks growing worse. Her eyes were staring wide at the man beside her, her mouth slightly agape.

How!?

How had he figured her out so well? Deciphered so much about her to the point he'd figure out something about her that even she hadn't realized? She did overanalyze and try to find the best course of action in any given situation. She did try to find efficiency in all things involving herself. She only created the cold, hardened Cinder in an effort to gain better control over those beneath her. Fear was an appropriate and faster method towards acquiring loyalty over forming familiar bonds like others so often did. She formed a reputation within the criminal underground not out of desire to be a crime lord, but it had been convenient given her current goals. They'd been the fastest, smartest, most efficient means of reaching her goal in a timely matter. She found people, surrounded herself with powerful people- powerful allies- and made some powerful enemies all in the efforts to succeed in one goal.

She wanted to be powerful.

That meant that she had to be smart about getting to that point.

Demyx was laughing even harder now. Cinder realized that she probably looked dumbfounded at the moment, her typical mature resolve having crumbled away due to being so accurately called out.

She felt her anger spike. "Yeah? Well then, if I'm a nerd as you so confidently believe, them you are a senseless, oblivious moron!"

He raised an eyebrow her direction, a smile still gracing his lips. "Yeah?"

She nodded in confirmation. "Yes, but you do it to yourself. You've chosen to be that, a senseless moron, despite the fact that it's so obvious that you don't want to be that person." she could see that he wasn't smiling anymore. "Hence why I called you oblivious, or perhaps 'dense' is a better word to describe it."

His brow furrowed again. "Huh?"

She smiled. She was going to enjoy this. If he wanted to dissect her like it was nothing, then she would do it right back.

She was a nerd after all, right?

"You tell yourself that you have to be this aloof, oblivious idiot who doesn't know any better but to make a fool of himself because you think that's the person you need to be. You tell yourself that, and yet it's obvious that you are not that person. You have incredible focus and reaction times in a battle, making observations and responding to new tactics, and even team strategies with a level of expertise that comes with years of combat training and prowess." She grinned at him, knowing she had him based on the lost look on his face. "That takes a level of wisdom on the battlefield. In fact, I notice that you could most likely avoid nearly every attack that anyone save myself could dish out with how well your reaction speeds are. However, I notice that at times you will allow something trivial to hit you, like a falling box or one of us when you piss us off, attacks that, when on the battlefield, you can avoid with no problem."

Demyx's gaze fell in that moment, his eyes studying the ground below as she continued.

"I think that you let yourself be hit by some things just because it will make it seem like you're this absentminded fool who doesn't know left from right." She shook her head with a sneer. "In reality, you're a sharp young man who can pick up on the slightest nuances of a person who's been putting up a cruel act for years. You're intellegent, both in terms of combat and social dynamics, but you choose to be stupid instead because you falsely believe that is the way you have to be in order to have any personality at all."

"...Because it's the truth…"

"B.S.!" Another term that she'd always wanted to say, but always thought it would degrade her reputation as the mighty 'Cinder Fall'. "You've done nothing but change, learn, and shift since you've gotten here."

She pointed an accusational finger towards the Nobody.

"When you first arrived, you would heed my every word, but now?" She let out a short, aggravated laugh. "Now you've gone on record and refused several of my direct commands, stood me up for training, continue to call me nicknames regardless of my disposition on the matter, and you're sad about the fact that your friends don't like you." She let out a short exasperated sigh. "Face it already Demyx, you have a heart, so get over it and stop being so mopey all the time!" Mopey, another fun word she'd never gotten to use.

"..." She raised an eyebrow at his silence.

Eventually, as his eyes grew wide with disbelief, he spoke.

"...Do you really think I might have a heart?"

"I do."

"So…" He blinked slowly, as if he was still processing what he'd just been told. "Does that mean...I'm actually...sad about the fact that Mercury and Emerald dont like me?"

"Most likely."

She watched his face light up, a genuine, excited joy written across his features. Then it crumbled with a look of sheer worry. "Oh my God, I actually care about someone...which means…!" His mouth made an O shape.

"You have a heart." she said bluntly.

"I have a heart!" He frowned. "Or maybe just the start of one...I don't know if I fully have it back yet."

"Uh-huh."

"And that means…" A panicked expression took over his face. "That the people I care about don't like me!"

"Yep."

"Cinder!" He turned to her with wide, urgent eyes. "I need you to help me!"

She stared at him. "Come again?"

"Help me make it up to Mercury and Emerald! You've known them for a long time right? You could tell me what I could do or get to make it up to them!"

"Uh, I don't believe I'm interested in helping you make up with a friend or two Demyx."

"Please? I would seriously owe you big time. Like, I'll even promise never to go if you agree to help me."

Cinder blinked.

He'd agree…complete loyalty if she just helped him with this trivial task? Her mind reeled over. It would be the smart thing to do to accept such a ridiculously beneficial trade in her favor.

It would just mean sacrificing a bit of her mature and dangerous aura to do it.

She slowly closed her eyes, mentally preparing herself for what the next hour would bring.

"Fine. I'll help you makeup with Emerald and Mercury as long as you pledge loyalty to me and my cause."

"Done!" he said without a moment's hesitation.

That easily?

She let out a slow sigh.

"Alright...let's just get this over with." She let out in a begrudging tone.

---

-Beacon Academy: Dorm Rooms-

"..."

The bathroom was empty aside from herself. She locked the door behind her so no one could get in. It wasn't as if she was worried that someone would want to use the bathroom at this time. There was no one else in their dorm after all, but Weiss preferred the door locked when she was showering.

Namine had already left for class, especially since she planned to challenge Nora today and needed to be in class early if she wanted to ensure she got her fight in.

She stepped out and dried herself before completing her usual womanly ritual in her underwear. Brushing her teeth, doing her hair and all the normal things.

Finally, she arrived at the time of day when she needed to get dressed. She looked to the cubby space within the bathroom where her typical battle dress was hanging neatly. She crossed the room, passing by the mirror and slowing to a stop as she did. She'd seen her own reflection from her peripherals. A part of her had longed to stop and take a better look at herself, a long look.

She chose to listen to that urge.

Wiess grew very still as she stood in front of her own reflection. Her eyes were searching within themselves, searching for answers she would never get.

You're going to have to see him again today.

The girl winced at that thought.

He's going to be in that classroom, next to her, the girl that isn't you.

She closed her eyes, slowly taking a deep breath in before a slow sigh escaped her lips.

She knew that she needed to get over this. She knew that with time, all wounds would heal. She knew that Namine felt a strong kinship with Roxas, that everyone in their friend group to-her knowledge-felt strongly towards the young man.

She couldn't blame them, she'd done exactly the same thing.

A pained smile pulled on the girl's lips.

She knew that she wouldn't be able to remove him from her life, that she would have to come to terms with the fact that she was not going to be the person that he sought a partner with.

But hey, there's still the future! They're a high school romance, and high school romances never last!

The girl closed her eyes slowly shaking her head back and forth to dismiss the idea. It was an unhealthy one to hope for, to hope that his relationship would fail, to hope that he would go through hardship just for her to get another chance at her own personal happiness.

It was selfish, and unbecoming of a young Schnee woman.

Weiss knew that she would need to conduct herself in a proper and respectable manner, even now. If it got out to the press that 'Weiss Schnee was showing emotions over a school crush!' Then she no doubt would be receiving some harsh words from her father over the bad publicity.

Perhaps even worse.

Weiss had long ago accepted that fact of her life. She understood at age ten that she would need to always stay in control of her emotions, always play the proper, sophisticated Schnee woman for the public. Anything less than perfect in any given situation was unacceptable within the Schnee family, an unspoken rule heavily enforced by her father, Jacques Schnee.

Any other person who'd gone through what she had would understandably be allowed to cry their eyes out, dress a little lazier for the next few days, maybe be a little bit less nice over the next few days as they got over it.

But not for her.

Not for her.

The girl closed her eyes, silently scolding herself for her brief self-pity party.

She was a Schnee after all, right? She'd grown up knowing wealth, never having to deal with financial conflict, or knowing the pain of going to sleep with an empty stomach or missing out on a new expensive extravagant treat. She'd been to so many amusement parks and family vacations that other children her age had never even heard of.

But she'd only ever go to an amusement park if the Schnee Dust company was funding the park and wanted to draw attention to it by the press taking pictures of her and her family enjoying the park like 'normal' people. She'd be told to 'pretend to be happy' from her father just before getting onto the new rollercoaster she'd been excited to ride. Sometimes, they only rode one ride before leaving having fulfilled the mandatory requirement of them posing for pictures for the press.

She'd been on several family vacations where she spent the majority of the time alone, exploring the resort with only her personal butler to accompany her because her father never took time off from work. Every exchange he made factored into his company's success for the most part.

Spending time with his daughters rarely fit that goal, and so, their time together was rarely spent. He would only ever attend to them when it benefited his image, or he absolutely had to do so.

It left her feeling...alone.

Like she was missing something that so many of her peers have.

But she was a Schnee. She had money, so who was she to complain...right?

The girl sighed as her gaze pulled away from the mirror, instead landing on the floor beneath her feet.

She had a reputation she had to protect. A reputation she had to uphold for her family's sake. Even if she knew that she was hurting inside, still struggling with emotions that she didn't fully understand herself, she knew that in the end she had to pretend that none of it was affecting her.

Weiss slowly found the strength to lift her chin again, staring herself down in the reflection and daring it to even attempt to shed a tear.

Her sharp gaze hardened her resolve before she slowly got dressed and stepped outside of the bathroom as she'd done dozens of times before.

But this time, she felt different, this time...it was different.

She knew what lay ahead of her, knew that she was going to have to face people she didn't know if she was ready to face.

But she was a Schnee.

And that meant something.

She would go to class like any other student, excel like the exemplary student she knew herself to be, and even interact with...Roxas...normally, even if doing so would hurt her heart in the process.

She was prepared when she stepped into Professor Goodwitch's classroom as she'd done so many times before.

She was, however, unprepared when she witnessed Roxas slam against the floor of the arena with such a heavy impact that it echoed against the walls.

---

-Roxas-

...What...just happened?

The young man thought in a daze. The back of his head rang with a sharp pain making it difficult for him to account for the last several seconds.

He'd rushed toward Pyrrha, planning to use his superior speed to force his opponent onto the defensive and try to pick her apart in her attempts to retaliate.

But…that wasn't what happened.

He vaguely remembered darting across the arena only to see Pyrrha's shield heading straight towards him. He'd slashed upward, forcing the projectile to fling harmlessly into the air only to feel the sting of Miló's blade slashing against the side of his cheek, the force of the impact snapping his head to the side. The boy staggered back a step, awkwardly trying to create space between him and his attacker as he brought down the Oblivion in a diagonal slash.

Spinning, Pyrrha dipped below the attack before driving the heel of her foot straight into the teen's chin.

Roxas's head snapped back from the impact as black spots began to fill his vision.
He could feel his balance slipping even further as he was forced to take another step back-

He couldn't take a step back.

Pyrrha's foot was in the way.

The blond felt a hand against his chest before he was violently shoved backward, his legs locked in place. The teen fell back with a hard clap as his back slammed against the hard stone arena.

It took several seconds for Roxas to regain his breath and begin to push himself back to his feet.

He looked over towards Pyrrha who had collected her shield and was waiting patiently for him to rise. Roxas grinned, knowing that had he fought any other Huntress, they wouldn't have hesitated to take advantage against a prone opponent.

But not Pyrrha, she was too honorable to hit someone while they were down.

Roxas sunk into his typical fighting stance, tightly gripping the Oblivion with both hands as his eyes narrowed on Pyrrha.

She looked like a jungle cat ready to pounce, her muscles tense, her expression, serious and, most of all, dangerous.

"I know what you're doing."

Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"You want me to fight serious, to see where you're at physically, without your normal abilities."

Both of Roxas's eyebrows were raised now; the teen in a genuine shock that he'd been so easily found out.

Pyrrha let out an easy laugh. "It's not hard to see through you, Roxas. You may be a lot of things, but a trash talker is not one of them."

Roxas felt his lips contort into a slight frown. He worked really hard to sound convincing in his insults.

"...Even if I know what you're doing, that doesn't mean that I'm suddenly going to be easier on you now Roxas…" The girl's expression turned serious in that moment, her eyes holding a tensity that Roxas couldn't place.

"I wouldn't expect you to."

"You're not going to win this one Roxas." Her words were cold as she spoke, almost like a snarl. The look she was shooting him was almost resentful.

Roxas's brow furrowed, his lips parted to comment on her expression, but before the words could leave his mouth, she was upon him again. This time leading with expertly placed thrust of Miló that forced Roxas to narrowly jump to the side.

The girl followed up the attack by slashing out to the side, using the long reach of the spear to catch Roxas as he dove out of the way from the first attack.

The boy reacted by raising Oblivion at the last moment, the two weapons clanging loudly against one another as they struck.

Weapon over extended, Pyrrha immediately went to pull back her spear back to a ready position. Roxas decided to follow it back, closing in the distance between the two of them before bringing his Keyblade down on the girl with a massive amount of force.

With no other option, the girl was forced to raise her Akoúo̱ just as the blade fell upon her.

Roxas felt his newly mended muscles flex as he drove his weapon down. He felt Pyrrha's weight shift from the impact, being forced to drop to one knee as a result, her face strained with effort.

"...Not...this time…" Pyrrha grunted out as Roxas continued to bear his weight into the attack, the shield rattling against the force of the Oblivion.

All at once Roxas's weight against the shield fell through, his blade sliding as Pyrrha tilted Akoúo̱ to the outside before slashing in an upward rising strike.

Instead of trying to fight it, Roxas committed to his forward momentum, tucking his head low and transitioning into a roll as he narrowly avoided Miló's sharpened edge.

The moment his feet were under him again the boy spun around with a vicious back swing that was met with Pyrrha's shield once more. He could see the girl wince as his weapon slammed against Akoúo̱, the impact of the two metals obviously carrying through her arm more than his hand.

Prepared for her to take to the offensive after blocking his attack, Roxas pulled back his guard, readying his weapon just as Pyrrha drew back, holding her shield between them as she created distance.

The former Nobody felt his eyebrow arch questioningly before he watched the spear in her other hand begin to shift, the gears within the weapon humming to life as with a sophisticated twist of her wrist, Roxas found the barrel of the weapon pointed straight towards him.

A moment later he saw the flash of the muzzle and immediately let his instincts take over, his arm shifting the Oblivion in a burst of movement to stop the bullet aimed for his head. He felt the round bounce off harmlessly, his eyes never leaving the barrel of the gun as he watched her aim target lower.

He blocked three more shots before he began to slowly advance towards her, closing the distance between them. The teen struggled to resist his other arm instinctively trying to help, to summon the Oathkeeper so that he could close the gap easier.

This would be so much easier if I had magic!

He could actually fire back if he still had his Fire spell in his arsonal.

"You know this isn't going to work!" he shouted over the sound of gunfire deflecting against his Keyblade.

"I know." Her voice was quieter than his, almost as if he hadn't meant to hear that, as if she was speaking more to herself than to him.

A moment passed and Roxas was beside her now, his weapon raised to stop one final bullet if need be.

Rather than fire, Pyrrha shifted her footing behind her before charging forward, attempting to slam her shield into Roxas as she did. He grunted as he adjusted his grip on Oblivion, placing it in between himself and Akoúo̱ as he chose to meet the attack head on.

The two metals rang out for a second time as they collided, Roxas felt his feet slide back an inch before the two came to a standstill in the center of the ring. Each teen's muscles flexing to overwhelm the other.

Roxas felt his lips pull into a confident grin.

Turning the Keyblade suddenly, he shifted the weapon until he heard the edge of the Oblivion's teeth clink against the edge of the shield. With a grunt his arms swung upward, the edge of his weapon catching hold of Akoúo̱ as he did so. Pyrrha let out a sharp cry of pain as the shield was torn away from her fingers and sent flying to the edge of the ring.

Intent to capitalize on her sudden lack of a defense, the boy brought his weapon down hard, gripping the handle with both hands as he did.

Pyrrha responded milliseconds later, gripping her spear with both hands as she raised in a hasty defense.

Roxas could hear his opponent suppress a cry of pain as his attack slammed against her guard, the spear transferring the weight of his swing to her palms. He watched his opponent grimace for the second time as she was brought to one knee.

"...No...I refuse to let myself become a mere...stepping stone." He heard Pyrrha whisper beneath her breath.

Roxas's eyes widened at the comment.

Stepping stone?

He felt a frown pull at his lips.

Was that what she thought she was in this fight? A stepping stone?

He paused.

Was she wrong?

Before he could respond, Pyrrha's grip on her weapon suddenly slipped allowing Oblivion to drive straight into the girl's shoulder.

He could see her aura pulse from the impact, a visual flicker to show that the attack had been a significant drain on her aura.

Miló clattered to the ground a moment later, just as Roxas noticed Pyrrha's fingers tightly wrap around the shaft of his weapon.

"What are-" Roxas's head suddenly rocked back in a violent motion, his nose exploding from pain, or rather, the impact of Pyrrha's forehead slamming into the center of his face.

The teen attempted to retreat but felt resistance as he tried to pull his weapon with him.

She's holding on!

He thought in a panic as he was barely able to open his eyes only to see Pyrrha readying a kick.

The teen attempted to shift his weight out of the way but found his movement halted as the Oblivion refused to move with him.

Pyrrha's heel drove into the boy's knee, sinking Roxas to one knee before a follow up knee struck his chin, rocking his head back for the second time that day.

He could feel his vision clouding with black dots, his mind in a daze as he tried to focus through the pain ringing in his head.

His grip on his weapon tightened before he violently yanked his arms back, attempting to free it from his opponents grasp. He found that rather than fight his pull, Pyrrha allowed herself to be pulled towards him, her legs being taken with him as he pulled back before driving a knee straight into the boy's chest.

The Keyblade wielder gasped from the impact, feeling a sharp pain spread from his sternum as he finally got the picture. He'd been resistant to releasing his weapon as it was all he was familiar with. It was his fighting style, his attack and defense, it was his entire arsonal in this fight.

And Roxas realized in that moment that Pyrrha knew this was the case.

Smart…

Before another hit could land, the boy let his grip on the Oblivion go before rolling back just as Pyrrha shot out an elbow aimed for his nose. The attack fell short as he rolled back to his feet several steps away. He found himself at the edge of the arena, only a few steps away from a ring out.

The former Nobody wiped at the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, removing a trickle of saliva that had escaped when Pyrrha's knee had been driven into his breast bone.

"Clever targeting my weapon like that." he said with an impressed smile. He'd known going into this that Pyrrha would be a smarter fighter than most. He wouldn't have been surprised if that had been her entire strategy all along, having already figured out his weakness before he had.

She was a smart fighter. After all, that's why he'd picked her.

"It wasn't very hard to figure out with how weak you are now…" The redhead failed to meet his gaze as she spoke, instead staring down at the weapon in her hand with...disappointment?

Roxas frowned. Why would she look...disappointed? He stole a brief glance at the large board behind them indicating for the class to see where their aura's stood percentage wise. Hers was nearly full, resting at a steady seventy five percent while his was sitting at just above fifty.

"...You know...there isn't a way I can come out of this victorious." Pyrrha said in a quiet voice, one that Roxas was sure no one else could hear.

"What? What are you talking about? You're already winning."

"That's not what I mean." Her voice was colder, more reserved, like she was pushing down a deep frustration trying to slip into her tone.

His head tilted sideways, not understanding.

Pyrrha sighed as she looked down at the Keyblade in her hand. In a swift and practiced motion she slipped her foot beneath Miló before kicking the spear back to her free hand.

"Beating you right now isn't a victory Roxas." Her words were calm, but Roxas could tell that there was anger behind them buried deep down. "If I beat you here, it won't be a win to anyone. It'll just be me beating up the injured kid. If I lose it's even worse, then I'm weaker than you in your current state…" She sighed looking away. "There's no victory for me here."

For the first time in the fight, Roxas turned to look at his fellow classmates in the stands, acknowledging their presence. He could see that every eye was staring down at them with an intense curiosity. Some had even secretly pulled out their scrolls to record the fight.

Pyrrha's voice quietly whispered over to him. "The boy who challenged an entire army of Grimm...versus the pride of Mistral...you better believe they're watching..." Roxas pulled his attention away from the class and caught a glimpse of his teammate's expression out of the corner of his eye. There was that sadness again, that disappointment.

"Is there a problem Ms. Nikos? Roxas?" Professor Goodwitch's voice suddenly chimed from the side of the class.

Pyrrha's face lit up with a smile in that moment, turning to the teacher and answering in her typical polite tone. "Not at all. I was simply telling my teammate that he should work on his footwork more."

Roxas looked over his shoulder and watched Professor Goodwitch nod. "A respectable quality to try and aid your team mate with advice, but at this current time, he is your opponent, Pyrrha, and you should treat him as such. Please continue the fight unless one of you wishes to forfeit."

Roxas knew that comment was directed towards him. Professor Goodwitch had shown concern for his well being before the fight. It was clear to the boy that she thought it would be a good idea for him to concede.

But should I?

Roxas understood what Pyrrha's message to him was. He'd never paid it much mind, but he knew that he'd developed something of a reputation ever since the attack on Vale. Sure, Ozpin had attempted to convince the people he saved that night that silence would be the kindest repayment they could offer him, but not all of them had heeded his advice. It hadn't taken long for the rumors to spread across the school, that a first year had managed to hold off an entire army of Grimm single handedly. An army of Grimm that had even managed to overwhelm a second year team within the school itself, and team CFVY no less. Coco and her gang were well known throughout the school as some of the best students in their class, so to have surpassed something that overwhelmed them…

Roxas knew that he'd been on the radar of some of the students with his record in the training arena, but since that event, seemingly everyone knew about him, not that it had ever bothered him before. It just meant that he didn't have to introduce himself as much now.
Then there was Pyrrha Nikos. He'd never really asked the girl about her reputation since it seemed to bother her to talk about it at great lengths, but that didn't mean that he was entirely unaware of it either. He'd on many occasions heard other students mentioning her title as the 'Pride of Mistral', and about how she won every tournament she'd ever entered, how she'd never lost a fight against anyone before.

From Roxas's understanding...she was something of a celebrity, or at least from where she came from she was.

"Are you still willing to fight Roxas?" Pyrrha asked with a meaningful look behind her gaze. He could read her message loud and clear. She wanted him to quit too. She didn't want to be the champion that took down the only other student with a reputation like her own by taking advantage of an injury.

Even if it had been him to challenge her, it didn't look good for her to be picking him apart. It also didn't look good on her end either if she struggled in this fight. He understood then why she'd said she couldn't be victorious in this spar.

What victory was there to be had if he wasn't at top form?

He looked down, a rising feeling of confliction building in his chest.

He planned for this fight, planned to fight to his very limit, to find his limit no matter the cost.

Would the cost be his friend's reputation?

He closed his eyes, sucking in a deep breath of air as he did.

No. I don't want to quit.

He finally concluded as he let his mind focus on his hand, letting his mind picture returning the Keyblade to his palm.

He felt the desire, no, the need to prove himself. He didn't have time to feel weak, he didn't have time to do anything but ready himself for the fight ahead. He needed his body to be as ready and willing to fight with what he had at his disposal. Otherwise, he didn't know if he'd be ready to face what challenges lay ahead.

1…

2…

He couldn't let himself lose. He needed to win just as much as Pyrrha did, if not more.

I can't lose. I need to be strong enough to face Demyx when the time calls for it.

3…

4…

"I'm still willing to fight." He watched his teammate's expression soften with sadness, before hardening with a discrete anger.

5...

"...You still believe you can beat me as you are now?" Pyrrha's voice was low, her tone almost...insulted?

6…!

Roxas felt his will to summon his Keyblade reach its apex as a bright flash of light exploded into his right hand. The familiar weight of the Oblivion resting with its rightful owner once more.

And...a second familiar weight was resting in his other hand as well. He could hear 'Oh's' and 'Aws' from within the crowd of students.

His eyes immediately widened with surprise before he tore his attention away from a shocked Pyrrha and to his left hand, where the Oathkeeper was resting comfortably in his grip.

The boy couldn't contain the bright smile consuming his face as he stared down at the familiar weapon. His Oathkeeper was finally back!

But why now?

He found himself asking. He'd tried countless times in the past to summon the Keyblade, so why would it appear for him now? Was it his drive to win? His confidence in his abilities returning? Or something else?

He tried to push his other abilities to the forefront, attempting to seek out his light as he'd gotten so used to doing.

Nothing.

He pointed the Oathkeeper forward.

"Fire! Blizzard!"

Nothing.

He frowned staring down at the white Keyblade puzzled before looking back up towards his opponent. So he only had his Keyblade back for some...indiscernible reason.

He could see concern written on her features as she stared back at him, her eyes lingering on his second Keyblade before looking back to him.

"You ready for round two?" Roxas said with a new found confidence to his voice.

His response was a slow nod and an icy stare.

Roxas lowered his stance, spreading out his arms as he readied his weapons.

Pyrrha took a hesitant step forward, then another, then she began to sprint towards him with her Miló pulled back and ready.

Roxas took a single step forward, preparing to surge forward to meet his opponent. His foot met the ground and then-

He slipped.

Something….round was beneath his feet as he tried to take a step forward, rolling with the flat of his shoe and causing him to awkwardly stagger forward with one leg.

What the-!?

Then Pyrrha charged into him.

The boy felt himself slam backward, his footing no longer beneath him before he struck the hard cold floor.

There were several gasps within the crowd of students.

"...Ring out. Victory goes to Ms. Pyrrha Nikos." Professor Goodwitch's voice echoed out from the side of the ring.

Roxas immediately sat up with wide eyes, his brow furrowed as he looked to what had managed to trip him on what should have been a flat arena.

His stared down at where he'd been moments before, and saw compressed bullets lying at his feet. His mouth fell slightly agaped in confusion. She fired those shots on the other side of the arena, how had they wound up-

His eyes widened.

Her semblance…

She'd moved them there, likely while he'd been focusing on summoning his Keyblade back to him.

He let his attention slip, and he paid the price. She offered him a way out of the fight while simultaneously ensuring her own victory if he did refuse her offer.

Pyrrha stepped down from the arena, offering out a hand as Roxas sat dumbfounded by the end of the match.

He looked up in her eyes as she leaned down to help.

He could see sadness there, like she'd just been put down by a heavy insult.

Roxas accepted the hand and was pulled up with ease.

Pyrrha met his gaze in that moment, a frown pulling on her lips as she spoke. "You're strong Roxas...almost definitely stronger than me when you're fully recovered." He could see her wince at the words, almost as if she was finally admitting it to herself. "I know this. But to know that you think yourself better than me while you're still injured…" Her sentence trailed off as she pulled her gaze away from his.

His eyes widened.

He'd thought he understood her message...but he hadn't, or at least, not fully.

He'd challenged her while still clearly injured.

He'd taunted her in the beginning, indicating that he felt that he could take her on as he was, with her giving it her all.

He'd told the entire class that he thought he was better than her even while injured.

He hadn't meant it, but he'd insulted her skill by challenging her in the way he had. He hadn't just taunted her, he'd displayed to the entire class that he felt like Pyrrha Nikos was only a challenge when he was already down and out.

"I-I'm sorry." He quickly blurted out beneath his breath. "I-I didn't mean for you to think that I-" He stopped. That he thought he was still stronger than her despite his weaknesses? He had thought he was better than her even in his current state. He just hadn't meant for it to insult her.

But then again, how could it not be taken as an insult?

How could I have been so stupid?!

Pyrrha immediately smiled in the sweet way she always did. "It's okay, Roxas. I know you didn't mean anything by it…" He could see that the smile didn't quite make it to her eyes.

"I-I really didn't-" he stammered embarrassed, uncertain of what the right words to say would be.

"It's alright." She spoke with her usual happy tone. "It was a good fight."

Roxas fell quiet as the two classmates walked back to their seats. He could hear Professor Goodwitch lecturing the class on their fight, phraising tactics and the engagements the class had seen, but Roxas wasn't listening to any of it.
He'd just hurt his friend's feelings.

...That makes two friends I've upset now…

He quietly thought to himself as he returned to his seat next to a concerned looking Ruby next to a bored looking Jaune who didn't meet his gaze on the walk up.

"You okay?" Ruby asked, touching his arm gently.

Roxas sighed, looking to the girl to see if she seemed to have come to the same conclusions Pyrrha had. He could see none of that hurt or confliction in her face. She hadn't seen it the same way he had.

"...I messed up." He finally admitted.

And despite feeling the familiar hilt of the Oathkeeper in his hand, he felt that he'd lost more than what he'd gained in that fight.

...I have to make it up to them.

---

Her gaze was low as she walked through the rapidly emptying halls. The last of the day's classes were over now, the orange glow of the setting sun cut a line as it filtered through the window.

Ruby's eyes were on her phone as her fingers rapidly pressed away at the letters.

Hey, I saw the trailer for a new Spuce Willis movie in theaters. Wanna go together?

Her thumb pressed send. She continued walking, her eyes never leaving the screen as they moved forward. In the back of her mind she was vaguely aware of the stinging pain from all of her cuts and bruises finally beginning to pull themselves back together. She knew that she would most likely be healed up by tomorrow morning, aura was good like that.

The girl felt her mind begin to drift off, her eyes patiently staring down at her screen for a response. There was no reason for him to refuse her, and he most likely just got out of class the same time she had...so what was keeping him from responding?

...What if he's with her?

The image of the future owner of the Schnee Dust company flashed into her mind, a smug smile pulling at her lips.

"Stop it Ruby...you're being paranoid."

She knew it to be true. It was just her nerves not knowing how to behave now that she was technically in a… relationship. The girl felt a shiver of delight run up her spin as she thought of the word in her mind. It was such a big word, such an adult word that she had no experience with at all. She'd never had a boyfriend before, but Yang certainly had a couple before Beacon. They'd never been too serious, but Ruby had picked up on a few things that seemed to happen in a relationship.

The first was jealousy, often misplaced and unjustified, but very much present. Ruby could still recall the time Yang had slammed her at-the-time boyfriend into the lockers at school, accusing him of cheating just because he hadn't texted her back the night before.

She smiled. She liked telling that story to friends when Yang was around, Yang meanwhile didn't like thinking about the matter.

Right, so, being a little jealous is normal, good even. It shows you care…right?

She smiled. Yeah, it was just like Yang, she was just getting dramatic because she was protective, that's all. All she had to do was make sure she didn't slam anyone into a locker, that would certainly not do well for the reputation of her team if she did that.

Of course...that was suggesting that Yang's situation was the same as her own. The problem was where Yang's only piece of evidence had been a lack of messages and wild speculation, for her…

Wiess had kissed Roxas.

A frown pulled at her lips. She'd not known how to react when he'd told her this. She didn't think he'd exactly known what to make of it either, just that he felt he should tell her before she found out some other way. And, well it had been the right thing to do to be upfront with her she assumed, and… it wasn't like she could exactly blame him for being kissed by someone else. She kissed him, not the other way around. Neither of them had really addressed the matter after the initial conversation.

Which made things...awkward. She'd never had a phenomenal relationship with Weiss before, but now things between them felt...tense. They rarely saw each other anyway with Weiss spending her lunches elsewhere during the period, but the few times they were forced to be near each other…were uncomfortable.

She could still remember the swirling mesh of nervousness that bubbled in her stomach during the meeting they had to discuss tomorrow's plans.

---

-One Day Earlier, Dorm Rooms-

The room was entirely silent despite its many occupants. Both teams RNBY and PRJR alongside Weiss and Namine sat within the room. Some atop desks, others on bedsides, all cramped within RNBY's dorm room.

Blake stood in the center of all of them having just finished speaking. Her gaze was low, her amber eyes unwilling to meet any of theirs.

A simple black ribbon dangled loosely in her hand.

Yang slowly pushed herself off the cabinet she'd been posted up against and walked across the room, stopping once she was standing in front of Blake.

Blake's lips were in a tight frown, one arm rubbing the other.

Ruby noticed Roxas shift beside her, his gaze hardening on Yang, as if he were preparing to step in if he needed to.

Ruby knew her sister, and she knew that he wouldn't need to.

A moment later, Blake was being pulled into a tight hug, Yang shaking her head like a disappointed mother.

"Sheesh, I swear you're so dense sometimes..." she said under her breath.

"Pardon me?"

"I said you're so dense!" Yang shouted with a wide smile. Ruby felt her lips beginning to form the shape of a smile. Yang's cheer was infectious like that.

Blake's brows furrowed, her lips pulling at a slightly more confused smile as Yang pulled away.

The leader of team Rainbow threw her hands up in the air dramatically. "I can't believe you waited so long to tell us about this stuff! Acting all sneaky-like, worrying us like that, and all over something so little."

Ren's voice found footing, his brow furrowed with doubt. "I wouldn't call organizing an attack on a well known radical- and no offense here, Blake- terrorist organization 'something little'."

Yang waved a hand at him as if swatting away the comment as it came towards her. "C'mon Ren, don't be such a stick in the mud. This-" She motioned to them sitting all around her. "-Is what being a Huntsman or Huntress is all about! Discovering baddies, planning, and then taking down baddies as a group! I mean, isn't that why we're all here?" She smiled, her eyes full of life. "To make a difference?"

Ruby smiled as she watched her sister talk. She'd always been a great talker, so good at socializing and raising everyone's mood.

She could see the rest of the room acknowledging her statement, their faces uplifting after such a serious surprise.

"And when the police are eventually called and Ozpin finds out what we did?" Pyrrha asked, a coy grin on her lips. Ruby could see that she was already raring to go.

"We tell him the truth! That we discovered a criminal organization right here in Vale, and like the absolute champs we are, we took care of it." Yang folded her arms confidently, before frowning and adding. "...And maybe we just omit the part about Blake being a former member of the White Fang…" Her eyes traced across the room. "Agreed?"

The room nodded with agreement, faces all littered with smiles and understanding looks.

"...Wait, so you guys aren't mad at me?" Blake's expression was shocked, almost untrusting as she looked across the group.

Nora's head tilted to the side confused. "You're our friend, why would we?"

Blake's expression was bewildered. "B-because I was a part of a terroristic civil rights group, because I helped them grow to where they are today, because I-"

"-Blake Blake Blake-" Yang cut in, placing both hands on the faunus's shoulders. Blake's voice fell away as she looked to her team leader confused.

"I have one thing I need you to hear me say." Yang's cheerful smile fell away, her eyes hardening as she held Blake's gaze. "You are not the same person you were back then. You did what you felt was right at the time, just like you are now." She smiled, gripping the girl's shoulders firmly. "That's what a good Huntress is supposed to do dummy."

Blake smiled back warmly at her team leader.

Then Yang's fist connected with the girl's arm.

"Hey!" Blake snapped as she pulled back, rubbing her now sore bicep.

"That's for keeping a secret like this for so long!" Yang beckoned a closed fist towards the girl. "And you'll be getting worse if you ever hide something like this from us again! Right guys?" She looked over her shoulder at the rest of team RNBY.

Ren smiled with a nod. "Never feel afraid to approach us Blake. We're here for you."

Nora immediately pumped a fist. "Yeah! We break people's legs!"

"No Nora, we don't break people's legs."

"Pfft, maybe you don't."

Ruby smiled as she watched the tension bleed away from the room as Nora's cheerful personality began to make the others smile more. Eventually they all started to enter their own conversations, some speculating, others merely catching up on their days with each other.

"Well, glad that went better than expected." Roxas said beside her.

"I had faith in my sister." She responded proudly. Roxas had told her of what the meeting was going to be about ahead of time so that she would be better prepared for it now. She didn't know how she felt about Blake at one point in time being a part of a terrorist group. She didn't know what that meant she did for the White Fang...but she could tell Blake was a good person, so that was enough for her.

"Heh, yeah, I guess you were right. I didn't have anything to worry about."

"When are you going to figure out that I'm right about everything?" she chimed with a coy grin. Leaning into him and bumping him playfully.

She watched as his eyes narrowed, his lips pulling at a smile. "Hmm, I don't know. I'm pretty sure you've been wrong about plenty of things."

"Blasphemy! How dare you challenge the never defeated food fight champion!" She raised her arms in triumph. Her eyes were locked onto his now, a bright, playful grin plastered on her face.

Roxas's head tilted to the side, looking at her in that way that she could finally admit she really liked. She loved it when she could do something silly, be herself, be ridiculous for a little bit, and instead of shooting her a look of embarrassment, he would shape that endearing little smile of his and sometimes even join in.

"...You've only won the one food fight you realize."

"One victory and zero losses! That's still 'undefeated' status technically!" She raised her arms higher.

"Hmm…" She watched as he moved in a little closer to her. "Well...my response to that is…"

Suddenly, the blond's finger was poking into her armpit.

With a loud squeak the girl hopped away, her arms rapidly pinning to the sides of her torso.

Roxas's laugher rang out next.

A bit red in the face, a devious grin crossed the girl's features. "Oh yeah? You wanna play dirty?" She took a step forward, her arms in a ready position, her fingers wiggling dangerously.

She noticed that Roxas wasn't looking at her now, his eyes were looking across the room at something else. The humor that had been in his face had faded away.

She followed his gaze.

Jaune was standing apart from the rest of the group, having recently broken away from the conversation to check his scroll.

She could already tell what he was thinking. He'd told her about how Jaune had been giving him the cold shoulder recently, as if there was some bad blood between them for some reason. Once he pointed it out, she'd noticed it too.

"Now might be a good time to talk to him…" she whispered into his ear.

"Yeah?" His response sounded uncertain.

"Yeah, you two work things out like bros." She slipped her hand into his, giving it a comforting squeeze.

She watched her boyfriend pause. "...Wait, what does that even mean?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, I'm not a bro."

Roxas let out a soft laugh, shaking his head before he returned the squeeze and slipped between a conversation between Nora and Pyrrha to reach Jaune across the room.

She watched for a few seconds as he moved towards her teammate before looking at the other conversations going on in the dorm. Ren, Yang and Blake all seemed to have gotten into a conversation about a book, the conversation mostly comprising of Blake and Ren talking about their experiences and opinions on the book as Yang poked fun having not read it. Nora and Pyrrha seemed to have switched topics, with Nora insisting that the slogan 'We break legs!' would be an awesome way to promote team RNBY.

Weiss and Namine, meanwhile, were off to the side seperate from the main group. She couldn't overhear their conversation, but she could see-

A cold shiver ran down the girl's spine as she looked towards the pair.

Weiss's cold, serious eyes were staring directly at her.

The moment their eyes met Weiss pulled away, turning her attention back to Namine who seemed to have not noticed her partner not paying attention to whatever they'd been discussing.

Was she just...watching me?

She frowned, an icky, nervous feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. Had she been watching her little exchange with Roxas?

The idea left the girl uncomfortable, as if she'd been being judged all the while. She knew that Weiss liked Roxas. She knew that she'd made a move on her boyfriend before they'd 'officially' gotten together.

So where did that put them now?

Ruby didn't know.

She felt uncomfortable for the rest of that evening. Eventually, they all got together and formed a plan around what they would need to do in order to make sure this plan worked. What jobs they would have to shadow, where they would need to be in town. It impressed her when Jaune stepped forward and began to line out the rest of the group, explaining what they would be doing in the fight ahead.

The talk of such a serious challenge ahead of them almost made Ruby forget about the situation between her and Weiss.

Almost.

---

C'mon Roxas, answer…

She frowned at the device as she turned the corner leading to the staircase up. She wanted to get changed out of her school gear before they left, and maybe fit in a shower if she had the time for-

SLAM!

"Urk!"

"Hey!"

Ruby's eyes tightly clamped shut as she processed the pain in her forehead. She staggered back rubbing the sore spot

"Sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"Well obviously!"

Her body froze as she heard the familiar voice. Slowly her eyes opened as the pain in her forehead dulled.

Wiess Schnee was standing before her, rubbing a similar spot on her forehead with her eyes closed.

"I swear, the nerve of some-" Her sentence suddenly cut off as her eyes also opened, meeting with the silver pair in front of hers.

"Oh…"

The two stared at one another with shocked and surprised expressions.

There was a pregnant pause as they remained silent, looking to one another, and each acknowledging the awkwardness of the situation.

It was Weiss who ended this silence as she turned, moving past Ruby and out into the hallway.

A set of silver eyes watched the Schnee as she moved away. It felt like there was so many things that needed to be said...but no convenient way to say it.

Ruby felt herself grow antsy as she watched the ice princess continue to walk away. She wanted to say something, do something so that all of their interactions from this point on wasn't as awkward as this one.

Finally, the antsy feeling won out as the girl nervously blurted out. "Uh, h-hey Weiss?"

She watched the girl freeze, pausing with her back still to her. Ruby watched the girl's shoulders rise and fall in a slow sigh before the heir to the Schnee Dust company spun back around to face her.

Her arms were crossed, her expression as cold and abrasive as Ruby knew it could be.

"I-I thought it might be good f-for us to talk about it." Ruby felt especially out of her comfort zone. She'd never even had a boyfriend before, so how could she be prepared for something like this?

"...I'm not going to try and steal him away if that's what you're thinking." Weiss said in a sneer, her words sounding almost offended. "He chose you. I can respect that."

Ruby caught a slight wince in the girls eyes as she said the last part of her sentence.

She rapidly shook her head. "No-no-no, it's not like that. I-I didn't think you were gonna try to-"

"Then what is it then?!" she snapped impatiently, clearly just as uncomfortable. "Are you just trying to rub it in? Why do you feel the need to remind me of the fact that you and he are together?"

"I-I just…" She looked down sheepishly, frowning as she struggled to put into words what exactly she wanted out of this exchange.

"I guess…I just don't want to have any...bad blood between us is all…I just… don't want you to hate me because of Roxas and me being… well…"

"Together?" Weiss finished, her eyes half-lidded as she said the word.

Ruby nodded slowly.

There was another long pause. Ruby watched as Weiss seemed to study her, the sharpness to her features softening as she let out a tired sigh.

Pinching the bridge of her nose and looking down, she spoke. "Look...I'm not going to allow this...event, affect the outcome of the fight ahead. I don't want you worrying about me doing something spiteful on the battlefield. I'm not like that."

Ruby smiled.

"However," The Schnee continued with her brows furrowing into an angry expression once more. "That does not mean that I'm especially interested in 'hanging out' or being your friend at the moment. Don't think that you and I are 'buddy-buddy' now just because you decided to speak to me."

Ruby felt her shoulders sink, her demeanor deflating.

Weiss looked away, her lips curving ever so slightly downward. "...I still resent you...even if I know it's not your fault for liking him too…"

"...I'm sorry…" Ruby's gaze was sympathetic as she studied the girl. Ruby had never felt romantic feelings before this, but she could remember what it felt like to assume she'd been rejected with Roxas's memories having been corrupted.

She could remember wearing that look Weiss was wearing right now.

Weiss looked up at her, meeting her gaze once more before sneering and looking away. "...I don't want your apology."

Ruby's mouth opened to respond, but before she could, the Schnee had already rounded the corner, disappearing from sight.

Ruby let out a shaky breath, letting her nerves cool down. That had felt a little too adult for her liking. When did everything get so complicated?

She sighed as she turned back to the steps before noticing her scroll lighting up with the notification icon. She pulled it out immediately and smiled when she saw it was from Roxas.

Sounds fun! Sorry about the late reply, Nora saw you message me over my shoulder and immediately stole the scroll from me. She figured out how to put hearts all over your name...I don't think I know how to change it back.

A quiet laugh escaped the girl's lips.

Do you want to change it back?

...No? Should I not want to?

The girl laughed a second time as she ascended the steps. She loved that Roxas seemed just as clueless as she was about this whole relationship thing. It made it feel like they were on an even playing field, both just as inexperienced and thus perfect for each other!

She smiled at the thought.

---

-The Following Morning-

Roxas's gaze was pulled to the corner of the desk resting across the room. Sitting there was a clock with glowing red digits.

...8:45

Roxas knew what his friends would be doing now. Right now was where they formed lines to the terminals to select what Huntsman or Huntress they'd like to shadow for the next week. They'd all agreed to becoming shadows for Huntsmen and Huntresses in the Industrial District no matter what that meant. He was supposed to be down there too, but at the last minute decided that he needed to speak to a certain someone about something important. He'd handed Ruby his scroll to register for him. He'd felt bad when he hadn't provided an answer for her 'What's wrong?'.

The teen was sitting patiently in a simple chair now, consciously aware of the sound of his quiet breathing as he nervously awaited a response.

Ozpin sat with a serious expression on his face as he studied him.

"I wish you would have told me sooner. I would have been more prepared to aid you had I been granted some preparation."

"I...I didn't know if it was a good idea to go to you in the first place."

The headmaster's brow furrowed. "Why? I'm a teacher, my very profession is to my students."

He let out a soft sigh before continuing. "Because this means something to Blake and I was worried that you'd take this out of our hands if I told you sooner." Blake's words replayed in his mind. "Not only that, but we don't know who we can trust with this information now. Blake said that the White Fang might have rats in the police force so...bringing it to the officials might not be the best idea." Not only that, but Roxas couldn't imagine how many police would be hurt if they tried to subdue a force as strong as Demyx was. It was odd for the boy to think of Demyx as threatening, but when he got down to it, that goofy aloof attitude was little more than a mask for the dangerous person that lied underneath.

The headmaster remained still as he listened, his wise, darkly toned eyes focusing on his words intently.

Several seconds pass before a coy grin pulled on Ozpin's lips. "I can already tell by your demeanor that you won't allow me to intervene in this endeavor."

Roxas shook his head.

"I could cancel your trips out of the school, you realize."

"I could just use my Corridor to get there instead." He bluffed.

Ozpin leaned forward, an easy smile resting on his face as he brought his hands together.

"Then why tell me in the first place?"

Roxas paused. He hadn't exactly known what he had hoped to gain by telling Ozpin of this news. Perhaps he just needed to tell someone about the trip before he went?

…Or maybe he was still nervous deep down and bringing it to someone who was supposed to be responsible and knowledgeable was reassuring. Perhaps a part of himself had actually wanted the headmaster to convince him out of it, to provide an 'Option 2' to this whole scenario.

He hadn't gotten one.

"...Honestly? I don't know. I guess I just...thought it would be best to let you know."

"Hmmm…" An almost satisfactory smile was spreading across the headmaster's cheeks now.

"Well then, I suppose I can do a little something to aid you in this mission. After all, I believe you've done something similar to this before correct?"

Roxas reflected on his time at the docks."Yeah, I guess so."

"So you have experience in the field. Experience is key, and the entire point of this week, to see this experience first hand by shadowing a competent Huntsman or Huntress out in the field. Even if you plan to disregard my best judgement, I will not allow you to fail my given assignment."

Roxas cocked his head to the side confused.

"What are you talking about?"

Ozpin fell silent as he began to dial a number into his scroll before slowly laying it down flat having turned it on speaker.

It rang five times before Roxas could hear someone on the other end pick up.

"What do ya want?" The voice sounded masculine and gravelly...and slightly slurred as well.

"I wanted to ask if you had plans for the upcoming several days." Ozpin chimed cheerfully despite the obvious annoyance in whoever this person's voice was.

The man's slur he'd heard earlier immediately faded "...You realize that I only just got back from-"

"Yes, and I'm very appreciative of your work. But something else has come up that I feel you would be interested in." The Headmaster added quicker.

Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"...I swear after this you're going to leave me alone for an entire week! You hear me?"

"I do. Thank you for all that you do for me. I promise to make this up to you."

"You can do that by leaving me alone for a little while. Seriously, it feels like all I do is work nowadays." There was an annoyed sigh on the other end. Roxas could picture whoever this person was pinching the bridge of their nose as they exhaled.

"What do you need from me Ozpin?"

The headmaster looked expectantly to Roxas.

Realizing that was his cue, the teen immediately spoke up. "Uh, hello. I'm uh, sorry to be dragging you into this. But I have this classmate-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa kid. First things first, introductions. What's your name kid?" The voice on the other end grumbled.

"Oh," He blinked. "My name is Roxas."

"Nice to meet ya kid, name's Qrow."

---

Author's Note:

-Shiloh-

Hello my fellow readers! Did you miss us? ;D I'm sorry we've been quiet for quite some time. A lot of things happened with RoxaShadow and I. For me, it was mostly school that kept me busy and almost caused me to have heart attacks from the stress DX I know it's no excuse for putting the story on a temporary hiatus, but I do hope it explains the reason for not updating. Unfortunately, my winter break was short, so I'm back in school again, and it seems that I'm going to be busy again. That is why I hope that this chapter will suffice as our apology and way of saying that we aren't gonna let this story die. I'm not sure when RoxaShadow and I will be able to update again, so I ask that you do your best to be patient and have faith that you will see the next update of this story eventually. In the meantime, I do hope that you enjoyed this chapter and will be looking forward to the next on :D

-Roxashadow-

It's certainly been awhile hasn't it? I hope the length of this chapter alongside the mini-chapter following this message will be enough for some of you to forgive me. The most recent months have been unkind to me for the most part to a point that I found writing from the perspectives of these characters was impossible in my given state. All within the same month I ended a 2 year long relationship, had my car stolen(And never recovered), was forced to give up a job that gave me the free time to write for this story, and then move out of my apartment on top of it all. It makes me laugh how much happened in such a short amount of time.

...You can imagine the difficulty that would be writing for a character's newly blossomed romantic relationship shortly following a break up, which was what mostly drove my motivations towards other projects. Contrary to what you might assume, I haven't stopped writing since my break from this story. I instead chose to create a new series called talking with a monster, a fic set in the dragonball universe in a time period where most of the characters are dead, where the heroes have failed and where everything seems tragic.

Yeah I know, dramatic aren't I? Lol.

But alas, my desire to write for the story has again prostered and motivated me to finish this chapter that sat so long in hiatus it began to become a running gag to me. Funnily enough, it became easier to write from Weiss's perspective in this chapter. In fact, her scene in this chapter was totally unprompted and did not appear in my outlines.
Now, onto brighter topics!
Many of you have likely noticed that there is a LOT more to scroll through past this AN, that is because included in this chapter is a concept chapter, think of it as a sort of 'Pilot Chapter', where it's reception here could potentially lead to more consistent RWBYXKingdom Hearts content from yours truly!

On a side note in regards to RWBY x Kingdom Hearts crossovers, Shiloh pointed out to me that this story is the biggest story surrounding these fandom's crossing over! (On this site anyway)

Isn't that awesome? I was so proud when I looked that up. Thank you guys, sincerely.

Now back on subject, the following piece of work is something I created out of a spur of the moment inspiration that took hold of me and wouldn't let go of me until 5am in the morning when I was finally done.
To explain what it is...well...let me put it this way.
Typically in a 'crossover' two worlds collide, with sometimes varying cultures and morals coming from both sides.

What I'm talking about is when a character is removed from their world and warped to another(like my fic), or the main character just happens to stumble on the other world. These introductions to one another clearly separate the worlds, dividing them until that initial point.

This story however… explores what could be in a scenario where the two worlds were never split. A universe blend if you will, where both cultures and concepts have always existed in the same world, molding around each other to create something unique in itself. Alongside this shift, the following has its own entirely new story using both universes cores to create itself. And due to this fact, the story is entirely new while still remaining true to the original concepts.

I also feel like exploring more mature topics from within the world, topics I don't feel fit within the setting of TNOR as well(Since I try to replicate the tone and maturity that the original sources have shown). Characters will be potentially aged up by a couple of years for more mature characters moving forward. I want to avoid a whole 'school for fighting kids' trope altogether in favor of actually exploring the world and seeing the grim realities of such a universe that we rarely get to experience in the main series.

Haha what am I saying, that's only if you guys vote for it. I could see you all hating it and none of these ideas ever come to life. Please drop a review for it if you are for or against the new story idea, thank you.(also name suggestions for the story if you have any!)

(Also! For those of you interested in knowing the progress of my work in the wait for the next chapter, I've been regularly updating my profile page with the current status of all my works.)
And lastly, I want to promote my which I only just recently created for those of you who would like to help support my passion for writing past reviews. There's only one tier, 1 dollar, because I don't know what I'm doing and may struggle to get things up and running in the beginning (I've never used before, so please be kind to me if I make a mistake at first!).

I won't go on and on about the benefits, but if you're interested in showing support towards the story and myself, it's only 1 dollar and I would greatly appreciate it. I plan to release more content on a more consistent basis from now on, and once I get things right, I plan to be posting on a scheduled date so that you guys get more than just these out of left field updates. If you care to support that, I would be greatly appreciative.

P a treon . com (slash) Roxashadow (without the spaces)

And without further ado, the pilot chapter~

---

He was tired, but that was no different than any other day. The dense foliage beneath his feet crunched loudly as he marched through it, unwilling to slow his pace even if his legs longed for a rest.

He had a mission.

He had to find her.

He had to.

He'd been traveling through this dense jungle-like terrain for what had been nearly five days now. The tattered remnants of a dark black cloak hung thinly on the young man's shoulders, torn in places, slashed in others. It was well used, well worn with the hood cloaking the young man's eyes from the sun above. He liked, or rather, preferred his face hidden when traversing through large sections of the unknown.

It made it harder for...them to notice if you were aware of them or not.
The snap of a twig prompted the hooded figure to duck sharply just as four black claws cut across the space above his head. He spun, his hand forming a grip around the air, almost as if wrapping around the hilt of a weapon.

A pure white light flashed twice, illuminating the tall shadowing trees surrounding them.

The young man slowly rose from his crouched position as the larger, bulkier figure before him staggered for a moment before falling backwards as its legs fell forward onto itself.

The hooded figure turned away a moment later, pausing to reach into his coat, producing a compass before turning back in the direction he'd been before. He didn't particularly like the crackling noise they made when they began decomposing.

His tired, aching feet began trudging forward moments later.

A sneer pulled at his lips as he caught the slow beginnings of the Beowolf's decaying body behind him.

Like a fire crackling in the night.

The sound had forever corrupted the noise of a warm campfire for the young man.
He trudged forward, mentally acknowledging that he was venturing into the...more unknown, the...worse unknown? The man paused to think about it, frowning in thought. He realized that there was no real name for it. It was just a matter of how far out you were from civilization that determined just how dangerous they would become.

That made accurate maps outside of typical trade routes and well sanctioned roadways between towns and countries a rarity. The farther out the location, the less likely the map is accurate due to the danger involved with such a job. The number of rushed, terrified written maps by artists without the spine for the job was in abundance, to say the least. Finding an accurate one for a location this far out into the unknown was nearly impossible.

That was, unless you paid a very handsome price to the right people.

And the hooded figure knew the right people, and had paid the right price.

He continued forward, periodically checking his map as he did so, adjusting his direction with his compass before continuing onward.

He felt his eyes begin to close, his body tiring from the long journey thus far.

Choosing to distract himself, he let his mind drift to other thoughts.

For a moment, he began to reflect on what he knew to pass the time, or rather, distract himself from his ever growing exhaustion. His thoughts drifted towards what this 'special weapon' might be, and if it was really worth all the trouble.

It better be…

He thought grumbling to himself. He'd spent nearly everything he had left to acquire this map, the idea of coming all this way only to find that the 'weapon' had been nothing more than a grossly exaggerated legend caused his shoulders to sag in defeat.

He'd overheard this rumor at a bar, only gaining the bare bones of the rumor, but enough to track it down to this point. From what he could gather of the story, there was a skilled Huntress that arose over two decades ago with a weapon that could obliterate any Heartless without exception. She was wildly successful in her craft, growing in popularity and battle prowess alike, until one day after several years as a Huntress, she disappeared without a trace, retiring from the industry without giving anyone a single reason.

Summer Rose…

He rolled the name around in his mouth. It was a beautiful name to say the least, one that he found painted a pleasant image of the person, although he knew that realistically his guess to how they would look could hardly resemble their actual appearance. He was curious to meet the person behind the legend. Who was this person who once held such a powerful weapon that their feats would be remembered after over a decade of inactivity? And furthermore...what could have made that person stop?

Kinda selfish…why not hand down such a powerful weapon to the next generation if you're just gonna quit?

Had it broken and became the reason for her resignation? What could lead someone with such a powerful tool against the creatures of the Unknown to hide away in such an obscure part of the world?

And, if they were content with remaining locked off from the rest of the world...then would they be willing to give the weapon to someone willing to make a difference once more?

That was the goal he was chasing as he moved ever further into the jungle.

He'd pursued other legends before only to have them turn out to be little more than folk tales the townspeople created to add lore to their small, otherwise forgettable town. He'd chased so many down to their roots, up to the point that his list of possibilities had shrunken down to a shallow few.

His brow furrowed, his gaze falling as he continued walking. In the back of his mind he knew that this was one of his final chances of finding something, anything that might actually be real.

And that it likely wasn't real.

Just like all the rest…

His eyes turned up towards the sky, seeing that the sun was going down and knowing that he would need to pause for rest soon.

Travelling in the dark within the Unknown was not a great idea, especially this deep in.

He came to a stop as the sun crested over the horizon.

---

-Several Hours Later-

The man forced himself to shut his eyes as he rested his back against the hard bark of the massive oak tree he'd decided to call home for the night. The stars like fireflies locked in place by the black spider web of the night sky. He climbed several branches high before tying himself to the tree itself, wrapping the rope around his midsection several times. Sleeping on the ground was impossible if you didn't have someone to keep lookout while you rested. Otherwise, you'd have one of them on you, digging their claws into you as your early morning alarm clock.

The hooded figure didn't even know if he trusted to rest on the ground floor even with someone else. Maybe during the day, but at night…!

He felt his shoulders flinch as he heard a trig snap somewhere off to his left. He'd never been able to prove it himself, but it always felt like the Heartless were more active at night.

The snap of a tree branch to his right rang out like a gunshot in the otherwise silent night air.

They can feel me. They know I'm nearby…

He still wondered how exactly that worked. Was there a secret radar they had in their body? Was it a sixth sense? Science had yet to figure out exactly the way these creatures managed to seek out prey from the fear it was exuding. All he knew was that they knew when something fearful was nearby.

His eyes were narrow slits staring off into the darkness far below. He could hear them below him, searching, sniffing around for the faint source of nervousness in the area.

The man scowled, frustrated at himself for giving them anything to track him with. No matter how hard he tried, he could never relax himself at night. In the day with a full night's rest and a full belly? There wasn't Heartless alive he didn't feel comfortable taking on. But at night, when he knew that he wouldn't have the protection of his wits and skill? When he couldn't rely on his aura to protect him? Asleep and dangling from a tree branch like a tasty little treat for the right sized Ursa to notice and eat?

How could he not be a little nervous?

He let out a quiet sigh as he slowly dug around his pack before he felt what he was looking for. He pulled out a single white container before popping the lid and depositing a single white pill into his hand.

'Tranquillity', an underground drug used to relax the user's mind. Cheaper than the 'legal' over the counter stuff, but still expensive. Its target audience was...varied. Huntresses and Huntsmen liked to use it on solo missions for the same reason he had it in his hand now. A way to find a safe rest within dangerous terrain. Other users...well, he knew that there was more than one reason to want to relax to a point that even a charging Ursa wouldn't scare you.

He sneered at the pill, staring down at it with disgust. He didn't like taking them and would actively avoid doing so if he could, but he knew he wouldn't be getting any rest tonight if he didn't. He needed his wits if he wanted safe travels in the morning, which meant consuming this pill now to get any sleep.

He begrudgingly brought the pill to his lips, and closed his eyes soon after.

---

-The following morning…-

His eyes were narrow slits as he struggled to see with the morning sunlight striking his face. He'd been awake for over an hour now, but could still feel part of the numbing sensations from the drug on his body.

He shook out his arms as he tried to shake himself of the sensation. Fumbling with his bag, the map was soon produced before his eyes gave it a critical gaze.

Not far from here...I think.

The problem with the map was that its lengths weren't exact, and with this much forest, gathering an exact length was nearly impossible. The most he could hope for was getting to roughly the right area and searching for something that would indicate human life.

His feet were soon in motion again as he folded away the map for what felt like the thousandth time.

I will find you.

He half commanded, half hoped to himself.

"Grrr…"

His feet came to a sudden halt as he heard the snarl emanating from the dense plant life to his right. His eyes moved, but not his head as he slowly picked out the darkened figure hiding itself poorly amongst the jungle life.

An Ursa…

Its figure was the general shape of a bear, but larger in every way from its frame to its massive, bone white claws contrasting with its otherwise black body. It's glowing red eyes locked onto his own as it began to approach, its powerful jaws snarling once more as it did.

Wrong move buddy.

The Ursa charged, roaring as it came, meanwhile the man's hand gripped around an invisible handle…

---

This is...wrong.

That was the first thought to enter his mind when he stepped out into the hillside. Before him was an open space with several rolling hills littered with vibrant flowers and long strands of grass that reached just past his shins as he walked through it. The treeline had abruptly stopped in a line that seemed to circle the area, but not trespass on it. Coupled with the warm, unclouded sun...the sight was damn near beautiful.

Which led to the hooded figure immediately pulling out his map to check his location. He'd followed the path routed out for him religiously, so how could it be he'd stumbled upon an area not even marked? As far as the route told him, there should be nothing but jungle for the next several miles ahead.

His brow creased, his lips forming a tight frown as he struggled to interpret the drawings in any way that would indicate that he was somewhere else than where he knew himself to be.

...Does this mean…?

"...Just great…"

It meant the map was wrong. He'd spent all that Lien only to get scammed in the end. He growled to himself, toying with the idea of tearing the piece of parchment apart right there, but deciding against it. It had been accurate up until this point, which meant that it would be helpful for getting back, if not helpful in proceeding any further in this mission.

"Just another bust."

He sighed to himself. He hadn't even gotten the chance to find out if this legend had been real before having to turn back. It would be dangerous for him to move forward into unmapped territory, especially since his supplies were already running low. He'd already pushed farther than he normally would at this point, dipping into some of the food he needed for the return trip. He'd rationalized doing so by telling himself that if someone did live all the way out here, they would likely be able to give a few extra rations for his return trip anyway. That, and well, he'd been really hungry.

The figure in black turned his back to the beautiful sight, his mind slowly calculating how he would need to ration out the rest of his supplies for the return trip.

Gonna have to go a few nights without food I think…

Then, his eyes widened as his head cocked to the side, a noise he knew faintly filling his ears.

Water!

Immediately the young man grew excited as he turned on his heel and progressed towards the sound, trekking further into the beautiful fields and towards where he could hear the undeniable sound of a rushing current.

His pace quickened when he finally laid eyes on it, excitement welling up in his chest as he raced down towards the stream. It wasn't a thick river by any means, he predicted it would only go up to his waste if he allowed himself to dive in. His water sources, however, were limited where he was going to be, and this was a much needed bonus to the man's resolve.

He knelt by the current, eagerly digging within his bag for his water jug. He brought the nozzle to his lips before downing the last of its contents and plunging the container under the brisk current. A wide, excited grin pulled at the man's lips as he felt the chill of the water caress his wrist and upper forearm. He had half a mind to jump in, a nice way to cool off after such a hot trip through the humid jungle, but thought against it. He knew it would take him a long time to get back to civilization, and he didn't have the energy to waste splashing in the water, even if it would rejuvenate him. Not to mention that if his clothes weren't dry by the time night fell, he would be in for a rough ride since he couldn't start a fire.

The figure clad in black slowly rose, his hands idly dropping a water purification tablet into the freshly refilled bottle before depositing it into his bag. His eyes lingered on the sight before him, the flourishing green grass, the untouched wild flowers littering the otherwise vacant hills, the twinkling, rushing water, the fish scrambling to escape the wiremess trap in the river-

His head jerked in the direction of the water.

There, resting securely in the water was a simply crafted fishing trap. It was designed to allow the fish to swim into it with the current, but trap them there as the fish were too weak to fight the current to get back out.

Immediately he was rushing into the water, taking long, awkward strides towards the cage as he did. He reached down and grabbed it easily, finding the clip keeping it secure to the rock below before pulling it up.

He could see that the trap had already secured two trout flopping helplessly within the cage. However, the excitement in the man's chest grew as a result of what he couldn't see within the cage.

No dead or rotting fish...which means that whoever set this trap has been here to tend to it recently…!

He felt like celebrating right there. Leaping for joy and hollering with excitement. It was only his training that stopped him. No good in drawing attention to yourself while in the Unknown, even if it was in a particularly pretty part of it.

The lone figure slowly lowered the trap back into the water, deciding it would be better to come back and collect the fish later when he had time to properly gut and store their meat away. Right now he was far too excited to do any of that. His resolve had just been revitalized ten-fold, he felt almost certain now that this legend had finally been accurate.

He stepped out of the water, feeling his lower half and parts of his torso being completely soaked, but not minding in the slightest. There was some form of civilization nearby.

All he had to do was find it.

Immediately, his shoulders turned and he began to follow the stream, deducing that most settlements build themselves beside sources of water.

If I find nothing going this way in an hour, I'll turn back and follow the river downstream.

He continued for twenty more minutes before he finally found it.

But 'it' wasn't exactly what he'd been expecting to find.

The hooded figure stood still before yet another piece of evidence that mankind had been here.

Before him, was a simply made gravestone. The flowers were most concentrated here, fully surrounding the gravestone in a sea of whites, yellows and other vibrant colors. A roughly constructed fence had been crafted and built as a barrier around the stone. He doubted that it would keep even a Beowolf out if the creature tried, but then again why would it?

The person behind the barrier was already dead.

The person he'd been looking for...was already dead.

Summer Rose…

He continued to stare at the letters carved into the stone for a long time, his burning excitement being reduced to a quiet simmer.

The Huntress he'd been looking for, his long shot in the center of the deepest part of the Unknown he'd ever been in, was already dead.

...But is the weapon she had still around…?

He was disappointed that he wouldn't be able to meet the person behind the legend, sure, but at the same time, he hadn't come all this way to meet her, he'd come all this way for whatever that weapon was. And as far as he knew, dead people didn't magically bury themselves in a patch of flowers surrounded by a handmade fence.

Which means...someone else is still living here.

The revelation struck him as odd. No part of the rumor he'd gotten a hold of ever mentioned Summer leaving with a partner. In fact, in his research he'd discovered that she actually left a marriage to come out here instead.

...Did Summer run off with someone she was having an affair with?

He shrugged. It was a possible theory.

He began to continue in the direction the river was flowing, cressing one of the many hills before he froze once more.

There, he could see what he'd been looking for. Roughly a five minute walk away, he could make out the clear shape of a cottage.

He began to run towards the structure, his smile bright with eagerness to finally meet whoever it was who lived out here. The light in his eyes began to slowly die however as his run came to a stop.

He stared out at the building longingly, but knew he still had to plan this carefully.

...Summer Rose was a famous, and strong Huntress…

That fact alone made the man twitchy. Knowing that she chose to run off to the middle of the Unknown with anyone told him that her partner must have had a similar skillset to her own to survive out here longer that the famous Summer Rose herself.

His eyes narrowed on the cottage.

...What if they don't want to hand over the weapon? What if they want to keep it for themselves?

It had been a question he'd been asking himself repeatedly over the last several days. He was here for one reason and one reason only: to collect whatever this legendary weapon might be. He'd assumed that someone this far away from society would be willing to part with it to someone who could help the people.

But what if they refused?

What would he do then?

His fingers slowly curled into fists.

...Then I'll take it.

It was unpleasant to consider, but the man knew that if negotiations went south, he might have a fight on his hands.

And he had to be ready for that fight if Summer Rose's reputation was anything to go off of. Sure, she and by extension, any partner would be decades older than the young man granting him a natural youth advantage, but that didn't immediately assure his victory. Something he'd learned that while Huntresses and Huntsmen did have a short lifespan due to the nature of their work, the ones who managed to live as long as they did managed for a reason.

He'd have to be ready to compete with that level of skill if necessary.

He quickly reached for a pocket within his coat, producing two crystals, each as long as his index finger. One of a white, translucent color, and the other a bright red.

He stared down long and hard at the two Dust crystals. They were the last of his elemental crystals, and he'd been using them sparingly considering how limited they would be on a journey this far out into the Unknown. A part of him wanted to go into the fight without using them, save it just in case negotiations didn't go south, but another part of him knew that an experienced fighter wouldn't give him the opportunity to use one of these in an actual fight.

Which meant that he either had to choose one or the other.

Or both?

He considered the idea but dashed it. He wanted to keep one just in case of an emergency on the way back.

He looked at the red Dust crystal, the one that allowed him to control the element of fire. His eyes lingered on the grassy terrain, the beautiful striking contrasts of color littering the rolling fields.

Then he envisioned it all up in flame from him misplacing a fire attack.

Something in him didn't want to corrupt that peace.

He pocketed the red crystal before taking the translucent crystal, the one that carried with it the element of air and tossed it into his mouth. Fitting it between his back teeth, the man bit down hard before he felt the crystal shatter within his mouth, its contents crumbling away down his throat.

He closed his eyes as he felt the Dust reach his stomach and begin to resonate with his aura. For a moment, there was a small shimmer all around him as the crystal reacted, attuning to his senses as they always did.

He smiled as he opened his eyes, staring down at one hand, sensing the power at his fingertips once more. Dust was such an interesting source of power to draw from. It could be infused into weapons, used as a power source for machinery and grant abilities to a person who consumes it.

That was of course, if you were attuned to that element.

He knew that he was lucky when it came to what he could attune to. It was down to sheer chance if you were one of the lucky few who could even attune to a type of Dust at all. Most people who could attune to a Dust type could only attune to just one type, or maybe two if they were lucky. These people were called "Solidusts".

Then there were people like him who could attune to multiple types of Dust.

That was called being a "Polidust", which meant that he could attune to multiple different types of Dust regardless of type.

He idly wondered if Summer's partner would be able to attune to any of the elements.

Would they even have Dust crystals this far away from any Dust facility?

He doubted it.

Now feeling more confident in his abilities he began to march towards the cottage.

It didn't take long until he was standing at the base of the steps leading up to the door. He could see now that the structure was almost entirely composed of wood with stone used here and there where necessary. It resembled some of the homes he'd seen in some of the small villages he'd on occasion pass through. Just by looking at it, it was clearly hand built, although the man had assumed as much just from being so far out here.

Not like you could get a standard contractor out here anyway…

He thought humorously to himself before stepping to the door. He paused a moment as his hand stretched out to knock on the door. He contemplated whether he should just enter, try and find the weapon himself if they were out and leave without confrontation.

He shook his head.

Let's try to keep things peaceful.

He'd much prefer avoiding a fight if at all possible, and getting caught slinking around someone's house didn't seem like the best way to make a good first impression.

His knuckles racked against the wood.

He waited patiently at the door, silently listening for signs of life within the cottage. His lips dropped into a frown upon hearing nothing. He tried a second time before trying at the handle.

The door swung open easily.

No point in locks if there's no one around…

He stepped into the cottage slowly, carefully, wary to see what was inside.

It's content...left him confused.

Insides was a nice cozy space. He could clearly identify a couch to his left resting inside what seemed to him to be a living room, complete with a coffee table and a nicely built fireplace. To his right he could clearly make out a place for cooking, with a wood fueled stove in the corner, pots and pans littering the space. A single staircase led up to a mysterious second floor.

That all made sense to the young man, what didn't however...was all the clothes lying around.

He quickly determined that if someone were to plant a bomb in the center of a massive pile of clothes, and then set it off, this would be what the result looked like..

Guess they decided that there's no need to keep things clean…

He knelt to examine some of the clothes that had landed on the ground. He could see that they were clothes for a smaller individual...a female?

A bright blush burned in his cheeks as he turned over a shirt to reveal a set of bright pink panties.

Yup, definitely a girl who lives here.

He raised an eyebrow at this. In his research, he hadn't gone too deep into Summer's personal life. Just enough to verify that she had really been a person and that she had really possessed some variety of special weapon against the Heartless. He had determined, however, that Summer's former relationship had been with a man, so he assumed that her partner would have been a man in this scenario too.

Huh, guess Summer swung both ways.

He shrugged at the new information. Didn't really matter to him one way or another, just meant that he was looking for a woman instead of a-

"Don't. Move."

The hooded figure felt a cold chill run down his spine as he felt a massive barrel to what he could only assume was an equally massive gun press against the back of his head. He slowly raised his arms into the air, all the while intensely pushing his aura to the place he could feel the barrel touching.

"Alright...now let's not do anything hasty-" He began, speaking slowly to whoever stood behind him. He was actually surprised they'd managed to sneak up on him, he wasn't used to being caught unaware.

"What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

The voice was feminine, so he'd been right about them being a girl.

Although he noted that it sounded a lot...younger than he'd expected.

"How about we put the gun down and talk huh?"

He tried to slowly turn to see who exactly it was shoving a gun into the back of his head, but the moment he did, he felt the barrel of the weapon press harder into the back of his skull.

"How about you answer my questions before I fire!" The voice was high pitched, definitely sounded young.

"Alright, alright, take it easy." He tried to stress the word, internally gauging if he'd be fast enough to spin around and avoid the shot in time for a counter attack.

If this person really has Huntress level training...it's unlikely I'll be fast enough.

Judging by the size of the barrel and the amount of aura he was pushing to the center of his head, he wouldn't die if they fired right now, but a bullet to the head is still a bullet to the head. It would result in a massive drop in his aura and thus a massive disadvantage to start off what was surely to be a hard fight against a strong opponent.

That meant that he needed to talk this out.

"And keep your eyes forward, any sudden movements and I fire!" the voice pushed in the gun a little harder. "Now speak!"

The man grimaced as he felt the weapon dig into the back of his head.

"I came here to speak to Summer Rose about a weapon she owned over a decade ago."

There was a pregnant pause, he felt his chest building with tension as he waited for a response.

"...Of course...I knew you looked like one of them."

Them?

He felt the shot before he heard the deafening noise of the explosion. His head jerked forward violently, his eyes shut tight as he processed feeling the impact of such a high calibre weapon firing directly against his skull. He staggered forward, his mind full of white noise as he turned to face his attacker. Like he'd predicted, he could feel his aura having taken a significant drop from the impact.

Fighting through the pain, he managed to narrowly open his eyes in a tight grimace. Before him was a young girl with shoulder length black hair that seemed to show signs of a dark crimson towards its ends. Her skin was a pale white, and her eyes were pools of pure silver.

Although, the man found himself more concerned about the massive black and red sniper rifle she was holding, one hand already pulling back the bolt to load a second shot.

Not gonna happen!

Immediately, his hand shot towards the girl. "Aero!"

He felt the dust inside him react as a surge of wind suddenly slammed into the young woman. Her eyes wide with confusion, the girl was immediately sent flying back out onto the grassy hill just in front of the house.

The man watched as she flew, slamming onto her back but quickly using the momentum to transition into a roll back to her feet.

He stepped out of the house after her, calmly approaching as he did.

He could see now that she was in a darkly colored sundress, definitely not ideal battle attire. It was clear to him that she hadn't been predicting a fight, or at least, not a fight against anything more than a Heartless.

Makes sense.

No one had been out here in ages, so why would she predict herself fighting an actual person?

"W-Was that Dust?"

He raised an eyebrow. Her voice was clearly shaky, nervous even...and she wasn't sure? Did she not know what Dust was?

He decided to say nothing in response, looking to study her further as she glared daggers his direction.

She was young, very young, probably...sixteen...maybe seventeen years old?

He frowned. That didn't line up with the timeline he was given. This girl was much too young to have traveled with Summer all those years ago...unless…?

His head tilted to the side. "Are you...the daughter of Summer Rose?" He'd only had a vague description of Summer, black head of hair, pale skin, but from the little information he'd found...it could be a possibility.

He watched the girl flinch at the connection, a definite answer if ever he had one.

He stared at the sniper in her hands. Was that the weapon?

"Did Summer give you that?" He motioned with a hand towards the sniper.

Her eyes darted away from his for a moment to glance at the weapon in her hands. "M-Mom and I made this together if that's what you mean!"

He could tell that she was trying to sound tough, but there was too much nervousness in her voice. He could see it in her eyes, she did not want to fight.

But she felt she had to.

Why?

"Why are you trying to fight me?"

He watched the girl swallow hard, her hands never lowering her weapon. "Because you're part of those people who were looking for Mom!"

Well, she is technically right about me looking for Summer...but who are these 'other' people?

"I promise that I'm not a part of whatever group you think I'm in." He spoke calmly, meeting her gaze with an honest stare.

He watched the mean look waver with uncertainty as she looked him up and down, studying him.

"Then pull back your hood. The other's never pulled back their hoods." Her voice was cold, the nervousness almost completely gone.

The man blinked. He hadn't even realized that he'd left the hood up, he'd just gotten so used to covering his head.

Slowly the man pulled back the hood to reveal a blond set of hair and blue eyes along with a young face to pair with them.

He slowly stretched out a hand, watching as the girl studied him with a furrowed brow.

"I, uh, think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot." He said, finally extending a handshake fully. "I'm Roxas."

He watched her bite her bottom lip, clearly gauging whether or not she could trust him. She slowly moved forward, her other hand very tightly gripping her weapon if she needed it. Eventually, she came close enough to meet his hand with her own.

"Ruby. Ruby Rose."

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Author's Note:

I don't know how people will feel about me mixing the two worlds together like this, but I hope its positive! This story like I said before will be set a couple years later than the original RWBY storyline, but with an entirely original plot! (As you may have gathered by the pilot lol) Things are far different in this world due to the combination of two different types of series. Now I know immediately people are going to be asking what "combined' means when one of our series is kingdom hearts. I mean that the characters original to the kingdom hearts franchise will be within this world but not disney originals (Also obviously we're not travelling across the worlds.). I know I know, this means no goofy or Donald in the world, but c'mon, other than some really messed up looking faunus, they just don't fit. I hope I will not enrage the wrath of the fanbase by making this decision.

Essentially...I want to create something new to you guys but somehow still familiar.

But I digress.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and the 'pilot' if you will.

See you all next time!