This chapter is late because… reasons. To try and make up for that, I'm posting two chapters today instead of one.

Before I start… I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the creator of RWBY, the man we lost five years ago. Monty will be forever missed, and I hope that wherever he is, he can see what his dream became, and is proud of it.

I only own my original characters. Everything else belongs to Rooster Teeth.

A Vacation, Sort Of

The break didn't feel like as much of a vacation as it had in the past, Indie decided. Being upper-years now, they didn't have classes to take a break from, so the only real difference was that now they had no homework for two weeks until classes started back up.

Two weeks was starting to feel like an abnormally long time.

Part of that probably had to do with the pipsqueak bouncing along excitedly in front of her. Lian, never one for sitting on her butt for long, kept dashing ahead and waiting impatiently at corners for Indie to catch up. Despite the fact that Indie was taller, with longer legs, she was evidently taking too long to get places.

Indie wondered, not for the first time, what had made her agree to hosting two mini Huntresses in their dorm room for a week when Skye first brought it up. Nora hadn't seen any issue with Lian and Citrine staying home while she and Ren were off on a mission to the south, but Ren had been concerned (and rightfully so, Indie thought) that Lian might get into trouble at home with no school to occupy her time in a productive manner. So somebody—probably Nora—had come up with the questionably brilliant plan of sending the two girls to Beacon for some extra training.

The dorm room was admittedly more cramped than it was supposed to be, since team dorms were designed to fit four people long term, not six. Still, it could have been worse. Indie was more concerned with the fact that Lian had wanted to do some sparring. While she was excited to get the chance to finally scope out Lian's weapon (which she was sure the pipsqueak had been hiding purely to torture her), she was also nervous, because Lian was a very up close and personal type of fighter, and that was a fighting style that Indie knew full well she was weak against. She didn't mind losing in spars—that was the trade-off for choosing distance fighting, and she was nearly unmatched in that—but losing to a twelve-year-old would definitely bruise her ego a bit.

After a quick stop at the library to pick up The Grimm's War Against Remnant, Lian once again led the way, running down the hallway in her single-minded rush to get to the gym. Letting out a squeal, she barely managed to skid to a stop, narrowly avoiding a door that had suddenly opened in her path.

It took Lian a moment to recover from nearly banging into the solid wooden door, which Indie used to catch up to the girl, mentally preparing an apology to whoever had opened it.

As it turned out, apologizing was unnecessary. Emerald Planis stopped short to see the small girl outside her office, and immediately chastised her. "No running in the halls."

Lian pouted. "But I don't even go to school here."

"I am aware." Planis kept her expression neutral even when faced with Lian's puppy-dog eyes, which Indie found impressive. "However, I am also aware that you wish to enroll at Beacon early, in which case I highly recommend that you begin following the rules now." Her expression grew a bit more severe. "I also recommend that you not sass your teachers."

Lian's puppy eyes morphed into a sheepish grin as she mumbled, "Sorry, Emmy."

Indie had mostly been hanging off to the side, content to let Planis scold the little demon if it meant she didn't have to (not that she thought Lian would actually listen), but she couldn't help muttering, "Emmy?" under her breath, a little incredulous. Planis glanced her way a moment, then returned her attention to Lian.

"And please do not address me as Emmy here in the school." When Lian looked hurt, the professor softened her voice and added, "Off campus it's fine."

"Okay!" Lian brightened, giving the teacher a quick hug before skipping off down the hall again and disappearing around the corner.

Indie moved to follow, briefly catching Planis's eye and shrugging. "Technically, she's not running."

"Technicalities," the professor mumbled, shaking her head. "Isn't one lawyer in that family enough?"

She retreated back into her office without waiting for an answer. Indie giggled for a minute, then followed in the direction that Lian had gone.

She wasn't lucky enough to find the gym deserted. Aubergine, Rhoda, and Kage were all in the middle of workouts as they arrived. They stared at Indie's energetic shadow for a minute, before greeting the two of them and thankfully turning back to their own practice.

Once situated in the arena, Indie watched in anticipation as Lian readied the wine-bottle-shaped thing on her back. She stared, awed, as it transformed into a black mace with a pink handle and green circuitry designs on the sides. The weapon wasn't huge; it resembled a slightly oversized baseball bat more than anything else.

Lian stared at her expectantly. Oh, right. Weapons were a lot cooler when she wasn't the one getting smacked around with them. With a slight sigh, Indie unslung Crescent Ranger from her back and reached for an arrow. Let's get this over with…

An idea suddenly occurred to her. "Hey, wait a second…"

Lian cocked her head as Indie put the arrow down. "What do you say we skip the sparring for today and I have you climb the rock wall instead?"

Lian's face twisted up in thought. "I mean, maybe… but I really wanted to practice."

"You're here for another week, you'll have plenty of chances to practice." Indie was silently congratulating herself on her sudden brainstorm, and tried to make it seem like a fun alternative. "Come on, combat isn't the only thing you'll have be good at when you're a Huntress. You'll also need to be able to work with the terrain… and make it work for you. What if you get cornered by a Beowolf, and your only cover is up a tree that you don't know how to climb? You might survive, but not with your aura intact."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Lian looked down. "Um, but I'm wearing a dress. Can I still climb in this?"

"Sure, no problem." Indie retrieved two harnesses from the bin where they were stored, and quickly shimmied into one. "You're wearing leggings underneath, you'll be fine."

Lian shrugged and carefully stepped into the other harness while Indie clipped herself into the rope and checked the belay device. Once Lian had tightened the harness, Indie went to see if it needed adjustment and was pleased to see that it didn't. She grabbed the other end of the rope and clipped the carabiner in. "All right, you're all set."

She was about to coach the girl on climbing commands when Lian approached the wall, and without prompting, asked, "On belay?"

"Belay is on," Indie replied, masking her surprise.

"Climbing?" Lian continued.

Not word for word how Indie had learned climbing commands, but she supposed it was clear enough what they meant. "Climb away!"

xxxxx

Skye turned on the tap and plunged her hands under the stream of water, then swiped them over her sweaty face. Citrine was a fierce fighter, especially for someone who had only been in training for a little more than a year. Skye had initially thought she'd have to go easy on her fellow swordswoman, but after losing nearly a fifth of her aura to Citrine's opening attacks, had been forced to revise that strategy. The girl had obviously been devoting herself to her training; her new family's rigorous workout regime, in combination with whatever was in Flare Academy's curriculum, was undoubtedly working.

Still, Citrine wasn't as frightening an opponent as Lian. Skye gave a quick sigh of relief as she thought of the text Ren had sent the team this morning, thanking them once again for looking out for the two girls for the last week, but that he and Nora would be returning from their mission tomorrow and would be able to pick their daughters up in the evening. Not that Skye didn't appreciate the change of pace, and it was kind of fun to spend time with the two, but she was definitely looking forward to having her room back.

As she brushed her hair back from her face, her hand caught on one of her earrings, and before she could process it, the accessory had popped free of her ear and sailed through the air, landing… "Oh, shit!"

Mom wouldn't approve of her using that kind of language, but at the moment, Skye didn't care. She'd just lost one of her favorite earrings down the drain! Now what was she supposed to do?!

"You know, I really hadn't pegged you as the cursing type."

Skye lifted her head and found Citrine staring at her in the mirror. "Yeah, no. I usually don't. But I also don't usually drop an earring down the sink!" Skye retorted. Was there any way to get it back? Maybe if she could get Jade to take it apart; Jade knew a lot about practical stuff like plumbing…

Citrine cocked her head. "Is it the same as that one? They're real sapphires, right?"

"Yeah, it's the match to this one," Skye answered, fingering her other earring. "And what's it matter if they're real?"

"Are they or not?" Citrine demanded.

Skye rolled her eyes. "Yes, they're real."

"That's all I needed to know." Citrine stepped over to the sink where Skye had just been standing, and held her hand over the drain. Skye stared; what was this going to accomplish?

"Gotcha!" Citrine jerked her hand away from the sink. She met Skye's eyes in the mirror again before opening her fist to reveal Skye's missing earring, with a triumphant grin on her face. She offered it to the dumbstruck heiress. "Here."

Skye was still staring in disbelief, but finally managed to shake herself out of it and accept the accessory. "Thanks." She fastened it back in place, asking, "How'd you do that?"

Citrine shrugged. "It's my semblance. I can control crystals with my mind. Harder when I can't see them, but I figure I'll never get better without practice and here was an opportunity right in front of me."

"Huh." Skye shook her head, bemused, before starting to consider the practical applications of such an ability. Obviously, she'd just witnessed one potential use for it, but as far as combat… "Can you use it to control Dust crystals too?"

"Yep." Citrine had a tiny smirk on her face. "And I've had it since I was ten, so I built my sword with it in mind. I can levitate Dust crystals into place without touching them, so I don't have to stop fighting to switch effects."

"Nice." Skye had definitely appreciated Citrine's sword when she first saw it. The weapon didn't look like much, just a foot-long dagger with a small diamond-shaped sapphire set into it, but she quickly learned that it extended into a four-foot sword blade with an extremely unique design.

Citrine had chosen to shape her sword hilt like a long, serpentine dragon. The vestigial wings, spread wide, formed the crossguard, and the dragon's body doubled back on itself, with the tail providing finger protection. Skye hadn't gotten a good enough look yet to see the Dust chamber, but Indie had been mumbling excitedly under her breath when she first saw it.

"So are you done for the day, or are you up for another round?" Citrine was asking.

"Ehh, I could go for one more," Skye answered. "As long as you don't mind getting your butt kicked?"

"Oh, you are on!" Citrine answered, grinning. "And hey, you were the one who thought you had to go easy on me. Don't insult me like that again."

"Lucky shot," Skye pretended to grumble. Hanging out with Citrine was surprisingly fun, since the girl was older and more mature than Lian, and also didn't have her sister's frankly ridiculous energy reserves. "But trust me, I wouldn't dream of it."

xxxxx

Jade wandered over to the benches where Ren and Nora were watching Aurum fighting Citrine, and plopped herself down next to them. They'd gotten to Beacon only about an hour ago, and had arrived right in the middle of Jade's match against Lian. After Jade had claimed victory, she'd thought they would leave right away since it was already pretty late, but Aurum had immediately protested that she hadn't gotten a chance to go against Citrine yet, so the family had ended up staying a bit longer.

Ren looked her way before returning his attention to the fight, but looked back at her when Jade asked, somewhat hesitantly, "Can I ask you a question?"

Nora, overhearing the question, leaned forward so she could see, her eyes gleaming. "Ooh, d'you need to hide a body?"

"What? No!" Jade answered, trying not to burst out laughing. She really should have expected something like that, asking her question where Nora could hear.

"Nora, stop asking people that," Ren scolded her. "Nobody ever says yes."

"Well…" Jade hedged, "if I did need to hide a body, I probably would go to Nora for help before I asked anyone else."

"Hah!" Nora looked overly pleased with herself for some reason. Jade wasn't sure why—being someone's first choice as an accomplice for hiding a body was usually not considered to be a positive. Ren shook his head in resignation and turned back to Jade.

"What was your actual question?"

"Well…" Jade had come to these two with her question because Nora understood people better than anyone and Ren always gave good advice, and this was kind of a heavy topic, but also because… they were here. "Raven visited me here at school, and I don't know if I should tell Mom."

"Oooh…" Nora's eyes lit up at the prospect of gossip. Jade resigned herself to Nora taking over the conversation; Ren would have to settle for getting in anything he wanted to say once Nora was finished. "Well, first of all, yes, you should absolutely tell your mom. Yang won't be happy about knowing Raven keeps tabs on you, but she'll find out eventually, one way or another. Honestly though, I wouldn't be surprised if she already knows, or at least suspects; after all, we all know Raven keeps an eye on her, so why not you, too? But in any case, she'll be even less happy if she knows you kept something like this from her."

Jade had been thinking something along those lines anyway, but to hear someone say it out loud helped. "Okay… so, how do I tell her? I don't want to make her mad."

Nora shook her head. "If Yang gets upset, it will be with Raven, not you." Getting up from her seat and coming to sit behind Jade, she reached out and pulled the teenager into a tight hug. Ren had evidently decided that his input on the matter was no longer needed, since he'd gone back to watching the fight, even though he was clearly still listening. Nora softly continued, "Yang loves you far too much to get angry with you over something like this, as long as you're honest with her about it. You're her entire world."

Jade appreciated both the advice and the embrace. It almost felt like one of her mom's hugs… She let Nora hold her for another minute before starting to pull away. Nora immediately let go and leaned back in her seat. "When did this happen, anyway?"

"Um… third week of classes this semester," Jade answered.

Nora looked incredulous. "And you haven't told her yet?!"

"I haven't had the chance!" Jade protested. "Mom hasn't been at Beacon since the festival, and this isn't the kind of thing I can text her about!"

Nora wrinkled her nose. "Fair enough, I can understand wanting to tell her in person. But please promise me you will tell her next time you see her? Remember what I said about her not being pleased about something like this being kept from her."

"I promise." It was an easy enough promise for Jade to make, since she'd already pretty much decided to tell her mother anyway.

"Good. I'm glad that's settled." Nora turned back to the fight, watching Citrine and Aurum slashing at each other with their respective weapons. Citrine was three inches taller than Aurum, making her look like more of a threat, but with each attack, Aurum was proving that Tournament Champion wasn't a title for decoration. Jade was still trying to decide how to tell Mom about Raven, but… it couldn't hurt to watch the fight in the meantime.

xxxxx

Aurum blocked a swing from Lian's baseball bat, the force of the blow vibrating throughout her body. While she had the advantage, Lian was no slouch and her weapon, whatever it was called, dealt much more damage per strike than Aurora Blaze's thin blades. The only reason Aurum was winning was because she was better at ducking.

Seriously, why was the pipsqueak still here?

It had been a full week since Lian and Citrine had vacated SAIJ's room, but with no school for either of them, the family had ended up sticking around longer than they'd originally planned. Obviously, that was a good thing as far as their training was concerned, but… SAIJ hadn't been able to take any missions during the break because of it. Their last mission had been a rather uneventful Perimeter Defense, and Aurum was itching for more action.

Although her current opponent was actually providing a decent challenge. Lian had come a long way since the last time Aurum had fought her, and the girl was clearly having the time of her life. The slightly sinister grin she'd been wearing the entire time was so eerily like Nora's that Aurum half expected her pint-sized opponent to unfold her weapon and reveal a bunch of heart-shaped grenades. At this point in the match, Aurum was fairly confident that Lian's baseball bat couldn't shoot projectiles, or at least it couldn't yet—if the hinges were any indication, Lian planned to add a gun function to her weapon at some point.

The smaller girl had started off leaving herself a number of openings that Aurum had been quick to capitalize on, but even as they fought, she had watched the number of openings grow smaller and smaller. Really, it was a mark of how skilled Lian was that she could go toe-to-toe with the Tournament Champion at only twelve and a half.

But… it wasn't going to last. Aurum dropped to the floor, reaching out with one hand. As she'd expected, Lian blocked it. In a move that would have made any breakdancer proud, Aurum twisted, lashing out with her left foot and knocking the mace out of Lian's grasp. In the same movement, she slashed downward with her free hand toward her opponent's head.

Lian's green eyes went very wide, and she instinctively swung both hands up in an attempt to protect her face.

Aurum wasn't entirely sure what happened next. One moment, she was feinting left and aiming another strike at the girl; the next, she'd been knocked flat on her back on the floor mat.

A loud crash had her jumping to her feet and looking around wildly. Somehow, Indie had been caught up in… whatever had just happened, and blasted backward into a wall. Her neck was bent at a nasty angle, and even as Aurum watched, her partner's eyes flickered closed and she fell heavily forward.

Nora was there in a flash, catching the unconscious girl before she could hit the ground. The redheaded woman took a hair of a second to make eye contact with her partner—both had been watching the fight, seeing as it was their daughter in the ring—before Ren turned to hurriedly reassure the shocked spectators, and Nora tore out of the room, still cradling the unconscious girl in her arms. Lian was hot on her heels.

Without taking the time to think about it, Aurum dashed after them. It was clear enough they were taking her to the infirmary. Aurum had been totally winded by getting hit with… well, whatever it had been, but Indie had been watching from the sidelines and didn't even have her aura up. No doubt that was why she'd been knocked unconscious instead of anything less severe.

Aurum let her semblance take over and dashed to the classroom building, hoping against hope that Mom was still in her office. Thankfully, the newly minted plaque reading "Blake Belladonna—Grimm Studies" was visible as she approached, the door it was mounted on propped open.

Blake looked up from her desk as Aurum blasted in. "Aurum? What—?

"Just come to the infirmary now!" Aurum yelled, cutting off whatever her mother had been about to say. A split second later, she'd sprinted back out of the office, once again headed for the infirmary. She registered motion out of the corner of her eye and knew that her urgent tone had had the desired effect, and Blake was now rushing along in her wake.

Aurum caught up with Nora, grateful that her little detour had only cost her a few seconds thanks to her semblance. Lian sprinted ahead of the two and pushed the door open, allowing them inside, before letting it swing shut.

Nora gently deposited Indie onto one of the beds, smoothing her dark blue hair back from her face. Aurum was so focused on Indie that at first, she didn't notice who was on call right now until she realized who Nora was talking to. Aurum frowned, a little unsure. She'd known Planis took shifts in the infirmary, but this was her first time being there during one of those shifts. Am I sure I trust her to take care of one of my best friends?

Maybe she wasn't sure, but Nora clearly had no such issues since she immediately left Indie's care to the professor. While Aurum had been debating, the teacher had done a quick check of her patient, monitoring her pulse and breathing, before asking in a crisp voice, "How did this happen?"

Lian was nearly in tears. "I don't… I don't know what I did! I wasn't even aiming at her!" She quieted when Aurum squeezed her shoulder.

"We were sparring," Aurum began, taking over the explanation, "and Lian did… something that hit me and Indie. I got the wind knocked out of me, but Indie was only watching and didn't have her aura activated. She flew backwards and hit the wall."

"I see." Planis began running her hands gently over Indie's head, checking for injuries, before leaning over to the side and scribbling something down on her scroll.

The infirmary door burst open, prompting everyone present to look up, startled, as Blake burst through it. It was in that short moment that they were all otherwise occupied, that Indie let out a loud groan, drawing everyone's attention back to her.

xxxxx

Indie struggled to open her eyes. Where was she? This wasn't her dorm, or even her bedroom on Patch. Even with her eyes closed, she could tell that whatever room she was in had extremely bright fluorescent lighting. It hurt, the harshness of it not dimmed much by her closed lids. She tried to turn her head to the side to get away from it.

A pair of hands gripped her shoulders, not tightly, but firmly. A familiar-sounding voice ordered, "No, don't try to move."

It was easier to do as the voice said, so Indie let herself go limp. Surprisingly, opening her eyes didn't require nearly so much effort when she wasn't also trying to move her head. A moment later she managed to blink and saw a few blurry figures. The one closest to her was the one holding her shoulders. Indie blinked a few more times, and the person came into focus: Planis, dressed in a white lab coat over her usual clothes. So I'm in the infirmary? That made sense, given how sore she felt. Had she been… injured, somehow?

"No, I told you not to move!"

Indie hadn't realized, but she'd been trying to reach her arm out. She let it fall back to the bed with a mumbled, "Sorry."

"That's all right, just don't do it again until I tell you to." Planis reached into her pocket for something… a pen? No, not a pen, Indie realized, a miniature flashlight. "Now, follow the light without moving your head."

Indie did as she was told and followed the large letter H that Planis drew in the air with the light, even though it left more bright spots on her vision that she had to squint against. "Ugh… I feel like I was hit by a ton of bricks."

Planis glanced back up from where she was recording something on her scroll and gave a small, rare smile. "Technically, the bricks were hit by you, but close enough."

"Garrhh…" Indie mumbled incoherently. It was only then that she realized how tense she was, and made a conscious effort to relax her body. Moving her eyes was easier. Glancing off to one side of her bed, she found two pairs of identical golden eyes watching her worriedly, and had to blink a few more times to make sure she wasn't seeing double before noting that they were wearing different outfits. Oh, right… Aurum had been there when… whatever it was had happened. She was still a little fuzzy on the details, but Blake must have heard and come in after the fact.

Her attention was caught by movement off to the side. Lian's eyes were brimming with tears as she flung herself at the bed. "I… I'm so sorry! I don't know what I did, but I did it, and I'm so so sorry!"

The sight of Aurum next to Lian triggered something in Indie's head, and the details of the incident suddenly snapped into focus, making her blink rapidly once again. Oh… I was watching them fight… and I got hit with… some kind of attack? She still wasn't quite sure what it was that Lian had done, but if the little girl was blaming herself, Indie had to put a stop to that.

"Whoa, calm down there, pipsqueak," Indie ordered. She wasn't sure if it was her tone or the familiar nickname that did it, but Lian sniffled and wiped her eyes, making a clear effort to hold in more apologies. "Training accidents happen now and then. You know that, right? This wasn't your fault."

"She's right, you know," Ren spoke up from behind his daughter. He had one hand laid on her shoulder; Indie suspected he'd been using his semblance to keep her calm. Nora and Citrine were there too, looking concerned, but not overly so. "This is why we train the way we do, in controlled environments with immediate medical care nearby."

"Besides," Nora added, reaching out and tugging on one of Lian's braids, "look at it this way: you finally found your semblance!"

"My… semblance?" Lian started scrutinizing her hands, as though the answer might be written on her palms.

"Yep!" Nora nodded vigorously. "Looks like you can shoot some kinda energy blast from your hands. We're gonna have some fun with that!"

Ren shook his head. "Please don't destroy the house."

"All of you, shoo," Planis ordered. "The last shuttle to Vale will be leaving in a half hour. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe classes at both Flare Academy and Rosewood Primary School start back up tomorrow, so you all need to be on that shuttle." She turned back to Indie. "As for you… I can't see any sign of a concussion, but since you did hit the wall hard enough to knock yourself unconscious, I want to keep you here for observation for one night, understand?"

Indie nodded her head in agreement and immediately regretted it as her dizziness returned. She leaned back for a moment to clear her head. Then something else occurred to her and she patted her pockets, finding nothing. "Where's my scroll?"

Aurum handed it over. "You dropped it earlier."

"Oh thanks." Indie opened the device and began typing furiously.

Blake watched, before dryly commenting, "What, you got a hot date or something?"

"Well, not anymore," Indie grumbled. "If I have to stay here for the night—" She broke off and stared at Blake, who had clearly not been expecting the answer to be yes. "Wait, was that a joke?"

Blake shrugged one shoulder, deliberately nonchalant. Indie stared back and forth between her two teachers. It belatedly dawned on her that Planis had made a joke earlier too, when Indie had complained about getting hit by bricks. "Since when are you two comfortable enough to make jokes around each other?"

Indie watched, dumbfounded, as the two exchanged a quick glance. It was Planis who finally answered, "We have… an agreement."

"An agreement." Indie stared. "Guess that whole mission thing worked out after all."

This chapter was so much fun to write. I have to be really careful how often I have Lian around, because she has this tendency to try and take over entire chapters, but she hasn't made any appearances in a while so I figured it was all right this time. I've been thinking, maybe she'd lighten up a bit if I gave her her own story. Would anyone be interested in reading that? Let me know!

Also, please review, I love hearing from readers!